Hello!

 

It’s been a little over a year since I’ve written a post, but I promise I have not forgotten any of my blog friends. However, I don’t blame you if you have forgotten me and I understand since I haven’t been around. I don’t want to be one of those bloggers that just disappears so I thought I would post an update on the past year. 

It’s been a very busy year with the highlight being that I became a great-grandmother last summer! My granddaughter Annika and her husband Nick had a beautiful, 9-pound 10-ounce girl in July. Her name is Juniper Lark and she is such a happy baby, always a joy to be around. I would post a picture but her parents do not want any pictures of her on the internet and I totally understand that. I love having a little one in the family again! 

Another highlight of the year was that my grandson, Gavin, graduated from the Fire Academy which is part of a two-year program in an area community college. He first earned his emergency medical technician (EMT) certification and then went into the Fire Academy program. He is now working as a fire fighter for the City of Independence. Of course, we are all very proud of him!

Tom, Gavin, and myself at his graduation.

Tom has been doing okay although he still has health and mobility problems. He is still using his walker and I’m happy to say he has not had a single fall since he started using it! Our sweet cats, Sophie and Zeus, turned nine this year and they are still bringing us much love and happiness!

Sophie & Zeus

Most of 2024 has been a very good year for us until December when I got hit with some health problems. I have been diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer that has spread to the colon. On December 16^th I had some severe stomach pain to the point that Tom called an ambulance to get me to the hospital. After a CT scan they discovered I had an almost complete blockage due to colon cancer. I had surgery and ended up getting a colostomy (which I hate!). They did not remove the cancer yet because they want me to have chemo first. After many more tests in the hospital it turned out that the cancer had started in my ovaries and from there spread to the colon. I spent over a week in the hospital and came home on Christmas Eve. I think I was in shock most of December after receiving such an unexpected diagnosis. Just to make things fun, I came down with covid a couple of days after I came home from the hospital.

Since then, life has been a blur of medical appointments and a second hospitalization last week after my first chemo treatment. I came home last Sunday after a week in the hospital with colitis. I still have pain from the colitis but I’m trying to get to feeling better as my next chemo is Thursday, March 6^th. I had two medical appointments yesterday and hopefully no more until my all-day chemo appointment next week.

I know, I’m 72 and these cancers are stage four, but I am not giving up! I’m trying to stay positive and keep fighting! Despite that, I sure could use any prayers and healing thoughts! No matter what happens, I feel incredibly blessed in my life especially by my wonderful family!

I’ll try to post again when I can and fill you in on everything a little better. I send you all my best, I've missed you!

 

A What Did Your Surgery?!

 

Last Friday our younger son Sean had outpatient surgery for a hernia repair.  We always help him out with things like that since he is single and lives alone.  As with many surgeries he had to be at the hospital early - 6 a.m. early.  In order to get to his house to pick him up and then to the hospital in time we left our house at 5 a.m.  I am not really a morning person but you do what you have to do in these situations.  The difficulty we encountered was the fact that just as we were leaving, our area got hit with a major severe thunderstorm that lasted all morning.  Let’s just say the trip to get him to the hospital was not a lot of fun with the storm and the morning rush hour combined.

We did get him there in time despite the storm and traffic.  Due to the increase in covid in our area and new hospital restrictions we had to just let him out at the door.  We were not allowed to enter the hospital and wait inside.  That was difficult for me as a Mother but as my son reminded me, he is an adult.  We knew it would be several hours so we found a restaurant that opened at 6:30 a.m. and went there for breakfast and coffee.  We managed to spend a couple of hours at the restaurant and then went back to the hospital parking lot.  There was really no place we wanted to go after that and we wanted to stay close to the hospital so we waited in the car.  We noticed there were others waiting in their cars too.  The increase in covid combined with the almost full hospitals does create some changes in many different ways.  I received several calls from the recovery room nurse telling us he had done well but had to stay in recovery a bit longer.  Finally, around 1:00 p.m. they let us know we could pick him up.  He was groggy but basically doing okay and we drove him back to our house to stay for the initial recovery time.

After we got home, he casually mentioned to me “You know a robot did my surgery.”  I stopped what I was doing and said “A what did your surgery?”!  Sean thought it was rather cool that his surgery was done by a robot.  Yes, I have heard of that being done these days, but somehow I had not expected it.  I was glad he didn’t tell me that before the surgery as I think I would have been much more worried! 

This is the type of robot that was used.*

                          

Apparently the surgeon he had and the hospital he was in are well know for their robotic surgeries.  I looked up the hospital and read about this type of surgery and I must admit it sounded good.  They say there are many benefits of this type of surgery including greater surgical precision, increased range of motion, improved dexterity, enhanced visualization and improved access.  There is also less pain, less risk of infection, less blood loss, less scarring and faster recovery.  Sean said the surgeon sat at his head at a computer with a screen showing the magnified view of the surgery. 

The doctor sat at a console similar to this.*

Sean is sore and tired but overall doing well, thankfully.  Advancements these days continue to amaze me.  But you know, I’m still glad he didn’t tell me it was a robot until after it was over!

* Credit for photos:    By Cmglee - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,              https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39437443       

 

Home

That sure is a wonderful word - home!  Tom was happily discharged this afternoon.  I got him home and we both took a nap.  Neither one of us have had much sleep the past few days.  You sure can't sleep at the hospital.  People were in and out of his room all day and he said all night too.  Plus he was hooked up to a host of beeping machines. 

He is doing good considering everything, just very tired.  He is under some restrictions, has additional medication and is supposed to start Cardiac Rehab as soon as maybe next week.  I am determined that I need to do more to try and get him to eat a healthier diet and when he can, get more exercise.  I always try to prepare healthy meals but he is a big lover of things like salty potatoe chips (crisps) which is a no-no.  We both got regular exercise twice a week until last March when the Coronavirus hit and our Silver Sneakers classes stopped.  We should have kept up at home but we did not as we are not very motivated to exercise on our own.  Now I wonder if that lack of exercise made things worse for him. 

Oh and speaking of Coronavirus, Tom was tested for it before they would do the Cardiac Catheterization and he was negative, so that's good!  We did find out there were cases in the hospital while we were there including a few on the same floor he was on.  That did make me nervous especially in the elevators even though everyone wore a mask.  I'm just so thankful he is out of there!

Thank you all again so very much for all your good thoughts and prayers.  I told Tom about all the wonderful messages from everyone here and he was blown away that so many people that didn't even know him would be so kind.  He sends his thanks and appreciation to all of you.  Blog world is full of many very special and wonderful people and I appreciate you all!

I'm going to try and get to bed early because there are so many things I need to get done tomorrow plus I need to cut the grass if I can take this heat.  But, I do want to share one thought with you all because I truly care about each one of you here.  Please be aware of any symptoms your body may be trying to tell you in regard to your health.  I don't mean worry about every little thing, that's not healthy.  Just be aware and if something does not seem right ask you doctor about it.  Tom has been through this situation and hospitalized for this twice now, once five years ago and this time.  Do you know both of those times he never had one chest pain.  The first time he had pain in his jaw.  He was going to go to the dentist but I had heard of that symptom and encouraged him to see his doctor who immediately sent him to the cardiologist.  This time the only symptom he had was shortness of breath.  It got progressively worse and he saw his cardiologist and ended up with another Cardiac Catheterization.  Both times he had a situation that could or would have killed him.  His cardiologist and that procedure has saved his life twice now.  Just take good care of yourselves, please!  I care about each of you!  

Still at the Hospital

Everyone has been so nice and supportive so I wanted to let you know the status of Tom’s Cardiac Catheterization today.  It turns out it is a very good thing this was done because he had a 95% blockage in one place and a 75% blockage in another.  He was most definitely headed for a heart attack.  They did a balloon angioplasty in one location and put in a stent in the other location.  It was a very involved and lengthy procedure this time because of the location of the two blockages.  He was admitted to the hospital and we are on a wait and see basis as to whether or not he can come home tomorrow. 

I want to thank everyone for your very kind and helpful comments, good wishes and prayers.  I kept reading over them on my phone the whole time I was waiting to hear the results of the procedure.  Even though I was waiting alone all of your kind messages helped me to feel a little less alone.  I responded to some comments last night but not today, however I do want you all to know they helped.  I probably won’t be posting or commenting for at least a few days as we get everything sorted out and get him home.  I just now got home tonight after being at the hospital since very early this morning.  I am going back early tomorrow morning in hopes of catching the doctor on his rounds.  In the meantime, I only want to get something to eat and crash with my two sweet cats.  Thank you all again!

Back to the Hospital

Tom had his follow up appointment with the cardiologist and the doctor wants him to have a Cardiac Catheterization.  If you are not familiar with this, it is a procedure where a small tube is inserted into an artery and is sent up to the heart.  It is used to detect blockages in the heart among other problems.  Tom had one of these five years ago and they found a blockage which was corrected with a stent placed where the blockage had been.     

The doctor is doing this out of an abundance of caution and I do agree with him.  The last time we had no idea Tom was as close to a heart attack as he was until they found the 90% blockage using this procedure.  We are hoping no problems will be found but it is a matter of we would rather be safe than sorry.  This is an uncomfortable and frightening test but it can prevent a heart attack and save a life.  We have to be at the hospital very early tomorrow morning.  If everything is clear and they do not find any problems he should be able to come home sometime later in the day.  If they find any problems, he will have to stay the night in the hospital and hopefully come home the following day.

This is certainly not the best time to be spending time in a hospital with the increase in Covid cases in our area.  It does make me feel a little uneasy but I know they are doing everything they can do to keep everyone safe.  Everyone at the hospital wears a mask at all times and hand sanitizer is readily available.  I can go with him and stay in the waiting room but no one can come with me due to the Covid cases in the hospital.  If he has to stay all night I don’t know if I will be able to see him or not.  

So, that is what is going on tomorrow.  Since I had mentioned the previous test that Tom had taken, I wanted to let you know what is going on.  I’d sure appreciate any good thoughts you could send our way!  Thank you all!

Hospitals and New Blogger

Tom and I spent most of the day Thursday and Friday at a local hospital as he had outpatient tests being done.  Don’t worry, nothing bad (we hope!).  He has heart trouble and several years ago he was hospitalized for surgery to have a stent placed in his heart.  That was a little frightening as he had a 90% blockage at the time.  Since then he has been doing good and we are quite grateful for that!  Every year he has to have a series of tests done in the hospital.  They tell us to allow two days for these tests, but in the past it has always been completed in just one day because he was doing so well.  This time it did take two days and that does have us a little worried.  They indicated to us there was something seen that concerned them but we have to wait until he sees his cardiologist in a week and a half to find out what is wrong.  I keep telling myself if it was anything serious, they would have moved his appointment up to an earlier date.  Right?

This is the first time we have been in a hospital since Covid hit the country.  It will be fine with me if we don’t have to go back to one for a long time!  It was like entering a high security military base with all the required Covid precautions.  I did have to go with him so I could drive him home after the tests.  There were all kinds of signs outside the hospital about the requirements you must meet to go inside.  Immediately inside the door we had to answer questions such as “Have we been around anyone that had Covid?”, “Have we traveled anywhere recently?”, etc.  We were already wearing masks which are now required everywhere in our county but especially in the hospital.  They took our temperature using a forehead style thermometer and then put a sticker on each of us indicating we could proceed to the next station.  We went through three stations before we made it to cardiology.  Each time we moved forward someone went with us because no one was allowed to walk around the hospital alone due to Covid cases in the hospital.  I must admit it was all a bit unnerving.   

I have been meaning to ask here on a post how everyone is doing with the new blogger?  I changed to it a couple of weeks ago and for the most part I am fine using it.  I’ve been able to do everything I’ve needed to do with no problems.  The only thing I really don’t like is the constant “Redirect Notices” I get every time I try to view someone else’s blog.  I click on “Reading List” on the lower left side and it brings up the list of blogs I follow with no problem.  However, when I click on the blog title I want to see it brings up this “Redirect Notice”.

I then have to click on the URL (I removed the URL from this copy) for that blog and it takes me there.  Is everyone else getting this also?  It’s not a big deal but it is a bit of a nuisance to have to take that extra step.  I tried searching all over blogger to find out why it did this but never could find a reason.  It is simple enough to go back to Legacy Blogger however, I wanted to give this one a chance.  I have also heard that the Legacy Blogger may be deleted but I don’t know if that is correct or not. 

Any other opinions out there about the New Blogger?  Is everyone getting the “Redirect Notices”?