These words were a consistent theme for me while I was in the ICU at St. Vincents' 6 weeks ago. Jeanah knew that I wasn't being hateful, but just expressing how much I disliked being hooked up to all the IV's and being SO tired and WEAK. She also said I sounded like my little niece, May, who has down's syndrome and often says this when she greatly dislikes something.
Well, my sister, Beth, took a turn for the worse last week on Christmas eve she went through three CODE BLUES at Salem Hospital before her frail body finally wasn't able to do what she willed it to do. She went to be with Jesus early Christmas morning. We suppose that Home is a good place to be on Christmas morning.
Mom said one of the last phrases she uttered was "I hate it!" because she was in such pain and annoyed by all the tubes, gizmos and wing dings hooked up to her.
The Memorial Celebration is at 2:00 Thursday December 30 at Salem Heights Church, Salem, Oregon. We expect many people, so come early if you come...
We are encouraged that she is in the BEST place and that we will see her again in the twinkling of an eye! I (still) HATE IT!! There has been much wailing and crying in our household these last few days. Please pray for peace for my mom and dad as they struggle through this intensely difficult pain. Beth's departure leaves a hole that we will not be able to fill. Praise God He has given us the victory over death and its sting! Well done, Beth, good and faithful servant!!
Peace be with you!
Victor
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Fantasy Football
So, six weeks ago one of my first memories after the double-dip surgery was telling my loving wife Jeanah that "I must play Steven Jackson" in Fantasy Football and that there was a special Thursday night game and we need to check if any of my players are playing, etc.
She dutifully got her laptop and brought it to me, but of course through my drugged eyes, I couldn't even tell her how to make the change. I just was able to tell her to "play Steven Jackson" and so she did...I lost anyway...
These days, I'm getting stronger every day it seems and am able to sit up and work from home for up to 2 - 3 hour stints at a time with a nap in between of course. My pain is rarely over a two on a scale of one to ten. I am down to 1-2 pain meds per day with Tylenol as a supplement.
The incision on my lower belly is healing nicely and the three extra belly buttons I had are almost a memory. The only "bad" side effect I still am dealing with is some continued fluid drainage out my backside. Before the surgery, I had wrongly assumed that part of my anatomy would be sown shut. I guess they let it heal from the inside out and this is part of the side effect of that.
The pain meds make me uncontrollably weepy and emotional...and I sometimes wear a feminine pad (?TMI?) to keep my pants clean so Jeanah says I now know how half the world feels a quarter of the time.
The next medical thing for me is on 12/31, a PT scan to confirm there are no hot spots in my body after surgery. After that, we will meet again with Dr. Chang, the oncologist to discuss if we will be doing Chemotherapy or not. Right now it seems to be 60/40, but it's a tough decision. Please pray for wisdom and peace in this decision.
On another note, my lil sis, Beth, just had open heart surgery to replace a very badly calcified heart valve. The surgeon said afterward that he hardly sees how any blood was getting pumped out at all. I've visited her in Salem Hospital several times this week and she is improving with each visit. The bummer is that our family will not be celebrating Christmas all together for the first time in 35 years!
Jeanah and I will be in Salem for Christmas with her family and will spend time in the Hospital with my family as well.
We praise God for the blessing of His Son in this season and for all the blessings He heaps upon us daily!
Merry Christmas!!
She dutifully got her laptop and brought it to me, but of course through my drugged eyes, I couldn't even tell her how to make the change. I just was able to tell her to "play Steven Jackson" and so she did...I lost anyway...
These days, I'm getting stronger every day it seems and am able to sit up and work from home for up to 2 - 3 hour stints at a time with a nap in between of course. My pain is rarely over a two on a scale of one to ten. I am down to 1-2 pain meds per day with Tylenol as a supplement.
The incision on my lower belly is healing nicely and the three extra belly buttons I had are almost a memory. The only "bad" side effect I still am dealing with is some continued fluid drainage out my backside. Before the surgery, I had wrongly assumed that part of my anatomy would be sown shut. I guess they let it heal from the inside out and this is part of the side effect of that.
The pain meds make me uncontrollably weepy and emotional...and I sometimes wear a feminine pad (?TMI?) to keep my pants clean so Jeanah says I now know how half the world feels a quarter of the time.
The next medical thing for me is on 12/31, a PT scan to confirm there are no hot spots in my body after surgery. After that, we will meet again with Dr. Chang, the oncologist to discuss if we will be doing Chemotherapy or not. Right now it seems to be 60/40, but it's a tough decision. Please pray for wisdom and peace in this decision.
On another note, my lil sis, Beth, just had open heart surgery to replace a very badly calcified heart valve. The surgeon said afterward that he hardly sees how any blood was getting pumped out at all. I've visited her in Salem Hospital several times this week and she is improving with each visit. The bummer is that our family will not be celebrating Christmas all together for the first time in 35 years!
Jeanah and I will be in Salem for Christmas with her family and will spend time in the Hospital with my family as well.
We praise God for the blessing of His Son in this season and for all the blessings He heaps upon us daily!
Merry Christmas!!
Friday, November 26, 2010
Day by Day
Getting stronger each day. Mostly independent except changing bandages and the colostomy bag. I'll get there...
My right hand still has some numbness, but is also getting better.
Our family didn't have thanksgiving at Mom and Dad's because Beth made an unexpected trip to the hospital with an infection of some sort and what they think is kidney disfunction. Still praying she will continue to get better...
Love ya'll
My right hand still has some numbness, but is also getting better.
Our family didn't have thanksgiving at Mom and Dad's because Beth made an unexpected trip to the hospital with an infection of some sort and what they think is kidney disfunction. Still praying she will continue to get better...
Love ya'll
Saturday, November 20, 2010
No Bionic Eye?
Dr. Lee forgot to install the bionic eye...hmmm...Oh well...
Trivia: did you know that Farrah Fawcett Majors formerly married to Lee Majors (The Bionic Man) died recently of Anal Cancer, which is a totally different type than I HAD...yes...HAD!
I'm feeling stronger and am able to get up more often than not by myself, walk around and do a few things and not feel like my heart is going to beat out of my chest.
A shower would still be nice, but that will come. Always nice to see the Beavers trounce the Trojans!
Still am draining out of 4 portals and Jeanah is doing a great job keeping those bandages changed 2x daily. Looking forward to Thanksgiving at Mom and Dad's. Lots to give thanks for!
Love ya'll.
Trivia: did you know that Farrah Fawcett Majors formerly married to Lee Majors (The Bionic Man) died recently of Anal Cancer, which is a totally different type than I HAD...yes...HAD!
I'm feeling stronger and am able to get up more often than not by myself, walk around and do a few things and not feel like my heart is going to beat out of my chest.
A shower would still be nice, but that will come. Always nice to see the Beavers trounce the Trojans!
Still am draining out of 4 portals and Jeanah is doing a great job keeping those bandages changed 2x daily. Looking forward to Thanksgiving at Mom and Dad's. Lots to give thanks for!
Love ya'll.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Surgication is over!
It's always a bummer when you come home from vacation and realize it's over. Well, imagine that we went to St. Vincent's (doesn't that sound tropical) and spent a week with "cabana boys and maids" that kept wanting to poke me with a needle! AND I still feel very much like I have the flu as far as my strength goes...
In fact, not to make you feel sorry for me, but just to give perspective where I am, this is is how I feel. 1) Haven't showered in 8 days...won't get to for about 20 more! Only sponge baths (thank God for Jeanah!) 2) I feel like I have several feet of duct tape on my belly holding drainage sites in place and the suchers. (again, thank God for Jeanah...she has to change the dressings twice/day. I can walk about 20 -30 steps before becoming winded. Not dizzy, just my heart thumping out of my chest...
tired, like I have the flu (and am healing).
Suddenly, my poop comes out the front, not the back (Um...what?) Oh, and I feel like I have a ball of that duct tape in between my cheeks.
And to boot, on my three main fingers on my right hand I feel like I have duct tape because they are slightly numb, but coming back slowly. BUT, I have very little actual pain, which everybody is quite amazed by, and I'm particularly happy about.
On the good side, I see how great my God is and how awesome my wife, friends and family are. Praise God for raising up an agent in Dr. Lee who was able to do some complex surgery like this!! WOW!! When I hear what he did, unbelieveable! I want to get an read the surgical notes at some point.
I AM AlIVE...and CANCER FREE!!!! Woo Hoo!!
OK, I'm getting tired of being at the computer...more later...
In fact, not to make you feel sorry for me, but just to give perspective where I am, this is is how I feel. 1) Haven't showered in 8 days...won't get to for about 20 more! Only sponge baths (thank God for Jeanah!) 2) I feel like I have several feet of duct tape on my belly holding drainage sites in place and the suchers. (again, thank God for Jeanah...she has to change the dressings twice/day. I can walk about 20 -30 steps before becoming winded. Not dizzy, just my heart thumping out of my chest...
tired, like I have the flu (and am healing).
Suddenly, my poop comes out the front, not the back (Um...what?) Oh, and I feel like I have a ball of that duct tape in between my cheeks.
And to boot, on my three main fingers on my right hand I feel like I have duct tape because they are slightly numb, but coming back slowly. BUT, I have very little actual pain, which everybody is quite amazed by, and I'm particularly happy about.
On the good side, I see how great my God is and how awesome my wife, friends and family are. Praise God for raising up an agent in Dr. Lee who was able to do some complex surgery like this!! WOW!! When I hear what he did, unbelieveable! I want to get an read the surgical notes at some point.
I AM AlIVE...and CANCER FREE!!!! Woo Hoo!!
OK, I'm getting tired of being at the computer...more later...
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Preparation
Dr. Williams said I "did a good job" with the colonoscopy. That's great because I was asleep during the entire procedure. Surprisingly, the found cancer! Ha! They also did find one small pollup and removed it and will biopsy that. The Doc decided not to do another biopsy of the cancer as we just did that two weeks ago and determined it was adenocarcinoma (the dreaded "butt cancer" according to Jeanahisms 101).
Friday night we went out bowling with some friends. Saturday, I'm working for the last time for a while until 1pm, then Jeanah has a surprise in store.
Sunday, I will be preparing for surgery.
We go in at 7:15 on Monday. Surgery starts at 9:15. I will blog as soon as I can to let you all know how things turned out!
Friday night we went out bowling with some friends. Saturday, I'm working for the last time for a while until 1pm, then Jeanah has a surprise in store.
Sunday, I will be preparing for surgery.
We go in at 7:15 on Monday. Surgery starts at 9:15. I will blog as soon as I can to let you all know how things turned out!
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Double Dosage
Things are coming in twos this week.
First, I found out that I get to prep for a colonoscopy on Thursday am at 10:30. AND I get to prep again on Sunday for surgery on Monday. Prepping is SO much fun, but it's a necessary evil...
Then, I found out that because we are not certain exactly how the surgeon will do the procedure, I get to have marks for the stoma on both sides of my belly.
Should be interesting to wake up on Monday night and see what happened! Wonder if I'll be out of surgery in time for Monday Night Football (just kidding, Jeanah).
Well, time to visit the porcelain again...ain't this fun!
Today I met with the Pre-Op nurse, the Stoma nurse, and the Hospital Doctor and they have all the paper work and poking and prodding ready for surgery. Should be an uneventful check in.
Good thing we did though because my Blood Pressure is too high and he wants it down for surgery. I told him I'll get right on that, but he prescribed more meds for me to take so it will go down. Also, my potassium is borderline so he gave me some supplements to take.
mmmmm....more pills!
Won't be long now!
We are getting the barn ready for a fine post-op experience. I'm all hooked up and ready to be able to work from home too, which will be good several weeks from now...
Love ya'll
First, I found out that I get to prep for a colonoscopy on Thursday am at 10:30. AND I get to prep again on Sunday for surgery on Monday. Prepping is SO much fun, but it's a necessary evil...
Then, I found out that because we are not certain exactly how the surgeon will do the procedure, I get to have marks for the stoma on both sides of my belly.
Should be interesting to wake up on Monday night and see what happened! Wonder if I'll be out of surgery in time for Monday Night Football (just kidding, Jeanah).
Well, time to visit the porcelain again...ain't this fun!
Today I met with the Pre-Op nurse, the Stoma nurse, and the Hospital Doctor and they have all the paper work and poking and prodding ready for surgery. Should be an uneventful check in.
Good thing we did though because my Blood Pressure is too high and he wants it down for surgery. I told him I'll get right on that, but he prescribed more meds for me to take so it will go down. Also, my potassium is borderline so he gave me some supplements to take.
mmmmm....more pills!
Won't be long now!
We are getting the barn ready for a fine post-op experience. I'm all hooked up and ready to be able to work from home too, which will be good several weeks from now...
Love ya'll
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