ClassicAndCozy: Slothing, Deadlines and Retirement

ClassicAndCozy: Slothing, Deadlines and Retirement: by Janis Susan May/Janis Patterson I've always been a writer. I went to work for my parents' advertising agency before I was ...

Sandi Update 8/19/17

We are now safely home after seeing Sandi at the hospital. She remains on the catheter with the heart telemetry doing its thing and is still off of oxygen. Her mood is pretty good even with the news she was given this morning.

Picture by Scott

They currently plan to remove the port on Monday as it no longer matters if the tests come back saying the port is clean. Even if it is still okay, it will not stay that way. The only question is when it will be come infected. There is no choice at all so it will come out to protect her. They also, as I suspected, can't put anything into her port wise until she is clearly infection free.

That means she will have new iv lines put into her hands and arms each and every single time they have to put something into her. She is not happy, but also understands very well that she does not have any choices right now.

All in all, she is amazingly upbeat about everything and looks pretty good. She has eaten a bit more today, so far, than she has been and that is a good sign. She also has had at least some shrinkage of the sinus tumor as her ears have opened up a little bit. She can actual hear you when you talk to her and she can now hear the television. Being able to participate in the world has helped her tremendously. 

Sucessful Port Removal Surgery

Back home from the hospital after Sandi had surgery this afternoon to remove the port in her chest that had become infected with the bacterial blood infection thingy. It was a little over three hours from start to finish. While her blood pressure was a bit elevated afterwards, everything else seemed to be in pretty good shape. They were addressing her blood pressure issue and seemed to have it under control. Shortly after this picture was taken, they made the determination that she did not need the oxygen as her numbers were high enough that she was okay. 

She is back on one of the more powerful antibiotics to try and make sure that the surgery did not make things worse infection wise. The hope is that by removing the port, the infection issue will be solved.

Sandi Tonight

We did the doctor thing early today and apparently it is not looking anywhere as good as they hoped. Not only is Sandi in considerable pain from it, the site is massively bruised, very swollen, and weeping nasty stuff. Sent home with lots of supplies and directions and, assuming it behaves itself, the area hopefully will be better by Friday when they check it again.

Sandi Sunday Night

Everything pretty much remains the same tonight. Sandi is still in considerable pain. We go back way too early in the morning so that they can check her surgical site and check things. Hopefully everything will be okay.

Saturday Evening

Been a very hard day for Sandi. She is still in lots of pain so she took her meds and went to bed just after dinner. I checked her bandage again before she went to bed and things didn't look any worse since this morning. So, hopefully, everything is as it should be at this point.

I should have spent the time tonight on my own stuff. I have a couple of things I have not worked on in over a year. I just flat out need to get back to work on my own stuff and do what I can as I can. Instead, I sat here with the sound off on the Texas/West Virginia football game and read a bit.

Going to bed soon, but wanted to let everyone know how she is doing. I thank you all for your prayers and support on and offline.

The Morning After

Sandi is now up and less than happy as she is hurting really bad after the deal yesterday. I donned the gloves and went to work pulling the packing out. It did not go well at all for either one of us, but I "think" I got it all out. Pulling it out sent her pain level up through the roof, but she thinks I got it all out.  Changed the dressing and have her now settled in her chair drinking her first cup of tea.

Hopefully, as the day goes on, she will start having less pain and feel a little better. Glad that is over and just hoping I did it all correctly.

Spreading The Word---PLEASE READ: David Farland’s Daily Kick in the Pants—We Need Your Help

 

David Farland’s Daily Kick in the Pants—We Need Your Help

As many of you know, Dave’s son, Ben, was in a serious long-boarding accident last week. He is 16 and suffers from severe brain trauma, a cracked skull, broken pelvis and tail bone, burnt knees, bruised lungs, broken ear drum, road rash, and is currently in a coma. His family has no insurance.

We are having a book bomb this Wednesday on behalf of Ben Wolverton to help his family out. You can view the event’s facebook page here.

For those that don’t know, a book bomb is an event where participants purchase a book on a specific day to support the author, or, in this case, a young person in serious need: Ben Wolverton.

Many of you have expressed sympathy for Dave and Ben and have asked if you could help. Now you can. We need you to help Ben get the most out of this book bomb. Right now we are focused on spreading the word and telling others about it. If you could share this event on facebook, twitter, pinterest, your blog, or through email, please do. This is a way everyone reading this can help, whatever their financial situation.

On Wednesday, we will have the book bomb. If you haven’t yet purchased Nightingale or Million Dollar Outlines, please consider doing so on Wednesday. If you have already purchased them, you can donate money to Ben and his family here.

If you have a blog and would like to do a post about this book bomb, please email me at kami_marynda@yahoo.com, and I will send you some information you can use.

Please consider “attending” our event on facebook.    Thank you. 

Sandi Sunday Update

Earlier this evening Sandi took her first shower since pre--hospital. Her five incisions and chest tube hole all look pretty good all things considered. No signs of infection or any issues different than what we had been warned we would see.

Sandi is still in considerable pain--especially with her right shoulder where they ran an IV line as well as a chest drainage tube. While she had an IV line in her right hand, during surgery they had to put in a second separate line through her right shoulder and into a major artery because of the complications that were happening. Among other things, apparently the chemo has left her blood vessels brittle so they tend to not work right when a needle is inserted into them for an IV.  What will happen to them when she has chemo again, not to mention the radiation, is something that concerns me quite a bit.

While many years we would have loved to have a white Christmas this is one year we really would prefer it did not happen. Normally this sort of thing happens for New Years but apparently it is coming a week early this year. Current forecast seems to be for some sort of light accumulation of snow and ice starting some time on Christmas day and going into the evening. Considering the staircase we have that is always dangerous whenever it gets anything on it as well as the drive to the hospital the next day, we would really prefer that the snow and ice miss here.

On behalf of Sandi, myself, and the boys thank you for your thoughts and prayers expressed in public and in private. We most assuredly appreciate your thoughtfulness and kindness. It means a lot as we go through this nightmare yet again.


Kevin

Surgical Thursday

The day never seemed to get here, but finally it is Thursday. In less than an hour from now we will head over to the hospital to get Sandi checked in. Sandi's cardiac surgery to go in and see what the thing is that is pressing on her heart sac is set for 1 pm.


If it is cancer---as we all expect--the doctor intends to leave the thing in place and back out of there. Removing it would raise the risk of spreading it as may have happened when they had to do so many biopsies last November. At that time several tumors in various places were removed. If it is cancer he will also put another port back into her chest and hook it into the main artery to her heart in preparation for more chemotherapy.


If it is not cancer, I am not sure what he will do. While I do understand why it should not be removed if it is cancerous, it seems to me anything pressing on the heart sac like this is should be taken out of there. Apparently, if it is not cancer, it still might stay in depending on what it is.


If everything went perfectly today, Sandi could be back home tomorrow. The odds for that happening are very low. Not only does Sandi have a history of heart attacks and strokes, there is considerable damage in her right lung still visible on the CT Scan from last November. While the fluid is not present in the lung, the scarring and damage it left behind is still very visible and a surgical obstacle. Not only does the doctor have to work around that, depending on how much he has to do, it may be necessary for a chest drainage tube again. If that happens, she definitely will be in longer.


So, that is where we are this Thursday morning. Hopefully, for once, everything will go smoothly and there won't be any complications. No matter what happens, today is going to be a very long day. I will update everyone when I can.


Kevin

Sandi's Surgery Scheduled

Late yesterday afternoon they called and set up  the timing of the surgery on Thursday. The surgery itself is planned at 1 pm on Thursday.  We are to be at the hospital at 10 am for check in  procedures and to pull her blood as they want to do that the day of surgery.  The doctor has a surgical procedure that morning in another hospital far from here and then will do hers in the afternoon.

If, and that is a huge if, everything goes absolutely perfectly, she will spend Thursday night in the hospital and come home sometime Friday. If not, she will be in longer. Unfortunately, both the surgeon and the cancer doctor will be out of town for the holidays.

This means that she won't see her cancer doctor until January 4 at 3 pm. That appointment was scheduled even later yesterday and was the earliest they could get her in. That also means that if the thing is the very much expected Lymphoma they would not start chemotherapy until the following week.


Kevin

Finally Home

Everything took longer than expected and then we still had to get my meds at the store. My falling twice at the hospital certainly didn't speed up things. But, we are finally home.

The cardiac surgeon basically described what is termed as the "minimally invasive" deal I had mentioned this morning. But, no need for the robots.  They will put a couple of small holes through the ribs and work tools and cameras in to get to the thing in her chest. It is approximately 2 centimeters long and oblong in shape as it sits on her inside chest wall next to her heart. it is pressing on her heart sac. He firmly believes--without question-- it is a Lymphoma. In his mind the only real question is what kind.

During the surgery he will biopsy the thing. Theoretically it should be determined right then and there whether or not it is a Lymphoma and what type. If it is cancer, as expected, he will leave it alone and most likely not try to remove it as that raises the risk of spreading the cancer.

If it is not cancerous, he will make the determination what to do with it depending on what it is. Seems to me, as a non doctor type, that something that is growing and pressing on the heart sac should come out--no matter what it is--but, apparently things are not that simple.

Sandi also has some scar tissue in her lungs from the mess last November--especially her right lung--- and that has to be worked around and possibly removed. In all likelihood he will also have to put another port into her chest to make it easier to start the chemotherapy again. Sandi is not happy about that because the last one caused so much pain and she has significant scarring from it.

As of right now the surgery will be sometime next Thursday afternoon. Exact time it is planned for is up the air at this point. Next Wednesday she will have to go to the check in stuff, fill out paperwork, and give blood, etc. so they can have everything ready for Thursday afternoon.

Needless to say we are both pretty upset and worn out. We feel a little better about the actual surgical aspects now that we know how the procedure will be done. The hard part is knowing that it, most likely, is a return of the cancer which means she was only in remission a few months. And even that was not as long as had been thought because the cancer had to have been back awhile to get to where we are today.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. Please understand it is going to take me sometime to catchup on e-mail, Facebook, etc. as I am just worn out.


Kevin

Today--More Medical Stuff

For over a year now our lives seem to revolve around doctor visits. Especially after last November with the cancer diagnosis and start of chemo for Sandi. Later this morning Sandi and I will be seeing the cardiac surgeon her cancer doctor recommended last week. Hopefully he will have the results of the CT Scan she had last Friday. That was done to better locate the 2 centimeter thing on her chest wall slightly behind her heart so that this doctor has a definite surgical target.

As we understand it, at this point, this type of thing means cracking open the chest wall. But, maybe not. Very early this morning long before dawn, when I could not sleep yet again, I started searching around on the internet trying to figure out how they would do this. Apparently the doctor she is seeing this morning is involved with some sort of robotic surgery deal where they do not crack open the chest wall. Instead, in some sort of "minimally invasive" deal, they put a couple of  very small holes in through the ribs on the side and then work from there. This is supposed to be better for the patient with less pain, faster recovery time, etc.

Whether or not she is a candidate for this I obviously do not know. But, if so AND if it works, it sounds much better than cracking the chest wall and spreading it apart which is all I have been thinking about. We also have to schedule this for Sandi as soon as possible when next Tuesday Scott is supposed to be at another hospital for a medical procedure test of his own regarding his ongoing gastrointestinal issues. That has been scheduled for over a month to happen as soon as possible once he finished his finals at UTD.

The fact that I am so limited in every way is really frustrating when it is times like this.


Kevin

Medical Update---The Latest on Sandi's Feet/Legs

Sandi had another appointment today with the podiatrist. He has diagnosed two additional problems involving her right foot and leg. He did not choose to boot her left foot as he is thinking it is being over strained by her inability to walk correctly or normally thanks to the right side problem. He agrees with the physical therapist and has stopped all physical therapy for now.

 

He also has extended her unpaid medical leave to at least January 12, 2013 because of everything.

 

Sandi now has an MRI without contrast scheduled for Tuesday morning. She is supposed to see the podiatrist to go over the results on Friday, December 7, 2012. If surgery is needed, as is expected by everyone at this point, the plan it to try and do it before the end of the year. Not only will she have a 3500 dollar deductible next year under her Wal-Mart insurance, she will also have a different insurer so things will get weird insurance wise after the first of the year for awhile.

 

Next week is going to be rough. She has the PET SCAN on Monday and bloodwork. MRI Tuesday morning. At this point she is off Wednesday. Late Thursday morning we meet with the cancer doctor and go over results. Friday morning is the podiatrist.

 

Of course, if the worst has happened and the cancer is back, that will be the focus and any foot surgery will just have to wait as they will need to start chemotherapy and anything else they want to do as fast as possible. One hopes that she will get good news on all this stuff with no cancer and no need for any surgery.

Medical Update--The Latest on Sandi's Foot

Sandi's foot still has not improved at all. In fact, because she is unable to walk normally, she has now injured her left foot. This left foot injury is a different injury than her booted right ankle. It also happened while she was on her feet at work. This one is some sort of muscle pull of a tendon that runs across the top of her left foot between her toes and her ankle. That injury has created not only pain, but some swelling of her foot.

She showed it to the therapist after he evaluated her lack of progress with her right foot. If anything, her right foot is now somewhat worse than it was a couple of weeks ago. He finally said what I had been saying and thinking all along---the only way this ever was going to heal was if she went out on another unpaid medical leave and was home off of her feet.

After another very painful night for her and with two swollen feet the next morning, it was very clear she needed to see the foot doctor immediately. She saw him early Friday morning (yesterday) and he agreed that at this point, she had done all she could do to keep working. It was time to shut it down. Not only did he say that, but he also warned her that she would soon do too much damage and would require surgery to try and reattach the tendon to the bone in her leg. He wrote a note for her and will be filling out the required paperwork so that Sandi can be out on unpaid medical leave effective immediately.

She isn’t happy as, beyond our constant money issues, she loves to work. She is one of those rare creatures that loves her job and loves being around other people.  But, when faced with the high likelihood of surgery on top of the fact that the left foot is now injured too and is significantly hurting her, Sandi has finally agreed that coming home is for the best.

So, the foot doctor has put her out until at least December 4, 2012. Her next appoint with him is November 30^th when he will reevaluate her status.

On Monday, December 3, 2012 she has her next PET SCAN and blood work to see if she is still in remission.  She will see the cancer doctor a few days later on December 6 and find out. Fingers crossed on that.

A year ago she was coming off knee surgery and about to get a terminal cancer diagnosis so things could easily be worse. Been there and done that. Hopefully, this is just a minor event and one that can soon be forgotten unlike some of the other things the last few years.


Kevin

Helping Tom Piccirilli

Known for his crime, noir,  and horror fiction as well as a few other things, Tom Piccirilli and his family are now dealing with a huge medical problem. Tom annouced last Saturday that he has a brain tumor that would be operated on today. After that was done, Tom would be facing radiation and chemoptherapy in the coming weeks.

As we know from direct personal experience, cancer surgery and treatment is brutally expensive even with insurance. As bad as Sandi's situation was, cancer was not sitting in her brain like it is with Tom. We didn't face what Tom is facing now. Tom's niece, Shannon, has set up a donation page at  http://www.indiegogo.com/TomPiccirilli if you would like to make a donation.

More ways to help support Tom and his family can be found at http://litreactor.com/news/help-tom-piccirilli-beat-cancer including the news that his e publisher, Crossroads Press,  is giving him 100 percent of all royalties till the end of the year.

If you can help, please do so.


Kevin

Sandi Knee Surgery Update---Physical Therapy Edition

Sandi finished her seventh session of therapy today and was reevaluated as she will see the doctor this Thursday morning.  The physical therapist thinks she is doing amazingly well at this point. Not only has she been relatively pain free--what pain she has had has been minimal---she has regained a significant amount of her strength in her leg. Range of motion has come a long way though it does have a bit more to go to get back all the way.  He is very positive about her progress.

We shall see what the doctor says Thursday morning. We know for sure she won’t be back to work at the end of the month from a knee standpoint like she wanted, but she is hoping it will be soon. Until the doctor deems her 100 percent and that she can go back she remains on unpaid leave.

Sandi asked me to thank everyone that has donated to us or gone to her store at  http://www.ioffer.com/users/sanditipple  and purchased something. Not only does it help us financially because every dollar truly does help but the sales and making stuff has also been excellent therapy for her mentally. 

She is not one to stay home and the limitations caused by her knee and then the strokes have been very frustrating for her. She is one that needs to be out and about every day and being confined to home has just about driven her nuts.

On behalf of both of us--thank you!

Kevin

Sandi's Knee

Today has been an exhausting and brutal day. But, I did want to give everyone a brief update as to Sandi's knee.

Her knee is doing really well. Beyond really well. He described it doing "incredibly well."

The stitches are now out and she is to remain off of it. Supposed to start physical therapy next week for two to three times a week for the next 10 weeks. This is in addition to her continuing to work her knee on the CMP machine until insurance cuts it off on October 21.

At this point he says she is doing remarkably well and far better than he expected.

In about seven weeks he will evaluate her again.

Sandi asked me to pass along to everyone her thanks for all the prayers, well wishes, etc as she has dealt with the strokes and now this. From both of us---thank you!

Kevin

Ten Days Post Surgery (With Pictures)

Ten days post-surgery at this point and she seems to be doing really well. Pain has been minimal and she is back making things for sale at  http://www.ioffer.com/users/sanditipple where she has holiday as well as everyday items like quilts, baby blankets, stuffed animals, etc. over there. The picture below shows her working this morning while doing the rehab work thanks to the CMP machine. The machine is at the ninety degree mark according to the little digital hands device located at the end of the machine.

As of today, she is up to ninety degrees of flex in the knee having gone up five degrees every day since the day after surgery. What pain she has remains very low and only happens on the inside of her knee cap. She sees the doctor Thursday to have the stitches removed and discuss where she goes from here. When he did the surgery, he said she would be on crutches for four weeks and could not put any weight at all on that leg. She wants to be rid of the crutches now!

                                                                                                                          

And, of course, her cat, Duncan, likes to sleep in it now when she isn’t using it. He also does not much care for being woken up either.

Kevin

A Sandi Knee Surgery Update (With Pictures)

It has been a few days since her surgery and things seem to be going well. Almost too well and that makes me a bit nervous.


Last Saturday morning, the doctor removed what little was left of the meniscus, poked little holes in what little remained of her cartilage to help the new stuff bond in and build, and then pumped the joint full of the replacement stuff. Just before noon he sent her home with dire warnings about how she had to stay off of it a minimum of four weeks and the fact she would be in much worse pain than she had been for a week or more. We were told she had to start using the joint flexing machine, CMP, the same day no matter how much it hurt to prevent the formation of scar tissue and to get the new stuff to go everywhere it should go in the joint.

The picture above is from this morning where I am starting the machine for her first session of two hours.  She has three sessions a day where the machine pushes her lower leg back in order to bend her knee. Every day she goes up by five degrees on the machine. While strapped into it, Sandi sews, watches TV, and even manages to sleep. Pain is very minimal so far as she has had to take one pain pill twice since Saturday.

Sandi is happier than it appears because she got her first post surgery shower last night after managing to navigate up and down our inside stairs. She is doing so well, she can't wait to try and walk on it.

That is forbidden! 

So, she waits, grumbles, and we shall see if the doctor can pull the stitches out late next week as scheduled.


Kevin