Mom had her appointment with her oncologist last Friday (Sept 15). A brief summary is as follows:
1. Mom's surgery could be scheduled any time now. She is doing very well and it doesn't appear that they need to wait much longer. (Mom wants to feel that she has regained enough of her strength that she will not contiue to have dizzy spells which she has once in a while).
2. Her platelet count was 134. This is very good. They usually want it to be 140+/- before doing surgery. She will have her blood checked again in 2 weeks. The doctor cut her predizone back to 1/2 of her current dose. She now takes 1/2 pill every other day. So she is slowly being weaned from this medication.
CT Scan: Mom's nuerologist wanted a CT scan of her head and neck area. He felt that her symptoms indicated that she could have some blockage there. This would explain the dizzy spells. She had the CT scan yesterday and the results will be back next Monday. If there is blockage, they will have to go in and clear it out.
Aside from that, Mom seems to be doing very well. She went grocery shopping again on Saturday and out to lunch with Jamelah and me after church on Sunday. She thought she might try going to church this Sunday if she was having a good day. I was glad she went with us it was a beautiful day. Touches of fall everywhere and hard to believe that that time of year is here. Mom gets to go out, so it wasn't like she had been cooped up in the house forever, but this time it was all for fun... no needle pokes and no doctors examining her. We had a good time.
Mom has 2 more appointments with doctors this week. I am trying to keep up with this every week so you will know the latest. Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks again for your prayers and support. There is no question about it. God has been with us through this time.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Sorry, Just Real People Here!
Just in case this is your first time to read this blog thing, I work as a church secretary. Which is way cool. Our church is anything but typical and this job, like any job, comes with its frustrations. Here lately I have been amazed at the number of people who call and ask for the Pastor and when I explain that he is unavailable, instruct me to give them his "voice mail."
OK... sure, uh, how do I explain this. We don't have that type phone service here at church. It would be nice, but then again maybe not. I then have to explain to them, that I AM Pastor's voice mail and you are more than welcome to leave a message with me and I'll see that he gets it. This seems to leave some people just a little perplexed. "What? I have to talk to a person. Well, I'm used to machines."
At that point I figure, smiling to myself, I can tell them to call right back and I won't answer the phone and will let the "answering machine" pick it up. Which is really a joke, because during my scheduled hours the answering machine is not turned on. Why? Because, I'm expected to answer the phone. And when messages get left on the "machine" who clears it? Oh, that would be me.
Of course, it would be kinda fun to create a fake voice mail message and say "just one moment, please" then wait a second and go into some spiel and wait for them to leave their name and number and write it down on the message pad to pass on to Pastor. I'd mess it up, of course, by saying something absurd after they had finished like "thanks for calling. I'm sure Pastor will be sorry he missed you."
Yep, we're totally not high teck here at our church, at least phone wise. So for the time being I'm going to be the answering device whenever anyone calls. Wait, I have to answer the phone. I wonder if it's for Pastor. I hope not. He's out of the building. Ho Hum!
OK... sure, uh, how do I explain this. We don't have that type phone service here at church. It would be nice, but then again maybe not. I then have to explain to them, that I AM Pastor's voice mail and you are more than welcome to leave a message with me and I'll see that he gets it. This seems to leave some people just a little perplexed. "What? I have to talk to a person. Well, I'm used to machines."
At that point I figure, smiling to myself, I can tell them to call right back and I won't answer the phone and will let the "answering machine" pick it up. Which is really a joke, because during my scheduled hours the answering machine is not turned on. Why? Because, I'm expected to answer the phone. And when messages get left on the "machine" who clears it? Oh, that would be me.
Of course, it would be kinda fun to create a fake voice mail message and say "just one moment, please" then wait a second and go into some spiel and wait for them to leave their name and number and write it down on the message pad to pass on to Pastor. I'd mess it up, of course, by saying something absurd after they had finished like "thanks for calling. I'm sure Pastor will be sorry he missed you."
Yep, we're totally not high teck here at our church, at least phone wise. So for the time being I'm going to be the answering device whenever anyone calls. Wait, I have to answer the phone. I wonder if it's for Pastor. I hope not. He's out of the building. Ho Hum!
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Mom Update: September 9
It's been a quiet week in Mom's life this week. Only one trip to a doctor's office. Can you imagine? Seems strange with how busy they have kept her the last few months.
This week she went to a nuerologist to have her leg checked to see why she had a problem with it before her surgery. The doctor checked her carefully and agreed with Mom's thoughts that she probably had a slight stroke. So, more tests ahead. They will do a CT on her head and neck area to determine if there are any blood clots. The doctor thinks from the way Mom responded to tests in his office that she may have one in her neck. This will also let him know if she has had a stroke. The CT scan will be this week. But things, doctor wise, are pretty quiet for Mom. Just check-ups and getting stronger every day.
She is feeling more like herself and becoming more independent. She went to the grocery store today, the first real outing she has had in months. She seemed to just enjoy being out and doing regular stuff.
Jamelah is off to Grand Rapids tomorrow for a special bead show (she makes jewelry) and is looking to buy some supplies. She does her first craft show in a couple weeks. This is all exciting. But I had told Mom I figured we could hang out some since the kid would be gone and I'd come up and have lunch with her (I had thought I might get her to go out, maybe?} But, she surprised me by saying she had bought something and was planning to cook lunch for me and have it ready when I got out of church. Well! What do you know about that? I was surprised about some of the groceries she was buying. She has no appetite and has lost weight. Her visiting nurse told her the medication she was on would effect her appetite, but she knows she needs to eat more. Hopefully, making and having someone with her for lunch will help her feel more like eating. She'll have left overs too, I'm sure.
Well, Phyllis and James finally got in some shuffleboard and even won a prize. This is the first chance they have had to play. Everything seems a little more normal and we are thankful for the good medical care Mom has gotten and the assurance we have that God is looking after her.
Mom still feels a little house bound and was really excited by a letter and picture of her sister in California. She enjoys hearing from you all. Thanks for being with her as she goes through this difficult time.
This week she went to a nuerologist to have her leg checked to see why she had a problem with it before her surgery. The doctor checked her carefully and agreed with Mom's thoughts that she probably had a slight stroke. So, more tests ahead. They will do a CT on her head and neck area to determine if there are any blood clots. The doctor thinks from the way Mom responded to tests in his office that she may have one in her neck. This will also let him know if she has had a stroke. The CT scan will be this week. But things, doctor wise, are pretty quiet for Mom. Just check-ups and getting stronger every day.
She is feeling more like herself and becoming more independent. She went to the grocery store today, the first real outing she has had in months. She seemed to just enjoy being out and doing regular stuff.
Jamelah is off to Grand Rapids tomorrow for a special bead show (she makes jewelry) and is looking to buy some supplies. She does her first craft show in a couple weeks. This is all exciting. But I had told Mom I figured we could hang out some since the kid would be gone and I'd come up and have lunch with her (I had thought I might get her to go out, maybe?} But, she surprised me by saying she had bought something and was planning to cook lunch for me and have it ready when I got out of church. Well! What do you know about that? I was surprised about some of the groceries she was buying. She has no appetite and has lost weight. Her visiting nurse told her the medication she was on would effect her appetite, but she knows she needs to eat more. Hopefully, making and having someone with her for lunch will help her feel more like eating. She'll have left overs too, I'm sure.
Well, Phyllis and James finally got in some shuffleboard and even won a prize. This is the first chance they have had to play. Everything seems a little more normal and we are thankful for the good medical care Mom has gotten and the assurance we have that God is looking after her.
Mom still feels a little house bound and was really excited by a letter and picture of her sister in California. She enjoys hearing from you all. Thanks for being with her as she goes through this difficult time.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Oh, What a Day!
I had no clue when I crawled out of bed this morning with a bale of cotton in my mouth what an interesting day I was about to jump into.
Warned by the nurse at the doctor's office that I am not to eat or drink after midnight and then head straight to the clinic for some blood work, I tried to ignore the bale of cotton syndrome and headed for the bathroom. I brushed my teeth an extra long time trying to get the saliva to reach the back of my parched throat without much luck. I gargled with warm water and tried not to swallow any thinking this would take care of the problem. It did - for exactly 5 seconds.
I gave up and got dressed so I could be the first person down to the clinic and head for some serious liquid imbidationing. Ready a bit early I decided to check my email and goof off with things that would keep my brain occupied so I wouldn't think about wanting a drink of water or a can of Diet Coke to sting away the dryness in my throat.
My daughter had gone back to our fenced in back yard with our precious dog Sweet Pea (Who we try really hard to keep in the yard which is not an altogether easy thing. It means you have to stand next to the weak spot in the fence so she can't get under it and start wandering around the neighbors yard). We've got curtaining Sweet Pea's desire to wander down to a fine art and she hasn't escaped in ages. So I was quite surprised when I stepped out the back door hurrying to the clinic to be sure to be first in line, to see our darling girl standing at the bottom of the slight hill that is beside our back door. I call her and offer her a treat. She looks at me like I have to make her a better offer. I glance over into the back yard to see my daughter standing in the middle of the yard with a really befuddled look on her face. "She's over here!" I expalin. She then looks at me like I must be daft and continues looking around the yard for the missing dog.
I return to the kitchen to get a treat for the dog. Come back out and try to entice her my way. That's when I realize that poor Sweet Pea seems to have hurt her front leg since she is walking really funny, hobbling around on 3 legs. I call her again. She turns and looks at me again and I hold out the truly delectable treats for her to see. But there are way too many much more interesting things in the neighbor's yard to investigate. Now this incline between the two yards is really steep and there's no way I'm going to try going down it with my bad knees. I'd have to get down on my butt and scoot and once down I'd never be able to get back up.
But Jamelah has arrived on the scene now wondering how the dog got out. She couldn't have gotten our her regular way. I pointed to the gap under the gate. We've been wondering how long it would be before she tried it, well, we now have the answer to that question. We return to trying to get our girl to climb up the hill to us. She continues to ignore us. That's when we realize that her foot, evidently in crawling under the gate, is caught in the the training collar around her neck and she can't get it back out. Lucky break for us. On three legs she isn't going far.
Jamelah takes the plunge down the incline and Sweet Pea hobbles over for her treat and is rescued from her 3 legged problem. They start around the neighbor's yard instead of climbing back up to our door. I'm thinking my chance of being first is screwed.
I'm right. I'm thrid. Which still isn't too bad. I wo't go into the details of the rest of my morning, but the step out the door was just a foretaste. My stop to pick up mail at the post office was derailed leaving me to arrive at work late. Once there things continued being just a little off kilter all day long. But soon my 4 hour day ended and I headed home.
I decided, since we had a weak spot at the rear of the yard and a weak spot at the front of the yard and since I have no magic powers and can only be in one place at a time, to wait for my daughter to get home before letting Sweet Pea out. Once Jamelah was home, we THOUGHT it would be a good idea to let our dog out right away. She would be about to burst with needing to go pee. So, out to the yard we went. I stationed myself at the gap under the gate and Jamelah walked the dog to the weak spot at the rear of the yard before letting her off her leash. We were right about her fairly bursting; to get back out of the yard, that is. She made a beeline straight for me, but I was ready. But not ready enough. Because she hadn't gone under the gate, she had gone under the fence at an entirely different place and I wasn't standing there... and in a second, despite my loud, "NO!, NO!, NO!" she was gone again. This time unhindered by a foot being caught in her collar. She was soon soon out of sight.
We quickly got in the car and took off after her and caught her across the street. She quickly jumped into the car for her treat and we came back home. We still have to get the dog into the back yard to do "her business" but this time we know where she went out. So, Jamelah decided to stand at the front of the yard at the vulnerable place and I walked the dog to the back and let her off leash again; and off she went like a bat out of hell. To our chagrin she was quicker than us and she was under the fence and gone again. We jumped into the car and around the neighborhood we went. But she managed to evade us. She managed, in fact, to evade us for a long time. We thought we could hear her bark. We checked to only find a different dog in their yard barking. We began to pray to find her because we are now worried about how far astray she has gone. We hear a famliar bark closer to home, we investigate, but again it is the wrong dog. We hear another bark and head towards it and find our beloved Sweet Pea standing in our front yard with a quizzical look on her face as if asking "Where have you been?".
Into the car she bounded and this time we headed to Tractor Supply. We got a long tether, a stake and a harness. Sweet Pea's days of running amok in the back yard have come to an end. My brother in law came over and pounded the stake down good and secure. We tethered her up and she took off full tilt for the fence when she was rudely yanked back when she reached the end of the line. She was totally amazed.
The next 3 times "out" she spent most of the time crying and whining and we did a lot of crying with her, but finally she seems to have noW gotten the hang of it and has adjusted to the space the tether lets her go.
Jamelah is signing up for obedience classes for the fall and we are hoping by teaching her "come" and "stay" the tether will no longer be necessary. Truthfully, tieing her up was harder on us than on her. But, that's it for now. I guess we need the Dog Wrisperer to come visit us for a bit so we can teach our dog that she can't go beyond the fence.
Warned by the nurse at the doctor's office that I am not to eat or drink after midnight and then head straight to the clinic for some blood work, I tried to ignore the bale of cotton syndrome and headed for the bathroom. I brushed my teeth an extra long time trying to get the saliva to reach the back of my parched throat without much luck. I gargled with warm water and tried not to swallow any thinking this would take care of the problem. It did - for exactly 5 seconds.
I gave up and got dressed so I could be the first person down to the clinic and head for some serious liquid imbidationing. Ready a bit early I decided to check my email and goof off with things that would keep my brain occupied so I wouldn't think about wanting a drink of water or a can of Diet Coke to sting away the dryness in my throat.
My daughter had gone back to our fenced in back yard with our precious dog Sweet Pea (Who we try really hard to keep in the yard which is not an altogether easy thing. It means you have to stand next to the weak spot in the fence so she can't get under it and start wandering around the neighbors yard). We've got curtaining Sweet Pea's desire to wander down to a fine art and she hasn't escaped in ages. So I was quite surprised when I stepped out the back door hurrying to the clinic to be sure to be first in line, to see our darling girl standing at the bottom of the slight hill that is beside our back door. I call her and offer her a treat. She looks at me like I have to make her a better offer. I glance over into the back yard to see my daughter standing in the middle of the yard with a really befuddled look on her face. "She's over here!" I expalin. She then looks at me like I must be daft and continues looking around the yard for the missing dog.
I return to the kitchen to get a treat for the dog. Come back out and try to entice her my way. That's when I realize that poor Sweet Pea seems to have hurt her front leg since she is walking really funny, hobbling around on 3 legs. I call her again. She turns and looks at me again and I hold out the truly delectable treats for her to see. But there are way too many much more interesting things in the neighbor's yard to investigate. Now this incline between the two yards is really steep and there's no way I'm going to try going down it with my bad knees. I'd have to get down on my butt and scoot and once down I'd never be able to get back up.
But Jamelah has arrived on the scene now wondering how the dog got out. She couldn't have gotten our her regular way. I pointed to the gap under the gate. We've been wondering how long it would be before she tried it, well, we now have the answer to that question. We return to trying to get our girl to climb up the hill to us. She continues to ignore us. That's when we realize that her foot, evidently in crawling under the gate, is caught in the the training collar around her neck and she can't get it back out. Lucky break for us. On three legs she isn't going far.
Jamelah takes the plunge down the incline and Sweet Pea hobbles over for her treat and is rescued from her 3 legged problem. They start around the neighbor's yard instead of climbing back up to our door. I'm thinking my chance of being first is screwed.
I'm right. I'm thrid. Which still isn't too bad. I wo't go into the details of the rest of my morning, but the step out the door was just a foretaste. My stop to pick up mail at the post office was derailed leaving me to arrive at work late. Once there things continued being just a little off kilter all day long. But soon my 4 hour day ended and I headed home.
I decided, since we had a weak spot at the rear of the yard and a weak spot at the front of the yard and since I have no magic powers and can only be in one place at a time, to wait for my daughter to get home before letting Sweet Pea out. Once Jamelah was home, we THOUGHT it would be a good idea to let our dog out right away. She would be about to burst with needing to go pee. So, out to the yard we went. I stationed myself at the gap under the gate and Jamelah walked the dog to the weak spot at the rear of the yard before letting her off her leash. We were right about her fairly bursting; to get back out of the yard, that is. She made a beeline straight for me, but I was ready. But not ready enough. Because she hadn't gone under the gate, she had gone under the fence at an entirely different place and I wasn't standing there... and in a second, despite my loud, "NO!, NO!, NO!" she was gone again. This time unhindered by a foot being caught in her collar. She was soon soon out of sight.
We quickly got in the car and took off after her and caught her across the street. She quickly jumped into the car for her treat and we came back home. We still have to get the dog into the back yard to do "her business" but this time we know where she went out. So, Jamelah decided to stand at the front of the yard at the vulnerable place and I walked the dog to the back and let her off leash again; and off she went like a bat out of hell. To our chagrin she was quicker than us and she was under the fence and gone again. We jumped into the car and around the neighborhood we went. But she managed to evade us. She managed, in fact, to evade us for a long time. We thought we could hear her bark. We checked to only find a different dog in their yard barking. We began to pray to find her because we are now worried about how far astray she has gone. We hear a famliar bark closer to home, we investigate, but again it is the wrong dog. We hear another bark and head towards it and find our beloved Sweet Pea standing in our front yard with a quizzical look on her face as if asking "Where have you been?".
Into the car she bounded and this time we headed to Tractor Supply. We got a long tether, a stake and a harness. Sweet Pea's days of running amok in the back yard have come to an end. My brother in law came over and pounded the stake down good and secure. We tethered her up and she took off full tilt for the fence when she was rudely yanked back when she reached the end of the line. She was totally amazed.
The next 3 times "out" she spent most of the time crying and whining and we did a lot of crying with her, but finally she seems to have noW gotten the hang of it and has adjusted to the space the tether lets her go.
Jamelah is signing up for obedience classes for the fall and we are hoping by teaching her "come" and "stay" the tether will no longer be necessary. Truthfully, tieing her up was harder on us than on her. But, that's it for now. I guess we need the Dog Wrisperer to come visit us for a bit so we can teach our dog that she can't go beyond the fence.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Happy Labor day!
It is difficult for me to imagine that we are in September and that this is Labor Day Weekend. But, no matter how difficult it is for me to imagine it; the trees are dropping leaves, the air feels strangely like fall and I have to take a deep breath and face the fact that I will soon be dragging out my winter coat and getting up early enough to scrape ice off my windshield.
But, here in our country this is a big weekend for bar-b-queing and enjoying the last long weekend of summer. I hadn't thought about the neighborhood air filling up with the aroma of grilling meat until I hit the grocery store this morning and saw a dude putting a rack of ribs in his cart that filled the whole bottom of the thing up and then proceeded to pile in packages of hamburger meat and then head on to the brats. Guess they were going to have one heck of a party.
Me, I was there to buy orange juice. The kid and I are both down with some kind of bug. I got hit first and quite stupidly didn't realize that the reason I felt so punk was because I was sick. My daughter told me I should not be going around Mom and exposing her to whatever it was that I had. I thought about it and finally called Phyllis. I filled like a smuck begging off from spending the night with Mom, but the truth is, I realized it was probably for the best. Phyllis agreed and so Mom spent that night with Phyllis. It wasn't like I was going to get over a "cold" in one night, however. I did go to work the rest of the week but ran a fever and mostly tried not to lay my head down on my desk and go to sleep. Mom spent the nights with Phyllis
I figured by the time the weekend got around I'd be pretty much recovered. Saturday morning I went over to my sister's house, fully intending to pick up Mom and give her a ride home, while Phyllis finished up doing "hair" for Saturday. I was there about 30 minutes when I realized that what I really wanted to do was go somewhere and just lie down. So, I left. Went home, hit my recliner and slept most of the day away. Well, today I feel better but am glad I have a long weekend to recover in. Jamelah started in feeling sick on Friday so we are mopping around the house doing the "getting plenty of rest" and watching videos. Ahh... Happy Labor Day!
On a happy note. Mom is getting stronger every day. She enjoys her independence and has decided that there is no reason why she needs someone to spend the nights with her anymore. She talked it over with her nurse and was told she should be fine. So, last night, Mom spent her first night alone. She did well, and is feeling good about it. Counting the days until the surgery. Glad she doesn't have to go to some doctor appointment every day.
So, it is a Happy day. A happy Labor Day!
But, here in our country this is a big weekend for bar-b-queing and enjoying the last long weekend of summer. I hadn't thought about the neighborhood air filling up with the aroma of grilling meat until I hit the grocery store this morning and saw a dude putting a rack of ribs in his cart that filled the whole bottom of the thing up and then proceeded to pile in packages of hamburger meat and then head on to the brats. Guess they were going to have one heck of a party.
Me, I was there to buy orange juice. The kid and I are both down with some kind of bug. I got hit first and quite stupidly didn't realize that the reason I felt so punk was because I was sick. My daughter told me I should not be going around Mom and exposing her to whatever it was that I had. I thought about it and finally called Phyllis. I filled like a smuck begging off from spending the night with Mom, but the truth is, I realized it was probably for the best. Phyllis agreed and so Mom spent that night with Phyllis. It wasn't like I was going to get over a "cold" in one night, however. I did go to work the rest of the week but ran a fever and mostly tried not to lay my head down on my desk and go to sleep. Mom spent the nights with Phyllis
I figured by the time the weekend got around I'd be pretty much recovered. Saturday morning I went over to my sister's house, fully intending to pick up Mom and give her a ride home, while Phyllis finished up doing "hair" for Saturday. I was there about 30 minutes when I realized that what I really wanted to do was go somewhere and just lie down. So, I left. Went home, hit my recliner and slept most of the day away. Well, today I feel better but am glad I have a long weekend to recover in. Jamelah started in feeling sick on Friday so we are mopping around the house doing the "getting plenty of rest" and watching videos. Ahh... Happy Labor Day!
On a happy note. Mom is getting stronger every day. She enjoys her independence and has decided that there is no reason why she needs someone to spend the nights with her anymore. She talked it over with her nurse and was told she should be fine. So, last night, Mom spent her first night alone. She did well, and is feeling good about it. Counting the days until the surgery. Glad she doesn't have to go to some doctor appointment every day.
So, it is a Happy day. A happy Labor Day!
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