Category Archives: one of those days
Writing through cancer: For the Week of June 30, 2013: Rediscovering Summer’s Joys
Through our health crisis’ s, Barry and I did not think a lot about what we were losing, we focused on changing our behaviors, unknowingly bringing a few Summer’s Joys back into our lives.
Gone are the days of lying on the couch, doing nothing to benefit ourselves. We have a plan for each day of the week. When our schedule is not saturated with appointments, we find an activity and get involved. We have found a local farmer’s market that carries items from around the world. We are enjoying experimenting with our new discoveries. There are several fruits from around the world, that might loook a little strange, but are quite tasty.
We walk, we work out, we have found a therapy pool to try out this summer, we garden, we feed the birds in the yard and plant things especially for the wildlife around. We hope to catch a few photos of them nibbling on the goodies we have provided.
We have a few special projects planned for the yard, but will have to wait on chemo, radiation and the good southern sun to cool off before we can get started. The Georgia heat and humidity has to die down to be productive outside. It will drain you in a flat second if you aren’t careful. I think getting the cast off will help a lot.
Dad has been really sick this summer. The doctor has actually not given him long to live. He is being discharged home on Hospice care. Been busy trying to help as much as possible. Poor Kristie is worn out. I wish we could help more. We are being as supportive as possible.
We have planted a few Japanese Maple Trees, that are looking incredible. I love watching what we plant grow. I can’t wait to work on our butterfly garden. I love watching the flutterflies and hummingbirds go wild on the blossoms.
With chemo and radiation, our summer joy’s will be early fall joys this year, but hey….we have something to look forward to.
Am I ready?
Such a simple question for process about to begin. God is watching over me, Barry will be by my side, Emory Winship Hospital will be providing the care and mom will be home waiting to cook a nice healthy meal. I’m hoping my stomach will let me eat. I do not need to worry about daddy, because Kristie is in control. I feel sorry for the nurse assigned to Pop yesterday.
My clothes are laid out and ready to go. My tablet will be charged, allowing me access to books, games, the Bible and whatever else the internet may provide as entertainment while waiting for the infusion to complete. I can do more research on chemotherapy and the type cancer I have. I can write a step by step post on what chemo is like. I would not want to bore you to death.
I have to repeat this process every three weeks for four doses. Then we swich to radiation. Radiation is scheduled to be daily for a certain period of time. I’ll find that out when the time comes.
My cousin has given the inside track on whst to ask for from the goof doctors. She let me know what worked for her and what she has heard from other people. I believe Barry and I are as ready as we can be.
There is a thunderstorm brewing here. We can hardly keep up with the grass. We’ve had so much rain, the flowers are h8rgeous and yhe grass is growing like crazy. I’m going to hit the sack. Hope everyone has a beautiful day tomorrow!
Surgery under local anesthesia!
If you read my blog regularly, you are aware that I was scheduled for right wrist surgery. To decrease my exposure to anesthetics, I elected to have this cyst removed with only a local anesthetic.
I’ve been under general anesthesia 14 times since 2009. Each time, it appears to take longer for the anesthesia to get out of my system and it also takes longer my body to recover. My responses are slower after each surgery. I have tried everything I can think of to flush the medication from my system, but I can tell I’m less responsive, each time, for a longer period of time.
Trying a local this time was an experience. Dr. P. Is a very nice man and excellent physician, as I found out during this surgery, quite a comedian.
He numbed my hand prior to surgery. My hand looked like half of a pear with all of that Lidocaine injected into it. Dr. P. stated, “prepare to feel your finger nails go numb. See you in there soon.” and walked out of the room.
A few moments later, I was wheeled into the surgical suite and placed on the table. The staff prepared me for surgery. The nurse stuck my right arm into a giant sock and then through a hole in the drape. They used some kind of belt to strap my arm to an extension on the table. I guess they were making sure I could not pop Dr. P. in the chin, while he worked on that wrist.
After they had the strap in place, they let me know what was about to happen. After they get the drape in place, the plan was to cut the sock away and to clean my right arm for the operation. When they completed that task, the doctor would be in to start.
Dr. P. entered the suite. The comedy started the minute he walked in.
“This is the right arm amputation, isn’t it?” He said as he peeked under the drape, and asked me, ” Did they ask what you want for lunch? They will be serving in about 20 minutes. Can’t let the staff get hungry, can I?” He giggled and walked over to my right arm to get started.
They started the procedure. About 20 minutes into the operation, I hear Dr. P. say loudly, “What the?” and then total silence. My question was of course, “What what?” He told me not to worry, “just a little blood”. He continued with the operation.
At a certain point in the procedure, he picked my right hand up and had me bend my fingers. The purpose was to test his handy work. When I bent my fingers, something popped. Dr. P. peeked in the drape and stated, “you are strong. I’ve got to redo it, might take a sec.”
I dozed off for a bit and was suddenly awake at another “WHAT?” I asked what was wrong, and he started trying to get me to let him take the drape down to watch. He said I was so full of questions, he said I should watch. As a nurse, it takes a lot to make my stomach turn. But I have never been able to watch a doctor work on my body. I have passed out cold watching a procedure on myself. My saving grace was I couldn’t see without my glssses, so he left me alone.
When finished, the drape was removed, a hard splint was applied to my wrist and I was finally discharged. A procedure scheduled to take 30 minutes, took 3 hours. At least he kept it interesting. I’m not sure how I feel about another local anesthetic. My wrist is healing well. I get my cast tomorrow. I think I’ll get hot pink. Might be a good color to wear into chemo.
Daily Prompt: Moment of Kindness
Describe a moment of kindness, between you and someone else — loved one or complete stranger.Photographers, artists, poets: show us KINDNESS.
While driving home from work one evening (at that time I worked the second shift, 3-11pm at a local hospital). I did not like driving home at that hour, but the money was perfect for a low-stress position. I enjoyed the job, making the drive worthwhile.
It felt like a long drive home, due to the main route between the two towns. It was a long country road, through the sticks, in the middle of no where. One gas station stood as the only sign of civilization on the ride.
While driving home one evening, just past midnight. While driving down a big hill, I noticed a car on the side of the road, flashers going. As I drove closer to the car, I realized the car was empty. I made sure no one was laying around the car and continued my ride home.
Approximately, one half a mile from where the broken down car sat, I drove past a man. He was dressed in a suit, walking up a huge hill, carrying four suitcases and sweating bullets. I backed up, opened my window and asked if he needed a ride and if so, to get in.
I then told him that if he intended to kill me and steal my car, I’d get out and let him have it now. If he genuinly needed a ride, to get in and I’d take him to the closest pay phone.
He put his bags in the back, and got in the front seat. He buckled up. I gave him my extra bottle of water snd we headed to the local gas station. I made sure he had help on the way and headed home, myself.
He never said a word, other than “Thank you, ma’am”!
One year later, to date, I received a surprise. It was a dozen pale pink roses from a shop in a smalltown, nearby. The man I picked up, was the mayor of the next town over.
He sent roses on that date for 12 years. There was a small article in their paper, that week, about the kindness of strangers. I kept a copy for years, but he stated what a shame it is that there aren’t more kind strangers still out there. This happened over 20 years ago!
Lunch at Applebees: A New Barry Moment
Barry and I had lunch at the local Applebees. I guess we eat there too often, they know us by name and remember our usuals.
We tried out there new summer menu, but we stayed on the lighter side. Gave me a few ideas to try at home. We’ll see.
The waitress brought our check out. Barry gave her what was needed to handle the bill. As he gave it to her for processing, he said, “If that card doesn’t work, I have a doctor’s excuse that allows me to wash dishes.”
When she returned after processing the payment, she stated, “You can do dishes if you want, but the card went through.”
I quickly told her, “I do not know him, he offered me lunch and I said sure.”
She said, “Hey, you got a free lunch” and sped off back to work.
Barry can be such a clown. I love him for trying to lighten my mood. We have a huge day ahead of us and he knows I stressing a little. He is just a sweetheart.
Tomorrow
The doctor has decided that my left knee needs replacing. At the moment my left leg is swollen from the ankle up to my hip. I look like I have a cankle. Since my brain tumor surgery, I haven’t been light on my feet.
The falls I have taken, since brain surgery really screwed up my balance, ha done a job on my left knee. I’ve been incredibly lucky and only ended up in the emergency room one time. I had forgotten how bad getting stitches hurts! But all the falling has taken care of any useful cartilage in my knee.
With the breast cancer, I’m still waiting to hear which treatments I will be getting. So, I am sure knee surgery is going to have to wait until after my treatments. I’m making a list of questions, for both doctors, I need to add that to both list.
This is crazy, I’m putting my health issues in a que to be handled in order of importance. Cowden Syndrome strikes again!
Wednesday afternoon, I am having a cyst removed from my right wrist. I’ve had wear a cast a few times when the cyst was enlarged. Apparently to get it to stop, it needs removing. My right hand is my only good hand. I need to keep it in shape as long as possible. I’m not looking forward to a cast or brace again, but I’m a tough cookie. I can handle it! Wish me luck!
Related articles
- Sleeping After Back Surgery (plushbeds.com)
- Diseases, conditions that cause knee pains (trinidadexpress.com)
- My Young Teacher (beatingcowdens.com)
Word of the Weekend: Hoise
hoise:
verb
: lift, raise; especially
: to raise into position by or as if by means of tackle
Bethany was selected by her Girl Scout troop to hoise the American flag for Monday’s Memorial Day ceremony on the town green. “In order for [New England Patriot’s quarterback Tom] Brady to play a great game, which is a must if the Pats want to hoise the Lombardi Trophy, he needs to stay upright.” — From an article by Nick Curcuru and Michael Muldoon in the Gloucester Daily Times(Massachusetts), January 27, 2013 Sponsored Link
The connection between “hoise” and “hoist” is a bit confusing. The two words are essentially synonymous variants, but “hoist” is far more common. You’ll rarely encounter “hoise” in any of its regular forms: “hoise,” “hoised,” or “hoising.” But a variant of its past participle shows up fairly frequently as part of a set expression.
And now, here’s the confusing part—that variant past participle is “hoist”! The expression is “hoist with (or by) one’s own petard,” which means “victimized or hurt by one’s own scheme.” This oft-heard phrase owes its popularity to Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “For ’tis the sport to have the engineer hoist with his own petar[d].” (A petard is a medieval explosive. The quote implies that the engineer—the person who sets the explosive device—is blown into the air by the explosion of his own device.)
Jill and Barry Baynes
Daily Prompt: In Good Faith: A brother’s wish
Describe a memory or encounter in which you considered your faith, religion, spirituality — or lack of — for the first time.
Photographers, artists, poets: show us FAITH.
During a shift at my first job, I admitted a man to my unit that was in bad shape. I discovered his admission was at the request of his Hospice, for pain management. Being a new graduate nurse, you get crazy assignments and tough cases as learning experiences.
I completed the proper paperwork, gave the patient medications his doctor ordered, did what I could to help the family and make them comfortable. I gave the report to my charge nurse and then; started rounds on my other assigned patients.
The supervisor met me in the hallway to tell me of a status change for my new patient. When I returned to his room, I met a representative from his Hospice and he introduced me to the family gathered to say good-bye. My new patient’s diagnosis was End Stage Pancreatic Cancer and his last wishes were to be admitted to Room 434 at the Regional Hospital, where his wife passed away. She died, in 1984, in the same room where he laid dying now.
The Hospice nurse explained his wishes a little better. When his time was close, he requested to be admitted to the hospital for pain management. For about two hours, I played private-duty nurse to his family for whatever need may arise. I tenderly cared for their family member and provided pain management, as ordered, to keep him as comfortable as my capable hands could.
It did not take long for the signs that God was calling him home to show up. His respiration’s were becoming shallow and his heart rate slowing. When the end was upon us, our patient’s brother stepped forward and stated. ” I’d give anything, to see him sit up in bed and take one more breath.”
As in slow motion, my patient slowly, sat up in bed and drew in a long exacerbated breath, fell back on his pillow and was gone. Everyone just looked around the room in amazement. The Good Lord swept in and took him off to be with his wife.
As I watched the family leaving and listened to their stories of this man’s life, I imagined he and his wife walking, hand-in hand, down a beautiful street in heaven.
My faith has always been strong. When it falters just a little, I think back to the 39 years of patients I have cared for and the many unexplained things I have seen. I have no doubt in my mind, there is a God and he is with us always! This story is about my first spiritual encounter. I will never forget the feeling in that room. I left the room full of faith and longing. I get goosebumps, just thinking of that night.
Six-word Saturday
Marriage takes tons of hard work!
Jill and Barry Baynes
Two Rights Attempting To Make A Left! 
You must be logged in to post a comment.