May is Here

 Whew,it has been busy around here.  As you know (I think), Patrick is no longer in the hospital.  He's been home the last two months but his recovery is a slow process and we are still making trips to Burlington for check-ups, to the VA hospital in Syracuse to see his Coumadin doctor, getting his new hearing aids, and of course, each week or so it seems, he has blood drawn.  Damn vampires!

This photo is his grandson, checking out his surgery and deciding if they did everything correctly! 







This Papa and his youngest grandson. Look how skinny he is -- he said "gee, I look so tall!"  Hello, Clint is 3 -- duh!

Well, Papa can't have all the fun.  Meme has to have some too.  Here I am with Clint 4-wheeling and he's providing directions.  It was cold that day but we had blast.


Yes, Meme is feeling great these days too.











Now it is Papa's turn to help put a new toy together. For once, something inexpensive turned out to be the best damn toy ever.  Usually you end up with crap that doesn't last two seconds, but this sucker seems to be holding up quite nicely.

Yes, it is now May and we have had snow, rain, temps in the 20s and just flat ass yucky weather.  I did manage to plant 5 rose bushes, and Clint managed to plant three flower pots with a variety of plants. We have tomatoes to plant but we are waiting to see if the weather is gonna warm up first.

My sister has been here the past week and we got busy breaking down boxes in the garage, we hauled them out them out for the garage man to take today. When he pulls up he's gonna wonder what in hell happened.  We also had the lovely Lowe's experience yesterday too.  Wait, it started last Friday when we bought 8 bags of mulch, 4 black and 4 brown.  It was back-ordered but a good sale price.  So yesterday we went to get the bags.  Now this is when shit hitting the fan would have been easier.  First off, it shows we ordered 8 bags of red mulch.  No, we did not, we again repeated what we wanted and now we had to go customer service and get the new codes.  Ok, so far we are not too upset.  Sis gets back to the mulch area and is asked to bring her car around and they'll load the bags for her.  No problem, she arrives and the guy says; "oh you're the lady that wants 8 bags of red mulch, right?"  She looks at him and says; 'WTF!  Are you from another planet? Do you not read or understand English?"  He replies, you're a tad old to be using that word, you are not twenty anymore!  Well, that set her off in good style.  Finally she gets him to understand she wants 4 brown and 4 black bags of mulch and please put the brown bags on the bottom as they are going to Syracuse.  Now she has confused him again and she is ready for a beer.  In the meantime, I with Patrick as he buys a new kitchen faucet  padlock and lawn tractor!
They want to charge us $70 to deliver the tractor 4 miles down the road and I said, "you know what, I would like to see the manager!"  He shows up and within seconds he announces FREE DELIVERY!  Okay, gotta change the sales receipt now and then, Patrick reminds her he gets a 10% military discount too. so again, another receipt change to get everything correct. And people wonder why shopping at Lowe's' is such a pain in the ass. Do they deliberately hire dipshits?

Well, you all have a good day and Justine, we are fine, thanks for caring about us.

Medical Update

Clint felt Papa deserved one of his tractors, and due to the fact that he was in isolation, this tractor would not be coming home so Papa owes him a new tractor!  

This photo was taken at the Canton-Potsdam Hospital back in February.


On Feb 23rd he would go the CPH ER and within an hour or so, it was determined he needed to go to Burlington, Fletcher Allen Hospital, three hours away.  He would go via ambulance and Kel and I would drive ourselves.

This was a fun drive to say the least, and finding the ER at Fletcher Allen was fun too.

He would have a very risky emergency surgery on Feb 24th and Feb 25 his son would fly into Burlington and be here to help us with everything.  That was one long ass week and lots of worries, waiting and wondering. We asked tons of questions and all of us learned more about the pancreas than we ever thought possible.

On March 4th I would take my son to the airport so he could fly home, and around 10 that same morning, Kel and I would head back to Burlington to check on Patrick, etc.


Here is what the road looked like on one of your many trips back and forth between home and Burlington.Wind and drifting snow just made us slow down and that was fine.



Here we are getting on the Ferry Boat, this is considered shorter by us and a nice break from driving. Once on board, shut off your engine and relax.  You can even get out and walk around if you are so inclined.  The best part was a bathroom break was available too.  Hurrah!

Ya, this is what the Ferry looks like and it's a pretty smooth ride, even when the river is a bit choppy and you see white caps on the waves.


Again the Ferry saves time and provides a break from driving. And yes, it is also fun, so thar!


Be fun to see and do this in warmer weather too.

Here's Patrick as he starts to recover and feel better.  On March 7th he was moved from ICU to the Ward (actually he was moved twice but let's not go there) and he is doing much better.

Kel and I headed home Friday, March 8th and I called the next day and Patrick was doing well.  Another tube was gonna be removed, lung volume improving, he was starting physical therapy (getting up and moving),his diet had been upgraded so he was getting actual food, well, not lots but cream of wheat, coffee, etc.  Blood pressure was coming down, etc.  All in all, he's on the road to recovery.

He wants to come home but has yet to grasped the idea that he has weeks of rehab ahead of him. We are hoping this can happen closer to home, as this three hour drive, staying in hotels, etc., can and does get exhausting not to mention expensive.

It's now Sunday, March 10th and I'm waiting for a return call on how he is doing today.  No big deal, they will call when they get a chance.  Fletcher Allen is extremely good about not only taking care of patients but keeping family informed, etc.  they are truly a very caring staff and wonderful doctors.

Yes I am headed back to Burlington on Monday, this time my sister-in-law will go with me and we'll return home Thursday.  The following week is up for grabs as this point, we tend to play each week by ear and if they should release him and let him come home, that would be wonderful too but again, let's not send him home too soon.  That is never a good idea.

So that is the update -- he is on the mend, finally caught a break and ready to do whatever it takes to get himself healthy and out of the hospital.  As for me, I am fine, when I tire, I just stop, return to the hotel and have a nap.  No big deal.  Keep smiling, life is good.

Here's a photo of the kids in the penthouse apartment in Wilston, VT, where we stayed aka Resident Inn 

Kel and I were constantly cold and poor Dean was dying from the heat upstairs, he told us many times, "you girls need to sleep up here, its hotter than hell!"

The photo below is Clint, first he helped shovel snow, via his digger trucks, then found his bike in the garage and decided riding/pushing it would be fun.
 

March Madness

Whew, just when we thought everything was finally getting back to normal, the medical issues began again.

It was Feb 23rd when I took hubby to the ER as he was in pain, shaking, vomiting and just miserable. This is all part or due to his ongoing battle with pancreatitis (also gallstones).  On going since Feb 2nd I should say, prior to this, no health issues to speak of, okay?

Potsdam Hospital ran a few tests and quickly decided this was way over their heads and he needed to go to Burlington, aka Fletcher Allen Medical Center in Vermont.  That's a good three hours from us and he would go via ambulance.  so with about an hour to get ready, Kelly and I went home and packed for what we thought would be a few days in Vermont (wrong thinking and we'd be wearing the same jeans day after day, and clothing was getting worn more than one day too. I would also run out of my pills, etc).

On Sunday, Feb 24th Patrick went in for a very risky emergency surgery at 10:05 pm.  We would hear the results around 1:30 a.m.  He had an exploratory laparotomy, drainage of pancreatic cyst and omental patch repair of perforated duodenum.  The surgeon checked his gallbladder, did not feel any stones ( he could have passed them) and he would have removed the sucker but Pat's blood pressure was dropping so he felt it best to get out and close him up.

He was now gonna spend some time in ICU and in due course another drainage tube would be inserted, via guided imagining at the head of the pancreas to drain fluid from that area (about the size of a tangerine).  He had an epidural inserted back a few days earlier and this numbed his stomach and kept him pretty pain free.  However, we did learn that the duladen (dilaudid) they gave him for pain causes severe confusion. Hell, he had no idea where he was and barely knew his family.  And he was having breathing issues, so they changed his oxygen mask, which forces him to take deeper breaths.

AS of today, he was stable, alert, knows where he is, responds to commands and altho still a very sick man, it looks like he is finally catching a break.  Still in ICU but hopefully he will be moved to ward this week.

Yes,both kids were with him.  Kel and I from the get-go and Dean arrived at the Burlington Airport last Monday.  I just took him to the local airport so he could get his flight back home.  Kel and I plan to head back to Burlington around 10 this morning, for another week of hospital visits, etc.  We came home Saturday and it sure felt good to sleep in my own bed and just chill for two days.

I was out of my pills, which was bothersome to some, laundry definitely was an issue and repacking to insure we have suffice clothes for a week's stay, etc.  Plus Kelly wanted to see and be with her 3-year old son for a few days who missed his Mommy and wanted her to come home. All in all, we hated to leave Patrick with no family but he is in good hands, being well cared for and come on, we needed a break, at least I did.

So that is the update and we thank you deeply for your prayers and warm thoughts. This is gonna be a long haul, as he has weeks of recovery and rehab ahead of him.  No idea when he shall be home but for now, Fletcher Allen is where he and where he'll remain. Positive thoughts people, positive thoughts.

Planets Lining Up

Here we go again, this cactus just blooms whenever it feels like it and although my parents called it a Christmas cactus, it has bloomed at Thanksgiving, Easter, Valentines Day, etc.  It just does it's own thing and each blooming is special.


What makes this odd is it is February and blooming is not something you see..hummm, gotta think it's got it's own schedule!!


The best part is I have not killed this plant but to be fair my sister usually calls me to tell me to water the damn thing.






Okay, on Feb 15 I finished my radiation treatments and even got a certificate -- hell I thought I was getting a PH'D!!!

I know some think this went by fast, six weeks, aka 30 treatments but trust me, it went slower than molasses at times.  It was painless but bothersome to go in each day. Well, painless until the end when the "sunburn" boob started and a cracked/raw sore under the boob just about drove me bonkers.  I am applying every cream known to mankind, including the script which is an antibiotic cream so I don't itch the damn thing-- hoping this clears up soon.  But so happy this is over.  Now my next thing is to see the dentist, get my teeth clean and a note saying it's okay to have this IV infusion to help strengthen my bones.  My bone density exam indicated I am a candidate for osteoporosis so this infusion (once a year) should help.  I'm also taking calcium and Vitamin "D", which I was taking anyway.  Calcium pill is a like a horse pill and you take it twice a day, tried to take both in the morning and that was not working, so one in the morning and one at night.  I figure when they get done cleaning my teeth the dentist will want to do other work as well, and I am not a fan of dentists but hey, you do what you need to do, right?

Also on Feb 15th hubby got to leave the hospital where he had been since Feb 2nd for pancreatitis and pneumonia.  He had a really bad gallstone attack and was a very sick man, spent almost a week in CCU and was so drugged up he won't remember any of that, thank goodness.

After things calm down and he is doing better, he'll need to discuss surgery options and that gallbladder needs to come out.  But for now he is home and that is good news.

He just told me he lost 25 pounds but he does not recommend this diet.  If he continues to lose weight, which he needs to do, he will feel much better.


So that is our update and our February..fun, huh?  More another day, keep smiling folks, life is good.

Hello February

I know its just hard to believe it is February and it's like January flew by, eh?  And in this family each month brings on new challenges, some of which we did not expect or even want.

On Saturday hubby complained of stomach pain and wanted to go the ER,which was done.  We spent considerable hours in the ER procedure room before he was finally admitted -- pancreatitis and a very inflamed pancreatic   Basically its a gallstone issue.

His first room was unreal.  His roommate, an elderly man with a heart condition had his entire family visiting constantly or those far away calling him and wanting/expecting him to chat.  They were loud, rude and stupid.  When told there was a limit on how many could be in the room, two would leave and five would enter.  At one point we got silly and made comments like:  "gee Ma, look they got indoor toilets," or "okay, who has the teeth today?"  These be some strange critters and what a good looking bunch!


They had all the chairs too.  Poor hubby was trying to rest, he was in alot of pain and this noise was just too much.  I finally said they had to move him into another room, this was just too damn much.  The ward is full but as soon as a bed opened he was moved.

Monday, as I'm going to get my stitches removed after my radiation treatment the hospital calls and he's been moved into CCU. He is being monitored and there was talk if things didn't improve he might be transferred to a bigger hospital, aka Burlington.  But thankfully, he passed the stone(s) and started to improve.  Make no mistake he is a very sick man and will be in the hospital for at least ten days.  Gotta get this inflammation under control and no surgeon would touch him at this point.  I mean, its not even clear if he will need his gallbladder removed -- that's a waiting game.

Last night the doctor called and said the latest test results were good and he seems to be on the recovery road, he still is sick and will remain in CCU but things are improving. The best part, the doctor said, is he will not remember any of this..thank goodness.

So today is my 22nd radiation treatment and next week we'll target just the tumor area and by the 15th I shall be done with this stuff.  I feel good but fatigue does hit now and then and wipes me out.  I'll be so glad when all this is done but hey I am disease free and my hair is starting to come back.

And its colder than hell here today too -17 and gonna get colder tonight and they say we'll get more snow, how thrilling.  Hey, you all have a good day.

Us in Vietnam many years ago.