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aylinnMaternal status update:
My mom is still in the hospital. She had a full hysterectomy plus bits & pieces of assorted nearby things resection & pulled out. They also cleared out her belly fat. We're still waiting on details as to where the cancer started & what type of cancer it was. Fortunately, it does not seem to have gotten into any other major organs. She had a reaction to the morphine when they tried to put her on food by mouth last week. That got a bit hairy & required some re-intubation. This has passed.
So she's off the ventilator, off the naso-gastric tubes and the catheter & mobile. She still has an IV for hydration/feeding but she is up & mobile & can get to the bathroom & pee. She had a cystogram on her remodeled bladder & that's passed so far. No leaks & working properly. She's still dealing with ostomy bags for her bowels as that's phase two (three?) of the repair procedures. Chemo has been mentioned but details haven't been determined as yet. She's still weak but getting stronger every day. She's able to at least take tea & broth now by mouth which is a major improvement. She's walking and doing PT and her voice is improving. So we're up to the exhausted healing stage. Her humor is still there - we've exchanged several dark humor jokes.
She doesn't really have room for cards or gifts and she doesn't stay on the phone for very long. We've managed about 15 minutes tops - so I don't think visitors are a very good idea just yet. But I've told her people are looking out for her and she appreciates all the good thoughts, prayers, good vibes, & best wishes.
I'm basically doing a "hear me baby, hold together." I mostly call her a lot & pray that my father survives his own cooking/food foraging efforts. (HIS stomach is notoriously sensitive to food additives & if it isn't his stomach going off, it's a migraine hitting him over the head. She's in one of the better areas for cancer treatment and my folks have decent health insurance on top of the medicare/medicaid thanks to my dad's teacher's pension. As long as the doctors aren't idiots and my folks aren't idiots, there isn't much I can/need do. on top of that, since my folks are pretty independent cusses (and That's a deliberate word choice) there isn't much they WANT me to do either. I've made the offer to go visit, but it looks like they don't want me up there until my mom comes home from the hospital. When that will be is still being debated by her & her doctors. My father wants me there for her the first day she gets back - rather like when she came home with the busted ankle. I can deal with that.
Work has been interesting but fortunately understanding. Kory has been fantastic. All my friends have been fantastic - I really appreciate the hugs, etc - they've been wonderful distractions from the frustration. Thank you everyone. I know I've been very variable as to response time & I do apologize for that. I also apologize for missing several folks' birthdays recently - I've been trying to avoid facebook games lest I get tempted to spend money on them. *wry grin*
and my father keeps running into a ton of his ex-students at the hospital. I think he's averaging 1-2 students a week if not daily. Perils of being in a nassau county hospital!
Basically, my mom is still playing things pretty day by day and, as a result, so am I & so is my dad. But at least we all have relatively solid ground under us & support networks of all sorts helping us hold together. and again - I thank you all for that & for everything you've done, thought of doing, offered to do, and might do for us. It really helps.
Toddling off to bed now...
My mom is still in the hospital. She had a full hysterectomy plus bits & pieces of assorted nearby things resection & pulled out. They also cleared out her belly fat. We're still waiting on details as to where the cancer started & what type of cancer it was. Fortunately, it does not seem to have gotten into any other major organs. She had a reaction to the morphine when they tried to put her on food by mouth last week. That got a bit hairy & required some re-intubation. This has passed.
So she's off the ventilator, off the naso-gastric tubes and the catheter & mobile. She still has an IV for hydration/feeding but she is up & mobile & can get to the bathroom & pee. She had a cystogram on her remodeled bladder & that's passed so far. No leaks & working properly. She's still dealing with ostomy bags for her bowels as that's phase two (three?) of the repair procedures. Chemo has been mentioned but details haven't been determined as yet. She's still weak but getting stronger every day. She's able to at least take tea & broth now by mouth which is a major improvement. She's walking and doing PT and her voice is improving. So we're up to the exhausted healing stage. Her humor is still there - we've exchanged several dark humor jokes.
She doesn't really have room for cards or gifts and she doesn't stay on the phone for very long. We've managed about 15 minutes tops - so I don't think visitors are a very good idea just yet. But I've told her people are looking out for her and she appreciates all the good thoughts, prayers, good vibes, & best wishes.
I'm basically doing a "hear me baby, hold together." I mostly call her a lot & pray that my father survives his own cooking/food foraging efforts. (HIS stomach is notoriously sensitive to food additives & if it isn't his stomach going off, it's a migraine hitting him over the head. She's in one of the better areas for cancer treatment and my folks have decent health insurance on top of the medicare/medicaid thanks to my dad's teacher's pension. As long as the doctors aren't idiots and my folks aren't idiots, there isn't much I can/need do. on top of that, since my folks are pretty independent cusses (and That's a deliberate word choice) there isn't much they WANT me to do either. I've made the offer to go visit, but it looks like they don't want me up there until my mom comes home from the hospital. When that will be is still being debated by her & her doctors. My father wants me there for her the first day she gets back - rather like when she came home with the busted ankle. I can deal with that.
Work has been interesting but fortunately understanding. Kory has been fantastic. All my friends have been fantastic - I really appreciate the hugs, etc - they've been wonderful distractions from the frustration. Thank you everyone. I know I've been very variable as to response time & I do apologize for that. I also apologize for missing several folks' birthdays recently - I've been trying to avoid facebook games lest I get tempted to spend money on them. *wry grin*
and my father keeps running into a ton of his ex-students at the hospital. I think he's averaging 1-2 students a week if not daily. Perils of being in a nassau county hospital!
Basically, my mom is still playing things pretty day by day and, as a result, so am I & so is my dad. But at least we all have relatively solid ground under us & support networks of all sorts helping us hold together. and again - I thank you all for that & for everything you've done, thought of doing, offered to do, and might do for us. It really helps.
Toddling off to bed now...
