Back to Normal

On Sunday, the 20th, Lois got up, took a shower, then told me she wanted that last tube removed. The doc said when it no longer produced 30 or more cc's per day she could have it taken out. For the last couple of days it's been running at 10 or less, so Sunday was the day. She said she wanted me to do it.

The drain tube is held to her by one stitch. All you have to do is snip it close to the skin on one side and pull it out, with a pair of tweezers, from the other side. Easy. Some few years ago I took some stitches out of my self. I had watched the doc do it before and it looked easy enough; and it was.

So I removed Lois' stitch.

Now, I've never pulled a drain tube out of anybody. I wasn't sure how hard the doc tugged on the others to get them out. It appeared he put a little bit of a "pull" on them. I told her to grab my finger...no, not what you might be thinking..haha..and pull on it at about the same amount of pull that he had put on the others. She wasn't sure, but she gave it a try. That was all I needed.

I grabbed the tube, now unencumbered by that nasty little piece of thread, and pulled.

It came right out.

We put a bandage on and changed it once about 3 hours later, then she changed it Monday and today, Tuesday.

She's still walks with a bit of a "lean forward." That's due to the tightness of her stomach. Once the skin stretches a bit, she'll be back upright and shooting buckets out in the park.

But for now, she's already back to running my life, telling me to feed the fish, take the dog out, wash the car, you know . . . Honeydo's.

Two Outa Three Ain't Bad

What a day. We left home at 1 pm today for a 3:45 appointment with Dr. Cooper in Spokane to have the final three drain tubes removed. Timed it perfectly, pulling into the parking lot at 3:40, got into see the doc in about five minutes. He looked over the tubes and said he was going to err on the side of caution and pulled two of the three, leaving one for later removal. I guess we were just a little too anxious to get rid of those damned things!

A few minutes later we left the doc's office wondering what to do with ourselves. We weren't hungry. We had no plans. We didn't, after two hours on the road for a fifteen minute appointment, want to get back on the road and drive another two hours. So we went down the Riverfront Park and walked around a bit. Once we had talked enough about food, we went to a restaurant (Cyrus O'Learys) and split a huge plate of really good nachos; then drove back to the Tri-Cities.

We got back about 7 pm, drove over to Brooke's to get our dog, Aggie, visit with the grand-babies, who we haven't seen much of for the past week, and came home.

Probably on Monday we'll go get the last drain tube removed. Meanwhile, Lois continues to grow in strength and stamina. She looks pretty good sitting here in front of those petunias in front of Spokane's Clock Tower, doncha think?

Back to Spokane Today

Lois called the docs office this morning and told them the drain tubes are ready to be removed. We are leaving at 1 pm for a 3:45 appointment. Maybe we'll have dinner at Subway again. Just kidding.

Yes, Virginia, You Can Go Home Again

The doc came in early Monday morning, looked her over, told her she was doing well, pulled five of the eight tubes and told us we could go home. You can bet ol' Jim was hustlin' back over the hotel and jammin' those dirty clothes into the suitcase and the suitcase into the trunk; pulling into the hospital waiting area for cars; hustlin' back upstairs to get Lois' bags, bottles, gauze, tape, and flowers and getting them into the car. About two hours later, after some discussion about our preferences, we pulled into Burger King for some of those delicious (?) Whopper Juniors right here in the good ol' Tri-Cities. Yes!!

The Whoppers weren't quite as good as we thought were gonna be, but they were a whole hell of a lot better than that creamed rice; stale, and dry turkey sandwiches; and wilted lettuce salads with droppy carrot slices back at good ol' Sacred Heart!

We have an appointment to return to Spokane on Tuesday, next week, to get the threee remaining tubes removed; but we have the doc's permission to go earlier if the drain tubes are producing less than 30 cc's of fluid over a 24 hour period. We're not quite there yet, but we will be.

Meanwhile, we are fully enjoying being HOME!!

And thanks to all of you who have left comments, emailed sent cards, and phoned. We love you all!!

More later, but for now...we're resting.

Day Five

Today we have had a bit of a crash. Lois awoke this morning, ordered breakfast, then became nauseated for the first time.

We have lots of theories as to what may have caused this: too many nights without really good sleep; a coming down from all the drugs; a "messed" up G.I. tract from all the heavy-duty anaesthesia; hospital food (too many popsickles); too many days in the same bed in this small room; too much noise coming in the door; the nurses we really like - off this weekend (but the one we have today is good too); nothing good on tv; the Mariners not coming on until 4 today; but we don't really know what it is.

They gave her some more medicine (really?) and the nausea has been gone for a number of hours; but she's rather listless and ready to go home. She did take a shower this morning and that helped, a little; and we took a walk around the nurse's station. But she's tired today.

Maybe when the Mariners come on later she'll perk up. Yeah, right, the Mariners perking someone up? That'll be the day.

The doctor orginally said she could go home on Sunday. But, once we got here, he told us he would be out of town this weekend and wouldn't be able to see her on Sunday. He asked if we would mind staying one more night so he could check with her on Monday morning, so it looks like that's what we will do.

Day Four

Things are getting better and better. Today she was given "real" food, disconnected from all the I.V.'s and the catheter, and went for a walk with me down the hall. She is taking NO PAIN MEDS. She must have one of the highest tolerances for pain of anyone walking the earth!! I would be doubled up, lying on the floor in agony and despair. She's chewing ice, jotting notes in her journal and watching television....??

Visitors today included Ken and Carolyn J from Post Falls, ID. Ken is a building contractor who employed Lois when we lived in Sequim. They took me to lunch at the Sushi Bar downtown and it was delicious. Later in the day, a former student of mine, who is an RN here in Spokane dropped by, then later yet Kristi and Doug W from Kennewick came by (pic).

Kris is a special person for Lois. They met at the Cancer Center in Kennewick. Kris went through the same surgeries, by the same two surgeons here in Spokane last February. She is a bright spot in our lives because she has provided lots of encouragement, help, and hope for a brighter future. I don't think Lois would have been as interested in this surgery had she not came across Kris.

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Day Three

My mother and sister spent the night with me in the Madison Inn last night; this morning we grabbed a quick muffin and cup of coffee in the hotel, then walked over to visit Lois. She had the usual night in the hospital with aides, nurses, phones, lights, hall conversation and the sounds of sick people puking and stuff keeping her awake. She said she had a hard time getting to sleep (duh?) so she called for a sleep aid about 12:30 and after it arrived 45 minutes later she finally slept good for about 3 or 4 hours, then catnapped until the morning sun came streaming through her window.

She's been hostessing all day: my mom and sister were here until about noon; then Lois' sister Sandi and her husband Dave and Boots (their mom) arrived about an hour later; Bob F., Lois' cousin Skeets' husband came in for a while, then he and Skeets came back about 5; Danni G and her husband Dennis came in the afternoon. Danni was our realtor in Richland and also a KHS grad, only a couple years behind us. She had a double mastectomy last December and is scheduled for the same type of reconstructive surgery as Lois in a few months. We wish her well in her journey and will keep close contact.

Presently it is 6 pm, Lois is on the phone with her aunt Pauline, who lives here in Spokane; I'm working on her blog, and getting hungry. Though Lois didn't sleep really well last night she's been mentally sharp all day and in hardly any pain at all. They got her up once and she sat in a recliner for about 45 minutes. Her drain tubes are all working and the nurse said she isn't draining nearly as much as some people do. It sounded like a good thing to me. Her "new" boobs are maintaining a fairly constant temperature (102 degrees-as the doctor prescribed)and that is a good thing! They have her do this by simply laying a light blanket across her chest. Her blood pressure is good, her fluids are fluidly moving right along as they should and she gets to begin eating soft foods tomorrow: toast, popsickles, jello. Today she had popsickles and broth for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Tomorrow they remove the catheter and get her up a few more times. She's not really looking forward to getting up though, because her stomach is really tender.

Not much else to include right now. She wants me to take a few pictures of a couple of her nurses, so I'll take those and post them tomorrow.

Thanks for the comments! We love getting them.

Day Two: The Surgery Went Very Smooth

Lois came out of 7.5 hours of surgery yesterday about 3 o'clock. The doctor said everything went very smooth and that there were no surprises. Prior to surgery the surgical nurse told me that Dr. Cooper spends the majority of his time looking through a microscope stitching tissue together, "he's very meticulous. Probably the most meticulous of our surgeons." I told her that was something I liked!

My mother, sister, and I joined Lois about two hours later when they wheeled her into her room. I was surprised how good she looked after being "under the knife" so long! She said when she had awoke, about 3:30, she was in tremendous pain; she said she even thought she might not "make it." While talking she held the pain med button closely in her hand and punched the button, giving herself anther shot of pain medication (morphine) three or four times during the next hour; but during the next hour she pushed it only once.


While there, I answered the cell phone when our son, Derik, called. I handed her the phone and she talked to him a few moments, then they hung up. A few minutes later it rang again and it turned out to be a friend of ours who didn't know Lois was in the hospital and called to tell her that she(the frieind) had had a mastectomy a few days ago. While they talked, the conversation soon turned to Wal-Mart, Costco, Shopko and other places Lois is so very familiar with. I thought, here she is all stitched up, wrapped up, legs in those so comfortable plastic wrap things that squeeze'em every few minutes, tubes and needles stuck everywhere, plastic bulbs slowly filling red, and she's sharing information, with someone on the phone, about the prices of things. Lois is a hard woman to put down; and that's a good thing.

We left her to rest and went to get something to eat. Afterwards I went up to tell her good night.

Day One: The Second Mastectomy (by choice) and Full Reconstructive Surgery

We packed up and left home this morning about 8:30 so we could get to Spokane for the 11:30 appointment with Dr. Cooper, the plastic surgeon. After meeting with him and getting all the instructions regarding where we go, when we go there, how much Lois can have to eat, and not eat, and what time to be at check in tomorrow morning, we drove downtown and rather than fight the traffic and all those blasted one-way streets, we found a Subway and had lunch: her last meal until maybe Thursday!

Afterwards we drove back up to the hotel, The Madison Inn, located one block south and up the hill from the hospital, and checked into the room. Then after walking over to the hospital (Sacred Heart - where Lois was born!!) and finding all the necessary floors, elevators, offices, waiting rooms, and other places we needed to know about, we went back to the room and took naps.

At 4 we walked back over to the hospital to radiology. This was the part that Lois was most worried about: four little injections of a radionucleotide cocktail - in her breast, around the nipple. She squeezed my hand so hard I think it's bruised. Fortunately each injection only last about 10 seconds and the needle was one of the smallest they use. Still ... OUCH. After the injection she was placed under the magical eye of the MRI machine and pictures were taken. All went well.

Later, to take our minds off the ensuing few days, we went to see the movie, "Get Smart." It was at best an ok movie, but it did have some funny moments. I am reminded of lyrics from an old song, which I have long ago forgotten, "the original is always the greatest." Don Adams and Barbara Feldon can never be replaced!

As of this writing, it is the next day, July 9th, at 8:45 am. We got up at four am and walked over to Surgery Admittance where everything went like clockwork and they rolled her into surgery at 7:25. She'll be fine.

If you would like to leave a comment for Lois, click on the word "comment" below. If you need some help, check the link in the right-hand column.

thanks.

A Wedding in Sequim

Lois' cousin Janice's daughter Shannon married Greg Dayton in a ceremony at "The Cutting Garden" in Sequim, WA. It was a fun trip as we used to live there so we were able to visit with a few old friends.

Click on the picture of the wedding cake to see some of the photographs from our trip.

We leave Tuesday, July 8th, for Spokane.

Our Oregon Coast Trip

Last week we took five days and with our childred and grandchildren drove down to Lincoln City, Oregon, to play on the beach, fly kits, eat seafood (those of who like seafood), and play board games around the dining room table in the evenings after the little ones have gone to bed.

We thought you might enjoy some of the photos, so just click on Maia's picture above for a link to the album. Careful though, there's more than just a few. Jim hasn't had time yet to put in names so here are a few clues:

Derik: our son

Brooke: daughter and her husband is James.

Grandkids in order of age: Kiauna is oldest, then it's Izaiah, then Aidan, the youngest is Maia.

How to Make a "Comment" on the Blog Entries

We invite you to leave comments on the entries, but only if you are comfortable doing so. Comments left on the blog will tend not to be lost as emails do sometimes disappear into the deep black hole of "old emails" on the hardrive. So, if you are interested, here's the skinny on how to make a comment:

1. At the bottom of each entry, including this one, you will see the word, "comments." Sometimes it has a "0" in front of it. This means there are no comments. If there's a number in front of the word, then that is the number of comments you can find with the post, i.e., "4 comments,"...four comments.

2. To leave a comment, click on the word "comment." A window opens.

3. Enter your response in the window.

4. Below your entry you will see a nonsense word, i.e., "k7ja4fy." This is blogspot's way of protecting the comments windows from spammers: it's a good thing. Enter the nonsense word, and...

5. If you have a blogger account you can sign using it and you know how to do this; but if not, click the word "anonymous" at the bottom. BUT, if you really want Lois to know who you are, then sign with your name at the end of your message in the window.

5. Preview, then click "publish your comment." When you do blogspot sends an automatic email telling us you have left the comment.

It's fun and a great communication tool.

Again, if you feel comfortable only, please give it a try.

Jim and Lois

ps: check out the comment Jim left below.

A Second Mastectomy and Reconstruction

Lois is scheduled for the second mastectomy, by choice, and full breast reconstruction surgery on July 9th, at Sacred Heart Medical Center, in Spokane. She will be in the hospital for five days. Everything we've discovered about the surgeons has been positive and uplifting (no pun intended).

But before we go to Spokane, we're going to Sequim for a family wedding. We will leave tomorrow, Thursday, July 3rd; and return on Sunday. That Monday, after the Sequim trip, Jim will mow the lawn and get ready to take her to Spokane the NEXT day. Jim will be holed up in a nearby hotel in Spokane, one that is within walking distance to the hospital.

Following her surgery and our return home, we will be "Staycationing" at our home here in the Tri-Cities for the remainder of the summer while she recuperates.

I'll be posting further events as they occur in Spokane for all you blog readers.