Friday morning - could be worse - could be better
Hi
Nan is resting, went up about 10 am but before she went up she accomplished a lot. We were up about 6, her back hurt so badly that she could not stay in bed any longer. We came down to our recliners but she chose hot water today, not tea. She managed 16 oz of hot water while I sipped my mocha. She was on the edge of nausea the entire time. When Dana got up a little later and made me breakfast Nan asked for English Muffin with peanut butter and applesauce. She managed that as well. Her back was hurting badly so she took a 5 mg oxycodone along with 3 100 mg Gleevec tablets and 1 2 mg Rapamune pill. I persuaded her that we should walk and she bought in, she walked further today than before outside in the cool morning air. When she came back in she headed up for a nap. We changed her dressing, gave her a lovenox shot and she went to sleep. With minor interuptions she will sleep until noon or 1 pm.
Dana has taken the dogs to the groomers since they have not had a bath for 3 months and you can sort of tell when they come near. Having Dana here is a total blessing as she handles food, laundry, social time with Nan and painting the living room even. She is a big plus to our lives right now and knows Nan well enough to be able to help her in all the right ways. We have a special wound care nurse coming tonight at 7 pm to evaluate the wound and to determine when a wound vac can be installed again. She will also take urine samples while she is here. We are due a delivery of TPN today as we are down to our last bag now. I can tell by the weight of the backpack that nan is getting the TPN and its not just sitting in the bag this time.
I am trying to get caught up with paying bills, logging appraisal orders and making appointments as well. My trusty VW diesel has developed a bad habit of dying and then refusing to restart for several minutes, finally the glow plug symbol on the dash comes back on and the car will start, I sort of invision sitting in the middle of a busy intersection with a dead engine, not good mental images at all. Last thing we need right now is another auto repair but I think it needs attention from experts.
We look forward to the weekend and hope that at some point we can see a couple new faces. I know Jason and Jo are going to be enjoying the beaches this weekend exploring and photographing the sights. Its there last weekend before the rush of starting classes all over again. God has blessed with students for the new year and both jason and jo look forward to the new challenges, I think that is the way they would say it, perhaps not quite.
We get Keanna tonight for a sleep over. Dana is used to having little people visit as she is the proud grandmother of 4 little ones in Houston. So Keanna and Dana bond well. I'll probably get to take Keanna to Sabbath School in the morning since Dana can be here with Nan while I am gone. I'm not sure which of us enjoy Sabbath School more, Keanna or me, I love watching her learn and act out the Bible stories and she loves seeing the kids and getting to do stuff. How thankful we are every day that Keanna lives nearby and we get to see her and her parents. We have ended up with the most wonderful kids, all 4 of them are very special, hard working, creative, generous, loving, supportive and achievers. They bring us continuous joy and happiness. How blessed we are in so many many ways.
I have been accused of sugar coating our situation sometimes. I really don't mean to do that. The facts are Nan was critical with 14 tumors which no one would consider operating on. The experimental drug she was on was not controlling the growth of the tumors and she was headed for a terrible crisis when total blockage occured. Dr. Bertagnolli stepped in and accepted the challenge of operating to help. She and her team were able to remove nearly all the tumors and saved Nan's life. The road back to recovery has been long, challenging and very painful to nan. It continues to be very painful and she often does not feel well at all. She rarely has a moment of relief from the pains and nausea. When we have treasured visits from friends and family she trys to put the best face on her pain and suffering and gains strength from the visits. Her life is not fun right now but it is life and it is getting better slowly day by day. If and when we can get the nausea controlled, if and when we can get a better handle on the back pain she will be able to take more steps forward to recovery. She longs for being strong again and being independant. She does not like to have to depend on anyone for anything yet she finds herself unable to move right now without help, someone to carry the TPN back pack and soon there will be two packs, the wound pump will also be attached. Yet we have hope, she has hope.
I am thanking God today for his help and miracles this far in Nan's recovery and asking that He finish the task at hand, that He guide us to relief from pain and nausea.
Thank you for your faithfulness in remembering Nan to our Heavenly Father.
with love
tim and nan and dada
Nan is resting, went up about 10 am but before she went up she accomplished a lot. We were up about 6, her back hurt so badly that she could not stay in bed any longer. We came down to our recliners but she chose hot water today, not tea. She managed 16 oz of hot water while I sipped my mocha. She was on the edge of nausea the entire time. When Dana got up a little later and made me breakfast Nan asked for English Muffin with peanut butter and applesauce. She managed that as well. Her back was hurting badly so she took a 5 mg oxycodone along with 3 100 mg Gleevec tablets and 1 2 mg Rapamune pill. I persuaded her that we should walk and she bought in, she walked further today than before outside in the cool morning air. When she came back in she headed up for a nap. We changed her dressing, gave her a lovenox shot and she went to sleep. With minor interuptions she will sleep until noon or 1 pm.
Dana has taken the dogs to the groomers since they have not had a bath for 3 months and you can sort of tell when they come near. Having Dana here is a total blessing as she handles food, laundry, social time with Nan and painting the living room even. She is a big plus to our lives right now and knows Nan well enough to be able to help her in all the right ways. We have a special wound care nurse coming tonight at 7 pm to evaluate the wound and to determine when a wound vac can be installed again. She will also take urine samples while she is here. We are due a delivery of TPN today as we are down to our last bag now. I can tell by the weight of the backpack that nan is getting the TPN and its not just sitting in the bag this time.
I am trying to get caught up with paying bills, logging appraisal orders and making appointments as well. My trusty VW diesel has developed a bad habit of dying and then refusing to restart for several minutes, finally the glow plug symbol on the dash comes back on and the car will start, I sort of invision sitting in the middle of a busy intersection with a dead engine, not good mental images at all. Last thing we need right now is another auto repair but I think it needs attention from experts.
We look forward to the weekend and hope that at some point we can see a couple new faces. I know Jason and Jo are going to be enjoying the beaches this weekend exploring and photographing the sights. Its there last weekend before the rush of starting classes all over again. God has blessed with students for the new year and both jason and jo look forward to the new challenges, I think that is the way they would say it, perhaps not quite.
We get Keanna tonight for a sleep over. Dana is used to having little people visit as she is the proud grandmother of 4 little ones in Houston. So Keanna and Dana bond well. I'll probably get to take Keanna to Sabbath School in the morning since Dana can be here with Nan while I am gone. I'm not sure which of us enjoy Sabbath School more, Keanna or me, I love watching her learn and act out the Bible stories and she loves seeing the kids and getting to do stuff. How thankful we are every day that Keanna lives nearby and we get to see her and her parents. We have ended up with the most wonderful kids, all 4 of them are very special, hard working, creative, generous, loving, supportive and achievers. They bring us continuous joy and happiness. How blessed we are in so many many ways.
I have been accused of sugar coating our situation sometimes. I really don't mean to do that. The facts are Nan was critical with 14 tumors which no one would consider operating on. The experimental drug she was on was not controlling the growth of the tumors and she was headed for a terrible crisis when total blockage occured. Dr. Bertagnolli stepped in and accepted the challenge of operating to help. She and her team were able to remove nearly all the tumors and saved Nan's life. The road back to recovery has been long, challenging and very painful to nan. It continues to be very painful and she often does not feel well at all. She rarely has a moment of relief from the pains and nausea. When we have treasured visits from friends and family she trys to put the best face on her pain and suffering and gains strength from the visits. Her life is not fun right now but it is life and it is getting better slowly day by day. If and when we can get the nausea controlled, if and when we can get a better handle on the back pain she will be able to take more steps forward to recovery. She longs for being strong again and being independant. She does not like to have to depend on anyone for anything yet she finds herself unable to move right now without help, someone to carry the TPN back pack and soon there will be two packs, the wound pump will also be attached. Yet we have hope, she has hope.
I am thanking God today for his help and miracles this far in Nan's recovery and asking that He finish the task at hand, that He guide us to relief from pain and nausea.
Thank you for your faithfulness in remembering Nan to our Heavenly Father.
with love
tim and nan and dada
posted by Tim Mustard @ 10:49 AM
1 Comments:
At 9:35 PM,
Anonymous said…
Hi Mustards,
We have had family company for the last couple of days . They left this afternoon so now its clean up the bathroom & Change the Guest room bedding. Good to have them here for a good visit.
How much We wish that Nan could be having less pain & nausea. She has surely had Her share of both.
We continue in Prayer for Her comfort and healing. She so deserves to feel good again.
Great to read that Dana has got things moving along in the food & House keeping dept, Takes a bit of the load off of You Tim. Painting is always a big mess but better when someone else is doing it !
Have a good rest and maybe Sabbath will bring a new comfort level to all of Us.
Prayers & Love to You,
Bob & Carrol.
Post a Comment
<< Home