Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Surgery Day

  It went well today. Rathfoot done some stuff, I know he injected Kenalog (spelling ?), not sure what else. I'm home though, actually got home early, around 3pm. We discussed the tube things, which I definitely do not want this time of year. It's garden season, bike season, and I really need to do some bush-hogging at the farm. He thinks he can control the damage other than using a trach and feeding tube... thank God. I will need more of these surgeries and he said they were looking into a machine where they could do it at the office. Other than that I didn't hear much, but he talked to Denise.

   That was some kind of staff they have at St Mary's, I think it's called Mercy Center. If it is, that is a fitting name. Then again, that is why I chose them as to where to have it done. I didn't see a bad one in the bunch, rather, excellent all the way, everybody. I may not have caught the Flu there from the blood work report back. My White Cells they said were down a little but they were back up I think today to either 11.5 or 12. Pretty darn good I think considering that just a little over a year I lost them, or something called Nutrofills.  (Probably spelling on that too).

  I'm down for a little while though, restrictions, but they're just for a few days. No lifting or driving (do the driving tomorrow :), no yard work or garden. But I took it just for the rest of the week. Denise said I'd have to wear a mask when I mow. I can do that, but no mowing until next week. I bought a hog and will have to get Megan to load and unload it. She was tickled until I told her we'd be putting it in boxes. I got Terry Sellers to kill and dress it out. We ran out of sausage a while back and had to buy some at the store. YUK! Terry knows how to make the stuff and cut the roasts to perfection. Plus he is honest and nice, a good man.

  So.... what to do  with my down time? Well, this for one, but I think I've found something else to play with. I got permission tonight. I've got a new program that I have needed for a while to learn, a few days to learn it with. Baring Megan's Graduation rehearsal and Honor's night, seems I have some time and it beats just goofing off doing nothing. So I asked Matt and he said it was ok, that I buy him a Domain Name (his choice) and I'll cut him some space on my server and build him a website for his repair business. I'm out of practice and behind times on these new things, so it'll help me learn and hopefully it will help him too.

  On the good side too was that the Flu I had, I lost 11 pounds. Downside is I need a little more than that gone. I still have to do the Predisone for a while longer, but not as high of a dose. I'm hopeful that I can get away from that stuff eventually.  Tonight I'm choking a little, but not too bad, I think that is to be expected. No temperature or bleeding so far as I've noticed. Sore as a boil. I think I know which parts and where they worked. :) Expected that too though. I was pretty sick when they done this before and I don't remember all of it afterward, but this much I do.

  So now we fight the side effects of the cure as this cancer seems to be gone, as best we can tell. That only leaves the other cancer and the heart. I'm use to those though. Not to mention insomnia tonight, lol. I think I may have slept too much while I was in recovery, lol. Something about either the anesthesia or whatever else is given that afterward for a few days I shake and stay nervous as a long tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs. When I was in the middle of the battle Panella gave me some kind of nerve pill, I also used it in the cocktail that enabled me to be bolted in a mask each day to a table during radiation treatments. As we reach the end I asked Panella for more, he refused and when I asked how to control it he said. "Dig a hole". I found out from either him or Denise these things were habit forming, so I started digging holes, lol. I gotta say, beats a pill any day. Throughout this whole ordeal they have all kept their promise to not have me hooked and it I got hooked on anything they would get me unhooked...and they have kept their word.

  I think though I may talk to one of them or maybe Schindler about the pills they gave me to help with the arthritis, it was an anti-inflammatory one. If it's not addictive it sure made things a lot better.  The shoulder seemed a little better and the 2 discs in my neck that I still don't want to be worked on worked better. The knees from jumping in and out of the truck for all those years felt better, as did the elbow I never got fixed properly. Not any less was it soothed the small amount of Arther left behind from the Lymes Disease years ago. But it it is like Celebrex or addictive, I can live with it and Tylenol. Funny, I got a check from a settlement because I was taking Celebrex when I had my heart attack for 53 bucks and some change I think. I didn't cash it though. I'm not sure if it was made aware that it carried some risk back then, but I think I was. So since I'm not sure, I didn't want their money. Plus I think the event cost a bit more than that, lol. So since I don't know if I knew the risk or not, I'm not due it, I took my chances. I can't say that it was worth it but it did keep me moving when I couldn't move. The stop moving part kinda sucked, but that's life and I'm still moving, just not like I once did.

  Charlie is weak but he is moving again. He came for Denise's birthday. He looks good too and seems in better spirits. He has lost some weight but like me needed too. Unfortunately this coming Wednesday Hell comes again for him, but at least he knows what is coming and that readies a man for battle. He sounds pretty good too. I told him we're in a competition for sounding like either the Godfather or Sling Blade. We practice our, I like them Mustard Biscuits, unhu, lol. I worried about him for a while. He lost his will to fight, but I think now he is going to be ok. He has his sense of humor back and emotionally and spiritually back on track. I think he knows that while it is all up to God in the end, it is dependent upon  good medical people, mental, spiritual, humor, family, and emotional... all parts being equal in importance. The physical part gets it's butt kicked. Keep these in line though, and then let God make His decision, which He will anyway. But we have to do our part. And that is coming from a noncomplying patient, well... sorta, lol.     

4 comments:

KimberFNP said...

Ok, here's the deal. When Denise said "mask," she means a real mask, not one of those flimsy ones that comes in a box of one million. You need a thick heavy one; and once you are finished, shower and change clothes so all the pollen and junk doesn't continue to be breathed in, because it sticks to your clothes and skin.
As for the anti-inflammatory, in combination with the prednisone, it may cause some esophagitis/stomach issues so I'd go easy on that (it blocks "substance P" which causes pain but also which is used by your body to replace lining of stomach and esophagus. Try ice packs to joints that hurt first, then use these only if that doesn't help.
There you have it, free advice from Nurse Kim....:)
p.s. what type of procedure did he do?

Rachel and Pia's Cottage said...

Anthony, Glad to see all went well!
Hope today you are feeling even better. Also glad to hear Charlie is hanging in there too.
Please rest....I know you have a lot you want to do, but a few days won't hurt to relax and re-group. :o)
Fondly, Lori

Cali said...

I used to feel the same way about habit forming meds. Then my neuropathy got so bad that I was virtually house bound. Reluctantly I allowed the doctor to put me on Tylenol and codeine. It gave me my life back for a while. Then I had to switch to Vicodin and that worked for a couple of years. Now I'm on morphine and while I still have a lot of pain, I can have some semblance of a life. Since neuropathy only tends to get worse, I expect that I will be on the morphine for the rest of my life. But at least I'll have a life.

anthony7 said...

Hi Cali, I agree with you on they are needed, I just hate being dependent on being able to function without the things. They definitely serve their purpose. I tend to not pay attention to what I'm doing like eating the nuts and it got under my partial and sliced my gum pretty bad. I get a little over confident on what my ability is. :) I figure it out real fast though, usually after I needed to know, lol. But they certainly have their purpose.