We continue to choose the road less traveled. Our stories started in New York and Michigan. We took an detour to New Jersey, and had a most excellent adventure to Ethiopia. In July, 2013 we moved our family from Detroit to Texas. People can say a lot about us, but they can't accuse us of being boring....
Monday, October 01, 2007
Back in Michigan
I told her I'd call in a couple of days to see how she was doing, and she said that she'd call me first if she got out of the hospital. I think she's going to have to come a long way before getting out of the hospital. She's been so tired, and her system just isn't reacting right, but if she works to build up her strength this week, she might possibly have a chance of getting out by week's end. I think it's more likely that she'll end up with a stint at a rehab facility to help her build up the strength to get home. We've seen this before with my Dad, and Gail's Grandma, and they were really able to make a big difference. In the hospital, they're really trying to treat the biggest problems, but they don't really focus on getting people ready to go home. This is all rampant speculation on my part, but we'll see how it goes.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Sunday Update
We didn't end up seeing Jennifer today as she was still dealing with the after effects of the bug or whatever she's dealing with. She discovered today that there is some leak under the bathroom so she's put a call in with the local handy man to hopefully get this fixed in the near future.
We plan to head back to Michigan tomorrow, but we'll be stopping in at the hospital before we leave.
I just hope she's able to eat something soon. Gail said that she was down to 107 upon entering the hospital, and I'm sure she's lost more weight this week. I guess we'll just have to wait and see and hope for the best.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Saturday Update
Mom's general practitioner made the first stop about 9.30a, and she seemed to think that while this was a bit of a set back, that mom will likely rebound pretty well and be able to continue her chemo treatments and return home relatively soon. She wasn't too sure about the chest tube, but another doctor stopped by later and had the drain continue, and there was a total of more than 2 liters of fluid by the time we left. We talked to her pulminary specialist, and she felt that the chest tube would remain in until Monday, and then they were going to try a drug that will coat the lining that protects the lung, and hopefully prevent further fluid from building up.
She's still having quite a bit of pain, and looks for the morphine every two hours on the dot, but the biggest pain right now is the chest tube, so once that's out, she'll hopefully have much less pain.
Another new thing for mom was a nebulized breathing treatment. They must have heard a little crackle in her lungs, and want to prevent pneumonia, so they started that tonight. She also has a "lung exerciser" which she needs to use to do deep breathing exercises and that should help to cough up the extra fluid.
One really good sign was that she asked for a fishamajig sandwich from Friendly's. She hasn't eaten a whole lot this week, but she seemed really interested in this, so we went out to dinner there and brought it back. She hadn't started it by the time we left, but I'm hoping she'll eat at least half of it.
I guess Jennifer has caught some kind of bug, as she's not been feeling well, and now Conrad has the same symptoms. (No need for a big description, let's just say "stomach problems.") He drank out of one of her glasses, so hopefully she didn't transfer the bug to Mom, but needless to say, we'll likely not be connecting with them tomorrow.
We'll probably head up there a little later tomorrow, and try to get Mom out of bed, and at least into the chair next to it. She's likely not going to be able to go far with the chest tube in, but she's got to move around somewhat.
More news tomorrow.................
Friday, September 28, 2007
Reporting Live from Happy Valley!
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Fluid Removal Delayed
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Wednesday Update
Today, they're going to drain some fluid from her lung. I hope that goes well. I guess they just use some novacaine, and do a small incision to insert the tube and allow it to drain. I know one time for Dad it didn't seal up right, and it allowed air to leak in all over his body. His skin felt like bubble wrap and it started to close off his windpipe! They were able to act quickly and got him squared away, but it was a little freaky. (This happened 3 or 4 years ago.) Needless to say, I didn't share this little story with Mom, but I am hoping that it goes better for her today. I'm pretty sure they did the same thing last year when she first went into the hospital, and she didn't have any problems.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Update from Nurse
I also called into Dr. Razia's office, and left a message hoping to find out more about why there's an increase in pain in the last couple of weeks. I posed a couple of ideas to the nurse, and she said that it would be inappropriate for her to speculate about it and that I should try to connect with the doctor.
The nurse didn't indicate that there were any plans to discharge Mom, so It's likely she'll be there until her status improves. Razia should be back to the office by Friday, and may check in with Mom over the weekend.
Gail, Nate and I plan to head to the valley this weekend. I'm not sure if we're heading out Thursday evening, or Friday, but we'll likely be there by Friday evening, and plan to head back to Detroit on Monday. I'll bring my laptop with me, and should be able to post updates while we're there.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Hospital Update
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Mom in Hospital
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Wilcox Wedding Pictures have been posted!
I got the official word last night that I can post these to the site! Enjoy!
Friday, August 03, 2007
Wedding News!
It's official! Doug is set to marry Mary Wyka on August 31! We're looking forward to it!
Monday, July 09, 2007
Nate's Third Birthday
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
New Pictures
I thought I would see what I could figure out with the Multiply site. I determined that I could set up certain folders to be viewed by everyone, so I uploaded some recent photos, and I also found a video on the PC from last Easter. I'll see how much more I can add in my 'spare' time.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Jennifer's Blog
It sounds like Mom is going to be in the hospital for a few more days dealing with the chest tube and recovering from the surgery overall. No word yet on when they might reschedule the other procedure that was supposed to be completed this week.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Mom in the Hospital
This stay at the hospital has postponed one procedure that was supposed to be this week, so hopefully that will get rescheduled so that she can continue her chemotherapy routine and keep the existing cancers at bay.
She's very anxious for us to firm up our trip to Vegas as we're hoping to go before it gets too hot there, but we may just have to plan lots of indoor activities once we do get things finalized.
Please keep her in your prayers, and we'll hope for the best.