Tues, 29 Nov 2005

My Dear Friends,

Got my staples removed yesterday afternoon. It wasn't too painful. Felt like being pinched 34 times. At least she didn't use one of those claw-like staple removers from Office Max! She had a thin tool that slipped underneath the staple to straighten it and pop it right out. Had a little problem about halfway through...she hit a nerve that caused a thigh muscle spasm. Found that pressing the palm of my hand down on the muscle prevented it from happening again as the doc finished. When I asked why that happened, the doc said it was a "random occurrence". No one knows why. She taped me up with some "steri-strips" and said to come back in a month for a check-up. That was that.

She OK'd me to start chemo next week but I told her I was putting it off a week. She said I do not need any radiation in the area. We are still waiting for the pathology report to find out the properties of the tumor. I'll give it another day before I start raising heck. Two weeks is long enough to wait.

Found an interesting website: www.totallyhip.org It shows what a hip replacement x-ray looks like and the brave among you can click on surgery pictures. No wonder I needed drugs. Ouch!

Check this out: the warning label on my sleeping pills says "May cause drowsiness." I kid you not. I only took them twice. Made me drowsy.

The church ladies have been keeping us well-fed. As we were eating dinner last night, dinner arrived! (The meal that came on Sunday fed us for two nights.) Did some dishes quickly the other day but it's hard to stand at the stove long enough to cook something. Mark is also thankful for the meals.

Dad took me out to lunch this afternoon. Except for hobbling around the fruit market yesterday after treatment, this was the first time I've been out in the real world for any length of time since surgery. It was hard to see all those business people having lunch and going back to work, and back to their normal lives. Reminds me of how far off the beaten path I have fallen. Mostly, I try not to think about that, as crying takes too much energy. Speaking of work, I found out before surgery that the job I'd lined up for tax season fell through. I would have probably had to cut my hours anyway due to chemo. Not sure what my next move will be now...

As for mobility, I'm able to get into the car by myself, without Mark holding up my foot. Not sure if I mentioned that before. I can also get into bed by sitting down and using the side of our rectangular wastebasket as a stepping stone as I slowly turn to lie on my back. Still waking up stiff at 4am.

So let me tell you about all the tools in this "hip kit" I bought. This is in addition to the walker, which I don't use, and the "shower transfer chair". That's a bench that sits 2/3 in the shower and 1/3 outside the tub. Carefully lifting each leg over the side of the tub, you sit and scoot. Sorry for the visual.

The hip kit has several tools. The first is simply a long shoe horn, so I don't bend. I do rely on the benevolence of my family to tie my tennis shoes, though. The second tool looks like a horse whip. It's a metal rod about three feet long covered with sturdy blue material. There's a loop on each end. One end goes around my foot and the other around my hand. The purpose is to raise my leg into bed or into the car, but I don't use it. Seems it'd be good for whacking unruly kids in the old days. Another tool that's neat is the claw, a long rod with a grabber on the end. Good for reaching the remote. The tip is magentic, which I found out when I picked up a bookmark off the floor. They also gave me a yellow sponge on a blue stick, for those hard-to-reach toes in the shower. The last tool is for putting your pants on without bending. It's a U-shaped piece of plastic about 9 inches long, with two ropes attached. You put the plastic inside the bottom of your pant leg then toss the pant leg on the floor. You put your leg in the pants, through the plastic, and pull up on the ropes. Pretty cool.

Mark got tickets for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra next Friday night. The Palace has seats set aside for handicapped people. They have courtesy wheelchairs and told Mark I would only have to go up two steps once we get to our section. Hopefully, that will work out.

Thank you for you continued prayers.

Love,
Jeanette

Holiday Update

My Dear Friends,

Had a bit of computer trouble. It was a CONFIG SYS error. It’s like walking into a library and suddenly forgetting how to read. All of our files are intact but the computer couldn’t read anything. Mark has to reload all the programs when that happens.

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving. Ours was great. The ladies really provided a wonderful feast. Mark’s younger brother Rolf was in from St. Louis so the kids played chess and video games with him. The mood was cheerful and we had lots of laughs. It was a welcome diversion.

The last few days have been better. Been using an ice pack to control the swelling during the day. My gut is turning different shades of yellow, green and brown as the bruises from the shots heal up. Mark says I’m improving in my mobility but it’s still hard considering a few weeks ago, I was walking 1.5 miles, three times a week.

Took a nap early this evening. It was one of those feel-more-tired-when-you-wake-up type of naps. The kids came back from sledding with friends and the house got louder. The laughter of babies is a happy sound, like I always say.

Today was actually productive as I folded some laundry and wrote out the bills.

Been receiving get-well cards from all over the place. My aunt is a Sister of St. Francis and has spread my name through that group. I got a card from a nun in Florida today! It’s touching that so many people are praying for me.

Made an executive decision about chemo. Will probably delay it another week. I’ve been walking around with this cancer for 9 months unbeknownst to me, so what can another week hurt? The Beaumont oncologist just said to start sometime before Christmas. We may go to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra on Dec 9th and I may have something going on that Saturday. That won’t work if chemo starts on Dec 5th. I’m going for quality of life here and I don’t feel a bit bad about it!

The people from Our Lady of Good Counsel Church have been very supportive, just like last time I was sick. The meals network is in full swing, providing us with food so Mark doesn’t have to cook. We’re really grateful. Friends have also been helping in that regard. We’re so lucky.

Mark continues to be wonderful. I keep apologizing that he married a bum steer. I really thought the “in health” part would last another 50 years before the “in sickness” kicked in. He takes it all in stride and has not complained once.

The kids continue to shower me with hugs. Played Go Fish with Mikey last night. Little stinker beat me three times in a row! We all played Scattergories tonight. It’s better than watching TV, that’s for sure.

Tomorrow is Sunday, then it’s back to work for Mark. He had Friday off. Not sure what I’ll do next week. Probably head to Dad’s again. I’m not quite ready to be home by myself. If I drop my crutches, I’m screwed. I also keep thinking of that old “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” lady from a few years back.

It’s getting late. In my next entry, I’ll try to describe the contents of the “hip kit” I bought from the hospital. It’s a collection of tools designed to make life easier when you’re recovering from hip surgery,

Have a good night!
Jeanette

Happy Thanksgiving

My Dear Friends,

Dad babysat me at his place on Tuesday and Wednesday. Watched some Three Stooges and Little House on the Prairie reruns. I feel like I should be doing something meaningful and profound to make every day count but didn’t have the energy to do much.

Dad’s boy cat, Orange Roughy, was moping around today because it snowed and he couldn’t stay out very long.

Mark says I’m getting around better. It doesn’t seem to be going fast enough for me. The hip stiffness is still bad. I’m thinking it could’ve been prevented by a good old-fashioned ice pack right after surgery but I was too drugged at the time to think of that.

I’m debating between being totally honest about how I’ve been feeling or just saying I feel fine. People shouldn’t have to worry about me. I certainly don’t want to bum anybody out.

Maybe I’m a bit depressed because I haven’t been sleeping well. It’s hard to sleep in the same position for hours and not turn over. Right after getting into bed last night, I had some nasty muscle spasms in the thigh. Poor Mark was running around as I yelled, “Ice!” and then, “No ice! Heat!”

The microwaveable ricebag heating pad finally calmed the leg down, thank God.

Mark has continued to play nursemaid to me. He really is a saint. I’ve been making his nights pretty sleepless. We decided it’s much like having a new baby in the house.

Had a bunch of questions for my surgeon but she never called me back today. The receptionist took my list of questions and when I got to the muscle spasm question (like why that happened and what can I do about it) she said that just happens sometimes. If it’s occasional, the docs don’t do anything about it.

Have to go see the surgeon on Monday. May get the staples out then. She will probably give the OK for the strong chemo to start the following Monday. Not looking forward to that. Don’t know what my reactions to the new chemicals will be. That stuff always messes up your stomach and I’m still healing from those three days of being so sick. Been drinking milk and chomping on TUMS to try to avoid heartburn. That’s a bummer because I’ve always had an iron stomach.

Went to Dr. Snyder, my chiropractor, both yesterday and today. I had a headache even the Motrin couldn’t touch. Fortunately, she cracked my neck and took the headache away. She’s not allowed to do much else because of the hip. No cracking the low back for six weeks per the surgeon. I was happy she got rid of my headache, though. My neck had been feeling about two inches shorter because of the tension.

Everybody was bummed out because of the snow but it made me happy. It looked pretty and clean. Then again, I didn’t have to drive in it.

Mikey is reading over my shoulder right now and picking out the words he knows. He’s so sweet. He hugged me today and said, “You’re surrounded by love!”

Tomorrow, we will have Thanksgiving dinner at our house. My stepmother MaryAnn and my mother-in-law Karin have been conspiring to concoct the feast and just bring it all over here. All we need to do is provide the table, which will be a challenge since I have all my craft stuff on it right now. The boys will straighten up the house tomorrow morning for our guests.

Thank you for your continued prayers and demonstrations of love and support. Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!
Jeanette

From Jeanette

My Dear Friends,

I have asked Mark to load this up into the blog. He has been updating it in my absence so I figured I’d give him a break.

First let me express my gratitude for all of your thoughts, prayers, cards, flowers, e-mails, visits, phone calls and for feeding my family! Everyone has been great. The outpouring of support has been really touching and I have wept tears of surprise and joy at your kindness.

On Sunday morning, the doc said I was looking better every day and gave me the option to stay another night or go home on Sunday. I said, “I’m outta here!”

Being in the hospital was by no means a restful experience. The one night they gave me a sleeping pill, I was awakened at 2am by a “confused patient” who was yelling in the hall.

The nurse was like, “Sir, this is a hospital. You can’t be yelling in here!”

I thought I was on the orthopedics floor, not the psych ward!

On a normal day, they woke me up three different times starting at 4:30am. There was a shot in the gut, blood pressure & temperature, and a blood draw. Each time, they seemed to come back just as I dozed off again. For the Sunday blood draw, the tech turned on a bright overhead light.

“Time for your blood draw!” she announced.

I would’ve slapped her if I hadn’t been blinded by the light.

Because of the narcotics they were giving me for pain, I was unable to eat for three days. I could not even keep crackers and ginger ale down. Heck, I was throwing up stuff I never ate! It was the sickest I’ve ever felt in my whole life, even worse than chemo. I feel sorry for the people who visited me on those days. I was not a pretty sight.

It took about another day of a liquid diet to flush those narcotics out of my system. On Saturday night, the nurse raided the secret food stash and gave me one of those little ice cream cups with the cardboard top you peel off. I kept it down and that was the best ice cream I ever ate.

Now I should say that the nurses and nursing assistants at Beaumont were caring, knowledgeable people. They were sympathetic and nothing grossed them out. The weekend night nurse was a 23-year old young lady. It was cool to see someone so young have it all together. Another nurse was the spitting image of actress Sandra Bullock!

I’m glad to be home. Before I dozed off for a nap on Sunday, I made Mark swear to me that I was not dreaming and I would not wake up in the hospital. Mark has been great. Once again, he has become my hero. He has played the faithful companion and let me cry on his shoulder when needed. He tirelessly retrieves things I need and helps in every way he can. I am very lucky to have him.

At 4am today, I had to use the bathroom. I woke Mark up and the journey began. He had to put my TED (super support hose) on me, get me up out of bed, walk me to the bathroom, then repeat the whole thing in reverse. The whole process took 25 minutes! I will always be thankful when I can walk again. I never realized how hard it is to be laid up.

I have been getting around on my crutches. It takes forever to get upstairs and even longer to go down. (Of course the bedrooms are on the second floor!) I was on crutches before surgery, but now the hip stiffness slows me down. Just taking some regular Motrin for it. Not on any other drugs now.

I showed the Beaumont therapists I could do stairs but they had to teach me the proper technique to get into and out of the passenger side of a car. I am not allowed to bend my body more than 90 degrees. Won’t be driving for several weeks.

The scar from surgery looks about 8 inches long. I counted 34 staples. Not looking forward to getting those removed!

Just one more thing, Mikey wanted me to add how much he and Jesse love me and are glad that I’m home. They’re so sweet. I regret that they have to find out life is hard at such an early age, but they’re both doing well and are giving me lots of hugs.

Well, it’s getting late. Time to begin the journey up the stairs.

-Jeanette

Coming Home!

Hi all!

Welcome news, Jeanette is being released earlier than expected--Sunday at noon. (Yikes, better clean the house, quick!) It's my assumption they wanted her to be able to see the Lions game in the comfort of her own home. ;)

We still have to work out the details of in-home care and such, but she is SOOOO relieved to be getting out of there. (And to be taking a bath. Whew!)

We're scheduled to have a couple weeks to heal up and recuperate before beginning chemotherapy. Our plan is to have a pleasant Thanksgiving--we have a lot to be thankful for-- and then gear up for these treatments. They'll be once a week for 3 weeks, then a week off, then start all over again for at least 3 cycles... but we'll worry about that later.

Saturday Update

Hi, everyone, and thanks for the emails and blog comments. I've printed them all off and brought them to Jeanette at the hospital.

To update everyone, she's healing up pretty well, the only problem has been a reaction to the painkillers that gives her nausea--she's had trouble keeping food down. As a result, they've switched her meds and cut back on the painkillers; we'll see how that goes. They've already had her up and putting her full weight on the hip, although it's just been to walk around the bed to a chair. Her voice has returned (and her sarcasm!) and once she can keep food down she'll be stronger and more cheerful. (Hospital food being the fancy cuisine that it is.) :)

We don't have a go-home date at this point but they're looking at Monday at the earliest. Jeanette is anxious to be mobile again--the recovery isn't fast enough, naturally--and she'd like to be home. As soon as we know when that'll be, I'll post it here.

A big thanks go out to all of your for your kindness, whether it be the flowers at the hospital, the meals prepared for us, the messages and phone calls, the prayers/ happy thoughts/ white light/ positive vibes/ good karma, whatever you want to call it... it matters and we all appreciate it.

Michigan vs OSU today at 1... go blue!

-Markus

Successful Surgery

Hello all. Thanks for visiting, caring, and praying.

Jeanette underwent successful hip replacement surgery at Beaumont Hospital this afternoon. (Well, this evening; the whole thing got delayed about 3 hours.) Anyway, she's out of the OR and in her own room recuperating. She'll be an inpatient for at least 3 days.

A 4-inch segment of her right upper thighbone was removed and replaced with stainless steel parts. (Any more of those and she'll be starring in Terminator 4.) She's able to move the leg but has been advised not to bend the hip very far until the sutures heal. There is a fair amount of pain but she's on some "really good sh*t" and she's mostly just tired and woozy. I stayed with her until 9pm and then went to collect the kids from Grandpa's.

The boys and I will be visiting her on Thursday. She starts physical therapy immediately, so I expect her to be doing jumping jacks by noon Saturday or so. ;)

-Mark

Getting Started

Hello everyone!

It was suggested that, as Jeanette once again pulls on the armor to do battle with the evil dragon that is cancer, we post useful information on the web, and a blog seemed the place to do it. We'll try to post useful things here to help you keep up to date with what is going on.

Today, Wednesday the 16th, Jeanette is scheduled for hip replacement surgery on her right hip. The surgery will be in the early afternoon. Mark will try to post an update here this evening, as well as emailing the URL of the blog to whomever we can think of. Please forward to anyone you think may be interested.

Thanks again for all the kind comments and prayers from everyone. Please keep Jeanette in your thoughts.

-Markus