Author: alohawild

I managed to sleep but woke tired. I had written the blog the night before as I had a haircut at 9 with Zeriada, and Mariah wanted to borrow the Volvo for the day to move some items. So rushed but without having to write.

I received a text from Mariah that it was icy in Forest Grove, so the car switch was off. So one of the reasons for rushing was gone.

Off to Zeriada, who I have not seen since before the trip to New York City in October, for a haircut, I finally lose that mad scientist look or the Covid hairstyle as it is also called. Zeriada and I had a pleasant visit.

I then drive to the hospital in Air Volvo and arrive about on time, 10ish. I am so fatigued the walking is even hard, but I make it there, and Francine, today’s nurse, has Susie in a chair. Susie sounds better, but the nurse tells me she slept poorly.

Francine gets Susie back into bed, and we chat a bit. Susie can see I am tired and tells me to get some rest. The PT people then pop Susie out of bed and then back into bed.

The nurses ask me about my health as I know most of them now after serving as Susie’s nurse. They are all reassuring about the cancer diagnoses for me.

Susie nods off before lunch arrives, and I decide that it will be just a few hours today as I just too tired to be of much help.

Air Volvo gets me back home without much effort. I stop by Wendy’s and get a simple burger with fries and chili. Then, I make a chili burger at home. After that, I try to watch the Marvel movie Captain Marvel, but I just need to sleep after lunch.

I sleep off and on until 5ish and then get up and eat my Gyro leftover from the day before. It is still good, and the microwave did not ruin it.

I had sent a book by Eric Cline to David Smith last week and suddenly felt like watching some lectures. I was tired and did not want to do much more than sit and watch.

Eric Cline is an archeologist (now retired) that dug for years at Meggido and other sites in the Middle East. I enjoy his books, and his lectures are available and just fun to watch. Eric Cline is the kind of archeologist that needs actual proof, like a text found in the dig, before saying something likely true; otherwise, it is a theory, and it needs lots of support and will remain a theory that could change with new evidence. His lectures cover vast amounts of bronze age history, and he tries to have conclusions. I recommend them; I watched two lectures.

Lastly, I watched the next episode of Doctor Who’s new season and the last of the Flux storyline. Again, this is a continual story, and I like them using the old classic Doctor Who model of a multi-episode storyline with universe-threatening mad persons. But I thought the ending a bit lame and will have to watch it again to see if I missed something. It reminded me of the Three Doctor classic storyline.

The Smiths (plus Jason) sent me pics of them in New York City. After watching a show (Lion King) and having some cheesecake (at Junior’s), they thought of me. I do miss NYC.

I went to sleep after that and woke often had I had slept in the afternoon but finally drifted off.

 

 

 

This morning 6:30 came sooner than I wanted it. I awoke and discovered it was time to start. I did the usual things like make coffee and toast with peanut butter. I also had one of Susie’s strawberry yogurts.

I wrote a daily blog that included my cancer diagnosis. That took some time to write, and there was a lot of reaction to the news. I am moved by all the kind messages I received. Thank you!

I was rushed and finally made it to Susie’s room after 10 AM. I did spend some time chatting with Bill Butler, mostly on what is wrong with DC films and how Marvel seems to have been confused of late.

Susie was as happy to see me. It is the first time in more than six weeks that I have not been with her every day. Susie was doing even better than the last time I saw her. Her voice is coming back and her communication, while still halting, is easier to understand.

Susie showing a bit of shoulder today.

Susie ordered spaghetti for lunch (!?) and soup. I ordered a tray for myself for $10 to eat with Susie in the room.

We chatted about the house remodels, and I covered my cancer issues. Susie is very worried and upset.

Lunch came, and I helped somehow helped feed spaghetti to Susie. This requires Susie to chew and move the food around in her mouth. This is something her pureed diet does not require. Susie stopped about every ten minutes to rest. I would then go eat in front of her, which would convince her to try again. This process continued for ninety minutes until Susie was tired out and needed a nap.

I, too, was too tired to go on and drove home and just sat and relaxed. I am still tired from yesterday’s colonoscopy and prep for the same.

Mariah called, and I found the strength to join her for a lovely dinner at BJ’s Brewhouse. I had the prime rib to celebrate eating again. This with my favorite beer and then coffee.

Sorry that this is short today, but it is hard to write. I have a strange headache and need to stop writing for a bit.

I will likely head to sleep soon.

But as it is the holidays, I thought we could go with this: Carols of the Bell.

 

It is hard to type the word “cancer” today. I do not want to upset folks or ask, yet, for help. I want to keep my blog writing honest and record my experience (the parts I believe my audience would wish to know and I am comfortable writing). So I will discuss my new personal journey that began six months ago when the unexplained bleeding started.

There was no actual start of Friday. There was no sleep as all the prep for the colonoscopy had to be done almost around the clock. The details of that I will not cover.

I picked up Wayne Weld-Martin in Air Volvo, and we drove to Portland. There was some traffic at 6:30ish into Portland, but I still took the tunnel. I parked the car on the street and paid Kitty Park, an app for parking in Portland. Wayne would have to wait in the car as waiting rooms stays are not allowed in a Covid world.

I will leave out most of the details of the process I remember, but I will cover that I had the fastest and least painful IV in my hand before I even knew it.

I have to admit I was scared of the Endoscopy (throat). I fear breathing issues as I have had terrible dreams when having an asthma attack while sleeping. I tried to stay calm, and the calming drug they gave helped. My last action before I faded was a thumbs up, despite the fear, to the staff that got a relieved look from the team.

The anesthesia was Propofol, and I recognized the name, but at the time, I could not remember why. Also, they injected a local anesthetic to prevent me from feeling the burning of Propofol. I remember the room fading out and losing definition, and then it was over.

My recovery from Propofol was fast. I did not feel ill nor that fuzzy-headed thing. Instead, I felt a bit washed out. I could function, but I suspected a complex question would mystify me. I dressed and was done, and Wayne drove us to Sherri’s, piloting an unfamiliar but easy-to-drive Air Volvo through Portland traffic (outbound) without issue.

The news from the procedure was poor. A large mass, likely cancer, was nearly blocking my colon. I would need a referral and would receive confirmation of the cancer diagnosis in a few days. This fits with my expectations.

I had breakfast with Wayne and then went to sleep at the house for a bit. Trying to clear the lack of sleep, process the cancer news, and get over the Propofol.

Note: My memory was that Propofol was in the news was correct. I was trying to remember the report about using the drug in executions in the USA. But according to a Google search, it has never been used for executions as Europe and other countries threatened to ban the drug’s import if used for executions. I did not remember the execution controversy at the time of my intake of the drug–That would not have impacted my calm, but it makes my experience relevant as I understand the process now.

It was hard to do much, and I was banned from travel, so I called the hospital twice. I even spoke to Susie on the phone. It was hard to understand some of her words, but she could handle a phone–and that is an improvement! I told her I made it through the procedure without issue. I left out cancer discovery as that would be best to cover in person. The nurse said that Susie was having a good day and was not eating enough. I see I am needed and will return on Saturday.

Jeff and his assistant continued their work on the remodel of the bathroom. The tile was installed on the floor and will dry this weekend. They will return next week to finish the job.

One detail on the work is that the floor and wall tiles are larger. This is more economical, has a more straightforward design, and helps with fundamental decisions. The seat in the shower is one tile wide, for example. The interior of the shower, in this photo painted black with waterproof paint, and the baseboard tile will be done after the floor is dry.

Returning to the story, I ordered a gyro from Gryo House, delivered. I could only eat about 1/2 of it. I ordered hummus and bread with it, and that filled me up. I will pick up some more flatbread and eat this for Saturday night’s dinner.

The gastroenterology called me and let me know that a CT scan was ordered and I could schedule it now. I was sort of amused that it was up to me, slightly simplified by drugs, to schedule. So I called the CT folks at Legacy and will have to cut my visit short on Monday with Susie to get a CT scan in the same hospital that evening. Done.

My doc messaged me after I messaged him and called, asking the simple question, “what now, doc.” I have a referral and the name of the next docs and will contact them on Monday to begin the voyage in earnest. In the note from my doc, he explains that the CT scan will determine the amount of spreading, if any, of my newly discovered cancer. Doc was reassuring:

Dinner was late as details still escaped me, pizza delivered. While eating, Corwin and I enjoyed the HBOMax show, Warrior. Corwin had not seen it, but he really liked the show. I have described it before in this blog and thus will just write a few words about it. It is a near-all-action wire-fu show set in the conflict between nearly super-powered Chinese folks and the exploitive 1878 San Fransico Americans. With all the sex and violence of Game of Thrones recast into wire-fu and the old west. Pizza, chicken with bacon on a ranch-style sauce, from Dominos delivered about 9:15ish.

The Smiths are all in New York City and called me just to chat about NYC and their trip. Their call was a nice distraction from cancer news. They had gone to a Turkish place in the Upper Eastside and had my fav of Turkish coffee with Turkish delight and other desserts. I was wondered about the time of the call, near midnight in NYC on a Friday night, and they did not seem tired. Yes, Turkish coffee. It was nice for them to remember me and NYC. I do miss NYC and the Smiths (plus Jason).

I managed two episodes with a massive headache, went to bed too early, and slept until 6:30 AM.

 

 

 

I awoke about 6:30 and rolled over, and woke at 8:30. Today was prep day for my colonoscopy on Friday. I will skip those details, but I am up all night for that.

Today, Anne Weld-Martin took my place at Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital room 361 in Portland. I spent a bit of the morning on chores that were lagging at the house. I also delivered the documents to our doc for my leave request with the shoe company.

I decided to watch my collection of Poirot DVDs from the original series that started on PBS when I was in college. So I started with number 1.

Corwin’s laptop is not working well. I removed the hard drive and replaced it with a new one. We then spent the morning trying to get the machine to boot to rebuild the OS. Unfortunately, we could not get it to reboot from the recovery USB drive. Will try to put the old drive back and start over again.

Jeff, who was surprised to have me home today, made a lot of progress on remodeling the bathroom today. We also agreed to put in a power plug outside. The wall outside is behind the shower, so it can be done now. So finally, I will have a plug for Christmas lights!

I spoke to Anne and Susie at the hospital. Anne thought Susie was doing much better and had a conversation with Susie. Susie’s speech is better–I could hear the difference on the phone.

The case manager, Michelle, called me at home; she has found a care facility that will take Susie. Details are still to follow. Timing is not known at this time, but soon.

I am up all night to do the prep, and my appointment is at 7:15 in Portland at the Legacy Medical Building across from the hospital housing Susie.

Sorry, but it will be a short write-up as I mostly do prep today. It is hard to write.

 

The morning started at about 6:30, with my alarm working for me this time. I had the phone under my pillow. This works. I was determined not to be late and spoke to the docs today. I also had to start handling the paperwork side of my leave at the shoe company. I have to print and have forms filled out and returned. The company that runs this for Nike does have the ability to accept scans, but that means one scan per page, and the processors do not seem to act any faster when I just snail mail the documents to them. This was my previous experience.

I read my email, made coffee, and then wrote the blog. I had to handle some bills and various house issues this morning too. I was, as usual, rushing. I ended up eating toast in the car as I drove into Portland.

I could not find stamps! So I bought a stamp and stamps at the Aloha Post Office on my way to Portland in Air Volvo. The first documents are on their way to the leave approving people.

The parking garage was full. This takes a while to figure out, as you can imagine. The sign showed in lovely calm green lights that it was “OPEN,” but that was not really true. As I exited as a gal in a reflective vest asked me if it was full up, I suspect the gal was in charge of the sign. Unlike in newer parking structures, this one did not have the automation to know how many slots were taken.

I drove over to garage 3, and it was nearly empty. How strange.

This made me late. Susie was sitting in bed, she had just had OT and PT, and they had moved her back to the bed. The OT and PT people worked together with Susie (she requires two people for safety–them and her’s) and told me that Susie was trying very hard as they left. However, she is not able to stand.

Susie had only some of her breakfast. As this is an educational hospital, the docs were unavailable as it was an academic day. Still, the primary doc would talk to me in the afternoon when she was free of the academic stuff.

Susie and I agreed a movie was a good idea. Beauty and the Beast, the live version, was selected, and I was surprised that I had not seen it before. The movie must have slipped through the cracks as I seldom miss a musical. Emma Thomson surprised me by playing Mrs. Potts and singing the main songs–I did not know she sang that well.

Lunch came, and it was just a few items. Susie ate most of her soup and much of the other things. I kept pushing, “just one more.” Susie was pleased to finish much of her lunch. We took a few breaks to spread out the food consumption, and the movie was put on hold when eating. Susie is easily distracted.

Thin liquids still get a cough once in a while. The speech person came by, worked with Susie, and decided that Susie could be promoted to the next level of puree. One item can be ordered slightly less pureed. A small step, but we are going in the right direction.

We finished the movie. The doc came and let us know that Susie is on hold for leaving for a bit. They are backing off some IV fluids and have changed some meds for blood thinning. The doc wants to see that these changes are positive, and thus Susie will remain at Legacy Good Samaritan room 361 a few more days and likely through the weekend.

I tried out the cafeteria when Susie took a nap. I had the veggie chili and a Greek-style pasta salad. I have a colonoscopy on Friday, so I am trying to stick to simple items. I avoid public spaces in hospitals for obvious reasons, but I had limited time and wanted to learn the cafeteria process in case I am stuck there one day.

Today I left early as I had to shop for clear liquids for the adventure starting on Thursday. The trip home included much more traffic; leaving Portland early comes with traffic, but it was an uneventful trip. I stopped by Safeway; everyone was wearing masks and keeping distance, and I bought chicken broth and drinks.

Corwin was home, and I ordered chips and cheese and potato skins (shared with Corwin) from BJ’s delivered. Corwin’s new hard drive for his laptop arrived, and I got a cable for him to create a bootable USB drive for Windows. I have spare external drives for things like this. I plan to enjoy the drive replacement while experiencing the deep impacts of the clearing process for the colonoscopy on Thursday. We then watched Dare Devil, a newish series on cable-based in the Marvel Universe. It is a low-budget show, but the camera work makes up for some of that. As Corwin pointed out a few times, the old-fashioned make-up and simple effects work well. They do, and the show clearly does not use computer graphics (CG); the shadows are not perfect, and there are lots of close-up effects. I managed three episodes.

I forgot to take pics today. So instead, I will cover some roses.

Like the other roses, Mister Lincoln, a tea rose, is running in slow motion due to the reduced light conditions of the Pacific Northwest fall. This bud has been trying to bloom for more than a week.

The China Rose, continuously blooming, is putting out small but bright pink flowers.

The painted rose, Picasso, is still blooming in slow motion and looks like a painting that has been drenched in brush cleaner.

I managed to stay awake to about 10ish.