Well, my sister is having a hard time with her recovery from her colon surgery. The good news is the nodule was a nano-second away from being cancerous but it wasn't. Yippee. Everything around the nodule was clean.
She is just really having a hard time recovering. My family is known for its stubbornness; we are not proud of that but we are a stubborn Norwegian/Irish lot. To give you a frame of reference. I had knee surgery when I was 16. I was supposed to move my leg afterward. This was 1961 so they didn't have all these fancy computerized things to move your leg whether you wanted to or not. I said it hurt to move it and wouldn't do it. The orthopedist came in and told me I had to move it. I said no. He moved it, I screamed and my father, who was there, punched him. I felt vindicated; the doctor was pissed and my father felt he'd done the right thing. Many years later I can tell you I should have moved my leg. I have very limited mobility in that knee and it's all due to my stubbornness. Back to my sister.
The big issue for my sister is getting out of bed and walking. She was worried about falling so didn't. Her lungs began to collapse which caused her to breath shallowly which caused her to panic. My brother, sister and I are asthmatics so not being able to breath is a big deal.
Plus she couldn't keep anything down so wasn't taking her anti-anxiety drugs. Yesterday they finally gave her the drugs intravenously plus they put a tube down her nose to her stomach to get rid of the toxic mixture that had built up there.
I had that tube to the stomach procedure when I had complications after a gall bladder operation a few years ago. It is an awful procedure, but the relief is practically instantaneous. I was in the emergency room when it was done (I digress). The nurse who did it asked Kerry if he wanted to stay. He said yes, held my hand, stroked my back and whispered calming words. What a guy. After that he went to move the car, which was in a limited time parking area. The nurse said to me, "Is he your husband?" I said no; she said, "he's a keeper; most guys are out of the room at the mention of the procedure." I kept him.
Back to my sister. So today she finally walked a bit. She still has not eaten. Surgery was last Wednesday. Until she eats and shows that her colon is working, she cannot go home. There is a family wedding next Friday that I know she wants to attend. Right now her husband Neil says he will go with their youngest son Adam.
Meanwhile I found out that my cousin Dennis' wife Carole has a bad case of Shingles. She's in a lot of pain and spending a good portion of her day in bed. She's supposed to be at the same wedding next Friday but has to fly to Minneapolis from Naples, FL to get there.
Things are not looking good for the wedding.
The good news is that Kerry and I are healthy and happy; the sun has shown for several days and tomorrow I go to my quilt guild meeting. But, as you can tell, the rest of the family needs some prayers, positive energy and a lot of crossed digits.
An even dozen
2 days ago
Posts
3 comments:
Oh dear, that sounds horrendous. I will be thinking of her.
Tell your cousin's wife to get the Zostavax vaccine after this case abates.
i empathize and sympathize with your sister. being a veteran of 5 abdominal surgeries i know how uncomfortable they are especially in terms of walking. however, coughing from having pneumonia is even more unhappy making and far more painful.
if she's able to have someone walk with her then that might help with the falling down fear. the important thing is that she move around. moving around helps the bowls and intestines do what they were meant to do, get her eating and demonstrate that her guts are working as they should.
I just had a good out loud giggle at the thought of your Dad punching the Doctor!
Hope your sister gets better soon.
That is so hard and your poor cousin! ugh.
Suddenly everything I griped about today seems insignificant.
I'm so glad you have sun. At least one of us does.
:)
Post a Comment