Dis Breast Cancer Survivors Part IV - GAGWTA

[smiley_face2]

thanks Peanme!! the wind shifted and while it was still all grey out there, at least it didn't stink and wasn't snowing ash. I had another bad night, but felt a lot better when I got up and did a lot better today. the hospital is still full of people with respiratory problems from the smoke. they say we may get some rain next week. We need it so badly!! it's too bad with the timing for our grand daughters coming to stay, but we can still have fun!
Tazdev....I'm glad your dad's surgery went well, and yes, the story for most cancer survivors is adjusting to a new normal. Often it can be hard, but I am always grateful I am still here, even if it means dealing with pain or not being able to do things I used to enjoy him while you can! I wish I had my mom and or dad still here ask him to tell you stories about when he was young...and family stuff....there are so many things I wish I could ask my dad.

 

[smiley_face2]

Hi Cheryl! we are both on at the same time! I am doing a lot better today! hope you are doing as good as you can too!!

 

[CherylDan]

So........as for what's happening here. DH, who is building a shed, on Tuesday was putting the roof on (against my best judgement, btw). He was about 15 feet from the ground when the scaffolding broke and he fell off the roof. In an effort to keep from landing on his head or back, he kept his body as straight as possible and hit the ground feet first. His left leg both the fibula and tibula snapped completely, as well as breaking his ankle. The right leg has two broken bones. So far, he has gone through two surgeries, with one more "big one" hopefully to take place early next week. Ugh.

He has to keep all weight off his feet for a min of 10 weeks, then he may be allowed to put slight pressure on the.better leg and start rehab using that foot a little bit. Right now we are facing the issue of getting a ramp built so he can get up the 6 steps to our house, as well as thqe logistics of getting him into the car for doc apps, etc. I can't be of any help with any kind of physical assistance due to my balance and nurathaphy issues, so I don't know. Our local hospital transferred him to a big chicago hospital about 90 miles away,,,,so besides going back for another surgery, all his follow up doc apps will be there too. I can only drive for 15 or so minutes before my eyes start to give out, so we will need a driver each time. And a million other things I'm sure I haven't thought of yet, like how this will affect his job. I'm pretty sure that he will not be able to teach his classes come August! My head is spinning.

Both DDs have stepped up in a major way, as well as other family, so so far so good. PT came in today to teach him how to transfer from the bed to wheelchair, and he did great! Also learned how to transfer to the commode. Small victories.

 

[Dancind]

Wow, Smiley. Murphy's law, much? PPD for you! Hope that esophagus problem clears up, sounds like a good excuse for road trip.

DH is headed to Portland today to help DD move to her new apartment. She gave me a FaceTime tour yesterday, it's going to be nice for her. She was so excited that there was an extra, unexpected closet! It's the little things. Don't know if I said, she had to rent the place "sight unseen". It's the only way to get an apartment in Portland!

Tazdev, glad to hear good news.

Snappy, your WDW trip sounds lovely. We used to go in early May, it is really nice! Sorry you're going through this with your Mom. I think my brother and I will be doing that with our Dad soon, but it will not be so easy. His SO is getting him evaluated for Alzheimer's soon. They are in Montana now.

 

[Dancind]

Oh no, Cheryl! Just saw your post for some reason. How horrifying for your DH. Mine has fallen off a ladder recently, but thankfully didn't break anything. Just some horrible bruising. They should not be climbing things by themselves! I hope someone was nearby so he got help right away.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Cheryl - so sorry to hear this about your dh. I am sure there will be major adjustments for you all. Wishing him all the best and sending lots of prayers.

smiley - you have too much on your plate for sure with your family and many people you love and care for. Sending you lots of prayers too.

tazdev - glad your dads surgery went well and that he is on the road to healing. Prayers for him.

Diana - happy to hear about your dd's new apt. Sounds like real estate is pretty prime there.

Well the vote went as I expected and sadly they voted to close the school due to financial reasons. I ate alot of chocolate sun. Then yest. ds3 and I went to decorate my room. He did great with my ideas. My leg was hurting alot there because I was just sitting in one place and the chair was too low I think. I took some tylenol when I came home as that is all I am allowed. I like aleve much better but that is a big no no right now. Its mostly done. Ds1 had an interview but nothing as of yet as usual, sigh. Ds3 is still waiting on his background check stuff.

GAGWTA

 

[tazdev3225]

Smiley one of the favorite memories of my dad growing up is the stories he told us of his childhood. My dad was a bit of a bad boy, but it gave me connections to my great grandparents also. I do intend to ask some more though. I am sure the new reality will be an adjustment for him and my mom to deal with but they are strong people and I will cherish every minute we have. He must be on some really powerful pain meds. Evidently he insists things were crawling on the floor and walls and the door was waving at him. He pulled a tube loose and took apart the breathing machine he needs to use. I'm not sure if that is good or bad???

Cheryl hope your DH bounces back quickly. Losing mobility is really hard on everyone. Prayers for a quick recovery.

 

[smiley_face2]

Oh Cheryl...... that is really horrible!!! I feel just as bad for you as for him.... I know where I live, there is a community organization of volunteer drivers, to drive people to the city hospital. They are partially funded so they have their gas and mileage paid, just their time is volunteered. I bet there is something like this in your community, call the hospital and ask. There is a lot available here, like a loan cupboard for things like wheelchairs and crutches, I am sure you will be suprised by how much help there is available!!
Let us know how his next surgery goes.
Diana, been dealing with the esophagus for a good 15 years now, had several surgeries for it, but have not had much success with it. At one point I was literally starving, could not even swallow warm water, they had to cut the muscle at the bottom of the esophagus. The surgeon said they only thing he could think to do next would be to completely remove my esphagus. That is a really drastic thing and I will put that off until the pain is too much to handle.
Glad you daughter is happy in her new place! Portland is such a beautiful city! so funky and fun! One of our road trips we want to stop and stay a few days....and ride that tram up the hill!!!
Taz....sounds like maybe the meds are a bit too much?
LMP I sure am sorry the vote did not go the way you were hoping.

 

[robinb]

The thread's been pretty active, some good and some really terrible .

tazdev, I'm glad that your father's surgery went well. Continued good thoughts going your way.

Smiley, when it rains it pours! You poor thing ... one thing after another {{hugs}}. I did love your photos from DL, though. Beautiful!

Cheryl, OMG! Your poor DH. It's nice that your DD's are stepping up to help.

LMP, sorry about the vote. That's a real bummer . Sending pixie dust to your DSs!

My DD15 is off on a big adventure. She is flying today to go on a training trip with her club swim team. Her coach is bringing about a dozen of her best swimmers to her old club team, the North Baltimore Aquatic Club where they will practice with the team and participate in a swim meet. NBAC is the home of Michael Phelps and her coach (who is also an Olympic Gold Medalist) has arranged a meet and greet! I am so excited for my DD! They will be worked pretty hard on the NBAC swim team but it's not all work and no play, they also have a tour of Washington DC planned. Her big summer long course state swim meet is about 2 weeks after she returns and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she have some good swims in Baltimore.

So, my DD is out of the house, what am I going to do? I'm going to WDW of course. We booked a great deal with a travel agent at CSR which comes out to about $120 per night . We'll be there for 5 days and then we're going to Tampa to see my MIL and meet up with my DH's brother and SIL.

 

[Dancind]

Oh, didn't even think about the tram ride! Maybe because we have a really big one here in ABQ? DD did say she wanted to take me down to the waterfront, but we never quite made it. Too busy trying some of the wonderful food places I guess. She sent me a photo of breakfast at a Swiss place this morning, tonight they will hit Pok Pok. I hope they get her new Ikea furniture put together between meals!

Smiley, I know you and DH are foodies, I think you do need to visit Portland!

Robin, have fun in WDW! Just you and DH? That's a different trip, I know!

 

[snappy]

Glad you ment

 

[snappy]

Smiley, glad you mentioned the support in your area for people needing assistance. Cheryl, check out www.iltech.org. It is a sister non-profit to the one I work for on Louisiana. Basically we exist to help with access to devices for all kinds of disabilities, mobility, vision, hearing.

They likely have a device loan program like we do, since it is a requirement of the federal grant funds we receive.

Hope is healing and that your family is rallying around you.

 

[smiley_face2]

Robinb....I am so jealous! lol.... have a really good time!
Hi Snappy! it's been a while!
Diana, I have watched a few episodes of Guy Fierie when he is in Portland, there does look to be a lot of good food there! When we first started making these road trips, there were things that had to be done, bucket list items, and some things that we did that were so fun or good we just had to do them again!! At the end of it all, even when I would say, "this time is a trip just about California, not Disneyland" ....it adds on about $4000 to the cost of a trip to go there too, partly because when we get there we just have to stay at least 2 weeks..... We have not been able to go once yet without that add on.
Even this last trip, after so many years, I finally got a bucket list item scratched off! Lol.... Portland is like that.... we know we want to stop and stay.... but there is so much else.... and can we really skip Disneyland this time?
I know that if we did skip Disney, we could go on more trips... but I am a total complete Disney addict. Not even trying to rehab....

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Cheryl - how is your dh doing? I am sure it will be a slow healing process for him. I hope he is a patient patient for sure!

robinb - have a great time!! Hope your dd has fun too. That sounds amazing!!

tazdev - how is your dad doing?

Well today was the first day of the vbs. The class I am teaching has the most kids - 18!! Thank heavens I got alot of helpers today but 3 wont be there tomm so I will be down to 2 and some teens. The kids are good and its a lot of fun but tiring. Everyone works great together as a team. I always have so much respect for the real teachers after I am done with this.

Dh decided that he was going to Hawaii next week with ds1 and ds 3. He said they want his to use alot of his vacation time due to budget issues at work. Even though he did promise to spend the summer with me. There is so much that needs to be done. He didnt realize how much around the house etc. SO right now needless to say there is not a dog leash long enough to get dh out of the dog house that he is in, lol. He said, well you are sick and cant go anywhere etc. Yup, that always makes you feel good. Ds2 will have to get some lessons in compression stocking application I can take it off myself. He is suppose to use most of it up by Oct. lst or else they will start laying off people in his dept. they said.

GAGWTA

 

[Dancind]

LMP, your DH sounds a bit like mine. Mine doesn't travel for work, but he always needs a project, or something fun to do. If he had the money, he WOULD be gone all the time, on scuba trips. I'm sending him back from Scottsdale after a couple of days because he would absolutely be bouncing off the walls there, and it stresses me out!

 

[tazdev3225]

I have had a really long day starting and ending with my grandkids swim team. Practice early and a meet tonight that was delayed over an hour due to lightning. I'll go back and read later. Just wanted to give a quick update on my dad. The drs were a little concerned because his BP was very low the last couple of days. I think my mom said it was 90/58 yesterday. That's one concern with his heart. He was much better today. All but 1 or 2 tubes are out, he is up and walking, off all pain meds and he came home today. I still haven't been able to visit because of a sinus infection but will try to get down there in the next couple of days. As far as I know they are still waiting on the final pathology reports. I am so grateful for everyone who has kept my dad in their thoughts and prayers, here, my church, FB, it has given me so much strength to gather from.

 

[smiley_face2]

LMP... I am glad there are people like you in the world, doing things like VBS....keeping as many kids as we can on a good road You totally deserve a vacation in Hawaii, when you are well enough to go and your hubby better take you! or there may be words from you sisters here at DIS!!
Tazdev glad your dad is doing well!!
We have had the grand daughters here for a few days not, and I am already exhausted!! lol! we went out in the boat today with the girls ..... this is a youtube video of the area....

we were on the outside, away from the rapids....when our motor died. Now hubby grew up here, lived on the far side of that body of water, had to go back and forth in a little aluminium boat every day to get to school! so while we do know our way around the rapids, having little ones with you makes it pretty scarey! Papa power paddled us over to the beach where we tied on to the rocks and waited for the run to stop. It is because the tide is coming up, and going through a narrow channel to fill a very large inlet. Once the tide has peaked, the water goes calm, then starts the flow the other way going out. So we knew if we waited long enough, we would be able to start paddling all the way back. If we had gone early in the day, this would have happened on the ebb tide and it would have just pushed us out back to the marina. We were not that lucky! after a couple of hours he tried the motor again and it worked!! we were sooooo happy! especially him who would have had to do the paddling all the way back, it would have taken several hours. needless to say the motor is going to the mechanic tomorrow to see what's going on!! It was a beautiful sunny warm day so that was good but it would have been nice if we could have caught a fish to bring home! we stopped at the marina and had fish and chips for our dinner instead, and a swim at the lake, so all in all not too bad of a day! There is a trail to hike into to watch the tidal rapids, and we will be doing that with them next week. We will all sleep very well tonight I think!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

smiley - I am glad you are all safe. That was quite the adventure. I would be worried for sure. The scenery is so beautiful though. Absolutely breath taking. I hope you continue to have a good visit with your dgds.

tazdev - glad your dad is on the road to recovery. Slow and steady for sure!

Cheryl -how is your dh doing?? I am sure its slow for him too. Hope his next surgeries go well too.

robin - would love to hear about your trip. Of course I feel disney food is the most important, lol!!

Laurie - hope you are getting things settled with your mom.

Diana - I thought of you because ds3 said he wants to go scuba diving but he read you cant do it for 18 hours before you get back on the plane. I think he should snorkel somewhere instead.

Peg - enjoyed watching Kendalls videos.

Well we ended up having 20 kids in our class. It was a great week with so many awesome helpers. We had 2 kids who were autistic so we did our best for them as none of us are real teachers.

Ds3 found out he will miss the july orientation since his background check took so long so now he has to start in mid. sept. oh well. They are leaving like 3am thurs. morning for the trip to Hawaii. I just heard that the baggage handlers are suppose to go on strike. I hope its not the ones for their airline.

I only have about 4 bruises right now, so I guess that is good. My gums were bleeding really bad after I brushed my teeth the other night and I finally shaved my legs which I as afraid to do too but all is well there. Oh the joys of blood thinners, lol!

GAGWTA

 

[smiley_face2]

LMP...what island will they be on? I so wish you were able to go too I am getting totally worn out, they have been here 2 weeks now and its been go go go. The weather has stayed sunny so thats good but we are on severe water use restrictions. Our resevoir is just not that big because we live in a rainforest and its never been an issue before. Combined with the mild winter there was no snow up in the mountains to melt and fill it either. Oh well I did want it to be more like California here!

 

[tazdev3225]

Smiley - that sounded a little scary for sure but the scenery was beautiful
luvmarypoppins - sorry your son missed the July orientation but September will be here before you know it


Quick update on my dad as DH and I are taking a mini vacation, just a couple days down the shore with friends but it should be fun. Dad got the best news possible from the surgeon - they got it all. He has no cancer in his body right now. The surgeon did tell my mom before surgery that the easy part was the day of surgery the next few months were the hard part. Truer words were never spoken. This week Dad's BP dropped to 60/30 and he almost wound up back in the hospital. Mom now has to make sure he is getting at least 96 oz of fluid a day. She is giving him lots of soups, shakes and water ice. It has helped because now his BP is still low for him but in the normal range. He has very little stamina so they are slowly getting him to take short walks outside. The best news was they had one night where his ostomy bag didn't leak. Baby steps but progress. His voice sounds stronger when I talk to him and he has his sense of humor back. He has been trying to convince my mom they need a kitten now. My brother found a kitten in his car engine and after rescuing it we took it to the vets office in hopes of them finding the little guy a home. My dad wants it, mom doesn't. It's been a good distraction for them.

Hope everyone is having a good week and thanks for being here. It has been so helpful just to have somewhere to come and let go to people who understand.