I must have gotten on the nerves of the nurses today. They threw me out!
Actually, one of the nurses said she was going to miss me and would have to deal with one of those "normal" patients. You know those: the ones who complain a lot.
I have run into many other patients in and around M.D. Anderson, and I must say I do not see many of those complainers around anywhere. As a group, we are all here fighting the beast called cancer. We are in the best cancer care facility on the planet, and have the best doctors and nurses we could possibly have.
If attitude alone could cure cancer, this place is going to knock it's socks off!
Sad to Go
As much as you hate needing to be here, leaving the place is still a sad thing. You bond with the team of folks in charge of your care. Both Cheryl and I really have become close to these folks, even when we have trouble remembering their names. They do try to help by writing them on a board in your room as shift changes take place!)
This morning, it was Miranda who was back in charge of me, so it fell to her to make sure Cheryl knew how to care for me when we leave the facility.
Actually, we are not going far. The surgery they did on me is so specialized that I need to be close to "home base" in case something goes wrong. So we have extended our stay in the local La Quinta for two more days. If things still look good on Thursday, we will head back to Austin, and our normal recovery lives!
More Walking
Since I will need to stay in normal human digs, I will need to be able to move around more. So number one priority for today was more walking, and making sure we had a walker available for use at the motel. One of the nurses came up with a walker for us to take, which our insurance will pay for, so that part was covered.
Walking is a bit of an issue.
They cut away chunks of my leg bone, and used that bone for my new jawbone. What they left behind hurts.
Actually, it was not hurting that much up until two days ago when they pulled out staples that help hold things together. After they pulled those out, walking became a pain again. I could not breeze around the floor multiple times. It was a struggle to get around just once. But I managed to do it,
The therapist's big deal was to keep the walker "gliding" across the floor, not hopping from spot to spot the way most folks start off. This is surprisingly hard to do. I was doing well at it pre-staple, but post-staple I had trouble. Thankfully, this afternoon, I got that walking style back. It was painful, but I managed to pull it off.
The therapist had me use the new walker, and after one lap of the floor, we stopped back in the room while he adjusted the walker to better match my height. Then he made me do another lap! This was the lap I managed to "glide". The pain level went way down on that second lap as well. Practice does make perfect in this kind of work.
That old saying "no pain - no gain!" is correct. You have to work through the pain to improve, and I can see that.
I have more work to do, and it will be harder yet.
Dr. Lai's PA, Brooke, stopped by the clear me for discharge, and made the comment that I should walk without the plastic boot that I now wear on my left leg. That boot is helping distribute the weight over my entire leg. If I take it off, the leg has to do what the leg is supposed to do. That will hurt, but it is the next phase in this process, so we will give that a shot.
Probably when we get back home.
Out with the Trache
Dr Lai's "Fellow", Dr. Heah, came in this morning and said it looked like the trache had done it's job. They capped the tube last night to make sure I could breathe normally through the night. I had no problems doing that, so Dr. Heah cut the sutures holding the trache in place, and added a temporary strap. That was step one in the removal process.
He said he would confer with Dr. Lai about pulling it out completely, and left for the morning.
Later in the afternoon, another doctor on Dr. Lai's staff walked in, walked up the trache, undid the strap, and walked away with the entire apparatus! Yeah! Freedom!.
She did put a bandage over the hole in my neck. That will close normally, all by itself, over the next few weeks. In the meantime, I need to try to keep air from pushing through the hole when I breathe, speak, or cough. It takes constant attention, but I have been down this road before. One more step on the path to recovery!
Another Milestone!
I managed another major milestone today as well. This one is embarrassing! I managed to have a "bowel movement" or "BM" as they call them in hospital land!
The pain medicine makes you constipated, and I was on pain medicines a lot. When I first got out of surgery, the focus was on making sure my kidneys were working. It took two days before that part started working, but the BM part took longer.
They were feeding me "softeners" to encourage my system to let things through, but nothing seemed to work.
"Have you passed gas?" was a common question (disgusting as it might seem!)
"Well, actually, yes" "That is a good sign, it means things are working. Just not the way we want!"
Finally, I had them plant me in the bathroom after one of my walks, and I managed a big "BM". Everyone was thrilled with that "outcome" (Yuk, Yuk!)
Ready for Discharge
Here is the one shot of me I have allowed to be taken with my pumpkin face. I am sitting on the bed, ready to roll out in a wheel chair.
And here is the pile of stuff the nurses made sure we had so we could survive a week or so, just in case. That oile has equipment, medicine, and food!
In for the Night
Cheryl and I are in for the night. She is enjoying a gourmet Hot Pocket sandwich, and I am enjoying something wandering through my feeding tube. We are both exhausted by today! Getting ready, loading up the car, loading me into the car, driving to the motel, unloading me, then all the stuff. It took it's toll.
As did Cheryl's non-stop reporting in to all those folks following us along on this adventure.
You are an amazing cast of characters out there! And we could not be surviving all of this without you.
We are praying for you. Part of helping someone through cancer involves working through the thought that you could be doing this yourself, if life does not go the way you want. We do not wish for that to happen for any of you, so we pray that our God keeps you all safe.
I hope the attempts at humor, and the stories of our adventure help you see what it is like, and get you to a point where you see what we see. God's Grace can pull you through this. As it has done for us.
It is not easy, but life can win out over cancer!
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