We had another appointment with Dr Ayres to go over the results. Before we started, we told him we would like to pray for him (and did)....it must be so difficult to tell people news that is not the greatest to hear - and to do it with such feeling and compassion. We could tell he appreciated our sincerity -- I suspect he's a Christ follower, but didn't want to pry. There appears to be 3 areas "that are suspect of cancer," which means they will have to be looked at closer. He can refer us to a doctor in Spokane that he has worked with, that has done a lot of gall bladder oncology. OK -- let us digest this a bit, and we'll get back to you, ASAP.
Dr Mary Newman's office called us to come in that night at 6pm for a consultation. When we got there, she had a packet about an inch thick of what gall bladder cancer entails, names of possible medications (chemo-therapies) and doctors SHE also recommended. "If it were my mother or any one else in my family, they would be going to MD Anderson, in Houston Texas. People that go there are still alive and walking around." Mind you, Doctor Mary is PRETTY OPINIONATED -- but she is almost always right on and is very highly respected by her colleagues as well as her patients. As a matter of fact, she has already called the DIRECTOR of Oncology, Dr Milind Javle, whose office will be calling to set up an appointment. She also had a lot of information on flights, housing etc for when we got there that another patient had provided to her. OK -- Texas -- here we come NOW do we know why Dylan moved to Denton?? Granted, it's 4 hours from where he lives, but it's still a darn site closer if we end up staying awhile!
UNABASHED, UNSOLICITED PLUG: Dr Mary Newman is an Endocrinologist, Gastrointestinal doctor that Joe and I have been going to for nearly 10 years. She saves peoples lives and is very passionate about what she does (diabetes, stomach issues, etc) not to mention she is very good at what she does. She has an office in Kennewick, a little beside Costco. Go see her -- she is terrific!
Rather than tell the kids individually, we opted to do a conference call. They didn't know WHAT we were calling about, but we texted them all in a group text and said to call us at 6pm on this date and use this phone number and code to get in (Free Conference Call is the name of the company, and it really is free). Naturally all the kids started talking smack -- what are mom and dad selling now -- we have gone thru gumball machines, Pre-Paid Legal, Weekenders clothing and BeautiControl Makeup, not to mention ShapeRite products, laser etched metal art, and who knows what else. I personally was having a ball watching it all, tho Joe's work phone was burning up. The time came and we told the kids all that had happened -- the gall bladder was removed, along with a lymph node, both stage 2 cancerous and there were 3 areas suspect of more cancer. Silence. Any questions? Silence. OK -- so it was not the best phone call to try a conference call out on -- I admit that now. I suspect the kids all called each other afterwards to discuss what they heard -- we started hearing from them the next day, individually. It was difficult explaining it all over again to each of them --no, this is NOT a death sentence, it's a heads up. We are going to MD Anderson in Texas, which we have been told is the best in the nation, if not the world for cancer treatment. They have a 99% success rate, which is phenomenal!
The most difficult call for me to get was from Justin Wayne. If the areas are just suspect, DO YOU HAVE CANCER or NOT? I felt a little bit badgered -- to the point where I was questioning the results too. I ended up calling Dr Ayres' office and asking if I have cancer? Yes -- if it's suspect, it needs to be reviewed by cancer doctors and if it's malignant or benign -- they will deal with it. Can she have the doctor talk to Justin (I was in tears by now) - I can conference call with him. Nurse Marene said Hippa Laws etc -- just invite Justin to join us in Texas. I told Justin this (was she being a smart-ass?) and finally told him, talk to dad -- I don't want to discuss this anymore. I quickly called Joe, but he didn't answer -- just to warn him Justin was calling. Too late -- about half an hour later, in walks Joe - white as a sheet. I told him what happened and he got a little upset - originally he thought Justin was calling to see how HE was doing with this news about his wife...he got a little shell-shocked. But -- people assimilate information differently and Justin's way is to ask questions. We all had questions -- but at this point -- NO ONE HAD ANSWERS.
This was the first part of September, and there were things happening in our lives that I didn't want to miss. Regardless -- Joe said when the first appointment comes up, we are heading to Houston - no matter what. His folks would be celebrating their 70TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY (What an accomplishment!!) on the 19th of September, and we would need to deliver Karina to college on the 27th of September. I started praying, Lord please let me be here for these functions. As it turned out, the soonest appointment they had was October 1st. Yay! The Anniversary Party was a HUGE success. It was held at my nephew Tommy & Kayla Coyne's farm out in West Richland. Connie, Joe's brother Bryan's wife, did an absolutely FANTASTIC job of putting everything together and organizing all of us, with Nancy's help. A LOT of friends and family showed up -- people the folks have known and shared their lives with throughout their 70 years of married life...5 boys, 17 grandchildren and I forget how many great-grandkids. I didn't realize it, but I had turned jaundiced. My eyes had no white and both them and my skin was an eery yellow color - this all came from my kids when here I was thinking I looked pretty great - having lost the weight and all! It continued to get worse and worse, until I called Dr Ayres office (Dr Mary was in New York doing triage work for a month) to see what he thought. I had tried eye drops to see if that would clear the yellow -- it didn't. I was getting self-conscious about how I looked (and who knows how I really felt). Now this is a gross part -- but this is important for cancer warriors (I like that term). My pee turned really dark orange and my poop was WHITE! It was the 25th of September and he wanted me to move my appointment up at MD Anderson -- no can do, got to deliver Karina to school. Then be prepared to go to a hospital in Seattle on an emergency basis. Not good news.
September 27th came...time to deliver Karina. Oh -- let me tell you about THIS blessing from God first! Remember when I mentioned we got to work at CreationFest in July -- the really huge Christian Gathering that happens annually and happened in Tri-Cities for the second year in a row? Well -- Karina came to visit us working there, and while she was there, visited all of the booths. Adelphia Bible School also had a booth, along with Gather4Him College, Liberty Christian, Northwest College, etc. "Something" clicked when she met Jim from Adelphia...they shared testimonies, prayed with each other and he wanted to meet us. Previously, she had a scholarship to Gather4Him college but turned it down a year ago, thinking she needed to "live" a bit before going immediately into school. So, even tho we prayed about it and received confirmation from God that yes -- she should go to Adelphia, we said it's her choice and she needs to pray about it -- she can't be wishy-washy and keep changing her mind, which she was famous for. She kept in contact with Jim over the summer but still didn't seem to make up her mind. She had a career started last March as a CNA and worked with 3 elderly disabled men daily -- which she loved and just blossomed at. Plus, they had just asked her to be a trainer. What to do? What to do? We were all stressing how to come up with funds for her first half of school -- with Cancer treatment looming, we weren't sure what to expect financially, especially since Joe is a commission only salesman. Three weeks before school started, we got an email telling Karina to hurry up and apply -- she has $3500 in scholarships waiting for her! Praise God! She received her answer -- loud and clear.
We delivered her to school and met all of the faculty and were feeling truly blessed -- these are all God-fearing instructors, filled with Holy Spirit and we knew she would blossom and the Lord will be using her. Fortunately, my jaundice didn't seem to be getting any worse. No unexpected hospital visits, so we were off to Dallas Texas to see Dylan and Jenn on the 29th of September.
CANCER WARRIORS: There are several organizations out there that will help with both housing and flights when you need to go out of area for cancer treatment. The one that we used this time is called Angel Flights. Normally, they will send a private aircraft to pick you and one caregiver/spouse to deliver you to and from your appointments -- free of charge. What a blessing, since most of us don't plan for such a catastrophe. However, since we were more than 1000 miles away, they booked up on open-ended tickets on Alaska Airlines (saving us over $1300!!). They just need to confirm your appointments with your provider, which MD Anderson was very helpful in doing. Here is contact info for Angel Flights 1-877-247-5433 (they must do all of the booking for you). They will only do one round trip per year for you and the caregiver, so plan accordingly. There were 2 other organizations too, Grace Flights at 1-888-500-0433, tho they didn't respond to my message. Also - Footprints in the Sky at 303-799-0461 or 303-333-3332. They cost $100 per person (2 people) each way, but mostly cover the Colorado/Rocky Mountain areas.
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Saturday, November 28, 2015
To Tell or Not To Tell -- That Is The Question.....
Five kids, with all different emotions and reactions. What do we tell them? When do we tell them? We decided we would wait until after the CT Scan so we could let them know WHAT we were looking at. So - went to TRIOS and did the CT Scans. I should tell you about all my children (I used to love that soap opera) before we go any further.
Our oldest is Dylan O'Dell .....he just turned 37 and he is the "romantic" in the family as well as having a big heart and level head. As my firstborn, HE is the favorite of all. Halo Dylan, Halo. He was in the Air Force for 10 years, then went to work in the civil side of the same type of work and ended up living in North Carolina, so he could be near our oldest grandchild, his son Ayden - a 12 year old charmer that is equally athletic and loves science (who lives in South Carolina with his mom, stepdad and little sister). While Dylan was in North Carolina, he met a wonderful girl named Jenn and they were married last year -- Jenn is a character, bright AND beautiful, and doesn't take any guff from Dylan, which is awesome to watch. I absolutely love her. Anyway -- Dylan decided he would go to work for FEMA and since Jenn just finished school as a dental hygienist, that Colorado would be an excellent place to relocate. They found a beautiful home, bought it - but the sale fell thru since there were a few conditions the owners had to fulfill but failed to. So - they moved anyway and would just rent til they found the perfect place again. A few weeks later, ta-da! They bought a house - BUT -- it was in Denton Texas. What?!? You don't have jobs in Texas......it's okay, it'll all work out. (And work out it did -- Did I tell you God is so awesome?) From North Carolina, to Colorado, to Texas....
Our second son is Justin Wayne .... he's 35 and was in the Navy for 2 years, then in law enforcement and is currently working in his dream job for the Veteran's Association in Portland OR. Joe says he is the most intelligent person he knows -- yet I just think of him as my rambunctious little son who made me find him a "furple bike" when he was 3 or had me running all over town to find "Santa Claus' real Christmas paper like in the movie Christmas Story -- green paper with white reindeer folks. Do you know how hard that is to find when you are on a mission? After that year, Santa started bringing presents UNWRAPPED and leaving them under the tree LOL - and that's the truth. His middle name was after my Dad Wayne - so he will always be Justin Wayne and he IS the favorite of all. His wife Brianne, whom I love as my second daughter, is a classic beauty, an excellent tireless mother and has had to learn of our families' sense of humor the hard way -- and made up for it herself a few times! She takes sonograms (I never get her title right) in the pediatric department at a hospital in Vancouver WA, where they live with 3 of our other grandchildren -- Peyton (a 6 year-old long blond-haired precocious beauty), Carson (her handsome 3 year old "professional" soccer player brother) and the ever-smiling/laughing baby Kenzie, who is just almost 7 months old. I won't go on about how OUR grandchildren are the brightest and most athletic and beautiful and caring children around -- it would only make you feel bad -- besides -- I'm just introducing our kids -- FOR NOW.
Our third son is Jonathon Patrick... he will be 30 in just a little over a month and is my "best hugger" and his grin can warm even the coldest of hearts! We came into each others lives on his 3rd birthday. We have had our share of ups and downs -- but what family hasn't? We have weathered the storms and I think we have come out on the other end even closer than we could have imagined. As the son I was able to choose, he is THE favorite of all. He manages a small restaurant in Spokane and will actually end up owning a restaurant or two when he and the current owner are done negotiating -- just not sure if it will be in Spokane, Bend OR or Seattle....only time will tell. He is married to an exotic girl named Annie (I call her exotic because she has raven black hair and lived in the middle east with her parents when she was a young girl) -- who is an engineer. They are both lucky enough to switch their schedules around (and Annie can work from home 3 days a week) so that our fifth grandchild, our granddaughter Mickey who is a happy-go-lucky cherub born on my dad's birthday on March 27th and is 8 months old now, can hang with mom and dad all of the time and not have to go to daycare or a sitter - tho they do have a nanny that comes in to help. One thing I really love about Annie is that she enjoys reading instruction manuals on anything and everything (that is a part of her job, so she likes to compare verbiage and details). This comes in REAL handy when we need help setting up an electric can opener or the stereo in our truck or etc -- just have Annie explain it to us!
Our last son (and fourth child) is Abraham Joseph. He is single and just turned 22. When we named him, we had not a clue as to why people would look at us and say -- Oh Abraham -- what a fine strong name -- and what is his middle name? Joseph (after his dad Joe) and people would be even more enthused. Years later, we would learn what a Biblical name we had chosen for him. He has a heart of gold and a truly beautiful singing voice -- be it a country twang song or fly me to the moon crooning....To look at him, you would think he's part lumberjack -- full beard and handsome face, but if someone needs a helping hand -- he is the first in line and ready to go. He is so much like his daddy, but his own person too, and because of this he is the FAVORITE of all. Some day, he will be a great man -- and I pray that he will be serving God in a way that honors his name. He is a tradesman -- working construction, carpentry, and the like. I think he is going to try to join the Pipefitters Union here locally, since there seems to be a desperate need for blue collar workers any more. He makes me proud to be his momma. He was our "miracle baby". I had been "fixed" for about 10 years and Joe and I decided we would like to have a child between the 2 of us - preferably a girl, since we already had 3 boys. I worked at Horizon (Alaska) Airlines at the time and we got a new insurance in the interim of choosing our final insurance company. This particular company actually PAID for us to have my tubes put back together. (Most insurances will only cover PREVENTING more kids). So here we were - in a 3 month window -- insurance will cover it -- lets have a baby! My surgery was on Justin's birthday and even tho the doctors said there was less than a 50% chance this will work, I was pregnant and due on Justin's birthday the next year! Abe chose to come on November 8th -- and was a big strong strapping boy. A miracle indeed....
Lastly. is our "bonus child" -- our eagerly anticipated baby girl, Karina Jolynn (her middle name is Joe's name combined with my name Carolynn)..she also is single and 20 years old. We were living in a 3 bedroom mobile home in West Richland, 3 energetic boys and a new baby son....we figured it wasn't "in the cards" for us to have a girl, so decided to remedy the situation by Joe getting fixed this time. At the doctors office we were asked "Do you really want to do this?" Yes -- we have 4 boys and need to find a bigger place - we ARE sure. We have a huge yard sale this weekend - getting out of the baby business and clearing out other stuff. But wait....even tho I am still nursing Abe, I think while you get snipped, I am going to go take a blood test. Sure enough -- we were pregnant! Out comes all the baby stuff (with a few tears I might add - what if I have 5 boys like Joe's folks do??) from the yard sale. Karina was born on June 6th -- and we honestly did NOT believe the doctor when he told us we had a girl until we could check her out for ourselves. At last -- my baby girl, and for this reason she is the favorite OF ALL. When she was 3 1/2 years old, she came home from daycare and said Momma, I feel Jesus in my heart and He's going beep, beep, beep. We hadn't stepped foot in church, so this was quite a feat we thought. And God has been working through Karina for years, from curing her of McCune's Allbright Syndrome to allowing her to go on fantastic mission trips and currently she is on scholarship at Adelphia Bible School in Ravensdale WA (near Maple Valley and Covington on the coast). By the way, if anyone would like to contribute to her last half of school ($4900) which is due January 3rd, you can call the school at 425-432-4293 and give your TAX-DEDUCTIBLE contribution in her name -- I know she (and us) would be ever so grateful for both monetary contributions and prayers that the Lord will continue to use her in a mighty way. She isn't sure if she will go into leadership as a youth pastor or work behind the scenes as a pastors wife and go on missions with her husband (no one in mind -- yet!) or do worship -- she has a beautiful lilting voice and sings like an angel (no -- I am NOT prejudice!).
Our oldest is Dylan O'Dell .....he just turned 37 and he is the "romantic" in the family as well as having a big heart and level head. As my firstborn, HE is the favorite of all. Halo Dylan, Halo. He was in the Air Force for 10 years, then went to work in the civil side of the same type of work and ended up living in North Carolina, so he could be near our oldest grandchild, his son Ayden - a 12 year old charmer that is equally athletic and loves science (who lives in South Carolina with his mom, stepdad and little sister). While Dylan was in North Carolina, he met a wonderful girl named Jenn and they were married last year -- Jenn is a character, bright AND beautiful, and doesn't take any guff from Dylan, which is awesome to watch. I absolutely love her. Anyway -- Dylan decided he would go to work for FEMA and since Jenn just finished school as a dental hygienist, that Colorado would be an excellent place to relocate. They found a beautiful home, bought it - but the sale fell thru since there were a few conditions the owners had to fulfill but failed to. So - they moved anyway and would just rent til they found the perfect place again. A few weeks later, ta-da! They bought a house - BUT -- it was in Denton Texas. What?!? You don't have jobs in Texas......it's okay, it'll all work out. (And work out it did -- Did I tell you God is so awesome?) From North Carolina, to Colorado, to Texas....
Our second son is Justin Wayne .... he's 35 and was in the Navy for 2 years, then in law enforcement and is currently working in his dream job for the Veteran's Association in Portland OR. Joe says he is the most intelligent person he knows -- yet I just think of him as my rambunctious little son who made me find him a "furple bike" when he was 3 or had me running all over town to find "Santa Claus' real Christmas paper like in the movie Christmas Story -- green paper with white reindeer folks. Do you know how hard that is to find when you are on a mission? After that year, Santa started bringing presents UNWRAPPED and leaving them under the tree LOL - and that's the truth. His middle name was after my Dad Wayne - so he will always be Justin Wayne and he IS the favorite of all. His wife Brianne, whom I love as my second daughter, is a classic beauty, an excellent tireless mother and has had to learn of our families' sense of humor the hard way -- and made up for it herself a few times! She takes sonograms (I never get her title right) in the pediatric department at a hospital in Vancouver WA, where they live with 3 of our other grandchildren -- Peyton (a 6 year-old long blond-haired precocious beauty), Carson (her handsome 3 year old "professional" soccer player brother) and the ever-smiling/laughing baby Kenzie, who is just almost 7 months old. I won't go on about how OUR grandchildren are the brightest and most athletic and beautiful and caring children around -- it would only make you feel bad -- besides -- I'm just introducing our kids -- FOR NOW.
Our third son is Jonathon Patrick... he will be 30 in just a little over a month and is my "best hugger" and his grin can warm even the coldest of hearts! We came into each others lives on his 3rd birthday. We have had our share of ups and downs -- but what family hasn't? We have weathered the storms and I think we have come out on the other end even closer than we could have imagined. As the son I was able to choose, he is THE favorite of all. He manages a small restaurant in Spokane and will actually end up owning a restaurant or two when he and the current owner are done negotiating -- just not sure if it will be in Spokane, Bend OR or Seattle....only time will tell. He is married to an exotic girl named Annie (I call her exotic because she has raven black hair and lived in the middle east with her parents when she was a young girl) -- who is an engineer. They are both lucky enough to switch their schedules around (and Annie can work from home 3 days a week) so that our fifth grandchild, our granddaughter Mickey who is a happy-go-lucky cherub born on my dad's birthday on March 27th and is 8 months old now, can hang with mom and dad all of the time and not have to go to daycare or a sitter - tho they do have a nanny that comes in to help. One thing I really love about Annie is that she enjoys reading instruction manuals on anything and everything (that is a part of her job, so she likes to compare verbiage and details). This comes in REAL handy when we need help setting up an electric can opener or the stereo in our truck or etc -- just have Annie explain it to us!
Our last son (and fourth child) is Abraham Joseph. He is single and just turned 22. When we named him, we had not a clue as to why people would look at us and say -- Oh Abraham -- what a fine strong name -- and what is his middle name? Joseph (after his dad Joe) and people would be even more enthused. Years later, we would learn what a Biblical name we had chosen for him. He has a heart of gold and a truly beautiful singing voice -- be it a country twang song or fly me to the moon crooning....To look at him, you would think he's part lumberjack -- full beard and handsome face, but if someone needs a helping hand -- he is the first in line and ready to go. He is so much like his daddy, but his own person too, and because of this he is the FAVORITE of all. Some day, he will be a great man -- and I pray that he will be serving God in a way that honors his name. He is a tradesman -- working construction, carpentry, and the like. I think he is going to try to join the Pipefitters Union here locally, since there seems to be a desperate need for blue collar workers any more. He makes me proud to be his momma. He was our "miracle baby". I had been "fixed" for about 10 years and Joe and I decided we would like to have a child between the 2 of us - preferably a girl, since we already had 3 boys. I worked at Horizon (Alaska) Airlines at the time and we got a new insurance in the interim of choosing our final insurance company. This particular company actually PAID for us to have my tubes put back together. (Most insurances will only cover PREVENTING more kids). So here we were - in a 3 month window -- insurance will cover it -- lets have a baby! My surgery was on Justin's birthday and even tho the doctors said there was less than a 50% chance this will work, I was pregnant and due on Justin's birthday the next year! Abe chose to come on November 8th -- and was a big strong strapping boy. A miracle indeed....
Lastly. is our "bonus child" -- our eagerly anticipated baby girl, Karina Jolynn (her middle name is Joe's name combined with my name Carolynn)..she also is single and 20 years old. We were living in a 3 bedroom mobile home in West Richland, 3 energetic boys and a new baby son....we figured it wasn't "in the cards" for us to have a girl, so decided to remedy the situation by Joe getting fixed this time. At the doctors office we were asked "Do you really want to do this?" Yes -- we have 4 boys and need to find a bigger place - we ARE sure. We have a huge yard sale this weekend - getting out of the baby business and clearing out other stuff. But wait....even tho I am still nursing Abe, I think while you get snipped, I am going to go take a blood test. Sure enough -- we were pregnant! Out comes all the baby stuff (with a few tears I might add - what if I have 5 boys like Joe's folks do??) from the yard sale. Karina was born on June 6th -- and we honestly did NOT believe the doctor when he told us we had a girl until we could check her out for ourselves. At last -- my baby girl, and for this reason she is the favorite OF ALL. When she was 3 1/2 years old, she came home from daycare and said Momma, I feel Jesus in my heart and He's going beep, beep, beep. We hadn't stepped foot in church, so this was quite a feat we thought. And God has been working through Karina for years, from curing her of McCune's Allbright Syndrome to allowing her to go on fantastic mission trips and currently she is on scholarship at Adelphia Bible School in Ravensdale WA (near Maple Valley and Covington on the coast). By the way, if anyone would like to contribute to her last half of school ($4900) which is due January 3rd, you can call the school at 425-432-4293 and give your TAX-DEDUCTIBLE contribution in her name -- I know she (and us) would be ever so grateful for both monetary contributions and prayers that the Lord will continue to use her in a mighty way. She isn't sure if she will go into leadership as a youth pastor or work behind the scenes as a pastors wife and go on missions with her husband (no one in mind -- yet!) or do worship -- she has a beautiful lilting voice and sings like an angel (no -- I am NOT prejudice!).
Sunday, November 8, 2015
More of the back story....
Sorry this is taking so long to get the "back story" done -- I have actually been doing a LOT during the times in between posts, but I need to let you know how and what things were discovered --- it may help someone else in a similar situation. So -- please bear with me.
I had an appointment set with Dr Ayres at TRIOS Medical Center....he is a gall bladder surgeon. He is a very compassionate doctor and made me feel very comfortable while answering all of our questions -- never once did I feel like we were being "talked down to" or he was being condescending. Surprisingly, he said we were "way ahead of the game" in coming to see him. Normally, when a person "presents" like I do, heart tests like the ones at Kadlec are performed at least 4 times before someone pops their forehead and says - hey -- lets check the gall bladder! Can you imagine the insurance/deductibles that have to be paid -- 4 times $20K?!? So -- my gall bladder needs to come out -- I can wait and do it when I'm having MORE issues - or I can do it now. What did he recommend? If it was him -- he'd do it now. So we scheduled my surgery for August 26th. Everyone who knew anybody who had gall bladder surgery was telling me I am going to feel SO much better -- it's just an in and out procedure and 4 little slits and you're done. My sister-in-law Nancy (married to Joe's brother Tom) had the most information for me, from both her own experience and her experience with her previous patients when she was a nurse. My eating habits would change -- I may even turn into a vegetarian like she did! Fat chance Nanc! I LOVE meat! When I go to Costco -- I buy a rotisserie chicken every time, that being my "cheat meal".....besides. I'm the oldest child (just like she is) and NO WAY was someone going to tell me how I was going to react! (Silly me....sorry Nancy).
While at Dr Ayres office, I met his head nurse -- Marene. She seemed so familiar to me, and later we discovered our 2 oldest boys (my Dylan and Justin and her Mark and Ryan) played sports and went to school in West Richland and were actually "best buds". We attended many a game and spoke with each other throughout those years, so was such a surprise to meet her 25 years later. Small world...she is also a very caring person. Joe and I (okay -- we have the same strange sense of humor) had told them both we would like to save the gall stones after the surgery -- we can make necklaces for all the kids as a "momento"! We thought we were hilarious -- they likely thought we were nuts , but we at least cracked ourselves up! The surgery went very well -- the gall bladder was indeed enlarged, but a very routine surgery, removing a lymph node that was also attached to the gall bladder. The liver looked nice and clean and NO -- they did NOT remove any extra "padding" (ie fat) that I asked them to remove at the same time -- darn it! I went home -- but did NOT feel great....the gas they used during the surgery was giving me real issues -- it seemed to congregate in my upper back and didn't seem to want to escape any of the usual ways (burping/farting). I also had an outer cavity drain that Joe and I got to spend "quality time" draining, observing and measuring all of the fluid that was being drained from my body, for the net 10 days or so. Oh well....
The next day, Dr Ayres called me at home, asking if Joe was here too? Nope -- he's an outside salesman, so he's in the field. Do I expect him back soon? Not sure...why? As a routine service, all tissue is sent to a pathologist for testing. Much as he hates to do this over the phone, he really feels it needs to be done immediately. The pathologist found cancer. Stage 2. I just sat there stunned - and cried silently. Cancer -- the big C -- such an UGLY word. When the pathologist received the tissue, he too thought it was just a routine, enlarged gall bladder. So -- everyone was surprised to find cancer. So much so, that they ran the tests 3 times to confirm there was no mistake. He left his private number for Joe to call him as soon as he returned. When he showed up an hour or so later, he saw I had been crying. What's wrong? Dr Ayres called and wants you to call him. Why? Did he find cancer (which I believe he asked unwittingly -- not even imagining he was right). Yes. Joe called the doctor -- who was SO compassionate and caring and you could tell how sorrowful he was to have to break the news again over our speaker phone. The cancer was also in the lymph node as well as the gall bladder. It ENTERED the wall - but did NOT go through it - which was a good sign. The liver looked completely intact, no residual abnormalities. They appeared to have gotten it all - but a CT Scan would need to be done to see if it had traveled to any other organs.
I had an appointment set with Dr Ayres at TRIOS Medical Center....he is a gall bladder surgeon. He is a very compassionate doctor and made me feel very comfortable while answering all of our questions -- never once did I feel like we were being "talked down to" or he was being condescending. Surprisingly, he said we were "way ahead of the game" in coming to see him. Normally, when a person "presents" like I do, heart tests like the ones at Kadlec are performed at least 4 times before someone pops their forehead and says - hey -- lets check the gall bladder! Can you imagine the insurance/deductibles that have to be paid -- 4 times $20K?!? So -- my gall bladder needs to come out -- I can wait and do it when I'm having MORE issues - or I can do it now. What did he recommend? If it was him -- he'd do it now. So we scheduled my surgery for August 26th. Everyone who knew anybody who had gall bladder surgery was telling me I am going to feel SO much better -- it's just an in and out procedure and 4 little slits and you're done. My sister-in-law Nancy (married to Joe's brother Tom) had the most information for me, from both her own experience and her experience with her previous patients when she was a nurse. My eating habits would change -- I may even turn into a vegetarian like she did! Fat chance Nanc! I LOVE meat! When I go to Costco -- I buy a rotisserie chicken every time, that being my "cheat meal".....besides. I'm the oldest child (just like she is) and NO WAY was someone going to tell me how I was going to react! (Silly me....sorry Nancy).
While at Dr Ayres office, I met his head nurse -- Marene. She seemed so familiar to me, and later we discovered our 2 oldest boys (my Dylan and Justin and her Mark and Ryan) played sports and went to school in West Richland and were actually "best buds". We attended many a game and spoke with each other throughout those years, so was such a surprise to meet her 25 years later. Small world...she is also a very caring person. Joe and I (okay -- we have the same strange sense of humor) had told them both we would like to save the gall stones after the surgery -- we can make necklaces for all the kids as a "momento"! We thought we were hilarious -- they likely thought we were nuts , but we at least cracked ourselves up! The surgery went very well -- the gall bladder was indeed enlarged, but a very routine surgery, removing a lymph node that was also attached to the gall bladder. The liver looked nice and clean and NO -- they did NOT remove any extra "padding" (ie fat) that I asked them to remove at the same time -- darn it! I went home -- but did NOT feel great....the gas they used during the surgery was giving me real issues -- it seemed to congregate in my upper back and didn't seem to want to escape any of the usual ways (burping/farting). I also had an outer cavity drain that Joe and I got to spend "quality time" draining, observing and measuring all of the fluid that was being drained from my body, for the net 10 days or so. Oh well....
The next day, Dr Ayres called me at home, asking if Joe was here too? Nope -- he's an outside salesman, so he's in the field. Do I expect him back soon? Not sure...why? As a routine service, all tissue is sent to a pathologist for testing. Much as he hates to do this over the phone, he really feels it needs to be done immediately. The pathologist found cancer. Stage 2. I just sat there stunned - and cried silently. Cancer -- the big C -- such an UGLY word. When the pathologist received the tissue, he too thought it was just a routine, enlarged gall bladder. So -- everyone was surprised to find cancer. So much so, that they ran the tests 3 times to confirm there was no mistake. He left his private number for Joe to call him as soon as he returned. When he showed up an hour or so later, he saw I had been crying. What's wrong? Dr Ayres called and wants you to call him. Why? Did he find cancer (which I believe he asked unwittingly -- not even imagining he was right). Yes. Joe called the doctor -- who was SO compassionate and caring and you could tell how sorrowful he was to have to break the news again over our speaker phone. The cancer was also in the lymph node as well as the gall bladder. It ENTERED the wall - but did NOT go through it - which was a good sign. The liver looked completely intact, no residual abnormalities. They appeared to have gotten it all - but a CT Scan would need to be done to see if it had traveled to any other organs.
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