It's been many moons since I last blogged. Actually, there has been only one full moon since my last blog...August 18th, but there have been two new moons...August 2 and September 1. So maybe it has been two moons since I last blogged. Whatever. Who's counting? Anyway, it's been a really tough month, so I haven't been up to blogging about it until now.
I'm very sorry to report that our sister-in-law, Kathy, succumbed to lung cancer. Her passing was a devastating shock to all of us who loved her. It's almost inconceivable that this vibrant, beautiful, amazing woman was cut down by this devastating disease at such an early age. Our whole family is reeling from this. She was loved by so many and will be missed by so many. It doesn't seem fair, but I guess life isn't always fair. We will mourn her forever. She has left a deep hole in our hearts that will never heal.
As much as Gretchen doesn't want me to talk about her, I think I have to. After this tragedy, Gretchen had to go in for an esophagectomy on August 5. The surgery went well, although it was very complicated and took about ten hours. Her recovery had a few speed bumps, including fluid in her lungs and two atrial fibrillations. I have to say that The Beth Israel Deaconess staff were great! Every
problem was dealt with immediately, and she got wonderful care there. Now she is home and gradually recovering. The best news is that they got all the cancer, so she won't be needing any followup therapy! Hooray! She is feeling a little better every day. She was on a feeding tube, but that got clogged, so she is trying to eat normally now with soft foods. We see her surgeon, Dr. Kent, next Tuesday, so maybe he will decide to remove the feeding tube then.
I have to tell you about some of her experiences. In the ICU, everyone was terrific. After the ICU on the floor, however, it wasn't quite as good. At one time, she was short of breath, and one of the young nurses told her to vizualize her really happiest place and to breathe deeply. Gretchen, who is a psychoanalyst, was like, "Are you kidding me?" She then referred to her and some of the other nurses there as "toddlers". She complained to Holly about the "toddlers", but she didn't see any children around. Holly checked the halls to see if there were any children that should have been in the children's ward, but found none. She and we finally all realized that the term "toddlers" referred to all the nurses there that just didn't get it! Now that she's home, she still talks dismissively about the "toddlers". I don't think I will ever think of toddlers in the same sense again. Gretchen may have been sick, but she is not stupid. My father used to tell me that he did not suffer fools gladly. Neither does Gretchen. Good for her!
As for me, I met with Dr. Connors, the hematologist at the Farber. Based on my low iron count numbers, she recommended another iron infusion, which I will take on my next visit on September 12. I'm still not sure why my iron count keeps dropping, but I plan to schedule a colonoscopy and an endoscopy soon to try to figure out what's going on. Maybe there is another problem here that I don't know about.
so very sorry to hear of yours and Gretchens loss Bill, sad indeed, and yes, life sure is a puzzle that is certainly hard to figure out sometimes. Glad to hear Gretchen is home recovering from her ordeal; you guys have sure had your share of punches -gotta get better from here... in our thoughts always.. I send best wishes from George and Nick as well.. we are still trying to figure out a trip up that way to see all of you, perhaps late fall. take care mb
ReplyDeleteThanks, mb. I appreciate it. It's been a tough few months. I would look forward to seeing you all!
ReplyDeleteALL THANKS TO DR WILLIAMS WITH HIS HERB MY WIFE WAS COMPLETELY CURED FROM MYELOMA
ReplyDeleteIs my pleasure to comment on this site and i thank the admin of this site for his/her great work so far.one of the happiest moment in my life was when the doctor confirm that my wife is been free from this illness. this awesome moments makes me the happiest man on earth, I really don't know how to thank DR WILLIAMS for helping my wife get cured for over how many year of suffering from myeloma. i came across DR Williams contact through a headline news on internet about how DR Williams help a woman to get cured of her myeloma and so many other with similar body problem ,i contacted him and he told me how to get his herb,few day later he sent me the herbal portion which my wife take every morning for 28 days, and his medicine was able to cure her completely from myeloma. and now she very mush okay without any side effects whatsoever, If you have myeloma , you can contact him on his email address drwilliams098675@gmail.com for advice and for his product.
Hiv disease for the last 3 years and had pain hard to eat and cough are nightmares,especially the first year At this stage, the immune system is severely weakened, and the risk of contracting opportunistic infections is much greater. However, not everyone with HIV will go on to develop AIDS. The earlier you receive treatment, the better your outcome will be.I started taking ARV to avoid early death but I had faith in God that i would be healed someday.As a Hiv patent we are advise to be taking antiretroviral treatments to reduce our chance of transmitting the virus to others , few weeks ago i came on search on the internet if i could get any information on Hiv treatment with herbal medicine, on my search i saw a testimony of someone who has been healed from Hiv her name was Achima Abelard and other Herpes Virus patent Tasha Moore also giving testimony about this same man,Called Dr Itua Herbal Center.I was moved by the testimony and i contacted him by his Email.drituaherbalcenter@gmail.com We chatted and he send me a bottle of herbal medicine I drank it as he instructed me to.After drinking it he ask me to go for a test that how i ended my suffering life of Hiv patent,I'm cured and free of Arv Pills.I'm forever grateful to him Drituaherbalcenter.Here his contact Number +2348149277967...He assure me he can cure the following disease..Hiv,Cancer,Herpes Virus,Lyme Disease,Epilepsy, ,Bladder Cancer,Colorectal Cancer,Breast Cancer,Kidney Cancer,Leukemia,Lung Cancer,Non Hodgkin Lymphoma,Skin Cancer,Uterine Cancer,Prostate Cancer, fibromyalgia ,ALS,Hepatitis,Copd,Parkinson disease.Genetic disease,Fibrodysplasia disease,Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva,Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Syndrome,Inflammatory bowel disease ,Huntington's disease ,Diabetes,Fibroid...
ReplyDeleteALL THANKS TO DR WILLIAMS
ReplyDeleteI was diagnosed of myeloma in 2011, I have tried all possible means to get cure but all my effort proved abortive, until a friend of mine introduced me to a herbal doctor , who prepare herbal medicine to cure different kind of diseases including myeloma , when i contacted this herbal doctor via his email, he sent me the myeloma herbal medicine via courier service, when i received the herbal medicine he gave me step by step instructions on how to apply it, when i applied it as instructed by Dr Williams i was totally cured from this disease within 1 months of usage. any body with similar problem can Contact this great herbal doctor via his email drwilliams098675@gmail.com for advice and for his product,and thanks to you admin for such an informative blog.