Tuesday, May 29, PM

I haven't blogged in quite a while.  It's been a really busy, crazy, toilsome time.
I entered Fort Sanders Hospital, as planned, last Tuesday AM.  My surgery was to be at 9:00, but was delayed somewhat.  I didn't mind, as I was mentally prepared for what I felt was a routine removal of a tumor.  Not so.
After they got me naked and into one of those notoriously immodest hospital gowns, I had to go potty.
When I was walking towards the door, someone called my name.  It was Johnny Kidd.  It seems that Debby was having a knee replacement.  They are long-ago friends, and I didn't realize that she was in poor health.  Aparently, they didn't know that I was in poor health, either.
We spoke briefly, and I went on back to my holding area.
They do things in their holding area like old time hospitals do, and I like that.  They have gournies and beds, and they have real nurses and doctors buzzing about keeping up with their patient load.
I was the last to go from our area, and I thought perhaps theyd ruled out having me as a patient.
No such luck.
Things in surgery went without a hitch.  I was sore and heavily bandaged when I awoke in recovery, but otherwize not in too bad shape, considering I'd just been sawed in half, parts of my guts pulled out , cut apart, and re-sewn, stuffed back into place, and my stomach was stapled together with metal staples which look for all the world like cage clips.
The hard part came later.
My Surgeon, a really nice fellow, came to my room and informed me that the cancer had metastized into the lymph nodes.  He removed 19 of them, and that raises my level to a three, where it had originally been a two.
You go into the hospital, pay lots of money, get naked in front of people you don't know, have your guts torn out, patched, and re-inserted, drink a liquid diet, endure horrible pain and risk getting addicted to Morphine, just to have your level of cancer danger be raised.
There's something wrong with this picture.
I don't really think I could get my money back.
I don't think I've ever been so hurt and cried so much over something I can't see or beat in a fair fight.
The nursing staff was great to me, and I hope I've made some new friends.
I wore a surgical cap all the time I was there, as I knew that my hair looked terrible.
This morning, when I was certain that I could be discharged, I went to the trouble to arrange it in my usual style.
One of the nurses asked if I would fix her hair for her.  She has lovely hair, but she sure liked mine.
They had not seen hair at all on me until this morning.
Because of the lymph node infections, I will now have to have Chemo, but I can take it in Jefferson City if I want to.  That would be so much more handy than Knoxville.
I don't know how long the series will take, and I'm going to try to co-operate as much as possible.
Barbara cooked enough food for a camp meeting, and the parts we've sampled are great.  Steve brought her to the hospital once to see me, and she almost 'lost it' a couple of times.  This has really affected her in a deep way.
Michael, the hot dog man from Blaine, is on the Chaplain's team there, and he sent someone every day to try to give me some measure of comfort.  He was out of town for some additional training.  He worked with Cecil Cook, who was the nephew of Troy and Margaret Cook.
I think about all the Cook's were musically talented, but Sister Margaret was truely gifted in a wonderful way.
It was touching, the way people come forth with offers of getting me to the doctor's visits, food, prayers, moral support, and just to express their love for me, and their concern for me.  I didn't imagine that I mattered that much to others.
That part is really great.  The hard part is late at night, when I can't sleep, and the pain is so bad that it makes your teeth sweat, and you wonder why God could do something like this to someone He loves.
I know we're all dying from the day we're born, but dying like this is not just a death...it's a torture and execution.
I suppose I should look at the good side.
Yesterday, I couldn't walk without assistance, and today, I walked  out of the hospital.
I don't have the frequency and bladder urgencey that I had before surgery (likely because that 2&1/2" tumor is not pressing against my bladder).
We are aware that cancer has been there, and we know to watch for it there again.  And I have really great friends who have been so supportive to me during this time.
I hope I can get through Chemotherapy as easily as the surgery.
It's been a hard haul, and I need more time to think about it before I write much more, so I'll likely write more tomorrow.
I think I'll have the time.
Janie is coming to Clairemont to clean tonmorrow, which is one of the only reasons that we could keep Lynn from trucking up here with dirt on her mind.  She so wants to be here and be helpful, but I don't need too much going on, and Janie and I work so well together.  Also, I don't have to provide Janie with a bed for the night.  Pete has already done that.
I don't know what all will happen, but I can promise that it will be a wild ride.
Keep on reading.

The Queen of Clairemont returns!

The Queen has returned home and will be blogging sometime tomorrow. She's very glad to be home and in her own bed, tired of the hopsital's fine bedding.

Claire is doing very well and wishes to thank those that offered their support in her trying times.

sjw

I haven't blogged in a long time, and, believe me, I've heard the complaints from so many.
I've been on an emotional roller-coaster lately.
I had a colonoscopy recently, and they found that I have colorectal metastatical adenocarcinoma.
That's a tidy way of saying that I have cancer in my bowel.
Those are not words I wanted to hear, and I certainly didn't want to hear them as a diagnosis to me.
Janie Pressley was with me as a driver that day, and we both had a brief but passionate meltdown.
I'm really finding out who my real friends are.
Cherokee called while we were at the hospital (just out of the blue), and she told Janie she would come to the house to be with us.  We came back to Clairemont and spent the rest of the day having a girl-party in the bedroom sitting on the bed and just being friends, until Steve got home that night.
Janie had called him from the hospital, and he told her he would be home about 9:00, which she said would be impossible.  He was in Cleveland, Ohio.  He was home by 8:30.  I told her that he had a whole pocket full of money, and that he was just about crazy enough to charter a jet.  He must have mistaken his truck for a Lear.
He has struggled with his emotions, but has been a real trooper.  The British are such strong people, and come through in a storm, and he's really showed his 'English'.  He does about everything for me, and wants me to rest.
We have scheduled surgery with an Oncological Surgeon, Dr. Dudrick, for Tuesday AM at Fort Sanders Medical Center. He hopes that I might get by without a colostomy or chemotherapy.  He has a great manner about him, and I, Judy, and Steve all liked him during my consultation.  Judy, my favorite niece, went with us.  She just recently got her Master's of Science in Nursing from the University of Tennessee, and I'm so proud of her.  She took a whole page of notes, and she wants me to keep a lot of notes on my journey through this time of trouble.
I've waited to post this, because I wanted to inform some friends before they read this on the computer.
I went by to visit with Lori Daniel this past week, and to tell her and Dirk that they would not be seeing me at Creekside for a while, and why, and she told me that she would be keeping me in her prayers.  She's a really nice lady (though she is somewhat different from the other Daniel ladies), and I'm developing a real affection for her.  She has a really nice beauty salon, next to the building where Dorothy Reynolds had a small salon where I had my hair done for many years.
They live across Rutledge Pike from Creekside, and they always wave and keep a check on me.
There are so many who have told me that they will be praying for me, and I'm so glad to have the prayerful support of Betty Pike, my favorite Sister Worker.  She surely has God's ear, as she is such a faithful Godly woman.
One of the pharmacy workers at Smith's, Margaret Sutherland, who is a faithful Christian, asked Steve to call her the minute I'm out of surgery and give her an update.  She is in church every time the doors are opened, and a good prayer warrior.  She's a little difficult with a lot of people, but we made friends a long time ago, and I don't have any problems with her.
I welcome the prayers of any God-fearing people.
Dr. Duffy Foutch, my Dentist, told me he would certainly be praying for me, and that he would help me in any way.  Karen, his main assistant, is a 'Hat Lady', and is so nice to change appointments and work with his patients.  She assured me that they would help me in any way with changes in appointments or arrangements that I will surely have to make.
Janie and Cherokee have been so precious and helpful in this situation.
Mary Douglas, my housekeeper, assured me of her prayers and support.  She's been with us for about 10 years, and we have become great friends.
I'm overwhelmed with the support so many have shown me.
I will be in the hospital from 6-14 dys, my doctor says, and will be restricted from physically stressful activity for 3 weeks after I come home.  I know I need the rest, but I also know I will chafe under the restraints.
Lynn, Steve's sister, wants to come up to be with us for my surgery, but Steve wants her to save her time with us until I come home from the hospital.  She has so much energy, she will be a real help then.  I need to get a guest room ready for her.  Jim, her husband, offered to bring her up.  He's a true jewel of a man.
I have a lot more to tell, partly because my computer has become ensnarled with so much junk, and it's so old.  It about died on me, and I have been reluctant to burden it with more work.
I'm going to have to accept the change to a new computer, which I'm using now.
I promise all my readers to keep more current with this journal. It will come in handy for reference for me, also.
I didn't tell about Barbara.  She had a total melt-down after I told her of my problems.  She's already planning recipes for cooking food for me after I come home.  I have some containers for her, as I won't be able to get any to her for a short while.
Faune Gerber has been ever-faithful to call and chat with me, also.  We've been friends for many years.
I thank God for all of my readers, and I ask for your prayers and understanding during this time.
It's very early in the morning, and we haven't been to bed yet.  Steve is tired, and I'm closing now to get to bed with him.  I need rest.