Remember that time you sent your kindergartner to school for their first day? The first time your child went on an overnight campout? When your High Schooler left on their Senior Trip? That’s how I felt yesterday as I dropped Suzanne off at a Hospital that’s 100 miles away and drove off into the distance. For the first time since this all began, I won’t be by her side, I won’t be involved in her recovery, won’t hear what the…
A couple of years ago, I was part of the Church Christmas program, ‘Christmas through the Years’. Church members presented a number of vignettes portraying what it was like during Christmas for different time periods in history. The time period I shared was World War II and how my dad, Charles Bruns, handled being overseas for Christmas during the war. My part was well received and many commented that they hoped I would do it again sometime. With that in…
Preparing for the round of appointments last Wednesday, a nurse called in advance to ask how Suzanne was doing; some loss of taste has occurred, nausea, morning sweats, congestions, cough, and throat pain. All these symptoms are very consistent with where she is in her treatment plan. They also fall right in line with COVID, UGH! So we knew somehow that her appointment that day was going to be more difficult. Knowing a COVID test was 1st on the agenda…
Today was Suzanne’s six-week checkup at Rush Medical Center, six weeks since she finished her treatments. Up early and on the road before 8 am on this brisk December morning. Arriving at Rush around 10:15 to start what turned out to be a long day. COVID was our nemesis today and I will share our experience in an upcoming post. So let’s get to the meat of the matter as that’s what you want to know. Suzanne had a CT…
Did you ever have the feeling that things are going too good? Well, it’s been that way around here. Suzanne eating every meal with me at the counter; spending hours quilting for friends and customers; reading and keeping up with Facebook friends. Sometime mid last week the walls crashed in around her. Reactions to the radiation treatments began to get the best of her as the mucus in her throat worsened, the pain in her throat intensified, and her desire…
Thanksgiving is a day of reflection, the day that we are supposed to stop and think about all that our journey here on earth has given us. Family, a home, and friendship are the first that come to mind. This morning, after I had finished my morning routine, I asked Google to ” Play me some Thanksgiving Music”. An eclectic round of music ensued; some funny, some sad, and some calming. Most were thoughtful about being grateful for all that…
We all have had teachers in our lives that have impacted us in some way. Someone who encouraged us to go to college, some to make us strive for our goals, and others who pushed us to be the best that we can be. School teachers that made sure our education was put to good use. We also have teachers that were put in our lives to teach us how to be better human beings. Some of those individuals we…
Yesterday, another test and follow up visit at Rush Medical was our outing for the week. With Covid finding new and unusual suspects lately, we have been pretty much hermits trying to keep Suzanne safe. First up, a video fluoroscopic swallowing exam. The goal was to see what damage the radiation did to Suzanne’s ability to swallow. It uses a special real-time form of x-ray called fluoroscopy that records what she swallows. I was able to watch as Suzanne swallowed…
Sunday morning is a marvelous time of the week! The sun is shining, the birds are singing and it’s a great day to be alive. For me, Sunday mornings are a day of lazy awakenings as the world seems to move a little slower, an extra cup of coffee, sometimes a special breakfast, and then Church. Church is different for everyone; a calling, an obligation, a sense of community, a mental alliance with a higher power, a time of meditation,…
Today Suzanne had her two-week checkup at Rush Medical Center. After a blood draw, she met with a variety of Doctors First up was a new one, an Occupational Therapist who is concerned with swelling in her neck and it’s relationship with her lymph node system. Not finding much so far, she provided Suzanne with massage techniques to encourage the body to keep the swelling down. Second up, her Chemo Therapy doctor. He reviewed her current blood work which showed…