Medical stuff – treatments, outcomes, Dr visits
Just when I thought I was all done with anatomy class, a new term has entered into our lives: Long Thoracic Nerve (LTN) It appears that when Suzanne had her lobectomy surgery to remove the cancer nodule from her lung, the LTN was injured, damaged or cut in some fashion that it currently not functioning like it is supposed to. So what does it do, you might ask. Well, I’ll tell you what I’ve learned. The LTN peals off the…
We’ve all been there, first time to the church picnic to find out everyone else knew to bring their own table service; attending your child’s first athletic banquet to learn you were supposed to bring a rose to give your athlete during the ceremony; or your first company Christmas party and everyone but you brought a gift for the exchange. And, all you can say is: If I’d have known That was us last Friday when Suzanne had her follow-up…
Today, I’m writing from the Rush Hospital surgical lounge as I wait on Suzanne’s outcome. The last time I was here three years ago, it was a fourteen-hour event that resulted in me being the only one left in the place. I’m not expecting that today, but getting here has been a whirlwind. Two weeks ago yesterday, Suanne had a Biopsy to check out the very small nodule on her left lung; One week ago yesterday we learned the results…
Suzanne’s oncologist called to let us know the nodule in her lung that was biopsied last week was cancerous. He also shared that surrounding lymph nodes were also checked and were clear meaning it is a singular site. As Dr J continued to speak, our minds just stopped for that moment as a wave of emotion took over; For me, I moved back into caretaker mode thinking of all the questions and scenarios ahead of us; For Suzanne, a total…
If you’re in the same age bracket as me, I’m sure you find yourself opening boxes in the attic to find out what’s inside. In your mind you’re thinking, I don’t need my kids going through all that stuff somewhere down the road. That was me just the other day when I decided to open a mystery box. Well, it really wasn’t a mystery as I sort of knew the box was full of name badges and buttons from my…
When my grandkids were little and we were all going somewhere in the car, they always insisted that I sing the song ‘There’s a hole in the bottom of the sea’. You could feel the excitement and anticipation as the items I was singing about kept getting smaller and smaller . . . . . There’s a spick on the speck on the spot on the hair on the wart on the frog on the twig on the branch on…
In researching this inconsequential number, I discovered the band Smashing Pumpkins had a song titled Thirty Three; There’s a business in South Carolina called Thirty Three Butterflies that designs dog bandanas and hair scrunchies; for just a little bit more, Thirty Three & Third is the seventh studio album by former Beatle, George Harrison; the number Thirty-three is drawn about twenty-five percent of the time in the Loto, and unfortunately Lounge Thirty-Three in Riverside CA has permanently closed. So what’s…
Suzanne’s follow-up visit to the UI Maxillofacial Prosthetics Clinic proved again to be a new challenge for her. On this visit, Dr. S added more material to the prosthesis, both in the back and in the roof of the mouth area. In the back, the device reaches all the way to the back of her throat. This will replace the palate that was removed during surgery and will help prevent food and drink from flowing into the nasal passages. In…
Life’s experiences cloud our expectations, but today I couldn’t have been more wrong; even Suzanne’s oncologist expectations for Monday were wrong. You see since May and the two following PATHway Follow-up visits, a nodule that appeared in Suzanne’s lung has consistently doubled in size. This consistent growth along with anyone’s life experience would tell you that you would expect this visit would be no different and the nodule would continue to grow. So, in keeping with her tradition of not…
Yesterday was Suzanne’s scheduled follow-up for the PATHway clinical trial that she has been involved with. Not sure if we would be traveling to Rush this often if she hadn’t been in the trial, but either way, it’s good to know just how everything is. On a cloudy, rainy, and dreary day, the tops of the Chicago skyscrapers wern’t visible. We arrived at Rush around 8:00 am and were out by 11:30 am. Except for the waiting, today’s appointments were…