We are home

Home at last. Bubba was discharged from the hospital about 4pm yesterday. He came home with his chest tube and a PICC line for IV feeding. By the time the equipment arrived and the home health nurse helped us get everything set up we were both exhausted.

He is comfortable in his recliner for now because he can't lie flat. If we need to, we'll get a hospital bed. His IV feedings run for 18 hours, so he gets a 6 hour break carrying only one "purse" (for the chest tube drainage). He is up and about but not quite ready for a marathon. That's not unusual, he wasn't ready for a marathon before surgery!

Until the next time,
Jan

hospital stay

Home for shower and more clean clothes. Here is a quick synopsis. Started J tube feeding a few days after surgery. Cloudy fluid in the chest tube. Probable leak in lymph system. Back to surgery on 11-3. Sealed up a leak. Recovery room - collapsed Left lung. To ICU, bi-pap machine reinflated lung. Started J tube feeding with cloudy fluid in the chest tube after a day. Back on TPN. Now is the waiting game to see if fluids clear and any leftover lymph leaks seal themselves. Phew, I'm off to the hospital again.

Until the next time,
Jan

PS He still has hair and could probably use a haircut!!

A quick note - successful laproscopically performed surgery. I'm home for a break and Tom is in ICU, but awake and talking with us. He looks wonderful to me!!! He has is button for his pain meds and seems to be resting well. The pathology reports should be ready this week-end. With luck, he'll be out of ICU tomorrow and to a private room, so I can stay with him.

Until the next time,
Jan

PS He still has hair!

Visited the surgeon today for last minute questions, explanations and instructions. Everything is set for next Wednesday, October 27th. We are still expecting a 5 to 7 day stay in the hospital and to come home with a "J" tube which is a feeding tube in the jejunum (part of the small intestine). I've heard stories of vodka infusions thru the feeding tube, hmmmm, guess I'd better check the supply! The good news is that Bubba's weight is higher than before all the testing and treatment started.

Last night John, Maria and Jackson brought the trout they caught to our house so I could cook it for them. Neither their mom nor dad like fish or seafood, so they get to come to our house for the good stuff. I have to say it was the noisiest dinner we've had in a long time! Bubba was certainly entertained by the grand-kids!!!

Until the next time,
Jan

We're home. The trip was the best so far, but I think we say that every year. We had good weather at Coos Bay while Reno was setting records for the wettest October. Bubba and Grace wore their hats when down at the bay. We stuffed ourselves with crab, soooooo good hot out of the pot, drank some good wine, laughed with good friends and just enjoyed ourselves.


On our way home we had a flat tire on the truck. We were at the top of a mountain pass with no cell service. A good Samaritan stopped and changed the tire after Tom had the trailer unhitched. So we hitched back up and went about five miles to a rest stop. Well the spare definitely needed air so AAA got a call, they sent someone out, aired us up, and we were off again. The rest of the trip home was uneventful.

Sleeping in your own bed has advantages!! We feel well rested and quickly settling back into our routine. Fortunately it hasn't been too cold as our heater is on the blink. Monday will be busy taking care of heater, tires, and finishing up craft projects. We'll get the travel trailer winterized and back into storage this week. This coming week-end is the McQ Craft Faire. It would be nice to sell out!! Oops, can't do that we have another fair in November and no time to make product.

Counting down - seventeen days. Vacillating between dreading the day and wishing it were here already. Tom keeps saying all these incidents are just bumps in the road. He's right - we always come out on the other side in pretty good shape, so we will this time, too.

Until the next time,
J

PS He still has hair!

Okay, on to the next step. I'm feeling some relief now that we have a plan of action. Tom's surgery will be on October 27th at St. Mary's. There was a bit of a wait in the doctor's office this morning. I told Tom he must be feeling better because he was grumpy about waiting!!

We both like the surgeon and we think he's the best man for the job! He answered almost all of our questions before we asked them. It is definitely a long involved surgery. We expect Tom to be in the hospital about a week if there are no surprises or complications.

Now on to Coos Bay so we can eat our fill of crab and other fresh seafood and visit with friends. We've been watching the weather and the first couple of days may get rain but it should improve after that. Tom's rarin' to go. If the trailer were packed he'd be hooked up and on the road already.

Until the next time,
Jan

travelin' man

We decided to do a trial run to Graeagle with the camp trailer. We left Reno on Wednesday and came back home today, Friday. We also wanted to celebrate many things, one of which is today is our anniversary. FORTY-FOUR YEARS!!!! We also celebrated that Tom was feeling well enough to take this short trip. I celebrated with Mimosas and Tom stuck to red wine. Carbonation and Tom don't get along. We deemed ourselves ready for the trip to Coos Bay next week. The difference is that we'll have lots of help from great friends getting to Oregon and back home.

We stayed at Little Bear in Blairsden. The camp site had marauding bears a few days before we got there - appropos don't you think?? Fortunately, or unfortunately, we didn't see any live bears, only the carved ones in the camp ground. While there we visited our lake (Lake Davis), down town Portola and Graeagle.

We had an appointment with a surgeon earlier this week and will see another one next week. Then we'll have to make some decision on who, what, when, where and how. We'll keep you posted and want to say thanks for all of the support!

Until next time,
Jan