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Health Issues

Surgery update

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The surgery has been delayed. Pam was supposed to be in the operating room at 12:10, but here we are at 1:45 and we are still waiting to see the surgeon and the anesthesiologist. They have changed procedures since we were here last time.

Previously we didn’t see either one in the waiting room, but apparently an efficiency expert has found ways to streamline operations.  As you can see, it’s been marvelously effective! Hopefully Pam will be out of here before she has to go back for her follow-up on the 11th!

There was an older lady chatting with Pam about how they told her that her surgeon was running a little late. Pam asked her what time her surgery was, and she said 1:15. Then Pam asked her surgeon’s name and of course it is Pam’s surgeon!

Oh said the lady, when is your surgery? When told it was an hour before hers she said, I suppose you’ll be before me?

I can only hope, I thought.

I’ll let you know when she gets in! Actually it was two-hours late that she got in to surgery.

So now we (Maggie and I) wait.

Pam’s surgeon came into the waiting room to see the elderly lady we spoke to before! That was surprising! It’s 3 pm, so the surgery went quickly. She had told the woman she would tell the surgeon to be quick, so I she did-or was!

It will take about an hour for her to come out of the recovery room. She was about an hour and a half in post-op last time so hopefully she will be home in time to watch her beloved Canucks play Dallas. She has been looking forward to finally seeing Cody Hodgson play his first NHL game.

It’s 4:30 and there still is no sign of Pam. I’ve had only three hours of sleep, so I’m really starting to fade. The air in the hospital is very dry and makes breathing a chore.

The waiting room is filled with people silently hoping that all will be well with wife, mother, son or relative. It’s a strange camaraderie that we silently share with each other.

Each time the double doors of the recovery room open, we all look expectantly, hopefully, wishing to see our loved one being wheeled out and returned to us. Whole, healthy and recovered.

—–

Pam and I have just arrived home. It is 7 pm. She is doing ok. She is in a bit more pain than the previous surgery. She did not speak to her doctor, although there really isn’t much for her to tell us. We’ll know more after these lymph nodes are analyzed. There seems to be more blood in the drain than the last surgery as well.

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Megan McNeil

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Megan McNeilI don’t know if any of you have heard of Megan, but she was a young lady from North Delta, just a few blocks from where we live. She was diagnosed with cancer at 16. She went public with her battle and wrote a song called Will to Survive. When music producer Garth Richardson (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nickelback, Motley Crue) heard the song, he immediately wanted to be involved.

Megan McNeilIt’s a touching song, about struggling with childhood cancer. Megan donated all the proceeds of the song, available on Itunes, to a couple of agencies doing research into childhood cancer. I was not aware that much of what is done for adult cancer, doesn’t really apply to childhood cancer.

Megan’s website points out that twenty years ago, only twenty percent of children diagnosed with leukemia survived. Now that’s up to eighty percent! She thinks that if Terry Fox were diagnosed today, not only would he be alive, but he probably wouldn’t even have lost his leg!

Sadly, Megan lost her battle with cancer on Friday, at the age of twenty. RIP sweet child. I hope you’re in a better place, because you made this world a better place!

Her website, The Will to Survive, contains her blog, the agencies she helped and other information. Maybe you can help, too.

Health Issues

Weekend update

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It’s just after dinner here on Sunday night and I noticed we haven’t had an update posted on the blog for a couple of days, so I thought I’d just jot a few thoughts down.

Pam was surprised and happy when Maggie came by with a gift from the nurses she works with… an Ipod touch! It’s a very nice gift and she’s hardly set it down since she got it. She’s got a bunch of her songs installed, and she’s quickly learned to download books into the Reader program. She’s grabbed Sherlock Holmes, some Bronte sisters, and lots of others. She can even user her email and her MSN messenger from the Ipod touch.

Saturday was a tough night for Pam, pain wise. The drain had been removed, but she had trouble sleeping, even just getting comfortable. She’s described the pain as having marbles in her armpit! She’s worried about appearing to be needy, I think, and trying very hard to be brave. And of course she HAS been VERY brave, but I told her it was ok to feel pain, and it didn’t make her a wimp just because she hurt! So after a few tears, we held each other close and drifted off to sleep.

She’s better today, taking fewer pain pills, but still having some discomfort in her arm/shoulder area where the lymphs were removed. She’s been snuggled in her chair reading her books!

I tell you Maggie: you couldn’t have picked a nicer, more thoughtful present for her! Thanks to all the girls who thought of her…

Health Issues

Update on Pam

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Pam had a pretty restful night. She says her armpit hurts more than the breast. That’s from the lymph removal, rather than the cancer removal. She has some “glowing” from the radioactive dye they injected. She’s got her arm propped up with a pillow to keep the pressure off the arm, and it’s helping.

She tried to type, but one handed was frustrating for her! haha Guess I can out-type her with one arm tied behind her back!

She’s drained her “davol” once – it’s a tube to take away blood away from the incision area. She’s taken only a couple pain pills, so she’s doing well. She’s having a nap. Max is laying beside her, snoring away! haha

We got a big dump of snow – around five inches or so. So there’s a nice white covering over everything! We used to be able to say we don’t get much snow here, but last few years we’ve seen snow several times a year.

First snorkel as locals
Health Issues

BC Day

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We arrived at Surrey Memorial Hospital at the recommended time of 7:15 for a 7:45 appointment. They got Pam in quickly, before her time, and was finished with her radioactive dye before 7:50. We then had a brief break while the dye took hold for some pictures. We tried to get in on a few Keno games, but the lotto booth doesn’t open til 10! hah

She took good pictures, so they threw her out and told her to head up to radiology to get a wire installed, the better to track her in case she got lost in the hospital – oh wait – it’s not that kind of wire! It was basically fishing for cancer cells, and they got it on the hook first crack.

Then off to mammography for another series of pictures. Those turned out too, so off we went to the surgery waiting room. We got here around 10:45 or so. It’s lovely and peaceful here, listening to Judge Joe Brown screaming at the defendants. Sigh – surely they could put something better on – like hockey highlights or something!

Pam is scheduled for surgery at 2 pm, so we’ve got a while to wait. Hopefully things will be on time and she won’t have to wait here forever. Although we do need to know how the lawsuit turned out…

UPDATE: The nurse has come by at 11:45 to admit her for the surgery. I’m not sure what that means, but I guess they’ll be putting her in a hospital bed soon? We’ll see in a few minutes I guess!

UPDATE 2: She has come back (12:15) and told me she has taken her pre-op meds. The surgery will probably be early, about 1:30. the surgery will take about one hour, and then about 45 minutes in recovery. She should be able to go home about four pm or so.

Proceeding well at this point! Pam’s friend, Maggie, has arrived to lend moral support.

UPDATE 3: So the nurse finally came for Pam at 2:10 – so much for an early start! Roughly two hours to go – one for the surgery, one for recovery. Not sure if they will let us go into the recovery.

UPDATE 4: It is 3:45 and Pam is out of surgery. She is in the recovery room. We’re not allowed to see her yet, and we don’t know how the surgery went. At least we know she made it out of surgery alive! I’m not sure when she entered surgery yet, or what time she came out. She should be awake enough to come out of the recovery room around 4:10. We’re just waiting.

UPDATE 5: It’s now 4:45 and still no sign of Pam. There haven’t been any code blue calls, so I’m not in a panic – – – YET! Not sure what the hold up is, and I don’t really want to nag the nurses, but if she isn’t back by 5, I’m going to go see what’s up!

UPDATE 6: We got into see Pam about 5:20 or so. She seemed a tad groggy, but otherwise fine. We don’t know anything about the surgery really, until the report comes back from the pathologist. I’ll let Pam explain about that.

We got home around 7:30 and she is resting, somewhat comfortably. She thanks everyone for the best wishes.

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Something different

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The sand ladySometimes you see something, and it’s not easy to explain how or why you are drawn to it. This video is one of those things. The simple explanation is that it is part of a television genre called “(Some Country) Has Talent.” I’m sure you’ve all seen them – Britain’s Got Talent, America’s Got Talent — they are everywhere. Well this is from Ukraine’s Got Talent.

This is like nothing I’ve ever seen. The young lady, Kseniya Simonova, draws with her hands, using sand. But she doesn’t create one piece. She morphs her creation, from sitting on a park bench, to portraits, to a kind of Guenica, to Mother Theresa, to Christmas – to whatever you see actually.

I wish I knew what she wrote at the end, but I assume it is in Ukrainian, or whatever her native tongue is… I know the video is eight minutes, but trust me, it’s worth spending those few minutes to see what she does. Can you imagine this happening on US or Canadian television? I doubt it.

I hope you enjoy it.

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Where the hell is Matt?

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MattI was wandering about YouTube the other day (something that Canadians apparently do far too much) and I stumbled across this guy named Matt.

Matt is a self-admitted bad dancer. And he’s danced all over the world, in all sorts of interesting and fascinating places. He’s made a career out of it, in fact! He’s an American, who was working in Brisbane, Australia, when he decided to quit his job and wander around South Asia.

He got himself a website, www.wherethehellismatt.com so his family could follow his adventures. One day a friend convinced him to do his bad dance at a tourist stop, and well, the rest is history. Read his FAQ page. I just loved it. I just love his philosophy of life, and especially on the value of travel. He seems like a great guy.

He’s got quite a few videos up on YouTube and this is the first one. I love the music, the spirit, the simple enjoyment of being alive and being able to enjoy the world. I hope you do too.