April 25 - One day post-surgery

It's been a little over 24 hours since my tonsillectomy and lymph node biopsy and what I heard was true - this thing hurts! I'm on Tylenol and codeine every 4 - 6 hours and believe you me, I'm taking it every 4 hours! I know this will pass, and if I can relax enough to not try to swallow or clear my throat it actually isn't too bad. But boy oh boy - those coughing spells and sneezes about do me in.

The surgery itself went very well, the last thing I really remember was them giving me valium in my IV to 'relax' me before we headed to the OR. The anesthesiologist had told me that once we got to the OR he would give me something to put me to sleep, but I either was out before we got that far or I just don't remember.  That's quite alright, I don't mind that I missed the rest of the ride down that hallway. 

I woke up with an oxygen mask on my face and I do remember NOT liking that.  At one point the nurse told me not to get 'emotional' because I think I woke up all teary.  But they took that dang mask off and put on the little tube things that fit just inside your nose.  MUCH better. 

They apparently took a slice out of my lymph node - looking at the bruising and cut I have there now.  It looks like a little more than a needle biopsy, but again - whatever they wanted to do while I was out was okay with me. 

Back to waiting again - we have an appointment with the surgeon next Monday, the 30th, to get the results from the final pathology report.  When he came in to talk to us before the surgery he said that it looked like lymphoma since the lump was continuing to grow and hadn't responded to the antibiotics.  I'm unable to talk - well, I CAN talk but I pay the price a few minutes later with increased pain - so I communicate by emailing Mike from across the bedroom, or writing notes to my girls.  Gotta love technology! 

So here we are, next Monday is our last day in this apartment.  Depending on what we find out at the doctor that day we will either be taking all the furniture, etc. that has not sold by then to Goodwill and then hit the road for Oregon; or we will be taking everything to a storage place and looking for a small house or apartment to rent somewhere down here in southern California so I can take whatever treatments are necessary down here. 

BUT - as confusing and frustrating as this has all been for someone who likes things organized and planned out - I know God is in control.  Things will work out just the way they are supposed to and in His timing, not mine.  (And yes, I do have to keep reminding myself of that...over and over...).   

Until next time - your prayers are appreciated!

April 23 - the night before surgery

So here it is after 10 PM the night before my scheduled tonsillectomy and biopsy.  I'm trying to stay awake until midnight since that is the 'magic' cut-off time for food and water.  I don't mind so much not being able to have breakfast or lunch before the surgery (scheduled for 2:30 tomorrow afternoon); but not being able to drink any water will be tough - I'm seldom without a bottle of water in my hand these days.  So I'm trying to get in as much as I can before the bell tolls at midnight.  Another consideration is that I won't be able to take any Tylenol for the throat pain, so I want to get my last dose in as late as possible to minimize the amount of time I need to go 'without' tomorrow. 

I'm anxious to get tomorrow over with - I've heard from several friends who had their tonsils out as adults and know that I'm in for a few days of respectable pain.  So the pain medication prescription is filled, the freezer is full of popsicles and soy ice cream, and I have some Enterprise episodes downloaded to my laptop ready for viewing.  I'm not sure if I'll be able to focus much, but I've also got a supply of reading material at the ready.

Today was also the day we moved the rest of Christa's furniture to her new house.  But carrying out furniture and boxes of 'stuff' leads to cleaning up behind bookcases that haven't been moved in years and vacuuming long neglected corners. Which ALSO leads to a houseful of stirred-up dust mites.  So as I sit here waiting for midnight I'm sniffling and sneezing with an allergy attack.  Pretty pathetic, huh??  Ah well, I know that this too will pass.   

So I'm off to waste a bit more time either playing Zoo Tycoon or maybe checking out the podcasts over at the iTunes store until midnight rolls around.  I'll post an update on the surgery and biopsy results as soon as I'm able. 

April 18 - another visit to the ENT doctor

Well, I had my follow-up visit with the ENT doctor visit this morning. The horse-pill antibiotics he had me on did nothing, the lump is bigger as well as the swelling in my throat. So it’s apparently NOT just an infection. And it turns out that swelling in my throat is my tonsils. So now the plan is to take my tonsils out (both) and do biopsies of them as well as of my lymph node (where the lump is). They are trying to get authorization from the insurance company as soon as possible so they can schedule the surgery asap too.

I told him we are supposed to be moving in 2 weeks, but he said that he wouldn’t recommend I wait until we get to Oregon to have the surgery. So we may have to hang around southern California for a little longer – which will be interesting since we have to be out of this apartment the end of the month. He said recovery from the surgery would be painful (thanks) and take 1-2 weeks. No solid food, blah blah blah. Not sure I want to do that in the RV in a campground.

Once they do the biopsies he said it will take a couple of days for the results to come back. If it is lymphoma (a distinct possibility he said) I will have to do the whole chemo thing. My preference would be to have the surgery here, find out the results, etc. and then go on up to Oregon.  If I need chemo, do it while we are there.  A lot depends on our insurance though.  We would have to go to a different plan up there and the out-of-pocket expenses could be considerably higher. 

Cancer is a very scary word, but I'm relieved to at last be DOING something about this.  I guess I'm not a patient person and waiting around to see 'if' 10 days of antibiotics helped at all was very frustrating for me.  The sooner I start this journey, the sooner I can get out the other side, you know?? 

I'm not saying it IS cancer, but if 10 days of very, VERY strong antibiotics did absolutely nothing it's obviously not an infection I would think.  So I guess it could be viral - but the doctor went straight to the "C" word as a possibility.  If I steel myself for that diagnosis and it turns out to be something less malignant, I'll just have one hell of a party.  But if it IS cancer, I need all the time I can get to psych myself up to fight it and get through chemo. 

Hanging in there...

April 14 - TAX Weekend!

You know, it doesn't seem to matter HOW much extra Mike and I have withheld from our paychecks - we always owe the government more money come April 15 each year.  For the last 3 or 4 years we've owed a big chunk of money and we've upped the withholding to have addiitonal money taken out so we won't owe the *next* year.  And every year the tax bill just keeps going up and up so that we STILL owe.  I don't get it??  Are those fancy little withholding tables COMPLETE gibberish??  Why when I claim 0 exemptions on my paycheck, AND have hundreds of extra dollars taken out, does it not cover the tax bill when I claim *3* exemptions to file? 

Ugh! 

There's another benefit to retirement I guess - our tax bill dang well better come down next year since our income will drop significantly in 2007.  Sure makes it hard to plan when you can't count on the charts to be accurate...we are talking about the government though, guess I shouldn't be surprised.  Moving to Alabama will help - at least we won't have to pay California state taxes once we leave here. 

And since Uncle Sam will be causing us to bleed rather profusely we opted to file the old fashioned way - I printed out the tax return and am actually writing a paper check for the amount due.  (Had to search for a bit to even find some of those paper check thingy's...)  I'm now toying with the idea of driving to the post office at 11:30 pm on tax deadline day to mail the stupid thing...just on principle, you know??

April 8 - A New Section and some New Pictures!

Just a note to point out a new section on the website - "Favorite Link of the Day".  Today's link will take you to a Mad TV clip on YouTube.  All I have to say is that Dot is our Sarah - you just gotta laugh or you'll go crazy.  (The link will open up a new browser window).

I've also added some pictures of Aiden's first Easter Egg Hunt.  You can go directly to the pictures by clicking here, or click on the "Easter Egg Hunt" on the left hand side of this page.  Enjoy!