Surgeries Stacked Up

Well it's official. Walter's glaucoma surgery (a valve implant) will take place tomorrow afternoon at Swedish here in Seattle and my mom's surgery will be on Thursday afternoon at St. Peter's Hospital in Olympia. Walter goes in Thursday morning to have his eye patch removed and probably get some external stitches out. After I take him home from that appointment its back to Olympia for Mom's surgery. Mom will stay in the hospital until about noon Friday and then I will stay with her for 24 hours after that.

Hopefully by the end of the week everybody will be all fixed up and doing well. I will try to post an update on Sunday.

Haircut for Mom

My mom continues to have a tough time with pain.

Last week there were just a couple days she was feeling better and her pain let up so she was able to be up and active for a portion of the day. In fact she was feeling well enough that she had my sister Jozi take her out to get her hair cut.

I just had to take a picture of her in her new hair cut and with a big smile on her place. She's pretty cute.

The pain has gotten bad again though so she's been staying in bed as much as possible. Tomorrow is her appointment with the specialist so hopefully they will schedule her kyphoplasty soon.

Kyphoplasty

An MRI earlier last Tuesday showed that Mom has a number of reasons to have all this back pain, not the least of which is a compression fracture in her lower back.

When a compression fracture occurs the spine collapses a bit and the space between the discs becomes smaller, pinching nerves and causing pain. After consulting with some specialists Mom's doctor got her referred to someone who will do a procedure called a Kyphoplasty. There will be two injections done on either side of the spine where the fracture is. Tiny balloons are inserted into each site and inflated to increase the space between the discs. The balloons then come out and cement is injected in their place permanently restoring the height of the vertebra.

The scheduler for this procedure pointed me to an excellent video showing how this procedure works. To see it go to this page and click I Agree, then click on the "See Narrated Animation" link.

The procedure will be done under general anesthesia and will require one night's stay in the hospital. According to Mom's regular doctor they may do an epidural injection of numbing medicine for her at the same time. I am told that Kyphoplasty has a really good success rate for providing relief of the sharpest pain from a fracture. There will probably remain some residual pain from all the muscle trauma, but they will have physical therapy help her with that.

The bad news is that the only doctor in Olympia who does this procedure is out of the office next week. The soonest we can go in for the consultation is October 30. I'm not sure how soon after that we will be able to schedule the procedure.

In the meantime Mom is on two strong pain medications and still in pain. I am optimistic that the Kyphoplasty will provide some relief for Mom. I just hope she can hold out until the doctor can do it.

Unexpected Postcards

In the last week or so I've received two postcards from people who saw my name and address at PostcardX.

This first card depicts a beautiful aerial photo of St. Louis, Missouri and was sent to me from a woman in Virginia:

And this card is a photo of a painting in the National Gallery of Art called "Little Girl in a Blue Armchair" circa 1878. This card was received from someone in upstate New York.

It's great to get something so personal, fun and unexpected in the mailbox. Postcards beat bills and junk mail every time.

Halloween Surgery?

It has been almost 2 years since Walter had a corneal transplant and lens replacement surgery in his right eye. His sight has been up and down since then.

One issue a corneal transplant does not address is high eye pressure problems also known as glaucoma. It was high eye pressure that took the vision of Walter's left eye some years ago and he is on multiple eyedrop medications for glaucoma in his right eye as well. Even with three different medications the eye pressure is too high so Walter was referred to be evaluated by the same glaucoma specialist he first saw about three years ago.

The glaucoma doctor told Walter about a surgery that would likely relieve his eye pressure problems. They basically add a small metal plate up under the upper eyelid and create a space for fluid to drain. Then they add a shunt (a tube, or as Walter likes to call it "a drainage pipe") to enhance the eye's natural drainage system.

The doctor had us try a different medication routine first, but that effort failed miserably. I couldn't go to Walter's eye doctor appointment today because I was with Mom at her MRI. When I got home Walter broke the news that he is scheduled for surgery on Halloween.

That's probably good news because it sounds like this surgery has a good potential to help him. At the least it should forestall further decline in Walter's vision from the high eye pressure. Without it his right eye would surely go the way of his left (to black). Also, he may experience some vision increase from the surgery because the undrained fluids that collect behind his cornea cause cloudy vision which has been a persistent problem for Walter. And if all goes well he may be able to do away with his glaucoma medications for the right eye.

Of course the surgery comes with risks as all surgery does. There will be an hour on the operating table with general anesthesia. But it appears to be a more straightforward (easier) procedure than the one he had two years ago, so we are optimistic.

Maybe I should get Walter a black eye patch to go over his surgical eye patch so he can be a pirate for Halloween. What do you think?

Mom is Bedridden

My mom is pretty much bedridden with her pain now. Since Friday she has had to stay in bed for most of each day. She gets up to use the bathroom, eat some small meals and take her medications. She is always eager to get back to her bed because the pain is not under control.

The epidural that was suggested last week went by the wayside when they decided they needed to get an MRI first. Today was her MRI. Tomorrow she goes back to the doctor. He may or may not have the MRI results by the time she seems him, we'll see.

An epidural injection is still a possibility I think provided the MRI doesn't show something unexpected. The difficulty with getting that done earlier was finding who was the right doctor who could refer her for it. They tried referring her to a neurosurgeon and turns out the neurosurgeon doesn't want to see her unless she's a surgical candidate. So they need to find someone else. All the while time is passing.

Mom's doctor is one of the most senior doctors there so hopefully he will know who to send her to if he agrees that an epidural is a good idea. In any case she needs some different treatment from what they have tried so far. Her current treatment is not WORKING.

As Mom put it today "I hope they figure out what's wrong because I'm ready to have this torture over with."

Rockin' Out Cockatoo

Every once in a while someone sends me something that's just too fun not to share. Check out this link where you will find an amazing video of a dancing cockatoo. This bird (Snowball is his name) dances to the Backstreet Boys beat and sings too! I thought it was hysterical and I couldn't resist dancing right along with Snowball. How about you?

A Day Without Connectivity Is Like a Day Without...

Today was a very strange day at work. Our connectivity to the world was down pretty much all day. That means no phone service to the outside world, no email to the outside world and no internet connection. Yikes!

As it turns out there was a construction mishap near our building which caused a Qwest fiberoptic cable to be cut. In the late afternoon we finally had phones back but it wasn't until after 6pm that our email and internet connection were working again.

These days it's very hard to go without connectivity and still get your work done. It felt so odd. I found myself having to think out of the box for different ways to get things done. And all day long I was adding to a list of things to do "after we are connected again." I felt out of my element a bit. Sort of discombobulated if you will. Some people remarked that they were actually getting work done without the phone ringing constantly. I heard others saying it felt like a snow day. On a snow day not everyone makes it to the office so you don't have the full resources and expectation of communication with other people in their offices.

We don't think about all the ways we rely on the web for everyday tasks now. Transferring money in your bank account; ordering prescription refills; checking the weather report; looking up a bus schedule; getting directions; posting pictures to share; emailing friends and family. The list goes on and on.

I'm a big fan of Web 2.0 applications. So some of my notes and information that I use on a daily basis reside on the web. I had to do without those resources today. It wasn't horrible, and I wouldn't mind if this happened once a month. But I think I would prefer that it were scheduled and not a surprise. I was thankful that I didn't have any critical needs that couldn't be met in another way. And may I say, Yay for cell phones!

If you found yourself unexpectedly without internet connectivity for a full day, what would you do? Something fun I hope.

Now that we have the internet back I think I'll go look up a bus schedule to take me home.

Mom Still in Pain

My Mom is still having a very difficult time of it. The pain medications are just not helping enough and now she is taking medications to combat the effects of the pain medication. She has had several tests including x-rays which did not show a fracture. But she has severe degenerative disc disease and that contributes to this big muscle spasm she's experiencing.

At the last appointment they said they were going to refer her to someone who could give her an epidural injection. There were problems with that referral (somehow I got a call from a neurosurgeon) and now the primary doctor thinks there must be some other reason the pain is not getting better. Like perhaps a fracture that does not show up on an x-ray. So they want to do an MRI as the next step. Great idea, except that I couldn't get them to schedule an MRI before next Tuesday and today Mom says her pain is getting worse. Aargh!!

An occupational therapist visited Mom today and he agrees that she needs something done quickly. He's going to talk to a visiting nurse and see if they can pull some strings to get the MRI done sooner. I sure hope something works soon. No one should have to live their life in that much pain.

How Old Are Your Spices?

When was the last time you cleaned out your spice rack? Do you have any spices which you purchased for a single recipe and have never used since? Anything been languishing for years having long since lost its aroma and flavor?

Today I ran across this great blog post about how to tell how old your spices are. I thought it was kind of interesting. If you use McCormick's spices in some cases you can tell age by looking at the packaging or using a date code on their web site.

If your spice rack needs cleaning out you might want to take a look. Have a good weekend folks.

Happy Birthday to Walter

I wanted to take a moment to say Happy Birthday to my sweetie Walter. He had a birthday on Monday. When I asked him what he wanted for his birthday he said "not to be [his age] years old." Well, I'm sorry, Dear, but I can't make that happen for you. If I could, I surely would. I would even give up the senior citizen discounts we'll be getting soon. ;)

We spent the majority of Walter's birthday in Olympia taking Mom to an appointment and helping her with a few things. When we returned to Seattle we kept driving until we got to Lynnwood and tried out the new Claim Jumper up there. The food was wonderful as we expected but the decor is pretty modern and doesn't quite measure up to the character of the Southcenter Claim Jumper. I got a big plate of jambalaya which left me overstuffed and with enough leftovers that Walter and I shared them for dinner the next evening. Walter had a giant Idaho stuffed baked potato.

For Walter's birthday gift we are planning a trip to North Bend to do some much needed clothes shopping. We always find some good deals up there at the outlet mall. Due to bad weather and extra trips to Olympia we didn't get to go last weekend but we're planning on it this coming Sunday. It should be a good time to enjoy the fall color in the mountains as well.

Walter has been so patient and understanding and supportive while my Mom has been sick. His great attitude has made things so much easier for me. And what a great sport he has been considering his birthday didn't get center stage as much as deserved since my focus has been on Mom.

Happy Birthday, Walter and may you have many decades more birthdays to celebrate.

Quiet on the Blog

It's been quiet here because things have been hectic in life. Mom saw doctors on Monday and Tuesday and she's still feeling pretty bad. Her back is killing her and her pain medication makes her too nauseous to eat much of anything although she is hungry. At my request doctors ordered new medications today. They took x-rays of her back and she doesn't have a fracture. Physical therapy will visit tomorrow and hopefully they can try some back massage. I sure hope something works for her soon. No one should be in constant pain like that.