Penny's Surgery

Many of us in Indiana were very happy to say “Goodbye July” in hopes of better August weather.  15 straight days above 90 was making it impossible to be outside.  But, for me, August was coming a little too quickly.  I was not ready to wrap up summer just yet.

We started the first week of August by getting Penny fixed.  She has already been in heat once, and I didn’t want to wait too long or I knew Dan and I would start to talk each other into letting her have puppies.  That is the last thing that we needed, even though we are both suckers for babies of all species.  So, I took Penny in August 4^th to FACE in Indy.  We were not about to take her to the horrible vet that did Daisy’s.  Penny was so excited to leave for work with me, but as soon as we got to the door of the clinic, she refused to enter.  So, I had to pick her up and carry her in.  All 50 lbs of her.  I think she knew immediately what was going on and decided to make it as difficult on me as possible.

I got her all checked in and we were waiting to be called back and Penny just kept shaking and hiding under my legs.  She’d never been away from both me and Daisy that long.  I just knew she’d be so scared.  But, they took her back with minimal trouble, and I was able to walk out without hearing her whine too much.  Ugg, it was so hard to leave her, especially knowing I wouldn’t be back for 8 hrs.

You better believe I was there the minute I could pick her up.  She looked so pathetic when they brought her out.  She did really good through the surgery, but she wouldn’t let any of the vet techs near her.  She would hide in the back of her kennel.  She didn’t even perk up when she saw me.  I think that was the first time I didn’t get a kiss or tail wag from her.  I’d be lying if I said I didn’t tear up a bit.  But, she walked to the car and jumped in the backseat on her own.  She slept most of the way home too.

I got her inside and made her a little bed downstairs.  She immediately went to sleep and didn’t move almost all night.  She didn’t even stir when the pizza guy came over.  There was no way I was making dinner with her looking like that.  She didn’t eat anything until the next morning.

The next day was my birthday, and I swear Penny knew it.  Penny woke me up with birthday kisses and tail wags.  Plus, she ate and drank no problem.  By the evening we were doing everything we could to keep her from running around.  She wanted to play so bad. 

After that, she recovered in no time and was back to her playful self.  The only thing she seems to have lost besides her fertility is her habit of chewing on the wood furniture.

Bandaids and Birthdays

We didn't have long after returning home from Bonnaroo to adjust to life with responsibilites before we were onto our next adventure.

Dan tore his medial meniscus (the Parrot's Beak pictured above) and we quickly scheduled his surgery for June 17th, so he would have time to recover before the Warrior Dash.  Unfortunately that was Father's Day weekend and we had planned on Dan's 1 Year Cancerversary, so we had to shuffle some things around.  Next years goal is no surgeries.

Who says men with shaved legs aren't sexy?

The surgery didn't take too long at all.  I was impressed.  Dan was in recovery and ready to head home in just under an hour.  The bad news was he was on bedrest for 3 days and could only get up to use the bathroom.  I moved our mattress downstairs and the dogs thought we were having a party.  But, by Monday Dan was at PT and was up walking and very slowly doing the stairs.  I don't know who was happier that he could shower, me or him.

Fortunately, Dan recovered just in time to help celebrate Penny's 1st birthday!  I made her a beef flavored cake and she and Daisy both got left over Texas Roadhouse to celebrate.  Daisy even sang to Penny.  Her favorite song is "Happy Birthday" because that means she's getting some good food to eat.

Penny wants to know if it can be her day every day

My helpers taste testing the PB frosting

So I may have been more excited about it than Penny was, but Daisy sure knew what was going on.

 

I did learn that it's much harder to take a mattress up the stairs than it is to guide it on a gentle fall down the stairs.  We got some funny looks from the pizza guy when Dan was sitting on a bed in the living room half dressed.  We might not have thought that through.

Day off

As I mentioned earlier this week, I didn't have to work today!  I'm not going to lie, I really needed a day off.  Unfortunately this wasn't one of my "mental health days" where I take a day off to be lazy.  Today we had Dan's one year colonoscopy.

Yesterday, Dan stayed home and did the prep which sucks.  Poor guy couldn't eat anything all yesterday, and could only drink clear liquids.  So, I grabbed dinner at Qdoba (Yum!) so he didn't have to suffer through watching me eat.

I have to admit, I was really stressed about this appointment.  There really wasn't any reason for me to be nervous.  Dan has been feeling better every day.  He's more and more like the "old" Dan that I met and love.  Plus his PET-CT scan came back clear.

I think it had to do with the fact that the last time he had his colonoscopy we were just excited for some answers, and the prep actually relieved Dan's symptoms, so it wasn't as annoying.  Plus, after the last one, we got really bad news, and no answers (yet).

Thankfully, I can report that Dan's all clear once again.  And once again, I was stressed for no reason.  We are celebrating with left over chicken parm with spaghetti.  Tomorrow, once Dan has freedom to drive, sign legal paperwork, and make life altering decisions again, we will really celebrate.

Sigh of Relief

I’ve been quiet here since Dan’s Dr’s appointment. 

On Wednesday we were told that Dan’s CEA levels came back at 2.9.  His pre-surgery level was 2.1, three months ago it was at 2.8.  So, Dr. H suggested that Dan have a PET-CT scan, just to be sure the rising CEA levels are artifact and not the start of a recurrence.  CEA is CarcinoEmbryonic Antigen test.  CEA is secreted by embryonic cells, but level out in adults as you lose these embryonic cells.  Some cancer cells will secret CEA, so in some people, an increase in CEA will indicate tumor growth.

We scrambled around work schedules, and other appointments to get Dan in for a scan.  Dan didn’t want me to tell anyone because it was just precautionary, and nothing definitive.  Why have everyone else be on edge for nothing?  Being quiet was very hard for me.  I told my mom because I needed someone to know what was going on.

I’ll admit, I was really scared at first.  There was no warning.  Dan has been feeling great.  He’s getting his motivation back for MMA, and things were settling into normalcy.  Well, normal for us.  Not to mention, so many wonderful things have happened since Wednesday morning!  Our two good friends got engaged, and my friend Megan had her baby!  I was having a really hard time being happy and excited for everyone, with Dan’s health weighing me down. 

Plus, I caught a stomach bug and couldn’t get out of bed Friday.  But, by Saturday night, my viral infection was gone, and we were able to visit with my family for a Stephenson Clan bowling night.  By the time we were headed home, I realized I hadn’t thought about Dan’s health all night.  Sunday afternoon, Dan’s family came into town for a visit, and I felt great.  I was confident Dan would be fine.

Yesterday at 7am, we headed to the Simon center for Dan’s scan.  They put in an IV port and injected him with a radio-labeled glucose tracer.  The glucose will be metabolized and the PET scan will show any area in the body where high levels of metabolism are occurring.  In layman’s terms, tumors will glow. Then the CT scan, lets them look more carefully at the areas that “glowed.”  Dan was done by 8:45.  I was anxious for results immediately, but we had to wait.  I was a little scared, but I knew that even if something came back suspicious, we’d have to wait for a biopsy to confirm, so we were focused on being prepared for bad news, but really expecting the all clear.

Dan had an appointment with Dr. H to go over the scan results today at 8am.  As we were slowing getting up, Dan checked his e-mail and Dr. H had e-mailed him last night (after Dan bribed him with donuts), that the scan showed no signs of any cancer. 

Dan is still cancer free, and we now have yet another reason to celebrate tonight.  Today is a good day.

Dr’s Visit

Today Dan had his 9 month oncologist appointment. Well, this appointment was similar to his last, where it was just a blood draw and a face to face with the oncologist. Dr. H wasn’t going to have the results, so Dan saw no reason for the face to face meeting. He went in early for his blood draw, and went on into work. We should get his CEA results this evening.

Dan went by himself. We didn’t have any odd symptoms pop up in the past 2 weeks, which was a huge improvement over his last appointment. So, he wasn’t nervous at all. I am still nervous, but I’m much more patient this time. I wish I knew his results already, but I’m sure it will be normal. I’m actually more nervous about my presentation tomorrow.

Dan also scheduled his 1 year appointment for May 31st. He will have a full body scan, a colonoscopy and a full blood workup. That will be the big one. I’m certain I will be nervous for that appointment. But, I’m confident Dan will get a clean bill of health right before we head off to the Warrior Dash.

Thursday Morning Thoughts

The first real rain of the year always makes me think of Spring.  I don’t know if I’m more excited because it’s not snow coming down, or if it’s because I know soon, my flowers will be sprouting.  Soon, I will see people seeding my back yard, and my husband, dad, FIL, and brothers putting up a fence.  And soon, I will be planting trees, flowers, and vegetables.

This morning, on my rainy drive into work, I didn’t think about all the above fun, exciting, Spring things to look forward to.  Today, instead, my non-caffeinated brain thought it would be better to think about Relay for Life.  Sure, this is the time of the year to start planning for it, but this year it will be different.

Last year my mom walked as a survivor, as I’m hoping she will again this year.  This year, my husband will join her.  To me, this morning, this brought on a wave of confusing emotions that I have not been able to shake.  I am very concerned at the alarming rate of increase in the number of people I know walking as survivors, but I am also very proud and excited to see them walk together.  “Survivor” is so much better than “Patient”.  I’m not sure how I will feel watching 2 people I love among the crowd of strangers brought together by such an ugly thing.

Dan and I don’t refer to him as a survivor.  I actually spend most of my time ignoring the elephant in the room.  I will refer to his cancer as “before you were sick,” or “before the surgery”.  I don’t know if I have properly dealt with things, or if this is my way of dealing with it.  This, in turn makes me wonder, if I’m not dealing with it, how am I helping my husband?  Am I being as supportive as he needs? 

All I know is that these thought processes should not be done before work, on a Thursday when I have to be here for 11hrs, especially before coffee, 5 days before his next Oncologist appointment.  But, I do know that we are going to have one hell of a 1 year cancer-free party this summer.  And, I would love it if every one of my readers could join us for Relay for Life this year in May. 

Maybe that is my way of coping. 

Family Emergency

I got a very scary phone call from Dan while I was trying to secretly shop at Target last night. His sister (who is just a pre-teen) hurt her leg somehow, and it had gotten so bad that she was having a difficult time walking. So, they went off to the Dr. to get it checked out. After several hours of x-rays and testing her knee and hip mobility, they came back with a diagnosis of a Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis.

The patient's left hip (arrow) shows that a slight shift of the head of the femur occurred through the growth plate.

(Courtesy of John Killian, MD, Birmingham, AL)

Like everyone other than orthopedic surgeons, I had no idea what this is. Apparently, the femoral head of her femur shifted off her femoral head growth plate. Ouch! They scheduled her for emergency surgery for this morning to put a screw in to hold her femoral head in place.

A screw is inserted to prevent any further slip of the femoral head through the growth plate.

(Courtesy of John Killian, MD, Birmingham, AL)

They have no idea what caused this, but Dan’s sister was such a trooper. Dan was able to take the first half day off from work, and I took the whole day off. We spent the morning waiting with his family while his sister had the surgery. We weren’t able to wait for his sister to wake up, but she did fantastic. She wasn’t nervous going in, she was in a great mood, and when I talked to her this evening, she was recovering quickly. She’ll stay tonight in the hospital, and she’ll be back in school Monday.  She won't be able to play basketball the rest of this season, but she should be able to next year, and she should be able to continue to cheer.  There is a small risk of her other femoral head slipping, but I hope not. 

The very odd part of this was Dan's sister was in the same OR prep room as Dan, and we went into the same office to hear the results of the surgery.  I hope next year we can go without anyone needing surgery, or else they will have to put a "New" plaque on these rooms.