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Post by brittonfaith on Oct 27, 2010 12:37:56 GMT 12.75
Prayers please. Just got a call from my cuz in Florida that my 88yr old Granny (mom's mom) is going into emergency surgery tomorrow on her bowels. Not looking good. Dr. said he couldn't even make out what he was looking at during the colonoscopy. It's some kind of really huge growth. Won't know until after surgery if it's cancer or something else. Any way it's looked at, they're anticipating removing a rather large section of colon. Poor ol' gal just had about 8" of small intestine removed this spring and now this. We all figure she'll end up with a "poop bag". None of us are set up to be able to take care of her and if a home health nurse ever saw her place, she'd be in a nursing home for certain. So we're getting our heads together to start planning long-term care for her and gramps or in a worse case scenario, her funeral. Guarantee, she'll fight us tooth and nail every step of the way!! She feeds off the legal system. Gramps is in no position to take care of himself either. He had a massive brain annurism about 15 years ago. He putters around but is no more able now to take care of himself than a 6-yr old could.
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Post by OLKoot on Oct 27, 2010 14:18:02 GMT 12.75
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Post by Toby Benoit on Oct 27, 2010 18:12:42 GMT 12.75
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Post by Lt Colonel Bruce Reynolds on Oct 28, 2010 4:37:30 GMT 12.75
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Post by brittonfaith on Oct 30, 2010 12:09:20 GMT 12.75
Granny came through surgery ok. She's just being kept sedated because the internal tissues are so thin that dr's are afraid she'll rip the sutures. As soon as she mends enough, plans are in order to admit her to a nursing home. Gramps seems to be taking good care of himself since he's alone at the house. A couple cousins check in on him several times a day.
I think I'm getting on the mend too. It's been almost 32 hours without a smoke. Managed to walk up our hill today without getting winded or the chest pounding. Nearly all of the rattling and wheezing is gone. Downfall is that I've eaten more candy than Toby's Donnie Bull today. Most of it's been hard candy. It lasts longer. I try to stay away from the chocolates or soft stuff 'cause I have become pretty good at getting a decent jelly bean or taffy "chaw" going.
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Post by Paws on Nov 18, 2010 2:25:28 GMT 12.75
Status report please.
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Post by brittonfaith on Nov 18, 2010 2:59:35 GMT 12.75
Granny is in a rehab center and while weak, is doing fine. I had a chance to call her the other day. She's getting around slowly and doesn't have much pain. So far, she won't need the the bag. What she tells me is going on and what the cousins are saying are two different stories though. Granny's version is she was doing dishes and felt herself going down. She tried to grab the counter, but her hands were wet and she hit the floor bursting her colon. All reports say gramps is doing fine batchin' it at home. He's probably enjoying this break. Keep the prayers going for her.
Also keep Mike in prayer. I don't think he realizes how dangerously high his blood pressure is and that he needs to make some lifestyle changes. Still haven't heard from the doctor to get his medication switched.
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Post by Toby Benoit on Nov 18, 2010 18:21:20 GMT 12.75
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Post by brittonfaith on Feb 23, 2011 17:21:57 GMT 12.75
Prayers for my mother, Dixie. She has had bouts with various "gut problems" for years. They are increasing in frequency and severity. She and I are a lot alike in that we avoid Dr's and hospitals at all cost. So you know this has got to be real bad. Dad called tonight to let me know she is being transferred from their local hospital to Central Baptist in Lexington. But, the squad had to drop a sick baby off at UK first. She's been in and out of the ER several times since Friday. Tests this afternoon showed an intestinal blockage and infection. Dad didn't have any other info and stayed at home to rest and take care of the pigs. He sounded exhausted. I told him if I'm anything like him, the best thing for him is a freshly bedded box stall in the barn with no phone or TV and some real sound sleep curled up next to the dog. He agreed and said he'll call when he finds out more. Not the birthday present I'd liked her to have gotten. But hope God's healing power gets her fixed up.
BTW - With medication, Mike's BP is back to normal. All tests came back fine. Granny is still recouperating at home and is doing as well as can be expected for most 87-yr olds.
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Post by Paws on Feb 23, 2011 23:25:39 GMT 12.75
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Post by Jerry on Feb 24, 2011 8:03:10 GMT 12.75
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Post by brittonfaith on Feb 24, 2011 11:02:10 GMT 12.75
Dad called around noon today and was just getting back from the hospital. They ran mom into surgery as soon as she got there last night. The surgeon had left about 20 minutes earlier and they called him back. They removed her colon and she'll be wearing a bag for 4-8 weeks. I really don't understand the procedure, but dad says they left a flap of some kind to hook her back up later. She'll be in ICU for at least 4 days. They had her up this morning and were trying to get her into a chair for a while. Dad spent last night in the waiting room where he found a big leather recliner and a stack of pillows. The nurses told him he looked so tired last night, they thought it was best just to let him sleep. He says this morning was the first time she hasn't been screaming in agony for several months. I got a good feeling I'll be going down sometime soon to make sure dad is OK and later go back to help care for mom.
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Post by Snake Eyes on Feb 25, 2011 1:39:07 GMT 12.75
Faith, My go out to your entire family!
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Post by Toby Benoit on Feb 25, 2011 19:36:33 GMT 12.75
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Post by Jerry on Feb 26, 2011 2:07:15 GMT 12.75
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Post by brittonfaith on Feb 28, 2011 13:36:50 GMT 12.75
Just got back. 442 mile round trip. Mike stayed home. I left yesterday morning. Stopped and visited mom at the hospital in Lexington for a couple hours. Then went on down to Renfro Valley and spent the night with dad. Was up at 0500 (actually was still up), got breakfast, helped dad feed the chickens and hog, sent dad to church and went back to the hospital for a couple more hours.
They ended up taking all of her large intestine. She's also had a little trouble with her heart and blood pressure doing flip-flops since the surgery. But that had stabilized. As far as the gut, she's got a bag for now. Dr. stopped in while I was there this afternoon and he's waiting for pathology reports to determine if this is going to be reversible (reconnection to what's left of colon). Got now though, she's pumping out gallons of emerald green sludge, both from a nasal siphon and through the bag. She is managing to get out of bed and into a chair on her own, but she doesn't trust herself walking because of all the morphine they've got her loaded up on. Today, all she wanted to do is move her chair to Linnville Lake and get a mess of bass. 'Course, she ain't gonna be able to eat anything solid for a long time. I'm definitely planning on spending a good portion of this spring & summer taking care of mom & dad.
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Post by Snake Eyes on Mar 1, 2011 1:21:13 GMT 12.75
Faith, My will continue for your entire family.
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Post by Lt Colonel Bruce Reynolds on Mar 1, 2011 3:52:52 GMT 12.75
None stop 's for your family,make sure to take care of your self also.
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Post by brittonfaith on Mar 4, 2011 18:22:32 GMT 12.75
Dad called earlier this evening. Mom came home today and after an aftertoon of them both napping, she's up to her old self again. I could hear her yelling at dad in the background to dump the coffee pot and quit coughing while trying to use phone. (Hey mom! This is my dad. If he wants to drink 3-day old cold coffee, cough in the phone, or even 'farmer blow' his nose into his hand and wipe it on his shirt, let him!! I have absolutely no problem with it.) Home health nurse called as soon as they got home and is coming out tomorrow.
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Post by Paws on Mar 5, 2011 2:35:26 GMT 12.75
;D
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