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Thu 12 Feb, 2009 03:46 pm
This isn't a place I want to get pity or shoulders to cry on. I want to sort of document the week (sorry to the powers that be that I use the place like my own personal blog).
Eight months ago, my 13 y.o. niece was diagnosed with lymphoma. She went through hellacious chemo and spinal taps for 8 months. This week she had a final PET scan and we all had to await results. She has no evidence of any cancer anywhere in her body. Not surprising since all along she'd responded well to therapy. But, all the same, this was a huge relief.
Last week, my dad had a bad stress test to assess his cardiovascular fitness. 13 years ago he had sever angina that led to angioplasty and a lifestyle change. He is amazing in his dedication to eating right and exercise. Unfortunately, the lifestyle change didn't prevent a new blockage from forming. 3 years ago he had a second stent put in. This depressed him as he'd been doing everything right, but the result was more plaque build up. This latest stress test only 3 years later showed a lack of oxygen to the heart under heavy exercise. If 13 years was a depressing relapse rate, 3 years was worse. He basically said f-it, I don't want the surgery. This week he got a second opinion at a place that prescribes prolonged maintenance therapy instead of the more invasive angioplasty where applicable. He will have a second stress test under more normal circumstances (while taking his medication, for one thing) to see if he is stable. He may not have to cancel his trip to Mexico after all.
And, of course, as you know - my cat died. After 7 years of treating him for insulin twice every day, he left me.
I don't know whether to be happy or sad - mostly I am both, and sometimes at the same time.
@littlek,
Sorry to hear about all the troubles, K.
Somehow...ya gotta keep your chin up. Life has more than its fair share of bad weeks--and this one seems to have been a motha for you!
Looks like the niece is out of the danger zone...(I had lymphoma myself 15 years ago)...and your father...well, your father is gonna have to make lots of decision it seems during the coming years. You just have got to be supportive of whatever he sees as the best course of action.
Hope it all works out. You are a neat person...and I really, really hope it all works out.
Didn't want to forget the Cat!
Sad when they...leave...but that is part of life also. My personal pet, Cat, went some years back...and I still mist up when I think of him. He was like a tattoo...always so close to me. Taking him for that final appointment with the vet was almost more than I could bear.
But the memories are beautiful--and if I am truthful, sometimes the sadness in the memories feels good...feels comforting.
Hey Frank. Yeah, loss and painful complications are part of life. And I guess that it doesn't really matter if they bunch up intoone week or are spread out over many.
@littlek,
Hey Littlek, sorry to hear about your rough week. I'm happy to hear about the good news with your niece. However, with your Dad, wouldn't he prefer a stent over bypass surgery? Sometimes the most rigorous exercise and diet plan can't tackle what genetics throw at us. Sometimes that's just the way it goes.
And for your cat, I'm sure you have lots of happy thoughts of him. With my cat it is a love/hate relationship but mostly love.
@edgarblythe,
dare I say, there are stents and stents, and there are arguments about some? This is not any smarts of mine, just stuff going on.
If I were you and were me at the same time, I do some googling about stents in the NYTimes and elsewhere. Not to override doctors, just to get up to speed.
I presume there are med gang wars on some of all this.
@edgarblythe,
Oh, and besides, sympathy for your week.
I know the sound of no sound.
Marty - that's what I thought! If he forgoes stents now, will open heart surgery be more likely later? The man needs to be pushed gently and when he's able to allow the pushing - at first diagnosis he is always depressed. Np use pushing then, really. I think he's coming around.
Osso, yes there is stent wars and non-stent advocates. He has one old fashioned unmedicated stent and one that's medicated (releases meds over its lifetime to prevent scarring I think).
I'm going to wait before pushing him. I need more info from tests he'll undergo soon.
@littlek,
I'm completely ignorant on all this, just have read, flashingly, some stent stuff.
Hi littlek,
I hate it when things go awry, and there's nothing much that can be done about it. It can really drag you down and rightly so. It's an intense frustration to be forced to recognize how little influence we have in the long run.
Alas, memories of better times may be the only respite.
How silly of me to temp fate by posting this thread on Thursday - before the week was over.
On my way to work this morning, my check engine light went on. I decided to go to the shop after work and hope I could still drive it to the cape tomorrow. But, I forgot to leave work early to get it checked out because I was pulled into a schedule reshuffling meeting at school. I no longer work with any of the kids I worked with for the first half of the year (including the 1:1). And I no longer work in 7th grade. I'll be learning new kids, new curriculum and new teachers AGAIN after finally getting a hold on everything which started fresh last September. For about 20 seconds of the meeting I thought they were going to lay me off.
Holy f-koly.
@littlek,
Indeed!
Too much on your plate this week, k.
Far, far too much!
Sorry about the reshuffling changes, especially, on top of all else that has already happened! I know how much work you've put in with the ones you just lost. Especially the one-to-one. Sigh.
I'm really hoping that you get to have a really good rest on the weekend. God knows, you need it after a bugger of a week like this one! Hugs & restorative wishes to you!
MsOlga - exactly! I have an investment with those kids.
Deb - I dunno yet. I dropped it off tonight to be diagnosed tomorrow morning. my guess, from the list he gave me of possible problems, is that the thingie-bopper that recaptures the fuel is bonkers.
@littlek,
K!
Jeez, what can I say? I hope and pray it all works out well.
I'll be thinking of you.
Thanks George. It seems that it is all wrapping up. I am more stable when thinking about the cat, my dad and cousin (I sometimes call her niece because of her age, sorry for confusion there) are ok for now, and the car should be a little issue.
We'll see about work after feb. vacation. At least I have the week off to porcess. Maybe I'll have my new schedule in hand when I return and will have caught up on the reading for English.
So sorry, lil k.
Hang in there. I'll keep you in my thoughts and cross my fingers that the bonkers thingamabob is a cheap repair.
Ah littlek, so sorry about your week. (My check engine light is on too, so I can relate...)
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