Out tomorrow

Matt is finally home! :) After 1/2 month away, we got home today around 2 pm. Matt is very happy.

His recovery is going SO well. He is down to just 2 Advil a day...woo hoo! That means he's driving again. He's also laughing, which can lead to discomfort, but he doesn't fight it anymore. He does, however, try to avoid coughing.

Tomorrow afternoon the staples come out...all 36 of them. A part of me wants to do it myself (hey...we've got the kit!), but the sensible side chirps in with, "And what if you pass out?!". Right. The doctor wins.

I'm thinking that's it for now...if I think of anything else, I'll post it. Promise.

Pathology Report

We heard from the urologist today regarding the lymph node they removed. They did a pathology test to identify the suspicious cells. These were the possible results:

1) Dead cells, no problem.
2) Teratoma cells. All removed, so no problem.
3) Teratoma cells and other cancer cells. Consider radiation or other chemo.

We got result #2. That's a good thing because that means there WAS cancer in Matt, but it's all been removed with the nodes. (Teratoma cells cannot move by themselves. However, if left long enough they can "mutate" into other cancer cells and spread throughout the body. They didn't. They were just teratoma with no other cancer cells present). It's also gives us a sense of peace about taking the experts' advice. They really knew what to look for and were able to make informed decisions based on their experience. Because of that my husband's life has literally been saved.

And so NOW we go to observation. Routine CT scans and blood tests, as directed by the docs at IU. However, when the doc called, he was optimistic and encouraging. Things look good :)

I'll let you know when the staples come out.

[And for those of you wondering, because teratoma cells can't move by themselves, they often don't appear in the blood work. That's why the CT scan was needed/important].

Relaxin'

Matt is officially relaxing and healing at my parents' house right now. I've talked to him a few times and here are the good reports:

- His bowels are apparently active and regular.
- Because his bowels are active and regular, his appetite is increasing.
- He slept NINE hours last night! He didn't wake up needing pain meds!
- He's cut back on the pain meds: he is now only taking one pill about every 5-6 hours, with an Advil in between, if he really needs it.

All of these things are GREAT! As soon as he's off pain meds completely he can start driving (woo hoo!). Once he has his staples removed he'll be able to start moving a bit more comfortably. Oh yipee!!

As for me? I'm at home by myself (the cats are even with Matt). If you haven't seen me or heard from me, don't be upset. I am very much enjoying my solitude before everyone returns.

That's it for now...we're expecting a pathology report from the doc today, so I'll let you know what he has to say!

Plop, plop, fizz, fizz

Oh what a relief it is...Matt pooped today!

And we made it

We left Indiana this morning at 10 am and arrived in Scottville just before 5 pm. Yeah, I thought it would take longer too. But that's okay...we got here just in time for the first BBQ ribs and sweet corn of the season. Matt ate one rib, 25 baked beans, a tablespoon of macaroni and cheese and two bites off a corn on the cob. I ate...more than I needed to, but you don't need to know about that.

Matt did pretty well on the trip. He did great until we reached the Michigan border, when the pot holes and uneven seams made for a long, bumpy trip. Luckily he has his paid meds, as well as Advil for the in between times. He didn't sleep in the van, but I did accidentally buy him the same Wall Street Journal that he had yesterday, so he was mildly entertained.

So now we're at the 'rents. I'm leaving Matt here for the week while I return to TC to work. Don't cry for him Argentina...he has the Man Cave and my mother who buys him any and all foods he may have inadvertently suggested that he liked, likes or may like to try. He'll be fine. He's even getting a hair cut on Tuesday. It'll be rough.

And now Matt's resting. He'll have the staples removed next week, then we'll go back down to Indy in about a month for a follow-up. In the meantime?? Oh, listen for his whining...he can't do the things he wants to do and I've a list of things I want him to do...hee, hee :)

See ya!

On the road again...

That's right, we're outta here! The doctors say Matt's doing great. Throughout the morning they'll remove his IV, get him used to oral pain meds, give us some directions on how to keep Matt clean (can you say sponge bath?) and then we'll get out of here!

As of RIGHT NOW (7:30 am) here's the plan:
1. Sometime today - Discharge
2. Go to Beth's house - hang out there to see how Matt's doing
3a. Matt's doing well - we get in the car and head toward Northern Indiana
3b. Matt wants to rest - we stay the night at Beth's house

Then it really becomes a choose-your-own-adventure book:
If we go to Warsaw, then we...
If we stay at Beth's, then we...
If Matt really wants to drive far, then we...

Since we don't know, I'll only give you options up through 3a & 3b. As is always the case, please stay tuned for more info later!!!

On the move

Everything about Matt is on the move today!!! First, they listened to his bowels and they're waking up, so "things" will be moving soon :) Then he started walking around...which got the bubbles brewing. He's been getting a few burps out (yeah! This is the only time you will ever hear me encourage my husband to pass gas). And finally we moved to a different room.

I understand the concept of sharing a hospital room to get more people into the building so they can treat more patients, but does it really help the patients? Matt's roomie had his wife and sister with him (all in their 60's). Even though Matt was by the door, and clearly visible upon entering the room, roomie's sister would walk in just BLABBING loudly...waking up Matt. Then roomie had complications, so every hour nurses and doctors were checking vitals, and more family came. Seriously, Matt hasn't gotten more than 45-60 minutes of sleep at a time since he got there at 5pm Tuesday! Between his nurses, doctors and family and MATT's nurses, doctors and family, there was never a quiet moment in that room.

Well, insurance won't pay the difference in room cost for Matt to have a private room...but for $50/night he gets his own room and I can stay in it with him. Granted I'm staying with a friend for free, but if I had to get a hotel room this would be the way to go!! There's even a hide-a-bed in here :)

Matt's feeling MUCH better. He's getting up easier and sitting more comfortably in bed. It's only 1pm and he's already gone on two long walks. He's even eating real food...a few bites of Honey Nut Cheerios and a whole piece of organic fruit leather. He's been reading USA Today, and hopefully we'll get a copy of the Wall Street Journal for him tomorrow. Still no word on when he'll be discharged though.

Okay, this part is not for the squeamish, but it's kinda interesting. We got to see his incision today. It's 6-8" long. It starts below the belly button, then comes up and around the belly button, and up toward his chest. It's actually closed with staples!! Pretty weird, but kinda cool. I know some of you don't care, but I know there are some of you who are probably wishing you could see it :) I'm thinkin' of you.

And now I'm outtie!! Quiet room, wireless internet...time to relax!

In the hospital

Well, Matt is in his room at Indiana University. Here's how it went:

12pm - Surgery
2:30pm - Met with the doctor
4:00pm - gave us his room assignment
5:30pm - Matt in his room and we got to visit him

We didn't stay long last night. He's pretty out of it right now. I'll give you some details. If you have a queezy stomach, you may want to skip the next paragraph.

Matt is recovering well. The surgery was successful, but it's quite a bit more of a recovery than he thought. His limitations are very similar to a C-section, but his innards are more messed up. The C-section in a horizontal cut and they only go into the uterus. Matt has a six inch incision up his belly, vertically. Inside him they had to move around his vital organs: kidney, liver, bowels. The lymph node cluster was behind that. Now he has to wait for his intestines to wake up before he can eat. He can't even get up to use the bathroom. He's in some pain (3 on a scale of 1-10). They had him sitting up today and will try to get him walking tomorrow.

There's not much else to say right now. His parents left about 30 minutes ago to go back to Winchestertonfieldville. Our departure date and route is still TBD. I'll give you more info when I get it.

Thanks Beth!!!

So I'm in Indianapolis and I have enough to deal with right now that I'm pretty overwhelmed. As I was getting ready to book my hotel and figure out how to eat out for a week, I got an email from my first college roommate (yes, I had 7) Beth.

Beth lives in Indy now and not only opened her home to me, but she has spoiled my hubby COMPLETELY (there is a huge basket with his favorite goodies!! Minus a bag of cheese crackers and a candy bar...hee, hee), brought me and my in-laws lunch today and sat with us while we waited during Matt's operation.

I pray that none of you ever go through any of this, but if you should you will realize that you DON'T realize how stressful everything is until it's over. I didn't realize how tired I was getting until Beth let me relax a little and helped out.

She has been in my shoes, but she unfortunately lost her mother to cancer a few years ago. Instead of wallowing or avoiding the issue, she is helping. Personally I can't thank her enough. Generally, she raises money every year to help (you'll have to visit my sister's blog for that info...I'm too tired to link right now). She's a champ.

Anyway, I just wanted to make sure y'all know how wonderful she is, how wonderful she's been and that she will not need to buy Janet Evanovich's new book in June, because she'll be getting that from me.

Post-Surgery Update

Matt came out of surgery about 30 minutes ago. The doctor said he did great...there were no complications of surprises. Yeah!! He's being moved up to the recovery room and we should be able to see him around 4:30 pm.

He'll be here 2-5 days, depending on how long he needs to recover. You'll love this...Matt can leave when he can fart and poo by himself. Considering how easy that's been for him in the past, I'm not anticipating any problems.

I'll have internet access again tonight and will let you know how he's doing. I might even let him call people because Matt on the phone under the influence of pain killers is FUNNY!

In the meantime, thank you so much for your prayers. I'd like to ask for another prayer for my friend Bethany. Her dad had sinus cancer last year (Sept/Oct-ish) and was treated in Ann Arbor. They found more cancer in his brain and they are not optimistic right now. Please keep Bethany's family in your prayers. If you'd like to help more, contact me and I'll let you know if the family needs anything else. Thanks!!!

Not-so-routine CT Scan

So, this is easy...CT scan at 3pm on Thursday. No problem. Matt needs to be there @ 2:45 and it usually takes 15 minutes or so. Here's the breakdown.

3:00 - Matt arrives at Radiology. A small child from ER is put ahead of him. Being afraid of needles, the kid screams.

3:30 - The kid is still screaming. They FINALLY get his mom to calm him down.

3:40 - They call Matt's name.

3:45 - Alarms sound, doors close. They're having a fire drill.

3:55 - Matt emerges. We can't go anywhere because they're still doing the drill.

4:05 - We ask radiology how long the films will take, since we need to bring them with us. 15 minutes. No problem.

4:06 - Drill ends. We see two of his nurses from the cancer wing, so we chat. Matt pees.

4:20ish - We go to radiology. The CD burner is not working, can we wait another 10 min? Sure. We decide to get his blood work done too.

4:30 - We find out his labs include a urine sample. Dang it. Matt drinks LOTS of water. He finally calls his boss, since he's already an hour later than he originally thought he'd be. They tell him to take the rest of the day off.

4:50 - Matt finally pees again and they finish with his blood tests.

4:55 - We check radiology. Ten more minutes. We wait.

5:10 - Still waiting.

5:20 - They finally tell us we can't get the films that day. We have to stop back again the next day. Even if he left the hospital then, by the time Matt got back to work everyone would be packing up to go home.

And that was our trip to get a CT scan.

Revised Schedule

Okay, it's Sat. the 12th and we're heading downstate today. We've been getting calls all week from the surgeon's office, "Oh, we need you to do this," and "Oh, we want to see you before surgery". So now we have an appointment at I-U at noon on Monday. So now we're leaving today. So now we're a little bit helter-skelter as we try to get everything together before we leave :)

If any of you feel so inclined, please feel free to break into my house and vacuum and dust while I'm away.

Anyway, so here's the deal now:
12th : Leave today to see the 'rents, drop off the cats.
13th: Option A - Get up EARLY and drive to Indiana to go to Hope Church. Stay with our pastors.
Option B- Sleep in. Drive down later and stay with our pastors.
14th: Drive to Indianapolis. See doc @ 12pm.

From there, about everything stays the same.

I'd love to say more, but I have another post to put up and then I have a lot to do before we head out of town. Later!