family weekend

Yay...each day I feel stronger, and everything is healing. My daughter, Kelly called today, and she is driving up for the weekend, and then son Quincy,wife, Jen, + 2 grandkids; Drew and Katie are coming tomorrow....it will be a family reunion. Nothing else to report as of now, am just happy to be able to enjoy the weekend.
ALOHA!

Heigh-Ho Heigh-Ho

Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho,
it's off to Stanford I go,
just keep on drivin, all day long
Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho

Today the doc will tell me when the wound-vac is coming out, and then I can start to get a little quality of life back, such as go out with friend at a restaurant without being self conscious of a tube attached to a machine is coming out of my belley.
That will feel like my sanity is starting to come back. Everything else is very boring right now. I look forward to phone calls where I don't have to talk about myself, and can just listen to someone elses story..so please get your story ready for me.
aloha,
Carmen

HOME!

I'm finally home. Everything had to check out before I could be released, mainly the infection to make sure it is gone....so I'm off the antibiotics now.
It is gorgeous weather in Aptos CA. and I've been home for 4 days, and everyday, I've been able to go for a walk. Yesterday I went down to the ocean, and plan to keep it up if the weather stays this way. Different friends are coming in daily with special treats, flowers,DVD'S, encouraging scriptures and LOVE. I sure appreciate everyone right now, and I welcome any visits and food, but I am on a special diet, so it's best to call first before bringing me a big pizza! my home phone is 831 662-0428.
ALOHA

Possible Change of Plans

Not doing well today. Have not been able to hold any food down for 24 hours, and haven't eliminated for 4 days. We're hoping it's not another obstruction, so am waiting for my doctor to call back from Stanford. I may have to go to ER until I get back on track.....all is in God's control

Update

The very latest is that I am now going home on Wednesday!

Homeward Bound!

Saw my oncologist at Stanford today and he said I can go home on Sat. so only 3 more days of the rest home! This will probably be my last posting for a while.....the infection is almost gone, and everything looks good. Praise to the Lord.

Wound Vac

Yesterday the doctor put a Wound Vac with a sponge inside my belly. What this does is keep it clean by draining the fluid from the infection, which we now know is enterobacter, (not Staph). It is also less painful than stuffing the wound and pulling the stuff out every day. That was no fun! But, since I will have to stay on antibiotics for 10 days, I will need to be in a nursing facility. It looks like they will release me today sometime. I've been in the hospital since March 20 (18 days), and it's definitly time to move on. I will go to Vasona Creek Healthcare Center: 16412 Los Gatos blvd. Los Gatos, CA 95032.
408 356-2191.
That's all folks!

Gin Rummy

My very good friend, Sally, came to visit me today. We had a Gin Rummy marathon. She brought me some brand new cards and it's keeping me sane. I had a lucky streak today and won 4 out of 5 games....Feels good to still be able to win a few.
Looks like I may be checking out of Stanford tomorrow and into a nursing home in Las Gatos for a few days. Will know early a.m what's happening....all depends on the infection.
Thank you everyone for the wonderful cards,chocolates, prayers,flowers, stuffed animals, and love you are sending my way. As soon as I get my new address, I will have it posted! Blessings to all.

Changed Rooms

I am now in room F-341. Phone: 650-498-3851. They gave me a private room because I have some kind of staff infection that is highly contagious, and I cannot have visitors until they know exactly what it is. As soon as they find out, I will have the correct anti-biotics and will be able to be released. The doctor looked at the wound today and said it wasn't as bright red and infected as it has been, so things are progressing.
Quincy's family is going to Arizona for a week, and Kelly is involved in a fund-raiser for her pony club in Tehachapi, so it will be quiet for awhile.

A Very Busy Morning!

I am thankful that I have a family. On Easter Sunday Quincy, Jen, Drew and Katie came to visit me. Drew and I played Farkel and he beat me 27,000 to 16,000! It amazes me how intelligent 6 year old children are these days. He can add all the numbers in his head and I had to add everything up the old fashioned way. He just laughs at me..... don't have to worry too much about him. The priest came in and gave me Holy Communion and Drew wanted to have a host too. I assumed it was because he wanted the body of Christ in his body....he said, no, he was just curious to see what it tastes like. LOL!
This morning was rather hectic to say the least. Woke up to the surgeon telling me that in 10 minutes he would be taking out the staples in my stomach and draining the fluid that's causing the infection. It wasn't as bad as I thought, because I've had multiple staph infections from being in hospitals, and in 2007, when my lung collapsed, there was a huge one on the top of my head. My son had to clean it out for me every night.
The next procedure was a picc line. That is when they put a permanent IV into your body, so all the antibiotics, pain meds, contrat for CT scans, chemo, or whatever you need can get into the body without poking each time with an IV.
The bummer is I can't leave the hospital yet, but I don't really feel like going anywhere , so it's all o.k. Stanford is a wonderful place to be and my room now looks like a botanical garden.

Too Relaxed?

Hi Everyone,
I'm having the same issue as last night. A lot of pain, without the constant IV drip in me. So I tried the Healing Harp CD again hoping it would do the same thing----put me out! The only problem was that I forgot that I had a cup of water in my hand while I was lying there drifting away to the music, and lo and behold, woke up completely soaked in my hospital gown. That waas a shocker for sure!!!

Percocet

Fri. April 2 2010: 2:00 am
I have started percocet which the doctors are hoping will be strong enough to replace the morphine drip, as I may be leaving tomorrow and all IV's need to be out, so body can begin functioning on it's own. But tonight was wild, because I fell asleep and didn't have the percocet yet and obviously cannot push the button for the drip when I'm asleep. So when I woke up the pain was off the chart. I could barely stand up to go to the bathroom. So they started the percocet immediately! But then I began to choke uncontrollably, and just went on a whirlwind nightmare ride. So here I am on my blog, as i'm scared to go back to sleep after that experience. It was difficult emotionally and nothing seemed to calm me down, so I put on my Ipod with my CD Healing Harp Meditations playing. It is all about deep breathing, letting go, visualizing yourself in beautiful, calming places. Guess what? It worked! My breathing slowed down, the pain subsided, no more panic attacks. I got my peace back. Thank you God!

Tubes out!

All 6 tubes are finally out of me. Yay God! So that means I got to actually sip some soup this moorning. The down side of 'no tubes' means more pain. The reason is because the epidural tube was numbing the lower part of my body, and I didn't feel as nauseated as I do now. Benjamin Franklin always believed the words, "No Pain No Gain". In this situation, that is definitly true.
Stanford hospital offers a wonderful service that has musicians to play for you, You just put yourself on this list, and they will send a musician to your room every day. Yesterday a wonderful harpist performed for me, and today a mellow guitarist. You can also request what kinds of music you like also. It is something I've been wanting to develop through my company, Music Minus Meds.