This hasnt been our year. Last winters relentless storms now seem like a metaphor for our own series of crises. In May, AnnaMaries dad Nick Scardina passed away after a struggle with the early stages of dementia and deteriorating health. Not being unexpected doesnt make a death easier to accept; in some ways its worse. Hed been in and out of a couple rehabs and hospitals and finally spent the last month in a hospice. That was a surreal time, visiting almost every day, every hour, talking and getting no response but seeing the slight movement and glimmer in the eyes that lets you build up the false hope that maybe this will turn around like all the other times. But it didnt and we started to accept and move on. A short time after Nick was laid to rest Sally, AnnaMaries mom, was diagnosed with a malignant mass (no one used the words tumor or cancer) in the colon. Well, that put everyone into an emotional tailspin but this time there was a happier outcome. Abdominal surgery on a person of 82 with chronic HBP raises many concerns but with good protocols and good luck it went amazingly well and all the malignancy was removed. Shes been recuperating steadily and, while a little housebound, is getting back to normal with the help of family and home health. Score one for us! It was also in May that our son Sean decided to have the surgery to correct his diverticulitis. What was to have been a routine laporoscopic procedure got complicated and he was opened up to remove a huge abscess that was threatening other organs. He had an ileostomy that was to be reversed after everything healed. That was to have been a couple weeks ago but in preparing for the reversal a stricture was discovered in his colon. They tried distending it via colonoscopy but that backfired; the air thats pumped in for that was trapped inside by the stricture and the colon ruptured. Once again, emergency surgery to remove the bad section and also reposition the colon for better blood supply. Seven hours in the OR altogether. The poor kid is now right back to where he was at first. waiting for this to heal so that the ileostomy can be reversed. And I hope for his sake that it still can be reversed; 30 is much too young to have to be stuck with a permanent ostomy bag. Were optimistic, and so is he, that it will be reversed but you can just see the stress and worry in him. Id trade places in a minute. We started to feel that things were under control, that some normalcy was returning. Until Monday. AnnaMarie was at work just finishing with a delivery and of course very busy and preoccupied, so she didnt see the cord that was where it shouldnt have been. Her foot got tangled and she went straight down, unable to break her fall. The impact drove some teeth thru the skin of the upper lip. They took her to the ER and called in a plastic surgeon who did a wonderful job of repairing the muscle, membrane, and skin. If youre going to get seriously hurt on the job, then its a plus that your job is in a hospital. Then the next day was the oral surgeon who realigned the front teeth that miraculously had neither broken nor loosened. Theyre not sure yet if the nerves are OK, so she may end up with root canals. But for now its staying home, resting, soft foods, and talking as little as possible (not necessarily a bad thing - dont tell her I said that!) Right now I feel like that character in the Lil Abner comic who always walked around with a dark black cloud over his head, but unlike him I can see the brilliant blue beyond the edges of that cloud. I know that things happen, I know that many people are far worse off, and I know that well be able to adjust and accept and roll with these punches until we come out on top. OK, thanks for listening, rants over, Now lets get back to slagging politicians and watching fuzzy kitties
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 04:18:17 +0000
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