Hello Everyone,
I’m so sorry for the delay in the posts. I am back in
Flagstaff. Mom is fine. She is just really sensitive to noise so she has not
been communicating too much with people.
The last week or two when I was in Ohio trying to help Mom, I came down
with bronchitis. I was quarantined to one side of the house and Mom was
quarantined on the other. Dad had his hands full checking on the both of us.
After a few days of antibiotics I flew home to Flagstaff. Mom can’t be around
sick people and I needed to get back to check on my brother and prepare for an
internship. This past weekend my sorority sisters who have already graduated
planned to stay at my house with my other roommates for the annual Homecoming weekend
(planned last year). The amount of girls to the ratio of one unknowing brother
did not seem like a good matchup to have him handle by himself. All is well on that front. The house is secure. The ladies
are “back home” and Michael is beginning to emerge from the basement again. He
actually was so busy with school and work I wonder if they bothered him very
much anyway.
I will be going to Las Vegas for an internship starting
Monday, Oct. 29th. I have my diploma from NAU in Hospitality
Restaurant Management, but would like to have some corporate experience in
event planning. I will be there for five weeks. I told Mom I could post pone my
internship, but she insisted that I go and that she and Dad were getting along
fine. Dad is hoping it will turn into something that really pays money this
time haha (me too!).
Mom had her last intrathecal (spinal) on Monday, Oct 8th.
It left her with a lot of headaches at the base of her skull and neck. She told
Dr. Gowda on the following Monday, Oct. 15th. Dr. Gowda was
concerned, but hoped that the fluids from the chemo that day would help relieve
the headaches. She said that the fluid from the last intrathecal had most
likely not been built back up yet, and that was why was the nerve endings
around her brain were so sensitive. When Mom received the fluids from the chemo,
it did help the headaches at the base of her skull and neck.
However, her headaches are not gone. She now has them on the
left side of her head and she will ask the doctor what to do about those
headaches tomorrow. She would normally of had her next spinal on Monday, Oct.
22nd, but Dr. Gowda was out of town and will not be back until
tomorrow. So that is why Mom’s spinal treatment is set up for Wednesday, Oct.
24th.
Mom has not wanted to talk on the phone lately because she
is so sensitive to noise. Dad says she’s been tapping cotton balls to
everything to try and muffle the noise, but it still is not working for her. It
will be interesting to see what she comes up with next. (Probably some
Styrofoam contraptions from the art supplies she has down stairs). Dad says the
kitchen cupboards have cotton balls on them, but she still doesn’t like the sound,
or the sound of the dishwasher, or the sound of the aeration pump that comes on
in the afternoon and retreats to the rooms farthest away from the noise and closes
the door. When Dad leaves in the morning to go to work, he tells Mom to rest
and asks her to “keep those noisy cupboards under control,” if she could. She
always smiles at his jokes.
Mom has taken to watching some TV with her eyes squinted and
the sound off. That way she can filter how much information she gets bombarded
with. Dad says when he comes home from work it’s not too bad watching the baseball
playoffs with the sound off, but it is a little hard to watch the presidential debates
with the sound turned off. J
(Mom puts in her earplugs for that). She has silicone earplugs all over the
house. Originally they were for the tubes they put in her ears, but now she
uses them to filter the noise (everything really – except Dad). She always
likes to hear what he has to say.
Mom also doesn’t like smells. She made dinner yesterday and
could smell the onions and the celery through the night. Dad said he got up this
morning to make Mom oatmeal for breakfast. He asked when she was still in bed
if she could smell it, but she could only smell the trash. The trash is getting
emptied a lot these days. And if you know Mom she does not like the edges of
the liners falling in the cans, so she always gets really big liners for the
containers. There are probably more liners than garbage in the trash.
The last couple of weeks, Mom has been taking quite a few warm
baths. Her feet don’t get the circulation that they are used to from not
swimming or walking, so they get cold. She gets in warm tubs to “even-out” her
body temperature and sooth her stomach. She seems to rub her belly a lot. Both
of which probably help with digestion although she does not complain about it.
I will have to get Dad to take some pictures of Mom and her
bald head. She is self conscious, but Dad, Michael and I think she is still
beautiful. Perhaps tomorrow he can get some of the nurses to help take
pictures.
I know Mom is not looking forward to another intrathecal
tomorrow, because of the headaches it might bring and she does not like being
on those steroids. She says it’s like being trapped in a fidgety body with a
headachy, wonky brain because of the medications. But Dad will be able to be
with her the whole time. It does help being the boss sometimes. He is just a
phone call away if she needs him. She really does just like the quiet when she
is at home.
She has been reading books on her new Nook that Dad got her.
Aunt Leah said it was not a good idea to be getting all of the germs she was
getting from the books at the public library. Mom said it was pretty cool that
they had over a million free books to download. They are not necessarily the
most popular books, and a lot of them are short stories (not real books), but
it is keeping her occupied and she can focus on them at her own pace. She will
be able to download books from the library electronically when she feels
better.
My cousin Maddie, Mick’s daughter, called the other day to
let my Mom know that was she was going to be raising money for lymphoma cancer
research, and that she was going to grow out her hair so that she could donate
it to “Locks of Love.” My Mom knew that Maddie had a big tender heart, but was
very touched by her commitment to help her “Aunt Ronnah.” I am so grateful that
I got to know Maddie and Morgan and the whole family when I went to flower
school in Portland. They sure made me feel special.
Picture of Maddie, Morgan and I when I was in Portland a little over a year ago.
“Locks of Love” has a new meaning for us these days for Mom.
They meet a unique need for children by using donated hair to create the
highest quality hair prosthetics. (Mom wishes she would have learned more about
what was going on with my cousin, Katrina, when she was so young having to go
through cancer treatments and spinal taps for her Leukemia).
Mom is doing well. Dad is doing well. She is not
communicating right now because of the noise, but she is strong and determined
to get through this without people fussing over her. So when she feels like talking
a little more, I will get more information out to you. Thank you again for all
of your thoughts, prayers and well wishes. She feels empowered by all of your
love.
Love, Keah
