Hi Everyone,
I must apologize first for not being able to be here for such a long time. There has just been so much school work to do, that I could not get to the forum. I have thought about and missed you all. Things have been hectic here since October. In October, my mother had a heart attack and had 2 stints put in. She was put on Plavix because of the new medicated stints. She had bleeding in November. Mom has has some bleeding when going to the bathroom for about 2 years. I tried to get her to go for a colonoscopy because I had some bleeding and it turns out I have Colitis. She would not go. Well, when she went back to the hospital for the bleeding, she had no choice. They did one and she has a large poly that they did not remove. They were considering surgery because it looks to have some small cancer, but because of the Plavix, she could not have surgery. She would need to be off of it for 5-7 days, which was too risky at this time. So they sent mom home to wait. Not to change subjects midstream, but Thanksgiving week, my husband Ed was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer. He had to do some research and decide which direction to go. Back to mom--In January, she had another small heart attack and was back in the hospital. They were also still telling her that it was too soon to do the colon surgery. Then she went to Cleveland Clinic for a second opinion. The gastrointerologist thought he could do the removal through another colonoscopy. He wanted her to see their heart doctor first. That doctor said he would go along with it, but she would have to be off of the Plavix for 7-10 days. But she said he said it in a way that was like he was trying to tell her something without saying it. We all told her there was not decision. It was just too early for her to be off of the Plavix. She could die during the operation. So mom did not go through with it, which was a good decision because she had more pain last week and was admitted back to the hospital. They did another catherization and found that she happens to be one of the 5% whose scar tissue starts closing up the stint. The doctor said it was more closed than before she had the stint. They put her on Heparin to keep a blood thinner in her and to get the Plavix out of her body. She will be having double by-pass open heart surgery tomorrow (Wednesday, April 11). Mom is 81. After the surgery, she will be in ICU for about 3 days and then back in the cardiac wing for around 5 days before going to a nursing home for rehabilitation. I've been here in Ohio since the 4th and am very tired. Please say some extra prayers for her. Her name is Ann Beckes. Thanks a lot.
Back to Ed. At first he was about 70% sure he wanted surgery. But he kept reading and decided to go with 25 external radiation teatments and then have the seed implants. He finished the 25 treatments and last Tuesday, the 3rd, had 78 seeds implanted. He seems to be doing ok, but is quite tired.
After my 2 surgeries last school year, I had hoped this year would go better. Now it's Ed and mom. Hopefully this will be it. Tomorrow will be a long, stressful day, but the waiting this week has been hard, so we will be glad it will be over with and mom will be recovering.
Thanks for letting me ramble. You all are so good to listen. Thanks.
Sandy
