I'm baack!
Man oh man am I tired. I feel good, though, and I am very happy to be back.
Just to update those of you who have just tuned into our channel.
In December I had kidney stones.
Kidney stones are not fun.
Do not get kidney stones.
I had a CT scan during my second attack and they found, soo-prize soo-prize, a kidney stone. They also found a dark spot on my pancreas.
Had another CT scan with a Barium Smoothie this time. Yuuuuummmmmmmmmmyyyyy!
It showed that there was a tumor about 1 5/8 inches in diameter in the head of the pancreas.
Behind Door Number One Doctor said "Don't worry about it."
Behind Door Number Two Doctor said "Probably nothing, but it should come out."
So Tuesday I went to have it out. They opened me up and found that it was in a place that made it impossible to just scoop it out (which had been the plan). The doctor decided that he was not in a position to perform this procedure called the "Whipple Procedure" so he sewed me back up and consulted some specialists. Imagine how excited I was to be told, in recovery, that not only had they not removed the tumor but I get to go through this all again! Whee!
So in about 6-8 weeks I'll go in to a Seattle hospital and have the whole thing done. They remove part of the pancreas, duodenum, stomach, I think the gall bladder, and then reattach the small intestine to the stomach.
Good times.
Right now I just feel very tired, but my attitude is good. (It feels strange to write that I have a good attitude.) Hey it's got to be done, so no sense being all weepy and mopey about it. Besides, I do believe that a good deal of healing comes with positive attitude.
Through this all two people have really been wonderful. Well, lots of people have been wonderful. I've received lots of cards, letters, flowers, and phone calls. Thank you so much to everyone who took time to think of me. The prayers, too, have been wonderful. I truly believe that the hundreds of prayers on the hotline have helped me feel an incredible amount of peace.
Roy has been by my side since day one. He has held my hand at night, sleeping in a chair next to my bed. He's made sure that I have had everything I needed before I knew I needed it. He's helped me with all of my personal needs without complaint or even hesitation. He got the house ready, managed to grade over 70 final essays from his kids, taken care of all of our animals, and every day came home and emailed all of my friends at least once a day to keep them updated on my progress. I don't know how he's managed it, but he has. He's even kept his daily appointment iwth the gym (most days), which was one of my requests. I wanted him to make sure he took at least an hour a day to just do for himself and keep himself healthy.
I don't know how I would have gone through this without him by my side. Every time I've apologized for asking him to do something he insists, "But that's my job! That's what I'm here for!" as if I am the silliest girl in the world for even suggesting that he should do anything BUT take care of me. Roy is like the model man. He does what needs to be done without complaint and without expectation of applause. I am so lucky.
The other person who has been by my side is my mom. She was scheduled to come in tomorrow to help me out during week two of my recovery. As soon as she found out things didn't go as expected she raced up here and was by my side within 24 hours. She's washed my hair, helped me get some makeup on so I felt human after the first day, kept my water glass full, and done just about everything else that needed to be done.
Roy's family, too, has been wonderful. His parents sat with him while I was in surgery and comforted him when he broke down after hearing the news that this wasn't over. (Okay, how much do you love a man who loves you enough to cry when he hears bad news about you?) His sister, Vicky, helped clean up the house, brought over a bed for my mom, brought me a computer, brought Kaine by to visit, and did all sorts of things to help. Karla came and visited with flowers and sat with us watching American Idol that first night.
My sisters and brother are all going to come during the next surgery to help out and have been calling every day to see how things are going.
I don't think I've ever felt so loved.
It's just been an incredible experience. It isn't something I would ever choose to go through again, but I am so thankful for the support of people who were here for me...by my side, and throughout the country.
Hi all,
This is my last update before Tory takes over. She's coming home on Saturday. I'm not sure what time. Her doctor's assistant came in around 5:00 today and gave her the wonderful news.
Tory seems to have much more energy than in recent days. She was able to sleep without being awakened every 1/2 hour by a helpful nurse. She is no longer attached to any machines and best of all, she's wearing her own pajamas! No more hospital gown for her!
Thank you all! I hope that the next item that you read will be from her!
Roy Klementsen...filling in for....Tory Klementsen
Hi everyone,
Tory wants to thank everyone who sent flowers and cards. She didn't give me your names before I left, but I guess you know who you are. :)
Tory's doctor talked to her today. It looks like Saturday will be the earliest that she will be allowed to leave the hospital.
She started eating jello and something they referred to as (but had no resemblance to) soup.
Tory was more awake today. She had a slight fever this morning, but it's almost back down to normal. She was also able to get out of bed and take a few laps around the 6th floor...inch by inch. I think her record is 25 minutes right now. We'll try to beat that tomorrow.
I'll update again tomorrow. You should be reading Tory's words on Saturday.
Roy
spent all last night sitting in the most uncomfortable chair watching her. At around 4:00 am, a nurse came in and asked her if she was in any pain. The nurse then "helped her out" by adding valium to her "diet." Tory had never had valium before and mixing it with the morphine was a bad idea. She started sleeping and was in no pain...but she stopped breathing. I had to keep her awake and remind her to continue to breathe while the nurse and an assistant worked to reverse the effects of the valium. That pretty much ended any thoughts of my actually getting to sleep.
We waited for the doctor to brief us last night, but he never came in. We finally got a hold of him today just as Tory's mom arrived from LA. He had even more bad news for Tory (who just wants this to be over). They couldn't do the surgery this week because they don't want to traumatize the area any more. They are going to let it heal for about 6-8 weeks and then do the extensive surgery that they had planned to do then. She'll be sent to a Seattle hospital for about 10 days minimum and was told that it would take around 3-6 months to recover.
So from what I understand from this was that this week was the "easy week." We also have to wait that much longer to see if the tumor is cancerous.
I guess I know how we'll be spending our spring break.
Thank you for all of the cards and calls. She feels great knowing that an amazing number of people are thinking of her.It sounds like she'll be enjoying the hospital until at least Saturday.
Roy
Roy Klementsen
This is a quick update for anyone who would like to know Tory's status. This is Roy, her husband, and she wanted me to update you.
Tory went in for surgery this morning at 5:30 a.m. We sat around the holding area for about an hour before she was wheeled away with one last "I love you" to her.
I waited in the surgery waiting room for about two hours before the doctor came in.The news wasn't very pleasant and not what we were hoping. Her simple surgery to remove a growth didn't seem to go as the doctor had hoped. He couldn't remove the "tumor" from the pancreas for fear that it was too close to a pancreatic gland. He didn't want to take that chance because it would've altered her lifestyle for, well, the rest of her life. He also didn't seem to confident on doing the surgery himself, since he only does these every once in a while. Encouraging, huh?
His solution is pretty severe, and I'm sure it's not one that Tory is looking forward to. He's going to have her moved to another hospital in Seattle where they perform operations like the one that he has in mind. To assist me, the doctor created a map of her insides to explain what needed to be done. He drew me the pancreas first with his artistic representation of the tumor (not very pretty looking.) He then drew her stomach and the duodenum leading from the stomach to the intestines. He also drew in some glands as well for apparent realism. He then explained how they need to cut out the duodenum from the bottom of the stomach to the top of the intestine, and also remove (what looks like) 1/4 of her pancreas with the tumor. He then explained the tricky part of rerouting the glands in that area and how he could do this, but their would be a 25-30 percent chance of ongoing problems if he did. To further make things miserable, when asked if the "tumor" could be cancerous, he said that there was a minimal chance but they couldn't know for sure until it was removed and put under the old microscope.
Super, huh?
I took the news well while the doctor was explaining it, but as soon as he left, I turned to Jello. Minutes later, I called Tory's mom with the news and then I morphed into mush...and usually I'm a pretty tough guy...as you can see by my pictures with assorted Disney characters.
A few hours later, Tory was wheeled into the recovery room and then finally to her home for the night, room 622 at Providence Hospital (Colby Campus) in Everett, WA. I waited patiently for the nurse to finish up before I spoke to her. Her first words were "What did the doctor say?" Ouch. I explained what I was told and held her hand as she cried saying how sorry she was. Like this was something that she planned and it was all her fault. Silly girl.
After about an hour she seemed to be feeling better. When she was first wheeled into her room she was in quite a bit of pain, but now she's fine with her constant morphine drips. She's sleeping now, so I ran home to take care of the dogs and to update everyone who has asked about her.
I'm heading back to the hospital now. Thank you everyone who has written. It looks like this will be a bit longer away from the computer than she was planning, but I'm sure all will be well.
God bless,
Roy
I'll be baaaaack
I'm signing off for a few days to go have things scooped out of my innards. I'm asking Roy to update my blog to let people know what's going on. If he doesn't, I will when I'm back on my feet. (Or at least back on my seat.)
Happy thoughts!
