Top Ten Things This Week

Right now not a lot feels good as I'm in a lot of pain this morning. Fortunately it's not nausea pain...so I can deal. But to keep up my Pollyanna-ish weekly report, here are good things that happened to me this week.

10. Hank the tumor was benign (that should be 1-10). I did not expect he would be cancerous, but it was still good to hear.

9. I got out of the hospital early by 1-2 days (depending on how you count).

8. The staff at Swedish Medical Center is amazing. They are the kindest most caring group of people. I felt like I got excellent care there!

7. Yesterday was officially a very good day, after a very bad night the first day home.

6. Dr. Michael Hart did an excellent job on my surgery.

5. The outpouring of emails (literally hundreds were sent to the hospital), flowers, cards, and love was amazing. I really value you people and thank you for caring enough to think of me. I apologize to all visitors I threw up in front of (ick) and want you to know that I was mortified. Fortunately we haven't had a repeat day like THAT!

4. The prayers and collective good thoughts really did help. I would ask that people continue to pray that I am able to figure out how to eat. My body has to re-learn what it can and cannot handle and this seems to be a long and "not fun" process. I lost 15 pounds in the hospital that I need back. (Who would imagine I would ever have THAT issue?)

3. My brother is coming to stay with me Monday and my mother is coming to stay for two weeks after that.

2. I have an excellent sub who allows me to heal and not worry. I also have awesome students who I know won't let me down. I also have help from Mrs. Mikesell who is making sure my boys stay on the straight and narrow (the girls are already there) and dealing with all the stuff we have to deal with this time of year. Three students are helping administer lectures, run labs, and teach my sub what he needs to know to be successful.

1. This is the most number 1-est number 1 ever. My husband is the best caretaker in the world. He stayed with me every night, sitting up with me when I was in too much pain to sleep, helping to make sure I had what I needed at all times. He came home every other day to update my friends and family on my condition. He also continued to hold play rehearsals during all of this. Since coming home he has assembled a box of meds and needs for changing dressings, keeping track of my temperature, nad anything I might need. He makes midnight runs for Maalox, calls the doctor when he's worried, and without complaint makes anything that I think I might want to eat. He's helped nurse my bed sores, helps me shower, helps me dress. I don't know how I could get through this without him.

I'm home!

...and I'm tired. But I'm home.

I was able to come home a bit early. I'm not feeling too bad today. Yesterday sucked, big time. I went onto solid foods so for some really stupid reason chose mashed potatoes for a meal. A few bites just sat in my stomach making me feel nauseous all day long. It was horrible. I can handle all kinds of pain, but nausea just gets me!

I am fine today, though. I was able to eat a piece of toast and came home and have been "grazing" on some simple cookies (all we really have around the house right now). Just sent the man out with a grocery list of things I know I can eat and think I can handle. The main thing now is getting back to my old fighting self and figuring out what I can and can't eat. When I find something I can't eat it sucks, otherwise it's not too bad. I have to take enzymes with every meal to help digest my food.

Stepped on the scale today and found I've lost 10 pounds since last Tuesday. Zoinks Man! I had gained 5 pounds before going in, though, so I'm 15 under my goal weight and 5 under my happy weight. I suspect I'll lose a bit more, though. Food just doesn't hold much interest for me right now. My goal right now is to try to get in at least 20 points a day (more if possible) so I'll continue to journal.

Hospital life was no fun. A few tips: if you ever have surgery go for the epidural, it really is much nicer than PCA (push button, dispense drugs). Bring stuff to do but don't be surprised if you don't feel like doing much. Whenever you wake up and feel good, take advantage of that time to watch some TV or enjoy the view from your room.

Well I'm off for now. I'm tired and I have a zillion emails. I won't get through them for awhile so if you sent me something, please understand that I'll get to you ASAP. I sincerely appreciate all of the well wishes, prayers, and emails I received in the hospital.

That last blog update should've been from last Wednesday, sorry that it didn't publish and so many people were left hanging... Here's a more current update for everyone from Roy: Tory does have a laptop and is online a few hours each day...and she's bored....so feel free to email her, instant message her or whatever. She is still in the southwest wing of Swedish Medical Center: First Hill campus in room 706. Saturday was a great day, she started eating clear liquids and everything seemed to go fine. Yesterday, Sunday, was another story. She started eating "unclear?" liquids and her body didn't like that too well. She had three sets of guests yesterday, and ended up throwing up in front of two of them. She kept apologizing, like it's her fault and she had done it on purpose. To Kris, her first guest, you were lucky. It's now day 7 in the hospital. She's still hoping to go home on Thursday morning, but that depends on her ability to digest and process food correctly. Since yesterdays problems, she'll be back on clear liquids today. Hopefully that will go fine. She was pretty upset because up until yesterday the doctors were thrilled that everything was going so well and that there had been no complications. I guess that was too good to last. Tory wanted me to thank her guests yesterday. Thanks Marlene and Gary for stopping by! You have no idea how long the days are in the hospital...well, maybe you do. She also wanted me to thank Ernie and Wilma for not only stopping by, but for having a nice prayer before they left. That meant a lot to her. I'll update everyone on Wednesday (for those that aren't able to contact Tory on line). That's when I'll be home again to check on our critters. Thanks, Roy

Here's a bloggy update from Roy: Tory is doing excellent! After 5+ hours of surgery and 3 hours of recovery and 1 night in the Intensive Care Unit...she's doing quite well. I talked to her doctor after surgery and it appears that they were able to successfully remove the entire tumor without problems. The tumor WAS NOT cancerous! (but if it hadn't been noticed so early...it could have had the potentential to be cancerous. ) Thank you for the positive thoughts and prayers. They were successful! Some of you have discovered the ability to email Tory at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle. She's received 40+ so far and thanks you for them. I have no idea how you email her, but I'm sure that there's some explanation on the Swedish home page. She's also received flowers from some of you and she would like me to thank you for those as well. I've noticed that Tory is doing much, much better with recovery than her previous surgery. Sure she nods off within seconds of starting to talk to you, but she's a lot more responsive than before. She also seems to be breathing much better than before....and she's really cute with the dozens of tubes sticking out of her (she forbids me to take pictures). She has moved from an overnight stay in the ICU to room 706 in the southwest tower of Swedish Hospital: First Hill Campus. Again thank you for your thoughts and prayers. I'm heading over to the junior high to direct my spring musical, and then I'm heading back to spend another night in a most uncomfortable cot by her side. Roy Klementsen Roybq@yahoo.com

Just a quick hi from the hospital.

The first five days went great. Doctor says I was a star patient and was ahead of schedule. Unfortunately yesterday was not so fun. I couldn't hold anything down and on top of that, wouldn't ya know I'd have a ton of visitors. Every one of them got the blessing of watching me puke into a bowl. I felt really bad, but what are ya gonna do? When ya gotta spew ya gotta spew!

So no food yesterday. Trying back on clear liquids today and honestly I'm very nervous about eating. I hate the idea of that happening again, but apparently it to is a normal part of coming back from Whipple Fest.

I noticed this morning a strange "tuck" below my breasts...what's up with this? Roy was helping me bathe (because you know, I say 7 days in one outfit is enough). He washed my hair and blew it dry, helped me style it. I got my face on (I've been wearing makeup since day two...the Teechur does not do the no makeup thing), and then we went in to bathe. I swear he may never have sex with me again! I can't imagine a more unattractive body! Tubes (totally tubular, dude) sticking out, zipper up the middle, now a strange "tuck" under my breasts. It is truly the stuff nightmares are made of!

Well I'm about done so I'm going to sign off now. Take care!