Scheduling for food

Mom's health continues to improve. Her energy level is high. She's still struggling a bit with her eating. It is difficult, especially when traveling to regulate when, where, what and how much you can eat. She needs to eat often and only small portions at a time. When this can't happen, she wants to eat enough to satisfy her hunger. Consequently, she eats too much and then has to throw up defeating everything. So, small portions only and eating pretty much every hour has got to be the norm for a while. Now that she's home, she'll be able to regulate this better. But, we al know how some days become so hectic, it's hard to eat even 3 times a day, let alone 15. It will come in due time.
Mom and dad both went to the gym yesterday and mom was able to do water aerobics for the first time since her surgery. She has not been able be immersed in water since March because of the feeding tube inserted in her stomach. Now that it's out and the incision has healed, she is able to enjoy the pool again. They also decided, after visiting all the grandkids, they needed to buy a WII. There is a "game" called WII fitness they really enjoy. It is more than just a game, it is an exercise program they can both use. They purchased it last night and Cheri (granddaughter) will help them hook it up today.

Mom and dad are coming home tomorrow from Arizona. I haven't heard a lot from them over the past 10 days, but I figure no news is good news. I'm posting some pictures of them taken last week at their grandkids' graduations. They look great!

Sorry, it's been a while

Mom is doing really well. Last week she and dad flew to Spokane, Washington to attend their granddaughters' graduations. Sara from Central Valley High School and Cheri from Eastern Washington University. They left there on Tuesday to fly to San Diego to attend their grandsons' graduations. Able from High School and Ysaak from Jr. High.
Dad has been sick most of the time, but finally got an antibiotic and seems to be doing better. Mom of course is looking good. They've been able to visit old friends and all are amazed how wonderful she looks. She has noticed that bread is not her friend right now. It just doesn't go down. But, everything else she has tried seems to be going down fine. It is hard to remember to eat slow and small portions when you are visiting with friends at a barbecue but she seems to be handling things fine.
From California, they will be heading to Arizona to visit Greg's family. All seems be be going well for both of them.

100th Post

It kind of seems fitting that in the 100th post on this blog I get to announce that mom got her feeding tube out today!! She was very excited about this. Imagine having something inserted into your abdomen that hangs out about 6 inches. It's held there with stitches which seemed to get caught on the gauze dressings quite often. And then there's the constant tugging and pulling through the day when ever her clothes catch it the wrong way. It was a constant very uncomfortable reminder of all the struggle and pain her life has had over these past few months. And, now it's gone with just a small bandage in it's place.
They say time heals all wounds. As time goes by, this year will become just a distant memory. It has been a struggle, with disappointments and setbacks. But, I think we will remember this past year as one where we saw the inner strength and courage of an individual who was willing to do what it took to fight for her health. Who relied heavily on her faith and the power of the prayers from her friends and family.
Mom still has some obstacles to overcome but her doctor assured her today that in due time, she will become whole again.

And the eat goes on...

Mom is still doing great! She has to be ultra diligent on her eating, however. She can't let an hour pass without eating or drinking something. With her gall bladder out she has noticed some sensitivities to dairy products and red meat. That means avoiding pudding, ice cream and ensure which were easy snacks to eat. All we have to do is be more creative. Once she figured that out she hasn't thrown up or been nauseated as much.
She got her hair cut and colored this week. When she came in to my work to let me see her "new do" one of my co-workers commented, "you'd never know she was sick". Her skin coloring looks good, and she has that twinkle in her eyes that we have all grown to love. She really does look amazing!

More Good News

Mom spoke with Dr. Ott today. He suggested she go without using the feeding tube this week. If she can go all week without losing weight, she can have it removed next Tuesday! This means she will have to be diligent in eating. She can't eat more than a cup of food at a time, and needs to wait an hour or so in between. For instance, yesterday she had a 1 chocolate covered strawberry. She then tried to eat a little bit of ice cream. It was just too much and she threw up the ice cream. She did mention to Dr Ott about having trouble keeping food down when she laughs. He said, "Perhaps from now on you'll just have to eat with really boring people". :)
It will be a challenge to get enough calories through the day and still get enough water. Water fills up her stomach fairly quickly so there's no room for food. We may use the feeding tube for the water at first to help her keep her calorie intake up.
She also had a visit with Dr. Whisenant (the oncologist) yesterday. He said her iron levels are back up to normal and everything looked good. She has a CT scan scheduled for mid July. Since this type of cancer is known to return, they want to keep on top of it. They don't expect to find anything this time but want to use this CT scan as a base line. She will have to have these scans fairly often over the next few years just to make sure everything stays normal.
Dad also got good news. He had an appointment with his cardiologist yesterday. All his tests came back with good results. The Doc said dad has a strong heart and doesn't see any signs of ever having a heart attack. Dad was told he had a heart attack during his bypass surgery several years ago but according to all the tests, he has either healed perfectly or he never really had a heart attack. He's starting dad back on his blood pressure medication just as a precautionary measure. It's not overly high, but it is borderline so he doesn't want to take any chances.
With all this good news, mom and dad are in really good moods. Not that they were in bad moods before, but it seems as if a weight has lifted and there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Better and Better

Mom seems to be doing better and better. She has graduated herself to soft foods (Dr Ott was gone over the holiday weekend, so she decided it would be ok). Her biggest challenge is knowing when to stop eating. Her stomach is so small right now and there is virtually no space between it and her throat. That means if she eats just a little too much (more than 3/4 - 1 cup), it will come back up. It is especially a problem if she drinks water before or after she eats. It can also be a problem if she gets a tickle in her throat and needs to cough or if she starts laughing too much. It will definitely be a learning process. Once she has it down, I'm sure it won't be a big issue. Her energy level seems to be increasing as each day passes. Yesterday we traveled to Nephi and visited the cemeteries, went out to lunch and she still had enough energy for a vigorous walk when we got home.
She really wants to be able to get her feeding tube out as soon as possible. We're just not sure if the doc will want to keep it in for a while just as a precaution even after she can eat the amount of food she needs. We'll see.