October 31

Dr. Kanthan, Judy's surgeon, was up to see Judy today. Judy asked for her report card. Dr. Kanthan said she is not going backward; she is moving in the right direction. He also said that Judy is likely going to be in the hospital for another three weeks...not really a surprise given her progress thus far. I will start the week cancelling the appointments Judy had scheduled for November and December. The thoracic surgeon in Vancouver wanted to see Judy for a follow up appointment in early December. That's not going to happen. Judy had a good day today. The Christmas movie was delivered. Many people are just itching to visit Judy, but she is just not even close to being up to visitors. I have taken to videoing greetings on my Iphone and Judy enjoys the video greetings that I play for her. If anyone is interested in emailing a video message to my email address, I will certainly make sure Judy receives the message. RUH also has a service called "Well Wishes". You can send an email message directly to Judy. The hospital makes a hard copy that is delivered to Judy's room. Oh yeah, and I have the painted doors back on the hinges. You can assure Judy that I chose regal "Davenport Tan" over the proletarian "Alexandria Biege".

October 29

Judy had a good day. I took her sheep skin up today. The sheep skin is wrapped around her pillow for a softer surface than the sandpapery hospital pillow cases. Those of you who know Judy are aware that she is Mrs. Christmas. Judy's traditions is to watch her first Christmas movie on Halloween night. Haley has "Miracle on 34th Street" locked and loaded on her Ipad. The next step in the Christmas journey is Christmas baking on November long weekend. The girls plan to be at our house to do the Christmas baking for Judy. Hopefully, Judy will be home, but if she is not home, we will video the event for Judy. On a slow news night, I usually give a blog stat update so I am letting you know that the Diamond Judy Blog has surpassed the 24 000 hit mark. Think of it. 24 000 times people have made the decision to show their love for Judy by checking the blog because they care and they want to know how she is progressing. When I share the statistics with Judy she shakes her head in wonder.

Later on October 28

I went up to see Judy later this afternoon. She was doing much better. As I have shared in previous blogs, a positive sign is when the queen starts getting bossy. I was being quite obsequious(I always wanted to use that word - look it up) because I have gone ahead and painted all the bedroom/bathroom doors without royal assent. Thankfully, I chose the right shade of dark mocha. But seriously, Judy was up for a walk while I was there. She walked several paces and then was given a sponge bath. Before I left, Judy had slurped down half of the chocolate Boost I sneaked into the hospital. She also had 5-10 tsps of cream o' celery soup. The soup rounded out the cracker she had for lunch. They have reduced her intake of TPN to 14 hours/day from the previous 24 hours/day. The cause of her frequent nausea is the painkillers she takes to alleviate the muscle pain from laying on her side all day. The painkillers also help her to sleep. The trick is to gradually decrease her painkiller dosage at a rate that will allow her to be comfortable and sleep while not causing nausea. Judy is still leaking between the staples on her lower backside. Healing the internal leak will take time. Long journeys take longer when you are taking baby steps. Patience, patience, endurance, hope, and belief.

October 28

Judy: What have you got up for the next few days. Alvin: I have a Violence, Threat, Risk Assessment workshop on Thursday and Friday. I have a hockey game on Thursday night. Judy(fighting to keep her eyes open): So...you have a hockey workshop on Thursday night. Alvin: Honey, you just sleep and I will sit here with you. I won't leave without saying good-bye. I will just sit here and be with you. That was yesterday's visit. Judy is still getting up for her three walks/day. After each walk, she gets her shot of painkiller, then it is sleepy time again. The other highlight from yesterday was Judy, with the assistance of three nurses, was able to have a shower. Audrey was up to see Judy this morning and reported that Judy had a rough night with more throwing up. She also had more fluid draining from between her staples. The urologist was going to be looking into the latest developments this afternoon. I am on my way to RUH for my daily visit; therefore, I will post any new information when I hear the urologist's report.

October 26

I was finally feeling well enough to be able to visit Judy today. Judy ate three bites of a tuna sandwich today, her first solid food since October 6. After gorging herself on hospital tuna, she ate 4 chunks of hospital pears. Haley and Audrey reported that Judy had an evening meal of 2 tsp mashed potatoes and for the "piece d' resistance", she guzzled half a cup of Orange Boost. I know that I jest, but eating solid food in any amount is another positive sign. Judy was also out of bed for three walks today. She is going a few more steps with each stroll. As you can imagine, each stroll takes a lot of her energy. She follows each stroll with a long rest. In other news, the amount of fluid draining from her abdomen is abating - another positive sign.

October 23

Judy has made good progress over the last two days. Today, she had the NG tube removed and she has eaten two hearty meals of jello and broth. She was also up for somewhat longer walks today. I believe I reported earlier that fluid was leaking from her body around the abdominal drain; however, I found out tonight the fluid is pooling and leaking from between staples in her buttock area. There is no apparent cause for concern. This too shall pass. Judy is still in a public ward off the atrium on the fifth floor of RUH. Hopefully, she will be moved in the near future to a private ward or a ward that has natural light. I might not be seeing Judy for a couple days because I have the beginnings of a cold, but the girls and Audrey will be giving me updates that I will, in turn, relay through this blog.

October 21

The last two days have been a little tough on the Jude Meister. I am not sure if I mentioned in an earlier post that Judy had part of her bladder removed. This removal required moving one of Judy's ureter tubes (tube running from kidney to bladder) to be relocated to another area of the bladder. About 3 days after surgery, the doctors were aware there was a leak occurring at the spot where one ureter had been sewn to the bladder; therefore, a nephrostomy was used to take urine away from the ureter before reaching the leaky area on the bladder. There is still fluid leaking into the abdominal area. The fluid is being siphoned off via an abdominal drain. Yesterday, the fluid was leaking out of Judy's body where the drain tube exits her body. The pads on her bed were soaked with the fluid. When Judy was moved to a standing position, the fluids came out at a rate that caused a pool to form at her feet. On top of this occurrence, Judy's temperature was somewhat elevated (Above 38 degrees C). The surgeons checked her out and informed us that the increased amount of fluid leaking out was not a cause for alarm. Healing the leak in the bladder is just going to take time. There is no need to go back in to repair the leak. The leak will heal. In other news: 1. The staples were removed from the incision on her belly. 2. Judy is no longer on oxygen. 3. The IV tube that was in her neck has been removed. She now has a pic line in her arm for IV fluids. 4. Nausea was still a concern yesterday, but as predicted, the moving of the intestinal tract has reduced the nausea. Although Judy still has her NG tube, it was capped off today and there was no throwing up. Tomorrow, Judy may even have a taste of the jolliest food of all, Jello. 5. Judy is still very weak. She hasn't been walking. She is in a standing position long enough to place dry pads on the mattress surface. 6. Judy's sister, Audrey usually visits Judy in the morning. She reports to me about how Judy is progressing and when Judy is going to rest. I usually visit in the afternoon and the girls and/or I visit in the evening. We all try to perform personal care that is within our ability. 7. The road to recovery after this last surgery is a long one with the usual potholes along the way. We all need to realize that Diamond Judy has been through more in the last 5 months than most people experience in a life time. And that long road won't be covered in giant steps. It's going to be baby steps. Eventually, the hoses, drains, pics, ports,staples, tubes, bags, and other paraphernalia will be removed and the Queen will return to the castle where Cinderella dutifully VIMS the Royal Sink.

October 19

In today's news, the liberals win a majority, the Blue Jays win game three, and Judy's intestines finally put out product. The third item is the most important because when the intestinal tract starts to move, Judy should be able to say good bye to nausea and begin to introduce food to her diet that doesn't come from a plastic bag. Judy still has an NG tube in her nose and she is still on an IV supplement called TPN. Another significant occurrence today was: Judy had the staples removed from her abdomen. The scar on her front side runs from the pubic bone to just below her rib cage. I think the staples in her back side will not be removed for quite some time. Judy was out of bed twice today with assistance, of course. She is still very weak and the effort of taking a few steps really plays her out. She does not have the energy to do much. In fact, I try to limit my visits to a very short period of time. Judy is sticking to the most important task right now...getting plenty of rest. She is not feeling well enough to read or check messages on her iPhone. Sweet dreams, Judy. I pray that you will get a little stronger each day.

October 17

Judy ran a marathon today. By that I mean she walked from her hospital bed to the door of her ward with an entourage of two nurses, one pole (two counting me), and a walker. Actually, she ran three of these marathons today. The plan for Monday is to take the IV out of her neck and replace the IV with a PIC line in her arm. Baby steps. Tomorrow, I am off to Shell Lake for the morning and early afternoon. I am speaking at the Partners in Worship Church. I will be seeing Judy later in the afternoon. Good night.

October 16

Judy was up and around her ward 3 times today. She hasn't been able to keep food down for the last two days so I believe the surgeon has arranged for Judy to start on TPN, a milky looking IV fluid that is full of nutrition. Judy still has the NG tube in her nose, an IV in her neck, an IV in her arm, a nephrostomy(Sp)in her right side, an abdominal drain in her left side, and a catheter. She tires very easily and is still regaining her strength. I helped her turn to her right side for a short time today. This is a long process of adjusting pillows, moving hoses,and gently turning over in a manner that won't affect her wounds. Needless to say, she is nowhere near being able to have visitors. She loves you all dearly, but she is not up to seeing anyone for a long while. And I know you are dying to hear...the house cleaning is done. Vacuuming, dusting, toilets, floors, plants watered, laundry folded, beds made, ironing done, tupperware washed and returned to respective owners. Oh yeah, and I hit a home run yesterday for my senior slow pitch league. When I say senior, I mean old people not one step above midget level. I think I pulled my groin running the bases...no bat flip. Good night.

October 15

Judy was up and out of her bed 3 times today with nurse's assistance. She has her ng tube back in her nose. Still some problems with nausea. She was chowing down on jello, broth, and cranberry juice yesterday, but today was back to water and the wonderful assortment of IV bladders that hang from the festive IV tree. I delivered Judy's novel to her today and she read for a limited amount of time. Judy's pain level is only around a 2/10 level these days. The main source of discomfort is from laying on her left side all day. As mentioned before, she is being limited time on her right side because the staples used to close the wound between her buttocks are mainly on the right side. I saw the stapled area tonight and in my uneducated opinion, the wound looks good considering Judy is only 8 days past surgery. In fact, my opinion is: Judy may not have the open wound that was predicted. Again, I emphasize, my opinion. Tomorrow is house work day. Thank you to everyone who donated VIM, gave suggestions on how to use VIM, and encouraged me to get cracking with the application of VIM to the nether regions of the kitchen sink. I intend to continue cleaning with the usual VIM and vigor that I usually devote to house cleaning. Good night.

October 14

Judy had another good day yesterday. They tried capping off her ng tube to see if she could keep her food (juice and jello) down. Apparently, she still needs the ng tube because she was vomiting this morning hence the ng tube is sucking out the nasty green stuff again. The highlight of Judy's day was physio at 2:00pm. She had her hair washed and was able to use Q-tips to clean her ears. Seems insignificant to some, but you can imagine how good those two things would feel to Judy. Judy also walked 6 steps today. The news from yesterday was: the plastic surgeon said Judy would not be able to sit for 6 weeks. She will be able to walk or lay down, but no sitting. I don't know what that will mean regarding the length of hospital stay. The last bit of news from today is: she is out of the observation ward and into a room. She is still not ready for any visitors. I will keep everyone updated regarding her ability and willingness to have visitors via this blog.

October 12

Judy had a very positive day today. No complications. I visited her three times. She is looking forward to tomorrow because she will actually be out of bed albeit for a short period of time. Positive sign: she asked for her glasses. I suspect she may want me to Facetime her from home, then she can tell me where I need to dust and apply VIM.

October 11 pm

Today was a rough one for Judy. She threw up three times early this morning so an NG tube was inserted. She is back to having the old NG tube sucking the bad green stuff out of her tummy. The situation immediately improved. No more throwing up. Next issue: they discovered uric acid in the fluid that is draining from her abdomen. After two CT scans and re doing some belts and hoses(actually...not belts), I believe they have that situation under control. Transferring her to the CT scanner was a very painful process for Judy. Pray that tomorrow will be a better day of rest and healing. Hopefully, Judy will be able to upright for a few minutes in two days. This Thanksgiving, I am thankful that the girls, David, and Audrey have some time off to be with Judy each day. Surgery and recovery is a grueling process with incredible gains on some days and disappointing setbacks on other days. That little one hundred pound fighter is giving it all she's got. Thank you to everyone for praying, hoping, and caring. Good night.

October 11 am

Yesterday was a better day. Judy is still in obs. She was not as sedated as in the previous 3 days. She is quite aware of everything her family is doing and another positive sign is: she is telling the girls to drive carefully and do this, do that. Again, a hats off to the wonderful nurses in the obs unit. They are cheerful, helpful, competent, and compassionate. I watched a young nurse yesterday listening to Judy and trying to determine the best way to make her comfortable. The look of concern on her face was remarkable. Judy is still on the epidural. Another feature that is bringing Judy comfort is a compression mattress. This mattress is basically an air mattress that gives support and comfort. Judy is counting down the days to when she will be able to be off the mattress for short periods of time. Three more days of laying mainly on her left side. David and I entertained Judy last night with our golfing exploits. We videoed a You Tube sensation of me falling out of the golf cart on a sharp turn. Remarkable footage...remarkably dumb. Whatever the critics say, Judy was entertained.

October 9

Another day of pain and discomfort. The newest development is: the pain killers are being administered through an epidural. This means Judy's back is basically numbed much like your mouth when you are having dental work. Judy has been moved from the ICU to an observation ward. It goes without saying that she is a long way from being able to have visitors other than immediate family. Her eyes are only open for a few seconds at a time. Looking down the road to the time when Judy is moved to a ward, she has requested that friends and family who wish to visit should contact me first. No insult is intended in limiting access to Judy. Trying to recover and rest is difficult when visitors come unannounced and unexpected. Judy's brother, David, arrived today and his company is much appreciated at this time in our home. His gift to Judy is a little solar powered Queen Elizabeth statue that does the saucer wave whenever the sun shines. The gift brought a smile to Judy's face even through the painkiller fog. Thank you to everyone for the kindness and support you have demonstrated in so many ways to our family. We are truly blessed.

October 8

I was up to see Judy twice today. She is still in the ICU. When the girls and I visited Judy in the morning, she was quite uncomfortable. The morphine she was given to deal with pain was causing her to be nauseous. Morphine always makes Judy upchuck. As you can imagine, Judy was quite drowsy and incoherent so it was like visiting your crazy old aunty. During the day she was taken off the medication she was receiving to deal with low blood pressure. The doctors feel she is moving in the right direction on that one. The morphine has been replaced with Dilaudid(not sure of the spelling or pronunciation). Dilaudid is 5 times more potent than morphine. So far, the drug is not making her nauseous. When I visited Judy this evening, she was still quite sedated. She can utter 2 or 3 words before she nods off. She is very uncomfortable because she has to spend the majority of the time on her right side. She is allowed on her back for periods of less than 10 minutes or less. Four times a day she is allowed to lay on her left side for 15 minutes. I watched the nurse re position Judy and surprisingly, Judy is able to shift herself with a minimum of assistance. I thought she would have been more fragile and may blow a stitch by moving position, but such is not the case. She only has one hose to drain fluid from her abdomen. She actually has fewer tubes and cords and monitors and ports and IVs than she has had in previous operations. Short story: Judy is going in the right direction. She may be moved up to an observation unit soon. We will see what tomorrow will bring.

October 7 at 10:30 pm

Haley, Dustin, Mary, and Morgan came with me to the hospital tonight. Surgery ended at 8:30 pm. That's 12 hours of surgery if you're counting. I talked to the plastic surgeon, Dr. Chadrin. He said the graft on the buttock area went well. Judy had an issue with low blood pressure...not surprising considering the length of surgery. She will likely be in ICU overnight. I also discovered they only removed part of her bladder. The tubes from her kidneys to her bladder were disconnected and reattached to another area of the bladder; therefore, she will be peeing the old fashioned way. No urostomy. No bag for #1. This, of course, will be a disappointment to Judy because she will have to continue getting up at night to pee. We only got to see Judy for 5 minutes. She was quite puffy, but considering the grind she went through today, no wonder. In fact, she looked beautiful as always. Furthermore, she still had her sense of humor. I asked her whether I should use VIM on the kitchen sink everyday or once a week. She informed me that she had VIMed the kitchen sink yesterday. As you can imagine, Judy has been giving me copious instructions on how to keep the home in "Judy Shape". I will be up to see her tomorrow morning and will updating the blog as new information comes in.

October 7 at 5:45

I just got the call from the surgeon. He has finished his part and the plastic surgeon is finishing up. Judy will not be out of surgery for another hour and a half. This is what I know: 1. The surgery went well. There were no surprises. 2. Only part of the bladder had to be removed. At this point, I am not sure how the plumbing will work. I will find that information tomorrow. 3. The tumor on the sacrum was completely removed. The removal involved taking out a part of the sacra bone. 4. The affected area on her lower back was removed. As I understand the procedure, the tissue from her buttock area will be re positioned to fill in where the cancerous tissue was removed. Haley, Mary, and I will be going to the hospital later this evening to see and touch and lightly kiss the cheek of this lovely lady who is an inspiration to us all. Thank you for your prayers and support and words of encouragement. " Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

October 7 at 2:30 pm

Today is the big day. I drove Judy to RUH at 6:30am. Just before entering the hospital, Judy discovers that she left her health card in the "home" purse, not the "hospital" purse. "Alvin, why didn't you tell me I put the card in my other purse?" So...Alvin booked it home to get the health card that "he" forgot. As it turns out, they let Judy in without her card because she must have been to RUH a few times in the last few years. In fact, the nurse needed a hydraulic lift to carry Judy's extensive file down to the surgical ward.

October 7 at 2:45 pm

I drove Judy to the hospital at 6:30am. After admitting, we met with the plastic surgeon. The graft area on her lower back will be stapled and stitched with non dissoluble stitches. Judy will not be able to lay on her back for at least 2 months (not a big deal for Judy because she hasn't been able to lie on her back since May). She will be kept on her side for at least 7 days before she is upright. The plastic surgeon said there is a 90% chance the graft area will be an open wound for an indefinite period. The surgeon's nurse called at noon to say that things are going well, but progress is slow. My guess is: surgery will not be completed until evening. I am sure the surgery will go beyond the 8 hours suggested earlier.