I could post some really gross photos but have decided to keep it where you don't have to look away. I had sent some of the intense photos to my sisters in an email with a warning about them and Sherry wasn't able to look so she had Stuart do it for her. He said "yeah, they are bad".
I will start out with my not so bad basal cell carcinoma that was found on my back shoulder in December. Since I grew up in the 60's and 70's without ever hearing the word sunscreen, I am high risk for skin problems. I had it taken out and ended up with 12 stitches. I will spare you the gory details of the sound those scissors made, so close to my ear. Thank goodness the girls were in town at the time and Maggie was my nurse. When I had the stitches taken out in January, the doctor commented on how well my stitches were taken care of and also said they got all of the very slow growing cancer. I just have to see the doctor twice a year now, instead of once a year.
Mike is a walker (not the zombie kind). He walks all the time, even in winter. Last year and this year he has been so careful, but that darn patch of black ice in front of the Library got him. He fell and laid there while cars passed him without stopping to help. He finally got up and made it home. When I got home from work he was sore but seemed okay. By bedtime, he was in extreme pain. Off to the emergency room we went. This photo is when they brought him back from x-ray, he wasn't feeling too good.
What a relief to find nothing was broken but, he has extreme arthritis in his shoulder. The doctor was so amazed at what she saw and soon a crowd was forming around the x-ray picture. I should have taken a picture of that but didn't think to. Mike believes this extra bone his body is making is from an injury that occurred during his 30th birthday party when all the guys dog piled him.
Mike just finished physical therapy and is doing much better and continues the rehab at home.
Mike and I were enjoying a three day weekend when we received a call from Janelle and Larry's (Mike's parents) neighbor. Janelle had fallen and was on her way to the hospital. We headed straight to the farm to hang out with Larry while we waited for Janelle to get home. Her brother John and his wife Melody were with her. When Janelle got home, I started taking pictures. These are the ones you won't be seeing. She ended up with 14 staples down he middle of her head and 14 stitches down and around her forehead. She had red hair when it is usually blond. The doctor told her to wash her hair right away when she got home. It's funny how you do things without thinking about it because it needs to be done. I washed her hair.
I left for home the next day, Monday January 21st, because I had to get back to work on Tuesday. Mike stayed at the farm knowing I would be back for him on Tuesday or Wednesday after work. Tuesday morning he called and asked if I had heard about a storm coming. I hadn't, and it came. I am not sure how many times it snowed that week but there wasn't any way I would be able to get back to the farm to get Mike. I always think about everything happening for a reason. The snow storms came so Mike could spend the week with his parents to make sure they were okay.
While he was away that week and I was getting ready to leave work for the day, I started seeing something amazing and I wasn't sure if it was my brain or my eye giving me the electrifying show. I didn't panic at first because it wasn't the black shade or veil I had been warned about. It was a flashing barber's pole that spiraled on the side of my vision, and then all around the middle and top of my vision. When it didn't go away, I panicked and called my eye doctor. They called me back as I was walking to my car and the light show was fading. I timed it to be 20 minutes. The eye office asked me all kinds of questions and said it sounded like an Ocular Migraine or Aura Migraine episode but I needed to come in first thing in the morning to make sure everything was okay. I decided to draw a picture for the doctor to understand what I saw. He really enjoyed that and confirmed I was okay. These Aura Migraines are common and he said when I get one, start taking pain meds. I have headaches, but I didn't know I was having migraines. I have a high tolerance for pain so I guess I didn't realize. Sure enough, I had one of the worst headaches for over four days. My co-worker suggested pills that are specifically for headaches instead of just Ibuprofin and it worked! I had another Aura Migraine a week later and really enjoyed the show knowing I was okay and didn't need to panic. I took the medicine right away and didn't have a headache at all. Thanks for the warning brain!
It was decided I would finally be able to get back to the farm to pick Mike up a week later, on Saturday, and then Sunday we could take Janelle back to the hospital to get her staples and stitches out. Wouldn't you know, a surprise snow storm came but I decided to drive to the farm anyway. Sometimes it was hard to see my lane on the highway.
We woke Sunday morning and took Janelle to the hospital. Mike waited in the lobby while I was with Janelle, taking pictures. This is what they took out of her head.
Janelle asked the nurse several questions and also stated it bothered her that she doesn't know why it happened. The nurse said it could have been many different things and she started going on and on with different ailments it could have been. I stopped her when she explained Vasovagal Syncope or just Vagal, because she was describing what Janelle was doing when she fainted. Janelle had been standing at the counter cutting squash. The stress of pushing down on the hard squash may have caused the episode. When I told the nurse what Janelle was doing when she fainted, she told Janelle to start buying already cut squash!
We made it back home to Davenport Sunday before another snow storm. We were so excited to see many bald eagles in a tree by the farm. Since we were on a snowy country road, we were able to stop right below them to take this picture. There were more than these two birds but I couldn't get them all.
No comments:
Post a Comment