Friday, October 29, 2010

this time last year

May 10, 2009...my sweet husband



four  months later...Sept. 2009

After suffering respiratory failure due to 35 radiation treatments on his throat Bob was "off and on" a ventalator in ICU at Baylor Hospital , Plano... from Aug 20th until Sept. 5,   (16 days) ...He  was then transferred to Kindred Rehab Hospital, Dallas...We were at Kindred from Sept. 5 until Oct. 2nd...He remained in ICU   for the first week there...while in ICU  I was allowed to use a room on the second floor, when he was able to leave ICU we were given a double room and I was allowed to stay with him day and night..



By the middle of the month he was strong enough to be out of bed for a while....his physical therapist ..she called herself "Sarge"..... worked him hard..









Brian was his radiologist




Barb, David and the little boys came for a visit



we were counting off the days...wanted to be home by his birthday Oct. 5


 Sept. 25.. after seven weeks in the two hospitals he was able to go outside for the 1st time



his trech was removed on Sept. 30th.

Oct. 2nd...going home...going home...going...he smiles :)

























OCTOBER THRU APRIL 13  TH.
He worked very hard for the next six months trying to recover...



The  following is a post from Oct. 24
after having had another scan...
He had just stepped out of the shower... sitting on his bathroom chair ...I was drying him off....he was cold...the phone rang...I threw a towel around his shoulders ...running from the room I said "it may be the doctor"...it was.
"good news...looks like we got it all...he's cancer free"
 it looks like?
"The original site is clean"..
he continued.."there's one lymph node in the neck we want to check further...probably just scar tissue...we'll do a CT Scan next week and if it lights up we'll just remove it." ....(if it lights up?)
Now this part is even more strange...I returned to the bathroom and relayed the message to Bobby...all he did was put his arms around me to comfort me as I shed tears (of course) into his neck.
He said nothing.
"Aren't you relieved?"...
a mild "I guess so."...
"you guess so?"
"hadn't you considered the possibility of the treatment not being successful?"
"not really...it's hard for me to get excited about anything .. there's so much wrong with me."

and he was right...there was much wrong..he was too weak, too sick to survive the illnesses that ensued the following five months...pneumonia (twice), sinus infections, edema (fluid accumulation in his throat and arms because of damage to lymph nodes, skin tears that wouldn't heal, arrhythmia, blood clots, continued weight loss, the onset of diabetes and high blood pressure, low oxygen levels, co2retention, seizures,  many, many drugs, headaches and eventually a fall that caused brain injury...too much, too much..first he could not walk or stand, then he could not sit  could not hear, could not speak, could move only his arms, rarely opened his eyes...could not breathe.
..........   this time last year.........

1 comment:

  1. Meme, All I can say is I'm so sorry!
    I pray for you when I wake and many times in a day-and before I sleep. I have your name written on my mirror-my computer-my heart. I used to have Bens and Whitneys name written everywhere so I would pray for them often and God was faithful. There is coming a day when no heartaches shall come No more clouds in the sky, no more tears to dim the eye. All is peace forevermore on that happy golden shore,What a day, glorious day that will be. The bible says we will be with our loved ones again...1 Corinthians 13:12, "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known".What a reunion day for you. Just like you waited for Papa to come home from the service-and then how sweet it was -this is a time in between that you miss him, but have the joy of loving your twenty four more (plus some others of us who love you) until then. How sweet to have all these precious memories to sustain you and that you were blessed beyond measure to have lived them and known such great love. I was blessed because I knew Papa and how well I know it- I thank God often for the moment I had alone with him in the hospital and the words he said to me that blessed me-he was such a special man that said the things that need saying and gave to everyone!What an example he was in sickness to even then think of others and not just of himself and his situation.
    Things I just wanted to say today-and I'm sorry if I have ever said or done the wrong thing.
    I love you!

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