A Recovery Update, and a New Life Quote

The week after my surgery to remove a tumor in my parotid gland was a completely unexpected and difficult week. Saturday afternoon, after I was released from the hospital, we picked up the dogs from where they were boarded. The young woman at the desk when we checked out said, “Boy, your dogs couldn’t be more different!” I sighed. I’d purposely switched where we were boarding them to the vets, because it was not only half the price, but we had been there so often with positive results, I thought it might help, especially with Lilly’s GI issues. Lilly was hoarse from barking too much, so I know it hadn’t been a stellar stay. Still, they both appeared normal and happy to see me. After starting right in on the pet and 92 year old Mom tasks when I got back to the house, I found myself quickly weary and attempted to rest. The fact that I had slept for 23 ¼ hours from when they put me under until the following morning made that difficult. But finally with the fur babies snuggled around me, I was able to continue the sleep I needed to help the healing process.  Ah, if only it were that simple.

Sunday morning was supposed to begin a week of rest, instead began a week of recurring vet visits and phone calls. We awoke to the loss of Greg’s cat, Socks. He’d been sick for 4 months. We knew he had cancer and I had spent countless hours helping him live his best life and eating all he could and wanted. Just the weekend before I had turned my back for a second and came back to find a third of my hamburger gone, with Socks shaking it like it was a wild animal he caught. That made us all laugh. We were grateful he had two nights alone with Greg while the dogs were boarded, and we were grateful he waited for me to come home before leaving us. We were grateful he left on his own time here at the house without having to make tough choices, but it still hurt. Even Meg seemed to understand and hung her head in sadness. Day one of rest was not off to a good start. 

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Sunday evening was no better. By 7:00 pm, Lilly started throwing up. I quickly grabbed the leftover meds from her last episode, in hopes of at least slowing it down. It didn’t work. I couldn’t even get the second pill into her. She went into the crate beside the bed, and I listened and watched her throughout the night as she continued to get sick. I called the vet at 6:00 Monday am in hopes of getting an emergency appointment, but there were none until the following day. Glassy eyed and panting with tacky gums, I knew she was already dehydrated. For someone who was not supposed to bend over, I crawled into the crate with Lilly (It’s Megs crate, so it’s big) and tried to use a syringe to get fluids into her. All the tricks that had worked in the past were of no use that morning. When I took her out to pee and poop it confirmed this was indeed another bout of  Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis.

I kept thinking, I can’t lose you too, and began calling every local vet in search of someone with an opening that day. Finally I found one, and we were off. After more tests, it was confirmed it was HGE, likely brought on by the stress of boarding her. Great. Fluids, meds, and more meds, and I finally began to breathe easier. This time she had liquid meds and I cheered. However, liquid meds may be awesome when they are sick, but they rather suck when the pup is well enough to rebel. I still haven’t been able to get all the pink off her neck from where she spit it out the other day….

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Tuesday I was wiped out. There had been no resting since being released from the hospital. I’d hoped things would finally turn around. I had been warned that my MS and MCTD symptoms might flair due to the surgery. They did, but I knew it would likely be temporary, and rest seemed to be the way to make that happen, so I tried to do while trying to make sure Lilly healed. But Tuesday night I awoke to Meg shaking her head repeatedly. No, No, NO! Yes. :( She had a rip roaring ear infection in her left ear. I hadn’t even noticed until it got terrible. Sigh. Wednesday we ended up at the same vet as before. Yes, she has an infection and it also was likely brought on by stress. By now I was ready to tap out or crawl in a hole. The pain I did not feel at first was beginning to kick in. Probably from carrying cats, dogs, and wrestling Meg to try to get the wash and ear drops in. 

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​By Thursday, I was once again exhausted, but the house and laundry had to be dealt with. The day began with Mom’s cat Max getting into the self feeder for Greg's cat that I’d yet to pick up. Because I slept in and didn’t see him when mom let him out of her room, he gorged himself and then promptly threw it all up around the house in several delightful locations. The good news is that he’s not sick, just a pig and though he created lots of hands and knees cleaning, he’s fine. I finally got my coffee on the deck and a quiet hour or so as the temperature rose. I actually had a good day, despite the fatigue and start to the day. I actually had a few creative ideas that I hope to make time to work towards. It was exciting to feel creative again! I know day to day life so often gets in the way of creative times, but hey, it is a start! The seed has been planted, I just need to give it the chance to bloom. We even had a chance to enjoy the deck Thursday evening as the warm temps continued.

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Friday, it was an early morning up to west of Pittsburgh, for my follow up appointment with the doctor. As the minor nerves begin to regenerate on my face or perhaps just from doing too much, my ear has now begun to ache a bit. The right side of my face feels similar to when you have a Novocain at the dentist and it hasn’t worn off yet. Still, she was pleased with my progress. She took off the steri-strips, and I could now see for certain that the stitches came up from down the side of my neck to behind my ear and then around into my ear making the scar virtually invisible from the front. No wonder the procedure took almost 4 hours! Greg says there are way too many stitches to count. It feels a little like I left an earpiece in that ear from the stitches, especially if I forget and try to lay on that side. I keep reaching up to my ear to “take out the headset I forgot" lol. I’m hoping that subsides, but if that’s the worst I have to adapt to, I’ll learn to live with it. Apparently, they are still waiting for the final pathology though, which is disappointing because I thought I was already in the clear. I’m still hopeful for the best, but waiting is not my best skill. 

To celebrate surviving the week, Greg and I went to Panda Express for lunch and Duluth Trading company for dessert. ;) As a big time overalls/outside work gal, the fact that the entire store was 25% off led to perhaps a bit of retail therapy… But hey when you step out of the dressing room and three separate women shoppers turn to you and say, ooh, that looks cute, what else can you do?! You HAVE to buy it! I'll save those pictures for another day. ;)

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Saturday, I decided I wanted to exchange a color for one of the overalls, and maybe add a few more things to my cart while the sale was still on, so I decided to take mom for an excursion. The weather was beautiful, so I thought it would be fun. It took a while, but eventually, I loaded Mom and the dogs in the car. We had a gift card for Chick Fil A, so I got her a sandwich there. I made my exchanges and additions easily at Duluth, but the stress of the days’ activity took its toll on me, and I arrived home much less energetic than I left. It had been a while since we’d had an adventure due to my continued illnesses, and the outing was not as easy or stress free as I had hoped. 

Sunday morning, the two days of travel showed in my bleary eyes, and swollen fingers. Still, I was eager to get to the store to get mom’s weekly food early before the masses were out and about, with the hopes that the afternoon might actually be spent relaxing. That was until Mom was in the bathroom for over a half hour when we were getting ready to go. Let’s just say she is NEVER allowed to eat Chick Fil A sandwiches again. I was once again reminded of why I am so careful about what I feed her. Her digestive track just can’t handle too many deviations. I spent the next 3 hours responding to the result of that reaction. Then I went out to buy belly approved food, and was once again exhausted by the time I got home.

Monday began a new week, but the fatigue has really set in hard. The stress of the last week and looking ahead to what’s next has led to not enough hours of sleep for me at night, and my eyes have been bothering me as well. I’m hoping it’s not another round of optic neuritis lurking around the corner. The pups are both improving, though not as quickly and completely as I would like. I’ll be glad when the warm weather returns. Maybe my energy will return too. I feel disappointed that I can’t give the enthusiastic report I like to give. I acknowledge I have much to be grateful for, but I’m having trouble getting past the fatigue and stress from last week right now.

And just when I think there is no spark to be found, Tuesday I saw a quote on a friend's timeline. She’s a new friend from my online author book club and her insightful shared posts encourage and comfort me daily. Gosh, I appreciate her! She reminds me that that is what I want to do with my Hope4Life180 page. I want to be able to offer others the hope and encouragement she has brought to me. Anyway, the quote she found and shared is from Stacie Martin, and can be seen above in the blog post main picture. “It’s okay if right now, I’m not okay. I know I’ll find my way. I’ll get through, because my track record is, I always do.” BOOM! That’s gotta be my new motto. ​

That brings us to this morning, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. I took the time to listen to a new podcast with Christina Applegate and Jaime Lyn Sigler called MeSsy. In this first episode they both discussed their individual MS battles. Christina was very honest about the fact she is NOT ok with the impacts her MS journey is having on her life right now. It was so relatable! The "MeSs" is part of the process. They ended the podcast with the saying “and so it is’, which is apparently the translation of the word “Amen”. It is not a begging or a pleading. It is a statement of hope, acceptance, an affirmation, and a trust in the universe.
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So I will end this blog post today with “and so it is”. I may not be where I want to be physically and emotionally, but I trust the process and myself to know I will indeed make it through. “Because my track record says I always do." <3

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