LOOKING FORWARD

Back in the fall of 2010, I never would have thought I would still be alive!  

What with two stomach operations and surgery for kidney cancer, it seemed doubtful at times, especially those two weeks following my first Nissen fundoplication, when the doctor inadvertently stitched a nerve that controlled my diaphragm!  I could hardly walk across the room, and showering made it necessary for my wife to towel me off.  I would almost pass out from lack of oxygen.

With the help of God and a little retraining of my diaphragm muscle, I overcame that, and lived to have the same surgery again!

Just about the time I got over that, I discovered that I had a tumor on my left kidney.  Other than the pain drugs I was given, I made it through that pretty well.

So, yeah, honestly, when I look back I thought 2010 would be my last year on earth.  This September, it will only have been two years since the cancer scare, but it seems so much longer.

Now, I sit here, knowing that tomorrow morning I'll be again put to sleep for a "green laser" procedure on my prostate.  Not a real serious thing, but enough to give me pause to reflect.  I was once told that every time you are anesthetized, and put to sleep, you lose a little something!  Whether or not that true remains to be discovered, I just know I can't afford to drop off any brain power!  I guess that bothers me more than anything, but it has to be done.

So, this past week, knowing what I'm facing again, I tried to lose myself in the real life going on around me.  

Take last week's sixth birthday party for Lily!  What a day I had.  Again, I was on a t-ball field watching a granddaughter learning and playing the game.  How wonderful it is to be alive and having the privilege again of experiencing what I did with Katie Bug.  The best part, I still have Kinsley to go!

Lily will learn the game and teach her younger sister the ropes, and ol' Papaw will be on the sidelines grinning all over himself!

Lily also turned six on the same day.  To be with her, her sister, and my son and his wife, is pure love from above.  My heart gets so overjoyed that tears come to my eyes.

Right in the middle, came Mother's Day.  I love fixing the traditional hamburger for my mom, even if this year I had to stand in the rain to do it!  As you can see, I was successful, and it was all worth it to see that big smile!

I also got to be with Tracy, Katie, and Eddie to share a laugh or two.  Since Katie is off in school most days, it's always good to be with her every second I can.  She was the first, and we connected deeply in those early days.  We went on "ventures", finding out together where little overlooked roads led, and just talking about everything.  I miss that...so much, but now she's off, probably soon making a family of her own...more kids for me to spoil!

Lily also, it's been a good couple of weeks for her, graduated from kindergarten.  One Papaw, one Pop-pop, and one Baboo, along with one Gramby, one BeeBee, and one Momma Judy sat in the audience with huge grins and hearts, with eyes focused on her alone.  It probably was special for mom and dad too, but grandparents realize what is going on.  We are calling back all the days gone past when we really didn't pay close enough attention, and we don't want those moments to get away from us again.

It's like when we notice that the new puppy has grown up, we wish we could have kept it at that small and tender age when they had that beautiful puppy breath!  We know we can't keep them young forever, but grand children let us relive all those lost moments all over again.  Forgive us when we encourage you to have another child...that's all we're trying to do, to keep you young forever!

So, my prayer is that I'll again have more tomorrows and more Katie, Lily, and Kinsley to have "silly-time" with.  It's all I ever wanted...honestly!  

WORKING TO GET BACK MY SPRING YOUTH!

Spring has sprung here, with a little setback expected over the weekend when the nighttime temps are expected to dip to the mid-30's again. However, we have been having 70 to 80 degree days with loads of sunshine. It's all brought the hills alive with tiny green leaves accenting the views around Harriman.

But I'm a little leery of spring, having some health setbacks over the past 3 years that seem to begin with the spring warmth.

Just like last spring, after falling and breaking 4 ribs, this spring has been a long season for me.

This spring began by having to have what's called the TUNA procedure, which stands for "Transurethral Needle Ablation", on my prostate. This procedure is performed by placing interstitial radio frequency (RF) needles through the urethra (yelp, right up there) and into the lateral lobes of the prostate, causing heat-induced coagulation necrosis. The tissue is heated to 110°C at an RF power of 456 kHz for approximately 3 minutes per lesion. In my case there were 7 points that were heated.

The idea is the prostate tissue will die away, leaving a space that allows the urethra to expand into, therefore increasing urine flow.

Thankfully, that procedure worked to textbook perfection and I am now enjoying the benefits of a younger prostate - no sense of urgency, no getting up multiple times at night, and no pain or straining.

The day after the final checkup of that procedure, I had an esophageal spasm and had to go to the ER for an emergency dilation! I have had this spasm problem for almost 20 years, and have had a dozen or more dilation procedures during that time.

After this episode, the doctor suggest I have the Nissen Fundoplication surgery.

During fundoplication surgery, the upper curve of the stomach (the fundus) is wrapped around the esophagus and sewn into place so that the lower portion of the esophagus passes through a small tunnel of stomach muscle. This surgery strengthens the valve between the esophagus and stomach (lower esophageal sphincter), which stops acid from backing up into the esophagus as easily. This allows the esophagus to heal. This procedure is often done using a laparoscopic surgical technique these days.

The one thing I wasn't prepared for was the excruciating pain that follows the laparoscopic surgery for at least 3 days! I tell you truthfully, I cried out several times over the next 2 days for God's help...either way...let me die or make it stop! The CO2 that's used to pump up the body cavity for that surgery slowly seeks a way out of the body and it's usually, as in my case, tries to leave through the points of the shoulders and the right rib cage! The left shoulder was probably the worst effected area, with the tiny point on my shoulder screaming for an ice-pick to make an escape hole!

It reminded me the time I was nearly pushed to the point, during a gout attack on my left big-toe, of chopping it off. I swear it would have hurt much less!

However, I'm happy to report that the stomach wrap procedure was also done to textbook perfection and I'm nearly back to my old strength. I had the stitches out today and the little holes (seen attached before stitch removal) have healed well.

So, with all this, plus the weekly visits to an allergist for shots to desensitize me against mold, it's been one slow spring. However, I have yet to be throttled by a pneumonia episode since beginning them last summer. Last year, I had pneumonia three times!

I would imagine my insurance company has had to pay well over $20K for all these visits, follow ups, procedures, and shots! I'm hoping I get all this out of the way before reaching 65.

So, the weather has been nice, up to 85 Tuesday, when Judy and I took to the East Tennessee trails once again. We put in a little over 2 miles, and saw some of the most spectacular views East Tennessee has to offer. These views are within a 25 mile drive of our home too!

I have written about, at least on my Princess Theater blog, the Obed Wild and Scenic River Valley. However, I knew then that I would have to take Judy back up there to see it. She loves to be taken on adventures, to do a little walking, to take photos, and explore the countryside. This trip was no exception, she loved the Lilly Access area on Clear Creek in Morgan County, Tennessee, and the Nemo Access further done the Obed Valley where the Emory River begins.

Like I said, we did quite a bit of walking, especially for someone that had surgery just a week earlier!

If you had scenery this beautiful, this close to your front door, how often would you go?

We have identified about a half dozen such places since we've retired, and we try to get around to all of them at least once a year.

There's a big weekend planned in Harriman, a production of "To Kill a Mockingbird" at the college, and the first of the summer's downtown "Crusin's" is scheduled. I think our plans are to attend both events and enjoy the spring air while it's still relatively cool outside.

So, get out there...find something to do my friends. Life is short, so never put things off until another day. Those plans might be interrupted by a funeral!

I took a lot of photos of the Obed Valley, if you would like to view them, CLICK HERE!

RETIREMENT MEANS HAVING MORE TIME TO MAKE DOCTOR APPOINTMENTS

Okay, so this has been a busy week for me and I'm very tired. I don't need another one like it for at least a couple of more weeks! That's probably about how long it will take for me to see about other issues discovered this week!

My week actually began last week when I had a preliminary procedure to size up my prostate problem. The actual corrective procedure began at 1PM Tuesday. The short acronym for the procedure is TUNA, which stands for "Transurethral Needle Ablation".

It is a procedure used to treat benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH). It is performed by placing interstitial radio frequency (RF) needles through the urethra and into the lateral lobes of the prostate, causing heat-induced coagulation necrosis. The tissue is heated to 110°C at an RF power of 456 kHz for approximately 3 minutes per lesion. In my case there were 7 points that were heated.

The idea is the prostate tissue will die away, leaving a space that allows the urethra to expand into, therefore increasing urine flow.

So, that amounted to 4 injections into the sides the prostate, done rectally, and then 7 needle heating treatments into the prostate from inside the urethra (up the penis)! Then there was an antibiotic show in the butt for good measure!

The worst part of the whole deal was that it's necessary to wear a catheter for two days. I hated that more than anything.

One must disregard all modesty while undergoing the preliminary testing an measurement, the actual TUNA procedure, and even coming in 2 days later to have a nurse remove the catheter. There is no dignity left and you really don't care...you want to be wild and free again.

All this could have possibly been avoided had my body tolerated Flomax or Uroxatal, but those drugs dropped my blood pressure and cause all kind of gastric problems. Therefore, I endured all the above humiliation in order to lower my PSA numbers and to put an end to frequent urination issues.

All in all it's worth it...I'm already reaping the benefits for a younger prostate size.

So, that all ended on Thursday with the catheter removal.

Then on Friday, I got up early and at a light breakfast and too my normal medications for the day. That included an antibiotic to help heal the prostate and urethra from the procedure on Tuesday. That big pill set off a chain of events. I began to have heartburn between my male boob area. I got my allergy shot in Oak Ridge at 10, then came back to my care and took a sip of water. It didn't want to go down.

I have had this esophagus spam problem for almost 20 years so I knew what was happening. I began to hiccup, and so I took another small sip, all the while saliva began pouring down my throat. At the point of the heartburn, all this liquid began accumulating and moving up toward my windpipe. I told Judy to pull over and I through up that liquid...it's all clear, no stomach contents evident...ever.

Usually after that I can again sip water and it will go down. However, it did not go down, but began another round of liquid accumulation. We had to stop again about half a mile down the road.

I finally made it the 10 miles to my mom's and got out and ran to the edge of the yard.

Inside, I repeatedly tried water in small sips, but after about 10 episodes, I knew I needed help.

Judy took me to the Harriman emergency room since no of my normal doctors were in town. Luckily my friend Terry Bingham was on surgical duty that day.

I enter the emergency room at 2PM. By 3PM I was taken back to a room where I sat until about 4:30. By then I felt better and was in no pain.

Dr. Bingham came in around 5:30 and gave me the once over. He said I think we need to do a esophageal dilation on Monday.

He asked me to eat a cracker and down a cup of water. I thought I was okay, since I hadn't had to put my finger down my throat since 3. However, the cracker stuck and sips of water finally slowly moved it around something, probably the hiatal bulge that can be seen in the photo. I watched as I struggled and then turn to my nurse and said, "We'll go ahead and do it tonight!"I really appreciated it, knowing that he had been there working all day. However, he's a good guy and a good surgeon.

In the actual photo above you can see my esphogus opening. The Doc said it was only about the size of his little finger. After the balloon passed (photo on right) the opening is greatly increased. However, it's this area that needs to be repaired by surgery.

At about 8PM I got to the operating room, was sedated and back in a room by 9PM. Everyone enjoyed my withdrawal from the anesthesia and wanted to keep me over night to entertain them, but I was determined to go home.

I was born at home and have never spent a night in the hospital. That will remain my goal for as long as I can remain conscious!

I'm eating well now, but have to discuss a hiatal operation soon that may correct this life long problem. I think it will be a small price to pay.

I have long been embarrassed over the condition, especially when eating out...it's time to end it. If you have spent any time with me you have seen me either regurgitate or leave the table quickly and seek out the nearest restroom.

Further, I have now been advised that my EKG indicated an arrhythmia and SVTs...which means I may have had a small heart attack sometime in the past. Therefore, I need to have that attended too soon.

UPDATE: No heart problems were found, so I scheduled my hernia surgery for March 30th! Wish me well.

I've concluded that retirement is for ensuring you have plenty of time to make doctor appointments, travel, and see grand babies! More the former than anything else it seems.

With your prayers and thoughts, I'll make it until my next appointments!