Thursday, February 18, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Last Trip to Chicago for Awhile! Yahoo!
Good evening all,
John, Cejae and I drove up to Chicago yesterday; John had a follow-up appointment today with Dr. Anderson, the neurosurgeon. John had an MRI done in December as a baseline for the doctor to look at post-surgery. We had not gotten the results of that, until today. Dr. Anderson said he saw no signs of the tumor at this time and we don't have to go back for a year. He showed us the MRI of the tumor before the surgery and the one after. We're not always sure what we are looking at, but as long as he sees no tumor, we are so thankful. He said John was doing well and he thought would continue to improve for up to 18 months. Praise God! It is such a miracle to know where John started and see where he is now.
His eye seems to improve daily. He still doesn't see well, but it looks better from the outside.
The doctor asked John how his swallowing was doing and John told him it was much improved. The doctor said it didn't look like John was losing any weight and, of course, Cejae and I laughed because it doesn't appear that any of us are losing weight. The doctor said, "Oh, I didn't mean it like that." And we knew that, but found it to be an amusing moment anyway.
The doctor also commented on how good John's attitude is and said that is such a big part of it. He really does have a great attitude. He is willing to try whatever they tell him to do. He does his exercises every morning. He does most of the laundry, a lot of the cooking and usually does the dishes. What a huge help for me. He has cleaned out most of the cabinets and does the sweeping. God took a good man and turned him into a great, Godly man. We never know how things are going to turn out or how people are going to react to them, even people we know well. But, in this case, it seems to have been a great thing. There used to be a man in my Sunday School class that said adversity makes us "better or bitter." John is definitely better and gives God the glory.
Again, we are so blessed to have such great friends and family that support and pray for us. Thank you again to all of you for your continued caring. We still get cards almost weekly.
We may not have much to report in the next few weeks, but thank you all for following and I will try to blog if there's anything at all going on.
Love you all,
John, Cathy and Family
John, Cejae and I drove up to Chicago yesterday; John had a follow-up appointment today with Dr. Anderson, the neurosurgeon. John had an MRI done in December as a baseline for the doctor to look at post-surgery. We had not gotten the results of that, until today. Dr. Anderson said he saw no signs of the tumor at this time and we don't have to go back for a year. He showed us the MRI of the tumor before the surgery and the one after. We're not always sure what we are looking at, but as long as he sees no tumor, we are so thankful. He said John was doing well and he thought would continue to improve for up to 18 months. Praise God! It is such a miracle to know where John started and see where he is now.
His eye seems to improve daily. He still doesn't see well, but it looks better from the outside.
The doctor asked John how his swallowing was doing and John told him it was much improved. The doctor said it didn't look like John was losing any weight and, of course, Cejae and I laughed because it doesn't appear that any of us are losing weight. The doctor said, "Oh, I didn't mean it like that." And we knew that, but found it to be an amusing moment anyway.
The doctor also commented on how good John's attitude is and said that is such a big part of it. He really does have a great attitude. He is willing to try whatever they tell him to do. He does his exercises every morning. He does most of the laundry, a lot of the cooking and usually does the dishes. What a huge help for me. He has cleaned out most of the cabinets and does the sweeping. God took a good man and turned him into a great, Godly man. We never know how things are going to turn out or how people are going to react to them, even people we know well. But, in this case, it seems to have been a great thing. There used to be a man in my Sunday School class that said adversity makes us "better or bitter." John is definitely better and gives God the glory.
Again, we are so blessed to have such great friends and family that support and pray for us. Thank you again to all of you for your continued caring. We still get cards almost weekly.
We may not have much to report in the next few weeks, but thank you all for following and I will try to blog if there's anything at all going on.
Love you all,
John, Cathy and Family
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Post-Surgery
Howdy everybody,
Van took John to Dr. Hurst today and he took off the patch. It looks pretty rough, but not as bad all around as I thought it would. He doesn't see hardly anything at all out of it. Dr. Hurst said there was no infection. Dr. Hurst didn't know exactly what it was supposed to look like but hopes it will look better in a couple of weeks. He goes back to see Dr. Hurst in two weeks and sees Dr. Gabel again in a month. Hopefully, this will really help his eye.
Thanks again for reading and your continued concern and prayers.
Love,
John and Cathy
Van took John to Dr. Hurst today and he took off the patch. It looks pretty rough, but not as bad all around as I thought it would. He doesn't see hardly anything at all out of it. Dr. Hurst said there was no infection. Dr. Hurst didn't know exactly what it was supposed to look like but hopes it will look better in a couple of weeks. He goes back to see Dr. Hurst in two weeks and sees Dr. Gabel again in a month. Hopefully, this will really help his eye.
Thanks again for reading and your continued concern and prayers.
Love,
John and Cathy
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Eye Surgery
Hi all,
Well, today was eye surgery day and the weather was not the best, but we only had to go as far as Mt. Vernon to Crossroads Hospital. They were running a little behind, but John was finally taken back to be prepared about 9:00. They are doing a large renovation at Crossroads and they were running really short onbeds and rooms so John was put in the Pediatric Room that had been transformed into the kitchen (funny, huh?). His bed was in the midst of a jungle theme and in the other half of the room was a coffee pot, refrigerator, microwave, etc. Needless to say, it was a very busy room. Cejae had taken the day off to go with us which was so nice. It's always good to have her along. They finally took him back to surgery around 9:55 and he got out about 11:00. They said it all went fine. The doctor said that eye would look like "bloody hell" tomorrow, but today it has a huge gauze taped over it to keep it shut. They didn't even put him out, but just gave him something to make him groggy. He appeared to do very well. He came out talking and immediately ate two blueberry muffins and drank a cup of coffee. My brother came in to see him and John kept us all entertained as usual. The anesthesiologist did say that when he gave him the anesthesia he had a couphing spell, but he didn't have nausea or any signs of goofiness when he came out. We left the hospital about 11:45 and John insisted we go have lunch. He isn't supposed to drive for 24 hours, but has to go see Dr. Hurst tomorrow. If Cejae has to work, Van has offered to take him. I don't know what we would do without Van and Delores. They have been such good friends and so good to us and Van and John kind of keep each other entertained I think. Delores feeds him about everyday and John really enjoys it. He and Van went and saw a movie last week and had a really great time, or at least John did. He's had the hiccups tonight and that's the first time since right after his surgery.
I am going to try to meet them tomorrow at Dr. Hurst's office so I can see and hear what Dr. Hurst has to say. I don't think John has to see Dr. Gabel again until next month.
As alway, we so appreciate your care, concern and prayers for us. There is so much sickness and pain out there that we continue to feel so blessed. God has been so good to us. We just pray for those that are hurting, be it physical, emotional or spiritual. We pray for those that have lost loved ones also. Thank you again for continuing to support us in your prayers, thoughts and kindness. We, again, are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. Thank you all.
I will try to blog again tomorrow and let you know how John's eye looks.
Love and thanks to all,
John and Cathy
Well, today was eye surgery day and the weather was not the best, but we only had to go as far as Mt. Vernon to Crossroads Hospital. They were running a little behind, but John was finally taken back to be prepared about 9:00. They are doing a large renovation at Crossroads and they were running really short onbeds and rooms so John was put in the Pediatric Room that had been transformed into the kitchen (funny, huh?). His bed was in the midst of a jungle theme and in the other half of the room was a coffee pot, refrigerator, microwave, etc. Needless to say, it was a very busy room. Cejae had taken the day off to go with us which was so nice. It's always good to have her along. They finally took him back to surgery around 9:55 and he got out about 11:00. They said it all went fine. The doctor said that eye would look like "bloody hell" tomorrow, but today it has a huge gauze taped over it to keep it shut. They didn't even put him out, but just gave him something to make him groggy. He appeared to do very well. He came out talking and immediately ate two blueberry muffins and drank a cup of coffee. My brother came in to see him and John kept us all entertained as usual. The anesthesiologist did say that when he gave him the anesthesia he had a couphing spell, but he didn't have nausea or any signs of goofiness when he came out. We left the hospital about 11:45 and John insisted we go have lunch. He isn't supposed to drive for 24 hours, but has to go see Dr. Hurst tomorrow. If Cejae has to work, Van has offered to take him. I don't know what we would do without Van and Delores. They have been such good friends and so good to us and Van and John kind of keep each other entertained I think. Delores feeds him about everyday and John really enjoys it. He and Van went and saw a movie last week and had a really great time, or at least John did. He's had the hiccups tonight and that's the first time since right after his surgery.
I am going to try to meet them tomorrow at Dr. Hurst's office so I can see and hear what Dr. Hurst has to say. I don't think John has to see Dr. Gabel again until next month.
As alway, we so appreciate your care, concern and prayers for us. There is so much sickness and pain out there that we continue to feel so blessed. God has been so good to us. We just pray for those that are hurting, be it physical, emotional or spiritual. We pray for those that have lost loved ones also. Thank you again for continuing to support us in your prayers, thoughts and kindness. We, again, are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. Thank you all.
I will try to blog again tomorrow and let you know how John's eye looks.
Love and thanks to all,
John and Cathy
Monday, February 1, 2010
Monday's Findings
Hello all,
We had such a nice weekend with our family. We had dinner with Barbara on Friday night. We had a great time at Bucky and Melody's. We went to a lovely little place in Evanston for breakfast on Saturday, went to Target, took a nap in the afternoon and went to dinner and a movie Saturday night. We then went to John's sisters yesterday and spent the day. We left early this morning and went to St. Louis for John's eye appointment. We got a little lost in St. Louis, but finally figured it out. I seem to know my way around Chicago much better than I do St. Louis, but what can I say?
Dr. Gable finally took the stitches out of John's eye. They have been in there since before Christmas so John was so glad to get them out. His eye looks pretty good to me. The stitches had rubbed the cornea somewhat and he has a red blotch that I think the stitches had also rubbed. Dr. Gable said the cornea has a thin place in it which isn't good, but he is hopeful that this surgery next week will help. He really believes, as do we, that this is the best option. Dr. Gable thought the eye looked good other than that. We had several questions for him in regard to the surgery and the healing process and he appeared to be pretty impressed that we had done some research. John told the doctor that he probably thought we were silly to ask so many questions and he said he did not. He said most people wouldn't care enough to ask questions or find out more information. John still has to tape the eye at night but, hopefully, after the eye has healed from the surgery he won't have to do that anymore. The surgery is next Tuesday, February 9 at 9:00 at Crossroads in Mt. Vernon.
Thanks again to all of you who continue to follow. Again, we so appreciate your caring, compassionate support.
Love you all,
John and Cathy
We had such a nice weekend with our family. We had dinner with Barbara on Friday night. We had a great time at Bucky and Melody's. We went to a lovely little place in Evanston for breakfast on Saturday, went to Target, took a nap in the afternoon and went to dinner and a movie Saturday night. We then went to John's sisters yesterday and spent the day. We left early this morning and went to St. Louis for John's eye appointment. We got a little lost in St. Louis, but finally figured it out. I seem to know my way around Chicago much better than I do St. Louis, but what can I say?
Dr. Gable finally took the stitches out of John's eye. They have been in there since before Christmas so John was so glad to get them out. His eye looks pretty good to me. The stitches had rubbed the cornea somewhat and he has a red blotch that I think the stitches had also rubbed. Dr. Gable said the cornea has a thin place in it which isn't good, but he is hopeful that this surgery next week will help. He really believes, as do we, that this is the best option. Dr. Gable thought the eye looked good other than that. We had several questions for him in regard to the surgery and the healing process and he appeared to be pretty impressed that we had done some research. John told the doctor that he probably thought we were silly to ask so many questions and he said he did not. He said most people wouldn't care enough to ask questions or find out more information. John still has to tape the eye at night but, hopefully, after the eye has healed from the surgery he won't have to do that anymore. The surgery is next Tuesday, February 9 at 9:00 at Crossroads in Mt. Vernon.
Thanks again to all of you who continue to follow. Again, we so appreciate your caring, compassionate support.
Love you all,
John and Cathy
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