Friday, May 18, 2007

Updates from Home

I've decided that today is a hang-out-in-pajamas, catch-up-with-paper-work day. (Just not the monogrammed PJs I ordered for Mother's Day. Those are on back order.)

Since returning from Hotel Hope on Tuesday, I've been busier than expected. Here's a brief rundown of what's been going on:

The Future's So Bright, You Gotta' Wear an Eye Patch: My right eye has become so sensitive to light that, even when I'm wearing dark glasses, I squint or completely close the eye to protect it from rays. Dr. Forman is stumped, but I've made an appointment with the ocular surgeon/opthamologist who provided a second opinion prior to my initial tumor biopsy. He's a brilliant, Harvard Med School grad and a former director at the Doheny Eye Institute, but that's not what impressed me most. In addition to taking photos of my eye tumor, he snapped shots of my torso rash and concluded, "I think you're going to find that all of these symptoms are related." How right he was. I'm hoping that he has a solution that doesn't make me look like an extra from Pirates of the Caribbean.

PICC Your Battles: Every night, George flushes out the PICC (Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter) line with Heperan to clean out the line and prevent the blood from clotting. When he presses down on the Heperan vial and meets resistance, we know that the line is clogged. The last time this happened, a nurse had to remove the old tubing and insert a new PICC line in the opposite arm. This time, I went to the emergency center at CoH, where the nurses inserted a special "PICC Drano" to successfully unclog the line.

Letting Go: We were looking forward to Cindy's graduation from Arroyo Pacific Academy on May 24, but, as of today, we aren't sure if she'll be donning the cap and gown. She has failed to complete her economics homework, a requirement for graduation, and has until the end of the day today to turn in her many missing assignments. I'll keep you posted on the outcome. Needless to say, this has produced considerable stress, anger and disappointment, but I'm working on letting go. Easier said than done.

And, in case you're concerned that I've violated my daughter's privacy by making this information public, let me share a story that highlights the true nature of an 18-year-old who is unfazed by her actions. Her primary concern is that I not blog about the details of her recent visit to the dermatologist's office. (Mum's the word.)

Shower Power: I've also been busy planning a June baby shower for my future "god baby," due in July. Unlike other stressful events in my life, this one is a source of great joy.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow, Susan, You ARE busy! I will be praying on all accounts. Love you so much! Love to all, Suze

Unknown said...

Every night, George flushes out the PICC (Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter) line with Heperan to clean out the line and prevent the blood from clotting.

Okay, let me make sure I understand this. George can flush a catheter, but he cannot boil water to make pasta?

Hmmm...on the other hand, he does have his priorities in order.

Anonymous said...

Okay, that's it - I say that if Cindy does not finish her homework, we get to hear about the dermatology appointment! So there, that should be SOME incentive, ha ha

Lisa C.

Susan C said...

Tee Hee. Now THERE'S a consequence we haven't yet tried!

Emily said...

I am cracking up at Paula's comment! (No offense Uncle George) And you have family coming to visit this week on top of all this?! ahhh!

denise said...

So did your beautiful daughter pull a miracle out of her butt? I'm hoping.

Enjoy your family regardless!!! :)

Piper Robert said...

Okay, give it to us straight. How did Cynthia do?

Three cheers for George. Let's give him a little credit, he does have a nice golf game.

Did you know I have recurring dreams of running and jumping? Sometimes, I'm running very hard and I'm ahead of everyone, but my legs feel heavy and I have trouble making them respond. Even though I'm far and away faster, I have a feeling of frustration. Same with the jumping dream. Weird.

Wait until you see big Will, yoooweeee!. That will be a really nice visit for you. Big Will is the greatest! Emily looks her usual radiant self. Guess what? Jesse and Emily have given me their blessings to buy Will a baby kilt. Now, if I can find a small set of pipes.....

Just so you know, WVU will be one the front runners for the national championship in football this coming season. One prognosticator has WVU playing USC in the national title game. Who ya gonna root for? Love ya!

Jude 1:2 Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.

Susan C said...

WVU all the way. Go Mountaineers!

Unknown said...

In the days of my longstanding cross-eyeness, I had to wear an eye patch in order to maintain any sort of balance. Depth perception is another story altogether. (: It had to be changed from one eye to the other every 30 minutes or so to keep the eye muscles from being lopsided. Joy of joys, I tell you.

Anyway, I did have lots of kids come up to me and say the rudest ( sometimes cutest) things. I've been asked if I was a pirate and many things along those lines. Most of the rude kids thought had the patch b/c I was missing an eye. To them, I would bend down and say "looky here" and then flip the patch up. Seeing my unfocused, wrongsized eye underneath would wig them out 100% of the time. Fun!! So if you do have to do the patch, scare the little ones thoroughly! Then they may think twice about talking to strangers. Just doing our civic duty.

haha!!

love, Tara