Finally, some news to share!!

First I wanted everyone to know that I am home after my recent 30 hour stay at Mt. Auburn Hospital. Official diagnosis: ruled out small bowel obstruction. Mostly likely cause of problem: stomach bug. Unfortunately because of my history something as simple as a stomach bug can have me land in the hospital (Many of you may remember my two week hospital stay courtesy of Salmonella poisoning). Once I start down the path to dehydration there is very little I can do to get ahead of it and that’s what happened this week. I couldn’t get any food or liquid past my lips and despite this I still had diarrhea, so in a mere 12 hours I got completely dehydrated and was in need of an IV of fluids - which I received several times over. I went in through the ER so it took a few hours to convince them to call Dr. Nauta’s office, but once they did I was admitted and they poked and prodded until there was nothing left to poke or prod. I have nothing against the ER docs at Mt. Auburn, but it will take me twice as long to get them to understand my history than if they just call Dr. Nauta’s office. His team is aware of my history and don’t put me through unnecessary tests and don’t ask me umpteen times “is there a chance you could be pregnant”. Next time I have to go the ER route I think I’ll wear a t-shirt that says “No, there is absolutely no chance I could be pregnant” with a footnote that reads “Nauta, Russell, Operative report May 30, 2002, complete hysterectomy, among other things….”

But onto the real news I wanted to share. My surgery is set (tentatively) for March 17. Let’s hope the “Luck o’ the Irish” is with me and that my Ryan genes are up for a good fight. I’ll also make sure that none of the doctors are Irish or that they hold off on their Guinness intake until after the surgery. I say “tentative” because Dr. Hanto has not yet called to confirm this date. I talked to his nurse this morning and she said this was the date that seemed to work for everyone and was about 90% sure that it would happen. I will let you know if it changes or when I get the final, absolute confirmation. One reason for the delay was a problem with Mt. Auburn providing my CT scans for Dr. Hanto. Another is that there are several doctors involved and it sometimes is difficult to get all schedules coordinated. I would rather wait and have the team the Dr. Hanto wants than push for a quicker surgery. They assure me that my brief hospital stay did not delay the procedure at all. I feel OK right now and should be able to make it another two weeks.

I’m officially on disability for work as of March 1 so I will be spending the next two weeks mentally preparing for what lies ahead and getting my house ready as well. I know we’ll have a fair amount of visitors and overnight guests during my recovery, so I need make sure we have enough floor space in one room to put down the aero bed. This kind of busy work relaxes me or at least gives me an outlet for my stress. I hope to find an outlet soon because it’s currently 2AM and I’m wide awake despite taking something to help me sleep. Neither Pat nor I can handle 2 weeks of this kind of behavior.

I’m actually glad for this date for several reasons. First, I can actually eat cake with Pat on his birthday this weekend and we can celebrate his day by putting the surgery/cancer stuff down for a day. If only I could think of a “material” gift to get him rather than the spiritual gifts he has asked for (If I knew how to beat this cancer I’d give him that as a gift every year for birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, Flag Day, Arbor Day, etc.) I do love the fact that he asks for this every year almost as much as I love him.

And reason two: Several months ago we got tickets to see The Pogues a band I’ve loved for decades and never thought I would have the opportunity to see live, especially because I thought Shane McGowan was dead. If I would have had to miss this concert it would not have been the end of the world, but given Shane’s history there’s a good chance he won’t be around for their next tour. So this is one less thing I have to “miss” or “give up” because of the cancer and that actually makes me really, really happy. And Pat will tell you, happy is not on my list of emotions these days.

All righty now. I’m actually feeling a wee bit sleepy and I’ve caught up on all my emails so I think I’ll try to sleep again. Fortunately I don’t have to get up in the morning so I can sleep as late as I want – woo hoo!!!

Thanks for the prayers and well wishes. I can feel them all coming my way. Take care everyone.