by Judy Handley | Jan 11, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 64, Year 7: Out of the Hospital
Date: Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Weather: Beautiful Day but Getting Colder
Location: At Home with John and Sue Reed, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Mark was released from the hospital this morning and we were at home with John and Sue Reed in Cambridge before noon. Mark still needs lots of rest but he looks and feels great. He is eating a soft diet that includes fish, chicken, rice, pasta, mashed potatoes, a few over-cooked veggies, boiled and scrambled eggs, yogurt, bananas, avocados, and white bread. It is not the most exciting diet in the world, but I think Mark just feels grateful to be eating anything besides Jello and chicken broth. Sue fixed a wonderful dinner tonight that we all enjoyed and Mark is looking forward to a breakfast of scrambled eggs with an English muffin. So far he is handling the food just fine and if things continue like this, the doctor says he can resume his normal diet by the weekend.
We got an email from good friend Lynda Kaufman today that commented on my statement in last night’s log saying that the stay at Mass General Hospital was “delightful.” She said that I must be first person ever to describe a hospital stay that way, but both Mark and I feel that way. Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) is huge but feels much more like a college campus than a hospital. They do an amazing job of making you feel comfortable. Every person we dealt with there was amazingly positive, the staff was always responsive, and we truly felt like we were in an exclusive hotel rather than a hospital. Mark’s nurses were all fantastic as were Dr. Sylla and her team of residents. They make in-city parking amazingly cheap at $10 per 24 hour period and the cafeteria food was very good and very affordable. I loved being able to buy a super large coffee for just $1.50 and a super large salad with meat for under $5.00. Even the elevators were fast. So we give MGH a 5-star rating (5 out of 5). I’ve posted with this log a couple of photos and a video of the medical heli-port at MGH in action. The medical helicopter went right passed Mark’s window to get to the heli-port and I thought Sam, Jonah, and Ziggy would enjoy the video.
The weather report for the next couple of days is not looking so great. It is supposed to rain/snow tonight and then continue raining into Friday. So depending on the weather, we might return to Cape Cod tomorrow afternoon or we might wait until Friday. We are really enjoying our time here at Sue and John’s and they really think we should stay until Friday just to make sure things are fine with Mark. So we will get up and check the weather and see how Mark is feeling before making a decision on whether or not to return home tomorrow or Friday. We’ll keep you posted.
by Judy Handley | Jan 10, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 63, Year 7: Mark Gets the A-Okay
Date: Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Weather: Dusting of Snow Overnight; Daytime Mostly Sunny
Location: Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
Mark met with his surgeon and her team late this afternoon and was told that
he could actually go home tonight. It was late in the day and he said he
preferred to spend the night and go in the morning. That was fine, so by 10
am tomorrow morning we’ll be leaving the hospital. I think Mark just wanted
to stay the night so he could watch the New Hampshire Republican Primary
results on TV tonight, but he denies that! We will go to Sue and John
Reed’s when we leave here and spend tomorrow and tomorrow night there before
heading home to Windbird on Thursday morning. Mark got his first “soft
food” this morning, white bread toast and grape jelly, and he thought it was
the best tasting thing he had ever had. Poor guy hasn’t had real food since
last Wednesday. He had toast again for lunch and then again for dinner, so
by tomorrow we can start to have other soft foods. Sue and I have planned a
dinner of broiled flounder, mashed potatoes, and a salad of avocado. He
shouldn’t have dairy, except for yogurt, for a few more days, so Sue bought
Earth Balance non-dairy butter and will slather that over the fish and
potatoes. I think Mark will think he had died and gone to heaven. Dr.
Sylla thinks he can resume a fairly normal diet by the end of the week, but
we’ll move slowly until we are sure everything is working normally. Dr.
Sylla also thinks she should have results from the biopsy of the lymph nodes
for us by Friday of this week, and she is still saying that if there is no
cancer in those nodes that Mark’s will not have to undergo chemotherapy. So
we will just have to wait patiently and hope for super positive results.
My niece, Candi, who lives just north of Boston in Billerica, came to visit
today and she brought beautiful yellow tulips that have brightened the room.
She had a nice visit with Mark and then she and I went down to the cafeteria
for lunch. We caught up on family gossip and just generally had a great
time. So thanks, Candi, for coming by.
So now it’s time for me to head out and for Mark to watch the NH Primary
results. I’ll be back in the morning and we’ll be out of here. I have to
say that I’ll miss these beautiful views of Boston. Getting this room was
certainly a stroke of luck, and that along with Mark’s great progress has
made this dreaded hospital stay absolutely delightful.
by Judy Handley | Jan 9, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 62, Year 7: Same, Same
Date: Monday, January 9, 2012
Weather: Mostly Sunny with Temps in the Low 40’s
Location: Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
There’s nothing new to report from Room 2234, Phillips House, Massachusetts
General Hospital. Mark’s condition is the same, so we are just in a holding
pattern. He still has a low grade fever-normal they say. His normally low
blood pressure is a little high-normal they say. He looks and feels
great-normal I say. But those inner workings just haven’t awakened from the
shock of surgery yet. The nurses can start to hear a little rumbling in the
gut, but nothing is moving through and he can’t be released from the
hospital until that happens. The doctor is saying that it will probably be
Wednesday before we can head home with a possibility that he could be
released tomorrow afternoon if things start working by morning. Tonight Dr.
Sylla came in and she asked if we requested the fancy accommodations we have
here. We replied that we certainly did not and she said that we must have
just gotten lucky. Evidently you normally have to request a room in this
section of the hospital, but when the normal surgery ward is full, which it
must have been on Friday, they have to put you where there is a space. I
don’t want to know how much it costs to stay in a single room like this
rather the normal double accommodations with a view of the hospital’s
physical plant, but we have certainly enjoyed the beautiful views and lavish
accommodations. I ended up having to spend the night here again last night
as Mark’s temperature started to spike just as I was leaving, so I took
advantage of the extra night here to take in views of the full moon. And
tonight Mark and I were on walk down to the waiting area when we saw this
huge red orb rising over the Boston Harbor. I ran to get my camera to try
and capture the beauty of the moon rising. No photo can capture the beauty
of seeing it in real time, but I will post a couple of photos anyway.
I drove to the Cape this morning, went to my primary care physician to get
an annual physical, and stopped by Windbird to check on things before
returning here. I seem to be fine and Windbird was warm and cozy. She
looks a little lonely, so we need to focus on getting home as soon as
possible.
by Judy Handley | Jan 8, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 61, Year 7: A Little Blip . . . Now Back on Track
Date: Sunday, January 8, 2012
Weather: Mixed Sun and Clouds with Temps in the 40’s
Location: Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
Mark is still making great post-surgery progress. He has no pain and feels
good. Today they disconnected the epidural and the iv for feeding, so Mark
no longer has to walk around with a metal pole on rollers to hold all this
apparatus. He is still on a diet of clear liquids like chicken broth and
Jello and they are giving him a pain medication orally. At this point
things are going along better than we expected, but last night after I sent
the log we did have a little blip that caused some drama. But it was just
that-a little blip. Mark had been sitting up for some time and hadn’t had
an afternoon nap. I wanted to talk him on one more walk before I left for
the night, but we barely got out of the door of his room when we had to turn
around. He was shaky and as weak as kitten. We called the nurse and found
that his temperature had gone above the 102 mark, and that necessitated
calling in a doctor. There was a young resident on the floor and he checked
all of the incisions and found no redness. He ordered blood and urine tests
and a chest x-ray. I didn’t really want to leave Mark for the night so I
drove to Sue and John’s to get some clean clothes and eat a little dinner.
By the time I returned to spend the night in the room with Mark, he seemed
much better. After all was said and done, it appears that the temperature
was just a normal post-surgery thing. I personally think Mark is suffering
a bit from going into surgery with a slight cold, and because of that his
lungs are having a harder time of recovering. The doctors and nurses just
tell him to keep moving around and using a little breathing tube that forces
him to breathe more deeply. He doesn’t particularly like the “game” of
keeping the little white ball afloat but he is getting better at it. The
temperature has gone down slowly today and if all seems normal I will drive
home to the Cape tonight. I have a 9:15 am physical exam that I don’t dare
miss. It took months to get the appointment so I want to be there. This
will give me a chance to check on Windbird to make sure all is well on the
home front. I think I’ll miss the check-in with Mark’s surgeon tomorrow
morning, but Mark promises to listen carefully and give me a full report.
Heather, Jed, Sam, and Jonah came to visit today. Mark was so excited to
see the boys and go on a walk with them. Jonah liked the walking and Sam
liked seeing the sights. The halls here have wonderful photographs and
paintings of buildings and scenes in Boston and it was also fun to identify
those. Sam sat by the window in Mark’s room and watched the cars on the
highway below. He was amazed at how small the cars looked from this high
up. He exclaimed that they look like Matchbox cars, and indeed, they do.
And both boys enjoyed watching Granddad trying to keep the ball afloat in
the breathing tube. We all (except for Mark, of course) went out to lunch
and when we returned, the daytime nurse, Lauren, had popsicles for Sam and
Jonah. They loved that! So hopefully their hospital visit was fun for them
as well as Granddad. Later in the afternoon Mark’s hospital phone rang. I
heard him say to the person on the other end that it was certainly wonderful
to hear a voice from the past. It was cousin of mine from West Virginia,
David Bowers, who unbeknownst to us has been faithfully reading Windbird’s
logs. He read the log I posted on Friday with Mark’s hospital phone number
and he decided to give us a call. When Mark and I moved to Wikel in West
Virginia in 1979, David was married with two young children and lived close
to the farm we bought there. It was close enough that once in a while our
‘free-range’ chickens layed eggs under David’s front porch! We haven’t seen
him for over fifteen years so we talked on and on about friends and family
in Wikel and how things have changed over the years. It made me very
homesick for a place and the people there that are very dear to my heart.
Thanks for the call, David.
Now it’s time for me to head to Cape Cod and look for that full moon on the
way.
by Judy Handley | Jan 7, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 60, Year 7: On the Road . . . to Recovery
Date: Saturday, January 7, 2012
Weather: Beautiful Day with Temps Around 50 degrees F
Location: Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
Usually when I write about being ‘on the road’ I am referring to being on
passage on Windbird. But this time the road is leading us to Mark’s
recovery from surgery and so far it has been a pretty smooth sail. We’ve
had no squalls, no rough seas, no sail changes. But we have had one
condition that is a bit worrisome. Mark developed a fever during the night
and the fever persists. It fluctuates from 100.4 to 101.3 but the doctor is
not concerned at this point. Evidently a fever after surgery is normal and
the ‘cure’ is to get up and walk around and to keep the lungs active with
deep breathing. Mark is feeling great, looks good, and has had no pain.
The epidural has worked beautifully and he is able to get up on his own and
walk up and down the halls. Today they have added clear liquids back to his
diet so he is sipping broth, drinking juices, and eating Italian ice and
Jello. It doesn’t sound great, but he was really a happy sailor when the
chicken broth arrived in early afternoon. Prior to that he was just sipping
a bit of water so even Jello tastes great to him.
We continue to enjoy the beautiful views of Boston from this 22nd floor of
Mass General Hospital. Mark’s room overlooks the Charles River, Cambridge,
and much of Boston, and the views from the guest waiting area just down the
hall take in the rest of the city. Mark and I sat in the comfortable chairs
in the waiting area this afternoon and enjoyed the view while trying to
solve some of the puzzles and brainteasers in a book Linda brought for Mark
yesterday. Mark loves brainteasers so he is spending his waking hours
solving more puzzles. Thank you, Linda. It was the perfect book for Mark.
And we haven’t even started on the crossword puzzle book that Sue and John
gave Mark. So he has lots to keep him busy.
Thanks to so many of you for your wonderful email messages. It has meant so
much to hear from family and friends and know that you are ‘here’ with us.
One friend, Rich Corbett, wrote to Mark saying to Mark that he is a an “old
salt” in more ways than one-a rock solid salt. And I certainly agree with
Rich. Mark is weathering all of this with humor and such a positive outlook
on life. In fact, I just overhead him say on the phone to a good friend
that you can’t change what happens to you, you can only change how you
approach it. Good advice for all of us.
by Judy Handley | Jan 6, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 59, Year 7: Long Surgery, Positive Results
Date: Friday, January 6, 2012, 10 pm
Weather: Skiff of Snow Overnight; Today Moderating, 35-40 degrees F
Location: Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
Mark’s 8 am surgery got delayed until 9 am, I think partly due to some
difficulty in putting an epidural his back to deal with pain medication
after the surgery. Once the surgery began, we got hourly reports that Mark
was doing fine, but the surgery went on and on. After five and a half
hours, we got the word that he was out of the operating room. It was 3
o’clock when the doctor came down to the waiting room to talk with us and
both Heather and I felt like the news was good. The cancer has not
metastasized to other organs. It was a large tumor and had gone through the
inner lining of the colon and reached the outer wall, but had not punched
through. That was good news. But because it was so close to the wall, it
is possible that the lymph nodes along the top of the colon could be
cancerous. We won’t know this until the pathology reports are back and that
takes five to seven working days beginning after this weekend. So we have a
bit of a wait. If cancer is found in the lymph nodes, chemotherapy is the
next step. If it has not spread to the lymph nodes, then the surgery is the
cure. So we’ll keep hoping for that. Dr. Sylla explained that Mark’s CEA
level is very low, less than 2, and that is an indicator that this was a
slow-growing, not very aggressive tumor. CEA stands for cardinoembryonic
antigen which is a protein associated with colon and rectal cancer and not
normally present in blood levels of people who don’t have cancer. But
Mark’s low level is a good indicator.
Heather came up from the Cape to spend the day with me which I appreciated
tremendously. Unfortunately, she didn’t get to see her dad before she had
to leave to catch the 5 pm bus home. The doctor thought we would get to go
see him in recovery, but that wasn’t allowed until 4 pm and by that time
they said he was being moved to his room and we would have to wait and see
him there. That move took way over an hour so it was a good thing Heather
didn’t wait around. Linda Stuart and her son Garrett also came down from
Concord today and took us out to lunch. What a treat. By the end of the
afternoon I was feeling very pampered. And now it is my turn to pamper
Mark. Mark is in good spirits and seems to be in very competent hands here,
so I am going to go back to Sue and John’s tonight to get a good night’s
rest and return in the morning.
Mark is on the 22nd floor of the hospital in a unit called Phillips House
and he is in a private room. We didn’t ask for that, but it is quite nice.
The floors are wood and the wall to wall window overlooks the Charles River
and much of Boston and Cambridge. I was in the waiting room on this floor
for sundown and it was a deep, gorgeous red. Red sails at night, sailors
delight. I think it is a good omen that Mark is going to sail right through
this. He is tired but has already been up walking around with the help of
the nurse. Now we just have to watch that he doesn’t get too feisty!
For anyone who would like to call Mark, his hospital number is 617-724-6276.
I think he’ll be back on his computer by tomorrow, so you can also send him
an email. We very much appreciate all of you who wrote with your good
wishes. Thank you for being there for us.
