Yeah !! She's in ICU now and coherent enough to have given me and Duane directions back to the hotel. They gave her an epidural, so the only pain she is in is mild pain in her throat from being intubated. The surgeon did additional biopsies (as long as she was in there...) and they all came back clean! So no cancer in her body at all now and we all pray that it stays that way.
Thank you to everyone for your kind thoughts, wishes and prayers. It means a lot to Arl and to Duane.
Debbie for Arleen and Duane.
Hi everyone,
I just want to thank you for all your prayers and good wishes for my surgery tomorrow. I want to tell you how much I appreciate it.
Til next week when all this unknown is in the past.
Love to all,
Arleen
We have just finished settling into our new home away from home. At least it will be for Duane and my sister, Debbie. I will spend most of my time in the hospital.
We are staying at the StayBridge Suites at DIA. We have a direct phone line. Isn't that cool ! If any of you tried to call us at our last hotel, you know how difficult it was. So our new number is 303-583-1886. Our cell and home number still rings to our cell, but when we are at the hotel we can be reached at that number.
I am trying to rest up for Monday's surgery. Now that we are settled, I hope to get more rest.
I could use some help with a dilemma I am facing. I understand that they will make me start walking around as soon as I am out of the ICU. So, I don't want to be showing off my behind as I amble around the hospital. We are trying to figure out what to buy to wear on these outings. I need to be able to undo the shoulders so that my IV's stay in place. Pretty picture, huh? Any ideas would be appreciated.
Duane just volunteered to walk the hallways behind me. That could work.......
We just booked a hotel for the next month.......yeah!
Thank you all for trying to help. We spent 6 hours going from hotel to hotel today. We have a 2 bedroom suite. It is only 15-20 minutes to the hospital.
So, we will give you contact info when we have it.
Need to rest now.
Love to all,
Arleen and Duane
Just heard from the doctor. There is no other cancer in my body. Thank you for all your prayers.
So on Monday I will be going into surgery. It is MAJOR.
I expect to be in the hospital about 2 weeks. Then have rehab for 2 weeks. Then recovery for months. Because it is major, I can expect some sort of follow up complications, so we are not sure how long we will be staying in Denver.
We will start looking for an apartment later today, when we start breathing again.
So, sorry, more prayers are still needed.
Thank you again for caring. Duane will have to figure out how to email an update after surgery. It can take up to 14 hours, so don't expect anything on Monday or maybe even Tuesday.
With love and gratitude,
Arleen
Hi everyone,
I just got back to the motel. I had my procedures yesterday and they kept me overnght for pain management.
On Friday I went for 2 surgeries. For the first we had to check in at 5:30 am. What they did in that procedure was put a wire into the lymph node they are concerned about. They used a ct scan to find the node. That wire was left in so the next surgeon could find the right lymph node to cut out.
The second surgery was done around 1:30 pm. During the waiting time I could not move the bottom of my body. That was necessary so that the wire would stay in place. Alicia and Michelle, our daughters from Colorado Springs, came and kept Duane company during the procedures and visited with me when I got admitted. It was wonderful seeing them.
So here I am back at the motel. I feel OK. We are controlling the pain. As long as we do that, I am happy. We are both happy and VERY Tired.
We now await the biopsy result. The results are expected by Tuesday. We are hoping for a clear report so that we can go on to the next option. That is what to hope and pray for, an option.
Thank you for your prayer and wishes, and keep them coming.
Love to all,
Arleen and Duane
