Rita....UPDATE

[John Schmidt]

Goes in for an endoscopy in the morning, Monday. Constant pain in/around the belly, can hardly eat and if she does little moves through her system. I have mixed feelings about the exam, part of me hopes they find something causing her trouble and is treatable, and part of me is fearful of what they might find. The pain is with her all the time lately and keeps her doubled up some of the time. It's not a burning one sometimes gets with indigestion, and doesn't seem to be cramping in the stomach. Just intense pain that makes her hold herself around her middle. It has been with her off/on for some time but became more intense the last couple weeks or so. When it gets unbearable I want to take her in to the ER, but I get a negative on that....even when her BP and pulse is going up/down like a pogo stick. Look up stubborn in the dictionary, you'll see her picture next to it.   She finally relented and made an appt. with her dr., the one that is a specialist in the digestive system, gives the colonoscopies and other enjoyable events. That's who scheduled the exam for Monday. I'm hoping for good results with the exam.

As a humorous side note, about 5-6 yrs. ago she had the lovely Naval exam....clean sweep fore and aft. I was standing in the prep room with her holding her rather nervous hand and the nurse was standing on the other side of the bed. I told Rita(in a serious voice) to make sure they understand you want the endoscopy first, then the colonoscopy. She asked what difference it made, I told her that sometimes they try to save money by using the same instrument for both procedures so you obviously want the endoscopy first. The nurse kicked me out of the room, no sense of humor I guess.  

[DD]

{{{{{{{Many HUGS}}}}}}}     
your both in my prayers 

[Black Dog]

Rita and you are in my thoughts and prayers...

Good luck tomorrow.

Black Dog

[TJ]

Thoughts and Prayers for you both....

[Flrider]

Prayers for you both John

[Pappy!]

Well aware of intense stomach pain and taking Lesa to the Hospital for it! That kind of pain is wicked and debilitating.

Hoping for the best for Rita! Lets hope they do find something and eliminate the pain. She is a trooper for sure.

Keep us posted, please.

[_Sheffjs_]

Sorry she is in so much pain.  Hoping for good results and help. 

[OnaWingandaPrayer]

Prayers for answers and healing .

[larue]

Thoughts and prayers go out to both of you

[flsix]

Prayers for a good doctors visit and outcome.

[John Schmidt]

Well, she got through the excursion down her throat and the report came back no sign of cancer. However he did take a number of biopsies so have to wait for the final word in about ten days. There are signs of a couple rather large ulcers that are healing, and some inflammation of the lower part of the esophagus. The dr. said that was probably part of what was giving her pain, along with a small hiatal hernia. I guess we can breathe a little easier now, will wait for the biopsy report though.

I had a few words with one nurse that was more than a little pushy with me. Rita was still out and in the recovery area, I was called in to come be with her. There was a lot of noise and other people staring into each cubicle so I started to pull the curtain closed. Brunhilda comes charging over yelling at me to leave the curtain open, then roughly elbows me out of the way, grabs the curtain out of my hand and yanks it open. Then curtly tells me she needs to have it open so she can watch her, adding "understand?" I stepped back, looked at her and then toward her desk, then asked since her line of sight didn't allow her to see inside the cubicle to please explain how she's going to watch her. She just looked at me like a deer in the headlights, so I then asked if she used that left arm very often during her shift. When she answered yes, I then told her "if you elbow me again for protecting my wife's privacy by pulling the curtain shut, tomorrow it will be in a sling, all you had to do was approach me with an explanation." Then added her term....."understand?"  Then told her to get away from me and my wife....now. She left and never came back, a sweet young gal came in and finished up with removing the IV, oxygen, etc., then smiling at me said "I see you also had a run in with XXXX."  The word "also" kinda tells it all.

When I was wheeling Rita out in her transport chair, Brunhilda stepped up and pressed the button that opens the door for you. Having aggressive & pushy people working in such a place doesn't make for good patient relationship.

[Bronxboy]

Hoping for quick recovery for Rita. I had that same sense of humor when I went under for a endoscopy/colonoscopy a few years ago.

When I came too in the waiting room lined up with other patients, all of us passing gas in pretty good harmony before we can be released    

When the doctor showed up I asked him if they were cutting corners on cost , he said why do u ask. I said because I have a $hitty taste in my mouth.......He didn't seem to appreciate my humor either  

[Tropic traveler]

Praying for answers... the ones you want to hear.

[flsix]

Glad to hear the outcome has been good so far.

[John Schmidt]

Nick, the last time I had a colonoscopy when the dr. walked in just before I went into lala land, I called him Captain Kirk. The guy doing the anesthesia started to laugh, then told him the "going where no man has gone before" line. Without missing a beat, the dr. said "you're going to be asleep so you won't know what went in there." We all had a good chuckle and then zzzzzz.

I remember about 16 yrs. ago I went in for a heart cath. As they were wheeling me down the hall and into the room for the procedure, I noticed all the doors had names next to them with Braille underneath. As they were prepping me, the dr. doing the procedure asked if I had any questions. So, I asked why all the names on the doors also had Braille underneath it. One of the nurses quickly chimed in, said "that's for the doctors benefit since some can't follow instructions written in English."

[FloridaValkRyder]

God Bless you both John. Let me know if you need anything.

[Bert AKA,Valkaholic]

I Will Be Praying Rita And For  A Good Report .

[Thunderbolt]

Hope the results continue to be favorable for Rita.

[sixlow]

Prayers for Rita

[reclaimerroger]

John, Hope everything turns out ok.  Living with pain is no fun.  Been there done that.

[jaxpalmtree]

I have not been on here in a while, but saw this about Rita and I wanted to give you my Best Wishes, thoughts and prayers to her!  She's such a sweet lady!  I hope she heals quickly John, and I am glad you gave that nurse HELL 

[John Schmidt]

I have not been on here in a while, but saw this about Rita and I wanted to give you my Best Wishes, thoughts and prayers to her!  She's such a sweet lady!  I hope she heals quickly John, and I am glad you gave that nurse HELL 

Thanks for the well wishes, she's still quite weak and more frail as of late. Her Parkinsons is becoming more debilitating with time along with her blood disorder. Her platelet count is extremely high, it's a struggle to keep it at/below 700k with her meds. The endoscopy only told us what she didn't have, not what the main problem is. She now is having to use the transport chair more and more, still able to get around the house fairly well with her 4-wheel walker.

I've wondered what happened to you guys since you've not been around for some time. Hope all is well in Jax. You need to stay in touch more. 

And yes, I had words with that woman, I only shared a small part of it actually. When she came in to get Rita up and moving toward getting dressed, she was rough with her. Wrong move! I was on her like stink on feet. 

[John Schmidt]

She had an appt. with her oncologist/hematologist (I get all these "gists" mixed up) and as usual he did a blood test on her. All the while she's sitting there wrapped in a blanket feeling quit cold. The test came back with her hemoglobin level at almost half what it's supposed to be. He took one look at that and asked if she always felt cold, no energy, couldn't catch her breath, a whole list of stuff....all of which she's been having. They also did the thing on the finger to check the oxygen level, found it at 87% which caused them to start scurrying around for an O2 mask. Afterward it went up ten points so they were satisfied. Her platelet count has been ranging from the upper 500's to mid-700's kept in check with a daily chemo horse-pill, suddenly this time it was 299. First thing the dr. wanted to know was if she had a recent blood loss....which she did. The endoscopy revealed a couple well developed ulcers that were healing but obviously had been bleeding internally over a period of time, probably caused by the various meds she has to take. So, tomorrow she goes in for a blood transfusion and was told to stay off her chemo meds for 2-3 weeks, allowing her bone marrow to recoup. Today we were running back/forth at Fla. Hospital from about noon until about 3:45.....that's a big place and nothing is "just down the hall."  Here's hoping this will make a difference, the dr. wants to start with just one unit transfusion and watch the results over the next couple weeks.

I can't say enough about the help in that hospital, they treated her like a queen. One gal saw she was cold in the waiting room and went to get a hot blanket. Then came out and said "I'm going to wrap you up like a burrito" which got Rita giggling. As for me.....I'm kinda tired but thankful we might be onto something. 

[larue]

That's great news she's in good spirit. Still prayers and thoughts for both of you.

[OnaWingandaPrayer]

Is good to hear your getting good care at FL Hosp. Prayers that the treatment plan bring Rita much relief. Sounds like she has several ailments all working at once. 

 I am watching Parkinsons whittle away at my father . He was diagnosed with it almost 20 years ago . The problems were multiplied in Oct. with a stroke.

 Prayers for all your family/friends dealing with this.

[John Schmidt]

Sounds like she has several ailments all working at once. 

I am watching Parkinsons whittle away at my father . He was diagnosed with it almost 20 years ago. 

Her Parkinsons was determined in mid-2001, just a slight quiver of the little finger on her right hand. Then three years later towards Fall, she started to become quite ill and had a loss of appetite. We flew to her daughter's place outside of D.C. for Thanksgiving, while there she became deathly sick. Recovered enough to make the return trip but couldn't fly so we rented a big Lincoln Town Car and floated home. Took two full days, had to keep stopping when she became ill. Got back here, had to help her into our then Ford Explorer, soon as we hit the house and dropped our bags I took her to the ER. They couldn't get a blood sample, turned to gel soon as it was drawn. They admitted her and she kept going downhill for the next 3-4 days, drs. felt she wasn't going to pull through. They finally did a bone marrow biopsy, found out she was extremely high in blood platelets....was at a critical level. Started to pump her full of something to bring it under control, it worked and after two weeks in the hospital she was discharged. The ailment was diagnosed as a "slow moving cancer" which has paid off for us with a Cancer policy I've had with AFLAC for nearly 40 years. The only thing that seems to keep the platelet level in check is a daily chemo pill with a $64 name and price tag to match. Thankfully our supplemental insurance covers all but a small copay, pays better than Medicare Part D.

The aftermath of all this is it apparently causes ulcers in the stomach from all the various meds. Here's hoping the transfusion will give her a boost but I know it will take some time for the effect to be seen or felt.    

[FloridaValkRyder]

Praise the Lord John. This may be something that gets her back to feeling better, hopefully a little anyways.

[Valkahuna]

John, we will continue to pray for Rita and you both. We hope you will see an improvement in her health.

[John Schmidt]

I haven't told Rita of my post, she would be embarrassed and fuss at me. However, tonight just before going to bed, she confided in me that for the first time she was afraid she wasn't going to make it. I didn't tell her but I've feared for her for the last 3 weeks. At this point she still doesn't feel like she's safe, I hope the transfusion has some early benefits. Personally, I think they should have admitted her this afternoon when her O2 reading was at 87 and she was quite listless. We'll see what the morrow brings, I'm optimistic.