We're home from the hospital! Lauren came home on Sunday and is doing pretty dang well, considering. She still has her railroad track of staples down the front side of her body and isn't the most comfortable she has ever been in her life, but she is a lot better. We are home all week recuperating and taking it easy. Well, she is home all week (hopefully - she gets understandably restless) and I am as well until I leave for Oregon.
I fly out Thursday morning and get into Eugene Thursday afternoon. As I type this, I realize that I may need to ask for a ride from the airport from somebody. And figure out where my car is...oops, details. I'll be there until Monday afternoon. I actually have an on-campus job interview Monday - Wednesday, so I'll fly out again for that. It is tricky timing for sure, but I think we can swing it. I don't want to say much about it yet, because I don't want to jinx it! Maybe afterwards : )
Our Dad is doing pretty poorly. He is back in the hospital, with an oxygen mask and 10 liters of oxygen (which is like the flipping north wind blowing directly up your schnoz) and is still feeling terrible. Poor guy. If it ain't one thing....He hasn't been very lucid at all and wouldn't even bite at my political teasers. That is usually the best indicator of how he is faring. : (
In any case, one Smith family cancer fighter is out of the hospital, another one in, and we are all moving around outside of them. Hopefully things will stabilize soon!
On a different note, Lauren and I, in our "two Smith women actually relaxing" afternoon yesterday watched Dream Girls. Even though Lauren is obsessed with Beyonce, it was terrible!!!! I just netflixed Spirit of the Marathon, so hopefully today we can watch a better movie! And one that has Coach Joe Henderson in it!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
maybe both
The surgeries on Monday went so well and all day we were happy, hopeful, and excited. It was such great news that was gladly accepted. Nevertheless, Lauren was in a shit ton of pain, has staples down her entire core, which is bruised and swollen, and she was mighty uncomfortable. They finally knocked her out so she could rest and I headed home, while her husband Mike stayed with her. It had been a long 14 hour intense day in the hospital....
On the way home, I checked in with our other sister, who is with our Mom & Dad out in Albany right now. Poor Dad is in a world of hurt, and his doctors have no idea what is going on. His mind is fleeting, his body betraying him, and things are rough. Thank goodness Carrie and Anika are there to help with him and be with him all day, and Branden is very often down to help on all his days off, so that Mom can go to work and keep her insurance that they desperately need.
So, I was walking home, getting the scoop from them, answering the 74 texts we got during the day, and trying to keep it together. When I got home I made the mistake of checking my email. A job I had applied for needed a letter of recommendation two days ago from an advisor on another continent and was adamant that I get on it, and an article that had been accepted for publication and on my CV for months now mysteriously rejected. AAAAHHHHHH!
Ok, so a mini-breakdown occurred. It needed to though, and at least I was home alone in the apartment. Can't do it when I'm around Lauren and Mike, but it needed to happen.
I'm getting to the point of the story though. So, I wake up before 6 am because I'm having anxiety about all of this shit. I decided to get the house all cleaned, the million loads of laundry finished, and everything organized on the homefront. On my last trip down to the laundry area in the basement at the end of all of this, a woman got into the same elevator I was in. She looked like she was on her way to work, in a fancy business suit and her briefcase and gym bag in tow.
She gets in the elevator, gives me a sideways look up and down and says "Man, I wish that I could still be in my pajamas."
I didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. Or maybe to fight her.
(post script: I'm doing much better now and don't mean to have the most depressing blog in the world : ) )
On the way home, I checked in with our other sister, who is with our Mom & Dad out in Albany right now. Poor Dad is in a world of hurt, and his doctors have no idea what is going on. His mind is fleeting, his body betraying him, and things are rough. Thank goodness Carrie and Anika are there to help with him and be with him all day, and Branden is very often down to help on all his days off, so that Mom can go to work and keep her insurance that they desperately need.
So, I was walking home, getting the scoop from them, answering the 74 texts we got during the day, and trying to keep it together. When I got home I made the mistake of checking my email. A job I had applied for needed a letter of recommendation two days ago from an advisor on another continent and was adamant that I get on it, and an article that had been accepted for publication and on my CV for months now mysteriously rejected. AAAAHHHHHH!
Ok, so a mini-breakdown occurred. It needed to though, and at least I was home alone in the apartment. Can't do it when I'm around Lauren and Mike, but it needed to happen.
I'm getting to the point of the story though. So, I wake up before 6 am because I'm having anxiety about all of this shit. I decided to get the house all cleaned, the million loads of laundry finished, and everything organized on the homefront. On my last trip down to the laundry area in the basement at the end of all of this, a woman got into the same elevator I was in. She looked like she was on her way to work, in a fancy business suit and her briefcase and gym bag in tow.
She gets in the elevator, gives me a sideways look up and down and says "Man, I wish that I could still be in my pajamas."
I didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. Or maybe to fight her.
(post script: I'm doing much better now and don't mean to have the most depressing blog in the world : ) )
Monday, November 02, 2009
surgery day
Alright Team - it's on!!!
Lauren is in surgery now at Sloan Kettering. It should be about a 4 -5 hour ordeal with the insertion of the pump occurring first and then Dr. Jarnigan will tag out and Dr. Weiser (the super cute one) will high five and come in with his team to remove the part of the colon with the nasty tumor in it. In Round I of the surgeries, Dr. Jarnigan (or Dr. J, as Mike likes to call him) will also take out the gall bladder. I guess the pump needs some of the room that it takes up. Who needs a gall bladder anyway, right?
She'll be knocked out for all of this and will be really groggy until tomorrow morning. We'll be able to see her once the whole shebang is over, but cannot stay with her tonight.
She got here nice and early, after a fun-filled day of "preparing" her bowels and fasting. The marathon was a great distraction, and we were able to see and cheer on Celeste, Mae Shoemaker, Wendy-Lynn, and Renee. Lauren also heckled the hoards of French and German runners, which actually was pretty funny. Two Germans stopped right in front of us, which prompted Lauren to yell "fukengruven" right at them while waving her arms. I think they thought it was some sort of cheer and loved it. I also saw two people from Eugene and almost peed my pants - woo hoo!
We relaxed most of the night. Lauren was drained from the meet in Rochester - another purple torpedo win!!! The gallon of poop juice that she had to drink also kicked in, which was less than enjoyable, I would say. Anybody out there whose had a colonoscopy (hopefully a lot of you!) knows exactly what we're talking about here.
Anyway, she is doing well, hopefully knocked out by now and ready to get this crap out of her body. Ok, after yesterday perhaps crap was the wrong word choice here. There is definitely none of that left. But rather the stupid, evil, and horrible cancer. Get it out! She was a bit scared and nervous last night about everything that is to come, but talked with Mike about it quite a bit. He is so calming and reassuring.
She was definitely feeling better by this morning. I mean, we entertained ourselves while waiting after the anesthesiologist came and explained how he was going to knock her out with Chris Tucker's line from the movie "Friday" - "you got knocked the f*&^ out!" and her practicing what eye gouging moves she would do to me if I actually used that line on her. Ok, this is coming out awkwardly, so I'll stop. We were laughing pretty hard though.
I'll update again when we get news. We're waiting in the lobby and luckily Katie Clancy Lavine is working again. She is awesome and will see Lauren when she gets out of surgery. I'll admit we feel pretty fancy when we get to say that we're Katie's friends.
More soon! Thanks for all of the good energy! Lauren will use it all.
Love,
Courtney & Mike (and Lauren in an altered state)
Lauren is in surgery now at Sloan Kettering. It should be about a 4 -5 hour ordeal with the insertion of the pump occurring first and then Dr. Jarnigan will tag out and Dr. Weiser (the super cute one) will high five and come in with his team to remove the part of the colon with the nasty tumor in it. In Round I of the surgeries, Dr. Jarnigan (or Dr. J, as Mike likes to call him) will also take out the gall bladder. I guess the pump needs some of the room that it takes up. Who needs a gall bladder anyway, right?
She'll be knocked out for all of this and will be really groggy until tomorrow morning. We'll be able to see her once the whole shebang is over, but cannot stay with her tonight.
She got here nice and early, after a fun-filled day of "preparing" her bowels and fasting. The marathon was a great distraction, and we were able to see and cheer on Celeste, Mae Shoemaker, Wendy-Lynn, and Renee. Lauren also heckled the hoards of French and German runners, which actually was pretty funny. Two Germans stopped right in front of us, which prompted Lauren to yell "fukengruven" right at them while waving her arms. I think they thought it was some sort of cheer and loved it. I also saw two people from Eugene and almost peed my pants - woo hoo!
We relaxed most of the night. Lauren was drained from the meet in Rochester - another purple torpedo win!!! The gallon of poop juice that she had to drink also kicked in, which was less than enjoyable, I would say. Anybody out there whose had a colonoscopy (hopefully a lot of you!) knows exactly what we're talking about here.
Anyway, she is doing well, hopefully knocked out by now and ready to get this crap out of her body. Ok, after yesterday perhaps crap was the wrong word choice here. There is definitely none of that left. But rather the stupid, evil, and horrible cancer. Get it out! She was a bit scared and nervous last night about everything that is to come, but talked with Mike about it quite a bit. He is so calming and reassuring.
She was definitely feeling better by this morning. I mean, we entertained ourselves while waiting after the anesthesiologist came and explained how he was going to knock her out with Chris Tucker's line from the movie "Friday" - "you got knocked the f*&^ out!" and her practicing what eye gouging moves she would do to me if I actually used that line on her. Ok, this is coming out awkwardly, so I'll stop. We were laughing pretty hard though.
I'll update again when we get news. We're waiting in the lobby and luckily Katie Clancy Lavine is working again. She is awesome and will see Lauren when she gets out of surgery. I'll admit we feel pretty fancy when we get to say that we're Katie's friends.
More soon! Thanks for all of the good energy! Lauren will use it all.
Love,
Courtney & Mike (and Lauren in an altered state)
Saturday, October 31, 2009
bubbles
It was pouring down rain here early last week. I was talking with one of the guys on the men's swimming team at NYU about it. He was saying how much he hated the rain and that it really got him down. I said to him that he should never move to the Pacific Northwest. His response was "where's the Pacific Northwest?"
Awesome.
Awesome.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
crap
Lauren likes to drop the Snoop Dog line "if it ain't one thing it's a motherfucking other" whenever it feels timely. Unfortunately in Smith Family daily life, she has the opportunity to use it more often than not.
Case in point: Lauren has been feeling great and is all geared up for the big surgery this coming Monday. Her stomach pains have stayed away and she is rockin' it.
Our poor Dad, on the other hand, had another fall early this week, tore much of his skin up, fractured a vertebrae in the fall, and is in the hospital in a brace. He had been feeling like royal dog shit for about a month, has scarily low platelet counts, and can't shake the pneumonia he has had. The doctors (and my Dad as well) thinks he must have blacked out because everything is so jacked up, causing the fall. : (
Another shitty ass reminder that our war is on two fronts.
The good news is that he's actually feeling okay. He is pretty doped up, so he isn't in any pain and they are doing all sorts of tests to figure out what is going on with his blood counts. Hopefully they can learn what is happening and do something to fix it. I just talked with him and he sounded much better than I thought he would. Definitely drugged and tired, but good. After he fell asleep while talking to me (and SNORING right into the phone), I let him go back to sleep. I know I'm boring at times, but that bad? Again, at least he is in no pain and just resting. B-Dogg is on the Mom & Dad watch and helping them out with everything, but it is still hard not to be there to help.
Cancer sucks!!! And whatever my family did in a former life must have been really, really terrible, because this karma is a major downer.
Case in point: Lauren has been feeling great and is all geared up for the big surgery this coming Monday. Her stomach pains have stayed away and she is rockin' it.
Our poor Dad, on the other hand, had another fall early this week, tore much of his skin up, fractured a vertebrae in the fall, and is in the hospital in a brace. He had been feeling like royal dog shit for about a month, has scarily low platelet counts, and can't shake the pneumonia he has had. The doctors (and my Dad as well) thinks he must have blacked out because everything is so jacked up, causing the fall. : (
Another shitty ass reminder that our war is on two fronts.
The good news is that he's actually feeling okay. He is pretty doped up, so he isn't in any pain and they are doing all sorts of tests to figure out what is going on with his blood counts. Hopefully they can learn what is happening and do something to fix it. I just talked with him and he sounded much better than I thought he would. Definitely drugged and tired, but good. After he fell asleep while talking to me (and SNORING right into the phone), I let him go back to sleep. I know I'm boring at times, but that bad? Again, at least he is in no pain and just resting. B-Dogg is on the Mom & Dad watch and helping them out with everything, but it is still hard not to be there to help.
Cancer sucks!!! And whatever my family did in a former life must have been really, really terrible, because this karma is a major downer.
Monday, October 26, 2009
le retour breve
Looks like I'll be coming home for a couple of weeks! I'll be in Oregon in mid-November. Our Mom wants to come spend time with Lauren and help out after her surgery, so I'll head back west to stay with Dad. I'm hoping to scootch down to Eugene for a day or two while I'm there. That way I can get some clothes out of storage (the selection I brought here is odd at best) and deal with my old apartment drama. My property management company is saying that I owe $1000 in "damages" to the apartment!!!! I'm not exaggerating one bit. Well, it is $953, but close enough. It is so absurd and hilarious that I cannot even get stressed about it. Anyway, moral of the story is I'll be home for a little chunk of time and am already dreaming of Cafe Yumm and a giant cold Ninkasi.
Fail
I was so excited for the All-Star philosophy lineup panel last Thursday. Habermas, Judith Butler, Cornel West, and Charles Taylor is pretty incredible, really. I got all ready (for me this now means I wasn't in workout gear & smelling like chlorine). As I headed out though I got two bad omens.
Bad Omen #1: I saw the world's most giant rat in the subway. We're talking medium sized cat here. With the longest nasty ass tail imaginable. I still shudder thinking about this thing slinking along the disgustingly dirty tracks. Bllleeek.
Bad Omen #2: I was sandwiched in next to two young women on the subway. I couldn't escape them or their ridiculous conversation that was all about Louis Vitton bags. I have no idea how to spell Vitton and I'm perfectly comfortable with that, just for the record. The one girl talking the most had this gross thick New Jersey accent and so hearing her talk endlessly about "Louis" bags was audibly painful. The clincher was when she was couldn't believe the audacity of a woman who had a knock off bag and dared to walk into the LV store. I think the quote was "can you believe that bitch walking into the Louis store with a fake?!?!" It was like she was talking about the worst crime anyone could ever imagine. I wanted to find that revolting rat and stash it in her revolting Louis bag.
Anyway, after this whole traumatizing exchange, I knew things were looking grim. I got to the building where the talk was and there was a big crowd standing outside. Apparently other people are as obsessed as I am and I should have been there an hour earlier to get in. The room was at capacity, so nobody else could go in. Damn it. I missed my chance big time.
I'm determined to find some other cool event to go to though and this time I'll plan better. And hopefully I won't see any rats.
Bad Omen #1: I saw the world's most giant rat in the subway. We're talking medium sized cat here. With the longest nasty ass tail imaginable. I still shudder thinking about this thing slinking along the disgustingly dirty tracks. Bllleeek.
Bad Omen #2: I was sandwiched in next to two young women on the subway. I couldn't escape them or their ridiculous conversation that was all about Louis Vitton bags. I have no idea how to spell Vitton and I'm perfectly comfortable with that, just for the record. The one girl talking the most had this gross thick New Jersey accent and so hearing her talk endlessly about "Louis" bags was audibly painful. The clincher was when she was couldn't believe the audacity of a woman who had a knock off bag and dared to walk into the LV store. I think the quote was "can you believe that bitch walking into the Louis store with a fake?!?!" It was like she was talking about the worst crime anyone could ever imagine. I wanted to find that revolting rat and stash it in her revolting Louis bag.
Anyway, after this whole traumatizing exchange, I knew things were looking grim. I got to the building where the talk was and there was a big crowd standing outside. Apparently other people are as obsessed as I am and I should have been there an hour earlier to get in. The room was at capacity, so nobody else could go in. Damn it. I missed my chance big time.
I'm determined to find some other cool event to go to though and this time I'll plan better. And hopefully I won't see any rats.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
whew......
Good news from the hospital yesterday:
YAAAYYYYYYYY!
Good news from the hospital! Lauren is out of surgery and the doctor did NOT, I repeat did NOT see any spreading of the cancer!!!!
HOORAY!!!!!!!
Lauren is resting in the recovery area now, drugged up and sleepy. Mike and I are finally done peeing our respective pants with happiness and are hanging out in the waiting area.
She may have to stay overnight, but she also may be able to head home. We'll know in a few hours. Until then, she is just going to rest (and get coffee and OJ when she wakes up - she hasn't had anything to eat or drink all day!).
Mike gave her the good news and even in her narco-floating state, she was very, very happy. He then gave her an Anika-inspired "good job, Aunt Lo Lo!"
Thanks so much for all of the wonderful energy sent this way. This is great news and we are VERY relieved!
And big fatty thanks to Katie Clancy La Vine for being such a supportive and fabulous advocate and friend here at Sloan-Kettering. You rock!
They will do a few tests on the fluids from Lauren's innards, but we are looking forward to the big tag-team surgery on November 2nd. And not only because the colon surgeon happens to be strikingly attractive. That just makes this whole mess a smidgen less painful : )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today we are to stay home and relax. Lauren has big cuts and some bruising on her gut and is supposed to take it easy. Relaxing and taking it easy are not two of Lauren's skills. In fact, I look very low key compared to her. We are trying (and nagging) though.
It was a long day yesterday, but thankfully I get to celebrate tonight by going to a panel discussion near NYU with Judith Butler, Habermas, Charles Taylor AND Cornel West on it!! One of my advisors, Lennie told me about it and I'm SOO excited! It'll be a great break from the last couple of weeks and a nice reminder of my "old" life.
YAAAYYYYYYYY!
Good news from the hospital! Lauren is out of surgery and the doctor did NOT, I repeat did NOT see any spreading of the cancer!!!!
HOORAY!!!!!!!
Lauren is resting in the recovery area now, drugged up and sleepy. Mike and I are finally done peeing our respective pants with happiness and are hanging out in the waiting area.
She may have to stay overnight, but she also may be able to head home. We'll know in a few hours. Until then, she is just going to rest (and get coffee and OJ when she wakes up - she hasn't had anything to eat or drink all day!).
Mike gave her the good news and even in her narco-floating state, she was very, very happy. He then gave her an Anika-inspired "good job, Aunt Lo Lo!"
Thanks so much for all of the wonderful energy sent this way. This is great news and we are VERY relieved!
And big fatty thanks to Katie Clancy La Vine for being such a supportive and fabulous advocate and friend here at Sloan-Kettering. You rock!
They will do a few tests on the fluids from Lauren's innards, but we are looking forward to the big tag-team surgery on November 2nd. And not only because the colon surgeon happens to be strikingly attractive. That just makes this whole mess a smidgen less painful : )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today we are to stay home and relax. Lauren has big cuts and some bruising on her gut and is supposed to take it easy. Relaxing and taking it easy are not two of Lauren's skills. In fact, I look very low key compared to her. We are trying (and nagging) though.
It was a long day yesterday, but thankfully I get to celebrate tonight by going to a panel discussion near NYU with Judith Butler, Habermas, Charles Taylor AND Cornel West on it!! One of my advisors, Lennie told me about it and I'm SOO excited! It'll be a great break from the last couple of weeks and a nice reminder of my "old" life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
