Friday, February 16, 2018

Makoshika State Park and Dinosaur Dave

    These are some of the views of Makoshika, which is just outside Glendive, Mt where I grew up.
We hiked and played in the area, never realizing it was rich with dinosaur bones and impressions in the sandstone. 

My nephew Dave is Dinosaur Dave there and shows this T-Rex rib in the sandstone.


This is a Triceratops jawbone which is at the Museum of the Rockies.  Dave found it several years ago and submitted it to the museum.















Valentines 2014

Tuesday night Maria picked me up and went to dinner at Hennessey's in  La Jolla with Maria, Johnny, Mitch, Bahia and Matt.  Did not take any pictures.  I had the 
local burger.  It was half price night.  Johnny gave Maria and I red roses.


 And when I came home there was a beautiful bouquet on my bedside that Camber had brought.


Wednesday I ran all kinds of errands like cleaning, getting hair appointments for Sadie and me, and the Walmart run.  I am off the pain pills now and get more fatigues it seemed.  I wish I had used the sitz bath when I had Linda, that works really well for a sore bottom.  Healing well.

Monday, February 12, 2018

Health Summary to Save


Surgery History       Janet E Hardy  1/22/33

Surgery in Glendive, MT tonsil removal in grade school

Sharp Hospital in San Diego I had three caesareans and one natural birth from 1960 through 1966.  At my last cesarean, they also tied my tubes and removed my appendix.   Stripped Varicose Veins six weeks after birth.

Hysterectomy and tied up my bladder in 1967 at Scripps La Jolla. 

Scripps La Jolla I was in traction for my back for 1 week in 1977 and the resection of my finger in 1979 (chopped off in blender), 

Scripps Mercy I had the carotid surgery in 2010 by Dr. James Hemp,

Green Hospital the lumbar laminectomy in 2011 by Dr. Roger Thorne,

Colonoscopy in 2011 in Escondido by Dr. Feldman,

Cataract Surgery for the right eye in 2013 by Dr. Christopher Hsu at El Cajon Hospital,

Endoscopy and Colonoscopy with polypectomy on 1/30/2018 by Dr. Gauree Konijeti (woman), 

Transanal excision of the ulcerated pedunculated rectal mass (prolapsed polyp)  by Dr. Lynn Weston in 2/72018.  No Cancer.

Information on General Health

Often had stomach aches—1956 found nothing but a wrinkled stomach lining which suggested I would be irritated by acidity, etc.

UTI’s---Sinus Problems—Sore Throats—Uterus pushing on Bladder prompted Hysterectomy

Gained over 50 lbs after going into the mortgage business in the ’80s-’90s

High Cholesterol

Checked for Ulcers in late 70’s, stomach aches, nausea from apple peelings, etc

Occasionally vomiting and diarrhea

2007 sudden diarrhea prompted checking for celiac—negative, diagnosed as IBS…had been working in disaster service and taking Pepto Bismol, Metamucil, antacids—lots of fast food etc.

Discovered direct relationship to gluten and diarrhea—went gluten-free

Still digestive problems, frequent UTIs, fungus (yeast infections) discovered Specific Carbohydrate Diet in 2014—went sugar-free in 2015 and felt really good but not always consistent, lost some weight, weak immune system

2016 cardiologist sees me regularly…need oxygen at night, no diabetes, no answers on UTIs and Yeast infections

Summer 2017 lots of phlegm in throat got worse…went dairy-free except for some hard cheese, little butter,  Eating less sugar

Fall 2017, more diarrhea after 2 months of antibiotic, went really strict on SCD diet, lost more weight but felt healthiest ever but determined to find the cause of sudden watery diarrhea in late November, no UTI, no yeast infections, feeling good not eating any sugar except honey

Colonoscopy and Endoscopy, Surgery January and February 2018—no cancer or disease, going to dietician and also get Breath Test in search for digestive problems—Went from 196 lbs in 1996 to 129 lbs in 2018---Feeling healthy and energetic—Cardiologist happy about weight loss—sugar-free

Need to have Primary Doctor at Scripps to use when in San Diego and when I move back.

Winter Formal--Jimmy and Friends


 Lots of girls, less boys...interesting.





Sunday, February 11, 2018

The Surgery and Result

I hardly slept at all on Tuesday night, February 6, 2018.  The removal of the fiery mass was to be today.  James drove me over to Scripps and I was urging him to hurry from outside his bedroom door but it only took 10 minutes even with the fog and darkness on the roads we took.  We were still there at 5:22 am...early.

James parked right in front and walked in with me and although it said to check in downstairs the receptionist said I should check in there and she accepted my Directive to be put in the file.  Seems I always end up at Scripps for my procedures, they should have it.

Maria arrived and we went downstairs to Surgery reception and James left when a nurse came for us and we spent the next hour and a half preparing for surgery.  She told us about My Scripps as an app where we could view all my medical information but she thought we needed a code.  Maria was able to figure it out and we read that all my blood work was normal.  Ekg looked good.  The CT Scan was not in there yet. More information needs to be added for a complete record...I could supply some.  I gave the nurse the release to send pertinent information to my D.O. in Chester Dr. Nilhoufar Salhiji from both Dr. Konijeti and Dr. Weston.

Dr. Kim the anesthesiologist came and asked questions, the stress test from Dr. Fletcher was not in the file.  Then Dr. Weston came and she had received the stress test late yesterday and said it was a medium in June 1917 (not as good as I had implied--or as recent).  I told her I was in much better shape now as I was about 25 pounds heavier in June.  She asked me how I did with stair climbing and I told her I am running up and down them all day and no problem.  I weighed in at 128.9 and 5 ft 3 1/2 inches today.  As I said before, she seemed more worried about a heart attack on the table than what she was going to do.

Next thing I knew I was in surgery and Dr. Kim explained I would be in the typical wman gyno exam with my feed in stirrups  (I had asked...always curious)1for the surgery but they would not be doing that until I was asleep.  It will be a general anesthesia and not a spinal.  I assured him I had never vomited.  The only problem I had was having a stuffed nose and difficulty in breathing but since I gave up dairy last summer the phlegm was no longer a problem.  Interesting he said.

I woke up but was cold, the nurse seemed to be in a hurry to get me out but I know she has others coming in.  The next nurse I was taken to was very cheerful and I was soon dressed and ready to go home.  Maria was there and we head back on 101 and to the pharmacist.

The recovery has been fairly smooth and new favorite treatment is the sitz bath.  Maria bought it when she picked up my prescription on the way home.  One of the medications cost $259 (for numbing the area) so the pharmacist recommended taking an over the counter which was 4% lidocaine instead of 5%.  It works fine and I noticed the one they sent home with me was only 4% also.  The pain pills are great.  I can see why people could get addicted to them.  At any rate I think she must have done a very careful cut because my pain is not that bad!!!

Sunday on my phone I finally got the final result of the pathology report!!!  (I could have had it sooner but my phone froze and I didn't figure out how to unfreeze it until this morning.)  It is clear and I am definitely A-ok with no cancer!!!  Yea!!!  I do have some high numbers on the CT Scan and am being sent to my urologist to see what that is all about and I do have gallstones but they are not blocking anything and I do not have kidney stones so what is the high numbers about?  We will see maybe tomorrow, nice my urologist is so close.

The only surgery I had in Glendive was the tonsil removal.  At Sharp Hospital in San Diego I had three caesareans and one natural birth from 1960 through 1966.  At my last ceasarean they also tied my tubes and removed my appendix.  I had a hysterectomy and tied up my bladder in 1967 at Scripps La Jolla.  At Scripps La Jolla I was in traction for my back for 1 week in 1977 and the resection of my finger in 1979 (chopped off in blender),  At Scripps Mercy I had the carotid surgery in 2010 by Dr James Hemp, At Green Hospital the lumbar laminectomy in 2011 by Dr Roger Thorne, Colonoscopy in 2011 in Escondido by Dr. Feldman, Cataract Surgery for right eye in 2013 by Dr. Christopher Hsu at El Cajon Hospital, Endoscopy and Colonscopy with polypectomy on Friday by Dr. Gauree Konijeti (woman),  and now the transanal excision of the ulcerated pedunculated rectal mass (rectal polypod)  by Dr. Lynn Weston (woman) in 2018.  Dr. Diana Kang is my Scripps Urologist in Encinitas.

Thursday, February 08, 2018

Wednesday, February 07, 2018

Visitors at First Grade





Picnic Time in February?

Taking advantage of this lush weather in San Diego this winter, the great grands have a picnic with their friends.  So cute!  Look at their transportation on the top of the pix!




 





A Model? No, It Is Linda!


Wow, Linda is in Hawaii and shows us her totally in tone body!!!  Congratulations on staying fit!!!

Fantastic!

More Procedures

Tuesday before my Wednesday surgery I planned to bring in food I can eat for the next week or two, possibly see my dermatologist about the itchy head, buy a nightgown or two but the call came before I even bathed and dressed.

Lily from Scripps was trying to set up an appointment for the CT Scan.  Really, I thought that I had been canceled.  Am I just writing my own story here instead of following the program???  She checked and she said, no, you need to get the CT Scan.  I told her I had surgery tomorrow so not sure when I would be available.

She said, how far away are you?  Can you come in today?  I live in Del Mar, 20 minutes away.  Yes, I can come in.  When did you last eat and drink?  I will call you right back.

I missed the call at 8:30 but thought I better see if she left a voice mail.  She did, can I be there by 9:30?

Wow, no makeup, no hair wash and I was in hurry up mode.  However, once I got there, things slowed waaaaay down.....and it was cold there.  I had not thought about sitting for so long.  I was brought blankets without even asking, warm out of the oven? blankets.  When I finally emerged at lunch time, I headed straight for El Loco Pollo and ordered to go my Classic Chicken Salad and then up to Rite Aid for the prescription of oxybutynin they filled yesterday.  I was tired already!!!I

So, they did the blood draw to check on my liver and kidneys yesterday, the EKG, and today the CT Scan.  What have they learned...it is midnight and surgery is at 7:30...and I have not been told to not come in so I guess I am well enough to proceed.  I can't sleep...but I slept a little early on in the evening.

I was so tired I got into bed by 6 PM and Camber, James, Kelsi and Jimmy came up and said a prayer for me with Kelsi as the voice.  Very sweet and loving.

Maria will meet us at 5:30 AM at Green Hospital at Scripps, I pray all will go well and the pathology reports continue to come out clean and they tell me my liver, kidneys and heart are all ship shape!!! And I pray the pain is not toooo bad and I recoup really fast without a lot of bleeding, pain and all that!

Oh, and I wonder if they ever got the Stress test from Dr. Fletcher and was it too old.   I guess everything is on the computer, I do not have to show any cards or ID anymore I guess even the picture is in there.  Where would we all be without the computer????




Saturday, February 03, 2018

Jacob Turns 19!

These are some of the pix that were on Instagram honoring Jacob.J







It Is Not Over till It Is Over!!!

Friday morning I met with Dr. Weston, the colorectal surgeon.  I liked her a lot.  She regarded me as very healthy till she starts looking in my records in the computer.  Then she starts asking lots of questions and I am afraid I did not ask her all I should.

She confirmed as truth what I said about hemorrhoids and cancer.  She said this mass looked like a polyp but it is so lowdown when I asked her what it was.  It has been called a mass, a tumor, a ulcer, a polyp.  One thing for sure it has to come off and we need to make sure there is nothing going on underneath.  Will it be a clean cut or will she half to cut off some of my sphincter muscles and, or .... is not certain.  Will I have more damage than just a sore bottom, possibly.  I had to sign off on possibilities...but I did not get a copy of what I signed off on, yet.

Monday I go in at 10 and her assistant will give me a package and take me down to blood testing and all of that.  I will learn more I hope.

Dr. Weston seemed more concerned about the possibility of me having a heart attack on the table and so we sent for the last stress test I had with Dr. Fletcher, my cardio doctor.  I thought it was October but it may have been June.  October would give her assurance as I remember my doctor saying "I aced my stress test but I am not getting enough oxygen at night."  June may be too far away to be of much help and assurance to her.  She said the surgery .I had on Tuesday I was not fully "out" as I will be for this one coming up on Wednesday morning at 9:30 AM.  Yes, she is doing an emergency "fit me in somewhere now" surgery and not waiting.

Scripps Clinic is a very busy place.  I had the colonoscopy/endoscopy in the North Building and met with her in the Anderson Pavillion...not sure where the surgery will be.  My carotid surgery was downtown, my stenosis surgery was in Green Hospital.  I don't think I will be staying overnight anywhere with this surgery on Wednesday.  Will depend on what she finds and has todo I would assume.

I learned some more and see what it is important to identify what the mass is.  You see fissures and ulcers in colitis and Crohns disease.  Polyps can turn into cancer but it takes time and all do not.  If polyps are found they are usually cut off during the colonoscopy.  If they are found once they usually return and so you should have colonoscopies every 3 to 5 yrs instead of waiting 7 to 10.

Friday, February 02, 2018

Game Night for Mitch,, Bahia, Johnny and Maria


The Cancer Scare

The Saturday after I came to Del Mar Maria took me to UTC for lunch, shopping, and a movie.  We ate at a fresh salad place and it was lots of very small cut fresh salad.  The next morning I had extreme diarrhea. It was enough to make me call a Gastroenterologist at Scripps.

When I met with her and told her my diarrhea history, my discovery of gluten as a culprit and giving it up, the giving up of dairy to get rid of the extreme phlegm, and the digestive problems after doing Disaster Duty for five years and what I was doing about that.   She said,, "We could all hope to be as healthy at 85 as you look but the weight loss is a concern. We need to see if there is any reason for it and the diarrhea. It may just be that your body is getting back to what it should be after years of feeding it the wrong foods."  The diarrhea this last time could have been from ecoli or something from the salad.  Maria had had a loose stool also, mine was more extreme.

I had told her about the Specific Carbohydrate Diet and she was familiar with it and commended me for sticking with something that was working for me. Tuesday I went in for the Colonoscopy and Endoscopy. Camber went with me and the Doctor told her about the angry looking tumor and that a CT Scan was ordered, a rush was put on the Pathology reports and an Appointment with the Colorectal Surgeon was ordered.  When I awoke after a good nap after coming home I did the research on the internet looking up all the terms that were used in describing everything.

"1 cm ulcerated friable pedunculated rectal masses just proximal to anal verge."  It looked like CANCER!  Camber felt the Doctor was telling her it looked like cancer.  I began reading more and shared the results with family.  Camber had called my family and Wednesday evening Tanner, Marissa, Gary, and Linda came over.  They gave me a beautiful blessing with James as voice.

The more I read the more I realized I might have a colostomy and be wearing a bag.  I was frightened, depressed,  and bewildered.  I felt healthier than I had in years.  With sticking to the SCD I was energetic and had dropped a few dress sizes.  The last pair of jeans I bought was size 6.  I had no stomach aches, no diarrhea, no leg aches, no knee aches.  Why this when I was feeling so well!!!

What I thought was a hemorrhoid was the ugly beast.  I learned that hemorrhoids and cancer have the same symptoms and can look the same.  The difference is that hemorrhoids come and go but cancer stays and grows.  I had called the Dr about four weeks before my surgery and said I thought my hemorrhoid was getting bigger and should we get rid of that before the colonoscopy.  The message came back to use Preparation H on it, etc.  I did.  It did not get smaller!  And now I find out it was not a hemorrhoid at all but this mass!!!  I also learned that 90% of colon cancer patients thought they had hemorrhoids and that colonoscopies should start when people are in there 50s and not so much later.  The way to prevent was eating lots of fiber, lots of Vitamin D and not being so sedentary, at least 30 minutes of exercise a day.

Wednesday I had a sleepless night.  I started out listening to my music which always brings back the memory of happy moments and times in my life.  I was so grateful for so many.  But then the thoughts of all the losses in my life and the sadness sets in and the question of WHY---And all the challenges I have had to go through alone...after Richard's death and then John's death, having to sell the RB home, too and now probably the Lake Almanor, the economic condition of my life, Why, Why, and now this.  I was so grateful the Lord was always with me and helped me get through it all and many blessings but still so hard, so alone, so alone, so little to show after a lifetime of doing my best, of working so hard, of taking on every new challenge and making it work but so alone, I really pled with the Lord that I just could not go through another big thing, I had lived my life, I did not need to keep on and have more pain, why not just take me home, let me give up, I did not want to go through this, I cried, I cried a lot.  I seldom cry, I have always held back from that but I cried and I pleaded.  Still in the morning I woke and knew I would go through it and it looked like with the position of the mass it would be the worst.  I cried with Camber some more and shared my feelings when I went down to walk with the dogs. I remembered that Melissa had said I was so strong and the Lord wouldn't make me do anything I couldn't do and I could do it!!!  I had had so many encouraging things said to me by friends and family and that part was so helpful to me.

After I dried my hair I saw that I had had a call from Scripps.  I listened to the phone message and the Dr said the report had come back that it was a Benign, prolapsed polyp...What?!!!! I was as shocked to get the message as I was to get the first report of the mass!!!!  I ran downstairs to James' office and he was on the CALL...I said, " it is BEGIGN" and he muted the phone and had me repeat it and then excitedly went back to his call and said he had just had some really great news...

Anyway in the rest of the call she said had talked to the surgeon and I should still keep my appointment and probably have it removed to rule out whether something else was going on, to keep my appointment tomorrow and go from there but all in all the primary results looked good and she would go over the rest with me later.  ( She had removed two polyps but did not cut this mass off because it could have affected my bowel movements and so she had referred me to the Correctal Cancer Surgeon for that.)  

Later her assistant called and called it an ulcer and not a polyp and explained the difference a little.  But she told me that there was nothing in my system causing the weight loss or the diarrhea so to continue my eating plan as it was working.  Everything else looked clear and I should see the surgeon and go from there.  So the Gastroenterologist was writing me off as not having anything wrong with my digestive system.  The pictures really look clear, there was little redness in the stomach and I forgot to ask about that but they had taken biopsies all the way up and down and all were clear!!!!

It was not until later when Carole sent me a text and said she thought it was a shame that the Dr had told me cancer when it was not definite yet.  And I thought, did she ever mention the CANCER word???  The thing she told me at the bedside was to keep doing my way of eating is all I remember.  I was groggy.  She talked to Camber, I did all my deducing of cancer from the report I read and questioning the internet and getting a world of information.  Camber said she definitely said, it looked like a very angry tumor and she thought she had used the cancer word.  I got the feeling the Dr was as shocked as I was that it was benign from the way she sounded on the phone...Why would the report say it may be several days before I get the results but then in an update say the pathology reports were being rushed, the scan had been ordered, the appointment with the colorectal surgeon was being made and that assistant say they were called for an emergency appointment if it was not thought to be cancer.  It appeared it was assumed to be cancer but the word was not in the report, of course.  

Nevertheless the whole process really made me reflect on my situation and my health and my life and made me very grateful for all the blessings I have had, all the help from the Lord in everything I did, and the knowledge that I was so blessed to have family who were concerned and helpful to me, friends who cared and shared my pain and prayed for me and the knowledge that I can do what I have to do and so grateful I really am healthy...at least as far as my digestive system is concerned!!!  I intend to live every moment as well as I can and as healthy as I can and be very, very grateful that I escaped the big C!!!!!!  Or am I assuming too much again????


Monday, January 29, 2018

Maria and Melissa in New York City!!!


I really enjoyed seeing all the fun pictures of Maria and Melissa's trip to New York City.  They were celebrating the recent achieving of Melissa getting her Masters Degree!!  Here are just of few of the pix.












John Hardy Memorial Hike 2015

My Life So Far