Showing posts with label brain surgery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brain surgery. Show all posts

Friday, May 9, 2014

Kent's Surgery; and, Smile!

Well, we've had a couple of cooler days with rain.  Yesterday, at 4 in the afternoon, I was going out the front door of the complex, when I heard a tremendous BOOM followed by a whole bunch of crackling sounds - like bricks, rocks, or concrete raining down after an explosion.  I ran to look at surrounding buildings, but all were normal; then the skies opened to a very cold rain with a scattering of tiny hail.  I put my umbrella up and moved on....  At Lynn's house I ended up covering 6 of  her garden beds with a "wonder" fabric that allows light and moisture inside, but is supposed to keep out the cold.  It was 35 degrees here this morning.
   And we are forecast, for Mother's Day (Sunday), to have snow....   We've just had 4 days with highs in the 80s - I think Mother Nature is playing with us.

   Brother-in-law Kent Snow had another huge operation at the Mayo Clinic today.  The Doctors told the family that they got 99 to 100% of the brain tumor removed.  And they don't believe that there was much collateral damage to his normal brain functions.  His wife, kids, and sister Fran are with him there; now awaiting his return to consciousness from the anesthesia...  Please send out good  thoughts, healing thoughts and prayers for Kent.

  And, just because I'm a wacky, silly, crazy person, here are a few photos that make me smile:





And, still my favorite:


Sunday, December 8, 2013

Snowing Again; Bits & Pieces

Sunday morning, seven degrees outside, and snow is lightly falling...  I've walked to the bakery, fed my kits, cleaned their litter boxes, taken out trash, read the newspaper and put out food for the outdoors critters - wasteless bird seed for the juncos, sparrows, and finches; baguette rounds for the crows, ravens, and cowbirds; and a combination of peanuts, pecans, and walnuts for the squirrels.  I've had my breakfast, listened to the local news and taken care of my e-mails and facebook page; now it's time for the blog....
   As the family understood it, the surgeon was to drill a small hole in Kent's skull Friday to perform the biopsy on his brain tumor.  Instead, he removed a piece of skull the size of a person's hand; then he shaved bone from the interior of the skull before replacing it...  Why?  We found out that Kent cannot undergo either chemo- or radiation therapy until his skull seals, or re-knits/heals.  As the amount of time that will take is unknown, and due to the fact that Kent's tumor is growing rapidly, the surgeon wanted to be sure that Kent's brain would not be cramped, or under more pressure, as the tumor grows, or in case his brain begins to swell.  The surgeon said Kent had a wonderfully thick skull, and he was certain that he was able to make enough space, if it's needed.  Now we have to wait for a full-body CAT scan today, and the results of the biopsy, which will, hopefully, be available on Wednesday.
  I wrote about a month ago regarding a case of animal cruelty - Caitin Lesko had taken her young French bulldog to the vet for treatment, but when she was told the cost of setting Bamboo's two broken legs, as well as the cost of treatment for the burns covering half of his tummy, the woman left.  The veterinarian's office called the police to report a possible case of animal cruelty.  The lady was arrested, and the dog taken to the Humane Society of Boulder Valley.  The pup has since been adopted out to a new family.  Ms Lesko was originally charged with a misdemeanor pet cruelty charge; it has now been raised to a felony count.  And, during the investigation of the case, the police found that Bamboo was one of a pair of puppies that Ms Lesko and her boyfriend had purchased.  The other puppy, unfortunately, is dead.  It was strangled to death by Ms Lesko's boyfriend.  The couple had the puppies in bed with them - a king sized bed, raised quite high from the floor.  French bulldogs have short little legs.  The now dead puppy had to use the bathroom, but was afraid to jump down from the bed - at 8 weeks, he used the bathroom on the bed.  The boyfriend woke up and strangled the puppy to death because it had used the bed as the ground.  The boyfriend did take the puppy to a vet, appearing very agitated when he was told the puppy was dead.  The man had given a fake name and address to the vet's office, so even though it was reported as a suspected animal cruelty case, it could not be followed up by investigators.  Now the boyfriend is facing felony animal cruelty charges, as well.  I say: Hooray for our investigators!  This type of nonsense must cease!
  Back in June, Boulder was shocked by the stabbing and death of a 17-year-old high school student who was camping out with friends near Nederland.  The man (20 years old) charged with the murder was a previous classmate of the deceased.  On Friday he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and stated he was under the influence of LSD, psychotropic mushrooms, and "moonshine" at the time.
   Also, the young lady that lives next to me, and who screams in anger and frustration, has allowed her abusive boyfriend back into her life.  I have seen him multiple times during the past week.  I called the police once, to see if he was still "banned from the building" but received no answer - even though they came to Britta's apartment to be certain she was safe.  So I guess he's allowed back on the premises - and, unless I hear something truly horrendous from next door, I'll be ignoring their shouting and screaming and the sound of thuds of body blows and furniture being thrown around.  Poor little girl... he's got her convinced that he is the only person who will ever love her.  It's the same old abuse story all over again...
   And, finally, I rooted for three college teams yesterday during the "College Football Championship" day.  Each one of those teams lost.  I feel like my support is the kiss of death at the moment.  Hopefully, the Broncos will the Tennessee Titans in today's game - if not, then I'll know I need to stop watching  for the rest of the season....

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Request For Healing Thoughts and Prayers

One of my very good friends is under-going back surgery today - Larry is retired from the US Navy, he loves his hawg, he loves to fish, and he has a great sense of humor.  The MDs say it's a five-hour procedure - they have to remove hardware from a spinal fusion back in the 1980s, and then re-do the fusion, using today's techniques.  Larry will miss 7 months of work - and I'll miss him, because he's one of my favorite bus drivers.  (Plus, he's been to Chincoteague many times and understands the way my brain works.)  I'm asking for thoughts of healing and prayers to whomever you worship for him.
  I'm also asking for prayers and healing thoughts to be sent to my brother-in-law's youngest brother, Kent, in South Dakota.  Kent is the youngest of six siblings; two weeks ago, his wife had a biopsy done on her lymph nodes, which turned out benign.  However, while Vanessa was in the hospital, Kent began having terribly painful headaches.  He was admitted to the hospital with bleeding inside his brain.  The MRIs showed a pinpoint spot in his brain, but three surgeons couldn't agree what it was.  Kent has been at home resting, and went back for another MRI Tuesday.  Yesterday, he was told there is a tumor growing at a rapid pace deep inside his brain - in two weeks it has grown from a pinpoint to 3 centimeters by 4 centimeters in size.  The tumor is so deeply embedded that the MDs say they can only biopsy an extremely small piece of the tumor without doing damage to Kent's brain.  The biopsy will be done tomorrow.  Again, I ask for healing thoughts and prayers to be sent for Kent and his family in South Dakota.   His wife, Vanessa, and children, Dominique and Karissa, could also use a little boost of positive vibrations.
   Thank You!