Good afternoon, AU family!

I have so much good news to report regarding Wayne's recovery from surgery last week!

Today was a HUGE day! Physical therapy had him doing chair pushups (dips), etc. Then came Speech therapy & he was able to put the one-way valve on his trach & surprised the therapist with the strength of his voice! He got his reward - that much hoped-for cup of ice chips! (He has had nothing by mouth since last Wednesday).

Cheeky monkey! He had asked for some water & a swab to rinse his mouth out... As I turned my back to fetch something else, I caught motion out of the corner of my eye... the sly bugger had taken a sip from the cup!

He will officially start liquids tomorrow, but they want to be sure he's not leaking into any tissues anywhere from the mouth.

He is cleared to get a wheelchair, even with all the IV pole, He's very keen to get rolling since I told him it would reduce the swelling in his arms & hands...

cont'd

God bless 🙏 I hope for a blessed speedy recovery.

Thank you, Jody!

It will take about a year, I think. We've decided not to do the radiation & chemo, because we all know what damage they do.

If anyone does not know, just ask@Dennis1776, he's been through it - radiation & chemo AT THE SAME TIME! 😱

Squamous cell carcinoma is one of the most easily cured cancers. As soon as Wayne is allowed drinks, he will be getting distilled water with some baking soda in it to help with pH issues...

When we get home, we both go on a program of Ivermectin (I have some issues with residual from a bad mold exposure in 2017 & I'm just betting the IVM will help me, too.)

I'll be meeting with the dietician to explain why we don't want any shakes or formulas that contain soy or canola oil (hard on pancreas & liver). I'll give her my own recipe & ask if he wants to "tweak it." If he insists on pushing something else, well, then, his services will not be required.

And that's FINAL!

You sound as though, you are on this! I am so glad he has you to navigate through it. My sister’s boyfriend is doing both chemo and radiation atm. It is horrible! I wish you both health and happiness. May the Lord continue to bless you. Thanks for sharing your journey with us. 🙏❤️

I'm so sorry to hear you're going through this, too, Jody.

We are NOT doing radiation or chemo. @Dennis1776 did that & he regrets it. They burned out his salivary glands & he almost lost his esophagus! 😲

We want that Quantum Unified Field technology & the Scalar Wave room...

That, plus a course of Ivermectin, plus the shakes I make, loaded with fresh turmeric root from the garden (with the skin ON because the skin contains lots of anti-tumor constituents), along with black pepper to potentiate the turmeric, plus the good mushrooms & some maca powder (an adaptogen, which helps the body handle stress).

The docs don't know it yet, but Dr. Hasney is convinced he got it all. He told me post surgery, that he didn't have to take as much bone out because it was good, healthy bone... They were going to take the whole jaw, but Wayne got to keep about 40-45% of it.

I'm thinking God began healing Wayne before he could get to surgery.

That's my story & I'm sticking to it.

Thank you. How horrible for Dennis! 😔
I am taking notes, I appreciate you walking us through your journey. Through God, anything is possible. 🙏❤️ Please keep us updated when you can hun! We’re all pulling for him! He has a pretty spectacular Lady. God bless, always. 🙏💋

Aww, shucks, ma'am! You make me blush. I'm only doing my little bit - patient advocacy. God is doing all of the heavy lifting & placing His people in the right positions to do the most good!

We have angels all around us & we can FEEL them!

Beginning last night, lots more progress!

We got a new night nurse, Andre, a muscled Black man whose laugh is like warm honey on a sunny day, dripping down deep into my soul.

He is a traveling contract nurse, doing his bit in NOLA atm. Last night, we chatted about that useless JP drain & I used the "like teats on a bull" analogy. He threw back his head & laughed that deep, soulful laugh of his, then asked where we were from.

We said, "Texas," and he said, "Me, too!" I asked him what town & he said, "Lubbock." THAT had me. I told him, "I was born in Amarillo!" Then we hugged & it was Old Home Night. He went to Texas Tech University for nursing school & I graduated from West Texas A&M. Our schools were football rivals!

Andre took excellent care of us all night, even took Wayne's vitals without waking him up. He administered pain meds without waking him up & said, "I can tell he's having pain in his sleep because his heart's over 100 & the blood pressure's up a bit." All I could say was, "God bless you, Andre. I've been trying to explain this to the other nurses, but they don't believe me."

Next time I saw him, he was educating the other nurses on how to determine if a patient is in pain... AND he took it on himself to teach the others how to use the intraoral Doppler. Poor fellow never had time to get a bite of food, so I shared my bacon jerky & dried cherries with him, which he loved.

Then An was on duty today & he went through the motions with the Doppler, but never got a reading. He just faked the whole thing, but he didn't escape my notice. He got the stinkeye from me again.

Andre will be our night nurse again tonight and I hope he will be until we leave the hospital.

Bless Andre, we got the most sleep we've had so far... I got about 4 whole hours last night! Wayne got about 6, sleeping deeply.

This morning, Physical Therapy came & got Wayne up & walking with a walker, non-weight-bearing on the right leg. He made the whole circuit of the large room! She was well pleased with him.

After that, Speech Therapy came in & handed Wayne a cup of ice & worked with him with the 1-way valve, which he was wearing whenever not sleeping. She was pleased! (She's also from Mobile, AL & soon to move back home to be closer to family.)

Then Dr. Hasney visited & said Wayne would get a trial of drinking fluids & eating soft foods TOMORROW! He said if we get him eating & drinking, he can go home a couple days after.

Today, the ENT specialist came with a gift - an end cap for the trach. He said if Wayne can go 24 hours without breathing thru the trach, they will remove it & close the stoma! This is HEWGE, folks!

God is moving His hand & I SEE IT!

Bless his heart, the most painful spot right now is that road rash on his thigh, which they want open to air now.

He looked at me today & said, "I am so DONE with that camp toilet; I'm going to use the real bathroom." So I disconnected as much of the monitoring stuff as possible, along with feeding tube & Doppler lead & got him the walker & he got to the bathroom all by himself!

Grinning with success, he got himself back next to the bed & got into it, me standing there just in case. I had just finished making up the bed for him (the aide leaves big wrinkles & doesn't get it tucked in well).

Wayne couldn't stop grinning, said he "felt like a man again," LOL.

Wayne's pain had been at Level 7 after all the movement & working, but he waited patiently. An, the day nurse we got again today left to get his pain medication at 4pm and didn't come back until 6pm, saying he "forgot."

What kind of nurse "forgets" his patients in pain? I was seething & he could see it

I can read your words for hours! I am so glad you are meeting kind folks. A lot of them can miss things, thank God you are there to keep them in line. How very awesome to meet someone from your general area. One step at a time for Wayne. He sounds like he is getting along brilliantly. God is there carrying you both. Your eager approach is humbling, to say the least. I know it has to be difficult for you, those hospital minutes tick by like hours, when you’re tired, cold and worried. You make us feel like we are there with you both, which we are. Keep shining Sweetie! 🙏❤️

I'm just being ME, Jody. Everybody is taken, so I just gotta be me.

My Pop taught me when I was just a girl that if you have to eat a turd, there's no point nibbling.

So here it is. We deal with it. We ask Grandfather for help & support & to place the right folks in the right place at the right time to effect the best healing. He is so faithful & never late, although He does like to make an entrance!

Room temp is the hardest for me. When I have pain, I feel cold & my temp drops below normal, but this place is 67F! Of course, it prevents lots of nosocomial infections, so I'll roll with it. I did bring 2 pair of wool socks (and had them in the window to dry after washing them out, LOL). I have my big old robe I made back in 2010, complete with holes around the front shoulders & lapels from me catching sparks while lighting our fires in Uruguay, LOL... It's raggedy, but I don't care what anyone thinks about me. I'm not here to make friends; I'm here to support Wayne.

Omg 😂🤣 I think we were separated at birth! 😂 You are a breath of fresh air!! I love the look, you are kicking ass and taking names.
Living your best life, for you! Thank you for giving me this gut laugh. Remarkable, you are. 🙏❤️

LMFAO!!!

Remarkable, I dunno; unusual, for sure!

Can you IMAGINE a 130-lb. Vietnamese male nurse going up against me?

LOL - I have Aikido & TaiKwanDo, baby. I may be fat, but I'm VERY flexible!

Told Wayne it was a shame he had no balls for me to kick or at least manage to squash while innocently helping Wayne in & out of the bed or something... I'd find a way.

But what can you do with the nutless?

Just shake your head & try to talk sense into them, so I did that.

An & I "made nice" today & I became "Forgiveness Dog," LOL.

Lmao! 😂😭🤣😂🤣 You literally just knocked the wind out of me! 😂😂😂 Lady, you are something else! You ate not fat!! You are beautiful, truly. 💋

*are 😂

OK, so I need to take a break from cracking myself up & eat a bit of dinner...

It's 7pm and every cafe or cafeteria (same as "cafe" - selling premade junk food laced with poison) is closed.

I don't do vending machine poison. Pissed me off so much that this morning I bought a bottle of water & it turns out I paid $1.75 for "100% recycled" toilet water! Pffft! I don't drink that stuff, or even water my plants with it; it's full of other people's meds & stuff.

But I DID pack 5 cans of lovely sardines in olive oil & Wayne's ex sent a basket full of dried fruits, beef jerky & BACON JERKY!!!

I had a big salad earlier, so I'll be just fine...

Can you IMAGINE? A cancer hospital that sells toxic food & forces people to wear masks sterilized with ethylene oxide gas? I don't cover my nose - ever. People motion for me to do that, and I motion back. Their faces turn red & they leave rather quickly, LOL.

Not at a hospital! 🙄 Enjoy, that was awfully nice of her. Throw your feet up and hunker down. If you were to smell our tap water, you would be sick. It is musty and cloudy. I buy close to a 100 litres from a health store to drink and cook with. So far my plants have made it. Have a wonderful night. Please keep us posted, as you can. God bless 🙏🙂

Jody, have you ever checked out FindASpring.com?

Wayne & I get about 50 gallon jugs together & go to a spring in Baldwin Co., AL to get our drinking water. It's wonderful & lovely & comes straight out through a 3" iron pipe, running constantly, and the runoff feeds a nearby lake which overflows into another one.

FindASpring.com will help you locate a spring near you!

I know what you're talking about with stinky water. Amarillo's water comes from Lake Meredith, which has red much & smells like sulfer & dead fish... I have NEVER drunk the stuff since I was a kid because I couldn't stand the smell.

Here's Red Hill Spring:

Darling, thanks for the info, I’ll pass it to my sister and 3 grown nephews in the Springs. Me, I am in Canada, just a few minutes East of Toronto. I appreciate you though. 🙂🙏❤️

I do believe FindASpring includes Canada!

No worries. I love helping people find things they need. Most folks are working full time or 2 or 3 jobs trying to make ends meet, especially if they have children at home.

I've been disabled since 2003, so I have the time to research & look about for things.

Happy to help, my virtual sister!

Brightest Blessings to you!

You are so kind. I will definitely check it out! Many blessings today. I hope you both got plenty of rest. 🙂🙏❤️

No rest for me, LOL!

I was arranging for home health & returning calls from case manager & others... and then the hospital discharge nurse called & said Wayne is going home TOMORROW!!!

OMG! I am just so giddy I feel higher than a kite! I know I'm about to dissolve into a puddle later, but it will be from gratitude & appreciation & realizing my tiny mind had unknowingly put limits on God.

Bonnnie has a walker, bedside commode & shower seat for us & will pick up a set of grab bars for the shower, then pass these along to her brother, Daniel, who will bring them out to the house & install them, along with a hand-held showerhead so Dad can do for himself as much as possible.

Patriot Angels is giving us $2500 to thank Wayne for his Coast Guard service & help with expenses. We only need maybe twice a week for 2 weeks, just to be safe in the shower, so this will pay for that, plus 2 of our house payments!

Looks like the rest of the updates will be from home!

Praise God!

Praise God is right! Wow! Such incredible news!! Let the healing begin. It is amazing the support that surrounds you both. People have wonderful hearts. I am so happy for you both. 🙏🙂❤️

Jody, I've been leaking happy tears on & off since 4pm when I found out about this... What an emotional avalanche!

He'll be off the soy formula & on to my home cooking, which is so much more healthy for him... TOMORROW!

GAH!

And he'll be able to sleep all night long in his cushy bed. I'm going to sleep in the recliner in the living room so I don't disturb him until his body can catch up...

Best of all is the way the kids are coming together for their dad.

Grateful tears, girl! Grateful tears.

Goosebumps! I wish him a speedy recovery. You guys are going to kick this in the butt and straight outta the park. Please keep us in the loop. Sending prayers, love and light. 🙏🙏🙏❤️

There simply MUST be more updates, Jody... But on a different thread, I think. This one has got so LONG...

I think we'll call the next one the Blessings Thread!

I truly feel blessed to have my AU Family praying & supporting us this whole time!

YOU GUYS are the ones who made this possible, through all your prayers!

Oh, here come more tears again... I have to have a Benadryl now, or my nose will clog up & I won't sleep. I might not sleep anyway, but I've taken extra melatonin & valerian root & magnesium... Even if I don't sleep, I know God will give me the energy to get us home safely tomorrow.

And yes, Wayne said today... He never really internalized how much God loves him, but this has been one INCREDIBLE demonstration, hasn't it?

Talk about renewing your faith! All you have to do is focus.

I hope you sleep harder than you ever have. Yes, our AU family is astounding. Be safe. I look forward to hearing all the magic. God bless hun, sweet dreams. 🙏🙂

LOL... I laid down at 10pm... and slept until 2am!!!

Then I just dozed, because of nurse checks at 4am & lab sticks, & then Wayne wanted up for the bathroom. He's motorvating on his own, with the walker, but I disconnect the stuff on the IV pole so he can move easier.

It is enough... I'm a bit sluggish, but I'll sneak down to PJ's for a cuppa mocha latte & I will feel restored!

I'm having bacon jerky & dried fruit for breakfast. I had a salad last night, but it came with dressing already on it & turns out that was full of soy & canola... So Wayne & I have been do-si-doing in & out of the bathroom. I'd add an LOL to that, but it's not LOL. My guts are still boiling, but I'm absolutely the happiest girl in NOLA right now, so that doesn't matter. I'm going to consider this a kickstart to my keto diet...

Since Wayne will be getting mostly shakes & liquids, I can cook keto for me again, LOL. My body just doesn't like white flour, sugar, & seed oils.

contd

The residents were in at 6 this morning & removed the other JP drain from Wayne's neck. Dr. Hasney is due at 8, and he will make his final determiantion. Then they can remove the implanted Doppler lead & the fresh IV line that he never used.

Case management will come by & we'll get the Power of Attorney & Release of Records forms signed, witnessed & notarized. Then I'll call Social Security & get a start made filing for his disability.

I'm already packing stuff up & getting ready to load the car. Just waiting on the official "okey-dokey."

Praying we get on the road at or before noon, so I don't have to drive in the dark with my astigmatism; that can be really disorienting.

We're really looking forward to being back to our normal schedule - up at 5 or 5:30, coffee on the back porch with the dogs, watching the sun rise, then feeding dogs, then a bite of brekky for us.

Looks like that old pair of recliners I scored for $50 back in 2018 will be his "command center," LOL.

Ugh, the bathroom thing, that sucks! I hope your tummy settled for the drive. So much going on. You guys are more than likely driving, as I type this. I pray for a fast, safe trip home. It won’t take much to find your groove again. I see a nap in both of your futures, lol. Yay! Home is where the heart is. God bless. 🙂🙏

Yepper. I don't think I'll have any issues; I've been purging since 2:30am, LOL. My tum is much more set to healthy oils, like olive, avocado, sesame, flax seed, and grapeseed.

A nap, ABSOLUTELY!!!

This morning Wayne proved he can handle stairs. I am trained in dressing changes & tube feeding protocol & the have an ORGANIC tube formula! Yay!

Cancer Society gave us 3 gas cards for $25 each, so we can come back & forth for followups.

SS Disability has been contacted & we have a phone appointment for Sept. 30th.

I asked God for clear skies & a dry road to get home on, or at least not a driving rain. Here in NOLA, the rain has stopped for now. I also asked that we be allowed to depart within an hour or two, so I won't have to drive at night. If they don't let us go by 3pm, we'll have to stay another night here & we don't want that. We are both raring to go.

Wayne didn't sleep well last night, so I didn't either. He needs his melatonin, valerian root & magnesium

Aw, sorry to hear you both couldn’t sleep. Prayers up, that all will fall in line. Excellent news on the stairs, Yay! Prayers for safe road conditions and your impeding jail break. 😂🙏

We made it home, Jody, and with a beautiful, dry road & no rain to speak of...

God gave me that comfortable little bubble in the traffic so we didn't get nervous even once.

We were pushing 80mph most of the way back to Mobile, invisiblility cloaking was engaged, so we had no fear of speed traps...

The NEXT trip to NOLA was a complete horror show, but God was doing the driving, not me, so we were OK, LOL.

Six hours of driving rain & a very out-of-touch-with-humanity surgeon later, we still made it home safe & sound.

I hate driving in those conditions. I am glad you made it back safely. I hope things are well. You both have been in my thoughts and prayers. 🙏❤️

Me, too!

I was almost in tears because of the way we were treated by Dr. Rockstar, too.

Like I would have ASKED for a calmative if we didn't need it, hmmph!

Wayne has been off the Oxycontin for about 2 weeks now; won't take the hydrocodone, either. He's just fine with a bit of cannabis oil & says it works way better because it removes ALL the pain, not just about 75% of it.

I used to think those 3 decades working medical were a waste because I had to retire early, but apparently not. It helps to understand all the documents & procedures & stuff, but most of all, it really PISSES OFF the residents & doctors... LOL Not the intelligent NURSES, mind you, but the ego-centric doctors get highly pissed off.

I enjoy that; I really do.

Working with nurse practitioners is so much easier & logical.

I’m so glad he is able to manage it with the oil. Praise God.
Having the background that you do is definitely a plus! God bless you both Lady 🙏❤️