Bev Daly Barnett
Bev Daly Barnett |
|
| July, 2004 |
31 July 04 ~ Saturday ~ Becky
No new news about Bev today. She has some questions she would like to ask
the doctors, but none of them came by today since it's the weekend. She
still seems to be doing really well. We're thinking she will probably stay in
the hospital until Tuesday when she will (hopefully) have the stint put in.
I'll try to keep you all posted if anything new comes up.
Becky
30 July 04 ~ Friday ~ Becky
Bev is doing amazingly well! She took a bath this morning and went for a
walk the whole way around the 2 floor nurses' station. Her pain seemed to
be a bit more under control than yesterday (between 2-4 throughout the day),
although she is having pain near her left shoulder every so often, which Dr.
Teslow says is probably related to stuff going on with her diaphragm.
Her procedure on Tuesday is through outpatient, so she could potentially
come home sometime this weekend or on Monday, depending on how she's
feeling!
I guess that's about it for now.
Thanks! Becky
29 July 04 ~ Thursday ~ Becky
Bev was back in her room and awake within an hour of the surgery. She was
in quite a bit of pain (around a 6-7 on a 10 point scale), but after taking
some pain medications the pain went down (to about a 3-4). She seemed less
groggy than I had expected. Dr. Teslow said that he's expecting a pretty
quick recovery.
Thanks again for praying!
Becky
29 July 04 ~ Thursday ~ Becky
Bev's surgery went well! Thanks for praying! They managed to take the NG
tube out and put the G tube in. Dr. Teslow said that there was a liitle bit
of cancer growth, but not as much as he had been expecting. He was able to
remove some of it, but he said that there is still some coating everything.
Her bowels appear to have speckles of cancer over them, which means we don't
know if she will be able to eat solid foods again. We will have to wait and
see. Overall, he seemed very pleased that everything went as well as could
have been expected. I'm sure Bev will be excited to have the NG tube out.
She is in recovery right now, so we should be able to go see her in about an
hour, when the anesthesia should wear off.
Thanks again. Please be praying that Tuesday will go well.
Becky
28 July 04 ~ Wednesday ~ Becky
My aunt's surgery was postponed to tomorrow at 1:00. Just wanted to let you
guys know so that you can continue praying for her.
Thanks! Becky
28 July 04 ~ Wednesday ~ Becky
Just wanted to let you all know that Bev's surgery has been postponed
to
tomorrow at around 1:00. Apparently the doctors had to do an unexpected
emergency surgery this morning (which meant that we spent most of the day
sitting around Bev's hospital room wondering what was taking so long). Bev
was disappointed, since she is anxious to have the surgery over with, but we
know that God's timing is always perfect, even if it doesn't seem like it.
A consolation was that Bev got to have a popsicle. :) She was NPO for the
whole day (not supposed to take anything orally, including water) to prepare
for the surgery, so she was getting kind of hungry. Since the surgery wont
be till tomorrow, they let her go back to her clear liquid diet for tonight.
We will be going back to the hospital again this evening to hang out with
Bev. Will let you all know if there's any new news.
Love, Becky
27 July 04 ~ Tuesday ~ Becky
Bev will be going in for surgery tomorrow (Wednesday). Dr. Teslow said
probably around noonish. He has 2 other surgeries tomorrow morning, so the
exact time depends on how those go. He will be putting in the G tube and
hopefully removing any cancer that he can find. That is, unless there's too
much cancer coating everything, which would make it too dangerous for him to
put the G tube in. In which case he will just sow Bev back up and she will
have to keep the nastrogastric tube. So, be praying that the cancer isn't
spread out everywhere, but is instead localized such that Dr. Teslow can
remove it and put the G tube in.
Bev will not be having the stint put in tomorrow. Dr. Taylor wasn't able to
arrange his schedule to correspond with Dr. Teslow's for the surgery, so he
will be doing something next Tuesday instead. He hadn't looked at the cat
scan yet when he went in to talk to Bev, so as far as I know, he didn't have
an opinion as to whether or not it would be dangerous to put in the stint.
He said that to test that he would put a liquid dye (I think that's what Bev
said) in her ureter and see how well that goes through. If there seems to
be too much obstruction, he will remove her kidney instead of putting in the
stint.
Thanks for praying that Bev wouldn't be bored today! After taking a bath
and a walk this morning, she had a constant stream of visitors all afternoon
and into the evening, in addition to several phone calls and flower
deliveries. All of that activity made the day go by pretty quickly.
Thanks! Becky
26 July 04 ~ Monday ~ Becky
It sounds like the surgery will be on Wednesday. Bev didn't see Dr. Taylor
(urologist) today, but I think she did see both Dr. Teslow (surgeon) and Dr.
Cox (oncologist – filling in for Dr. Carroll). They took some x-rays this
morning and it sounds like the tumor on her ureter might make dangerous to
put the stint in – the way it's pressing down could mean that the stint
could cause some tearing. I suppose Dr. Taylor will need to make a final
decision on whether or not to try to put the stint in.
I forgot to mention yesterday that they switched Bev from 1 L of hyperal to
2, which is good because right now she's not able to eat anything except ice
chips. So, although it's disappointing to have the surgery postponed
another day, it does mean that Bev will have an extra day on the 2 L which
will hopefully make her stronger and more prepared for the surgery.
Jonathan made it safely to Phoenix. Robert leaves tomorrow morning, very
early. So, another good thing about having the surgery on Wednesday is that
both of the boys will have made it safely to their destinations by the time
Bev goes into surgery, so she won't have to be worrying about that on top of
everything else.
One of the nurses this afternoon noticed that the morphine pump was broken
(something about the cap I think Bev said) and was leaking, so Bev wasn't
getting the full dosage. Now that that's fixed, Bev seems to be in less
pain. I think her throat is still bothering her, though. She says it
doesn't hurt to talk, but it does hurt to swallow. Dr. Cox tried giving her
some sort of medicine to numb her throat, but that just made it impossible
for Bev to drink anything without choking, so I don't think she will be
using any more of that.
Tomorrow will probably be a long day for Bev. Please pray that she doesn't
get too bored. :)
Thanks! Becky
25 July 04 ~ Sunday ~ Becky
Dr. Teslow (the surgeon) stopped by while we were visiting Bev this
evening.
He said that although he is ready to perform the surgery and would like to
be able to do it tomorrow, he needs to wait to talk to the urologist (Dr.
Taylor) about putting the stint in. So, that means probably Tuesday or
Wednesday for the surgery. Please pray for God's timing on this. Bev would
prefer sooner rather than later, and was somewhat disappointed that it won't
happen tomorrow.
Dr. Taylor needs to be consulted to decide if the stint for Bev's ureter
should be put in at the same time as the surgery to insert the G-tube.
Although it could be done later, both Bev and Tim think it would be better
to have it put in now.
Becky
24 July 04 ~ Saturday ~ Becky
Please pray that Bev will be able to have the surgery on Monday. It may
have to be postponed because her blood is too thin right now. The NG tube
down her throat is very uncomfortable and the sooner they do the surgery,
the sooner they will be able to take the tube out, and the sooner she will
be able to recover.
Thanks! Becky
24 July 04 ~ Saturday ~ Tim
I know Becky gave you all an update yesterday and don't want to inundate
you
with emails, but wanted to add a couple of things. In the CT scan yesterday
they found a new tumor on her right ureter tube near the pelvis, it appeared
to be closing off the tube. They also found masses where blocking her small
bowel. Neither of these masses were present on the CT scan from a couple of
weeks ago. She is on morphine drip because of the pain. She spoke with the
surgeon this morning, he wants her to go into surgery on Monday to have a
stint placed in the right ureter tube so that it is not completely closed
off. He wants to place a a G tube(?) In her bowel to keep it from being
completely closed off as well. We were both concerned about her strength and
being able to handle surgery again, she is dreading it. The surgeon felt
she was strong enough and that it would help her with her comfort level. I
am hopeful it will give her time for the new chemo drugs to begin to work
and then she wouldn't have to deal with additional complications. Bev was
also concerned that she might pass away before the boys return from trips,
Jonathan is going to Phoenix with his youth group from Aberdeen. That youth
group raised over $700 to pay for his conference fees and help with his
airfare, and Robert goes to San Diego for a couple off weeks to be with his
cousins. The surgeon felt she had more time and that their traveling would
not be a problem.
Again we appreciate your support and prayers. It has made a world of
difference for Bev and for the boys and I knowing we are being lifted up in
prayer from all over the world.
Tim
23 July 04 ~ Friday ~ Becky
Bev is back in the hospital. We went in today for her ct scan and they
found some blockage. They have a tube going through her nose (I think they
said it's called an NG?) which is connected to a pump that's supposed to
remove everything from her stomach. Then she will have an enema either
tonight or tomorrow. They also talked about possibly putting in another
stint.
Becky
22 July 04 ~ Thursday ~ Becky
Bev went in for an x-ray of her abdomen today. Then we went to Dr.
Carroll's office. Dr. Carroll is apparently out of town, so Bev was seen by
Dr. Cox, who is new (he's only been here a few days). After looking at the
x-rays with the radiologist, he decided she should come in for a cat scan
tomorrow. He said that neither he nor the radiologist could see any
problems in the x-ray, so I guess having the cat scan is just for good
measure. Please pray that the cat scan goes well and that they will be able
to resolve whatever is causing the problems.
Thanks! Becky
22 July 04 ~ Thursday ~ Becky
Sorry I haven't written the past few days.
Bev's colostomy seems to be clogged up, which is causing her quite a bit of
pain. We tried irrigating her the other day, which seemed to give her some
relief. Please pray that whatever is causing this problem would be removed.
Bev and Tim met with Dr. Carroll on Monday and he changed her treatment
plan. He took her off the navalbine and now she is taking gemzar and
xeloda. She will not be going in for an appointment this week, but will see
Dr. Carroll next Friday. Please pray that this change in treatment is a
wise decision.
Bev is having a lot of nausea and vomiting, and has a very poor appetite.
She is spending most of her time resting on the couch.
I will write again if anything changes. Thanks for praying!
Becky
22 July 04 ~ Thursday ~ Becky
Bev is doing pretty much the same as yesterday. She tried irrigating
herself this morning, and she said it helped a little bit, but she still
feels clogged up. She ate a little bit, but she threw up a couple of times.
She rested for most of the day. Please continue to pray that her colostomy
would work.
We are preparing to go see "The Bourne Supremacy" . . . Last night we
watched the "new" version of "The Bourne Identity" (with Matt Damon) and
tonight we watched the "old" version. It was interesting to see how
different both movies were.
Becky
21 July 04 ~ Wednesday ~ Becky
Bev rested for most of the day. She was still in some pain, but not quite
as bad as last night. She threw up several times and didn't eat very much.
Becky
20 July 04 ~ Tuesday ~ Becky
Bev was in a lot of pain this evening. We tried irrigating her, and
hopefully that helps relieve some of the pain. Please pray that whatever is
causing the pain would be removed and that she will have a peaceful night's
rest.
Thanks! Becky
19 July 04 ~ Monday ~ Becky
Bev and Tim met with Dr. Carroll today. He decided to change Bev's
treatment. He took her off the navalbine (that's probably not how you spell
it . . .) and she will now be taking xeloda and gemzar. Her colostomy is
not working, so Dr. Carroll said she could take more of the laxative. She
threw up several times today.
Becky
16 July 04 ~ Friday ~ Becky
Well, today went pretty well. Bev ate some breakfast and also some dinner
(although the breakfast didn't stay down). She rested for a while in the
morning, but then got up and was able to take a shower, write a few thank
you cards, and walk to the mailbox to mail them. After having spent the
majority of yesterday on the couch, I was amazed to see how much she was
able to do today. Please pray for her strength to be renewed and built up
daily.
Thanks! Becky
15 July 04 ~ Thursday ~ Becky
Bev did pretty well for her first day back home. She did throw up a few
times this morning, and spent most of the day resting, but she seemed a
little bit stronger and more alert than when she was in the hospital. She
wasn't able to eat much because of feeling nauseous, but hopefully the
hyperal is enough to take care of her nutritional needs. She is on 1 L of
hyperal per day, which she will be taking during the night. Please pray
that she will be able to sleep well, even with having to deal with the
hyperal.
Thanks! Becky
15 July 04 ~ Thursday ~ Becky
Bev threw up a few times this morning, so she's resting right now. She
seemed happy to be coming home yesterday, but apprehensive at the same time.
I think she's worried that she won't do as well at home this time as she was
doing before she went into the hospital. Please pray that the Lord would
give her peace about being at home again.
Thanks! Becky
14 July 04 ~ Wednesday ~ Becky
Just wanted to send a quick note before dinner to let you all know that
Bev is home!
Becky
14 July 04 ~ Wednesday ~ Becky
Bev had a fever of 102 last night, so they are going to keep her one more day.
She was sleepy/groggy again today (from the pain medications). She was able
to go for 2 walks (one this morning and one this afternoon), she didn't have
any nausea, and she said she wasn't feeling any pain. She is back on a
solid food diet (in addition to having 1 L of hyperal per night).
Please pray that whatever is causing the fevers will be resolved soon so
that she can come home.
Thanks! Becky
13 July 04 ~ Tuesday ~ Margaret
Noon
We talked to Bev just a few minutes ago and she said she will not get out
of the hospital today after all because she had more fever last night. She
also said that the oncologist told her that he is running out of options as far
as chemo is concerned. Her pain was bad enough even with a pain patch
that she would call the nurse for oral medication when we got through talking.
She did eat some breakfast today and managed to keep it down. Becky is
there with her and gave her a sponge bath this morning and will help Bev get
up and walk a little after a while. Bev really wants to go home and the doctors
say that there's not much more that can be done for her in the hospital than
can be done at home.
Margaret
12 July 04 ~ Monday ~ Becky
Bev is still in some pain and feeling a bit groggy, but it sounds like she
will be able to come home tomorrow! It also sounds like she will be
bringing the hyperal home with her.
Thanks for praying. Becky
11 July 04 ~ Sunday ~ Becky
No big news to report for today. We're hoping that we will be able to get
some answers about what's going on from Dr. Carroll tomorrow.
Bev was more sedated again today, probably because of the pain and nausea
medications. She did get up the energy to go on another walk again, though.
They are checking her urine for bacteria again, but it sounds like we won't
get those results for a while.
That's all folks.
Love, Becky
10 July 04 ~ Saturday ~ Becky
Bev seems to be doing better today. She was very alert again. Apparently
she took a shower this morning (which she hasn't really felt up to the past
few days). She also got up and went for a walk around the hospital floor.
Her gall bladder seems to be doing fine. They said that it looks about
average for a woman her age.
They are giving her antibiotics for the pneumonia, so hopefully they will be
able to get that under control.
That's all the news from here. :)
Becky
10 July 04 ~ Saturday ~ Margaret
Bev said that her pain is under control, she did throw up this morning but
otherwise she feels pretty good – better than yesterday, that she still hasn't
heard the results about her gallbladder. She said it was weird that they say
she has pneumonia. Oh yes – she took a shower this morning.
On the whole, it was an encouraging call.
Margaret
10 July 04 ~ Saturday ~ Kelly
I tried calling the hospital last night but there was no answer in Bev's room.
I called the cell phone and talked to Becky and Tim. They said she was getting
the CT scan of her gall bladder so they went out to eat. Becky did a good job
in her e-mail of summarizing everything that Tim told me. Tim did mention that
there are 4 doctors involved who each have different opinions. They are all
coming from their area of specialty – oncologist, surgeon, internal med,
general med (I think).
Love, Kelly
10 July 04 ~ Saturday ~ Becky
I just looked up pneumonia on the internet, and it does say that there are
forms of pneumonia that don't show the usual symptoms . . .
Bev hasn't been coughing, but she has had fever, chills, vomiting, abdominal
pain, etc . . . And apparently they could tell from the cat scan that she
has it.
Becky
9 July 04 ~ Friday ~ Becky
We just got back from spending the evening with Bev. She seemed much more
alert to me than the other times I've been there.
They took her in for a cat scan this morning, and from the results it sounds
like the tumor on her kidney is about the same size as it was on the cat
scan from a few weeks ago, which is good. They were worried that it was
growing and causing all of the problems. There had been some talk of
possibly having to remove her kidney, but (based on the cat scan results) it
doesn't look like they will have to do that.
Dr. Teslow said that her fevers were down this morning, and her temperature
was at 38 Celsius, which is apparently good (don't remember what the
conversion is). I'm not sure what her temperature was at during the middle
of the day.
Her blood sugar was at 150 this morning and 127 this evening. Normal range
is between 80 and 120. I think that Tim said that when she was on hyperal
before, her blood sugar was in the 500 range – I might have heard wrong,
though.
Dr. Starks said something about Bev having pneumonia – which we all thought
was rather odd, since she hasn't been showing any visible symptoms of it.
Although Tim mentioned that whenever the nurses checked her breathing they
had a funny look on their face.
They tested her gall bladder this evening to see if that might be what is
causing problems. We're hoping to get the results from that sometime
tomorrow.
Bev is still in pain. They upgraded her pain patch from 25 to 75, but she
still said that her abdomen was hurting when we talked to her this evening.
That's about all I know.
Love, Becky
7 July 04 ~ Wednesday ~ Tim
Just a short update on Bev. They finally got her colostomy to start working,
slowly, but she had fever last night and today of around 101.5. They said she
has a urinary tract infection and are also testing for bacteria in her
blood. She is tired and hungry, though this evening they gave her a clear
liquid diet, but she couldn't eat it because she had too much pain in her
stomach. Dr. Carroll, the oncologist, stopped in about 7:00 this evening. He
is clearly concerned about what is going on right now and told me this
morning that he felt some of the problems were related to the cancer. There
has also been a tumor on her back which he has been watching, as have Bev
and I. It has started to grow and turn red and that has him concerned. He is
not sure if he will continue Bev on the current chemo or try something else.
He also brought up this morning and tonight about Bev needing to think about
whether she would want to go back on hyperal, the liquid nutrition.
I look at where we are now from where we have been and am thankful for God's
grace and answer to our prayers. The trip this past weekend is something we
have talked about doing since we made the decision to come to Alaska, and
God allowed us the opportunity to make the trip. I am also reminded that we
really don't know the plans God has for us, and that in itself describes why
we have faith, and the need to trust him.
We have two other friends who are facing struggles and would appreciate your
prayers. Eileen, a close friend for several years (decades) has been
diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma and has not received a good prognosis.
Another friend, Diane in Aberdeen is having emergency surgery on Thursday in
her lung because they cannot seem to remove the fluid.
Again thank you for all your prayers. I am sorry we don't get back right
away to many of your emails, but I promise we will eventually respond. We
are very grateful for the tremendous support and encouragement we have
received from all of you.
Tim
6 July 04 ~ Tuesday ~ Becky
Just wanted to give you all an update on Bev. She is currently in the
hospital. The people at the ER yesterday had mentioned calling Dr. Teslow
(her surgeon) and so did Mary Myer (the lady who did her colostomy – I
think), so we called him this morning and he had Bev come in so he could
check up on what's going on. After talking to her for a little bit he
decided to have some x-rays done and to have her admitted to the hospital
(we're not really sure why she had to be admitted exactly). He seemed to be
pleased with the results of the x-rays, as well as with how well Bev is
doing. It wasn't clear if he had figured out what was causing the blockage,
but he prescribed an enema and some drink similar to what Bev tried to take
last night (she ended up throwing it up last night). Dr. Teslow plans on
having her stay overnight, but it sounds like she should be able to come
home tomorrow. I'll let you know if anything new comes up.
Love, Becky
5 July 04 ~ Monday ~ Becky
Well, we just got back from our trip. At Bev's doctor's appointment on
Thursday, they gave us antibiotic shots to give her for her fever – and they
seem to have worked. Bev didn't end up having a fever while we were there.
She did throw up a few times throughout the weekend though. She also had
some problems with her colostomy, which meant that she limited her food to
clear liquids yesterday and today. At her doctor's appointment they told
her to call to check in when we got back, so she did. She mentioned having
problems with her colostomy, so they had her come into the ER. They
irrigated her and then prescribed clear liquids and a laxative. So, even
though she is starving, she will have to wait until at least tomorrow to get
some solid food. Other than that, she seems to be doing well and I think
she had a pretty good time.
For those of you who are interested, the rest of this email is about the
trip itself (or at least what I can remember) . . .
I had a lovely time, and I'm hoping everyone else did too. We left early
Friday morning and drove about 8 hours to Valdez. The wildfire smoke
followed us pretty much the whole way. We stopped to look at some salmon,
and then stopped again to look at a glacier (the name of which escapes me
right now – I think it might be Worthington). The glacier was such a pretty
color blue – I'm hoping the pictures come out good. When we got to Valdez
we checked in at the B & B that we were staying at, then went gallivanting
around the town. We went to see about fishing, then went out to dinner at a
very nice restaurant.
On Saturday we went on the Stan Stephens glacier cruise. The weather was a
bit overcast, but the cruise was fun nonetheless. We saw otters, sea lions,
puffins, a whale (at least its fluke), bald eagles, waterfalls, a commercial
fishing boat as it was catching fish, and lots of beautiful icebergs. What
we didn't end up seeing was the glacier – there were 8 miles worth of ice
bergs in the way, so we weren't able to get close enough. Bev says we need
to get a video on glaciers from the library so we can watch one caving and
get the whole experience. After the cruise, we went out to a very nice
dinner at Mike's, then went home and crashed after a long day.
Sunday we got up early and left for McCarthy. The last half of the trip
over there was on a dirt road that was pretty bumpy (although not as bumpy
as I had expected). When we got there we were escorted by Dave Johnson and
Pastor Paul to the festivities that were going on in the town via 4-wheelers
(justifiably the main form of transportation in McCarthy). There were all
kinds of games going on, some of which we stopped to watch. It was getting
to be time for lunch though, so we went up and had hamburgers thanks to the
Johnson's hospitality. Then we took a tour of the cabin that Pastor Paul
and his wife Connie were staying at. After sitting around and chatting for
a while, it was time to go down to the river for the baptism. The water was
freezing cold – I don't know how any of them did it! Afterwards we went to
Kennecot to look at the glacier. I think Bev and Connie looked around the
town for a little while, then headed back to camp. Tim, Robert, Dave and
Stephanie Johnson and I hiked down to the glacier murrain (I have no idea
how to spell that) and looked underneath the glacier into the ice caves. It
was really beautiful down there. It was a lot easier getting down there
than it was getting up, but we managed. When we got back we all sat around
the campfire and ate dinner and sang some worship songs. Then it was time
for us to head up to the Rowlands' beautiful house to get some sleep. This
morning Mrs. Rowland got up and cooked us breakfast, and we headed home.
Well, I guess that's about it. :) Becky
1 July 04 ~ Thursday ~ Becky
Bev is at her doctor's appointment right now. Her blood counts were low
(especially her white blood cells) so they are giving her blood and she
isn't getting chemo today. Her temperature was at 101.5 this morning, but
went back down by the time she went to the doctor. She will need to take
shots of antibiotics, but the good news is we will still be able to go on
the trip. (Again, thank you for praying). The other good news is that her
tumor markers were down to 89 (I think that's what Tim said) and the tumor
near/on/in (I'm not sure which is the correct preposition) her kidney has
gotten smaller, so it looks like she will be able to get the stint taken out
in 2 weeks.
For those of you who haven't heard, Fairbanks is covered in smoke right now,
and has been for the past few days. There are several wildfires going on -
all of them relatively far away (about 40 miles maybe?). If it weren't for
the ash and the smell of smoke, you would think it was fog it's so thick.
It will be nice to get out of town and into some fresh air for a few days.
:)
I hope you all have a happy 4th of July!
Becky
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