Sunday, July 13th -- Noah & Carol’s Journey Continues ---- Carol’s Birthday week--------------------- Monday - the week didn’t start off well as Carol’s pain became more severe and her current oral pain medication couldn’t give her relief. After speaking with the Doctor a new pain medication, in the form of a transdermal patch (meaning it is placed on the skin), was ordered. The Fentanyl Patch works by slowly releasing pain medication thru the skin into the blood stream over 72 hours thus allowing for long lasting pain relief. Although Carol is never completely without pain the patch plus her oral pain medication (which is taken every 4 hrs) helps make the pain tolerable. Noah has read all the info on this new pain medication and reminds me when the “patch” needs to be changed! He is so very efficient! Even after the rough day she had Rambo wanted to play cards! Rita, Judy and I played Chicago with her while Noah looked on --- she is one tough lady! (By the way, in case you’re interested I WON again)!!!!! Tuesday – Noah and I drove Carol to the Doctor’s office for her routine lab draw! We also went grocery shopping. Carol and Noah have become excellent motorized grocery cart drivers! A visit to the grocery store wouldn’t be complete without Carol stopping by the Starbucks counter for an “expensive” cup of coffee, as Noah calls it! On the way home we realized we had left that “expensive” cup of coffee at the check-out lane. Noah insisted that we return to the store to try and retrieve it. Sure enough the check-out gentlemen had it waiting for us. Noah thanked him profusely! Wednesday – Debbie, Carol’s daughter arrived from Washington to spend four days with her Mom. Noah loves to have the “princess”, as he calls her, in the house as Debbie loves Dove Ice Cream Bars. Noah also loves Dove Bars! As Noah explained to me; with Debbie visiting an ample supply of Dove Bars will be on hand the rest of the week. He has such a sweet tooth! Later that afternoon Debbie treated Noah, Rita, Judy and her Mom to dinner at one of their favorite restaurants, the Olive Garden. Thursday – Carol’s 74th Birthday!!!!!! We celebrated at, where else, The Vogue! Rita, Judy, Noah, Debbie and I toasted the birthday girl with Lemon-Drop and Chocolate Martini’s (the first round was bought by a dear friend of Carols in Washington via phone -- THANKS Kathy Vail)!!!! Several friends called via cell phone and/or computer video while we were at the restaurant! Cards and gifts had been arriving all week and those were all opened at the celebration! We all had a great dinner and the restaurant surprised us by presenting Carol with a fantastic dessert tray! Lots of fun with lots of laughter! A day of great memories!! Friday – Carol laid low and took a much needed rest! Saturday – Carol still recouping from so much excitement this week! Sunday (today) - Richard, Thane’s son, and his partner, Mike drove up from Tucson to take Carol and Debbie to brunch. Around noon Glenn, Carol’s son, and his wife Linda arrived from Florida. Glenn and Linda are looking forward to being with Carol and putting the Bandana Girls out of work for a week! Rita and Judy took Debbie to the airport around 4:00 pm – it was a hectic day to say the least but lots of laughter, visiting and many “Kodak” moments! Health update: New pain medication, in the form of a patch was added to accompany her oral pain medication; as I said above Carol is never completely out of pain – the pain is through-out her body especially in the chest, left hip and left leg; Carol does believe that the radiation she had a couple of weeks ago to the left hip area has “kicked in” so to speak and is helping with the pain in that area; she is still having trouble ambulating and uses the walker and cane at all times; it is difficult for her to get in and out of a car; she no longer drives; her energy continues to decrease which in turn causes her to tire very easy - she finds it almost impossible to do more than one activity a day – this week was especially hard for her but as she said “lots of fun and worth it”; shortness of breath is increasing – oxygen is worn at all times; her appetite leaves much to be desired (The Assisted Living Bandana Girls continue to cook some great dishes to tempt her to eat more); coughing continues and her cough medication is taken on a regular basis; areas of bruising are still visible on her body; swelling increasing in her lower extremities; skin continues to be very dry and areas of itching continue to bother her; she has a difficult time sleeping. Considering how the week started out – it ended well! We love that! Noah can’t thank everyone enough for the cards, calls and gifts that arrived this week for Carol’s 74th birthday – the out pouring of affection and support touched her deeply! Carol and Noah’s journey is made easier by your continue prayers for them -- The Assisted Living Bandana Girls thank you all for your support and caring! I’m on my way to Carol’s to check on her and change her pain “patch” -- until next week – God Bless!
Posted on: Mon, 14 Jul 2014 01:31:57 +0000
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