Visitors

After lunch, Grandma crawled into bed because she was feeling tired. A friend arrived to visit and my mom told Grandma not to get up. However, she did not feel comfortable staying in bed while entertaining our guest. Shortly after she left, an uncle and an auntie came to see Grandma. Two more visitors came after supper and they stayed till 10:30 pm.

Grandma enjoyed the visits and did not appear to be overly tired despite being up most of the day. She should be able to sleep better tonight. I will let you know if my prediction is correct or not in the morning.

General Discomforts

Grandma experiences some pain which is spasmodic in nature. It comes on suddenly and it is intense, but it does not last long. The doctor prescribed Tylenol #3, which is a strong pain killer and it is constipating. My mom didn't fill the prescription as plain Tylenol seems to be effective for Grandma.

Grandma slept well the first night home, but had trouble falling asleep last night. Since she is not going anywhere, she can take rest periods during the day.

My mom has misinterpreted Grandma's hunger as good appetite. Grandma clarified that she actually does not feel like eating even though she feels hungry. She finds that everything has no taste. My mom will have to improve her cooking skills and to forget about healthy cooking for the time being.

Drainage

Grandma's drains are draining well. Drainage is now clear with no clot. After pressure on the wound was relieved, pain reduced.

Grandma did her exercises this morning. She is now visiting with a friend from church.

Pain

While Grandma was in the hospital, she experienced very little pain and did not require any pain medication. She took a dose of plain Tylenol prior to going home to ensure that the journey home was comfortable. I made it sound like it is a long journey, but it is actually about 15 minutes only.

By bedtime last evening, her pain increased but she didn't tell my mom. She went to bed and slept reasonably well. This morning, it was only upon my mom's inquiry that she mentioned about the pain. My mom checked her wound and drains. The drains were full and they were emptied right away. My mom milked the tubes to make sure that they are patent. She got some clots out and will check on her drainage hourly for now.

Please pray for reduced pain and free flowing drainage. Thank you!

Good Appetite

My mom can finally sit down to continue writing. As soon as they arrived home from the hospital at around 2 pm., my mom was kept busy with cooking for Grandma (believe it or not). Grandma ate a banana because the nurse stated that her potassium is on the low side. Then she said she wanted eggs for supper. My mom perceived feeling hungry as a really good sign of recovery, so she was happy to fried two small eggs and two pieces of lok bok cake (蘿蔔糕) for Grandma right away. When Grandma finished eating, she asked for more. This totally surprised my mom and she wished she had cooked more. My mom thought that Grandma might not feel like eating after surgery, so she had made some papaya soup. After serving Grandma a bowl of the soup, it was soon time to prepare supper.

In between cooking, my mom was tied up in making/answering phone calls and sending/responding to e-mails.

Coming Home

When my mom arrived at the hospital early this morning, she noted the following progress:

1. Last evening, Grandma was given an injection for dizziness and nausea so that she could drink more fluids. After that she was able to pass water, which was a big relief for her because she was so afraid of catheterization.

2. Grandma is not as dizzy this morning.

3. She is not nauseated any more and tolerated her breakfast and lunch well. She was actually feeling hungry before the breakfast tray arrived. She was wishing for oatmeal, but she got corn flakes. She was nicely surprised by getting pancakes and she enjoyed them.

4. Her oxygen saturation is 100%, so no more oxygen and the uncomfortable tubes sticking into her nose.

5. She is able to get in and out of bed by herself and is totally independent in going to the bathroom.

Dr. Yakimets visited before 7 am. this morning and stated that the surgery went well. He discharged Grandma and would like her to see him on November 6 for removal of the two drains that are left in her wound. My mom has to drain and measure the drainage three time a day.

Grandma was supposed to be discharged this morning. When the nurse changed the dressing, she was a little concerned about an area that forms a skin fold right over the incision line. To be on the safe side, she asked the doctor to take a look at it. A doctor assessed it and she was not sure if it was okay or not. Later, Dr. Yakimets came by the unit and examine the wound. He reassured us that it is fine. As a result of the waiting, Grandma stayed for lunch.

My mom accompanied Grandma to walk around the unit for exercise. They got into the patient lounge. There was a fake staircase for patients to practice stair-climbing. My mom recalled some of the questions Emily asked the night before:

1. Do you need help with taking Grandma home?

2. We have stairs. Will she need to be carried into the house?

3. Who will be strong enough to carry her?

These were all needless worries, as Grandma walked up and down those steps with no problem. There was also a 500-piece puzzle sitting on a table. Grandma and my mom went at it putting in one piece after another. If the nurse didn't come to the lounge to fetch Grandma to remove her IV (intravenous) tubes, they would have stayed and finished that puzzle. Just kidding! They'd rather come home even though they enjoyed working on the puzzle.

Post Surgery

My grandma returned to the nursing unit at around 4 pm. She feels very sleepy and has been sleeping soundly since then. It is good that she can get lots of rest. I hope her roommate can tolerate her constant snoring.

My grandma experiences very little pain and has not required any pain medication. She feels fine when she is lying down. However, she feels dizzy and nauseated when she is in an upright position. She was up twice to the bathroom trying to pass water, but was unsuccessful. This worries her as she does not want to have a catheter inserted. Her oxygen saturation is slightly low and is on oxygen.

My mom came home for the night and plans to return to the hospital at 6 am. because the doctors will make rounds between 6 am. and 7 am.

Day of Surgery

My grandma worried about cancellation of her surgery because that happened twice when she had her liver cysts removed in 2005. Today she got into the OR at 1 pm. as scheduled. She is expected to return to the unit at around 4 pm.

I will write again later this evening to keep you posted.

Surgery

My grandma will be admitted to the Miscericordia Hospital tomorrow (Tuesday) morning and the surgery is scheduled for 1 pm.

The surgery will be 1 1/2 hour long and Grandma will stay in the recovery room for another hour before she can return to the unit.

She will be discharged early Wednesday morning with drain(s) left in her wound. The drainage will be emptied and measured three times daily. A referral can be made to homecare, but my mom feels she will be able to manage caring for Grandma by herself.

Grandma

Based on the markedly reduced frequency of posts, you may have guessed that my mom must be too busy to help me with writing. My grandma noticed a lump in her right breast about a month ago. She went for a mammogram before we left for Vancouver. When my mom saw the mammogram picture, she knew there was a good chance that it was cancer. Biopsies were taken on the same day and the result confirmed the diagnosis of invasive breast cancer which has spread to her lymph nodes.

We returned to Edmonton earlier than planned to see the surgeon. He recommended removal of my grandma's right breast and the lymph nodes under her arm. The tissues will be sent to pathology for analysis, so that the cancer specialist can determine which is the most appropriate treatment following surgery.

My grandma took the bad news well and she has been in good spirits. It is harder for my mom and Emily, as they worry about the pain/discomforts of treatments for grandma. My mom was relieved to hear from the surgeon that my grandma may not need to have chemotherapy and radiation due to her age (80). He thinks that my grandma will be put on hormone therapy. My mom prays that grandma's cancer has a high level of hormone receptors, which will make the tumor more responsive to hormone therapy.

My grandma's surgery will be on October 28 (Tuesday). She will stay in the hospital overnight and come home early Wednesday morning. Her recovery is expected to be about six weeks. The appointment to see the cancer specialist will likely be in early December.

Glacier National Park

Since my one roommate could not go to the Dinosaur Provincial Park, my mom planned another trip a week later to take him to the Glacier National Park. We were supposed to stop by the Waterton National Park as well. However, we missed a turn and headed straight to the Glacier National Park. God knows what is best for us. If we had stopped at the Waterton Lake, we would not have enough time for the Going-to-the-sun Road. Even though it was not peak season (first week of September), there were fair amount of traffic on the road and constructions also slowed us down a bit.

We enjoyed the fantastic scenery and the fresh air. The weather wasn't very good and it rained part of the time. It was very foggy at the high altitudes, so we could not see some scenic views. I can imagine how beautiful the park is on sunny days. We came across a patch of snow that looked like a dove's head. It was so neat!



One funny episode on this trip was watching my mom "wrestle" with the back of the captain seat in front of her. We were sitting at the back bench of the van. I was in the middle and my mom to my right. When she needed to get up, she couldn't pull herself up with her left arm because of shoulder pain. She used her right arm and was not able to stand upright because the captain seat was pushed back. She couldn't step out in front of me because she was hanging on with her right arm. When she let go the grip, she fell back into the seat. She, then, gave the back of the seat a bear hug to maintain an upright position. She inched towards me until she could sit on my lap to swing her legs out. After winning the wrestling match, she moved to sit on my left to make it easier for her to get out.

Dinosaur Provincial Park

My mom wants my roommates to be able to get away for a short vacation, so she planned for a trip to the Dinosaur Provincial Park. She booked tickets for a 2-hour bus tour as she knows all of us love car rides. Unfortunately, one of my roommates got sick and he could not go. My other roommate and his parents came along. We spent a night at Brooks on September 28 and went to the Park the next morning.

The landscape in the area is really unique and beautiful. We were happy we signed up for the bus tour because we were taken to areas restricted to unguided visitors. It was a good thing my mom signed up early as the bus tickets were sold out. We stopped at various interesting spots and we found a fossil of a vertebra. (Actually, the fossil was intentionally left there for us to find.)

Birthday Cakes

I had two cakes for my birthday yesterday. My mom baked a chocolate zucchini cake and Emily bought me an ice cream cake. Both of them are yummy.

Peter has a spacious apartment with a large balcony that surrounds his unit. There is a hammock on his balcony. I had been in one when I went on the Bahamas cruise. It was a struggle for my mom to put me in last time due to the fear of the unknown. This time I willingly got on. My mom swung me from side to side and I loved it. When she stepped inside to fetch my pillow, I decided to swing myself. I ended up rolling off and fell out. That was more fun to me than swinging from side to side. I started to constantly roll off and my mom soon got tired of helping me back onto the hammock.

I have one piece of advice for Peter - Orientate all guests on how to turn off the bathroom lights. It took my mom and grandma some time to figure out how to turn the lights off. When they pressed the switch to turn it off, the lights went bright and dim repeatedly and did not turn off. Eventually they find out that they can turn the lights on and off by tapping (not pressing) the switch.

The apartment has a nice view of the Coal Harbour and the mountains to the north. Stanley Park is only a block away. We went out for a walk one evening and came across a whole family of raccoons. I didn't see them initially and was not sure what the rest of the group was excited about. Then I heard some sound next to me and I looked. It was a raccoon sitting inside a bush staring at me. I got startled and quickly walked away.

Vancouver

I have not written for a long time because my mom has been too busy to help me with it. I have been away on various trips and it is time-consuming for my mom in terms of organizing the trips. Since the Jasper camping trip, I have visited the Dinosaur Provincial Park and the Glacier National Park. I will write about them at a later date. My last and current venture is visiting Emily in Vancouver.

We (Grandma, mom and myself) left for Vancouver on September 29. My mom had to take care of payroll/pay cheques (Beraka Residence and Chinese Outreach) and submission of invoice/receipts to PDD before our departure. She worked till 4 am. and went to bed because she was tired. She got up at 6 am. to finish all the priority tasks. We set off at 10 am. and arrived Vancouver after midnight because my mom had to pull over periodically to take breaks.

We are staying in Peter's apartment because it is bigger and we want to spend time with him. Peter has this neat computer game that he specifically acquired for me to create creatures. I call the creatures dinosaurs. I build my dinosaurs by attaching body parts to the body. I have fun attaching multiple heads and multiple eyes onto the creature. I can also make it tap and dance. Initially, I constantly verbalized, "Help, please." Then I say, "eyes" to indicate my wish to create dinosaurs and I say, "dancing" to indicate I want to make my dinosaur dance. Instead of helping me, my mom, Emily and Peter teach me how to play the game. Through exploraton and practice, I can play independently some of the time.

I have commented in the past that I am not at risk for addiction to computer games because I have a short attention span. This game proves that I was wrong. I can spend hours in front of the computer. I enjoy the game and I giggle aloud. I bounce as I watch my dinosaurs dance. One day, when we were at Emily's apartment, I could hardly wait till we return to Peter's apartment. I expressed my desire to my mom by saying, "Peter, computer".

PS. Today is my 26th birthday. My mom forgot about it and had to be reminded by Emily.