Medical

Snippets from past medical trials:


1. Caring physicians who listen.
2. I am very grateful to be a mom, and it's nights like these (when he was in the AF ER) that make me appreciate my own mom even more,
3. I was fortunate enough to have my mom there when Tyler was born,
4. She got to see him fight his way here and peek out,
5. She has helped me so many times, there is no way I will ever be able to make it up to her.
6. She has always been a remarkable example to me in serving others,
7. I watched her lovingly care for both her parents at the end of their lives,
8. Even now, there are so many ways she serves others.
9. My husband and the kids have been awesome through this experience,
10. He stays with Ty at the hospital on weekends,
11. Has become the backup nurse (lots of IV meds experience),
12. He has been the glue that holds it all together,
13. He practically shaved his head to show support for Ty.
14. I need to tell you about three wonderful women who help me: Terry (my mom), Mo (my aunt), and Wendy (my dear neighbor)
15. They help with getting Ty ready,
16. Watching the girls so I can get some sleep,
17. And being here when I have to be away with Ty,
18. They cook,
19. They tidy up ,
20. They do what needs doing,
21. But most importantly, they love my kids and make it possible for me to do what I do.
22. I know my family is well-cared for and we are so blessed to have them in our lives.
23. Erin, who worked with Tyler, and shared her infectious smile.
24. The principal who sent a gift during Ty's chemo Christmas.
25. Susan, from USDB, who was the first person besides me who danced with Ty and absolutely loved it.
26. Kristy, his teacher, who has helped us to dream for Ty more than we ever thought was possible.
27. Corrine, the vision specialist, who is like family to us.
28. Starla, the speech therapist, who never gave up and found something Ty would eat - Gogurts.
29. Jodi, the physical therapist, whose kind heart extends to fostering rescue dogs.
30. Nate, the Occupational therapist, who found a way for Ty to paint - a special arm brace.
31. Kaye and Justin at the school district who made Ty's hospital/homebound school the best experience it could be.
32. Mr. Stradley, the art teacher, who saw the connection between music and Ty's expression.
33. Barb, another dear neighbor, has arranged so many meals to feed my family when I'm with Ty at the hospital.
34. Jake (Wendy's son), for bringing his guitar to the hospital and playing it for Tyler.
35. I sat Ty on my lap and helped him to strum the guitar as Jake held it. Tyler kept reaching out to touch the strings and make them vibrate with his sound - again and again,
36. It is the most fun and alert I have seen him be in the hospital.
37. The neighbors who have donated their time, their cooking skills, and their disposable cookware.
38.The anonymous people who made Christmas special for us one year -
39. We had the "Twelve Days of Christmas,"
40. Our stockings filled,
41. A Secret Santa bearing gifts.
42. And a Christmas Jar shared with us.
43. We are so fortunate to be blessed by such generous people.
44. The friends who call and check on us.
45. The church family and extended family members who pray and fast for Tyler and our family.
46. The many coworkers who show their support for Ty.
47. The children who tell me they pray for him and ask how he is doing.
48. Our family doctor, who knows me by name (and also by my voice), and comes to the rescue time after time.
49. Laurie and Jennifer in the same office.
50. Staff and techs who have provided great, loving care for Tyler.
51. We will miss seeing Lacey, she has moved to another floor, but we know there are many wonderful caregivers who love Tyler and have his best interests in mind.
52. Thank you for remembering that even though he can't speak, he still needs to know what's going to happen next.
53. Sharon, who always cleaned his room on ICS and danced along with us to Ty's tunes
54. Apple. What would we do without his Ipod?
55. All the minutes we forget that Tyler is dealing with something very serious - because we are all laughing and dancing to his favorite music.
56. And commenters during that time, for checking in and leaving comments, they were much appreciated and made me feel all cheery and warm inside.
57. My neighbor, who sometimes serves as my own personal Ask-A-Nurse.
58. Taffy, who sent me flowers at just the right moment.
59. An angel of a neighbor brought dinner and stayed to play with the kids and be with Tyler.
60. That is big. When you have a child going through something like chemo, and they happen to have other disabilities as well, you can't just call one of the teens in the neighborhood to come and 'sit' for you.
61. She did a marvelous service for us, and I felt very refreshed and ready for the coming week.
62. The birthday lunch the neighbors threw for me. I hadn't had one of those in a very long time. it was wonderful.
63. The baby shower they threw when I was expecting Gracie (it so happens I hadn't had one of those in a very long time either - like 10 years).
64. Magnum, Ty's new intervener, who brings the cool factor into Ty's jr. high life.
65. Marilyn and Ellen, both sweet bus drivers, who get just as excited as we do when Ty goes back to school after his most recent medical procedure.
66. The two priesthood holders who gave Ty a blessing (because Mr. O couldn't be there) the night he started the hard chemo.
67. How Ty called for me the next morning (because he felt so terrible) when I left for a minute - the only time he's ever called me Mom - both a blessing and heartbreaking, all in one.
68. How he calmed when I held him on my lapped, rocking him and alternately telling him again of the plan of salvation and singing I Am A Child Of God.
69. How good it felt to be strong for him, to be able to comfort him.
70. An oncologist who had a smile from Ty and felt an instant connection - she warmed to him from that time on and took a personal interest in his case.
71. An orthopedic surgeon, who also happens to be a specialist in Ty's tumor type, that brought in a specialist from MD Anderson.
72. Who consequently called the tumor review board together to reevaluate and confirm Ty's diagnosis.
73. Which ended up in a course of treatment change
74. and a subsequent end to the aggressive tumor growth.
75. All the men at Mr. O's place of employment who shaved their head in support of Ty's hair loss.
76. An insurance case manager who went the extra mile and arranged for a hospital bed to be set up and waiting when Ty was discharged.
77. Caring home health nurses, Becca and Sam, and their many weekend visits and late night calls.
78. Them teaching me to use sterile technique to access and flush his port.
79. The cancer intake worker who sweetly explained all the technical chemo/lab talk and then told us not to try to remember it all, that we would become fluent in cancer-speak before we knew it.
80. That we were able to grasp cancer-speak well.
81. Chocolate covered cinnamon bears in the hospital cafeteria.
82. The internet connection at the hospital.
83. Stairs
84. Elevators
85. The first time Ty had surgery (as a two year old), we were so poor I couldn't afford hospital food and subsisted on fruit and bagels from the courtesy cart - then someone sent us $50 anonymously and it was enough for dinner the 10 days I was there with him.
86. My aunt who picked up the homeschooling ball I dropped when ty spent so much time in hospital.
87. The neighbor who helped carpool the girls to gymnastics.
88. The other neighbor who stepped in and helped cover my calling.
89. The hospital sacrament meetings - short and oh so sweet.
90. The members who brought sacrament to the room the times I couldn't make it to the meeting.
91. The surgeon who spent the extra three hours it took redoing Ty's surgery the less invasive way so that he would have an easier recovery.
92. The anaesthetist who assumed the risk of sedating Ty mere hours after he'd had barium and successfully intubated him against her better judgement because she knew time was of the essence.
93. The orthopedic surgeon who always addresses Ty by bending down to his eye level and putting his hand on Ty's shoulder.
94. Who also talks to him like he's a regular 16 year old.
95. And comes out after surgery and draws an overview of the surgical procedure on his scrubs so I know just what happened.
96. The medical staff in post-op who always let me come right back because it's the surest way to get his respirations to normal.
97. Those toasty blankets with the fresh from the oven smell that warm him back up after the Operating Room.
98. The fabulous ENT who operated successfully on Ty to reduce his drooling and subsequent resolution of his facial chapping issues.
99. And then later saw my youngest daughter to sort out an emergency diagnosis of an abcessed lymph gland/mumps/abcessed salivary gland based solely on our relationship of his being Ty's surgeon. He worked her right in, ordered the least invasive diagnostic tests and felt that the team of the four of us could save her a lot of time (therefore cost) and stress by holding her down and taking care of it the old fashioned way- they drained it - more than once, but at least without surgery or aneasthesia
100. He sent her home with orders for Rocefan injections and placed a follow up call to hear how she was doing. Really, how many doctors do that?
101. Dr. TSN who's always looking a step ahead, with one eye on his future needs - the botox bestower.