Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Postponed

Blaine was scheduled to have surgery today. (Keyword: was) In his normal operating mode of two steps forward, one and a half steps back, this surgery was to correct a complication from his last surgery. The inside of his upper lip adhered itself to the graft they did in his mouth, and now there is not enough room on the gum for the prosthodontic device they will use to give him teeth. Since getting teeth has been his goal since the beginning, it’s something we need to fix. They are going to have to cut away the lip from the gum, take a skin graft from his leg to stretch it out, and put an abutment in his mouth to hold the two pieces apart while they heal.

First, however, they needed him to drive to Ft. Gordon last week and have impressions made of his mouth so they could make the abutment. The guy has had more impressions made than anyone I’ve ever known, because after every surgery, the inside of his mouth, gums, palate, etc., is a different shape. So they keep doing them, over and over and over. Just remembering the one time I had them done, and how that disgusting gooey stuff leaked down the back of my throat but heaven forbid you cough because you’ll shoot those trays right out of your mouth …. pretty much makes me want to gag. In fact, I’m gagging now, right here at my keyboard, just thinking about it.

Gag.

But! Blaine caught some kind of flu bug last week and was sick for three days. Lay in bed, alternately shaking with chills, then sweating with fever, throwing off the covers, huddling under the covers, then yelling at me to turn on the heat, turn off the heat, turn on the heat, why is it so stinking HOT in here -- kind of sick. And he was physically unable to make the six-hour round-trip drive to get the impressions made.

(FYI? I caught the same bug on Monday; in fact, am probably the one who gave it to him. The difference is that mine lasted twelve hours and I was up and around in time to make dinner. Him? Three days in bed. So either his body is completely worn down from all this treatment and is just not bouncing back like it’s supposed to, or he is the world’s most typical MAN.)

But, no impressions? No surgery.

We had already flown my mom here to watch the kids while we were gone for the surgery. Now, with the surgery postponed, and Blaine and I still in town, she and I have decided it’s our responsibility and American duty to spend as much of that time eating out and shopping whenever possible. She’s here, after all; hate to waste a perfectly good mini-vacation.

As for Blaine, they wanted to reschedule the surgery for mid-May. However, we’re going on vacation the first of June, and taking our BIG vacation the end of June. And considering how none of his surgeries seem to go as planned, and every procedure has a complication, and every complication has a set-back, and every set-back has a difficulty, and every difficulty hits a snag, and I have no doubt that the surgery he has planned will most likely devolve in a bizarre series of events and complications, and before we know it he’ll be having a hysterectomy or something, we decided …………… um, no.

That’s just not enough buffer time between the surgery and the summer vacations we have planned, and which we have looked forward to for so long. Our first vacation is a family vacation to the beach with The Lighthouse Organization. It is such a special, quality family time, that if Blaine couldn't take part in certain activities because he was still physically recovering from surgery, or giving himself IV antibiotics, or whacked out on narcotics, then I would pretty much have to kill him. And since Lighthouse is Christian retreat intent on helping families through the mental and emotional tolls of cancer treatment, I imagine killing one's spouse while on a Lighthouse vacation would be frowned upon.

So, in a nutshell, Blaine is taking a few months off. He’s going to spend the next six weeks resting, and recuperating, and healing before our vacations. He’ll schedule everything for when we return, and in the meantime, our plan is for him to feel better, and enjoy our summer together as a family. He's never had this long between surgeries and/or procedures, so it's almost like a mini-vacation for him, as well. Wish us luck he doesn’t step on a rusty nail, because I have no doubt that would lead to tetanus, and lock-jaw, and two months in full-body traction at the local hospital with me feeding him soup through a straw and cursing under my breath the entire time.

In the meantime, I have to go. My mom and I have some shopping to do, and then Chinese food is calling my name.

12 comments:

Beth said...

Your sense of humor and perspective is completely inspiring!

Praying for Blaine and for GREAT vacations for your family. You guys deserve it. And yeah, killing your husband at the Christian retreat probably wouldn't get you invited back!

Anonymous said...

One of these days, something WILL go right for Blaine. I'm sorry to hear that he wasn't able to do the surgery, but I'm glad that he will be able to enjoy the vacations with the family. Your family deserves it. Have fun shopping and eating out with your mom.

Anonymous said...

Blaine has been through so much. How frustrating for all of you! I'm so sorry his treatment has NEVER gone as planned. I hope you all have a wonderful time on your vacations!

Anonymous said...

Tammy says.... For peets sake Blaine, keep your shoes on your feet! I'm afraid to say what would happen if we all did'nt get our Kristie fix!! Hope your summer is wonderful, theirs not 2 other people on this earth that don't deserve it more! And while your at the Lighthouse, let us know if ya'll see and members of Camp Jack, I've tried emailing them, but no luck, boo who..... P.S. Blaine hope you get over that yuck soon!

Anonymous said...

Dear Kristie,
It's unbelievable how many times things go wrong for Blaine! I hope he will be able to relax and enjoy himself now until after your holidays. I pray that from now on things will go for him as planned!
Take care,
Love Angela

Anonymous said...

Kristie,
I think it would be best to not let Blaine even leave bed until vacation time. Blaine deserves to have a nice family vacation actually enjoying himself. And you Kristie deserve to enjoy him.
I loved the story about Kendrie being the worst girlfriend. At least she went to see his game even if she appeared to be supporting the other team. My 7 year old son, Luke has a girlfriend. He and Lydia were in the same knidergarten class last year and it was love at first sight, or something like that. They have yet to go on their first date. They exchange gifts for b-day's, Christmas & Valentines Day. It's really cute!! She actually called him for the first time over the weekend. He hates to talk on the phone, so it was a quick call. She's quite a firecracker, and could probably kick his ass!!

Anonymous said...

Oh no Poor Blaine!!!! I hope that his body will be totally rested for your upcoming vacations. Have a ball with your momma. One of my most favorite things to do in life is hang out with mine.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear things didn't work out for this next surgery. However, with the postponement, you (Kristie) have plenty of time to make sure you have a laptop with internet connections for your vacations :-))))

Praying for you (as always)
Kristina, Ohio

kim-d said...

Kristie--Ya know what? I am so happy that your whole family is going to be able to have some good, relatively worry-free time together on vacation. I just cannot think of any family more deserving. Of course, in a perfect world, this would come about because Blaine would already be all fixed up and good as new. But since this is Escoeville we're talking about, well...you know!

I just cannot wait to hear your vacation stories. Since I don't think I'll be going on one, much less two..I'll just have to live vicariously through you. Scary, huh? HAHA!

Anonymous said...

Well, I can't say that I'm surprised at the latest events in the saga of getting and keeping Blaine healed, well and TEETHED! BUT, I am sorry that it had to be postponed and happy that you get to spend some good "down" time with Mom, too! I must say, I am TOTALLY surprised not to see a "dancing" update this week given who was voted off!!! lol!

Anonymous said...

"He’s going to spend the next six weeks resting, and recuperating, and healing before our vacations."

Sounds like one great plan! Hope it's the best summer ever!

Marie
www.caringbridge.org/visit/marielle

Anonymous said...

Can't wait for that 2nd summer vacation. YAHOO! Tell Grandma Betty "hi" and we miss her. Have a fun time with Betty.