WHAT is going on with my family?!?

[Miranda]

Double congrats!!!!! What wonderful news! Things are looking up for ya!

 

[Dreamer_D]

If this doesn''t brighten your moms day or even YEAR I don''t know what will! How wonderful.

 

[Independent Gal]

Date: 7/10/2008 4:41:47 PM
Author: chizzy1982
IG - I''ve been following this thread and just wanted to say how sorry I am you are going through all this but also CONGRATULATIONS on your cubs

. Hope you and them are doing well.

I''m glad your mum is making a good recovery - has she been given any do''s and don''ts from a therapist? If not and you want any info/ advice just ask - I''m a senior physio in cardiac and thoracic surgery


Hope things continue to get better for you


Take care

Chizzy that would be absolutely GREAT! What can I pass along to her? She''s not in America, and while the quality of the doctors where she is is fantastic, sometimes they''re not as thorough as Americans in terms of stuff like after care. So I would just love a list of do''s and don''ts. In case it makes a difference, she had her thymus gland removed and they scraped (?) cancerous tissue from the pleural cavities. I think that''s it?

Thanks for piping up and offering the help.

 

[Independent Gal]

Date: 7/9/2008 11:01:41 PM
Author: AGBF

I am sorry to read about all your troubles, IG. I, also, have had a laughable number of them at once recently. (Like having to euthanize the dog while my daughter was in the hospital after making her first suicide attempt in January and then having her make her second attempt when my mother died in late May.) All I can say is that you should keep posting here...and that I admire your attitude. I will be looking forward to reading tomorrow about how the pregnancy is going. All my good thoughts and prayers will be with you.


Hugs,

Deb

Good lord! I am so sorry Deb, that sounds just awful!! My thoughts are with you and your daughter too. Is your daughter doing better? Is she getting good care? What a thing to bear. How terrifying.

 

[sap483]

Indy, I just saw this thread. I''m so sorry that your family is going through this. Congratulations on the twins though, that''s such great news! It''s also such a wonderful thing for you mother and other relatives to look forward to. I know that the motivation of attending my wedding got my dad through the tough times, and I''m certain it will help your mother too!

Lot''s of hugs for you and prayers for your mom to have a speedy recovery.

 

[Independent Gal]

Thank you SAP! I found your story in your wedding thread very inspiring and I was deeply touched by it. I hope he is doing well!

 

[onedrop]

Oh wow Indy! What great news...twins?? I have been following your thread and I am so sorry to hear about your Mom and everything else you''ve been dealing with. But there is always a silver lining isn''t there? Thanks so much for sharing the wonderful news with us. And I wish a speedy recovery for your Mom.

 

[robbie3982]

OMG!!! TWINS!!! CONGRATS!!!

 

[diamondfan]

Double the fun! Wow, that is so great. Feel good, and take good care of yourself.

 

[KimberlyH]

Hooray for twins, something for everyone to look forward to! Congratulations to you, Indy and Mr. Indy!

 

[Skippy123]

I am going to have 2 glass of wine in your honor sweetie! Cheers

 

[chizzy1982]

IG - its 8.15 am UK time ( so early!!!) and I have to run and get handovers and things -I will pop back in my lunch hour and jot a few things down. Am I right in thinking she had a sternotomy ( midline incision down the front of the chest)? Did they extend the incision anywhere else e.g round the back of her chest at all?
Also do you know exactly what they did i.e remove any lung tissue or lobe?

get back to you later

 

[Independent Gal]

Chizzy, sternotomy sounds right. I'm pretty sure the incision did not go around the back and i'll double check before passing the info along to mom. They didn't move any lung tissue... it was just the thymus gland (which they took whole) and I gather they removed some lesions from the pleural cavity. Luckily, her lungs were pinky pink and completely free of cancer, so far as they could see.

Apparently, the doctor told her to prepare herself that she may need 6 months (?!?!!) of chemo. That suggests they might think it's not stage 2 after all. We'll find out on Wednesday for certain. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for the best.

 

[princesss]

A *pair* of Cubs? FANTASTIC! You''re going to have your hands full, and it will be wonderful!

 

[anchor31]

Twins, eh? Wow. I pray everything will go well through the pregnancy!

 

[ladypirate]

AAAAAAHHH!!! Congratulations!!!!!!

You are going to be such an awesome mom--congratulations on the cubs!

 

[chizzy1982]

Ah IG I''m sorry about the 6 months of chemo - thats rough, your mom and you are in my thoughts.

Now as to the advice:

This is the same advice I give to all my sternotomy patients here in UK - i can''t imagine the procedure differs that greatly from US!

1: When coughing pop your hands across your chest just to give a bit of added support. Some people find hugging themselves works or hugging a pillow!
2: When getting out of bed try and roll onto your side rather than pulling forward - it reduces the stress going through the wound and is less painful
3: When standing up from the chair try not to put weight through your arms. The sternum (breastbone) has been broken but is wired nicley back together, however it is a bone none the less. When you break your leg you don''t weight bare through it for 6 - 8 weeks to give it a chance to heal - same applies for the breastbone. So when standing up put your arms across your chest or fold them so they are out of the way. Shuffle forward in the chair so your bum is on the edge of the seat, then rock forward to get a bit of momentum to stand up. When going to sit its ok to guide yourself down with your arms as they are not taking weight through the wound.
4: Keep mobile
5: Make sure the arms can go up above the head ( as much as pre op) so you can still do things like washing/drying hair etc
6: Keeping doing shoulder shrugs/rolls to make sure they do not stiffen up.
7: When sitting/standing/walking make sure you are standing up as straight as possible and not bent over - as is the tendacy with any painful wound. The wound is completley closed and wired shut and you will not damage it by standing up straight and taking the shoulders back.


Think thats about it - hope the above is helpful or if you have any questions just ask.

Take care

 

[hairgirl95]

Oh Indy Super huge congrats!! I am so happy to hear that not only is there one healthy cub, but 2!! That is so exciting. I am so relieved for you that your appointment went so good. I am just so totally happy for you right now. Congrats again--kick your feet up and take care of those precious cubs.

 

[Independent Gal]

Chizzy, thank you soooo much! I passed those along to my mom who was not aware of about half of them, so it really helped. She is going home today, after finally getting those tubes out. She seems to be in good spirits too!

On the downside, my brother, the one who pulled his leg out of the socket, had yet another stroke of tragic luck. His beloved kitty died suddenly. He had diabetes and looked not himself so my brother took him to the vet (on his crutches, without a car...the image is kind of pitiful isn''t it?)... and there at the vet the cat just lay down and died. My brother is devastated! He loved that cat so much.

Well, now our family is definitely done with our run of luck. We must be, right? RIGHT?

 

[Independent Gal]

Date: 7/10/2008 10:58:28 PM
Author: Skippy123
I am going to have 2 glass of wine in your honor sweetie! Cheers

WAAAAH! Skippy that is so mean.

Just imagine how badly I needed a drink this week! ACK! But I think the twins can do without it.

So I guess i''ll just live vicariously through you then.

 

[Independent Gal]

And thanks to ALL of you for your good wishes! You are just the nicest bunch of folks ever.

 

[swimmer]

IG! Twins! Amazing! As my mom said about my twin sisters, "well, at least we (she and dad) weren''t outnumbered yet" What wonderful news.

Oh AGBF, what a terrible journey for your daughter. Sending you strength.

 

[Selkie]

Indy, I''m so sorry for all your troubles, but I''m so happy that you have a little bit of sunshine coming through as well.

 

[Blair138]

Indy-I just got back from vaca and am trying to catch up so sorry to be late to the game but I''m glad to hear your mom is doing better so far-sorry to hear about all the other messes but hopefully you guys are in the clear now!

AND CONGRATS on the TWINS!!!!! Just think-most multiple births go early so you could be drinking wine earlier than you thought!

 

[luckystar112]

OH MY GOSH
Oh
My
GOSH!!!!!!!

No idea how I missed this...but CONGRATS INDY!
I can''t believe it.....I''m speechless.....TWINS!!!?!?!??!

Seriously...what are the odds of all these twins?

You must be thrilled! Or perhaps the shock is wearing off now since I''m so late.
Regardless, congratulations!!!