Noel was discharged from the hospital late yesterday afternoon and got to sleep in her own bed last night. Her sister Sarah from Denver came in yesterday and will be staying with us through Christmas, which is a tremendous help. We’re now trying to determine what she can eat on the low fiber, low residue diet she’s on for the next four to six weeks. Almost everything she likes (e.g., fresh vegetables) is NOT on it.

Clark

Call from Noel this evening – she slept a bit, she ate a bit (some real food) and she feels pretty darn good.

Clark

Dear all,

The good news is that last night Noel was able to demonstrate that her bowel is fully functional. The bad news is that it launched into a level of hyperdrive that only a Trekkie could appreciate. The subsequent good news is that, while they feared an infection (something called c.diff), the test results were negative for infection.

When I arrived early this morning Ann was worn out and sleeping. Later in the morning she got in a good two hour sleep and we did our first rounds of the ward after “lunch” at about 1:30. “Lunch” consists of broth, coffee (she prefers tea, but it’s a hospital and they didn’t ask), jello (she’s taken one bite in two days) and some apple juice. Tonight and tomorrow they’ll try introducing semi-solids (another Star Trek term I presume).

Remember I reported on how Noel’s doctors could not believe she was actually 39? (Stop it, Rochester.) So today, as I was leaving her room I encountered another patient making her own rounds of the floor. My first impression is that she was around Ann’s age. We exchanged greetings and I walked on down the hall. As I did, I heard the woman say to her escort, “He looks so much like my father.” Well, see if she gets a greeting from me in the future.

Exit from the hospital has been delayed a day or two, but will happen soon. In the meantime, Sarah (Ann’s sister in Denver) arrives to stay with us and get Ann to start eating and walking around the block. I can’t wait.

Ann and I can’t thank you enough for your posts, cards, emails, etc. They mean the world to her. I also apologize for not being able to respond to each of you directly. i hope this can satisfy some of your interest in how things are going.

Clark

Luke and I arrived this morning to hear Noel gabbing with the nurses’ assistant, and we could tell from the tone and timbre of her voice that she was feeling better. Fortunately, watching last night’s game didn’t set her back as much as it set back those of us who who had to watch it in person.

The pharmacy assistant came in to see if she could give Annie some instruction on the Lovenox injections that she’ll have to give herself when she gets home (to prevent blood clotting), and Ann said she would be happy to make an appointment with her. This exchange helped me see that she truly was getting back to normal.

She is off the sips and chips restrictions, and she had some tea this morning; indeed, her weight is almost back up to pre-surgery levels. Her energy is also much better today, though right now she is snoozing a bit (as is Luke). A peaceful morning.

Clark

Hello clark, family and friends,
It has been so good continuing to hear from you. I gave up my morphine this afternoon to see if I COULD BE CLEARER, and so
Far it is much better. I think I will still
Have to call it mY blob, until I can actually get some thoughts and ideas together. The hardest thing post-surg. Is that I still can’t
Have a drink of water. I can know let small ice-chips melt on my tongue. One 9oz cup every 8 hrs. I
also can’t have any. Food or liquids. food I don’t mind at all.
Ihaven’t had
Food. Or liquids for quite a while, so it will be delicate re-intro. how long? Nov. 14-21, I was on a clear liquids . During OCT. I had about four regular dinners. what I like best about the blog, is
That it seems to get us all reconnected. If Ididn’t get you on the blog it is totally unintended. Back again later.I can feel the energy and the prayer.. Love Annie///Noel

Noel swears she’s going to post to the blog today, but I have my doubts. It’s been two days of medical progress, but she’s not feeling it yet. She’s had trouble sleeping the last two nights, along with some gas build-up and nausea, so she’s more worn out than she was immediately following surgery. But she was finally able to prove that her colon had started to function again, which is the big step the doctors were waiting for. Still, she sleeps when she can (they moved her to a room further from the nursing station, where the chatter was disturbing her, and from the storage closet which seemed to be the source of constant noise at night). It was a bummer not having her home for Thanksgiving, but as she noted she had nausea and no appetite, and she was too worn out to visit anyway.

Just after Luke and I arrived in her room this morning, an entourage of four doctors came into the room to explain her medical status and progress. Annie carped a bit after they left that they had been there earlier and said the same stuff – I think she’s finally starting to get a feel for academic medical centers and teaching hospitals! She and Luke then did four circuits of the ward so we could check that off on her daily to-do list.

Flowers started arriving on Tuesday and now her room is starting to look like a florist shop – a very cheery florist shop (thanks to all). Robert and Laurel Jones stopped in for a quick visit, as did Kathy and Jack Berkemeyer (friends from Chicago who are out here celebrating their anniversary and joined us for Thanksgiving). One of Luke’s friends from law school, whom Noel had never met before, even stopped in to deliver some flowers and to visit. (I play the role of bouncer so she can rest, but I’m not always there.)

Noel’s doctor just called to confirm that she’s on schedule for post-surgical recovery and that he’s pleased with her progress. Monday looks to be the likely discharge date, though he emphasized that it all depends on how she feels and when she starts eating.

Edit: Forgot the other good news. The ND-Stanford game is on ABC, which Noel can watch at the hospital, so she’s happy aobout that. She asked me to remember to bring her something distinctively Irish to wear at the hospital tomorrow. Go Irish!

Clark

Noel started a post earlier today but she kept falling asleep so no idea when it will be posted. She didn’t get a lot of sleep on Monday night after the surgery. The next day was better but last night she kept getting awakened by her doctor’s “entourage” of residents, medical students, physician assistants, etc. Finally, Annie told her nurse “no mas” and the nurse kept the entourage out of her room and she got some good sleep. Still today she was sleeping a lot. We did do about seven circuits around the ward, so that was good, but she had a blood transfusion in the afternoon and the medication pretty much knocked her out, for what she said was a good nap, but it was unfortunate if she wanted to communicate with her sister Ellen when she was visiting.

Part of the reason for these visits seems to be that the doctor’s entourage can’t quite believe Annie’s birth date. She looks much younger, they say – something the doctor made a point of telling me when he called this morning. (Aside: As if I haven’t been hearing this all our married life.)

Someone remarked to me in an email today that this blog hasn’t been very clear on the details and what we know. So here’s what we know. During the surgery they found a lot of malignant tumor, which they suspect is ovarian cancer but the ultimate diagnosis of that will have to be determined after the pathology report is received. Part of it got into her colon and they had to take out a section of that, but they re-connected it without have to do an external ostomy. Her doctor felt the surgery went well, and despite how extensive the cancer was he was pleased that he thought they got about 95% of it. They’ll have to use chemotherapy on what remains. The goal right now is for Noel to recover from the surgery, which she is doing quite nicely. After she does that (five to six weeks), she’ll start chemotherapy. They’ve sent samples of the tumor out for analysis and for testing to see which chemotherapy agents seem to have the most effect upon it. If she does her chemotherapy at UCSF (University of California San Francisco – which is where she had the surgery and is now), she may also have some clinical trials available (whether we do those is another question). But there is a lot of information to gather and assess before that decision is made. Meanwhile we will focus on healing and what we can do (e.g., diet, exercise, etc. – our friend Bob Wicker in Minnesota says she has to give up chardonnay but may be able to still have some champagne!).

A little about Annie’s medical care team. Her doctor is John Chan, MD; he is head of the Gynecologic Oncology department at UCSF. UCSF is one of the top programs for oncology and for gynecologic oncology in particular, and Dr. Chan is one of the best in the country. We had him vetted and checked, including by one of my childhood friends at the National Cancer Institute, and he’s as good as we could wish for. So as far as medical expertise and care is concerned, we have all we could want. Dr. Chan has been very attentive to Noel and to us; we’re in very good shape in that regard. As for UCSF and the nursing care, it’s been great – aside from sometimes having too many folks coming in at night to check Annie’s BP (age) and such! But they’ve been great.

Right now Annie is on a “sips and chips” diet – that means a few sips of water and some chips of ice. Otherwise she’s getting her nutrition from an IV. The first step is to make sure that her re-sected colon is functioning properly. Once they are certain that that has healed properly, she can start having real food and they can consider discharge. We suspect discharge won’t come before Monday, but we don’t know for sure. Noel is doing her best to speed things up – she’s probably making another circuit of the ward as I type this.

One downside of UCSF is that their television station coverage is severely limited. They have CNN, the Weather Channel and a bunch of local stations, but no tennis channel (Noel’s favorite) and no ESPN (which the ND – Stanford game may be on Saturday night). Bummer. I have to do extra duty at home with the DVR so she can have something to watch when she gets home (although we do get the tennis channel 24/7, which she loves, aside from the “Bag Check” segment).

I pick up Luke in the morning at the airport in Oakland and we’ll go in to see Noel then. After that it’s Thanksgiving at home, and in particular thanking God for Annie as mother and wife.

Noel has read (or has heard, from my reading) all of your comments, and it buoys her tremendously. Happy Thanksgiving and many blessings to you all.

Clark

Today was a good day. The nurse came in to ask if Noel could sit on the edge of the bed, and then stand, and then maybe walk a few steps. So she then circled the unit twice. An hour later she decided to go again and we circled the unit three times!

She’s still sleepy after the surgery and with the pain medication but otherwise fully engaged. Her doc came by this afternoon – the first visit after the surgery that she remembers – and she was encouraged with his assessment. Long road ahead with chemotherapy but she’ll be ready for it.

She feels your support.

Clark

Dear family and friends
Clark Ellen and I make a greAT group. They were on hold last night until 9, but at least i was awake. I think recovery is going very weell. Today I got up for the first time. Clark, the nurses and I walked A square around fifth floor and i am still sitting up. We are supposed to see the doctor this afternoon, and hope he has somE more info. The blog has been fun so far.and ESP first and long time reconnecting. Thank you for your friendship, prayers, And support.

Love Annie/noel

Ellen and I were with Annie as she was moved up to her room. She’s NPO! No liquids or anything – and it’s driving her crazy. But she looks good – good color, lots of questions, yet wanting to sleep and rest. Those 5 1/2 hour surgeries are tough. She’s aware of your support, which helps her go hour to hour. We were satisfied with her condition and the nursing care, so we have left her for the evening. I’ll be leaving the iPad with her so she can post again on her own (expect glitches – ahem).

Clark