You could cut it with a knife.....

::SIGH:: Yesterday was so tension filled you could really...(well check the title) Ray was relatively quiet....I think he was really pulling the reserves from deep within...as all of this has drained what little he had to grasp too! All the rest of us...were in that wait mode...would the surgery be a go....would we have another let down....well turns out bright and early we got our visit from Dr. Scott. He said the labs looked great! His INR which was WAY too high the day before at 4.1 was at 1.8!!! It was on.....surgery was tentatively scheduled to begin 2p-3p. Since they had him NPO since midnight and his blood sugar as a tad low Dr. Scott allowed a juice and a little water...the cut off time of a few sips was 8am. The rest of the morning was spent preparing....greeting arriving family....and of course the inevitable hospital wait! Near noon I head down to eat....as I come back up...I was informed they ran some labs and he was going to get yet another transfusion....his platelets were 1250!!!! Ok this is where I did a "Whoah beep beep back up the train" How can we go from over 1 million to 1250 in less then 24 hours???!?!?!? I asked the nurse if this would put off surgery and she said possibly...I was so distraught.....I just didn't understand how this could be...after all...weren't we checking with the medical oncologist about the HIGH platelets??? And now this??? So we prepared for the transfusion even asked again to have the platelets explained by the nurse but 2 just wasn't equaling 2. Finally about 1:30p ish we did get the transfusion started and the yep...surgery is on....but instead of 2 or 3....he was taken about 4:15pm. Tick Tock Tock...we passed the 30 minute mark so we all safely assumed that he was out for the count....then Tick Tock...Tick Tock...we played Farkle!, Rummy, 31, BlackJack and laughed....to pass those darn hospital minutes! FINALLY about 7pm ish Dr. Scott emerged said things went well. There was a HUGE hematoma in the calf....he irrigated it out...and found and repaired the bleeder. The Dr. also solved the mystery of the HIGH/LOW platelets....it was just a miss reading by the nurse...apparently the nurses don't read the zero's....so his count was 1,250,000.....That made a lot more sense!!! He was in recovery and Dr. said go grab a bite to eat...relax and he would be up in the room before we knew it. While I was digesting all the info hugging all those around and decided what to do....the phone in the waiting room rang....it was our family and two others...and since no volunteer that late I answered the phone they wanted the wife of Raymond W....luckily I hadn't left....Teesa the recovery nurse explained that Ray was totally confused and agitated because he couldn't remember so they came and got me to go back to the recovery room. I got spend the 30 or so minutes with him. He was "stuck" in a work haze. That's so Ray though! He is such a hard worker even in the depths of anesthesia he works :o) He had the nurse Teesa on edge just because he was so defiant that he needed to unload his truck and park it. He even tried to escape the bed a time or two after I was there. Each and every time he closed his eyes for a few seconds then wake back up we had to start all over again. He was even confused throughout the whole night!!! After we got back up to the room everyone gave there hugs and departed. We settled in for what I thought was going to be a very rough night! Now don't get me wrong it was LONG, HARD, and EXHAUSTING but not what I feared. We dealt with pain and confusion the whole night...but we did get sleep in about hour and half increments. His biggest complaint beyond those two was that he WANTED to get out of bed...but he was on complete bed rest....he couldn't put that leg on the floor at all! That was a fight! He did have a sense of humor though and the nurse and aide were giggling most of the night! This morning we had an early morning visit from Dr. Scott...he gave a run down of today's plan of action...UP and walking with PT....weaning from PDA (pain pump) and healing! While he was there guess who came....Dr. Ott!!!! Ray was ecstatic!!!! He literally beamed and even asked Dr. Ott if Ott could see his countenance change! Doc Ott was so soothing as always and always joking with Ray...Ott did tell Ray he looked pretty bad though...."You need a shave" :o) After that...we did exactly that...pain pump...GONE! walk with PT DONE!...a chair/sponge bath...DONE!....linens and gowns changed DONE...we even snuck off to the cafeteria via wheelchair where Ray could PICK his own food! He loved it....he had sweet and sour pork, rice, corn, and a choc chip cookie!!! We did promptly report that he would need some extra insulin upon our return LOL! Ray's parents showed up shortly there after I was off to home to shower, laundry and change myself. So here we are....I am doing a quick jaunt here at home then back off to the hospital...Courtney & Cami are coming for a visit and I am certain an ice cream stop in the cafeteria!

On a side note....I am brought to tears to see all the work done on our behalf.....I have decided that those who have arranged and are setting up the Yard Sale should run the country! They can accomplish anything!!! Its amazing to see all the donations, hear the good word and progress, people who don't even know us donating cash. ALL of it is truly a blessing!!! I have to share a cute thing Cami said....The article in the Davis County Clipper about us was great and my Dad and Sister had showed the girls and article. They were excited!!! So when Cami shared the news with Great Grandma she said..."Guess what Great Grandma....we are in the newspaper! Maybe tonight we will be on the news!!!" That made my heart melt!!!

Thanks to all!

Love,
Sheri

Its was the worst yet!!

So.....thanks to Brek again for giving you all a few updates I was unable to get to home and give my daily updates....Thanks to my Bro-in-law Rob for bringing his laptop in to my so I can give a recount of the last day and a half! Ok....so its starts yesterday morning....we had our Hyperbaric meds appointment (for intake and set up a plan) and then our 1st post-op with Dr. Scott that same day later in the afternoon. Well Ray had had a decent night sleep....we didn't have the girls because they wanted to stay at AnaMana's and we were taking our morning nice and slow. About 8am Ray starting getting some more intense pains....so he took a Valium and rested until almost 9am. So then we headed out to our first appointment (a little late) with the increasing pain it was harder to get him ready and dressed. Well miracle of all miracles we were only 10 minutes late.....we checked in and started the usual paperwork....but Ray was now almost doubled over in pain.....we went to the nurse practitioner to have his vitals done...they were concerned with how much it was in pain so the other nurse called Dr. Scott's office.....they were going to try and work him in sooner.....so Ray wanted to go wait elsewhere so Hyperbaric was going to call our cell phone when they heard something.....so for now they discontinued the Hyperbaric eval because this took precedence. As we were headed up to the main level Ray decided he just As were approaching the right floor we got a call that said they were ready for us.....we arrived about a minute later check in then waited......we waited for about 20 mins...(which felt like 2 hours) each minute getting worse and worse.....finally they took us back. Dr. Scott said "Wow Ray! What happened...you look a complete 180 from discharge on Saturday" so they took off the half cast and took a look....Ray did have some minor cellulitis.....and extreme tenderness....It was decided that he was going to be admitted for pain control and to start the IV antibiotics. It took about 30 minutes for them the get the room available so Ray laid on the exam table in Dr. Scott's office until we could get check in. This was our worst of the worst.....Ray was really ready to go.....and I don't mean home.....we shared some private moments and lots of tears.......Well we finally got over to our room...but it was another 55 mins until the pain meds were administered.....He was at a TEN on the pain scale....we finally got some relief.....and within the hour he was resting more comfortable....so then started coming the labs....His hematocrit was down to 19...needs to be over 35.....they ordered 2 transfusions (this brings his total to 6 for the last week) also his platelet count was over a million should be around 300,000 so they are looking into lab work for that.....so that brings us to last night...it was an ok night...patches of sleep with periods of restlessness....3 bathroom trips that resulted into falls (he now has the bedside approach for nature calls) Oh he also had a CT earlier in that eve...so we are to this morning.....Dr. Scott came in.....CT did show that there is a collection of blood...due to possible ruptured blood vessel....shoot for surgery about 3pm.....had a decent day.....he slept off and on...3:10 came and he was off to surgery...another emotional private moment or two....and I go to the cafeteria with my Dad and Mom....grab a quick drink and snack and head up to the waiting room....get set up to play some Farkle! to speed the time by....10 minutes later I see what I thought was Dr. Scott walk by us (we were in the back area near the elevators) I said to Mom and Dad "I think that was Dr. Scott" My Mom "No, it couldn't be this early" so I walk around the corner where he is asking for "Sheri" I call out and he turns....by the look of surprise on my face he quickly reassures me that Ray is ok....then he says "Oh they must not have told you that he didn't go in for the surgery" WHAT?!?!??! Turns out his INR was high (this tells how thin/thick the blood is for clotting) normal is about 1.8 to 2.0 his was 4.1! Dr. Scott and the anesthesiologist decides its not worth the risk. They give him a Vitamin K shot (to reverse the effects of the Coumadin) and we are going to have to wait for surgery till tomorrow afternoon. Tonight has been up and down....he ate a great dinner (thanks Mom & Dad Wojtasek for staying with him while I ran home to freshen up!) Mom W says he ate it all! Which is great! But now that night is full on Rob and I are here and Ray's pain has been almost unbearable again. We are ticking away the minutes till 10:15pm when he can get his next Valium...

Oh and also a disclaimer....I am so tired....I hope this post makes sense!

Thanks to all those who continue all your support!

Until the next post....

Loves....

Surgery Tomorrow

Its Brek again. Sheri asked me to post an update since she is unable to from the hospital. Ray will go back into surgery tomorrow. They are going to open up his leg again and look for blood vessel issues. He has been low on blood and in extreme pain so they think there might be a blood vessel that might be leaking from the surgery. Also his platelets are high. Normal people have about 300,000, and Ray's has been climbing. Today he was over a million. So they are doing a screen for blood cancer.

Here's to hoping that the surgery will get him out of the pain that he's been in.

I'll post tomorrow if an update is needed before Sheri can get home to do it.

And back to the hospital they go.....

Hey everyone. Brek here (I'm Ray & Sheri's next door neighbor). Sheri asked me to give a quick update. They went in for a doctor's appointment this morning and Ray was in EXTREME pain. They unwrapped the leg and found that he had cellulitis (not sure on the spelling) of the skin down by his incision. This is an infection. The doc admitted him to the hospital and got him on a couple of different antibiotics and also some morphine. They are running some tests to see just how infected it is - whether it is just the skin or if it has gone further, like into the tissue, muscle, or bone. Again, it looks like right now it is cellulitis of the skin. I'm sure Sheri will keep us updated if things change. Please just keep on praying for this special little family! We sure do love them!

The Good....The Bad....and the Dunk Tank...

I am so sorry I didn't do an update yesterday...it was a horrible night two nights ago...it all started about 5 p.m. Ray was in the kitchen when he had a muscle spasm hit......Ray was in excruciating pain!!! It would take his breath away!! For about 2 hours we kinda battled...I was frustrated he wouldn't do anything about it...he was in pain and hated me asking things...so it was NOT a good combo....plus the girls were here and watching Ray in so much pain and me finally just saying "Fine, I'm done...you do it" kinda scared them. So after about those 2 hours we made a phone call to the doctor. He ordered Valium to relax the muscles....the funny thing is that Ray had this exact same scenario the night of his surgery it was another intense night but I guess due to the surgery that morning and all the drugs he didn't remember. But after my Dad picked up the Valium (Thanks Dad!!!) it was still a LONG night....we were both up till way past 3:30am! He was very loopy and was talking weird things...but still having a lot of pain! I felt so bad for him! I wanted to take even a fraction of pain away! There was a few funny parts (well they were not funny then but they are now!) Ray says "Honey where is my suit?" I am thinking his church clothes..... Me: "What do you mean?" Ray: "My suit....I gotta go get into the dunk tank....they are ready for me" :o) He also started a fever again low grade.....so per doctor's instruction we are doing a Tylenol regimen and closely monitoring it. So yesterday morning Ray was exhausted and thankfully had enough meds in him the pain was tolerable. He slept.....for a bit....my girls nerves were on edge and with the offer of going with Manda for the day they jumped at it! (Thanks Manda!) The sad point for me and it made me cry is when the girls didn't want to come back home. Cami had told my sister all day long....."I am going to have a sleepover AnaMana....my Mom says she gives up" I need to be extremely cautious of my feelings and words around the girls....I forget they are just as sensitive to our situation as Ray and I. I am sorry girls....Mommy will try harder! So yesterday we headed off to the IHC in Btfl...had some labs drawn.....came home and with the girls gone...we both caught up on some much needed rest....well Ray rested all day....I decided to clean the toy room and "sort out" a few things with the girls gone....but after that we both napped well. It went through the night too Ray only woke up a couple of times for meds and slept till about 6am. So here we are Tuesday....we have two appointments today....Hyperbaric Medicine then follow-up with Dr. Scott. I will give an update hopefully this evening.

I wanted to say thanks (sorry I sound like a broken record) but there has been so many helping us in many forms.....My prayers include ALL of you who are helping, praying and well wishing!! We love you all!

Until the next time...

Loves....

Sporadic funnies....

Ok I have posted already some of the funnies Ray did or said while on his drugs....but I thought I'd include a few more.....It is nice that in a time of stress and the unknown we could laugh now and then to release a little tension!



1: The second volunteer we had in the surgery waiting room was an odd duck...but she did provide entertainment.....She was OLD I would guess close to 90. Hard of hearing and spoke with a heavy accent. As people would walk up to address a question she would ask "What do YOU want" as if she wasn't supposed to be our middle person to what was going on with our love ones in back. Then she would say something to the effect..."Well you will know more then I, When the doctor comes out he will talk to you" That day it was full in the O.R. and apparently pretty darn full in the rooms of the in patient tower because we heard many a times....ok your patient is ready and done with recovery we are just trying to find a room. So there was a lot of anxious people in the waiting room. This one gentleman stood out in our minds as the whole scene unfolded.....He approached her wanting info on his wife....she gave her usual spill...but then reluctantly called back to the O.R. desk....She spoke with them...then said they wanted to talk to the hubby....she then stated very rudely, VERY loud..."After you get done talking to the nurse you come right back here and tell me exactly what she said!!! That way I will know what to tell you next time!!" The whole waiting room was snickering at this point...I mean isn't the point of re-asking how things are is to get an UPDATED update? Not the same thing you heard 2 hours prior? So she send him to the hallway phone....and this poor gentleman is so confused he goes out and picks up the phone.....well the volunteer lady had not transferred it to the phone yet and now with him on it she could not....so she starts banging on the glass walls and yelling at him to hang up the phone! Finally Ray's dad did say something to the fact...of "Give the guy a break will ya!"

2: Ray was in bed...I think it was our second evening post surgery and he is loopy on morphine and he is acting out driving his truck and just like he does in real life he was yelling that the "idiots on the road!"

3: Ray kept asking the nurses when he was going to hydrotherapy.....One nurse after probably hearing at least 5 times in a minute asked him what he meant...and basically he described something like a hot tub....When the nurse said he couldn't get his leg wet he said he'd just hold it up!!

4: This one happened when he was a little more lucid....he was still on pain meds but it wasn't the morphine....this sweet little gal came in....I am guessing she was of Hispanic decent so she didn't speak much English...but she knocked on the door and asked if she could clean our room....we said sure. Then about 15 or 20 seconds later Ray said "then I will give you my home address" You know Ray and his humor......he meant that she could clean our house next....but this poor gal had the deer in the headlights syndrome and stuttered a second or two before she said "Oh I am married" LOL it was so funny! She was so uncomfortable the rest of the time she spent in the room!

5; As the girls were leaving one night pretty late....He was still on morphine and still way wacky...he told the girls to "Call me tomorrow when you are home from school" Both girls looked at me half frightened half thinking Daddy has really lost it...I reminded them that Daddy says funny things sometimes....then I can't remember if it was Cami or Courtney that said "Daddy needs a calendar to remind him we are out of school!"

Well those are just a few I remember I KNOW there is several others....if there is one you remember let me know I'll add them.....just so we have some blackmail material later on :o)

Our First Day/Night at home...

So yesterday was so grand....we were home....girls under our roof....Ray's fav chair, his woobie (heating pad) and our bed!! It was so nice to not have any interruptions....no nurses, no "needle girl" , no announcements at 2 am, 3 am, 4 am (you get the picture) "Code Trauma Alert 2" repeated 3 times! The downside.....I was out of practice for multi tasking in "Mommy mode" There was no cafeteria in which cooked me delicious meals...no one brought Ray meals right to his bedside/chair....the girls needed to eat too! I was exhausted....but all in one breath I was glad that I was HOME and able to do all this!! Ray slept 90% of the day yesterday....I think he was in catch up mode.....he didn't have much of an appetite so finally "mean nurse Sheri" had to kick his butt and make him eat at least ONE decent meal. This morning his appetite is back! Last night I am happy to report....BOTH girls slept through the whole night in their own beds...a rare occurrence in this household....and Ray had decent night sleep, slept in bed till almost 3 am (3 weeks ago he was lucky if he got 2 or 3 hours total in a night!) then got situated downstairs for a change of pace and slept until about 6am!!! We are hoping for the same today....QUIET times...enjoying the peace...and letting us all re-coop!!! Thanks again to all who have expressed love, prayers and actions on our behalf!

Until next time....

Loves....

BLESSED!!

I have so many things to be grateful for! I have some incredible friends and family who got me through yesterday...it was an emotional one. I didn't dare cry with/in front of Ray he was overloaded. I missed my girls so much it physically caused me pain....We were stressed over the MRI findings in the pelvis.....we were stressing over another weekend in the hospital....well you get the picture. I had a tearful and so helpful phone call with "B" and several great texts and a wonderfully uplifted message via google talk thanks "J"!!! Ray's evening last night was full of anxiety, it was clear by about 6pm that we weren't getting any MRI news....Rays leg was looking a teensy bit less swollen (at this point we take pride in BABY steps!) After about 10pm his 4th transfusion was complete and he didn't get hooked up to another IV bag so he had some more freedom of movement (if you can hobbling at a snails pace movement!) So we had a decent night.....and come morning....he was perkier and feisty!!! (always a good sign!) Ray's parents showed up about 10 minutes before Dr. Scott....The docs first words were...."Wow, your looking so much better this morning" (not one person could disagree!! He was a totally different man from the night before!) Then Dr. Scott asked if they would excuse us for a few minutes....(both Ray and I silently figured it was bad news about the MRI) so his parents stepped out and he proceeded to take out both his drain bulbs...it was funny Dr. Scott explained it would be like pulling out two very long worms...He said some of the "worms" have teeth some do not. You shoulda seen Ray's eyes!! As Ray grimaced and moaned...Dr. Scott announced "Oh these ones musta had teeth!" It was so funny! Well then he goes and gets Ray's parents...as it turns out the MRI was negative!!!! What a relief....Ray's other labs looked great! There was only one in question......and that is his platelet count the average person has about 300,000 Ray's is about double that a little over 600,000. So Dr. Scott also wants us to follow up with a Medical Oncologist not to be confused with Dr. Scott and Ott who are our SURGICAL Oncologist....and its also different from Dr. Thomason who is our RADIATION oncologist! JEEZ add onto that our PCP....and our Endocrinologist....we are "ist'ed" prettily heavily!! :o) So guess what....WE ARE HOME! After all that was said he told Ray....How about we get you home! It was a surprise (albeit a happy one) to us! We figured it would at least be another day or two!!! And surprisingly after that was announced we were out of the hospital within a couple hours! And if Ray had not misunderstood the nurse we could have left sooner....but we were having such a pleasant time talking with Ray's parents and his sister Carrie....now instead of the room feeling like a prison....we were all calm enough to just be pleasantly chatting!! So we are home....the girls are home!!! (Ray even said....."Oh it will be so good to have the girls here and home and fighter" LOL) So here is our plan....we have a very low key weekend. We are not going anywhere.....we are actually being very reclusive! Sorry but we just aren't up to entertaining visitors! Its so nice to not have to put on a face...we are lounging and loving it! Monday we make contact with Dr. Scotts office to arrange our first post-op check either Tuesday or Thursday. We make contact with the Hyper baric Chamber doctor. Ray will do the Hyper baric therapy to aide in the healing of his leg since he is diabetic. Home health care will visit us about 3 times a week....Ray will be closely monitored through lab work while he is on Coumadin. We want to prevent a stroke!!! I also wanted to say that I am brought to tears of true humility in regards to all those who are helping my family! To "M" & "T" and all those who are helping them with the fund raiser...you are amazing!!!! I cannot believe the hard work you are doing and this is in addition to the busy family lives you already have! You are truly are daughters of God and radiate the Light of Christ! Thank you Thank you!!

Well I will update daily about our ups and downs....and look out soon for a post with some of the funnier moments!

Until the next post....

Loves....

I hit MY wall....

So after yesterdays update and I went back to the hospital we had a fairly good day....Ray's parents reported that he was able to "go" multiple times during the day had gone a good distance in his hall had a decent meal and had been a good boy with his breathing exercises! (This morning no crackling sounds!! We are too keep up the good work!) He also had some great visitors....Mike N came and he said it was good to have him there and feel his peace. He had 3 HS friends come and that was another boost to hear them reminisce of days gone by. We went for a walk and he lapped the hall to the half way part!! Amazing! All was looking good and the pain meds made him more lucid!!! We did have a downer part his surgical leg started to swell. We noticed it and Ray really felt it...most of the swelling was knee up to pelvis. They called Dr. Scott and he didn't seem too concerned since there was no fever present, no redness...so he told them he would check it at rounds in the morning and let him know if it changed. My tears resurfaced yesterday....I hadn't really had much tears since the night this all started on the 10th.....I had cried them out and was the strong one again.....but BAM! I had them yesterday....it was one of those days that even a stinking diaper commercial could bring them on. I know I am sleep deprived, stressed over medical bills, stressed over living expenses, and worried over Ray's long term prognosis.....so I guess I am allowed a little eye leakage now and then right??? Last night was better then any of them yet. Although little sleep on either part (not good on the leaky eye syndrome I have acquired again!) due to he went to the bathroom every hour and the leg throbbed a little more.....but I tried my best to help Ray and his apology to me in the middle of the night that I had to go through all this brought silent tears again (good thing it was dark) He doesn't like it when his words cause tears. So it was emotional and draining....fast forward to rounds this morning. Dr. Scott was a little more worried of the leg it is really puffy...he could push his fingers in the skin deep and the depressions would stay a long time! Ray's labs did show he is low on blood again.....Dr. was kinda at a loss as to where its going.....no obvious oozing from the leg and the drain tubes haven't needed to be emptied in over 24 hours. So, next plan for today obviously not coming home :o( He will be having another transfusion....He will be scheduled for an ultrasound to look for blood clots in the leg...and an MRI on the pelvis to check for a possible tumor. Before I came home they did get the ultrasound done and the tech said it looked good. No blood clot....no time was set yet for the MRI.....so tick tock tick tock waiting again.....I have a few funny moments but right now I don't feel like doing the funny stuff....I'll post again with them....I don't want to sound selfish...but today I could use and extra prayer or two :o)

Until the next post......

Loves.....

Midnight......that's why I am usually in bed!

Ok....last night can only be labeled WEIRD! And like clock work from the night before....Midnight strikes and Ray (instead of turning into a pumpkin) turned into an attempted escape artist, Houdini, stunt man, and a person who is able to speak in a foreign language (although I'm not sure from where) :o).....want a translation?? Ok here it is....I'm woke up about 12:01am by the alarm sounding on Ray's pulse ox.....I try to get his attention like I usually do "Ray, breath in through the nose out through the mouth" he mumbles here and there so I know he is pretty out of it from the drugs....by the time I get up and over to the bed the nurse is there...I guess he had pushed the button to call the nurse but never really said much. Come to find out that turkey was trying to get out of bed on his own to go "somewhere" he wasn't sure where he wanted to go! He had taken off his oxygen, pulse ox monitor not only from the cord but also he took the taped one on his finger off, he had his leg compression cuffs off, his BP cuff off, and was attempting to take one of his two IV's off/out! So after being chastised by the nurse and me we get him all hooked up back in bed. He is in bed for about 10 mins when he tells me he needs to go to the bathroom! (We still haven't been successful in this area yet since cath removal) I want to call the aide but he veto's that....so I get him all unhooked (legally this time!) and head to the bathroom. I get him situated and give him his privacy. Next thing I know he has fallen! Soaking wet....we had a basin of warm water near him. Our stubborn patient of the evening decided to stand on his own! Luckily the toilet broke his fall from falling all the way down! It still hurt and scared him but at least nothing is a lasting problem. Needless to say I FIRMLY told him he will NOT be allowed to stand without someone with him bathroom break or not!!! He was so restless the rest of the night....talking weird things...bad dreams...it was an exhausting night for me! I was so drained this morning!! After talking to the doctor...we are changing our course....Plans for today 1. stopping morphine switching to an oral pain med 2. MUST get things "flowing" :o) 3. MUST do his breathing exercises EVERY hour, He is getting some crackling sounds in his lungs 4. MUST have a standing/walking buddy! That said...I am glad my in-laws came in earlier today...I needed the break and a shower and change....I am decompressing! Breathe in....Breathe out.....awwww!

Until the next post.....

Loves...

Wednesday Update 7-21-10

Ok...so.....last night a MUCH better night! Although we did switch from extreme pain to extreme loopy! Ray was funny last night...he was talking in his sleep about work.......and acting out driving.....He asked me to go get him some ice cream from the cafeteria....the 10 mins I took to go get it...he totally forgot that he wanted it! He had to be told to chew his dinner numerous times. Then about midnight he woke me up and said he had to go....Which I thought he meant to the bathroom (ok TMI but he is on a catheter so I figured it was number 2) I knew I couldn't get him to the bathroom by myself so I buzzed for the nurse by the time she got there he was confused again....and said he needed his clothes because he had to GO....not GO....He was convinced he had somewhere to go...but he wasn't sure where....then after we got him settled....10 mins later he woke me up and asked....well demanded me to answer how old Blake was.....Well I don't know a Blake...we certainly don't know a Blake together....and I was pretty sure he really didn't know a Blake.....so after several minutes of him getting a little agitated at me...I finally said "20". That calmed him like his Valium did. Then it was on to haggling the nurses...and again wanting to know when they are going on vacation....They were all laughing....Tonight maybe a 2 drink minimum for his comedy routine?!??! I love ya babe! Well this morning he was a little less loopy (emphasis on the LITTLE) but we were able to get him to eat breakfast, Watch the Price Is Right.....He told me he missed shaking Bob Barkers hand...which I translated into he'd rather have him as host instead of Drew Carey. We had to wait for the doctor until 2:30pish today....we forgot it was his surgery day! Just about the time he showed up....Ray was getting his sponge bath (I told him to just picture us on a nice romantic beach and enjoy the warm water) He was a very good patient for me...and he felt a LOT better afterwards....so we talked to Dr. Scott. He said the labs looked ok....He is borderline on a need for another transfusion but are going to wait until tomorrow mornings labs till he decides. Ray asked he had lost a lot of blood during surgery. The Dr. explained it was a lot due to that tumor had a lot of its own vessels that it had grown and attached itself with it was quite vascular involved. We may be looking at a Friday home date....but that's not set in stone yet. Dr. Scott is really in tune with the needs of the patient and not that of the insurance companies! All in all a much better day! I snuck home for a quick shower and change and I am on my way back. Thanks again all for the texts, calls, and postings to send your love! Ray says to tell everyone he is humbled by the outpouring of support!

Until the next post....

Loves!

W-O-W......

I just can't explain by words alone how rough a night Ray had last night!!! Thanks Brek for doing those updates for me....for some reason my phone won't let me post to here so until I make a trip to the house to shower and change I have to rely on Brek and Jenefer to do my postings...and may I say....you gals are doing a beautiful job! Thanks so much for literally ALL you do! Ok....I am going to back track to slightly before the surgery and just give the day as it progressed through my eyes and thoughts.

The night before the surgery my Sister picked up the girls about 8pm so we didn't have to worry about them so early the next morning!!! Thanks Amanda you can't imagine how much it helps to know my girls are in good hands!!! So we stayed up till about 11pm....nerves and all...and then Ray and I seemed to take turns sleeping and waking. It was a long night....I think it was just preparing us for the EXTREMELY long day ahead! Ray got his best sleep after my alarm went off at 4:20am. He slept while I dressed...he was soundly sleeping and wasn't too pleased when I went to MAKE him get up since it was 5:00a and we needed to be at the hospital at 5:30a. We drove out. Pretty much in silence.....We have had so much opportunity to talk and voice our fears, stresses etc that it was just nice to hold hands as we drove and say our fervent silent prayers. Upon arrival it was CROWDED! It seems they ask all those who are supposed to be in surgery to arrive at the same time....so it was a lot of organized chaos! It never ceases to amazing me how many people it takes to "check in" with. We had the beeper kiosk....enter your name take a pager and wait....then you are paged come up and get medical history forms and an ID bracelet applied....then sit back down...then your re-re-paged to a different desk to give photo ID and insurance info. Then its back to the same spot to sit and wait till your paged a third time to go back to triage. Get a weight and temp and off we go with yet another person to our room. Get some vitals....then we meet the nurse who does their own set of vitals...then walked in the phlebotomist....Which Ray practically scares her to change occupations....she ends up getting his nurse who starts the IV and luckily will get the lab work at the same time....some nurses won't do that...he got lucky! Then......................the wait.................Ray was scheduled to go to the O.R. about 7am....we didn't leave for the O.R. until 7:45a I gave him a kiss....and off to the waiting room.....to do exactly that....WAIT! Thank heavens for my Mom and Dad....they were there with me from the get go....we played Farkle!, Rummy (two kinds) and cross-worded together. Dad was my ice/drink runner (thanks so much to you both!!) The worse part is just NOT knowing....Dr. Ott spoiled us....he sent word either through him or the nurse almost every hour.....this one (and all the other's in the waiting room were the type that came AFTER the surgery was done!!) so 1 hour, 2, 3, 4, 5......ok it was supposed to be 4-5 hours. By now I am watching the clock every 3 or so minutes....DOH! That just makes it go slower! Finally at 6 hour point I talked to the volunteer in the waiting room...asked her to please just check to make sure he was still in surgery...this 2nd volunteer was sub-par (our one from earlier in the morning was awesome!) but this lady was quite rude, a little funny to watch and not very efficient) I wanted to make sure we didn't miss the announcement that he was in recovery. She had just come from the back and said he was still indeed in the O.R....then about 20 mins later she announced he was done and then the doctor appeared about 10 mins later. All went fairly well.....it was more involved then originally thought....(isn't that SO Ray) ;o) The tumor had made the normally small tibia...about 3 times its normal size! It was also VERY close (almost too close) to the foot...but luckily they were able to make the graft above the connection. The doctor also had to stretch some of his calf muscle around to give "padding" He said Ray tolerated it well and was even talking a bit in recovery and moving his toes when asked. They also ended up putting a rod in along with the pins and plates we already knew about. He would be in recovery about 45 mins and then up to the room. I hit the cafeteria for some lunch then headed up. It was more then 45 mins but whats new...its a hospital. He got to the room and he looked HORRIBLE!!! Color was awfully! He was emotionally a wreck! (later I found out it was because he thought they ended up having to go with the amputation...a possibility we knew) He cried, was in pain and asked for his Mom. He needed her! He cried some more and complained of pain and that he just wanted to die....then things leveled some for a few hours....then about 10pm IT HIT!!! He was having muscle spasms (from where they had pulled the muscle around during surgery!) To the point he was screaming, would quit breathing and of course not getting sleep. We didn't really get along with our nurse that night (luckily we had a nurse change at 11pm) but before the change I literally had to INSIST she call the doctor....he needed something....and also our dear friend Dr. Mike L happened to text and call and mentioned there are things to help with those....he encouraged us to call the nurse to call the doctor. Thanks Mike you helped us in the right direction during a low point! About midnight Ray got his first dose of Valium the relief was instantaneous! He slept for a solid hour...the WHAM it was back with a vengeance......he was scheduled for Valium only every 6 hours....so it was intense...one hour a relief followed by hours of excruciating pain! Finally the new nurse gave him the Valium and 1 1/2 hours early. He also started with a slight fever....so they did IV antibiotics. Fast forward through the worst of the worst nights and we met with Dr. Scott this morning...he is increasing the Valium to every 4 hours....UP'D the morphine not only can he give himself a dose every 10 they have him on a drip of it continuously...he also gets Toradol (sp?) every 8 hours. That is our course of action today....lets hope it is better. The doctor is not worried about infection yet down at the surgical site (that happens about day 5) so the fever will be watched closely and his must do his breathing treatments....they are keeping pneumonia at bay hopefully! Well Ray's sisters Carrie and Ro came in this morning...so I came home to freshen up and relax a few....as I was typing this I got a text from Ro and Ray got up and moved a bit on crutches....despite the pain he said it felt SO GOOD to be out of the bed! I think its gonna be a better day!

Thanks again for EVERYONE who contributes in one way or another....we truly couldn't do this without each and everyone of you. You truly are doing the Lord's errands!

July 20 update

Spoke with Sheri a little while ago. Ray had an extremely rough night. Even with the morphine and Valium he was only able to sleep for about an hour at a time before the pain got to be too much. He is also running a slight fever so they have started him on antibiotics. They were waiting for the doctor to come through on his rounds and then Sheri was going to try to update here with more details. So stay tuned!

Ray is Out of Surgery!

Sheri called and asked that I post an update to the blog. Thanks to all of you who have texted and called her to show your concern.

Ray was in surgery longer than expected. When they got into the leg it was a little more 'detailed' than originally anticipated. The cancer was closer to the foot than they thought. Sheri said it was about 1/2 inch from the ankle. They got the cadaver bone in ok, but decided to also put a rod in the bone for extra strength. They also stretched Ray's calf muscle so that it is in front of the bone (in the shin area) to fend off infection. The doc said Ray must have a very high pain tolerance, based on the size of the tumor. Overall things went very well. Because of the stretched calf muscle he will likely be having a little more intense physical therapy. Sheri sounded in good spirits when I spoke with her - a little tired but relieved to have the surgery over. She will try to post updates along the way. Hopefully she will correct me if I got anything wrong! :)

Fund Raiser Yard Sale

My dear friends and neighbors are getting together to do a fund raiser for our family.....The info is below. And also for those who have been asking they are setting up a bank account at US Bank....info will be to follow on that. Thanks to all those who are helping and that will be helping! Our love to you all is being sent out!

Time July 31 · 8:00am - 1:00pm

Location Woods Cross Town Center
850 W 1600 S
Woods Cross, UT

All proceeds from the sale will go to The Wojtasek family to help cover medical costs in Ray's fight against cancer. There will also be a bake sale and boutique items.... Cash donations will also be accepted at the sale. Please help spread the word and help make this fund raiser a success!!!

If you want to help in ANY way.....donate items, donate time, donate crafts etcs....you can contact.....

Michele ‎1704 Sorrento Drive, Woods Cross. #801-299-0311

Terah 833 W 1600 S Woods Cross. #801-295-0654

"Crunches" take 2

Well you know how Cami calls Ray's crutches "crunches" well my Sister shared a cute story with us about those....I guess the girls were excitedly telling Manda about how they get to help Daddy on the stairs as he scoots backwards to go up and they carry the "crunches"

Manda: "So how does your Daddy get DOWN the stairs?"

Cami: "I don't know...."

Courtney: "Ummm he hasn't figured that out yet!"

Manda: ::snickering:: "Well how many times have you helped him UP the stairs???"

Courtney: "Oh 3 or 4 times!"

I really don't know how the girls minds think but that was pretty funny that since they never have helped him DOWN (or sceen it) I guess they assume he doesn't know how. I joked that since he weighs practically nothing I just heave ho him over the balcony! Kids....its a good thing we have them....they allow the pressure from stress to deflate a little! Just wanted to share with you all!

Until the next time....

Loves...

Back to the normal....

Well last night was full of no sleep for Ray....that is more back to his normal :o( The pain pills aren't helping much with the throbbing so we are trying a new concoction of ONE pain pill and then 800mg of IBU....we will see if that works. He jokes that on Monday he will at least get about 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep!!!

Until next update.....

Loves....

The Call

Well we got our call today......Ray reports for surgery at 5:30am Monday morning.....Ray is happy about the time....nothing makes the day hard when your not scheduled for surgery till 10 or 11 am then with them already behind from the other earlier surgeries you don't get in till noon! He is already counting the hours till (NPO) when he can't eat or drink....He may take one last bite at 11:59p :o) Thanks again for all those who have cared so much for us! We got an unexpected dinner delivered from a friend that I met through being a Twilight freak! Thanks so much Jenny! My hubby loves ribs!!!!! We continue to feel Heavenly Father's love and guidance through it all....BUT without all of you who have helped with your own hands, time, and prayers it wouldn't be possible! We love you all!

Another night....another day closer...

Last night was not quite as good as the night before....I think as Monday approaches both Ray and I are getting more anxious! His leg continues to throb but he can go at least 6 hours in between pain doses. A bright spot in all this is the girls reaction to Ray....they love to help him with his "crunches" Cami doesn't say crutches :o) We love it!!! Ray uses them on flat ground but when it comes to our stairs he scoots on his butt and the girls go up and down with him and the "crunches"!!! As some of you are finding out we are home to re coop until Monday. But we are not having visitors here...both for Ray's and of course MY sanity!! :o)

Until the next post.....

much love!

Last night Ray had an ok night of sleep....the thing that was the most bothersome was the pain level. The leg constantly throbs with sporadic stabbing pains! Those can rock his world at times. Our mental health is stable with underlying anxiety as we move towards Monday. Thanks to Tiff for the yummy dinner last night!

Until the next post....

Love!

Special Fast

Our dear friends the Johnson's were asking if we have had anyone set up a special fast for Ray (and the girls and I) and although people may have on their own fasted on our behalf the Johnson's wanted to invite anyone to join them starting this Saturday night for a special group fast. If you feel like you want to we would love to have you join us. Again we have seen miracles in our lives and continue to do so. With our Faith and your Faith.....we can grow from this trial.

Love to all!

Need Washing?

My Sister had sent me this story about 2 weeks ago...it was a lift to me then and certainly even more now!

NEED WASHING?

A little girl had been shopping with her Mom in WalMart. She must have been 6 years old, this beautiful red haired, freckle faced image of innocence.
It was pouring outside. The kind of rain that gushes over the top of rain gutters, so much in a hurry to hit the earth it has no time to flow down the spout.. We all stood there, under the awning, just inside the door of the WalMart.

We waited, some patiently, others irritated because nature messed up their hurried day. I am always mesmerized by rainfall. I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens washing away the dirt and dust of the world. Memories of running, splashing so carefree as a child came pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day.

Her little voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance we were all caught in, 'Mom let's run through the rain,' she said.

'What?' Mom asked.

'Let's run through the rain!' She repeated.

'No, honey. We'll wait until it slows down a bit,' Mom replied.

This young child waited a minute and repeated: 'Mom, let's run through the rain..'

'We'll get soaked if we do,' Mom said.

'No, we won't, Mom. That's not what you said this morning,' the young girl said as she tugged at her Mom's arm.

'This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?'

'Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, ' If God can get us through this, He can get us through anything! ' '

The entire crowd stopped dead silent.. I swear you couldn't hear anything but the rain.. We all stood silently. No one left. Mom paused and thought for a moment about what she would say.
Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young child's life. A time when innocent trust can be nurtured so that it will bloom into faith.

'Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If GOD let's us get wet, well maybe we just need washing,' Mom said.

Then off they ran. We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they darted past the cars and yes, through the puddles. They got soaked.
They were followed by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars. And yes, I did. I ran. I got wet. I needed washing.

Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, they can take away your money, and they can take away your health. But no one can ever take away your precious memories...So, don't forget to make time and take the opportunities to make memories everyday. To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven.

I HOPE YOU STILL TAKE THE TIME TO RUN THROUGH THE RAIN.

Take the time to live!!!

Keep in touch with your family & friends, you never know when you'll need each other -- and don't forget to run in the rain!

Its official....

We received notification from Dr. Ott that the bone biopsy is back and as we all suspected along with the Doctors Ray's pancreatic cancer has metastasized to Ray's tibia bone. So we are still on for the surgery on Monday.....followed by radiation.....although this is scary news it is encouraging to know that 1. Its isolated to ONE bone 2. We have the BEST doctors on the case 3. We have so much support from family and friends and 4. The Lord is holding our hand each step of the way!

Love to you all!

Update from Sheri

Here's a "cut and paste" email sent to me from Sheri....you may find these type of updates coming.  It just depends on Sheri's access to the computer or her phone.  This was received just minutes ago....ENJOY!


We saw Dr. Scott this morning. No results on bone biopsy yet. Ray had a restless night. Leg was throbbing.  Dr. Scott re-wrapped the ace bandages and that seemed to help!!! We are now in the waiting period till Monday. We cannot say enough how blessed we feel. The Lord has been our constant companion and each and every prayer on our account are working and felt!!!!




Until the next update....

The Whole Kit and Kaboodle!

Well ladies and gents I figured this would be the best way to communicate to the masses....Ray aka Skinny Rigger and I feel so honored that we have so many caring family and friends!! So this is where you will check up for the latest as it happens.....I am going to take you back to the very beginning and bring to current as of right now.

A normal Saturday (7-10-10) day....the girls and I had enjoyed the Farmington parade...had a fun day of play with the cousins then off to pick up the shopping list and Ray's diabetes supplies at Wal-mart. We had just left the pharmacy and had 5 or so items in our cart when my phone rang. It was Ray....

Me: "Hello"

Ray: "Where are you?"

Me: "Wal-mart"

Ray: "How long you gonna be?"

......by now I can hear an underlying panic in his voice.....

Me: "I don't know....WHY???"

......I think I kinda went to only half listening now because what I THOUGHT I heard was slightly different from what he really said....so I will just put in the correct info.....

Ray: "I was at work washing the windshield and I felt my leg pop!"

.......immediately my mind thought with all the swelling the skin had ruptured with no more room to go anywhere.....

Me: "Is it bleeding????"

Ray: "I don't know for sure I still have on the pressure stocking...."

Me: ::interrupting:: "Don't take it off till I get home...."

..........I was hoping it had enough pressure to hold things together until I got home....

Me: "Sit down DON'T move....I will be there in minutes!"

Ray: "Ok"

So I was at the store......with the girls and my Dad...I quickly recounted the phone call told the girls to come on grabbed the Rx's (I had already paid for them) and went walking fast toward the door....the girls were a little startled and I looked back and saw Courtney had grabbed the banana out and was running with them....(I did look back hours later and laugh at this...she was just helping and didn't understand that we had no time to pay for them) after that I just told my Dad to take the girls and I would call him (we had drove separately) I rushed to the car...dialed Brek (I was so nervous it took me 3 times to get the right number dialed!!) had her and Mike go over to be with Ray until I got there....I got behind every slow person in the State! I finally made it to the garage...with Ray joking that I was driving like a "speed demon person" and just casually sitting there....boy did I feel a little relief....he had a card of a place he was supposed to go to for work related injuries....so we loaded up with him hobbling but appearing ok and off we went.....At the urgent care facility we were checked in, he did his drug screen test, and then we were put in a room. It was really a small world that night....the doctor on that night is a lady I worked with before when I worked at InstaCare...and the nurse's hubby worked for Flying J too! So they were taking us very personal and the care was to notch! The doctor finally removed the pressure stocking....Ray said that gave him immediate relief...it was still sore but not too bad....so off to the xray room (he walked!) when he got back he was talking about how he would be at work tomorrow yada yada yada....The doctor came back in and said. You fractured your tibia. Ray was astounded! She took us to look at the xray. The break itself wasn't too bad...it was still lined up (we think a minor miracle because he was wearing the compression stockings)...and stacked perfectly on top ...but one look by me on the xray I got a sick feeling and before she even said anything...I knew we were headed down a bumpy path! The extra as she put it has an abnormal finding. Then came the tears...I think the Lord had been preparing me for weeks to handle this...and now here it was! We discussed things and told her we had an appointment with the doctor on Tuesday. So she wanted to half cast it and then follow up with them on Tuesday....Ray wanted to clean up his leg before he had something put on it....so they allowed us to go home and get him showered...when we got back the doctor said that she had just left us a message...She thought that it might be wise for us to go to the ER for an MRI that way it would be done for them on Tuesday with results...so they set it in the half cast and sent us on our way....the girls came and saw us before we headed off then went to Papa's for a sleep over.
We checked in to the ER...it looked pretty busy but despite that...it was the FASTEST visit to date! We were only in the room maybe 10 minutes when the doctor came in took the history and then we showed them the xrays from the urgent care....he said this "Oh...ok" "Well I will be back in a bit" well about 6 minutes later he came back and said he went over the xrays with the radiologist and they were direct admitting him upstairs.....Up we go with the impression that he was going to have surgery in the morning to have a rod put in his leg. The ortho doctor that was going to admit us would meet us that morning prior to surgery. Well it was a long night.....nerves...and when the morning came an no doctor yet and no word on surgery...we finally were notified that our ortho had been in surgery with another patient until 2:30a that morning and we would see him late morning early afternoon. When we finally met him....he looked at the xrays and was kinda floored of the "fluffy bone" that was displayed. So he said we would have the surgery in the am and explained the procedure...also that he was gonna contact Dr. Ott and go over this with him....so set for surgery Monday morning.....well later that day the ortho came back and said that he wanted to research it first better so lets some tests and hold off surgery until Tuesday....Monday late morning Dr. Ott stopped by ( I had run home so I missed it...I was so upset!) but he said that he wanted us to meet with a radiation oncologist, and a hematologist. They were either suspecting true bone cancer like leukemia or that his pancreatic cancer had metastasized to the bone. They scheduled a bone scan and then we were waiting again. Then later it changed to no rod surgery if it was indeed cancer because they would resect it and put in a donor bone. so more wait....well they finally got the stuff for the bone scan injected and then took him about 4 hours later....by the time Dr. Ott came for rounds that evening he said preliminary it looked like the tumor is isolated to the leg but he had to wait for it to be read by the radiologist and also wanted a chest and leg CT done. Chest for checking the lungs for metastasise and leg for a better picture....also he said no surgery Tuesday morning....which brings us to today.....We got GOOD news today....it was verified that the tumor/cancer is isolated to the leg! The chest CT was negative!!! So Ray was really lucky...Dr. Ott said he has never seen an isolated case before of it...he would have thought it was all over his body and terminal. He was really encouraged...he also sent in an oncology ortho....Dr. Scott (I love that Ott/Scott thingy!) ;o) we loved him.....so it turns out that we will be waiting....the biopsy was done today.....Ray had conscious sedation but it hurt like no other! Dr. Scott wants to wait for the full report to come back not just the Polaroid version (his analogy!) and with the donor bone they have to "order" it and that takes a day or two.....so we are on hold.....We are scheduled for one more MRI today on the leg to see how much soft tissue is involved in the tumor...and then waiting again....Monday we are scheduled for surgery! Ok...so you are current!

We want to thank ALL of you who have prayed, helped, offered helped, and did whatever else to help us. The Lord is mindful of us and through our and your faith we are experiencing another of life's miracles!

until the next update.....Much love!

Sheri

First Entry!

This blog has been established to track and follow Skinny Rigger's Journey!  Please check back often as it will be updated frequently!  Thanks for following Skinny Rigger's Journey!