Skinny Rigger's Journey: A post from our family blog from January!...gives some updates...and more to come..

Back to IMC we go.... Not the way I envisioned starting out 2011...but none the less we were at our ever becoming home away from home.....Ray had his surgery on January 5th. We were all in agreeing (Ray, Me, Dr. Scott) that if the tumor was more involved then just IN the bone (i.e. around the bone, in the tissue etc..) Dr. Scott would just take the biopsy samples and close him up. We would then schedule an amputation. If it was NOT involved we were sticking with the "temporary fix". So that was performed! The only other place he currently found cancer cells was in the muscle that was rubbing up against the tumor. So he drilled out the tumor, filled the hole with liquid nitrogen and then put in bone cement. He also did a bone marrow aspiration from Ray's hip and injected it into the sight of his non-union. The non-union is from the surgeries in July. The upper part of the cadaver bone and his own bone were not healing....so he added the marrow and another plate and screw to literally MASH them together! ::crossing fingers:: this works! Ray tolerated the surgery well...and we were looking like we would be out of the hospital sometime the next day....However about 3:30p the next day...Ray had unexplained shivers (no fever) and EXTREME pain. Dr. Scott and I decided to keep him in one more night to see if anything developed. Luckily nothing did....so Friday about noon we made it home....Ray was in good spirits talking with my Dad a even made a few phone calls. I settled in to do some much needed laundry folding....after about an hour he was asleep so I decided to go unwind downstairs for a bit (the girls were still with my family at a movie) after about another hour I thought I better check and see if he is ready for a pain pill...the last one he had was while we were still in the hospital earlier that morning. When I got to our room......My heart plummeted to my feet...it was a sight I will NEVER forget and pray I NEVER see again! Ray was unresponsive....blue lips and toes, the rest of him ashen in color, puffy, and grunting for air!!! I ran for the phone dialed 911. While keeping my calm, I grabbed a rob (last time I forgot), pushed all my neatly folded clothes into the corner as much as I could, unlocked the door, and tried to do as the 911 operator asked me to do. Lay him flat, tilt head back a bit....nothing was working. I was yelling his name, rubbing him (not gently either) I was soooo scared! The first to arrive was a police officer (I was still in control of emotions) I explained he was diabetic and I thought it might be that (again) so I said I would get juice...I learned from a dear friend of mine that if I couldn't get Ray to DRINK the juice I could at least rub it on his gums and that way he would get some of the sugar. Shortly after that (seemed like a week) the paramedics arrived and first thing they did was check his blood sugar. It was GREAT 173. So it wasn't that....by now he began to come around a bit...enough to look at us. (Later I found out that Ray really couldn't hear us...he said he had a very loud ringing in his ears). When the paramedics started asking me the details that's when my emotional roller coaster came to the big hill and descended....luckily my neighbors showed up a few minutes later!! Also on another weird note I felt like a criminal. They (the police officer and paramedics) as they were getting my "statement" were counting Ray's pain pills....it made me feel like I was on trial for overdosing him or that he intentionally took some...I know they are just doing their job but jeesh....I was picturing all those episodes of "Snapped" I watch LOL I kept telling them through my tears "He hasn't had ANYTHING since we have been home" I guess after they counted both bottles and found the full amount they finally believed me :o) So Ray was getting a ambulance ride...the bummer part is that he wasn't stable enough to be transported to IMC.....so we had to go to Lakeview (in MY opinion I really don't like that hospital) so we spent SIX hours there in the ER for them to get him stable and decided if he need to be admitted...answer YEP...another ambulance ride to IMC and we were settled into the room by about 11pm. The conclusion was that Ray does not react well to Oxycontin!!! (He had a two doses at the hospital prior to discharge) And with the bad reaction and only having 1/2 a diaphragm he was to sedated to breathe deep enough therefor causes too much carbon monoxide to build up...and therefor creating a very bad situation! So they kept him over night and we were home again on Saturday about 3pm. (Ray came home to freshly scrubbed walls, floors and new bedding...darn my OCD! I was bone tired!) No repeat ambulance trip but we did have a visit from Praxair Home Health to deliver us Ray's oxygen for sleeping and naps. He did stay home ONE day on Sunday to recuperate but come Monday morning my ever strong and brave man went to work!!! He is amazing!!! Then on Tuesday we had our 1st post op follow up with Dr. Scott. We got to take a look at the new scar for the 1st time, the JP drain came out, and then he was re-wrapped with the instructions of no weight bearing (yeah right!) and to come back in 2 weeks for suture removal! All in all since the two set backs he is doing amazingly well! We still don't have amputation off the table yet. Things that might put it right on the front burner again. Pain intolerance, the non-union continues to be a non-union, better mobility with a prosthesis, or the inevitable cancer returns. We certainly know we are on borrowed time and have a 95% chance of it coming back not only in the leg but also elsewhere in the body. So we still just make the most of every day and we are spending these next few months celebrating Ray's life and making memories while he can!

Morning of the surgery! He looks so sexy in his gown and cap!