Brain Surgery 1903

I have been busy going through some old family letters and making copies for a cousin. My paternal grandfather, DeForest Olmstead, was a very good letter writer. He started out his career as a teacher, then became a bookkeeper for the Erie Railroad, and finally became a coffee broker, his longest career. I want to share one of his letters here. It was written in October 1903, before my Dad was born, and relates the story of his son Francis having brain surgery. That’s right, brain surgery in 1903. It really surprised me that they were doing such surgery then. And in the irony department the doctor was a Dr. Carroll. My former husband is also a Dr. Carroll, and Carroll was my surname for 32 years.

Dear Blanche

I suppose you heard that Francis was operated on last Monday. I wrote home and thought that letter would suffice for you all. Francis has gotten along remarkably well. We brought him home today, less than six days since he underwent the operation. The wound is all healed over and the doctor took out the stitches yesterday. He takes more notice than he used to of everything and has not had a convulsion since he came home (seven hours), and prior to the operation he would have had a half dozen or more in that length of time. Of course it is going to take considerable time for him to learn and pick up knowledge for the past has been far worse than lost time to him mentally but his condition is now so encouraging. We feel we have good reason to hope that in time he will be all right in every way. It is of course uncertain. Since reaching home he has been running around most of the time and while somewhat compared to when he went away, yet considering what he has been through he certainly is in much better condition than would be expected.

The doctor says the difficulty was a depressed fracture of the skull, probably caused by a fall, and an inflamed condition of the membrane which had become firmly adhered to the skull. This constant pressure on the brain caused the convulsions and the whole trouble.

I am going to get from Dr. Carroll a technical report of the details of the case and the operation and will send you a copy which I presume will be of interest to Morris.

Blanche was DeForest's sister, and her husband Morris Cowden was a M.D. Francis, the patient, was born 6 December 1900, making him not quite 3 years old when he had this surgery. In the one photo I have of him, which unfortunately I haven’t scanned yet, he has that special needs look about him. He died on 31 December 1903, 2 months after surgery. At this point I haven’t yet learned what he died of. He could have had a seizure and died from that. I know several of my Dad’s siblings died of diphtheria so it could be that too. My Dad was born 6 weeks after his brother’s death. It must have been so difficult for my grandparents, especially in a day where there were no grief support groups.

If DeForest got the more technical report from Dr. Carroll it is no longer among the family. I have tried getting medical records from several Passaic, NJ area hospitals but no luck so far. I would really like to know, in the words of Paul Harvey, the rest of the story.

Returning to Blog Land

When I started this blog in September 2007 I envisioned blogging regularly, maybe not daily but certainly weekly. Well, you can see what happened to that. So I’m going to try again. I don’t possess great wisdom or necessarily great writing skills but I’ll attempt to maintain a blog that will keep people coming back. Sometimes I’ll be serious, sometimes not. Some posts will be just fluff, some will be, if not profound, at least of value to help others on this journey of living with cancer, as well as those embarking on retirement.

Part of what makes me want to blog again is reading other blogs. I found two new great blogs yesterday during a very sleepless night. One is http://www.loveinfinitysquared.org/, by a young woman with ocular melanoma, which is one of my cancers. I can never hope to write as well as she does but I can try to have her faithfulness to the task. The other is http://simplyrebekah.com/, a blog about living green and simply. My mother was the queen of living simply. Unfortunately I’m more my father’s daughter and he kept everything just in case he’d need the item again someday. I need to become more like my mother as I downsize even further.

So, stay tuned and hopefully a new post will follow every few days. I’m into photography so I shall always try to post a photo too. This photo is of my feet taken by my 3 y.o. grandson Armando.

Thoughts About Moving

I have lived in Minnesota for 20 1/2 years now, it will be 21 years come February 1st. This is the longest I've lived in any one place. I find myself wishing I could move while acknowledging I can't. When I was married Jim and I moved every few years, based on military and educational needs. It was fun getting to know new places. I miss that fun of getting to explore a new area and make new friends. At the same time it was always hard saying good bye to friends. I would have a hard time making new friends now, mainly because I'm primarily home bound. When my children were young I made friends with their peers' parents. When I was working I had co-workers who were friends. Now I have cats. And my scrapbooking friends, my main out of the home outlet.

I always thought I'd return back east. I'd like to live close to my sister again. And I might if I were healthy. I start Medicare in January. My supplemental coverage is through Health Partners as that is what my past employer provides. Health Partners is a local PPO, which started out as a HMO. All my doctors are in their network so I'm happy to have this coverage. If I moved I'd probably have to buy my own supplemental coverage which I couldn't afford. I have great doctors and replacing them would be a difficult task. It would be one thing to be healthy and need a new primary care doctor but to replace everyone, too hard.

Two of my three children, and all my grandchildren, are here in the midwest. I think it's hard to have grandkids be faraway. My grandmother lived in Arizona and spent part of every summer with us but I wish we could have been with her more. My parents lived in upstate New York while Jim and I with the kids lived in Alabama, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. It would have been to my kids' benefit to see more of their grandparents.

So while I entertain the wish occasionally to move I know I will stay here in Minnesota. But sometimes my heart is elsewhere.

Last Day Summer/First Day Fall

The view from my balcony on the 4th floor on this day that starts out still summer but finishes fall.

Almost Autumn

February was a long time ago. Once I began using Facebook regularly I didn’t feel the need to blog, though I realize many people do both. It was an eventful spring and summer. March and April were spent recovering from February’s sinus surgery plus a sinus infection in the other sinus. March also saw Sondros flying as an unaccompanied minor to Florida to visit his Dad over spring break. He flew Northwest, need I say more. Home one day late, at an extra charge no less. I hate Northwest, AKA Delta.

In June I was hospitalized with GI bleeding. Endoscopic exam showed erosions in the stomach from the pressure of a large hiatal hernia. Surgery was recommended and scheduled for August, as I had a commitment to be with Sondros at his Dad’s in FL. Jim took him down and stayed a few weeks, then I went down for a few weeks and drove him home. Summer in Florida is not my idea of fun. Hotter than hell, humid, daily heavy rains. Sondros and I took a boat trip on the gulf out of Tarpon Springs, saw dolphins, really neat.

In August I went in for the scheduled surgery. Surprise, cancer of the stomach (GIST) was found so I had major surgery. 4 days on IV dilaudid helped with the intense pain. I came home after a week and have been slowly recovering. I lost a lot of blood and needed a blood transfusion, hopefully no hepatitis virus in it. I have found another cancer diagnosis a kick in the head but one must deal with what one is dealt. I wonder if I took a vacation to Chernobyl and just don’t remember.

This is the first year since retirement in June 2007 I can say I’m thankful to be retired. My stamina is gone. I work 4 hours every Saturday in our apartment rental complex and that really is pushing it for me. I’m so exhausted and tired. At 64 I feel about 80 which is such a change for me as I always felt much younger than I was and was so dedicated to my work.

As life moves on Alex and Camila will be adding a new member of the family in April. Armando will get a baby brother or sister.

I will try to update the blog about once/month.

The Long Winter

This has been a long winter. Actually, every winter in Minnesota is long but this has been a much colder winter than most so it seems longer. January was below zero almost the entire month. This weekend was the first above freezing days all month. My lungs cannot take the frigid cold so I’m housebound a good part of the winter. And boy, when cabin fever sets in it is hard to shake. It on top of seasonal depression (SADD) from lack of sun is enough to make anyone want to hibernate. I’m beginning to see why a lot of retired people head south for the winter. I can’t afford that, or even a vacation to a warm spot.

I had a Vitamin D level done this summer, when I was getting plenty of sun, and it was below normal, meaning in winter the level was practically non-existent. I started in Vitamin D in high doses and I’m in the normal range now.I have noticed two positive effects. My SADD wasn’t as bad, and my chronic muscular aches and pains were improved. This was a welcomed change as each winter saw my SADD becoming worse. They should put Vitamin D in the water supply since almost everyone has SADD to some degree, especially as they age.

Even the cats want to hibernate in this weather. They love my electric blanket. They are not liking the balcony being covered in a snowdrift.

My next sinus surgery is this Thursday. The hope is that the tumor can be removed in one piece. If the bone has been invaded then it will be removed and a titanium plate and screws inserted. I’ll be glad when it’s over.

Post Op

Today is my 3rd post op day since my sinus biopsy. I’m slowly feeling better. About the time I’m feeling back to normal it will be time for the next surgery.

Going into surgery the surgeon was reasonably sure we were dealing with a metastasis from my ocular melanoma. The good news is the tumor is not a melanoma, saving me from stage IV melanoma for now. The tumor is a very rare tumor seen most often in men and smokers. Go figure! It is the first time my surgeon has seen such a tumor. The incidence is 5 to 10 per million people, so almost as rare as ocular melanoma. We will know this week whether it is benign or malignant. Either way it must be removed. Squamous cell cancer tends to be hidden within the tumor. The tumor is also aggressive and tends to erode the bone. It frequently recurs.

I am relieved it isn’t a melanoma. It will require on-going treatment and follow-up whether benign or malignant but that’s life.

The day I had surgery it was about 40 degrees below zero wind chill. Today it is actually pleasant enough out I have the windows open. It’s in the 20’s. There were beautiful big snow flakes this morning. I haven’t been out of the house yet so I’m looking forward to getting out this week. I see the surgeon Wednesday and set up the next surgery.

My Birthday

Well, today is my birthday. First, the good parts. Alex and Camila took me to lunch at TGIF, my favorite place. I always order the flat iron steak with Jack Daniel's glaze. It was good as usual. They gave me roses (from Colombia), and Camila brought me a pretty porcelain box from Colombia, along with a string bracelet in Colombia's colors. When I got home there were tulips from Emily and roses from my sister Helen. Wow, three flower gifts in one day! This morning Arthi gave me a porcelain box she brought from her recent trip home to India, it is very colorful. I didn't have any porcelain boxes, now I have two. I will use them to store earrings.

Now, the not so good part. On Monday I had a PET scan done. I have CT scans every 6 months because of having ocular melanoma. OM tends to be an aggressive cancer with a high incidence of spreading, usually to the liver. My oncologist decided I should have a PET scan this time instead, and I'm glad she did. When I saw my pulmonary doctor Tuesday a.m. he shared the PET scan results with me. It showed uptake in the right maxillary sinus, indicating a possible malignancy, likely mets from the eye. This morning I had a CT of the sinuses and saw the ENT surgeon. Well, my sinuses show no infection or sinusitis, I have a tumor in the posterior maxillary sinus on the right. I have been having a lot of facial pain and assumed it was dental, I have a dental appointment next week. I'll have to cancel that for now because I am having a surgical procedure next week to get a biopsy. I will have more surgery but just what depends on the biopsy. If it is recurrent melanoma we are hoping we can get a vaccine made. Melanoma doesn't respond well to chemotherapy. I will probably look for a clinical study if this is melanoma. So much to think about. Cancer, the "gift" that keeps on giving.

I see my oncologist tomorrow a.m. I have the very best medical team. There aren't many places where you'd have a PET scan one day, report the next, and everything set up the third day. For that I am very thankful.

Then Friday I go scrapbooking for the weekend. My favorite The Scrapbook Shop of St. Paul has moved to Lexington/Circle Pines. It's about 20 miles away, it used to be 2 miles away. I'm staying overnight at a motel so I can scrap two whole days and forget cancer for awhile.

Catching Up

I returned home today from visiting my daughter and her family in northern Wisconsin. My 11 y.o. grandson went with me. He and my 4 y.o. grand-daughter always have fun together despite the age difference. Yesterday we all went to see Bedtime Stories at the local movie theater, that still remains open in these days of big cinema plexes. One movie feature at a time. They just recently added some seats with cup holders, hopefully all the old seats will be replaced. It is still much finer than the theater we attended in Thurles, Ireland in 1967. Just wooden folding chairs. The movie was I Saw What You Did and I Know Who You Are. Very scary!! Fortunately Bedtime Stories wasn't scary. It was funny. I enjoyed it, not expecting to for some reason. I have now seen 2 movies in a week (Marley and Me was the other), which is more than I normally see in a year! I'm planning to start seeing more movies this year.

I'm sure we were all sorry to hear about John Travolta's loss of his son. On the news tonight they mentioned he had had Kawasaki Disease at the age of 2 and they wondered if it had contributed to his death. He was diagnosed after 2 days, much earlier than my grand-daughter, who was diagnosed late and had a very rough course. Kawasaki is a rare disease that attacks the blood vessels of the body. It occurs primarily in children under 5 and more common in Asian children. The complication that develops in some children, and can occur at any point in time, are aneurysms, most often aortic aneurysms. Travolta's son had a history of seizures and reportedly had 2 nannies even though he was 16 y.o. . I saw a clip of him on the news and he definitely had the look of a special needs child. My educated guess as to cause of death is the seizure he was reported to have suffered. He did hit his head during the seizure which brings up the possibility of a subdural hematoma, esp if he was on Depakote for seizure management. Depakote tends to thin the blood. It must be very hard to lose a child. No parent is exempt from this possibility, even the wealthy and famous.

Tomorrow I have my PET scan, hoping for good news.

Have a Safe and Sober New Year

As 2009 looms only hours away I hope everyone has a safe and sober holiday. I have never understood the lure of drunkeness. As for drinking and driving, that is for losers. I hope none of you are losers.

Tomorrow my older grandson head for my daughter's in Wisconsin. I've been without heat in my car so yesterday I forked oner $370 to get a new heater. Ouch!!

I'll write about my resolutions when I get back on Sunday. Next week is appointment week: PET/CT scan, pulmonologist visit, and oncologist visit. Each week in January I have medical appointments.

Happy New Year everyone.

Basting the Turkey

Thanksgiving is one holiday where I love to cook. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, doesn't get much better than that. My daughter taught me a great, quick recipe for basting the turkey with. Melt butter, add white wine. Baste the turkey every 20 minutes or so. The white whine gives a good tang to the gravy. Like most recipes like this we don't measure. I kind of use one quarter of butter to a cup of wine.

I'm cooking this year for my younger son, his wife, and their almost18 month old son.

I hope everyone has a nice Thanksgiving.

Chocolate Pecan Pie

Thanksgiving is later this week. My son Nate moved to Florida3 weeks ago. I wondered how soon he'd call for my chocolate pecan pie recipe. It was today. I started making this recipe when we lived in Alabama. The recipe is from a Southern cook book.I don't like the pie as it is way too sweet for my palate, which prefers sour.

2 squares unsweetened chocolate
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup light corn syrup (Karo)
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs slightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup pecan halves or pieces
1 unbaked pie shell

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Melt chocolate and butter together. Mix sugar and syrup together, bring to a boil, boil together for 2 minutes and pour slowly over beaten eggs, stirring constantly. Add vanilla, melted butter/chocolate, and nuts. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 375 degrees until it puffs up all over the top. Cool.

October Afternoon

I promised Lucinda and Robin I'd blog when I got home from October Afternoon's packing party but I'm tired and my feet throb so it will have to wait til tomorrow.It was fun, their products are great, and it was a surprise to find old friends there.

Arthie, today was very dreary, no sun. A little rain, not enough to count. The temp was in the high 50's so warm.It was very windy, not good for the allergies. I did the filing for Melissa. Tomorrow is happy hour, then Melissa's jewelry party. How are things in India?

Another Gorgeous Day

Today was another gorgeous day, no rain as predicted, close to 70 degrees. The great weather was a boon to people getting out to vote. Minnesota typically has an 80% turnout, they expected 90% today. I am not watching the election coverage, way too boring. But I turn to MSNBC when the ads are on HGTV. Minnesota has gone to Obama, no surprise there. I think Ike might have been the last Republican to win Minnesota. I hope our senate winner is the Independent candidate. The Democratic candidate is a vulgar, rude comedian. The Republican, who used to be a very liberal Democrat, goes whatever way the wind blows.

I started decluttering and organizing my garage today. I use it strictly for storage, not the car. Uffda, it’s a major mission organization endeavor.

Tomorrow I’m working at October Afternoon,a scrapbooking business whose warehouse is in Apple Valley. I will be packing boxes. My pay for 4 hours is $50 worth of their product. I’ll post tomorrow about the experience.

This photo is along the railroad tracks in front of my apartment.

The Empty Nest

I expected my empty nest years ago. My youngest child Alex moved out when he bought his own home at age 21. My daughter had been on her own after college. My oldest child Nate actually moved out when he was about 24 but then........he moved back home. 2 1/2 years ago he moved in for 2 to 3 months, that’s all, “I promise Mom, I’ll be out soon.” Yeah, right.

For the past 14 years he has talked of moving to Florida. I always said I’d believe it when it happened. Well, it happened :-) I can hardly believe it. Nate never liked winter, even when he was a kid. He claims it is because he is Colombian and therefore genetically programmed for warm weather. He left a few days ago for Tampa, arrived Saturday. He went with a friend he met at work. Nate does medical billing for a large national medical supply company. When he gave them his notice they didn’t want to lose him so after an interview he was accepted at the Tampa office of the same company. This was a major relief for me as he had planned to go there without a job, not wise in this economy.

His 11 y.o. son lives with his mother in Lakeville. Poor Sondros is very sad his Dad moved. He knows he has talked about it for years but he’s at an age where he really likes to be with his Dad. I will be taking him to Tampa for spring break.

The cats and I miss Nate too. It’s so quiet around the place. I think I’ll get used to it. I do wish he hadn’t moved so far away. The photos are of the cats watching Nate pack up his car.

Today was in the mid 70’s. Hard to believe for November 3rd. I love fall weather but uffda, the high mold count really affects my allergies and asthma. The next few days are to be reasonably warm but rain and thunderstorms. Then snow and a high of 38 degrees predicted for Friday. Minnie-sota, 4 seasons in a week, gotta love it here. I went to Minnehaha Falls for a walk today and was disappointed that there wasn’t a drop of water in the creek or over the falls.

Today was my last day riding the bus. I am glad because once again I have a respiratory crud.

Don't forget to vote tomorrow. Minnesota always has the highest voter turnout in the country. The last presidential election saw 80% of us voting. I expect tomorrow will be higher.

The Wheels on The Bus...

go round and round, all through Saint Paul. I have been riding a school bus every morning and afternoon with a 5 y.o. Hmong boy who has a tracheostomy and fragile respiratory system. I agreed to do it only short term until someone permanent could be found. I didn’t think short term would mean until November. I retired because of my health and I’ve learned I definitely cannot work with kids. I’m on respiratory infection number 4 since the job started. I have been on prednisone, after needing it only once my first full year of retirement. Tomorrow is my last day riding with Ben as they found a nurse who will both ride on the bus and stay in the classroom all day. I won’t miss the bus ride but I will miss Ben. He is so darn cute and adorable. He has limited vision also but makes the most of what he does have. He knows a lot of signs. He wears glasses that make him look like Erkle. He is small, wears size 2 clothes! He is very smart, I think eventually he might be able to move to a class with higher functioning kids. He’ll always be in special ed but compared to his peers he’s higher functioning. Right now I am campaigning for him to be homecoming prince. I wish I could post his photo but I have a policy of no posting of identifying kids’ photos, even if I have parent permission.

Speaking of busing, Saint Paul buses 87% of its students, more than any urban district in the United States.

I know I have been lax about blogging. I have to improve because Arthie is home in India for 2 months, she needs to keep current with local happenings. Also, my older son Nate moved to Florida!!!!!! More on that tomorrow.

The End of Summer

It seems like summer just started and now it's Labor Day, the official end of the summer season. School starts tomorrow for most kids. Fall is officially a few weeks away but the cool nights are already here. And the real test of fall, my allergies are terrible.

Today is the last day of the Great Minnesota Get Together, otherwise known as the Minnesota State Fair. I went last Tuesday and spent all but the first hour at the Miracle of Birth Center. A ewe had just started labor so I stayed in one spot for 41/2 hours. Her labor was longer than normal for a ewe. She had twins and needed a little human help with baby girl one. She had 2 baby girls, so cute. She had quite the audience for her delivery. It's too bad so many people don't see human births as miracles.

The Republican National Convention opened today. The only change I have noticed where I live, about 3 miles from the site, is increased helicopter traffic. Tomorrow I plan to go to the bluffs with my telescopic lens to get photos. The hooligans broke windows in Macy's, took apart bus waiting benches, and just generally engaged in non productive activities.

Take That France

The American male swimmers did it!!!!! It couldn't have happened any better.

Home from Camp

Sondros and I got home from camp Friday evening. We both had a good time. Sondros learned to canoe and was able to canoe out to the island in Lake Independence. He successfully completed Polar Bears, which requires an early morning jump in the lake. He also participated in archery and made the target every shot.

I was the nurse for the 8 y.o. boys. We had 9 boys in the cabin, which is 2 to 3 too many. We were scheduled for 10 but one did not show up. An important part of asthma camp is doing education. It is a challenge at this age. One of my boys ended up being sent home for bad behavior. Another ended up going home early. His father was murdered 2 weeks before camp and he just needed to be with his Mom. He was a very sweet boy, I felt so bad for him.

I found several 4 leaf clovers. I have always had an eye for seeing 4 leaf clovers. The most I ever found in one day was 20, back in Cassadaga.

I developed an ear infection at camp. I have not had an ear infection since I was 25 y.o. and in the Navy. It really was uncomfortable.

We had only one storm at camp, during lunch on Thursday. We all had to go in the storm shelter. It was rather crowded, to say the least. The next day it was very hot and humid. My campers were all picked up on time, whew!

Now that we are home Sondros and I spend our afternoons in the pool. Sondros swam for 4 hours yesterday! I did laps for 2 1/2 hours. Tomorrow I am taking him and his friend Mitch to see Kung Fu Panda.

Off to Camp Superkids

I'm getting ready to leave for Camp Superkids. It is the oldest and largest camp in the U.S. for kids with asthma. It is run by the American Lung Association of Minnesota and held at a YMCA camp near Loretto, MN. I will again have the 8 y.o. boys, who are all 1st time campers. Each cabin has a R.N. There is a M.D. present 24 hours/day at camp. We do a lot of education on recognizing triggers and early warning signs, proper inhaler technique, and learning that kids with asthma can do anything other kids can do. So many kids, along with their parents, mistakenly believe the kids cannot participate in running and other sports. For the last several years it has been documented that our campers have fewer ER visits and hospitalizations after completing camp. For that reason many health plans pay for camp.

I picked up my grandson's Advair yesterday and the co-pay was $50!!! It was a $42 co-pay for an albuterol inhaler. One of the biggest problems in asthma management is medication compliance, along with improper inhaler technique. Well, with co-pays of $50 it is understandable how families cannot afford an Advair diskus every month. We are so in need of health care reform in this country.

Yesterday I saw a Tylenol display in a store. The sign said "skipping meals can cause you to have a headache" so stock up on Tylenol. Hello, wouldn't it be better to eat than to take a drug known to cause liver toxicity? A Tylenol now and then, OK but regular ingestion can ruin your liver just as badly as alcohol. The bottle size was 500 extra strength caplets. That should be a life time supply!!

I will be off line until Saturday 7/12.