What Happened to November?

November has come and gone in such a flash that it has left my head spinning. the first Sunday of the month Mom-in-law snuck off the ER in the wee hours of the morning that day. Sim and I woke up to a very quiet house that day. Most unusual in our house. Thankfully Pops had his cell phone with him and we located them at the hospital. A quick dress and off we went. Mom was to be admitted for what would turn out to be an 6 day stay. With visits to the hospital every evening and Sim needing to spend most of her time there during the day things started to backup at home. On Monday afternoon Sim got a call from her doctor that her Ultrasonic showed a tumor on her Thyroid that needed to be biopsied quickly. That Tuesday found us on our way to Englewood Hospital for a needle byopsy.  The tumor wasn’t cancer but she needed her Thyroid out.  That following Saturday Mom was to be moved into Rehab for help with clearing her lungs. Sim and I decided to keep our long weekend in Williamsburg VA.  It was fun and interesting but we cut our weekend short so that she could see Dr. Ho an ENT specialist for a surgery consult. Surgery was scheduled for the 3rd Friday of the month. Surgery was scheduled for the 3rd Friday of the month. Thins were quiet for a few days. mom-in-law was in Rehab, Simmy was anxiously awaiting her surgery and Pops was busy working and running to the Rehab to see Mom. Then Thursday the night before surgery things took a dive. At the meeting I got a call that Mom was being taken to the hospital as her potassium levels were incredibly high and that this could lead to heart or kidney issues depending on which way it went. I got into the ER was donning gown and gloves when Mom asked me to look in on Pops…. ? Pops was across the hall being checked out. Diagnosis: Pneumonia, but he would be going home that night and Mom was once again being checked into the hospital, this time with kidney failure. I sent Dad home with a friend and hung out until Mom was settled into her room, then heading home myself, arriving a little after 2:00 AM. then up at 5:00 AM to feed Sim as she had to be done eating by 6:00 AM for her stomach to be empty for her 1:30 PM surgery. Since we had to be there by 10:30 we cleaned up and headed out for Englewood. the doctor was running late so her surgery didn’t get started until 2:00 PM.  The surgery was to be only 2 hours and right on time a nurse came out to tell me they were closing her up and she would be out in 15 minutes. At this point my Sister-in-law needed to head out and as the surgery was over there was no need for her to stay with me. Somewhere around 4:30 I started to inquire about if she was out or if she had been taken to a room with telling me. The receptionist called back the the head recovery nurse, who stated Sim wasn’t out of surgery yet and that she would go into the OR and see what was going on…. she came back out to see me around 5:30 PM and said she had gome in and they were about to start closing shortly. When I asked why so long, she did not have an answer for me. Dr. Ho came out to see me a little after 6:00. He looked beat. He started with…. Everything is okay…. Then came the details…. as they were starting to close up, another tumor was seen that was twice as big as the Thyroid and it’s tumors. Worse, it was attached to the Jugular, Carotid, and the major nerve pack for the right side. Ultrasonic scan had not shown it as it was behind the large Thyroid tumor. He then said that they almost closed her up at that point and left it for someone else.  Dr. Ho then stepped back and asked the surgery team if they thought they could handle this tumor… All agreed they thought they could. So instead of subjecting Sim to two surgeries, they decided to go for it. Seeing as we do not take blood, this had to be done with great skill as either of the arteries cold cause her to bled out and if the nerve pack was nicked, so could be paralyzed. 2 and a half hours after the surgery was originally to have finished. Not wonder the Doctor looked like he was beat. a few minutes later I got to see Sim… the first thing she asked was what time it was… then why so long. I didn’t tell her right away. I didn’t want her to worry. We arrived in a room around 9:00 PM. the cafe was closed so I hit the vending machines for dinner. The nurse took pity on me and located a recliner and had brought in. We both got woken every 2 hours as they took blood, gave pills and checked vitals. Saturday was not without its excitement. Mom’s blood count had dropped to 8.6 and they were starting to push blood on her. Being 1.5 hours away, I called my book study conductor who is on the hospital liaison committee. He headed right over. Dad was at home and grounded to bed so he really couldn’t help much. With they situation under control. Sim had to stay in the hospital for 24 hours from the end of the surgery so discharge wasn’t until 7:30 Saturday night. Home by 9:00 and we both fell into bed exhausted. The rest is history… Mom was released  the next day, as it was discovered that her diagnosis was wrong and that the kidneys would correct themselves after she drank enough water.  The next week Sim slowly got better. then came Thursday night. About 8:00 PM Sim’s throat tightened up and  she got intense pain. I called the doctor (yes on Thanksgiving’s night he called us back) and off we went to Englewood for a CT scan with contrast with that done and an okay from the doctor that the pain was from everything settling into its new locations, we headed home arriving 6:00 AM. I had got up at 5:00 AM Thursday and has enough coffee in me to not sleep, so after dropping them off I headed into work on Friday. It was not to be until 10:00 that night that I would finally drift off to sleep. Almost 36 hours later. 3 days later Sim got her voice back and is feeling much better. Mom and Dad are back home and doing good. But November is over.This month will not be forgotten very soon, but I was so busy, it passed in a blink. Being the only one who was healthy the whole month meant that I was the go to guy for the month. I need a month off. I need to sleep in. I need to get up and have a cup of coffee, feed the ducks that fly in to the backyard in the morning, but most of all I need to hang with my wife and enjoy her. I never have taken her for granted, and having come this close to losing her, I need to spend time with her and catch up on the missed time… Hello December, please bring me snow SOON!!! Thank you.