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My Whole Herd

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West Texas GS

West Texas GS

Joined
Jul 11, 2021
Messages
603
Reaction score
907
Location
Ballinger Texas
First Name
C T
Last Name
Walston
Many of you may have noticed my absence of late, as I normally post quite a bit around the shop. Unfortunately, things have changed for both myself and my elderly parents over the past few months.

Mom (Shirley) turns 82 tomorrow, and has had issues with sudden onset CHF that led to cardiac tampenade, as well as significant fluid build up up in her left lung over the past 2 months. Both were drained, her lung TWICE, and the fluid tested with a finding of Lymphoma cells. She undergoes major lung surgery next Tuesday the 25th, and will be hospitalized at least a week to 10 days. The oncologist is conducting tests to see if we can find the source, and it looks like we caught the cancer part very early!!

Dad (Cecil M) 83 had an appointment with the retina specialist yesterday, as he is legally blind, and this last test indicated associated damage to his retinas that indicates he has advanced cancer somewhere. We did blood workup today, and have a full body CAT Scan scheduled for next week, while mom is in the hospital recovering! So, this is a new and developing situation.

As for myself, I had to have colon surgery 6 weeks ago, followed up by lung surgery a week later. I have now progressed to Stage 5 kidney failure and will have a dialysis port installed September 12th and will begin dialysis around Oct 10th. Not sure how that will affect my riding, but I will have to curtail the majority of my travels to care for the old folks at home.

I have decided there will be no college classes until things calm down, and also to see how I adapt to the dialysis. I'll keep y'all posted as we get more info!

Prayers all around are much needed and greatly appreciated!
 
Tough for sure. Praying for strength, resilience, and healing.
 
Man, that's a heavy load to bear.

You and yours will be in my thoughts.
 
Here's the latest. Mom just got out of surgery, and everything went much better than expected!!

Normally a 3 hour procedure, they were done in only 2!! Prayers work wonders!!

A huge THANK YOU to my TWT Family. We're still waiting for dad's CAT Scan and MRI next week. 🙏
 
Honestly, it's a struggle just to breathe. Any physical exertion is just debilitating.

The lack of physical activity, coupled with the GI Surgery has left me very bloated, and added 20 pounds. Sleeping is near impossible, as every time I lay flat, it feels like I'm drowning.

Hopefully, dialysis gets rid of BOTH issues!
 
Big Improvements for mom! The Dr had told us she would be in the hospital 5-10 days post-op, but she is doing so well, I get to bring her home tomorrow!

Sis got her a piece of coconut pie from a famous pie shop to celebrate, and other than sore from having 7 holes poked in her, she says she feels great! Thanks again to all of TWT family for the healing prayers, obviously, they worked!!
 

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Well, not so fast..........the biopsies came back positive for Lymphoma, so they kept her again tonight. We will see the Oncologist tomorrow to discuss the findings, and a treatment plan.

I just don't understand how the cancer can be in two places, yet the PET Scan missed it?! She is pretty bummed out, and I spent the day there with her.

With seven holes poked in her, she said she feels like she lost a sword fight!! Coming home tomorrow looks pretty likely, so we will hope and pray we can.
 
Well, things are still very busy here with Drs appointments pretty much every other day. We got the results back for dad, and his blood work came back ok, but the scans did show a mass on one of his kidneys. We will see the Dr on getting that figured out next week.

Mom still feels like she lost a sword fight, having 7 holes form the robotic surgery on her heart and lungs. Biopsies for bone marrow and heart came back clear, as did the PET scan. The lung tissue is positive for something in the lymphoma category, just haven't narrowed it down yet, but it is NOT anything aggressive, so good news there! Again, waiting on more tests.

As for me, I just finished my withdrawal from school today, as I will be undergoing dialysis port surgery September 12th, then start dialysis 3 weeks later. The saga continues! If I do well on the dialysis, I intend to resume school next Spring.

I stopped by the engineering shops today, and David had ordered some huge aluminum stock for making parts on the CNC Mill! It felt good to be in the shops again, even if I can't really DO anything..............
 

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Well, I figured I would give everybody a quick update! Dad most likely has prostate cancer, but at his age, the Dr says leave it be! He also got an Ozurdex pellet injection, in BOTH his eyes, as opposed to me having one in my left eye! He's tottering along as usual, and nothing has really changed. All other tests were clear! :clap:

Mom had another round of tests for cancer, and the diagnosis is she has a minimum form of lympoma that is so slight that it won't even show up on a PET scan, so the Oncologist set her up for a 4 week series of Rituxan to help with any issues, and it has no appreciable side effects,so we are VERY grateful for that! NO CHEMO!! She is healing nicely form her surgery, looking a lot like she lost a sword fight with the robot, but is doing great! :-D

I had surgery today to install a peritoneal dialysis port, as well as fix an umbilical hernia that I didn't even know I had, as a result of the appendix surgery I had done years ago! I have 4 new holes in me, again looking like I lost a sword fight as well, but don't have any issues at all with pain, as my tolerance is super high! I am home, but out of commission for 6 weeks as far as lifting anything, naturally....................just as the weather turns beautiful and cool enough to work in the shop/hangar! FIGURES! :rolleyes:

I'll spare sensitive eyes the pics of my battle damage, as they are NOT for the faint of heart!! :borg:
 
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