Monte's Medical Status

MORE THAN A WOMAN

     I heard the Tavares version of "More Than A Woman" and it almost brought a tear to my eye.
     While I was performing my daily ritual of visiting the Sutherlin McDonalds' to get an unsweetened iced tea for me and a black coffee for my Mother, I heard that song play over the restaurant's sound system.
     The music took me back to the spring of 2011, when I was enrolled in "Race And The Musical," an upper-level English course at the University of Oregon. One of the movies that we viewed in class was Saturday Night Fever, which contained a variety of disco-era music, including two different versions of "More Than A Woman." Fortunately, McDonalds' sound system didn't play the mouse-screeching version performed by the Bee Gees. (shudder)
     Hearing the song today made me sad, because it brought back nostalgic memories, not only from the 1970s, but from my days spent in Graduate School in 2010-2012, preparing to enter the teaching profession. I would love to teach a high school version of that college-level course that I took at the UO, but my ongoing battle with cancer makes that seem more and more unlikely.

  JUNE HAS BEEN THE TOUGHEST MONTH FOR ME

     Aside from my numerous surgeries in the hospital the past three years, my toughest time out of the hospital has been this past month, for several reasons:
PAIN: For the first time, I'm experiencing constant ongoing pain in my lower abdominal region, about a level four on a scale of one-ten. I don't know the cause. I had a CT scan performed several days ago. And, I have appointments on Monday with my medical oncologist in Roseburg and on Wednesday with my surgeon in Eugene. Hopefully, some type of diagnoses for the pain will be uncovered this coming week.
MEDICAL SUPPLIES IMPEDING MOBILITY: My urostomy has been a nightmare from hell. Despite two trips to Seattle and ongoing weekly visits to the wound and ostomy clinic at Riverbend hospital in Springfield, I can't get a handle on the problem. The problem originates from my surgical incision site which has a "leak." It's so close to the urostomy site, that fluid from the leak goes under the wafer on my urostomy pouch. So, instead of the pouch forming a tight seal and lasting several days to a week, I am sometimes lucky if I can wear a single pouch for 24 hours before having to change it again.
INCREASING MEDICAL EXPENSES: After Medicare pays their portion of the pouches, I am still stuck with about a $3.00 bill out-of-pocket for each pouch, in addition to the cost of gas for driving up to Riverbend hospital each week. This can quickly add up if I am forced to change the pouch each day.
     I am not going to be able to continue the status quo for much longer if I can't get a handle on the leakage problem. I don't have anything frivolous to cut from my budget, so I am now looking at what to cut next: internet service, cell phone, Register-Guard subscription, feed for the animals (nominal expense).

DAILY LIFE

     The highlight of my day is no longer driving over to McDonalds' to sip on tea and read the newspaper. The pain in my abdomen has changed that. Sadly, the highlight of my day is now going to bed at 8:00 each night. That's when I take a couple of oxycodone tablets, and while I'm waiting for them to kick in, I contemplate all of the goals that I have in life and think about all of the fun things that I have left to do.
     Meanwhile, while I'm in bed, my Mother will be watching The Andy Griffith Show on ME TV in the next room, and I will listen to the hour-long guffaws from Barney Fife. I actually enjoy listening to the show while lying down in bed, even though I can't see the screen. I've begun to realize the show was well-written. The dialogue speaks for itself. With few exceptions, I can understand the plot just by listening to it.
     My oxycodone is left over from my May 6th surgery at the University of Washington Medical Center. I don't know yet if I am going to try and get a more permanent prescription for the drug. While the drug may help me to sleep, despite my pain, during the night, I'm not sure that I'm ready yet to use it during the day. I'm already fatigued enough that I stay is bed about 12 hours (8:00-8:00) on some days. The last thing that I want is for me to be conked out during the day from pain-killers, so that I don't know what's going on around me.
     Sometimes, I wish that I would just go to sleep when the Andy Griffith Show is over and not wake up. But then there would be no one around to take care of my Mother. I guess I still do have a purpose for being here after all! Despite my current doldrum daily life of not doing much more than driving to McDonalds'.
     "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you." [Exodus 20:12.]