The American Dream

Two Saturdays ago, our son Scott came to visit us from Groton/New London with his what we came to find was his fiance.
We then found that they intended to be married the next weekend in Connecticut.
The next day Scherie was moping about the house until I asked her if she'd like to visit Connecticut again.

Unfortunately, Scherie never saw the wedding.
She had a series of seizures the night before and a hospital stay of a few days.
We got her out and we had a nice visit with the couple all to ourselves.
That is not the point of the story.

We stayed in Connecticut at a Rodeway Motel that was pretty nice.
An older couple was outside using a ladder to wash windows.
They were clearly of "India" Indian descent.
I went inside and the guy behind the desk was Indian also.
We talked a bit and I asked him if I could ask a personal question and he said yes.
I mentioned that everywhere I traveled in the US motels were run by people from India. Why was that?
"We are doing work Americans do not want to do.".
I laughed remembering that my parents owned a motel, The Swan Creek Motel, and I swore I'd never be a landlord after that.
He said that was true. They came to this country and bought properties that were being sold for that reason.
He then told me that 85% of the motel/hotel industry here is owned by Indians!
If you see a white person at the desk, there is probably an office of Indians in the back.
I told him that where I come from there is a huge community of Indians that have settled in Canton Michigan.
He then told me that when he saw my drivers license, he thought "Hi neighbor".
He was raised near Meijer's between Sheldon and Canton-Center Roads! Near where my son Caleb was born.

Immigrants coming here legally making a life for themselves.
The American Dream.

I shared this story on the radio Saturday, but we had Bill Federer on for the first half an hour.
The Drift Radio Show July 28, 2018
What a tour de force.
I highly recommend you listen to him.

What's up Doc?

So. A couple Sundays ago, Scherie had a seizure at 3am Monday.
Then again, when I was coming back to the bedroom from starting the coffee at 6:15, she was seizing again.
So I stuck around, she said she felt okay, and I went to work late.
I came home that night and she greeted me with a badly abraded arm and a general soreness.
She had been reading her Bible at the kitchen table, nodding off occasionally, and then woke up on the floor.
Although at the time she insisted it was not another seizure, her neurologist later told her it was.
She didn't feel like seeing a doctor and I didn't see a need to.
Wednesday night we went to church and I taught. She seemed good.
Thursday we woke up and I decided to call the doctor to get an appointment.
He said to go to the ER immediately. We did.
Sat there all day. Finally got a CAT-Scan about 3pm and were told she had two fractured vertibrae and was given a neck brace collar. Probably had a couple broken ribs too.
They don't tape ribs anymore for fear of restricting lung activity leading to an infection.
They give you Hydrocodone.
I took her to lunch Saturday and it dragged in to dinner. A nice time.

Sunday, she was in so much pain, we skipped church.
Monday, I stayed home with her.
I called Visiting Angels to get a quote.
I talked to a sister from church and she suggested we call a lady who used to attend our church, but had left for some reason I am still not privy to.
She has her own health issues and no car.
I called her and she offered to sit with Scherie. I drove to get her the next day and thank God I was able to go back to work. While I started to feel as if I might be coming down with something.
Broke a sweat in my sleep that night.
Mary kept the car and came back the next day.
Wednesday I felt like crap. Skipped church, Thursday I felt better, til nighttime.
Fever overnight again and took Friday off, leaving Mary at her house.
Saturday feeling better again and Sunday we both went to church!
Every day though, helping Scherie change and shower, cooking, (except when folks brought meals!) changing her bandages, laundry, cleaning the kitchen and napping on the couch inadvertently.
Today She is much better, able to walk without assistance (the narc made her dizzy) and a young lady from church stayed with her while I went to work.
I thank God that my employers are as understanding as they are, that my church friends are as helpful as they are, that my Scherie didn't get hurt more than she did.

Well, the upshot is. We have decided to go ahead with her next brain surgery.
This had been a hard decision to make until now because of the risks involved.
They will open her back up, Pull back some of the Dura Matter on the posterior of her brain.
Place a sensor grid on her brain where they think the problem is and wait for a seizure. Or two.
They will then map the troublespots and within a day, try to cut them out.
Without affecting her ability to see, or talk.

So. There you have it. Thanks for listening. Praying would be good.
We've got a couple months.

Zombies!

Bear with me.
I haven't fully fleshed this out, but maybe in comments.

I remember when zombies were a function of voodoo.
This was my first exposure and a really good one:



Remember "Omega Man" with Charlton Heston?
That was written by Richard Matheson who died fairly recently (last June).

It was actually based on a book he did in the 50's called "I Am Legend".
In that story, a biological event had turned a large amount of the population into "vampires".

Omega Man did not do the story justice.
Neither did the Will Smith movie.
Neither clued you in as to why the main character was legend.
Ask in comments and I'll tell you why.

Lately, zombie films have functioned on the same premise: some widespread biological event makes some people "inhuman".
You've probably seen (promos at the least for) "The Walking Dead".
Same premise.

A couple nights ago, I saw an episode as I was flipping through the channels and stopped to watch.
Some Zombies were leaving a barn, and a stand of non-affected humans started gunning them down.
I was busy on the computer reading your blogs when I saw the normals stop shooting. I hadn't bothered to change channels.
That's when the little girl came shambling out of the barn, snarling, eyes weird, etc.
And you knew it would happen.
One of the adults approached the child and shot her in the head.
Now World War Z.

What can we learn from this?
Is it this:
Sometimes there are illnesses that are so debilitating, so incurable, so hideous and scary that the proper thing to do is shoot the victim in the head. ?

The other day, my friends from across the street were describing her uncle and his recent behavior under the influence of Alzheimer's Disease (how you like to have that one named after you?).
"He never talked to anyone like that in his life!"
When she had looked away, I turned to her boyfriend and put two fingers to my head and he nodded.

And then I got it.
Thus this post.

I have a friend at church it's hitting.
One of my best friends (my Best Man) is headed that way. A really brilliant guy. Earlier in his life.
A friend's mom.
My former boss's dad.
Another friend's friend.
My Grandma.
My Grandma had been in a mental hospital nearby called "Eloise".
If you ever read of "Bedlam", that was it.
Shambling, vacant stares, unruly behavior, restraints.
It's been torn down since the ACLU sued to have all mental problem people released from custody, something Reagan got blamed for.

I've seen someone very close to me look like that in the middle of an epileptic seizure.
If you've been reading awhile, you know who.

And we're being trained that it's OK to shoot them.

Or have Obamacare Death Panels figure it out.

Not missing it.

Well, it's been well over a month since the surgery.
I don't know how long it will be before I say it out loud.
OK, I'll say it now.
No seizures since the night of the surgery.
I've lived on edge for so many years paying attention to every sound she makes.
No seizures was the reason she went through the surgery, but there were no promises they'd get all the trouble points because they were staying away from the anterior of the brain.
To look at her today, you wouldn't know what she'd been through.
She's still recovering, gaining strength and endurance.
She's spending a lot of time in her happy place, the kitchen.
Her sister living with us has been a big blessing.
Thank You Lord.

Epilepsy Update

Scherie went into surgery  a week ago Friday. 
That night she went back in to fix a leak.
She was discharged on Tuesday and friends came to watch her while I went to work.
She appeared to be getting "not better" as opposed to "worse".
Friday night I took her temp and she was at 102.
I called the hospital three times and after two hours I was finally called by a doctor who said I could bring her in or not, my call.
Scherie felt like she didn't want to move.
That night, I got her out of bed and took her to the ER.
Every tar strip and manhole cover we drove over evinced a yelp of pain.
They did not find a temperature above 98.6, but admitted her.
After all night in that room, the next afternoon they got her a room.
A nurse brought her a sandwich and she had half.
When we went up to her new room, we took the half a sandwich.
While I was trying to help Scherie move in the bed slowly, two nurses came in and gently moved me aside as they said "We can do this."
That's when they each grabbed the sheet she was on and 1,2,3 jerked her higher up in the bed.
I did not hit them. I lost my "Christian" composure and told them in a very loud voice what I thought of them and the hospital. They both fled.
A short time later security came to talk to me.
I told them they weren't removing me until I talked to the ombudsman.
The young woman was pleasant enough and asked what the problem was.
I told her.
She said she'd notify the ombudsman.
I apologized to her for my outburst but that I still had a problem with the hospital. She said she understood and thanked me for the apology.
I later apologized to the nurses.

We kept asking when she could eat and were told "after the doctor saw her".
The doctor saw her at 9:10 pm, ten minutes after the kitchen closed.
She ate the other half.


Sunday, I did some stuff around the house to get the place ready for her sister coming to stay. 
When I got to the hospital room, the woman in the next bed had 6 adult and two (shreaking) toddler visitors. And they stayed past 10pm.

I complained to the staff, and although they kept saying they understood and would tell them they have to go, they didn't.
At 10pm a nurse went to tel them they had to leave, and a young "lady" said, "I'm spendin' the night wif my momma!".
She was told only one adult could stay.
She said, "My baby is staying with me an her grammy".


I said good night to Scherie and went down the hall.
I found the unit head and read her the riot act.
What were all these posters on the wall asking for quiet for recuperation when she knew exactly what was going on in the room?
This isn't a neighborhood dispute, this is a medical emergency.
I told her off and I left.
Scherie called a short while later and said she was in a private room.


I visited her there last night and she looked rough.
I talked to her and got her to sit up. Her dinner came, and I helped her to fix and eat it.
She started looking better but was in a lot of pain.


A doctor (one I liked) came in and explained that they didn't want to mask her symptoms with pain-killers so they could observe her faculties.
She was on Tylenol! With the occasional Vicodin.
He said that he was concerned and wanted to move her into ICU for more intense observation.
I told him my concerns about the staff and he looked appalled and suggested that I file a formal complaint.

They took her to ICU and I left her there around midnight.
Got up at 4:30 to be at work by 6am for a major product launch of which I was a key player.

Our friend Bonnie called me and offered to cook us dinner. I suggested that she call Scherie instead and give her some conversation.

Scherie's sister flew in to stay with us and I picked her up on my way home from work.

We drove to the hospital.

Our friend Bonnie was there, visiting.

Scherie has a bandage wrapped around her head like that guy playing the fife in the Revolutionary War painting.
Her scalp had been puffing out around her incision and she said this morning it was even larger. The doctors lanced it and a lot of fluid (not infection) was drawn. This relieved the pressure on her head and the pain tremendously.
She has 47 staples in a cross like pattern holding her scalp closed.

Bonnie had obviously worn her out visiting her and she wanted to sleep, so we left.
She looks a lot better.
And she was thrilled to see her sister.

Scherie Update

Scherie is in a room now in NICU here at UM.
She's responsive. Has not talked to me yet but hears and obeys the nurses.
Her head is wrapped in bandages but I see hair sticking out.
They removed a lot of brain scar tissue.
She no longer has the thick plastic plate under her scalp.
It has been replaced by a titanium mesh, no adamantium :(
She will probably be released Sunday, but her head wil hurt.
Thank you for your prayers and good wishes.

Epilepsy Journal (final edition?)

Scherie's surgery is at 7:30 AM Friday.
Takes between 4-6 hours.
Taking more brain out, not just some minor scarring as I thought previously.
All hand crafted labor, no lasers, no robots.
Made in America.
All goes well, she's home Sunday night.
Just thought some of you would want to know.
Thank you to everyone praying for her.

Update

Scherie went through her brain freeze test today.
All went as well as it possibly could, praise God.
No clotting, plaque, stroke, or as the consent form also said: death.
The half that had surgery 30 years ago that is the problem area, has some response, but with it frozen off, she had no loss of memory, vision, thinking, etc.
So she's really not using half her brain.
I knew it. :)

She's a candidate for surgery.

Next is a meeting with the surgeon in June.

Epilepsy Journal

Last Wednesday night, my wife was fixing dinner and I was on the couch with the news on TV.

She came over to the couch and sat down next to me and looked at the TV. I asked what she was interested in. She then started exhibiting the seizure she had felt coming on.
I held her and prayed for her. I talked to her to get her attention, telling her how much I love her.
I've found this to be efficacious.

After a few minutes she started to come around.
She had felt it coming on and turned off the burners, but didn't remember coming to the couch.

This was the good kind. The kind where we don't go to the hospital, which have become frequent the last few years.
With that kind, I would hold Scherie and not see her come around, but slowly slide further into the seizure, with foam and choking. I would pray and pray, calling friends to do the same. Then calling 911.

I was going to share what's going on with Scherie sooner, because a number of you have shown concern, but our son on the sub asked to be notified before I publish stuff.

Geez published a post about belief that referenced Mark 9:17:

Mark 9:17 A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”

When Jesus healed this young man, He did not bother to lecture the crowd on neurology.

Did Jesus cast out a demon or heal a medical condition?
I don't care.
Jesus healed him.

I'd like to have a miracle cure of Scherie, but I'll take a medical one.

Holy Thursday, Scherie got a call from U of M and Good Friday we went to see the neurologist.

An interesting aside:

I've been asking for a couple years now if surgery was a possibility to remove scar tissue from around her previous surgery of 30 years ago that I believed were causing these worse seizures. I was told that the brain doesn't scar.
I also thought that Scherie's seizures were caused by an excess electrical buildup from excitement or stress that could only be discharged by a seizure. I was told that couldn't happen.

On Friday we were told that due to the testing Scherie had gone through, they had located the scar tissue that was causing her problems. And that it can be removed.

I was asked if I had any questions, and I asked one of the top neurologists at U of M about the electrical discharge idea I had.

He looked at me quizzically, like “Where did you ever get an idea like that?”.
What he said was, “If you were 10 years younger, I'd offer you a fellowship.”, that that was one of the latest notions they were pursuing.

So they showed us the latest MRIs of Scherie's brain.
Instead of a golf ball size of brain missing, we saw that almost her entire right temporal lobe had been removed.
This would be about the size of a small fillet running horizontal behind her ear.

We believe most of her functions that resided in that lobe have migrated to her left side.
The trouble areas are at the forward and rearward parts of the removal area.
The forward part is a breeze we were told. No threat of further damage.
The rearward part approaches her occipital lobe, which controls vision.

Friday, Scherie goes in for some extensive vision testing. Everyone is amazed that she exhibits no sign of loss from what was removed already, but they want to verify that.

A week later she gets a WADA test. I don't know what it stands for either.
What they will do is insert a tube like an angiogram. Put a tube in the groin, up through arteries and deliver a phenobarbital type drug to the right hemisphere of her brain, and see how she does without it.

The hope is to see no difference as she's asked reasoning and memory questions.
They'll then do the left hemisphere.
This will give them some indication of how far they can go.

If they feel that the removal of scar tissue at the rear is too dangerous, they may only do the front and see the results after a while, reserving the chance of doing the rear later.

30-40% chance of no seizures if only the front is done.

Back to the prayer issue.

Jesus said “These only come out with much prayer...”

Obviously we're also using a scalpel.

I'm not backing off the prayer though.