Last night went OK. My headache came about 11:30PM and lasted 20 minutes until the Imitrix faded it enough to get back to sleep. One a night is a good night! I am a little sore today. Not sure it my rehabilitation stretching did any of this or not. The therapist pulled and pushed on my muscles and limbs to find out where my pains were and to make a plan on getting by these. I actually start my work out on Thursday morning. I have a plan to go eat lunch with some of the guys from work on Wednesday (tomorrow). I am looking forward to this. It is always good to see these people that I work with.
Today was my Dad's birthday. I called him to let him know I remembered and was thinking about him. He sounded like he was in a good mood.
I had three people put information in my BLOG since my last comment. One was concerning my headaches. Marsha was asking me about the Oxygen use since it always worked last few times I had these. I have tried it, but it does not have the same reducing as it did before. These headaches as being created by the medicines they have me on. On 27 days now until my surgery to remove this metal in my back so I can start getting off of this stuff. I am hoping this will help me get rid of these headaches! Note #2 was about a family group that came by to visit on Sunday. Scott, Sallie and Noah were a pleasant group to have here and we all enjoyed their visit. Conversations went to so many things during the night. We were all in agreement that God is the reason I am still here and still happy. Note #3 was from my oldest. Megan has been trying to reach me to make sure all was still good but kept catching our voice mail. It is good to get a note from her. School is pretty tough on her right now but I am still in her thoughts. That is always good to know. I talked to all three of my girls today. That always makes a Dad happy. I also got a card in the mail today from my cousin, Nora. This is great to know that she is still watching how I am doing and wishing me the best hope to achieve everything I need!
I am looking forward to the changes that will be coming me way soon. I am hoping rehabilitation will get my body moving the right way toward being "myself" again. It is these kind of things that make me feel good, too. I wish much kindness toward all of you people as you have definitely lifted mine. May God be with you all to help you get to the place you want to be. God has sure helped me out and will continue to be a support for all when he is needed. Don't be afraid to ask him for help!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
Mark's Monday Update 10/29/07
Last night was a decent night. One headache that lasted about 20 minutes and allowed me to go back to sleep. I also had one today that was treated easily. It got severe before the medicine kicked it down, but 20 minutes of severe pain is still OK.
I went to rehab today. He basically ran down all my muscles to find where work would be needed and talked a lot about not pushing too far too fast. If we make my body shut down, we are losing ground and we don't want that. A little progress needs to made each time I attend for us to get where we want to be. This may work out to be the best thing for me right now. Time will tell.
Another prayer is being passed from me to Herb. His surgery yesterday seemed OK at first, but is still struggling with things right now. May God be on your side, Herb, as you need him right now. We love you and are pulling for you.
Great day to all,
Mark 10/29/07
I went to rehab today. He basically ran down all my muscles to find where work would be needed and talked a lot about not pushing too far too fast. If we make my body shut down, we are losing ground and we don't want that. A little progress needs to made each time I attend for us to get where we want to be. This may work out to be the best thing for me right now. Time will tell.
Another prayer is being passed from me to Herb. His surgery yesterday seemed OK at first, but is still struggling with things right now. May God be on your side, Herb, as you need him right now. We love you and are pulling for you.
Great day to all,
Mark 10/29/07
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Sunday, Oct 28 Update from Mark
Life is all good right now. I have had one headache during the night for the last two days. I had two minor headaches Saturday which are caught earlier than at night and tend to fade faster and one more today. These night time occurrences usually are 20 or 30 minutes before they are gone. Daytime one are shorter since I usually catch them earlier.
We went to see my parents this morning. There are so many friends of theirs from Church that have been praying for me and my recover. It was a couple of days before my Dad's birthday so we went for that and to tell all the people in Church a big Thank You. It was a good trip for us and was time well spent!!!
Now, to say that my life is in trouble is a little much right now. Two days after my accident, Betty's sister, Margie and her husband, Herb, were in a pretty bad car wreck. They spent some time in hospital recovering and thought all would be OK. Well, shortly after all of this, Herb was acting a little weird and a little distant but they could not figure anything out. He finally had an episode with his hunting group and they called Margie. She met them about half way and she took him to the hospital again. They found out that his brain was bleeding inside his skull. They did surgery on him and he seems to be doing better already. This guy is one of those people that would do so much for anyone that needed it. He is one of those special people on this planet that we need here. I could not love this guy any more than I already do even if he was MY family. He is improving and could really use a prayer from each of you. Funny to think about it, but Margie also married a Bradley, even though we are not kin. You would not know it if you saw us together! My hope, heart and prayer goes to you, Herb Bradley. You are an inspiration to everyone who knows you. God we help you through this and back to the great person you always are. We all love you so much!!!
We went to see my parents this morning. There are so many friends of theirs from Church that have been praying for me and my recover. It was a couple of days before my Dad's birthday so we went for that and to tell all the people in Church a big Thank You. It was a good trip for us and was time well spent!!!
Now, to say that my life is in trouble is a little much right now. Two days after my accident, Betty's sister, Margie and her husband, Herb, were in a pretty bad car wreck. They spent some time in hospital recovering and thought all would be OK. Well, shortly after all of this, Herb was acting a little weird and a little distant but they could not figure anything out. He finally had an episode with his hunting group and they called Margie. She met them about half way and she took him to the hospital again. They found out that his brain was bleeding inside his skull. They did surgery on him and he seems to be doing better already. This guy is one of those people that would do so much for anyone that needed it. He is one of those special people on this planet that we need here. I could not love this guy any more than I already do even if he was MY family. He is improving and could really use a prayer from each of you. Funny to think about it, but Margie also married a Bradley, even though we are not kin. You would not know it if you saw us together! My hope, heart and prayer goes to you, Herb Bradley. You are an inspiration to everyone who knows you. God we help you through this and back to the great person you always are. We all love you so much!!!
Friday, October 26, 2007
Mark Update #2 for 10/26
My visit to the plastic surgeon was quick. In and out without much wait. He is concerned about the shape of this wound while a month rolls by. He wants to make sure there is not more infection setting in on it. He can do this, but not in one try. He seems to think he needs to make some modifications the first try and see how it sets up. Then on a second trip, repair any damage after the first try and then on a third trip, he will cut and place muscle over this area. This guy was pretty thorough, but wants it to be right. I guess that is good, but time consuming. Right is best, but time is important too. I guess we will see how this works out over time. Hopefully, he can help me walk without a limp like I have now. I will start my rehab on this come Monday. Insurance covered me on this part for two months if needed. The guy we talked to was very nice and helpful and knew some stuff about all of this he learned from some existing clients. That made me feel good that he knew what bridges were ahead for me and seem like we can get over them together.
Love to all of you. Hope God is on your side like he is with me. We all need him!!
Mark 10/26/07 #2
Love to all of you. Hope God is on your side like he is with me. We all need him!!
Mark 10/26/07 #2
Quick Update for Friday 10/26
Today is Friday, Oct 26, and I have an appointment this morning with a plastic surgeon to cover my back up with plate is removed. My original doctor thought I should see this guy and let him decide when this should be done. I will update this note either later today or tomorrow morning.
Had a pretty good time last night. Took Imitrex pill about 11:30PM and it worked in like 20 minutes. Much better than the night before. Headache did not come back either. That makes it a good night, right? It does to me!
I had a special visitor yesterday that made me very happy. Brother Larry (our preacher from church) came by and visited with me. This guy sure knows how to spead joy around. Right before he left, we prayed together and said our good-byes. Talk about making a bright spot in your day! Some people are good at what they do, but Larry is one of those this is GREAT at his role in life. He really made me happy!
Anyway, that is all for now. Fixing to run to downtown to see the doctor. Love you all so much. More information coming sometime soon.
Mark 10/26/07 8:30AM
Had a pretty good time last night. Took Imitrex pill about 11:30PM and it worked in like 20 minutes. Much better than the night before. Headache did not come back either. That makes it a good night, right? It does to me!
I had a special visitor yesterday that made me very happy. Brother Larry (our preacher from church) came by and visited with me. This guy sure knows how to spead joy around. Right before he left, we prayed together and said our good-byes. Talk about making a bright spot in your day! Some people are good at what they do, but Larry is one of those this is GREAT at his role in life. He really made me happy!
Anyway, that is all for now. Fixing to run to downtown to see the doctor. Love you all so much. More information coming sometime soon.
Mark 10/26/07 8:30AM
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Thursday, 10/25- Mark's "daily report"
Another day is upon us all. One thing is see is the Imitrex is not as good as it was at first. The first few times I took it, it would work in 15 minutes or so and was getting at little longer each time. Last night, I had a headache that would not subside until 45 minutes of medicine and then went to a dull pain and would not fade out completely. Then, if that was not enough, it came back around 5:30AM this morning and I had to take another medicine to help. I guess 6 hours sleep is better than the small batches I was getting, though. The one this morning faded after 20 minutes, but feels like it is trying to come back 2 hours later.
My surgery is schedule for Nov 26 and I was told it was to take the metal out. I am sorry about the information, but he did not say ALL of the metal or just part of it. Betty felt like this was for all of it as my wounds have healed on the inside. I did not hear that from him, but my mind was more focused on the word "surgery". I am not excited about it, but getting off the medicines may make my headaches disappear. For this, I am thankful. I get concerned with all the medicine I am taking right now to control BOTH issues. I have four different medicines for my headaches that I switch around to and the anti-biotic and other drugs for my "original" problem, too. Then, if this wasn't enough, the doctor has asked me to see a skin specialist for skin adjustments right after my surgery. That is what I need. ONE more doctor in this picture!
Life is great today, even though this probably does not sound positive. I am alive and breathing on my own and loving every part of it. Don't let me bring your day down because that is not what I am trying to do. UP! That is where my day is and yours should be, too. GOD is taking care of me and hopefully, you too. Thanks for being here for me and reading my update today. Hopefully, this headache I feel trying to come on will fade away and this will be another GREAT day!!!
Mark 10/25 7:45AM
My surgery is schedule for Nov 26 and I was told it was to take the metal out. I am sorry about the information, but he did not say ALL of the metal or just part of it. Betty felt like this was for all of it as my wounds have healed on the inside. I did not hear that from him, but my mind was more focused on the word "surgery". I am not excited about it, but getting off the medicines may make my headaches disappear. For this, I am thankful. I get concerned with all the medicine I am taking right now to control BOTH issues. I have four different medicines for my headaches that I switch around to and the anti-biotic and other drugs for my "original" problem, too. Then, if this wasn't enough, the doctor has asked me to see a skin specialist for skin adjustments right after my surgery. That is what I need. ONE more doctor in this picture!
Life is great today, even though this probably does not sound positive. I am alive and breathing on my own and loving every part of it. Don't let me bring your day down because that is not what I am trying to do. UP! That is where my day is and yours should be, too. GOD is taking care of me and hopefully, you too. Thanks for being here for me and reading my update today. Hopefully, this headache I feel trying to come on will fade away and this will be another GREAT day!!!
Mark 10/25 7:45AM
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Mark's Daily Report-Oct 24, Wednesday
Well, it is Wednesday evening and all is good. I only had one headache last night. It took about 20 minutes for the Imitrix pill to kick in and this was one of those bad ones. Once gone, it left me alone. I can handle that! That always beats three or four during the night.
I had a doctor appointment this afternoon. It was set for 2PM and we got there at 1:15PM or so. About 1:45, my x-ray was done and got to see the doctor at about 4:30. This guy schedules too many patients for anyone to see. He may be the best at this, but people should not have to wait like that. I am not sure if he gave me good news or bad news. He was a little concerned about the infection built up on my back wound, but was pleased at how it was healing up. He scheduled me for surgery on 12/17 to remove this metal that is in me. I have a wedding shortly after that. We questioned him on the time frame and he assured me that I would be OK for the wedding walk. Next, Betty questioned him about the wound being completely healed by then. He made another look at it and decided we should do the surgery in November instead. He set me up for the Monday after Thanksgiving (26th, I think). I am not sure if this is good or bad news, yet. Not having to stay on the Anti-biotic any longer than necessary is good, but another surgery? This is supposed to be a minor operation and should only require 1 night stay in hospital. Not having this metal in me is a good part, but I am not sure how I feel on this at this point. I am excited about it, but scared, too.
Life is good. Life is great. My friends and family are behind me and will be there for me through all of this. I only have this vacuum pump on me for another month or so, which is good. Another good note about today. The doctor gave me permission to drive a vehicle when needed so I did a little bit of driving in town today. Exciting, yet scary at the same time. It is amazing what you loose in 3-4 months. May GOD be with you all as he is with me.
Mark
I had a doctor appointment this afternoon. It was set for 2PM and we got there at 1:15PM or so. About 1:45, my x-ray was done and got to see the doctor at about 4:30. This guy schedules too many patients for anyone to see. He may be the best at this, but people should not have to wait like that. I am not sure if he gave me good news or bad news. He was a little concerned about the infection built up on my back wound, but was pleased at how it was healing up. He scheduled me for surgery on 12/17 to remove this metal that is in me. I have a wedding shortly after that. We questioned him on the time frame and he assured me that I would be OK for the wedding walk. Next, Betty questioned him about the wound being completely healed by then. He made another look at it and decided we should do the surgery in November instead. He set me up for the Monday after Thanksgiving (26th, I think). I am not sure if this is good or bad news, yet. Not having to stay on the Anti-biotic any longer than necessary is good, but another surgery? This is supposed to be a minor operation and should only require 1 night stay in hospital. Not having this metal in me is a good part, but I am not sure how I feel on this at this point. I am excited about it, but scared, too.
Life is good. Life is great. My friends and family are behind me and will be there for me through all of this. I only have this vacuum pump on me for another month or so, which is good. Another good note about today. The doctor gave me permission to drive a vehicle when needed so I did a little bit of driving in town today. Exciting, yet scary at the same time. It is amazing what you loose in 3-4 months. May GOD be with you all as he is with me.
Mark
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Today is Tuesday... Mark is alive and kicking 10/23
Monday night came and went. We picked up a new medicine yesterday that is supposed to be good. Instead of the Imitrex shots that were $21 AFTER insurance, these are Imitrex pills. They are only $5.07 each after insurance and helped me to a good nights sleep. (Well worth the cost!) I had one headache last night. Around 11PM, I took one pill and slept the rest of the night! This was a good thing to go through. I fell asleep on the couch this afternoon and got another headache. This one was severe and lasted severely over an hour and is still mild and here two hours later, but not up all night is still great.
Thanks to those of you (Janet and Karen are great cousins and one from a great family here in town (thanks Sallie) that means a lot to me, too) that responded to my note yesterday. I am glad people keep up with my progress. Betty seems to think that my wound on my back is healing VERY well. I guess Mister Doctor will tell me tomorrow what he thinks (afternoon appointment). I am kind of excited about this, but worried about it too. If it is not healing as good as he thinks it should be, he may want to take the metal plate back out and replace with something else. I am not real fond of the thought starting over from the beginning.
Pain wise, my legs are a little sore again today. Betty thinks I overdid trying to get me legs back in shape. I have been doing less the last few days to let my legs freshen up some. I know when I sit a lot, my back starts stiffening up and hurts just to get up, but I will deal with this. This is quite a bit less pain than a headache, so I will make it all right. I make it upstairs for night time sleep most nights now and that is a chore on its own. I don't climb or diminish stairs like before, but slow and thorough is progress anyway. One step at a time!
Life is great. Being able to move in pain is better than being in a hospital or home bed and better than being in the only other place life was trying to send me. I can't imagine having a rock with my name on it above me. NOT AN OPTION!!!
I am so lucky to have had the support group that has been there for me. Whether it is family, friends or one of those groups that are "both", my life is all good. I can tolerate some pain from time to time to enjoy the good parts I still have. Thanks to all of you people. I am glad to be here and enjoy each and every day. GOD has been a blessing for me from day to day and from person to person. Thanks for everything, all of you!
Mark, 10/23/07
Thanks to those of you (Janet and Karen are great cousins and one from a great family here in town (thanks Sallie) that means a lot to me, too) that responded to my note yesterday. I am glad people keep up with my progress. Betty seems to think that my wound on my back is healing VERY well. I guess Mister Doctor will tell me tomorrow what he thinks (afternoon appointment). I am kind of excited about this, but worried about it too. If it is not healing as good as he thinks it should be, he may want to take the metal plate back out and replace with something else. I am not real fond of the thought starting over from the beginning.
Pain wise, my legs are a little sore again today. Betty thinks I overdid trying to get me legs back in shape. I have been doing less the last few days to let my legs freshen up some. I know when I sit a lot, my back starts stiffening up and hurts just to get up, but I will deal with this. This is quite a bit less pain than a headache, so I will make it all right. I make it upstairs for night time sleep most nights now and that is a chore on its own. I don't climb or diminish stairs like before, but slow and thorough is progress anyway. One step at a time!
Life is great. Being able to move in pain is better than being in a hospital or home bed and better than being in the only other place life was trying to send me. I can't imagine having a rock with my name on it above me. NOT AN OPTION!!!
I am so lucky to have had the support group that has been there for me. Whether it is family, friends or one of those groups that are "both", my life is all good. I can tolerate some pain from time to time to enjoy the good parts I still have. Thanks to all of you people. I am glad to be here and enjoy each and every day. GOD has been a blessing for me from day to day and from person to person. Thanks for everything, all of you!
Mark, 10/23/07
Monday, October 22, 2007
Monday, Oct 22 may be better...Mark
Wow, what a night I had. I only had three headache and the first two were quick and went away pretty quick after medicine. #3 lasted longer, but was not like what I had yesterday!!! Hopefully, this medicine change is finely kicking in (hopefully). Betty got a full nights sleep last night because I did not wake her. Hopefully, her Monday at work will be better than just average. Days are usually bad for them out there, but all we can do it hope. I tried Janet's suggestion of sleeping more upright. I woke up around midnight with number 1 and it faded quite easily after medicine kicked in. My back was sweaty from not moving so I went to a regular bed and prompted my head on two pillows, hoping that might help. Was it her idea or my medicine change? I don't know, yet. Maybe a little of both. The elevated idea is something we had tried once before and I could not sleep that way, but the benefits might make it worthwhile. Another chance of one of YOU people helping me.
And anyone that questions any of this, must understand, all ideas are appreciated and taken into consideration. Again, one of you helping me. There is nothing like a SEVERE headache and my family and friends DO understand what it is doing to me. If you have never seen them, thank GOD for that. It is not a pleasant sight I wish on ANYONE!
Love and prayers to all of you. I love you all more than you could imagine!
Mark 10/22/07, 5:30AM
And anyone that questions any of this, must understand, all ideas are appreciated and taken into consideration. Again, one of you helping me. There is nothing like a SEVERE headache and my family and friends DO understand what it is doing to me. If you have never seen them, thank GOD for that. It is not a pleasant sight I wish on ANYONE!
Love and prayers to all of you. I love you all more than you could imagine!
Mark 10/22/07, 5:30AM
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Sunday, Oct 21. Mark's Second for the day!
What a day it was today. Since my pain got me up early and Betty was up too, we decided to go to church today. It was a great time for both of us. Lots of people there knew what I had done and gone through. I don't like the normal attention giving for something like this, but it made me feel good any way. That was the good part of the day.
After that, we came home and tried to relax a little. I turned on football and fell asleep pretty quickly. Needless to say, I was up in an hour with a real pain er that the medicine knocked out in about 30 minutes or so. This medicine did well enough to put me out again. Most of these headaches rate about a 9 an a scale of 1-10. After this next hour sleep, I was awake again with another headache. This one was a real bad one. On a scale of 1-10, I think this was around a 12 or so. And it this wasn't enough, it lasted through two doses of medicine about 1 and a half hours. One it faded down to "tolerably", it was a mild, constant headache for another hour or more. It finally died down enough to settle down a little bit. I went to my bedroom and tried to relax and one came #3. This one did not materialize as bad bad and did not even let me take medicine for this one before it started fading. I almost want to stay up all night tonight! Betty has to be at work at 6AM tomorrow, so waking her is not a good option for me. I will not be sleeping by her and will try to keep my screaming down to keep from waking her up. These pills are all running down, but the doctor will get a call on them tomorrow so I do not run out.
Two great comments came from my earlier note. Janet (my wonderful cousin) suggested sleeping at an angle. We tried this once before and I did not stay that way for very long. Maybe I need a little more help with controlling my angle during sleep. The other note came a very good friend that question my shot comment. They seem to work real well at first, but the pain I get from the injection and the feelings I get for the first 1/2 hour make this questionable. It only lasted about 4 hours last night before a headache woke me. Then I got a headache every hour to hour and a half after that. It might have saved me a couple of misses, but according to Betty, I woke up screaming in pain and laid back to sleep. I did not wake up more rested for sure. What is my answer? This I do not know. If I get too many like the one this afternoon, I will have to do SOMETHING for sure. I asked Betty to take me to the hospital during it, but she said to give the medicine more time and gave me another round of pills. It finally worked, but very painful.
We go see the doctor about my back plate on Wednesday. Maybe he will have something good to tell me. I know my arms and legs are hurting now because I am using them for the first time in many months. I cut back on my exercising to help, but it may take a while to see a difference.
Tiffaney was home this weekend and got to see in reality when my life is like know. I am sure this was not the pleasant event she usually gets when she comes home. Hopefully, this did not shake her up too much.
Life is good! It is great to be here and be loved by GOD and all my family and friends. Y'all make me glad I am here. Tough nights are just part of it right now. I will live through and be thankful for all of you being there for me.
Thanks, Mark
After that, we came home and tried to relax a little. I turned on football and fell asleep pretty quickly. Needless to say, I was up in an hour with a real pain er that the medicine knocked out in about 30 minutes or so. This medicine did well enough to put me out again. Most of these headaches rate about a 9 an a scale of 1-10. After this next hour sleep, I was awake again with another headache. This one was a real bad one. On a scale of 1-10, I think this was around a 12 or so. And it this wasn't enough, it lasted through two doses of medicine about 1 and a half hours. One it faded down to "tolerably", it was a mild, constant headache for another hour or more. It finally died down enough to settle down a little bit. I went to my bedroom and tried to relax and one came #3. This one did not materialize as bad bad and did not even let me take medicine for this one before it started fading. I almost want to stay up all night tonight! Betty has to be at work at 6AM tomorrow, so waking her is not a good option for me. I will not be sleeping by her and will try to keep my screaming down to keep from waking her up. These pills are all running down, but the doctor will get a call on them tomorrow so I do not run out.
Two great comments came from my earlier note. Janet (my wonderful cousin) suggested sleeping at an angle. We tried this once before and I did not stay that way for very long. Maybe I need a little more help with controlling my angle during sleep. The other note came a very good friend that question my shot comment. They seem to work real well at first, but the pain I get from the injection and the feelings I get for the first 1/2 hour make this questionable. It only lasted about 4 hours last night before a headache woke me. Then I got a headache every hour to hour and a half after that. It might have saved me a couple of misses, but according to Betty, I woke up screaming in pain and laid back to sleep. I did not wake up more rested for sure. What is my answer? This I do not know. If I get too many like the one this afternoon, I will have to do SOMETHING for sure. I asked Betty to take me to the hospital during it, but she said to give the medicine more time and gave me another round of pills. It finally worked, but very painful.
We go see the doctor about my back plate on Wednesday. Maybe he will have something good to tell me. I know my arms and legs are hurting now because I am using them for the first time in many months. I cut back on my exercising to help, but it may take a while to see a difference.
Tiffaney was home this weekend and got to see in reality when my life is like know. I am sure this was not the pleasant event she usually gets when she comes home. Hopefully, this did not shake her up too much.
Life is good! It is great to be here and be loved by GOD and all my family and friends. Y'all make me glad I am here. Tough nights are just part of it right now. I will live through and be thankful for all of you being there for me.
Thanks, Mark
Sunday, Oct 21. Mark is still here with us!
All right. This one is mostly about my headaches. If this bothers you, please skip this. This is my true life right now and I need to get some of these thought out of my system. May GOD be with you and me. He is an important part of life each and every day.
Well, it is Sunday morning. I have come to the conclusion that nights are not for sleeping, for me anyway. Friday night, I had four real bad headaches that took about 30 minutes of SEVERE pain before my pills took over and allowed me another hour of sleep after each one. I tried an taking a nap during Saturday during the day to try to catch up on my lost sleep and guess what happened after 1 hour. It was painful, but it faded after 30 minutes. Last night we decided to take the expensive route and do the imitrex shot. Boy, it kicks in fast and makes you feel weird (real weird), but no headache was a good thought. Betty said I woke up screaming twice in the first couple of hours, but I did not know it. The first one I had to deal with was at 3AM. Twenty minutes on severe pain for the pills to work on it and another hour of sleep. Number two was around 4:20AM and was the same. Twenty minutes, on back to sleep again. The third one came about 5:40AM and I was up for the day. I guess I woke up earlier with this one because it was not as severe and medicine worked in about 20 minutes. I guess I should come to the conclusion that I need to quit trying to sleep at night and learn to live on the 4 hours I get each day. If you have never had pain this bad, I envy you greatly. There is nothing like this I have EVERY had. And if I thought I was doing bad, poor Betty is dealing with these with less sleep than me, I think. No pain for her, but to watch me through this has to be tramatic on her. These shots were suppose to be the answer, but they are not worth the amount of money spent for each one. Insurance does not like these and cost us over $20 each shot. Worth it? I don't think so. The pills are set up for one every four hours as needed and I am at one every hour to hour and a half. The pain is not worth the directions on the bottle. The pain feels like someone is pushing a screw driver handle above my left ear and even worse on the back of my left eye. Nose is running bad, too. About every 45 seconds, someone hits this item with a hammer for 15-20 seconds. You want to take about SCREAMING pain, I make some noise.
Betty found out yesterday on Internet that one of these new medicines I am on has side effects of headaches and it is to help the anti-biotics work better, so we are going to stop it for a while and see if it helps. The anti-biotics don't have anything listed for them, so maybe tonight will be better??? I can't imagine anything worse! Betty has to work tomorrow morning at 6AM, so her help tonight is critical for her to sleep instead of being there for me. She is there for me all the time, but somehow I need to let her get some sleep! How? I don't know because when I get in pain, I can't read the name label on the Rx, much less the ingredient, but some how, I have to work this over for her.
We go to the doctor on Wednesday to check my back wound. Her opinion says it looks so much better, healing great. I hope he agrees with this because I don't want it taken out! Not yet, anyway. Let's get passed this point first. We can deal with this later as needed. The medicine doctor said this plate could last three years or more if all is good! (One doctor did the plates and a second one for medicines). This will be fine if we get the headaches handled in a managed way. A third doctor is working on this, but he is limited because my back is most important right now to everyone.
Love to all of you. Sorry about all the bad, truthful news this morning, but life is not treating me great during the nights right now. Maybe this medicine change will help. Only time will tell.
I hope everyone has a great day and thinks happy, God relative thoughts for me and maybe this will go away. Family and friends are my world right now and could not do this without you help! Be there for me.
Love, Mark
Well, it is Sunday morning. I have come to the conclusion that nights are not for sleeping, for me anyway. Friday night, I had four real bad headaches that took about 30 minutes of SEVERE pain before my pills took over and allowed me another hour of sleep after each one. I tried an taking a nap during Saturday during the day to try to catch up on my lost sleep and guess what happened after 1 hour. It was painful, but it faded after 30 minutes. Last night we decided to take the expensive route and do the imitrex shot. Boy, it kicks in fast and makes you feel weird (real weird), but no headache was a good thought. Betty said I woke up screaming twice in the first couple of hours, but I did not know it. The first one I had to deal with was at 3AM. Twenty minutes on severe pain for the pills to work on it and another hour of sleep. Number two was around 4:20AM and was the same. Twenty minutes, on back to sleep again. The third one came about 5:40AM and I was up for the day. I guess I woke up earlier with this one because it was not as severe and medicine worked in about 20 minutes. I guess I should come to the conclusion that I need to quit trying to sleep at night and learn to live on the 4 hours I get each day. If you have never had pain this bad, I envy you greatly. There is nothing like this I have EVERY had. And if I thought I was doing bad, poor Betty is dealing with these with less sleep than me, I think. No pain for her, but to watch me through this has to be tramatic on her. These shots were suppose to be the answer, but they are not worth the amount of money spent for each one. Insurance does not like these and cost us over $20 each shot. Worth it? I don't think so. The pills are set up for one every four hours as needed and I am at one every hour to hour and a half. The pain is not worth the directions on the bottle. The pain feels like someone is pushing a screw driver handle above my left ear and even worse on the back of my left eye. Nose is running bad, too. About every 45 seconds, someone hits this item with a hammer for 15-20 seconds. You want to take about SCREAMING pain, I make some noise.
Betty found out yesterday on Internet that one of these new medicines I am on has side effects of headaches and it is to help the anti-biotics work better, so we are going to stop it for a while and see if it helps. The anti-biotics don't have anything listed for them, so maybe tonight will be better??? I can't imagine anything worse! Betty has to work tomorrow morning at 6AM, so her help tonight is critical for her to sleep instead of being there for me. She is there for me all the time, but somehow I need to let her get some sleep! How? I don't know because when I get in pain, I can't read the name label on the Rx, much less the ingredient, but some how, I have to work this over for her.
We go to the doctor on Wednesday to check my back wound. Her opinion says it looks so much better, healing great. I hope he agrees with this because I don't want it taken out! Not yet, anyway. Let's get passed this point first. We can deal with this later as needed. The medicine doctor said this plate could last three years or more if all is good! (One doctor did the plates and a second one for medicines). This will be fine if we get the headaches handled in a managed way. A third doctor is working on this, but he is limited because my back is most important right now to everyone.
Love to all of you. Sorry about all the bad, truthful news this morning, but life is not treating me great during the nights right now. Maybe this medicine change will help. Only time will tell.
I hope everyone has a great day and thinks happy, God relative thoughts for me and maybe this will go away. Family and friends are my world right now and could not do this without you help! Be there for me.
Love, Mark
Friday, October 19, 2007
10/19-Friday: Another great day...Mark
Well, Friday (10/19/07) is upon us and it is a great morning. I finally made it upstairs (quite a struggle) last night to sleep in my own bed. Betty even let me take a REAL shower this morning. After that, she change my bandage on my back and said that the wound is improving a lot. This is great to me!!! We seem to be moving in the right direction. Walking is still quite difficult right now. My right leg does not work well and hurts when I walk (still in the hip area where it is still healing), but I took 20 steps last night without my walker. 10 good ones and 10 hurting ones, but it was 20 total. Now, the stairs present quite a challenge. Talk about slow moving. My legs don't move up so well yet, but this will get better as we go. I have two walls to use to help me get up there, and always, left leg goes and and right comes to the same step. It is slow, but up still counts.
Now, are my headaches any better? Not really. I had four of them last night. They are quite intense, but on the oral medicine instead of IV medicine, they don't last as long. Each one is 20 to 30 minutes of so extreme pain, but it is better than the 1 1/2 hours episodes that the IV was creating. It makes a good nights sleep quite hard to get, but hopefully, they was disappear on there own. We go back to the doctor next week to check my metal plates and wound and maybe he will give me some insight on this. Only time will tell.
I have to really feel bad for this wonderful woman who survives all of this. I don't know how she makes it from day to day with her lack of a full nights sleep and STILL works, but she is the real reason I am still here! 26 years ago this week, I made one of the smartest decisions that could be made and couldn't be happier we are still together. She is my true life line EVERY day. I definitely have my wonderful life because of my darling wife. Betty is there for me in all situations! I love her more and more each and every day. She is the reason I am still here!!! She also the reason I have these wonderful children in this world!
One thing I have not touched one enough is how great people have been. From many, I get all sorts of help. One good friend (Shane Dees) comes by and mows for me and do all the little things I can't do myself, yet. He used to live next door, but moved about a mile away, now, but still comes really regular. Also, while I was out, people gave so much help to Betty. One family took my son into their family for quite a while. The difference that made is wonderful. They even said it worked out great for my son AND theirs to. Keith and Dawn Lyons, I owe you greatly for this. Also, the wonderful family next door took Matt to get supplies for school (thanks Mark & Donna McKee). Another friend in the neighborhood (Lisa and Don Holcombe) took Matt for school clothes, too. These were another one of those wonderful moves that seems to be untouchable! Several neighbors will mow my front yard with their mower when they finish theirs. On top of all of this, I hear from so many people by phone and mail. I had three cousins and one aunt call me this week that just makes my time wonderful. I know I was in their thoughts, but to here the voices is wonderful. I hear (calls and e-mails) from the Bradley family all the time, but these calls were from Mom's (Gray) family. It is great to know how important I am to so many. Just the additions to the BLOG, e-mails, phones and letters written mean the world to me. I heard from people from work yesterday. If I don't call Paul Palermo at work sometime during the week, he will call me to make sure I am OK. That is another one of those "feel good" calls that mean so much. It really amazes me that there are so many people that pray for me daily that naturally lifts your spirits! What a group of friends and family that has gathered there for me. I love the way everyone rallies around for me. You are the greatest group of people one could possibly have around them.
Great kids, great cousins, aunt, uncles and even Betty's wonderful family along with the friends I have come so close to over the years could not be ANY BETTER. Thank you all for being there for me.
Enough from me about all of this. I wish each and every one of to have a great day like the one God brings to me. You ALL deserve it.
Now, are my headaches any better? Not really. I had four of them last night. They are quite intense, but on the oral medicine instead of IV medicine, they don't last as long. Each one is 20 to 30 minutes of so extreme pain, but it is better than the 1 1/2 hours episodes that the IV was creating. It makes a good nights sleep quite hard to get, but hopefully, they was disappear on there own. We go back to the doctor next week to check my metal plates and wound and maybe he will give me some insight on this. Only time will tell.
I have to really feel bad for this wonderful woman who survives all of this. I don't know how she makes it from day to day with her lack of a full nights sleep and STILL works, but she is the real reason I am still here! 26 years ago this week, I made one of the smartest decisions that could be made and couldn't be happier we are still together. She is my true life line EVERY day. I definitely have my wonderful life because of my darling wife. Betty is there for me in all situations! I love her more and more each and every day. She is the reason I am still here!!! She also the reason I have these wonderful children in this world!
One thing I have not touched one enough is how great people have been. From many, I get all sorts of help. One good friend (Shane Dees) comes by and mows for me and do all the little things I can't do myself, yet. He used to live next door, but moved about a mile away, now, but still comes really regular. Also, while I was out, people gave so much help to Betty. One family took my son into their family for quite a while. The difference that made is wonderful. They even said it worked out great for my son AND theirs to. Keith and Dawn Lyons, I owe you greatly for this. Also, the wonderful family next door took Matt to get supplies for school (thanks Mark & Donna McKee). Another friend in the neighborhood (Lisa and Don Holcombe) took Matt for school clothes, too. These were another one of those wonderful moves that seems to be untouchable! Several neighbors will mow my front yard with their mower when they finish theirs. On top of all of this, I hear from so many people by phone and mail. I had three cousins and one aunt call me this week that just makes my time wonderful. I know I was in their thoughts, but to here the voices is wonderful. I hear (calls and e-mails) from the Bradley family all the time, but these calls were from Mom's (Gray) family. It is great to know how important I am to so many. Just the additions to the BLOG, e-mails, phones and letters written mean the world to me. I heard from people from work yesterday. If I don't call Paul Palermo at work sometime during the week, he will call me to make sure I am OK. That is another one of those "feel good" calls that mean so much. It really amazes me that there are so many people that pray for me daily that naturally lifts your spirits! What a group of friends and family that has gathered there for me. I love the way everyone rallies around for me. You are the greatest group of people one could possibly have around them.
Great kids, great cousins, aunt, uncles and even Betty's wonderful family along with the friends I have come so close to over the years could not be ANY BETTER. Thank you all for being there for me.
Enough from me about all of this. I wish each and every one of to have a great day like the one God brings to me. You ALL deserve it.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Wednesday, Oct 17....Mark's Update
I guess you take the good with the bad. Today is my anniversary with my wonderful "care giver". It has been 26 wonderful years and I could not be happier to be alive and semi-healthy. I was resting on the couch this morning and the phone started ringing. In my effort to get to it, I ripped the bandage off my back as the tubing was caught on something and would not give. Now I am without this suction today unless I go see Betty at work or wait until she gets home tonight.
On another side of life, I had four headaches last night. The weren't as severe as they were with the IV medicine, but they sure make a good nights sleep impossible to get. The first came about 10:15PM. Pills knocked it out in less than 1/2 an hour but the next one came just after midnight. #3 came about 2:30AM and the 4th one just before 5AM. The imitrex shots work well on these but I only have 1 shot left so I am trying to save it for one of those bad ones if possible. Insurance does not pay real well towards this shots, so it is $20 or so on each one. Gets to be expensive if I use too many of these! Doctor tells me I will be one these pills to fight can of infection for 3 years or more, depending on how long the titanium plate stays in my back. This could be a long 3 years.
Betty started looking at the bills the hospital has put together on my stay and says it is scary to see the total amounts. It's going to take time to get it all straighten out all of this. Only time will tell where we end up at on this.
Love to all my family and friends that mean so much to me.
Mark
On another side of life, I had four headaches last night. The weren't as severe as they were with the IV medicine, but they sure make a good nights sleep impossible to get. The first came about 10:15PM. Pills knocked it out in less than 1/2 an hour but the next one came just after midnight. #3 came about 2:30AM and the 4th one just before 5AM. The imitrex shots work well on these but I only have 1 shot left so I am trying to save it for one of those bad ones if possible. Insurance does not pay real well towards this shots, so it is $20 or so on each one. Gets to be expensive if I use too many of these! Doctor tells me I will be one these pills to fight can of infection for 3 years or more, depending on how long the titanium plate stays in my back. This could be a long 3 years.
Betty started looking at the bills the hospital has put together on my stay and says it is scary to see the total amounts. It's going to take time to get it all straighten out all of this. Only time will tell where we end up at on this.
Love to all my family and friends that mean so much to me.
Mark
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Tuesday, Oct 16... Mark
It feels good to be free of the IV use. It's great to know that I can take pills for the same effect. Doctor said it could last for three years or more, depending on what the other doctor says about my titanium plate (to be test later this month to find out how it's doing). Betty changed the wound dressing on this spot last night and said the improvement is going so well. It was put in one of those places that I can't see so I will just take her word that it's going good.
It was good to read the words written to Betty's BLOG yesterday. Janet and Megan both realized what tomorrow is. And Megan was right on the years, too. For those of you that don't know, 26 years ago from tomorrow, this wonderful woman that has saved my life many times, changed her name to Bradley. The actual date was October 17, 1981 and it is as important today as it was back then. She is my savior and would not trade her for ANYTHING!
We had a good time seeing people yesterday at the hospital that took such good care of me. A lot of them only saw my when I was in ICU. I did not remember most of them, but the looks on their faces made it a special time for me, too. Most of them did not realize I was this tall because they only saw me laying down, but they nursed me back to life time and time again. Betty and Megan knew them better than I did, but that did not take away for this experience for me! We might have put a few extra feet into my exercise yesterday (I was a little sore this morning), but I still got out and walked this morning and will do more tonight, too. I can not get better with out pushing my fitness to these new levels. Only time will tell how I am doing. I went a little further this morning that I did earlier in the week, but further is better.
Who wants to hear about these stupid headaches? Me neither, but here it is anyway:
Monday night, I had one about 11:30PM and it was not as bad as they had been, so instead of the shot, I took my 2 pills. It faded in 15 minutes so I went back to sleep. I did not get another one ALL NIGHT! If this holds up, getting rid of the IV will turn out better EACH day. The place where the IV went into my neck was removed yesterday at the hospital. Betty watched them take it out and thought I would be sore because of the size of it. I was about a foot long and she said the doctor had to dig the spot it went into to get it out. This morning, I had no pain in this area at all. And no lines to use and clean up or get caught on my shirt, either.
Life is great and I love everyone that reads my notes. Thank you all!
Mark 10/16/07
It was good to read the words written to Betty's BLOG yesterday. Janet and Megan both realized what tomorrow is. And Megan was right on the years, too. For those of you that don't know, 26 years ago from tomorrow, this wonderful woman that has saved my life many times, changed her name to Bradley. The actual date was October 17, 1981 and it is as important today as it was back then. She is my savior and would not trade her for ANYTHING!
We had a good time seeing people yesterday at the hospital that took such good care of me. A lot of them only saw my when I was in ICU. I did not remember most of them, but the looks on their faces made it a special time for me, too. Most of them did not realize I was this tall because they only saw me laying down, but they nursed me back to life time and time again. Betty and Megan knew them better than I did, but that did not take away for this experience for me! We might have put a few extra feet into my exercise yesterday (I was a little sore this morning), but I still got out and walked this morning and will do more tonight, too. I can not get better with out pushing my fitness to these new levels. Only time will tell how I am doing. I went a little further this morning that I did earlier in the week, but further is better.
Who wants to hear about these stupid headaches? Me neither, but here it is anyway:
Monday night, I had one about 11:30PM and it was not as bad as they had been, so instead of the shot, I took my 2 pills. It faded in 15 minutes so I went back to sleep. I did not get another one ALL NIGHT! If this holds up, getting rid of the IV will turn out better EACH day. The place where the IV went into my neck was removed yesterday at the hospital. Betty watched them take it out and thought I would be sore because of the size of it. I was about a foot long and she said the doctor had to dig the spot it went into to get it out. This morning, I had no pain in this area at all. And no lines to use and clean up or get caught on my shirt, either.
Life is great and I love everyone that reads my notes. Thank you all!
Mark 10/16/07
Monday, October 15, 2007
No more IV"s...........
We went to the doctors today and Mark is now on oral antibiotics.......maybe for a long time depending on how his body does with all the hardware. The central IV line had to be taken out a the Hospital by a doctor. Thank goodness that we were there for a very short time. Long enough to get the procedure done and we had to visit the wonderful nurses and doctors in the ICU and SIMU unit that Mark spent so much time in. It was such a pleasure to see their faces as the recognized us, and for them to see Mark walking. We Thanked them and we Thank God for the skill that every one of them has. As you all know that they took wonderful care of Mark. God works miracles each and every day!!!! Betty
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Update for Sunday, Oct 14...Mark
You sometimes come upon a spot in life you don't understand. I have the most wonderful person in the world helping me with mine. Betty (this wonderful person I married so many years ago) found something last night on the Internet that makes too much sense. This new IV the doctor has me on has a side effect of "causing headaches". I got to thinking about when they got bad enough to cause problems and this matched up pretty well with when they put me on this last week and have gotten worse every day since then. Today has been one of those days where the headache has been here ALL DAY and won't go away. We go back to this doctor tomorrow and will question him about this and Betty's decision in no more intakes until we see him. Maybe tonight will be better or at least not as bad. It may take some time to get this all out of me, but she has been right on the money for me during this whole episode. I have no doubt in her logic on this. It always amazes me with the information she has gathered from some many places. I think I am still here today because on the things she has done for me, the information she has provided to the nurses and doctors and the care this group gave to GOD for me.
Thank you all for everything and hopefully I will get some sleep tonight.
I love you all so much and the this special woman gets my world moving in the right direction over and over again. My life has always revolved around her but only now do I realize how important that decision is!!! She is my world!!!
Thank you all for everything and hopefully I will get some sleep tonight.
I love you all so much and the this special woman gets my world moving in the right direction over and over again. My life has always revolved around her but only now do I realize how important that decision is!!! She is my world!!!
Sunday, Oct 14 and still improving!!!
I looked at the replies to my yesterday BLOG and had a sweet grin on my face. I heard from a cousin on my Mom's side (create to hear from you Shannon), one cousin's wife on Dad's side (she is family and I call her my cousin anyway. Thanks Radene) and one comment from a couple here in town that responds to me a lot (thanks Sallie because your notes always lift me up). All three of these were exciting for me to read. An top of all of that, I got a call last night from another cousin from my Mom's side. I have not told to Deena in quite a while and it made me happy to hear hear pleasant voice. There are so many NICE treats in this situation that can make me smile because SOMEONE ACTUALLY CARES and that means a lot to me!!!
My headache situation is not improving and if this is my main problem, I will deal with it. I tried to take a nap yesterday afternoon and work up after an hour with one and had two more bad ones during the night. I squeeze my sleep around these when I can. If this was not bad enough, I woke up this morning with a mild one that keeps getting worse. I have taken medicine twice for it and it has yet to become one of those "wake the house in screams" like I get at night, but it won't leave either. I am hoping to get a handle on these soon, but until then, I will have to deal with them as best I can.
Life goes on and I am alive and getting stronger. I am using the walker to assist my legs for now, but took four steps yesterday without putting weight on the walker. They were short steps, but they were still steps. After 7 days with weight on my legs, it seems to be going in the right direction.
Thanks to all of you for everything. Sometimes it's a note in the BLOG, a phone call, a letter in the mail, an prayer to GOD for his help or just a pleasant thought in your mind. These things are all important parts of my life right now that keep me up and moving strong. Deep in my heart, GOD knows the love I feel for each of you but I want to make sure you are aware of it to. Thanks for EVERYTHING!
Mark
My headache situation is not improving and if this is my main problem, I will deal with it. I tried to take a nap yesterday afternoon and work up after an hour with one and had two more bad ones during the night. I squeeze my sleep around these when I can. If this was not bad enough, I woke up this morning with a mild one that keeps getting worse. I have taken medicine twice for it and it has yet to become one of those "wake the house in screams" like I get at night, but it won't leave either. I am hoping to get a handle on these soon, but until then, I will have to deal with them as best I can.
Life goes on and I am alive and getting stronger. I am using the walker to assist my legs for now, but took four steps yesterday without putting weight on the walker. They were short steps, but they were still steps. After 7 days with weight on my legs, it seems to be going in the right direction.
Thanks to all of you for everything. Sometimes it's a note in the BLOG, a phone call, a letter in the mail, an prayer to GOD for his help or just a pleasant thought in your mind. These things are all important parts of my life right now that keep me up and moving strong. Deep in my heart, GOD knows the love I feel for each of you but I want to make sure you are aware of it to. Thanks for EVERYTHING!
Mark
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Saturday, Oct 13 and Mark is still kicking....
Today (Saturday), we went to talk to my parents camping group. These are some sweet people that were so proud of the progress I have made so far. They all treated me like the had known me for a long time and that made me feel good. There was one couple that I have known for a long time. They (and their two girls) were friends of ours when I was young and still growing up. I have not seen them in many years, but you could not tell. I did not know any of the others, but you could not tell.
There were several comments to my last BLOG that made me smile. I had one from my cousin Sarah that let me know she is still watching my progress and caring about my progress in this battle. There was also one from my Aunt Glenda, who wants to go walking with me after her knee surgery. She can very well hold her own on this one! Anything she has taking on in life has always been that way. That wonderful woman doesn't fear anything that I know of!
The next note was from my daughter, Megan. School (dental school) is pretty tough on her this semester. The first semester on the second year is supposed to be the hardest. Her strength with carry her through this, but it is a challenge for her. She has been there for me during this event all summer and when school started, it kept pulling most of her time. This makes her feel bad because she is very family oriented. I have told her that school is her important task right now and she was there for me before I was there for myself. She played a very important part of my recovery step! I will NEVER forget this role she played! Her focus on school and HER WEDDING should be the directions she is working towards. One of my goals I set, when I got off of the drugs and finally realized who I was, is the walk I had promised her down the aisle for her wedding. That is important to me and will do everything I can to make it happen.
There was a note from Betty's BLOG that meant a lot to me, too. Sallie, Scott and Noah Keaton support her effort she has put towards me. They are right! I probably would not be here today if she was not there for me during this! I know she saved my life several times AFTER I was awake. I know she was there for me before I knew it too.
Some many people have brought GOD in my life in so many ways. I knew he was an important part of life everyday, but the friends and family members that made me realize how strong he was in MY RECOVERY are the ones that mean the world to me. So many people have told me that I was brought up and talked about in their church EVERY week. This is good to know that so many people care enough about me to make me this important in their lives.
I got a letter in the mail today that lifted my day. A super friend of mine moved to Tennessee with her new husband several years ago and dropped me a note to let me know she is watching my progress and supporting my recovery. These are the things that make you realize how many people admire you as a person. I never had a sister in life, but if I did, she would have been one, that could not have been closer. And if that was not enough, she married as super guy to make her life perfect.
Now, if this wasn't enough, let me talk about my down side. The doctor I went to on Friday was FANTASTIC! He was a great person and seemed to be concerned about all of my details of what I went through during this. He dug into parts that I never figured he would. He put my on some medicines for pain that would get along with what I was already taking and would work fast. One of these was a "fast acting" shot that was suppose to work in 4 minutes. When we tried this last light, it was slower to dispense that we realized and was pulled own before complete. Betty tried to load the second shot and it fired in the box without any help. Since we were out of shots, I took two of the pills he game me and headache was gone if 1/2 hour. I went back to sleep and woke up with headache #2 about a hour later. Two more pills, and 1/2 later, was back asleep. Headache #3 came about 5AM and this medicine seemed to work again. I tried this afternoon to catch a little sleep and work up with one after about a hour of sleep. Two more pills and it was gone in 1/2 hours, too. This medicine in working well. This 1/2 hour of intense pain in better that the 2 hours I had before. This doctor made a comment about a valve in my heart that might not be working right which may have allowed the stroke to bring my cluster headaches back. We will have to have this special test run, to see if that is the case and what to do to fix it. People ask me a lot about what cluster headaches are and they are difficult to describe. If you have ever seen someone when migraines, these are a lot alike. Clusters are on one side of the head (pain behind the eye, runny nose, watery eyes, throbbing teeth and pain by that ear) and much more intense pain, but one lasts a few hours, where a migraine may last for a couple of days. This pain could not be tolerated for a couple of days! NO WAY! But, as usual, I will overcome this bad spot to be the some person I was before. That is the only option I have and will make this work for me.
GOD is on my side to overcome all of this and you can't have a better team!
Love to all my friends, family members and anyone else involved (yes, you are a friend or family member of mine if you are involved in this)
Mark (on his way up!!!)
There were several comments to my last BLOG that made me smile. I had one from my cousin Sarah that let me know she is still watching my progress and caring about my progress in this battle. There was also one from my Aunt Glenda, who wants to go walking with me after her knee surgery. She can very well hold her own on this one! Anything she has taking on in life has always been that way. That wonderful woman doesn't fear anything that I know of!
The next note was from my daughter, Megan. School (dental school) is pretty tough on her this semester. The first semester on the second year is supposed to be the hardest. Her strength with carry her through this, but it is a challenge for her. She has been there for me during this event all summer and when school started, it kept pulling most of her time. This makes her feel bad because she is very family oriented. I have told her that school is her important task right now and she was there for me before I was there for myself. She played a very important part of my recovery step! I will NEVER forget this role she played! Her focus on school and HER WEDDING should be the directions she is working towards. One of my goals I set, when I got off of the drugs and finally realized who I was, is the walk I had promised her down the aisle for her wedding. That is important to me and will do everything I can to make it happen.
There was a note from Betty's BLOG that meant a lot to me, too. Sallie, Scott and Noah Keaton support her effort she has put towards me. They are right! I probably would not be here today if she was not there for me during this! I know she saved my life several times AFTER I was awake. I know she was there for me before I knew it too.
Some many people have brought GOD in my life in so many ways. I knew he was an important part of life everyday, but the friends and family members that made me realize how strong he was in MY RECOVERY are the ones that mean the world to me. So many people have told me that I was brought up and talked about in their church EVERY week. This is good to know that so many people care enough about me to make me this important in their lives.
I got a letter in the mail today that lifted my day. A super friend of mine moved to Tennessee with her new husband several years ago and dropped me a note to let me know she is watching my progress and supporting my recovery. These are the things that make you realize how many people admire you as a person. I never had a sister in life, but if I did, she would have been one, that could not have been closer. And if that was not enough, she married as super guy to make her life perfect.
Now, if this wasn't enough, let me talk about my down side. The doctor I went to on Friday was FANTASTIC! He was a great person and seemed to be concerned about all of my details of what I went through during this. He dug into parts that I never figured he would. He put my on some medicines for pain that would get along with what I was already taking and would work fast. One of these was a "fast acting" shot that was suppose to work in 4 minutes. When we tried this last light, it was slower to dispense that we realized and was pulled own before complete. Betty tried to load the second shot and it fired in the box without any help. Since we were out of shots, I took two of the pills he game me and headache was gone if 1/2 hour. I went back to sleep and woke up with headache #2 about a hour later. Two more pills, and 1/2 later, was back asleep. Headache #3 came about 5AM and this medicine seemed to work again. I tried this afternoon to catch a little sleep and work up with one after about a hour of sleep. Two more pills and it was gone in 1/2 hours, too. This medicine in working well. This 1/2 hour of intense pain in better that the 2 hours I had before. This doctor made a comment about a valve in my heart that might not be working right which may have allowed the stroke to bring my cluster headaches back. We will have to have this special test run, to see if that is the case and what to do to fix it. People ask me a lot about what cluster headaches are and they are difficult to describe. If you have ever seen someone when migraines, these are a lot alike. Clusters are on one side of the head (pain behind the eye, runny nose, watery eyes, throbbing teeth and pain by that ear) and much more intense pain, but one lasts a few hours, where a migraine may last for a couple of days. This pain could not be tolerated for a couple of days! NO WAY! But, as usual, I will overcome this bad spot to be the some person I was before. That is the only option I have and will make this work for me.
GOD is on my side to overcome all of this and you can't have a better team!
Love to all my friends, family members and anyone else involved (yes, you are a friend or family member of mine if you are involved in this)
Mark (on his way up!!!)
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Doctors Appointments
Mark, used to suffer from cluster headaches but has not had one in several years. The headaches are definitely as severe but on the opposite of his head. This can happen, but not usually, maybe it is because of his head injury. He went to the family doctor today and got a prescription for Oxygen. Cluster headache's can come on with the change of season usually spring and fall and the cluster can last up to two months. With a headache the blood vessels constrict,the oxygen will open up the vessel's and the headache will be less severe. Mark has medications for this but by the time the headache is upon him it takes awhile for the medicine to kick in. Tomorrow, we have a doctors appointment with a Neurologist and on Monday back to the Infectious Disease doctor. We may also stop in at TIRR the rehab facility. Every day is progress and a headache will not slow us down. And, yes, his headaches effect me because usually they happen about a hour after I get to sleep and Mark's pain is heard all over the house. (They are very severe!!!)
It sure is easier getting him in and out of the car with only the walker......And, he's been pulling himself into his parent's truck...I wonder what the doctor's would say about that....Probably, not what they would recommend. And, since Mark's doing so good ...No therapy!!!! Maybe, a vacation will be in our near future......maybe, I just need one!!!! I am counting my blessing's each and every day. A special Thank you to Wayman and Sharon (Mark's Parents)for making my life easier, helping me with Mark's care and around the house.....keeping me sane...what a blessing..
A wish for Love, and good health to all of you. Betty
It sure is easier getting him in and out of the car with only the walker......And, he's been pulling himself into his parent's truck...I wonder what the doctor's would say about that....Probably, not what they would recommend. And, since Mark's doing so good ...No therapy!!!! Maybe, a vacation will be in our near future......maybe, I just need one!!!! I am counting my blessing's each and every day. A special Thank you to Wayman and Sharon (Mark's Parents)for making my life easier, helping me with Mark's care and around the house.....keeping me sane...what a blessing..
A wish for Love, and good health to all of you. Betty
Mark is still alive and well (10/12/07)
Today is Thursday and is showing to be a great day in my life. I got a hold of my cell phone company and got my voicemail code fixed so I could listen to the old messages that were there. There was 9 messages there and some have been there a while and many were important notes for me. I amazes me how many friends and family members that care so much for me. One of these was from a real good friend that has made a move to Colorado a few years ago but has always been an important person to me. I called him today and it lifted me up so much. I knew he knows how I feel about him because it meant so much just to spend the time talking to him like that (thanks Mike Valentine). I also had several messages to my last BLOG that made me happy, too. Some of these people are good friends that I have not talked to lately, either. I called some of them today, too. WOW what a day. It is these things that make you appreciate who you are and why that means so much to so many people. Some people read this blog daily and contact me in ways that are important, too. Not everyone is an Internet type of person and that is OK. I get phone calls and cards and other contact, that mean the world to me, too. I may be in a rough spot in my life with pain right now, but the support my friends and family show, is all worth while to me. A real close friend came by this morning and took me to breakfast, which meant a lot, too. Some personal time with a good friends to talk about anything that might come up. We had a great time together!
Yesterday, my parents took me to lunch and we ran into many people from work that I have not seen in a while. That was an experience that will still be with me for a while, too. Last week, I went to lunch with a group from work and the time we had was great time, but I did not expect anything yesterday. I always knew I had some friends a work, but it really makes me feel good to see them all. And if that wasn't enough, earlier this week, I have a visit from an aunt, two cousins and a cousins wife. Talk about making me feel good.
I tell you one thing, just knowing that someone is tracking my progress like this group is just enough to make my world. So just to let EVERYONE know, I am getting better each and every day. I hope to be walking without this walker in a few more weeks and hopefully my pelvis problem will close up and be gone soon too. This accident has effected so many people other that just me and I want to thanks each and everyone of you for your thoughts and support. So many of you made God an important part of my recover, too. He has always been an important part of me, but he is SO MUCH more to my life that I realized! Thanks to those of you that made sure I knew how important he was!
Who needs to be thanked? My wife has saved me many times, my girls have too and my parents have put their life aside to be here with me, so much, too. Friends and family have done more than their part to make sure I am still here, too! So, if you are reading this, a big THANK YOU is here just for you!!! Just remember, I love you all and thank you for you love and support. Together, we will make it!
You friend or family member for the rest of our life,
Mark
Yesterday, my parents took me to lunch and we ran into many people from work that I have not seen in a while. That was an experience that will still be with me for a while, too. Last week, I went to lunch with a group from work and the time we had was great time, but I did not expect anything yesterday. I always knew I had some friends a work, but it really makes me feel good to see them all. And if that wasn't enough, earlier this week, I have a visit from an aunt, two cousins and a cousins wife. Talk about making me feel good.
I tell you one thing, just knowing that someone is tracking my progress like this group is just enough to make my world. So just to let EVERYONE know, I am getting better each and every day. I hope to be walking without this walker in a few more weeks and hopefully my pelvis problem will close up and be gone soon too. This accident has effected so many people other that just me and I want to thanks each and everyone of you for your thoughts and support. So many of you made God an important part of my recover, too. He has always been an important part of me, but he is SO MUCH more to my life that I realized! Thanks to those of you that made sure I knew how important he was!
Who needs to be thanked? My wife has saved me many times, my girls have too and my parents have put their life aside to be here with me, so much, too. Friends and family have done more than their part to make sure I am still here, too! So, if you are reading this, a big THANK YOU is here just for you!!! Just remember, I love you all and thank you for you love and support. Together, we will make it!
You friend or family member for the rest of our life,
Mark
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Mark is hear again (10/11/07)
Another day is upon us again (today is Wednesday). I got went outside with my walker yesterday and walked quite a ways for a beginner. I went from my house down two houses and back. I can tell it this morning but this will become easier with time. They say if I don't push too hard, time will take care of me. I have some small walks in the house today but nothing like yesterday, yet. My arms are sore from the extra weight they carry yesterday on the walker, but I think they will be OK with time.
I would like to thanks Tiff and the Keaton's for their responses. These may not say much other than "good job" and "God is with you", but their meanings are an important part of my life and VERY important in my life right now!
My Mom & Dad are here with me this week while Betty is at work. I think I am quite a fill for their normal day. I have so many little things that I need help with and they are there for me. It is so appreciated! I think the biggest fear we all of is of me falling down. I don't know (and hope I don't) what while happen if I somehow pull this, but they are here in case I do.
One of the changes I have seen since all of this started is a get a real bad headache during the night. The first week or so, the would fade with my medicine, but the are now staying longer. Last night I was up for 1 1/2 to 2 hours fighting this before it faded out. Talk about making you tired in the morning! I am hoping we can figure out what is causing this and take care of it, but we are confused by this at this point in time. We thought is was one of my medicines and stopped with it when it ran out and I had two nights with no problem, but they came back after that. We are looking at what else could cause this until we find something. Hopefully, something will show up soon to point us in the right direction.
Until then, I was all of you a great day and a great life because of all of you, mine is there.
Your loving friend,
Mark
I would like to thanks Tiff and the Keaton's for their responses. These may not say much other than "good job" and "God is with you", but their meanings are an important part of my life and VERY important in my life right now!
My Mom & Dad are here with me this week while Betty is at work. I think I am quite a fill for their normal day. I have so many little things that I need help with and they are there for me. It is so appreciated! I think the biggest fear we all of is of me falling down. I don't know (and hope I don't) what while happen if I somehow pull this, but they are here in case I do.
One of the changes I have seen since all of this started is a get a real bad headache during the night. The first week or so, the would fade with my medicine, but the are now staying longer. Last night I was up for 1 1/2 to 2 hours fighting this before it faded out. Talk about making you tired in the morning! I am hoping we can figure out what is causing this and take care of it, but we are confused by this at this point in time. We thought is was one of my medicines and stopped with it when it ran out and I had two nights with no problem, but they came back after that. We are looking at what else could cause this until we find something. Hopefully, something will show up soon to point us in the right direction.
Until then, I was all of you a great day and a great life because of all of you, mine is there.
Your loving friend,
Mark
Monday, October 8, 2007
He's Walking
Imagine my surprise .....I get home from work and Mark is walking with the help of a walker....right across the living room. Life is wonderful, God is Great. We went to the doctor today and got his intravenous antibiotic's changed to every 8 hours instead of every 4 hours. Life is becoming easier, every day and a good night's sleep is something we both need!!!! It's hard to believe it has been 3 month's since this all started....I, know that the power of God and all the prayers carried me through this and gave me the strength that I needed to take care of my wonderful husband. Thank you all. Betty
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Mark AGAIN, Oct 4 (Thurs)
Wow. Another day has come again and life is going in the right direction. Last Friday, the doctor gave me permission to start putting weight on my left leg. When I did some of this, it amazes me just how weak it has become. I can put my body weight on it, but it will be a while before it can take much. Starting next Monday, Oct.8, I can start putting weight on my right leg, too. Once this comes, I can really work them together to move in the direction I want to move toward. It will not be an easy trip to make, but it will come if I work on it. The right leg is MUCH weaker than the left because that is the side I fell on and the pelvis on my left side only has one break in it, but the right one has at least three plates holding it together, and it still HURTS. I am trying to use small weights on both until I get to use my full weight but the right side is still pretty bad off. I go back to this doctor near the end of October (28th, I think) to see if these plates can stay or not. If this healing is not going well (body accepting the titanium or not), these "un-repairable" plates may need to be replaced. I am hoping and praying that my body will cover these because I did not want to start all over on this stuff!!!
Betty (my real reason I am alive today) made a suggestion on Tuesday (two days ago) that I set up a lunch with the group of people that I work with so I could see everybody as I am today. I did not think about doing this because of how bad off I feel that I am, but this morning she insisted I make a call to get this moving. I called one of them to see what he thought of the idea and he took care of everything on his end. This "disappointment" for me turned out to be a wonderful time. It was so good to see all of these friends again. It made me realize that I truely have some special people in this world that do care. Most of these people came to the hospital when I was down (and mostly out) and never lost faith in MY faith to overcome this down time. This, like most of Betty's ideas, was a very special time for me that made me realize that I do have some SPECIAL FRIENDS in this world. Special friends are sometimes over looked but once you realize who they are, it is a very special feeling. Thanks to all of you that came out to see me!
Special friends are sometimes like this and other times they are the counted by the number of times and thoughts you get from them. I have so many friends that have hope in so many ways that I can't even begin to understand them all. I have many people that come by and do things around here for me, some bring over meals and so, so many friends and family members that just type special sayings in my BLOG that just lift my heart. Looking at this list, some of these people were in some activity with my son and to me they where people I knew, only until now did I realize these were people where cared enough about me to bring my troubles with life into theirs. The number of comments I saw from this group of people (friends and family) was sensational. Everytime I read one of these, my heart was touched and raised by their comments and how their meaningful comments were set to me and to the One Almighty, God. These meaning comments that these people are sending mean SO, SO much and are greatly appreciated! Their meaningful considerations ane not only appreciated but their meanings are well sent to God for his help, too. Believe me, God has made all of this happen because of my faith and MY FRIENDS' faith in His ability to help.
Thanks to EVERYONE for there thoughts and prayers. I am here because of this effort and all the prayers.
Thanks, Mark
Betty (my real reason I am alive today) made a suggestion on Tuesday (two days ago) that I set up a lunch with the group of people that I work with so I could see everybody as I am today. I did not think about doing this because of how bad off I feel that I am, but this morning she insisted I make a call to get this moving. I called one of them to see what he thought of the idea and he took care of everything on his end. This "disappointment" for me turned out to be a wonderful time. It was so good to see all of these friends again. It made me realize that I truely have some special people in this world that do care. Most of these people came to the hospital when I was down (and mostly out) and never lost faith in MY faith to overcome this down time. This, like most of Betty's ideas, was a very special time for me that made me realize that I do have some SPECIAL FRIENDS in this world. Special friends are sometimes over looked but once you realize who they are, it is a very special feeling. Thanks to all of you that came out to see me!
Special friends are sometimes like this and other times they are the counted by the number of times and thoughts you get from them. I have so many friends that have hope in so many ways that I can't even begin to understand them all. I have many people that come by and do things around here for me, some bring over meals and so, so many friends and family members that just type special sayings in my BLOG that just lift my heart. Looking at this list, some of these people were in some activity with my son and to me they where people I knew, only until now did I realize these were people where cared enough about me to bring my troubles with life into theirs. The number of comments I saw from this group of people (friends and family) was sensational. Everytime I read one of these, my heart was touched and raised by their comments and how their meaningful comments were set to me and to the One Almighty, God. These meaning comments that these people are sending mean SO, SO much and are greatly appreciated! Their meaningful considerations ane not only appreciated but their meanings are well sent to God for his help, too. Believe me, God has made all of this happen because of my faith and MY FRIENDS' faith in His ability to help.
Thanks to EVERYONE for there thoughts and prayers. I am here because of this effort and all the prayers.
Thanks, Mark
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