Hello everyone its really me this time. Its 4:22 am I can't sleep. That seems to be the problem lately I can not get comfortable enough to sleep....so I don't. First off, please let me say this with hurting anyone feelings but I created this blog for me to vent and write what I am feeling and to keep you guys posted. Please understand that my family and I really do have life's and cannot or have time to always update it. Also, there are just some days were I really do nothing but play on facebook! I really can't believe how many people read and keep up with me! Thanks to everyone for your support.
Now how am doing? Well I still the drains, I now down to 4 (came home with 6). They are a pain and I can't get comfortable in any position. I am extremely sore all over and sadly just ran out of pain meds. If I try to lay down I feel like everything is in my throat. I am just tried of being in pain and just want this all over. My right breast is mad that it got cut off and is still miss behaving. It likes to bleed and not heal fast enough. My left is healing great!
My hair slowing coming back and looks like I am going to have my mom's natural dark colored hair. I guess God wanted me to look like my dad before and my mom after! Brian say that's what the bottle is for! It happened, my eyebrows and eyelashes have fallen off, and lucky for me my aunt got the makeup and eyelashes to replace the real ones. Because of the stress I have the dark circles under my eyes. Mom and Brian say the weight is coming off, of course I can't see it but I did notice my face is coming down (thank goodness).
Today, Mom and I are heading to the Doctors for a check-up and hoping to get the drains out. To pass the time off I have literally looked at every wedding and bridesmaid's dress out there online! I have picked the dresses for the 12 girls and I think I have found mine! I know, I know, I said 12 bridesmaids don't pick..you had your wedding and this is mine. I can't image not having them by my side on that special day! So basically I have everything planned and its a year and half out. Nothing like being prepared!
While I was in the hospital we found out real fast that sis is expecting #2! Mom called her out when she was throwing up the morning after my surgery and didn't get there till half the day was gone! I was on so many drugs I kept trying to get the nurses to give her a test! Baby Stejskal is due to meet us April 5. Around its daddy birthday! So 2009 will be a big year for us.
Check the Ta's Ta's
Friday, August 22, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Just Haven't Had Enough
Welcome once again to all, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, little children, dogs and cats; this is Brian coming to you once more from Northside Hospital with another update on our heroine, Catherine. Unfortunately, I must report that yesterday's initial plans for dismissal from the hospital have not gone exactly as planned. Since Catherine's surgery on Tuesday morning, some of her blood work has been slowly becoming more negative. She has been showing low blood pressure, a drop in her hemoglobin and iron counts, as well as having some swelling in her arms and around the reconstruction site (that's the breast area, not the house, which is in the process of reconstruction following the tornado and I believe is really started to cause all of our tolerance levels to swell).
Catherine's plastic surgeon, Dr. Philip Beegle, came in this morning for his regular rounds check-in, and due specifically to Catherine's low blood pressure and her fainting spell early yesterday afternoon, he has decided to give her a couple of units of blood through a transfusion. Now of course, given Catherine's squeamish nature toward blood and blood related accessories, this sat about as well with her as the gas prices do with a Hummer owner. She was intent on the blood transfusion coming from someone in the family, but after a bit of discussion with her about the timetable that would be required for someone in the family to have their blood drawn, tested and refined, as well as the fact that blood transfusion safety is far more advanced that it was in the past ("Catherine, you are not going to get cancer or AIDS from a blood transfusion; you've got a better chance of winning the lottery and you don't even play."). So Catherine is scheduled to be the proud new recipient of two units of blood. This will require about 6 hours, after which Catherine's vitals are expected to tremendously improve and we will know a bit more about her dismissal, but we sit in a kind of purgatory, hospital room limbo at this point, going on a day-to-day basis.
Last night, for dinner, Catherine and I had Milano's Pizza and Subs, which was absolutely delicious; she had ravioli Florentine and I had the carne lasagna, however, they still owe me her Greek salad and, though the potato skins were delicious, they would have been far more enjoyable had we received the honey mustard I requested, but I'm not bitter. Regardless, we will continue to press forward; I must return to Macon this evening for school tomorrow and the hotel will get a bit more money out of the family. We are all still trying to enjoy ourselves, and Catherine being Catherine continues to make me laugh both inside and out. The nursing staff at Northside has been fantastic and I would recommend them to anyone making a visit to a hospital in the Atlanta area.
Because this blog has been so amazing for Catherine and I, and the entire family, letting us express ourselves and truly letting us feel the love, support and prayers of so many of our friends and family, I would like to ask for some prayers for someone else in the family: Aunt Sharon's husband, JP Smith, has been having a truly rough time recently since their return from their summer vacation to Santa Belle. He had a hernia operation about a year ago, but since their return home, JP has spent a great deal of time in the hospital and had to be re-admitted on Friday because, since returning home, he has had to have exploratory surgery to check the repair work of the previous hernia operation, yet he has continued to be in pain and has not been able to hold down a any chow. If you could just stick his name in with your prayers on this Sunday, I know that he would feel the Lord's hand upon him and his health. This blog has really shown me the power of prayer first hand and I know that it is the greatest medical tool we have.
Hopefully, the blog will return to its original nature in the near future, chocked full of ridiculous antics from Catherine, myself and all our friends and families. We hope that you will stay tuned for more updates.
Check the TaTa's. If you don't want to take our word for it, ask Christina Applegate. This entry is outrageous in its own nature; I must stop typing now. Fiance, out.
Brian
The Fiance and Olympics Coverage Addict (Go U.S.A.!)
Catherine's plastic surgeon, Dr. Philip Beegle, came in this morning for his regular rounds check-in, and due specifically to Catherine's low blood pressure and her fainting spell early yesterday afternoon, he has decided to give her a couple of units of blood through a transfusion. Now of course, given Catherine's squeamish nature toward blood and blood related accessories, this sat about as well with her as the gas prices do with a Hummer owner. She was intent on the blood transfusion coming from someone in the family, but after a bit of discussion with her about the timetable that would be required for someone in the family to have their blood drawn, tested and refined, as well as the fact that blood transfusion safety is far more advanced that it was in the past ("Catherine, you are not going to get cancer or AIDS from a blood transfusion; you've got a better chance of winning the lottery and you don't even play."). So Catherine is scheduled to be the proud new recipient of two units of blood. This will require about 6 hours, after which Catherine's vitals are expected to tremendously improve and we will know a bit more about her dismissal, but we sit in a kind of purgatory, hospital room limbo at this point, going on a day-to-day basis.
Last night, for dinner, Catherine and I had Milano's Pizza and Subs, which was absolutely delicious; she had ravioli Florentine and I had the carne lasagna, however, they still owe me her Greek salad and, though the potato skins were delicious, they would have been far more enjoyable had we received the honey mustard I requested, but I'm not bitter. Regardless, we will continue to press forward; I must return to Macon this evening for school tomorrow and the hotel will get a bit more money out of the family. We are all still trying to enjoy ourselves, and Catherine being Catherine continues to make me laugh both inside and out. The nursing staff at Northside has been fantastic and I would recommend them to anyone making a visit to a hospital in the Atlanta area.
Because this blog has been so amazing for Catherine and I, and the entire family, letting us express ourselves and truly letting us feel the love, support and prayers of so many of our friends and family, I would like to ask for some prayers for someone else in the family: Aunt Sharon's husband, JP Smith, has been having a truly rough time recently since their return from their summer vacation to Santa Belle. He had a hernia operation about a year ago, but since their return home, JP has spent a great deal of time in the hospital and had to be re-admitted on Friday because, since returning home, he has had to have exploratory surgery to check the repair work of the previous hernia operation, yet he has continued to be in pain and has not been able to hold down a any chow. If you could just stick his name in with your prayers on this Sunday, I know that he would feel the Lord's hand upon him and his health. This blog has really shown me the power of prayer first hand and I know that it is the greatest medical tool we have.
Hopefully, the blog will return to its original nature in the near future, chocked full of ridiculous antics from Catherine, myself and all our friends and families. We hope that you will stay tuned for more updates.
Check the TaTa's. If you don't want to take our word for it, ask Christina Applegate. This entry is outrageous in its own nature; I must stop typing now. Fiance, out.
Brian
The Fiance and Olympics Coverage Addict (Go U.S.A.!)
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Elvis is in the Process of Leaving the Building
Hello again; this is Brian, the fiance, coming to you once again from the beautiful Northside Hospital in glorious Sandy Springs, Georgia. Just wanting to check in with everyone, giving you an update on our girl, Catherine, and her progression following Tuesday's surgery.
Catherine is currently scheduled for the latest possible check-out time this evening, just before midnight. She, unfortunately, has being doing everything that she possibly can to get out of these plans. Early this morning, while trying to take a shower with the assistance of a nurse tech, became light-headed in the heat of the shower while trying to sit down in the shower chair, and had to be helped back into a wheelchair, and then the bed. After this development, she became to run a temperature, started to feel nauseous, had to be taken down to radiology for a chest X-ray, and had a Battle-Royale type run-in with some of the nurses over her port. When the initial lab technician came in to take a blood sample from Catherine, Catherine "politely" told her to leave because she would only allow them to take blood from the port, which would need to be re-accessed. Then, the lab technician who accessed her port on Tuesday morning prior to the surgery came in to try and access the port, but unsuccessfully, and Catherine had just about had enough of the people in the scrub-uniforms for the day. Finally, two of the lab technicians were able to get the port accessed and the blood drawn so, as far as we know, we are still on schedule for tonight's departure from this hospital visit.
Well, Catherine is doing much better and, unless something major appears in the blood work or chest X-ray, we should be bringing Catherine on home this evening. She will need to return here, to Atlanta, around the middle of next week to have her drains removed, but it appears that everything is going as planned. Please keep reading the blog, leaving Catherine posts on here and Facebook, and continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers. I am starting to feel like she is like the female version of the bionic or 6-million dollar men, ya know, "We can rebuild her, we can make her better..."
Well, I think I am going to take Catherine for a lap around the floor; thanks for playing along with us so far, and please keep up those thoughts and prayers. We constantly feel so uplifted by them.
The TaTa's ... yeah, you need to check 'em. Don't forget. B, out.
Brian
The Fiance
Guest Blog Writer and the Source of Most of Catherine's Anger & Embarassment
Catherine is currently scheduled for the latest possible check-out time this evening, just before midnight. She, unfortunately, has being doing everything that she possibly can to get out of these plans. Early this morning, while trying to take a shower with the assistance of a nurse tech, became light-headed in the heat of the shower while trying to sit down in the shower chair, and had to be helped back into a wheelchair, and then the bed. After this development, she became to run a temperature, started to feel nauseous, had to be taken down to radiology for a chest X-ray, and had a Battle-Royale type run-in with some of the nurses over her port. When the initial lab technician came in to take a blood sample from Catherine, Catherine "politely" told her to leave because she would only allow them to take blood from the port, which would need to be re-accessed. Then, the lab technician who accessed her port on Tuesday morning prior to the surgery came in to try and access the port, but unsuccessfully, and Catherine had just about had enough of the people in the scrub-uniforms for the day. Finally, two of the lab technicians were able to get the port accessed and the blood drawn so, as far as we know, we are still on schedule for tonight's departure from this hospital visit.
Well, Catherine is doing much better and, unless something major appears in the blood work or chest X-ray, we should be bringing Catherine on home this evening. She will need to return here, to Atlanta, around the middle of next week to have her drains removed, but it appears that everything is going as planned. Please keep reading the blog, leaving Catherine posts on here and Facebook, and continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers. I am starting to feel like she is like the female version of the bionic or 6-million dollar men, ya know, "We can rebuild her, we can make her better..."
Well, I think I am going to take Catherine for a lap around the floor; thanks for playing along with us so far, and please keep up those thoughts and prayers. We constantly feel so uplifted by them.
The TaTa's ... yeah, you need to check 'em. Don't forget. B, out.
Brian
The Fiance
Guest Blog Writer and the Source of Most of Catherine's Anger & Embarassment
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Continuing to do well!
Hello everyone! Sorry for no update yesterday.
Spoke with Brian, Catherine is continuing to do incredibly well. Yesterday she moved to a bigger room and walked from the old room to the new one. She also spent most of the day sitting in a chair and talking with visitors. Catherine also walked a couple of laps around the floor with family members. This is pretty incredible only one day out from serious surgery!
I will be heading up to ATL this evening to visit Catherine. I will update more tomorrow.
Today is Brian's first day back in the classroom, pray for him as he gets his new students and has to worry about both school and Catherine. He will be going back up with me tonight to visit.
Keep praying and check the Ta-tas!
Sarah Mac
Spoke with Brian, Catherine is continuing to do incredibly well. Yesterday she moved to a bigger room and walked from the old room to the new one. She also spent most of the day sitting in a chair and talking with visitors. Catherine also walked a couple of laps around the floor with family members. This is pretty incredible only one day out from serious surgery!
I will be heading up to ATL this evening to visit Catherine. I will update more tomorrow.
Today is Brian's first day back in the classroom, pray for him as he gets his new students and has to worry about both school and Catherine. He will be going back up with me tonight to visit.
Keep praying and check the Ta-tas!
Sarah Mac
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
The kid is a fighter ladies and gents. . .
Hello Hello!
Part three in today's updates:
Catherine is feeling GREAT thanks to her good friends Morphine and Valium. Spoke to Brian and Ms. Pam and the report is that our girl is looking good and feeling good. In the words of the infamous Catherine Carswell (and her friend Valium), "I'm skinny Sarah MacConnell, I'm skinny. . .They gave me drugs." Oh she will hate this blog post. :) I mean it is called "The Funnier Side of Cancer."
Anyhow, she is doing quite well all things considering. She is able to get flowers at the hospital and loves visitors. She will be at the hospital for a while, not sure of a discharge date yet. Continue to check here for updates!
Catherine and family thank everybody for their prayers today! Keep them up throughout her recovery!
Sarah Mac
Guest Blogger
(soon to probably be ex Maid of Honor based on embarrassing blog postings. . . love ya Catherine!)
Part three in today's updates:
Catherine is feeling GREAT thanks to her good friends Morphine and Valium. Spoke to Brian and Ms. Pam and the report is that our girl is looking good and feeling good. In the words of the infamous Catherine Carswell (and her friend Valium), "I'm skinny Sarah MacConnell, I'm skinny. . .They gave me drugs." Oh she will hate this blog post. :) I mean it is called "The Funnier Side of Cancer."
Anyhow, she is doing quite well all things considering. She is able to get flowers at the hospital and loves visitors. She will be at the hospital for a while, not sure of a discharge date yet. Continue to check here for updates!
Catherine and family thank everybody for their prayers today! Keep them up throughout her recovery!
Sarah Mac
Guest Blogger
(soon to probably be ex Maid of Honor based on embarrassing blog postings. . . love ya Catherine!)
She's Outta There!
Sarah had a meeting to go to until later on this afternoon, but I wanted to get everyone up to speed. Our girl went in this morning with a stuborness and resolve only Catherine truly possesses. She went with Ms. Pam back into the pre-surgery area around 5:50am with the surgery starting a little behind schedule around 7:30am. We got to speak with Dr. Beegle's nurse practicioner this morning before hand and she was FANTASTIC! Very re-assuring and extremely calming. We saw Dr. Amerson when she came out around 9:30am to tell us that Catherine was doing great; they had removed the lump, along with 3 of the lymph nodes from below her left arm that showed signs of infection. She also said that Dr. Beegle was already in the process of reconstruction when she finished her end of the bargain; Dr. Beegle came out to speak with us a little after 12 noon. He said that Catherine was doing quite well and would be in the recovery room for about an hour, at the most two. Once she leaves recovery, they will take her up to her room and we will be able to see her at that time. It was truly a blessed morning!
Thank you all so much for the thoughts, and more importantly for the numerous prayers too great to attempt to count. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. Many folks have come to spend the morning with the family: my parents, Mr. Lee and Ms. Pam, Holley, Mickey Morring, Ms. Cay Kite, Kimberly and Caroline Darnell, my pastor from home, Brother Doug, and Uncle John and LeeAnn Brewer also had an opportunity to stop in for a bit. For those who did not have the finances allicated in this month's gasoline budget to be able to come today, thank you so much for your gracious words of encouragement and support, as well and the many prayers and thoughts; YA'LL ROCK!
Alright, well Aunt Karen and Mary Elizabeth are here now and its lunchtime, so I am going to do my grub thing for a little while longer in the "holding cell." Fiance, out
Don't forget about those TaTa's; they do need a good checkin'.
Brian
Thank you all so much for the thoughts, and more importantly for the numerous prayers too great to attempt to count. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. Many folks have come to spend the morning with the family: my parents, Mr. Lee and Ms. Pam, Holley, Mickey Morring, Ms. Cay Kite, Kimberly and Caroline Darnell, my pastor from home, Brother Doug, and Uncle John and LeeAnn Brewer also had an opportunity to stop in for a bit. For those who did not have the finances allicated in this month's gasoline budget to be able to come today, thank you so much for your gracious words of encouragement and support, as well and the many prayers and thoughts; YA'LL ROCK!
Alright, well Aunt Karen and Mary Elizabeth are here now and its lunchtime, so I am going to do my grub thing for a little while longer in the "holding cell." Fiance, out
Don't forget about those TaTa's; they do need a good checkin'.
Brian
Off she goes. . .
Catherine went back into surgery this morning at about 5:50. The nurse practitioner came and spoke to the Carswells at about 6:45 and said she expected the surgery to last until around noon or so. Will be back later with another update.
Pray for Catherine this morning as she is back in surgery and pray for the Carswells and Brian as they wait at the hospital.
Check the ta-tas!
Sarah Mac
Pray for Catherine this morning as she is back in surgery and pray for the Carswells and Brian as they wait at the hospital.
Check the ta-tas!
Sarah Mac
Monday, August 4, 2008
We Have Arrived!
First off, many thanks to Sarah for getting the post out earlier today to let everyone know about the current progression of things. And so many more thanks go out to those of you who are thinking about, concerned about and praying for Catherine. Given that I did not just say, "praying for me," it is obvious that your "pen pal" for the moment is again, the fiance, B. We hope that everyone is doing well and having a beautiful Monday.
We are now in Atlanta and I am writing this from my hotel room in north Atlanta across from Northside Hospital, where Catherine will be having her operation tomorrow morning at 7:30am. We arrived here this afternoon for Catherine to complete some pre-op procedures and are looking for to this long and arduous journey drawing to a close of another chapter. Thank you again to everyone who has done so much for Catherine and me during these last months; there is no way that we could have done it by ourselves.
A little aside of comedy: while coming out of the hospital from this afternoon's procedures, Catherine and Ma Pam ran into none other than Atlanta's own Usher. You believe that, Usher. Somebody call the tabloids and TMZ, Entertainment Tonight, call somebody. Apparently his wife just gave birth today and, while he was "sneaking" in the back part of the hospital, he walked right by Catherine and Ms. Pam in the Breast Care ward. To validate our siting, we took a picture of his four-door Bentley (which oddly enough, was parking in front of the hospital next to one of the very direct "NO PARKING ZONE" signs). They did not get a chance to really speak to him because he was moving through the hospital quite quickly and was on his cell phone, but we can assure you, we did see him.
We are off to dinner right now, but please continue with the thoughts and prayers. We will try to continue to let you know about updates as they occur, and Sarah will also be updating the blog again tomorrow.
Don't forget about those TaTa's; check 'em early, check 'em often.
GO CATHERINE!
We are now in Atlanta and I am writing this from my hotel room in north Atlanta across from Northside Hospital, where Catherine will be having her operation tomorrow morning at 7:30am. We arrived here this afternoon for Catherine to complete some pre-op procedures and are looking for to this long and arduous journey drawing to a close of another chapter. Thank you again to everyone who has done so much for Catherine and me during these last months; there is no way that we could have done it by ourselves.
A little aside of comedy: while coming out of the hospital from this afternoon's procedures, Catherine and Ma Pam ran into none other than Atlanta's own Usher. You believe that, Usher. Somebody call the tabloids and TMZ, Entertainment Tonight, call somebody. Apparently his wife just gave birth today and, while he was "sneaking" in the back part of the hospital, he walked right by Catherine and Ms. Pam in the Breast Care ward. To validate our siting, we took a picture of his four-door Bentley (which oddly enough, was parking in front of the hospital next to one of the very direct "NO PARKING ZONE" signs). They did not get a chance to really speak to him because he was moving through the hospital quite quickly and was on his cell phone, but we can assure you, we did see him.
We are off to dinner right now, but please continue with the thoughts and prayers. We will try to continue to let you know about updates as they occur, and Sarah will also be updating the blog again tomorrow.
Don't forget about those TaTa's; check 'em early, check 'em often.
GO CATHERINE!
Off to Atlanta. . .
Hey everyone! This is Catherine's friend (and trusty maid of honor) Sarah Mac signing on to give you an update about Catherine. The Carswells will be heading up to ATL this afternoon to pre-op for tomorrow's surgery. I will be updating the blog tomorrow and throughout the rest of this week's recovery in ATL.
Please come to the blog for updates on Catherine. As you can imagine today is a stressful day and there is a lot to get done. Catherine told me to let you know that most likely she will not be answering her phone for a while. She appreciates all of your concerns and well wishes, but asks that you please post a comment on the blog or a wall post/message on her Facebook. All of her blog comments and facebook stuff will be printed for her to read in the hospital. Also, in order for her family and Brian to focus on their girl, they may not be answering their phones often this week either. Most likely they will not have signal in the hospital anyway or be allowed to use their cell phones. Again, I will be posting updates here for all of you! Please feel free to leave comments for Catherine and the whole Carswell clan.
Catherine and her family thank you so much for all of your thoughts and prayers. Cat will be going into surgery tomorrow morning. Look for more from me tomorrow.
Keep on praying and check the ta-tas!
Sarah Mac
Guest Blogger Extraordinaire
Please come to the blog for updates on Catherine. As you can imagine today is a stressful day and there is a lot to get done. Catherine told me to let you know that most likely she will not be answering her phone for a while. She appreciates all of your concerns and well wishes, but asks that you please post a comment on the blog or a wall post/message on her Facebook. All of her blog comments and facebook stuff will be printed for her to read in the hospital. Also, in order for her family and Brian to focus on their girl, they may not be answering their phones often this week either. Most likely they will not have signal in the hospital anyway or be allowed to use their cell phones. Again, I will be posting updates here for all of you! Please feel free to leave comments for Catherine and the whole Carswell clan.
Catherine and her family thank you so much for all of your thoughts and prayers. Cat will be going into surgery tomorrow morning. Look for more from me tomorrow.
Keep on praying and check the ta-tas!
Sarah Mac
Guest Blogger Extraordinaire
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