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| The only thing better than a hospital Christmas tree is pretty much anything else |
Medically speaking, this is a big week for the Jarlsberg family. Either today or Tuesday (probably), Kathy will be sprung from the hospital after completing another grueling round of chemo. She will come home to recover and regain strength, while needing to return to the hospital every 3 days for an infusion of platelets and red blood cells that her body won't be able to produce sufficiently for a while.
Meanwhile, at 7:30 am Tuesday morning (we arrive hours earlier), Daughter J will have the surgery to remove the vastly oversized ovarian cyst that has become problematic (to put it mildly). The surgery will take at least two hours and is the subject of much nervousness around here, as the cyst has cleverly wedged itself into tight quarters with lots of important viscera that are scalpel-averse. Following the procedure, she'll remain in the hospital for two or three days and then come home to recover further for 4-6 weeks. During which time she'll probably be thinking about tattoo designs capable of disguising a long vertical scar.
My job during all of this will be to shuttle the women between hospitals, visit during visiting hours, wring my hands in waiting rooms and, once everyone is home, fetch the bedside commode for whomever most needs it at the moment.
Overall our moods are pretty good, but we're looking forward to future Christmases that are considerably less stressful. Until then, this is another very sincere request for your good thoughts, positive vibes, and prayers to help get us through all of this. It's worked so far, so we don't want to mess with a good thing. And as always, thank you for being there for me and my family!
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79 comments:
You’ve got your hands full- I send good wishes for improved health for all of you. You included as I’m sure you could use some rest.
My prayers continue.
Stilt, you have no idea how much I wish I could *physically* help you and yours through these miserable, trying times--- But there ain't... What I (and legions of your Web fans and denizens) *can* do is keep on praying, keep on wishing (and hoping, and sacrificing chickens on de 'ole full moon) that matters will eventually sort themselves out to a GOOD conclusion. Lord knows your family (and YOU!) has been through more than its share of strife and ulcers, and it's time for some GOOD news! So hoping for GOOD news for the Mrs., and a successful surgery for the daughter (followed by a GOOD recovery). And my most sincere hope that YOU can keep "it" together, because your two "wimmin-folk" need you more than ever, and will for some time to come.
Peace, my friend.
"My job during all of this will be to shuttle the women between hospitals..."
Uber über alles? Schon gut! Everyone should have a hobby! Prayeers for the ladies in your life this week, and for you the strength to cope. God bless the Jahrsbergs this week!
It just struck me - I hope your estate is all on one floor, or at least you can fit beds and needed equipment all on one floor.
Nevertheless, prayers for all of you and keep the faith.
I was just thinking about you guys last night when saying my nightly prayers, so it's definitely time to continue them! Best Wishes, Merry Christmas, hopefully a Happy New Year and fingers crossed that things go well. Please be sure to rest and let others help you out because you are important too, Don't hog all the hero chores, lol. The crash from that is worse than anything else.
I join with others who are reminding you to remember to take care of yourself while taking care of your two ladies, even though it might be tricky to do. May your Christmas be merry in as many ways as possible! Thinking of you and yours and praying every day that God will grant you all healing, strength, and grace.
Sending heartfelt prayers, Stilton! I hardly ever, ever comment - but I just wanted you to know that you have people you don't even know praying for your wife, your daughter, and YOU!
We will be praying for the whole Jarlsberg clan,you included.
You mentioned tattoos to cover a long vertical scar. My recent scar runs from my sternum down almost to Mister Happy. Some of my Marine buddies suggested a totem pole of various Marine Corps signs and figures. My wonderful Maxine expressed distain over that idea .... or something like that. Meanwhile I'll just keep a long shirt on. Prayers still pouring out for you and yours.
When I'm asked about my long scar across my chest from my nephrectomy, I just shrug and say, "You shoulda seen the shark." ;-)
Have an unusual rendition of "Silent Night":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIj5wye5Gd4
And Pachebel's "Canon":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD3QlR98--A
Have a very merry Christmas, all! :)
Keeping y’all in our prayers.
Thoughts and prayers, it might sound trite but it's what I can offer. Be blessed.
Please, please don't take me off!!!! ccookson@cox.net
God Bless you and your family.
Well, I've got to come to Scrooge's defense regarding at least one thing. A real gentleman would never dole out farthings in public -- the smell would be too hard to ignore! (Certain people who were in Joe's vicinity could verify that....)
Continuing prayers for the the health and wellbeing of the whole Jarlsberg clan!
Please don’t fire me! You are all doing an admirable job tending to life.
A Christmas you'll definitely never forget; a Christmas where you definitely adjust your priorities. God bless.
👍🏼👍🏼🙏🏻🙏🏻🥰
Good vibes. Nuthin’ but good vibes…🌞
Sorry if duplicate especially now with hands full.....
I seldom comment, but I read, think and pray for the family every day as many many others do!
May next Christmas be a little easier for all the clan....
Double duty for you this week but obviously you will handle it OK. Good luck & best wishes to all three of you. As for scars; not a big deal. Like the suggestion above: Make up a story of your liking or just consider it a badge of courage, or maybe in some cases (mostly male) they signal tales of survived idiocy. For women it's much like Covid masks; they make women more mysterious. Wife & I have plenty of scars; may I tell ya'll about mine? [just joking]
And since this still has not been banned: Merry Christmas season to all.
Continued prayers for your family Stilton. God bless!
The only good thing about your busy schedule is that they'll be no shortages of Clan MacGregor!
My prayers and best wishes to you fine folks.
Sounds like a very busy few days ahead. But then at least part of the anticipation will be over. As previously advised, take advantage of any assistance available. There may be times when your own energy is flagging; save it for those times.
As for email, I come here with or without a warning. Just like Google, I know where to find you.....Heh, heh.
Much good thoughts and some good wishes for your family this week, Sir.
We'll keep wringing hands for you and yours here. Praying, too.
Thanks for the update. Here’s hoping that by next Monday, things are looking more positive for the three of you.
Our thoughts and prayers for the Jarlsberg clan continue.
Stay the course, Stilt.
May God bless you and your family with healing and peace. You and yours will continue to be in my prayers.
Be sure that our good wishes, thoughts and prayers continue to be sent your way unabated. Good luck to all of you this week and all weeks upcoming.
So sorry Stilt for your avalanche of health problems with loved ones. I remember my carefree days as a young person that had no need for a physician or medications but wow has that changed.
Stay strong and know that your extended 'family' is praying for complete recovery of daughter and wife.
Cancer is an ugly disease.
John
May the good Lord bless you and keep you.
May He make his face to shine upon you,
and bring you peace.
Your "extended" family is always thinking about you and the family. Better health to wife and daughter and praying you keep your health during all this!
Continued prayers and good thoughts. Appreciate getting an update anytime !!
Praying for strength for you and your family. We too are praying for medical miracles this week. God bless.
Thanks for the update, you certainly have your hands full, so sincere hopes that all goes well. I miss reading your blog and certainly hope that you can resume in the near future. In the meantime stay strong, a lot of people are praying for you and yours.
To the clan of Stilton. Our love, prayers, best wishes, etc., et al, ad infintum, so forth are with you sweet folks in this season. Love, Glen and Sioux.
Will do, sir. Keep on keepin' on!
Still praying for your continued strength through this ordeal. Also, continued healing for the Jarlsberg ladies.
Hot Damn Stilton, you are the man... No seriously, you are truly an Angel!
I wish Clan J a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
There are many dear friends that are in my daily thoughts and prayers, and you and your family are on that list permanently now!
Keep Moving!
Semper Fidelis, Buck
To the whole Jarlsberg gang,
I've been doing battle with covid since thanksgiving, but am much better now. It occurred to me how, by comparison, I've actually had it pretty easy. A few days of fever, etc, but now I'm on the mend. You folks, on the other hand, have a very full plate. Many prayers and good thoughts to you ALL! Speedy recoveries all around!
Oh.... and a word of advice: empty the chamber pot BEFORE it gets nearly full (voice of experience here).
I survived the cut!
Again, you all are in our prayers this week. Can't wait for the pictures of the grandchild.
Still praying for you all. I hope Daughter J makes it through with no complications and will revere her scar much as I do mine for my hip replacement. It's a visual reminder of how my life changed for the better. Those ladies are really lucky to have you as a caretaker.
Well, Stilton
I sure empathize with you, having been diagnosed with cancer and gone through chemo myself this past year. God helps us through these things. Please have a scotch and take a nap! S
The Leahy family is sending our daily prayers. God Bless and God Speed.
God bless you all and bring healing. Also praying for your continued strength and peace. You have been son inspirational in your faith and fortitude!
To the Jarlsberg family, "Shalom Aleichem"! From the Red River Valley, about one hour north of you on HWY 75. I always read, but seldom comment. Today is different; continued prayers and best wishes for a speedy recovery B"H.
Stilt, you wouldn't be in this position if you weren't the most qualified to handle the stress. Ask God foe strength and He will give it to you. You and yours remain in our prayers. May the Good God bless your family abundantly.
for not foe
Mr. Stilton. All I can say is ditto to all of the above. Sure wish I knew where you lived. I could come and sit with either of the women while you take care of the other. We love you and need you. When all is over you should get the biggest gold star ever invented for taking such good care of the two women you love so much. We are all here just ask and you will receive.
Your situation reminds me of an old retailer's meme from years ago:
"After the rush, I'm going to have a nervous breakdown. I worked hard for, I've earned it, and nothing can keep me from it!"
I figure that come February, you're due for a month 24/7 in bed, with breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in same, while all the while on a Clan McGregor IV drip.
And after that, a long vacation.
Those are MY "Doctor's Orders!"
Still with you in prayer and spirit,
TVAG
(Who also wants to remain on your list)
As a big fan of yours and a retired nurse I wish I was there to help you also. It sounds like you’re doing an amazing job though. The women in your life are very fortunate to have you. Keep the faith and know that we are all praying for you and wish you and your wife and daughter the very best and a speedy return to health. there’s a reason that there’s going to be a new year soon, so that things will change for the better. All the best
Continued prayers for you and your loved ones. Remember, God is great; scotch is good and people are crazy.
I see your still writhing E's at 00hrs. a man your age had ought to be asleep :) . Hoping for the very best for your loved ones.
Stilton, Take care of yourself. your no good if your not well. have a blessed Christmas
@Readers- Bless you, one and all, for the encouragement and personal messages. Today (Monday) didn't quite go as planned; rather than releasing Kathy from the hospital, she was told (in one of those great 30-second "doctor drop-in" visits) that the blast level in her blood should be zero (blasts are a bad thing) but wasn't. So they're going to give her more chemo, probably starting today.
This is like being beaten within an inch of your life and then, when it stops, you find out it isn't really over - it's just a shift change for the next bunch of thugs who are going to beat the hell out of you.
A side note: Kathy was reading some of the side effects on one of her chemo products, and it warns: "you will feel unwell," which is one of the most magnificently brazen understatements of all time.
Hopefully she'll get out of the hospital on Thursday (maybe the same day our daughter gets out?) and ALSO hopefully someone will tell us what's going on and what it all means for the long game.
On a less serious note, don't worry about getting cut from my mailing list - I need all the friends I can get! But there were about 400 addresses on the list that have already been suspended because the messages always bounced back, so those are the ones I'm cutting. If my emails have arrived in your inbox lately, you're still a member of this very exclusive club!
My long scar in the same vicinity as Daughter J's will be has faded to nearly invisible. If she starts rubbing natural vitamin E on the healed scar for several months, it will do the same for her. No tattoos necessary.
Prayers and well wishes for the whole Jarlberg clan.
My thoughts, prayers and love are sent to you and your family each day. Bless all of you, and I hope that you will all be back to health soon.
One more thing: Please don't worry or be concerned at being "off the air" during your family's time of healing. Any news we get is appreciated---good or not so good.
...rather than releasing Kathy from the hospital...
That made me cry. Hang in there, Kathy. Praying now...
Thanks for the update. When all of this is over, and hopefully resolved to great satisfaction, do something nice for yourself, whatever that might be. About four months after I finished my chemotherapy, I took a solo Bucket List trip around the country. Finally saw all the motorcycle and auto museums I had always wanted to see. Stayed here and there with some war buddies. And toured Death Valley in the dead of winter. It wore me out, but it was worth it.
Sending thoughts and prayers, good vibes, and all my best wishes to get your family and you thru this and on the road to recovery.
Keep the faith, Stilt.
We have faith that all will be okay in the end. WhATEVER happens we will be putting in a good word for you with God. He's a good listener...
I salute your stamina and ability to maintain a certain level of humor in a very trying time. Thoughts and prayers, and even whatever good vibes my wife will allow me to share, to you and your family in this Christmas season. God bless!
Keep on keeping on.
Our thoughts and prayers continue.
.
NSF
God bless you and your family. We wish you all a return to health and joy.
@Readers- A quick Wednesday update; my daughter’s surgery went well and the cyst was a whopper: 20 inches across and between 20 and 30 pounds. That required a BIG incision so she’s pretty sore but is on the road to recovery and may be able to come home Thursday.
I’m currently writing this from her hospital room.
Kathy is still stuck in the hospital after developing an infection which she needs to beat. This after 5 days of chemo that wipes out the immune system.
So this is a challenging time, although we’ll try to meet the challenges as best we can.
Merry Christmas Mr. J and family.
Life comes at us hard some times. Both of your lovely women must be thanking God you are there to look after them in their time of need.
Bless you sir. These are things saints do.
@Stilton: Damn, that's some twisted cyst. Er. ;D
Hang in there, Jarlsbergs! We got your six! :D
Blessings that Daughter J is pounds lighter and on the way to recovery. Great news, indeed.
Prayers for Kathy to be back home asap.
Wow! That's one giant hunk of useless, invasive tissue. Shoulda named it Kamala.
I assume when you say she may get to go home Thursday, that is today! Hope so. And also praying that Kathy is home soon after, so you can pamper your ladies in one convenient location.
@3M,
Booooo.... hissss.....
@Colby: I'm here all week. Stay Hungry. ;-)
20 to 30 pounds!!! Whoa!
You were dreaming of a Wide Cyst-mas, i'll bet!
@Colby mentioned naming that cyst "Kamala", but now I have to wonder: what do they DO with a mass that big? Besides make it "vice-president", I mean.
Oh, wow - sending you many prayers and my concern for strength and full recuperation and recovery for your ladies, and mental and physical strength to you in your vital role in enabling their success.
Damn, Stilt. You're just no fun at all any more.
Best wishes for you and your family.
All I can say is "Hang in there." I've also experienced family health issues, but not as severe or prolonged as yours. Still sending good thoughts your way and prayers that you will experience some happiness this Christmas. It's sometimes difficult enough to find it even when family members are all healthy.
Hope they both feel better soon
Doctors call it a "nosocomial infection", Stilt. Think of it as a housewarming gift from your new friends in the medical community.
2022 HAS to be a better year for your family. Couldn't get much worse than 2021.
Best wishes for the new year.
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