MEDICAL UPDATE
Haven’t written in a while cuz I was waiting for a reason to write! Nothing much has changed in the past several months. NPA’s have escalated and intensified! Wound on rear heals, then rips open again! Tinnitus is driving me batty and affecting my balance and vision.
Found new pain doctor a month ago. He prescribed Oxy for pain: only made me dizzy! Didn’t affect pain or even put me to sleep! He decided an SCS (Spinal Cord Stimulator) is best option, and will insert it well about scar tissue and L4 where fibrous junk & incision wound are. We’ll see how that goes! I’ve packed a backpack in case of hospital stay (This is outpatient at surgery center that says “Optometry” on the building! Kinda scary!). If things go really south, I’ve initiated DNR. Never did before, but I’m READY TO GO HOME!!! Tired of being handicapped and burden and not being able to function! (Can only sit for about an hour before I have to retire to recliner cuz BUTT HURTS!!!)
If you’re a believer in divine healing, please PRAY that this works and God finishes the healing of multiple stupid little things wrong with my body!
For those of you who’ve been following, you know that previous pain Dr refused to do SCS cuz of “tumor” still being in the way and stenosis in lumbar spine being horrific. External one I used set off NPA’s immediately, so I’m very skeptical, but HOPEFUL! Gotta be a solution to this!! Amputation at the neck isn’t covered by any CPT-4 or ICD-9, so no Dr will perform cuz they won’t get paid!
No, I’m not depressed; just FRUSTRATED!!! Can’t do anything for anyone else, and was born to be a SERVANT FOR JESUS!!! (Ok, so I can embroider (slowly!) and make purty stuff for folks.) Even typing this is HARD! Laptop keeps coming unplugged from wall socket that’s out of all of our reach, so I can’t work from recliner! Just invested in multiplug w/5′ cord. That’ll make Christmas decorations easier, too. Yes, I’m rambling! ADHD and PAIN at work!
TRIBUTE TO WILLIAM BROWNE COLLIE:
I don’t think I’ve written since one of my best friends since 3rd grade went HOME. William Browne Collie always saved me a seat on the bus (my stop was either first (am) or last (pm) and his was opposite, so it was a matter of SURVIVAL for us to do that for each other. He was the first guy to ask me to “go steady” with him, but cuz he was busy babysitting baby brother while parents worked, we never really dated. We sat together under the tree during lunch. Lasted about 3 months before we laughingly agreed it wasn’t working! Nothing physical ever; just really good friends and support. Once, he was accused of starting a fire (that a classmate/bully actually started!). Fortunately, he was at our house that day, and my mom defended him to the Sheriff. If Barbara Armstrong says you’re innocent, YOU’RE INNOCENT!!!! Nobody bothered him after that!
We stayed friends thru high school (he played tritoms in band and was GOOD!), then kept in touch after graduation. He was medically certified and actually got fired by the funeral home he worked for for resuscitating a “body” he was sent to retrieve!!
He joined Air Force after a few engagements fell thru (one died of cancer; one broke up cuz her parents got divorced and it scared her.). One night, he came over to tell me he was engaged. He didn’t seem all that excited about it, and I worried, but didn’t say anything (back then, we didn’t!). When she broke up w/him, he called me late one night and said, “Wynne, I did something really STUPID!” I knew he wasn’t a drinker or druggie, so I was curious. He went on to tell me he had bought an ambulance! LOL!!! I told him that wasn’t stupid; it was an INVESTMENT! Not sure how long he kept it, but I bet he made a profit when he sold it!
He served as a medic in the Air Force and Navy for 20ish years, and even served in Antarctica! Did an emergency appendectomy on a sailor cuz there was no Dr; successful.
We stayed distant friends for the past 40 years. I always called him on his birthday (it was the same as my Grandmother’s.), and we made it a point to do dinner together when we visited Rockport, where he lived. He served as an OR nurse and EMS for all those years, and was actually an instructor and probably one of the best in his field!
After a vicious divorce, we kinda lost touch, and I know he lost connection w/his kids (cuz of falsehoods of ex, as usual! Spouses who poison their kids against the ex, unless abuse is involved, are sad examples of parenthood!) He finally reconnected w/the love of his life (who had refused to marry him right then cuz they were young and she was trying to establish a career) several years ago and they married. HE WAS SOOOOOOO HAPPY!! I WAS THRILLED FOR HIM!!
When Hurricane Harvey threatened Rockport, I called him (not knowing his wife was there, too, since she’d been in Cali nursing her dying dad) and told him, “GET HERE!!!!” He told me he didn’t have a car dependable enough to make it from Rockport to DFW, and his motorcycle wasn’t an option. I told him to find a way and COME! (Funny: I never even asked my husband, who never even blinked when I told him William was coming.) Since all the rental cars in the Corpus area were GONE, he ended up in Alice (inland). Got the last car before the manager shut the office, drove the back roads up here w/NO TRAFFIC (If you’ve ever tried to escape a hurricane from the coast, you know that the hurricane travels much faster than the traffic!!!! Literally!) He and Sweet Jeanne stayed (in our Army girl’s room, cuz she was gone in Army) for a week, cooking, helping around the house, and enjoying visiting. Precious memories! Joy fell in love with Jeanne, who spoiled her mercilessly!
Fast forward to this year:
A few weeks after my last spine surgery (April), he called/texted and told me he was having spine surgery to alleviate the pain from stenosis. I CRIED!!! I DID NOT WANT MY WILLIAM TO END UP IN A WHEELCHAIR LIKE I DID!! His procedure went well and he had been home a few days, walking well w/walker and minimal pain, when he died suddenly of a massive heart attack!! SERIOUSLY, WILLIAM?!?!?!? I’m SOOOO GRATEFUL he did not end up handicapped, and so happy for him that he got to go HOME to Jesus, but we miss him terribly!
I have quit begrudging people the privilege of going HOME! (But I still get really jealous!)
The funeral was interesting: Navy Honor Guard w/gun salute (outside, of course) and folding of flag. That’s where I lost it! Jeanne, too! His twin brother, whom I barely know cuz they were complete opposites and were seldom together, spoke of “losing my womb mate”! I thought that was pretty poetic! Several classmates whom I recognized by face, but whose names totally escaped me, spoke highly of him. I chose to remain silent, but this is my tribute.
William James Browne (he changed his name to Collie cuz his stepdad was AMAZING!) was one of my favorite people: undervalued by many, but God knew his heart and used him mightily to HELP PEOPLE! THAT’S ALL OF OUR CALLING!
BOOKS:
Saving Beach Mansion is being published as I write. HALLELUJAH!
Final Flight is undergoing edits of the edits. Very frustrating how they tried to “sanitize” my medical and military perspectives and language. No cussing or gore, but it’s obvious their editors are clueless kids! Hoping to have enough stamina to finish this next week! Tired of dealing with it! This is a totally different publisher than Mansion, and it’s OBVIOUS whom I should have used for all of my books!
Trying to get all my ducks in a row, and they’re really just a flock of NOISY DRUNK PIGEONS!!
Hope to have a GOOD REPORT to share next week.
Wynne Loveless Writes 