Bottom Gun BBSSubmarineSailor.com
Find a Shipmate
Reunion Info
Books/Video		Binnacle List (offsite)
History
Boat Websites
Links
Bottom Gun BBS
Search | Statistics | User listing Forums | Calendars | Quotes |
You are logged in as a guest. ( logon | register )


At random: "Again I ask, who really are our Hero’s? They are the men who have, since the first day of our great country, left their families and friends and gone to war asking for nothing and giving all." -- Gary Walker
Update on my sister
Moderators:

Jump to page : 1
Now viewing page 1 [25 messages per page]
   Forums-> Submarine DiscussionMessage format
 
Corabelle
Posted 2008-08-26 1:12 PM (#19035)


COMSUBBBS

Posts: 2561

Location: Rapid City, SD		Subject: Update on my sister

From my nephew: Mom (Doris) had a head CAT scan yesterday, It showed fluid on the brain, known as hydrocephalus. (From me: sometimes babies are born with this, and they have to have shunts put in to drain the fluid.) My nephew again: An MRI is needed to verfiy those findings and determine an appropriate treatment. He doesn't know when that test will be done.

The CAT scan shows that her brain is significantly atrophied and there is extra bone material in the brain cavity. Areas of dead brain cells and a lot of fibrous tissue were also evident. My nephew goes on to say that the atrophy and dead brain cells are characteristic of someone with Alzheimer's. He thinks that his mother's long term mental health issues and her lack of mental activity have probably contributed to the brain atrophy. I'm not sure that's entirely correct. Many brilliant people have had Alzheimer's; for instance Ronald Reagan. I know - some here may not think he was brilliant - but his name came to mind as a well-known person suffering with Alzheimers.

Then to complicate matters even more, Doris fell again this morning and hit her head. She was sent to the ER in Dimmitt, but since it is a lower level care facility, if she is determined to have developed a blood clot, she will be transported to Amarillo.

I am so sad. This is my baby sister; 75 years old, but she never really grew up. One time she told me that she thought she was retarded. I responded that she wasn't, she was just lazy. She was lazy. When I had projects going, such as painting the inside or the outside of my home, she would often say, "That's too hard for a woman." I believe that this may have been something that her husband said to her, because he never wanted her to learn anything. And, because she wasn't ambitious, or didn't want to cross him, she never pressed to learn anything new. And, if you're an inadequate male (as I knew my brother-in-law to be), the only way he could feel smart, was to make her feel dumb. Then, of course, he was superior.

Now, I'm NOT talking about all men, or even men in general, I'm just talking about one man (and I choke on the word "man") that I knew to be a womanizer, a pedophile, and any other negative noun any of us can think of.

When I married for the second time, my husband wanted to visit his sister in San Antonio. I told him that I wanted to visit (name of town in Texas deleted) so that I could kick my ex-brother-in-law in the knee caps. He looked at me, and very seriously said, "Well, it is quite a bit out of the way, but if it's important to you, I guess we can go there." We didn't, of course.

Patti - if I send you a picture of my sister and I together, will you post it here for me, please?

I have to shut up now, or I may say too much.

Thanks guys, for caring,



Cora
miss lumpy bumps
Posted 2008-08-26 5:05 PM (#19058 - in reply to #19035)


COMSUBBBS

Posts: 2540

Location: Wappingers Falls, NY		Subject: RE: Update on my sister...hey there...

You bet...just send it along...use the flutterby667 email...the other one is getting crowded again...and as soon as I get it, I will work on it and post it here.

Cora, please know that whatever else we all have going in our lives, it is so difficult to hear the distress in your post...the sadness...and I am glad you feel comfortable enough HERE in this forum to tell us what is going on
with her...and how it's affecting you.

I'll be back in a short...have to go pop a happy pill...will explain when I get back.
Ralph Luther
Posted 2008-08-26 5:11 PM (#19059 - in reply to #19035)
COMSUBBBS

Posts: 6180

Location: Summerville, SC		Subject: RE: Update on my sister

Cora, be assured that our prayers for comfort for your sister and you are on going. Hang in there girl.
dex armstrong
Posted 2008-08-27 8:12 AM (#19088 - in reply to #19035)


COMSUBBBS

Posts: 3202

Location: Alexandria, Virginia		Subject: RE: Update on my sister

Cora, You appear to have had far more than your share of tradgedy, suffrering and pain. Wish I could shoulder some of your load. Be assured that you have been on my mind and in my thoughts since that first post about your unfortunate sister. I won't say,"be strong"because you obviously are. Best of everything to you, in this hour of your sacrifice and testing. DEX
miss lumpy bumps
Posted 2008-08-27 11:23 AM (#19094 - in reply to #19035)


COMSUBBBS

Posts: 2540

Location: Wappingers Falls, NY		Subject: RE: Update on my sister...here ya go...

hope the photo posts well...she is as beautiful a lady as you are. I have to run or walk slowly, as it were...my Dr's. appt. got moved up.

Edited by miss lumpy bumps 2008-08-27 11:25 AM




(Cora_&_Doris-A.jpg)



Attachments
----------------
Attachments Cora_&_Doris-A.jpg (68KB - 722 downloads)
Smiley
Posted 2008-08-27 1:13 PM (#19101 - in reply to #19035)
Great Sage of the Sea

Posts: 811

Location: NW Connecticut		Subject: RE: Update on my sister

Cora your sister is in our prayers.. You be tough girl..you are in our prayers also..
Corabelle
Posted 2008-08-28 8:43 PM (#19166 - in reply to #19094)


COMSUBBBS

Posts: 2561

Location: Rapid City, SD		Subject: Thank you, Pattii -

- for posting this picture and many others for me. As I said, Doris and I haven't been together much since she and her ex-husband moved to Texas when he retired from the Air Force. Thank you for lightening up the pic. We were standing in the shadow(s) created by the tree, so our faces were not too clear.

I'm on the left, with my pink and maroon scrubs ready to go to work. Doris, of course, has the blue slacks on.

She has been dismissed from the hospital and returned to the nursing home after her fall yesterday when she hit her head. Personnel told my nephew that she seems "subdued" today - whatever that means.

I don't know if she's even lucid; don't know whether she would even know me if I were able to travel to Texas. I called her once some months ago, and when whoever answered the phone went to get her, she refused to come to the phone, saying. "I don't have a sister; all my sisters are dead." When I asked her about this later, she said that, for some reason, she thought I had died. I have been the one to relate to her the deaths of our two sisters, and Elmer. When our half-brother died in 1992, she was able to fly alone here for his funeral.

Someone on this board (I'm sure he'll recognize himself) told me in a private e-mail, that I wasn't supposed to bring up personal family issues on the board. I do notice others doing it, however, so if that's the case, several of us are not following this person's rules. Does the fact that Doris also qualifies as a "Sister of a World War II Submarine Veteran" make it permissable to talk about her?

I'm just about ready to hit the hay, and when I do, I'll have another little visit with God. Can I say that here?

"nite, all,

Cora

Edited by Corabelle 2008-08-28 8:51 PM
Ralph Luther
Posted 2008-08-29 6:47 AM (#19189 - in reply to #19035)
COMSUBBBS

Posts: 6180

Location: Summerville, SC		Subject: RE: Update on my sister

Cora, unless you hear from Don don't pay any attention to those that want to run what doesn't belong to them. I think we labeled them "Hall Monitors" Or something to the effect of squealers. Remeber those little nerdy types that kept running up to the Teacher with the snot running down over their cheeks.

You and your sister look mighty fine it that picture. That power line running across the picture behind you reminds me of a story. Since it isn't submarine related I'll email it to you. We don't want to upset any of those old worn out chief hall monitors.

Edited by Ralph Luther 2008-08-29 6:50 AM
Corabelle
Posted 2008-08-29 3:32 PM (#19206 - in reply to #19189)


COMSUBBBS

Posts: 2561

Location: Rapid City, SD		Subject: The power line...

...seems to be running through Doris' head. Actually the white spot on the front of her hair is a dramatic white streak. She has beautiful hair, except the last time I saw her she had no hair as a result of her chemotherapy when she was undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

So much is going through my head. Is the "stuff" they saw on the CT scan a metatastic cancer from her breast cancer 10 years ago? Or, is whatever it is the cause of her many years of dealing with mental illness? Why aren't they doing something immediately to draw off the fluid on her brain? I found it interesting that the nurse, instead of the physician, called my nephew. If I was involved with her care, I would be, change that to "would have," gotten a second opinion by now. Action, guys - NOW! CHOP, CHOP!!

These are just a few random thoughts flying through my mind.



Cora
RCK
Posted 2008-08-29 5:11 PM (#19207 - in reply to #19035)
Master and Commander

Posts: 1431

Subject: RE: Update on my sister

Drawing off the fluid that has accumulated in the brain "may" cause the brain stem to herniate through the Foramen Magnum which would kill the patient. It would be a risky procedure.
Corabelle
Posted 2008-08-29 10:47 PM (#19215 - in reply to #19207)


COMSUBBBS

Posts: 2561

Location: Rapid City, SD		Subject: RE: Update on my sister

I didn't know that, Bob. I always thought that there wasn't room for anything besides the brain in the skull, and if there were other things, such as tumors, fluid, etc., they had to be removed so the brain wasn't crowded.

I know, when my husband had the surgery to remove the tumor on his brain, that we were told that, even if it was benign, it had to come out, because it was putting pressure on the brain, and there wasn't space for it.

Okay, I'll settle down now.

Cora
Donald L. Johnson
Posted 2008-08-30 7:57 PM (#19230 - in reply to #19035)


Great Sage of the Sea

Posts: 602

Location: Visalia, Ca.		Subject: RE: Update on my sister

I recall reading someplace (or maybe it was on one of those medical TV shows) that there is a membrane and a thin fluid sac that surrounds the brain and act as a sort of shock-absorber. But it only cushions small shocks.

You take a real whack upside the head, your brain can bounce off the inside of the skull and get bruised - a concussion. If the brain swells, or you get bleeding or a tumor that gets large enough, it can begin to compress the brain and do damage that way.

So it depends on how much fluid has built up, and whether they can get at it to drain it out, and what other medical conditions she has that could be affected by the surgery. Each case is different.


sundodger
Posted 2008-09-01 12:00 PM (#19241 - in reply to #19035)


Mess cooking

Posts: 16

Location: Isle of Man		Subject: RE: Update on my sister

Hi Cora, I would like you to know that your sister is in my thoughts and I wish you both well, I am posting the Lord's Prayer in my native tongue which is Manx Gaelic, I hope this will help you in your time of need,
Ayr ain t'ayns niau,
Casherick dy row dty ennym.
Dy jig dty reeriaght.
Dty aigney dy row jeant er y thalloo,
myr te ayns niau.
Cur dooin nyn arran jiu as gagh laa.
As leih dooin nyn loghtyn,
myr ta shin leih dauesyn ta jannoo loghtyn nyn 'oi.
As ny leeid shin ayns miolagh,
agh livrey shin veih olk:
Son lhiat's y reeriaght,
as y phooar, as y ghloyr, son dy bragh, as dy bragh

Amen

All the very best from this side of the pond
Sundodger
Corabelle
Posted 2008-09-01 2:22 PM (#19243 - in reply to #19241)


COMSUBBBS

Posts: 2561

Location: Rapid City, SD		Subject: Thank you, Nick

I'm kinda thinking about checking out a nursing home here in Rapid that has a special Alzheimers wing.

I haven't tried calling the nursing home in Dimmitt. I guess I'm scared of what they will tell me.

So I just feel sad. My baby sister! I remember the day that she was brought home from the hospital. Also have a faint memory of visiting her and my mother while they were still in the hospital. I was three years old.

I've forgotten where you live. Is it Ireland? Or England?

Cora
sundodger
Posted 2008-09-03 7:26 AM (#19266 - in reply to #19035)


Mess cooking

Posts: 16

Location: Isle of Man		Subject: RE: Update on my sister

Hi Cora,
I live on a little island between mainland uk and Ireland and it is called the Isle of Man, we are independent of the uk with our parliament which is older then the uk's, It is small but very beautiful and surprisingly we have quite a few men who have served or are serving in The Royal Navy submarine service.
Any way I hope things work out for you and your sister you are in my thoughts and prayers,

Kindest Regards

Nick
Jump to page : 1
Now viewing page 1 [25 messages per page]
Printer friendly version
E-mail a link to this thread
Jump to forum :


(Delete all cookies set by this site)
Running MegaBBS ASP Forum Software v2.0
© 2003 PD9 Software