Greetings. Well the surgery has happened and I am now on the road to recovery. It has been almost 2 weeks since the surgery (12/16) and my liver is still in the midst of regenerating and I am trying to regain my strength. The pain from the healing is still there though it has become pretty mild the past couple of days and is controlled with Tylenol at this point.
On the day of the surgery my wife and I arrived at Northwestern Memorial Hospital around 6 am. The surgery took place a couple of hours later and entailed the resection (removal) of the right half of my liver (and removal of the attached gall bladder). The surgeon found that the previous PVE procedure that had been done had worked very well and the tumor had shrunk due to the decreased blood flow to it. With this Dr. Baker was able to remove the tumor by only resecting the right lobe and did not require the "extended right resection" as had been previously expected (which would have meant removing around 75% of the liver instead of the ~50% that was removed).
I was in the hospital for 2 nights and was very glad to be allowed to go home on Thursday (12/18) around 2 in the afternoon. I did not sleep well in the hospital though I don't know why I thought that I would the two nights after the surgery. Even when I got home things were more comfortable but good sleep was fleeting for the first week. Very few positions were comfortable in bed for very long due to the pain that I was still in. This has since gotten better and I am sleeping better at night.
Right now my biggest issue is stamina and strength. This is expected as during an early visit to the doctor she explained that the body uses an incredible amount of calories in regenerating the liver. This leaves you feeling like you have been hit by a truck for the first few weeks after the surgery.
I have already been back to the hospital once since the surgery (Monday 12/22) to see Dr. Baker. She was happy with how things looked and I have another follow-up after another 3 weeks. I am not allowed to lift anything more than 15 lbs until then and was told to not do anything that would exert myself. At this visit I also had my drain removed from my abdomen. This was very painful as the nurse had to pull pretty hard to get the tube out after my body was starting to attach to it during the healing process. (I know - "too much information").
The timing for all of this hasn't been very good especially with the Chicago weather. My wife and daughters have been doing snow shoveling for me while I have been laid up. A million thanks to them for this and the thousands of other ways that they are serving me during this time.
I am thankful it is over and I am seeing progress in my recovery. God is good!
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
Tomorrow's the Day
Well I am about 11 hours away from surgery. We need to be in Chicago between 7 and 7:30 for the surgery to start at 9:00 am. This means that we will be leaving our house around 5:00 am. The weather hasn't been very good but it sounds like there won't be anything new on the roads between now and then.
I am not sure how long I am going to keep the blog going after the surgery. I started it just to talk about random things (hence the name) but it wasn't long before it became my official "liver journal". I have gotten tired of the subject as it has dragged on and on. Who knows maybe I will have the interest to start posting again on some other topic in the future. In the mean time there will definitely be one more entry after I am back on my feet just to give the last chapter in the liver saga.
It sounds like I will be seeing my doctor for the next 2 years for periodic checkups but as far as I am concerned this saga will be over once I am out of the hospital and have regained my strength which will hopefully be within the next few weeks.
Merry Christmas (in case I don't get back online by the 25th)!
I am not sure how long I am going to keep the blog going after the surgery. I started it just to talk about random things (hence the name) but it wasn't long before it became my official "liver journal". I have gotten tired of the subject as it has dragged on and on. Who knows maybe I will have the interest to start posting again on some other topic in the future. In the mean time there will definitely be one more entry after I am back on my feet just to give the last chapter in the liver saga.
It sounds like I will be seeing my doctor for the next 2 years for periodic checkups but as far as I am concerned this saga will be over once I am out of the hospital and have regained my strength which will hopefully be within the next few weeks.
Merry Christmas (in case I don't get back online by the 25th)!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Pre-Surgery Checkup
Today was my final visit to Northwestern Memorial prior to my liver surgery. Today's visit was to do the "pre-surgery checkup". This took a couple of hours and was totally painless. I had blood drawn for a number of tests, an EKG taken and a couple of chest x-rays taken. I also had a pretty standard physical from 2 of the doctors (a resident and a more experienced doctor). Everything was good and we are still green for the surgery next week.
Next Tuesday we have to be at the hospital at 6:00 for me to check-in for the surgery. I am keeping my fingers crossed for good weather so that we don't have to leave home too early. Today we weren't sure about the roads with the light snow that we have been having but it was pretty clear and the traffic was kind of heavy for the way in but very light around lunch time on the way out of the city.
We hit my favorite Korean restaurant for lunch in Lisle. I love the bibimbop in the hot stone bowl. Once my meal was done I kept my hands warm on the stone bowl for another 10 minutes as I waited for my wife to finish her meal (did I mention I love bibimbop). One of these days I may have to invest in these heavy stone bowls and have all my winter meals in them (after getting them nice and hot in the oven). :)
Next Tuesday we have to be at the hospital at 6:00 for me to check-in for the surgery. I am keeping my fingers crossed for good weather so that we don't have to leave home too early. Today we weren't sure about the roads with the light snow that we have been having but it was pretty clear and the traffic was kind of heavy for the way in but very light around lunch time on the way out of the city.
We hit my favorite Korean restaurant for lunch in Lisle. I love the bibimbop in the hot stone bowl. Once my meal was done I kept my hands warm on the stone bowl for another 10 minutes as I waited for my wife to finish her meal (did I mention I love bibimbop). One of these days I may have to invest in these heavy stone bowls and have all my winter meals in them (after getting them nice and hot in the oven). :)
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Surgery Date
Well I finally got my surgery date, it will be Tuesday, December 16th. It has been difficult for me to be patient through this whole process but I am very thankful for the thorough care that I have been receiving from all people at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
My Oklahoma trip at Thanksgiving was very good. Lots of highlights including a great Thanksgiving meal with lots of family members, fun playing games with my family, and a really good time seeing my best friend and his sons for breakfast one day. My family does the Thanksgiving meal in a big way with turkey and ham, multiple potato/rice dishes, stuffing made a couple of ways, a giant relish tray, corn-on-the-cob (real popular with my younger daughter), and plenty of pie and pumpkin roll. I am sure that I have left out half the contents of the "buffet" line.
For games, my family has a long history of playing a domino game called "moon". The game is similar to spades in cards though the "trump" in moon changes each hand and is called by the team that wins the bid. My grandfather and great-uncle Louie were great "moon" players as is my dad and a number of others from his generation in our family. My cousins and siblings and I all learned to play the game at an early age at family gatherings at my grandparent home. Now my generation is playing and teaching the game to the generation below us. It was fun over Thanksgiving playing with my brother-in-law as my partner and taking on my nephew and my niece's husband. The game is in good hands with these young guys though we handed it to them on this occasion. :)
The other game that the family played was a game called "Personal Preference" which is a fun non-competitive large group game where the objective is to correctly predict the preferences of the rotating person who draws 4 cards in a general category (e.g. food and drink) and has to secretly rank-order them. The game is a lot of fun as you get to learn things about each other and everyone is sharing how they would rank the same items. The family had a lot of fun with about half of the people playing the game for the first time. The funny part is when spouses start arguing about which of two equally bad items is really the least favorite for one of them.
My last thought today is that OU made it into the BCS championship game after handling Missouri pretty easily in the Big 12 championship game. I am keeping my fingers crossed and hope that they can beat Florida in January in the National Championship game. Up until now it has been very important how the team looked in their wins as the rankings are very subjective and based on how well you played. This is over - in the final game they just need to win and it can be of any variety. Here's hoping!!! Boomer Sooner.
My Oklahoma trip at Thanksgiving was very good. Lots of highlights including a great Thanksgiving meal with lots of family members, fun playing games with my family, and a really good time seeing my best friend and his sons for breakfast one day. My family does the Thanksgiving meal in a big way with turkey and ham, multiple potato/rice dishes, stuffing made a couple of ways, a giant relish tray, corn-on-the-cob (real popular with my younger daughter), and plenty of pie and pumpkin roll. I am sure that I have left out half the contents of the "buffet" line.
For games, my family has a long history of playing a domino game called "moon". The game is similar to spades in cards though the "trump" in moon changes each hand and is called by the team that wins the bid. My grandfather and great-uncle Louie were great "moon" players as is my dad and a number of others from his generation in our family. My cousins and siblings and I all learned to play the game at an early age at family gatherings at my grandparent home. Now my generation is playing and teaching the game to the generation below us. It was fun over Thanksgiving playing with my brother-in-law as my partner and taking on my nephew and my niece's husband. The game is in good hands with these young guys though we handed it to them on this occasion. :)
The other game that the family played was a game called "Personal Preference" which is a fun non-competitive large group game where the objective is to correctly predict the preferences of the rotating person who draws 4 cards in a general category (e.g. food and drink) and has to secretly rank-order them. The game is a lot of fun as you get to learn things about each other and everyone is sharing how they would rank the same items. The family had a lot of fun with about half of the people playing the game for the first time. The funny part is when spouses start arguing about which of two equally bad items is really the least favorite for one of them.
My last thought today is that OU made it into the BCS championship game after handling Missouri pretty easily in the Big 12 championship game. I am keeping my fingers crossed and hope that they can beat Florida in January in the National Championship game. Up until now it has been very important how the team looked in their wins as the rankings are very subjective and based on how well you played. This is over - in the final game they just need to win and it can be of any variety. Here's hoping!!! Boomer Sooner.
Friday, November 21, 2008
MRI Time
Long time no blog...
I finally had another trip into Chicago today for the MRI following my second PVE. My doctor decided to wait 4 weeks this time whereas we did the MRI last time after only 3 weeks. Hopefully I will have some news next week before taking off for Thanksgiving about today's results and a date for my surgery.
We stopped at Carson's Ribs for lunch today after the appointment. It was a late lunch but very good. I haven't been to Carson's in many years but when I first moved to Illinois I used to go pretty often with a good friend during our trips into Chicago. The ribs were very good today though it was interesting that an option for the potato dish was "potato skins". This sounded interesting as a side dish so I ordered it. I was disappointed as what I got was hollow potato skins without any cheese topping (as you normally get when you order "skins" as an appetizer). I did get some sour cream to put on top but it wasn't quite the same without the cheese.
The past 4 weeks have been pretty good. I have only had a small number of "bad" days with the liver. I think that between the 2 PVEs that I have had that the tumor is not causing the frequent discomfort that it was previously causing.
Tomorrow is another trip to the Brookfield zoo with my oldest daughter to "watch the dolphins" as part of a project for her science class. We will watch them for 2-3 hours which should be our last time there. We were there a few weeks ago as part of this project and it was interesting to watch them for long periods of time. You definitely see different personalities in the different dolphins.
I finally had another trip into Chicago today for the MRI following my second PVE. My doctor decided to wait 4 weeks this time whereas we did the MRI last time after only 3 weeks. Hopefully I will have some news next week before taking off for Thanksgiving about today's results and a date for my surgery.
We stopped at Carson's Ribs for lunch today after the appointment. It was a late lunch but very good. I haven't been to Carson's in many years but when I first moved to Illinois I used to go pretty often with a good friend during our trips into Chicago. The ribs were very good today though it was interesting that an option for the potato dish was "potato skins". This sounded interesting as a side dish so I ordered it. I was disappointed as what I got was hollow potato skins without any cheese topping (as you normally get when you order "skins" as an appetizer). I did get some sour cream to put on top but it wasn't quite the same without the cheese.
The past 4 weeks have been pretty good. I have only had a small number of "bad" days with the liver. I think that between the 2 PVEs that I have had that the tumor is not causing the frequent discomfort that it was previously causing.
Tomorrow is another trip to the Brookfield zoo with my oldest daughter to "watch the dolphins" as part of a project for her science class. We will watch them for 2-3 hours which should be our last time there. We were there a few weeks ago as part of this project and it was interesting to watch them for long periods of time. You definitely see different personalities in the different dolphins.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Portal Vein Embolization - The Sequel
I had my second PVE procedure yesterday at Northwestern. I have documented the reason for the second PVE in previous blog entries. The highlights are that the first PVE was done very conversatively since the doctor did not know if my liver surgery would proceed based on the unexpected high pressure found in my portal vein. Now that the high pressure is well understood and the surgery is back on schedule the second PVE was done to more thoroughly block the blood supply to the right side of my liver. An MRI last week had shown that the growth in the left side of the liver had not been as much as the doctor's wanted to see. With yesterday's procedure it is hoped that the left side will grow sufficiently within the next 3-4 weeks before the next MRI.
Yesterday's procedure went well though I was pretty wiped out when it was done (as well as today). The procedure started at 8:30 am and was completed at 11:10. I was in recovery until 1:10. One difference between yesterday's procedure and my previous PVE is that I was awake for more of the procedure yesterday. The doctor asked me a few times to hold my breath near the end of the procedure. I assume that this was so that they could take some images of my liver and the blood flow after they had completed much of the embolization. Later after the procedure was completed we spoke with Dr. Lewandowski and he indicated that everything had gone well. He described how they used additional metal coils for the embolization to back up the particles that were put in first for blocking the veins. He was confident that the veins were very well blocked on the right side.
As far as we know the next trip into Chicago should be in 3-4 weeks for the next MRI.
Yesterday's procedure went well though I was pretty wiped out when it was done (as well as today). The procedure started at 8:30 am and was completed at 11:10. I was in recovery until 1:10. One difference between yesterday's procedure and my previous PVE is that I was awake for more of the procedure yesterday. The doctor asked me a few times to hold my breath near the end of the procedure. I assume that this was so that they could take some images of my liver and the blood flow after they had completed much of the embolization. Later after the procedure was completed we spoke with Dr. Lewandowski and he indicated that everything had gone well. He described how they used additional metal coils for the embolization to back up the particles that were put in first for blocking the veins. He was confident that the veins were very well blocked on the right side.
As far as we know the next trip into Chicago should be in 3-4 weeks for the next MRI.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Switchfoot - We Are One Tonight
Ok, I put up a link for Relient K the other day. Today I have to give some love to one of my other favorite groups, Switchfoot. I have many favorite songs from Switchfoot. But for their videos I think that I have a single favorite (based on the clever editing done in the video). Enjoy!
Monday, October 20, 2008
MRA Results
Well, I am bummed. I got a call today from the nurse at Northwestern and it looks like the MRA test from last week shows that my previous portal vein embolization (PVE) did not result in sufficient growth in my left liver lobe so I will be needing an additional PVE. This means that my liver surgery will likely be pushed out 4 weeks from the beginning of November to some time near the end of November.
When I had the original PVE the doctor told us that he had found the unexpected pressure in my portal vein and because of this he was not overly-aggressive in the plugging of the portal vein. This is because the pressure could have been due to liver disease which would have meant that the surgery would not happen. If that had been the cause of the pressure then they would not have wanted the coils added by the PVE to be permanent or to cause too much atrophy to the right side of the liver.
Now that we know that the pressure was not caused by liver disease but was instead caused by the fistula within my tumor it means that the PVE can be very aggressive to stimulate the growth of the left liver lobe. So I guess the PVE this Friday will be much more aggressive (i.e. more branches of the portal vein will be blocked) then the previous procedure.
I don't care about the PVE but I am disappointed as I really wanted the surgery to be completed before the holidays. It looks like it will now be at the earliest right before Thanksgiving and the recovery will be much of December. In the worse case it could extend even longer. I am disappointed but I am still very thankful for the excellent care I am getting from Northwestern Memorial and that so many of the potential issues that have come up with my liver have not been real problems. I just need to be patient now and wait for the process to play out.
When I had the original PVE the doctor told us that he had found the unexpected pressure in my portal vein and because of this he was not overly-aggressive in the plugging of the portal vein. This is because the pressure could have been due to liver disease which would have meant that the surgery would not happen. If that had been the cause of the pressure then they would not have wanted the coils added by the PVE to be permanent or to cause too much atrophy to the right side of the liver.
Now that we know that the pressure was not caused by liver disease but was instead caused by the fistula within my tumor it means that the PVE can be very aggressive to stimulate the growth of the left liver lobe. So I guess the PVE this Friday will be much more aggressive (i.e. more branches of the portal vein will be blocked) then the previous procedure.
I don't care about the PVE but I am disappointed as I really wanted the surgery to be completed before the holidays. It looks like it will now be at the earliest right before Thanksgiving and the recovery will be much of December. In the worse case it could extend even longer. I am disappointed but I am still very thankful for the excellent care I am getting from Northwestern Memorial and that so many of the potential issues that have come up with my liver have not been real problems. I just need to be patient now and wait for the process to play out.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Relient K - Sloop John B
I have a number of "favorite" music groups but Relient K is probably at the very top. I own just about everything that they have published (I think that I am missing 1 or 2 EPs). One of my favorite treats was the DVD recordings that came with the "Five Score and Seven Years Ago" CD. This DVD was some studio recordings from Capitol A Studios and included acoustic versions of some of their music along with a recording of the song "Sloop John B" (made famous by the Beach Boys).
Some time ago while perusing YouTube I found that someone had uploaded this recording. It is really good stuff so I thought that I would throw up a link to it. Enjoy!
Some time ago while perusing YouTube I found that someone had uploaded this recording. It is really good stuff so I thought that I would throw up a link to it. Enjoy!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Helicopters
Today was an early morning with a trip into Chicago for my MRA. Thursday's are also our garbage/recycleables day (put it all out on the curb before going to work). As this is Fall we also fill up leaf bags and put them on the curb. Altogether I had about 10 items to move to the curb this morning.
So this morning I got out around 6:00 (still dark outside) and started moving things to the curb. The first thing that I noticed is that I heard some helicopters in the sky. This isn't too unusual but what was different was the number of them. There were 5 helicopters hovering not far north of where we live. Quite a bit of noise.
My neighbors were out also putting out their garbage and pretty soon we were all discussing the helicopters and what they were doing. As I said sometimes there may be 1 or 2 if there is an accident on the highway but this is normally farther away from our neighborhood. No one knew the reason at that time.
30 minutes later we dropped our girls off at a friend's house so that they could get a ride to school and we learned from their mom that there had been a medical helicopter crash about 3 miles from our house last night. [They had closed off the road that we normally travel on so it was really good to learn this.] Unfortunately the crash was a fatal crash for all 4 occupants (including an infant) and was national news today. link
This explained all of the other helicopters that were in the sky that were from various news stations covering the story. I wish that the answer to the mystery had been better news. :(
So this morning I got out around 6:00 (still dark outside) and started moving things to the curb. The first thing that I noticed is that I heard some helicopters in the sky. This isn't too unusual but what was different was the number of them. There were 5 helicopters hovering not far north of where we live. Quite a bit of noise.
My neighbors were out also putting out their garbage and pretty soon we were all discussing the helicopters and what they were doing. As I said sometimes there may be 1 or 2 if there is an accident on the highway but this is normally farther away from our neighborhood. No one knew the reason at that time.
30 minutes later we dropped our girls off at a friend's house so that they could get a ride to school and we learned from their mom that there had been a medical helicopter crash about 3 miles from our house last night. [They had closed off the road that we normally travel on so it was really good to learn this.] Unfortunately the crash was a fatal crash for all 4 occupants (including an infant) and was national news today. link
This explained all of the other helicopters that were in the sky that were from various news stations covering the story. I wish that the answer to the mystery had been better news. :(
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Angio-Seal
Last Wednesday my procedure included the insertion of a catheter into my artery in my right groin area to get access to the artery coming into my liver. When the procedure was completed the doctor closed the hole in my artery using a device known as an Angio-Seal.
This device is kind of like an anchor that you might insert into a hole in the wall when the hole is too large for a nail or a regular screw. In the case of the Angio-Seal there is an anchor that is inserted inside the artery and there is a suture that connects to the anchor which puts tension on it to close the hole. There is also a third component which is collagen which is outside the artery at the point where the suture and anchor are connected. This helps seal the hole as well.
The purpose of the device is to allow quick recovery (a couple of hours) following the procedure as compared the the traditional method of applying pressure on the artery for some time and then 6 or 7 hours of recovery to prevent the artery from bleeding again. One interesting aspect of the Angio-Seal is that all 3 components are made from a "biomaterial" which is absorbed by your body within 60-90 days.
I assume that it is all working well but this area has been sore since last week with a nice big bruise. The bruise is starting to fade a little and I am sure that the soreness is due to the procedure with the catheter in the artery as compared to the Angio-Seal applied at the end (mostly since the soreness extends higher than just the area of where the artery was sealed).
My next test is an MRI/MRA (magnetic resonance angiography) which will get a good view of my liver and the blood vessels in it to confirm that it has grown enough for the surgery. This test will be this Thursday (10/16/08) at another Northwestern Memorial location in Chicago. If the results from this are good then the surgery will be scheduled in the near future. It sounds like there will be one more trip to Northwestern before the surgery to get the pre-surgery blood tests completed once it is known exactly when the surgery will be.
10/15 Update:
I was sitting at work today and all of a sudden I had an epiphany about this Angio-Seal business. Yesterday I compared it to an anchor behind a big hole in the wall. Well this is an ok comparison but it lacks the plugging up the hole which the Angio-Seal does. The better comparison is an aluminum rivet:
A rivet is plugged into a hole with a "rivet gun" which pushes the rivet into the hole and then it pulls on the aluminum stick part (the bottom of the rivets in these pictures). This causes the top of the rivet to bulge out and between that bulge and the middle section above the hole is plugged up on both sides. The rivet gun then breaks off the "stick" part as it is no longer needed once the hole is plugged.
So in the case of the Angio-Seal it is exactly the same kind of thing happening. The only difference is that the "stick" is the suture which pulls on the anchor on the inside of the artery and the collagen covers up the other side of the hole. Like the rivet stick, the suture is cut at skin level once the Angio-Seal is in place and it pulls back below the skin level (where it is later absorbed by the body along with the other parts).
So I now have a much better understanding of why my leg is sore. I just imagine someone using a rivet gun and placing a rivet in my body. It all makes sense now... :)
This device is kind of like an anchor that you might insert into a hole in the wall when the hole is too large for a nail or a regular screw. In the case of the Angio-Seal there is an anchor that is inserted inside the artery and there is a suture that connects to the anchor which puts tension on it to close the hole. There is also a third component which is collagen which is outside the artery at the point where the suture and anchor are connected. This helps seal the hole as well.
The purpose of the device is to allow quick recovery (a couple of hours) following the procedure as compared the the traditional method of applying pressure on the artery for some time and then 6 or 7 hours of recovery to prevent the artery from bleeding again. One interesting aspect of the Angio-Seal is that all 3 components are made from a "biomaterial" which is absorbed by your body within 60-90 days.
I assume that it is all working well but this area has been sore since last week with a nice big bruise. The bruise is starting to fade a little and I am sure that the soreness is due to the procedure with the catheter in the artery as compared to the Angio-Seal applied at the end (mostly since the soreness extends higher than just the area of where the artery was sealed).
My next test is an MRI/MRA (magnetic resonance angiography) which will get a good view of my liver and the blood vessels in it to confirm that it has grown enough for the surgery. This test will be this Thursday (10/16/08) at another Northwestern Memorial location in Chicago. If the results from this are good then the surgery will be scheduled in the near future. It sounds like there will be one more trip to Northwestern before the surgery to get the pre-surgery blood tests completed once it is known exactly when the surgery will be.
10/15 Update:
I was sitting at work today and all of a sudden I had an epiphany about this Angio-Seal business. Yesterday I compared it to an anchor behind a big hole in the wall. Well this is an ok comparison but it lacks the plugging up the hole which the Angio-Seal does. The better comparison is an aluminum rivet:
A rivet is plugged into a hole with a "rivet gun" which pushes the rivet into the hole and then it pulls on the aluminum stick part (the bottom of the rivets in these pictures). This causes the top of the rivet to bulge out and between that bulge and the middle section above the hole is plugged up on both sides. The rivet gun then breaks off the "stick" part as it is no longer needed once the hole is plugged.
So in the case of the Angio-Seal it is exactly the same kind of thing happening. The only difference is that the "stick" is the suture which pulls on the anchor on the inside of the artery and the collagen covers up the other side of the hole. Like the rivet stick, the suture is cut at skin level once the Angio-Seal is in place and it pulls back below the skin level (where it is later absorbed by the body along with the other parts).
So I now have a much better understanding of why my leg is sore. I just imagine someone using a rivet gun and placing a rivet in my body. It all makes sense now... :)
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Loss of a Friend
I attended a very small high school (Varnum High School located outside the town of Seminole, Oklahoma) and I am on a mailing list from the alumni association. I graduated in 1982 and I was very surprised when I received an email yesterday entitled "1982 Grad Dies". Even before I read the email I knew that I had lost a friend as there were only 20 people in my graduating class and I consider all of them friends.
I was very sad to read that Shari Osborn (now Shari Patzell) had passed away in North Dakota. I hadn't seen Shari since 1985 or 1986 when I ran into her on the campus of OU. I learned in her obituary that Shari had been a nurse for the past 15 years. This doesn't surprise me as Shari always had a very kind and caring personality. I am very sad for Shari's family and I will be praying that God grants them his peace and love during this time of their great loss.
I was very sad to read that Shari Osborn (now Shari Patzell) had passed away in North Dakota. I hadn't seen Shari since 1985 or 1986 when I ran into her on the campus of OU. I learned in her obituary that Shari had been a nurse for the past 15 years. This doesn't surprise me as Shari always had a very kind and caring personality. I am very sad for Shari's family and I will be praying that God grants them his peace and love during this time of their great loss.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Hepatic Angiogram - Good News
Yesterday was another trip to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago and another liver procedure for me in the Interventional Radiology (IR) department. The primary purpose of yesterday's procedure was to try to find the cause of the high pressure that was seen in my liver and in the portal vein that feeds into the liver. The main procedure that was planned was a Hepatic Angiogram which is the insertion of dye into the liver (via a catheter which is inserted into the hepatic artery) and the subsequent taking of x-rays of the liver to get a good mapping of the blood vessels in the liver. However, additional testing was also planned to measure the pressure of the blood that leaves the liver and comes into the heart to see if the problem was not in the liver but actually a heart issue.
My wife and I got to the hospital around 9:40 for my 10:00 appointment with the actual procedure planned for 11:00. As I was filling out my paperwork at around 9:50 the nurse came out and got us so that I could begin to get prepped for the procedures. We went back and I finished the paperwork, got changed and got onto my gurney. The nurse checked my vitals and started the IV and then we waited. This was a little after 10 and we assumed that the procedure would start close to 11 as my previous ones had all been either on time or a little early. Luckily my wife and I both had some reading material. Around 10:50 the nurse came back with the news that my procedure room (the "best" one in the IR department according to my doctor) was still in use and my procedure would likely be delayed until 12:30. This was fine but a little different compared to the previous visits. Between 11 and 12:30 we were able to talk to my primary IR doctor (Dr. Lewandowski, who had done my previous PVE procedure) and one of the fellows (Dr. Scanlon) who would be assisting in today's procedure. At 12:30 I was wheeled back to the procedure room.
The procedure room for this procedure was the same one I had been in for the PVE. It contained a large imaging machine above me as well as a large bank of video displays for the doctor to see the images. Once I was on the table I was prepped for the procedure. As the doctors were planning to look at both the veins above my liver and the artery coming into the bottom of my liver it was necessary to prepare 2 locations for entry. The first part of the procedure would be coming into a small incision in my neck which they would feed the catheter into the veins leaving my liver (hepatic vein). The second part of the procedure (the actual Angiogram) would be coming into a small incision in my groin which they would feed the catheter into the hepatic artery coming into my liver. So both entry points (right side of my neck and right side of my groin) were shaved and heavily painted with antiseptic.
Soon after this I was sedated and I slept through the first hour of the procedure (the work through my neck to check the pressure in the veins leaving my liver). Unlike my previous procedures, however, I was awake for most of the remainder of this procedure. At some point I started hearing the doctor talking to me and telling me that I needed to hold my breath for a short period of time. I assume that this was part of the angiogram so that they could get clear x-ray images after the dye had been inserted. I am not clear on the duration of this part of the procedure but overall everything took around 2 hours (from 12:45 to 2:45). I was feeling some pain in the groin area when I was waking up during the procedure and I mentioned this to a nurse. They must have given me more of the pain medication as this did not seem to continue to be a problem.
As an aside, one thing that I have learned through the 3 procedures that I have had is that there are 3 elements to the medication that I am given. The first part is for the pain relief, the second part is to relax me (this usually puts me to sleep) and a third part is to make me forget the experience. I guess I could have guessed the first 2 but I didn't realize until now about this third part which must help people after the procedure who wouldn't want to remember any of the pain if they were not asleep through the whole thing.
Around 2:45 I was wheeled back into recovery and I was there until 4:45 when we were able to leave the hospital. During this time we spoke again with Dr. Scanlon and Dr. Lewandowski and we learned that everything had gone very well. The first good news was that the pressure in the veins above the liver were all normal so this means that there is no issue with my heart. The pressure problem had to be in the liver. The second good news was that they did find an issue within my tumor where a vein and an artery were cross-wired. This fistula appears to be the cause of the high pressure in my portal vein as the pressure in the arteries is much higher than in the veins and the fistula was causing this pressure to enter my venous system. The reason that this news was "good" is that it removed the mystery of why I had this high pressure and it concluded that I have a single liver issue (my tumor) and not multiple issues (as was possible when they found the high pressure during the PVE procedure).
Dr Lewandowski discussed the findings with my liver surgeon (Dr. Baker) and liver specialist (Dr. Kulik) and they decided that it was safe to leave things alone and to go back to the initial plan of having surgery to remove the tumor. It was possible that if they had found some other malformation in my liver yesterday that they would have tried to repair it (embolize/blocking it up with coils) but as the issue was in the tumor which will be removed this was not necessary.
The left side of my liver should be growing at this time (it has now been 2 weeks since my PVE) and I will have a CT Scan or MRI within the next couple of weeks to confirm that it is large enough to proceed with the surgery. The surgery will be scheduled as soon as this is done.
Thanks again to all of the nurses, technicians and doctors at Northwestern. I have now been in the Interventional Radiology department 3 times in the last 2 weeks and the people working there have all been wonderful (though they are curious why I keep coming back). :)
My wife and I got to the hospital around 9:40 for my 10:00 appointment with the actual procedure planned for 11:00. As I was filling out my paperwork at around 9:50 the nurse came out and got us so that I could begin to get prepped for the procedures. We went back and I finished the paperwork, got changed and got onto my gurney. The nurse checked my vitals and started the IV and then we waited. This was a little after 10 and we assumed that the procedure would start close to 11 as my previous ones had all been either on time or a little early. Luckily my wife and I both had some reading material. Around 10:50 the nurse came back with the news that my procedure room (the "best" one in the IR department according to my doctor) was still in use and my procedure would likely be delayed until 12:30. This was fine but a little different compared to the previous visits. Between 11 and 12:30 we were able to talk to my primary IR doctor (Dr. Lewandowski, who had done my previous PVE procedure) and one of the fellows (Dr. Scanlon) who would be assisting in today's procedure. At 12:30 I was wheeled back to the procedure room.
The procedure room for this procedure was the same one I had been in for the PVE. It contained a large imaging machine above me as well as a large bank of video displays for the doctor to see the images. Once I was on the table I was prepped for the procedure. As the doctors were planning to look at both the veins above my liver and the artery coming into the bottom of my liver it was necessary to prepare 2 locations for entry. The first part of the procedure would be coming into a small incision in my neck which they would feed the catheter into the veins leaving my liver (hepatic vein). The second part of the procedure (the actual Angiogram) would be coming into a small incision in my groin which they would feed the catheter into the hepatic artery coming into my liver. So both entry points (right side of my neck and right side of my groin) were shaved and heavily painted with antiseptic.
Soon after this I was sedated and I slept through the first hour of the procedure (the work through my neck to check the pressure in the veins leaving my liver). Unlike my previous procedures, however, I was awake for most of the remainder of this procedure. At some point I started hearing the doctor talking to me and telling me that I needed to hold my breath for a short period of time. I assume that this was part of the angiogram so that they could get clear x-ray images after the dye had been inserted. I am not clear on the duration of this part of the procedure but overall everything took around 2 hours (from 12:45 to 2:45). I was feeling some pain in the groin area when I was waking up during the procedure and I mentioned this to a nurse. They must have given me more of the pain medication as this did not seem to continue to be a problem.
As an aside, one thing that I have learned through the 3 procedures that I have had is that there are 3 elements to the medication that I am given. The first part is for the pain relief, the second part is to relax me (this usually puts me to sleep) and a third part is to make me forget the experience. I guess I could have guessed the first 2 but I didn't realize until now about this third part which must help people after the procedure who wouldn't want to remember any of the pain if they were not asleep through the whole thing.
Around 2:45 I was wheeled back into recovery and I was there until 4:45 when we were able to leave the hospital. During this time we spoke again with Dr. Scanlon and Dr. Lewandowski and we learned that everything had gone very well. The first good news was that the pressure in the veins above the liver were all normal so this means that there is no issue with my heart. The pressure problem had to be in the liver. The second good news was that they did find an issue within my tumor where a vein and an artery were cross-wired. This fistula appears to be the cause of the high pressure in my portal vein as the pressure in the arteries is much higher than in the veins and the fistula was causing this pressure to enter my venous system. The reason that this news was "good" is that it removed the mystery of why I had this high pressure and it concluded that I have a single liver issue (my tumor) and not multiple issues (as was possible when they found the high pressure during the PVE procedure).
Dr Lewandowski discussed the findings with my liver surgeon (Dr. Baker) and liver specialist (Dr. Kulik) and they decided that it was safe to leave things alone and to go back to the initial plan of having surgery to remove the tumor. It was possible that if they had found some other malformation in my liver yesterday that they would have tried to repair it (embolize/blocking it up with coils) but as the issue was in the tumor which will be removed this was not necessary.
The left side of my liver should be growing at this time (it has now been 2 weeks since my PVE) and I will have a CT Scan or MRI within the next couple of weeks to confirm that it is large enough to proceed with the surgery. The surgery will be scheduled as soon as this is done.
Thanks again to all of the nurses, technicians and doctors at Northwestern. I have now been in the Interventional Radiology department 3 times in the last 2 weeks and the people working there have all been wonderful (though they are curious why I keep coming back). :)
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Lady Whippets
The Lady Whippets basketball team from my high school (Varnum) made it to "State" for the first time in the history of our school this past year (2007-2008). Before the 2008-2009 season gets under way I wanted to say "Congratulations" to the team and also include a video from one of the OKC TV stations that was taken prior to their state tournament appearance this past spring. Unfortunately the team lost their first game at state but the team should be very good this coming year.
Update:
I originally posted this blog entry in 2008 after the Varnum Lady Whippets had made their first trip to "state". I mentioned in this blog entry that the team should be pretty good the following year. They in fact were very good and in 2008/2009 won the school's first basketball state championship. Varnum had 2 All-State players on this team, Kodi Morrison and Kelsi Vass.
Update:
I originally posted this blog entry in 2008 after the Varnum Lady Whippets had made their first trip to "state". I mentioned in this blog entry that the team should be pretty good the following year. They in fact were very good and in 2008/2009 won the school's first basketball state championship. Varnum had 2 All-State players on this team, Kodi Morrison and Kelsi Vass.
Small Town Oklahoma High School Basketball
One of my favorite hobbies is following high school basketball from my home state of Oklahoma. As I live in Illinois it is difficult for me to see many of these games but I am able to follow the results and details of games via many web resources. I am especially interested in the smallest classes of schools (Class A and Class B) as I graduated and played basketball at one of these small schools.
Oklahoma has many many small schools as the state has not done near as much consolidation of small high schools as many other states have done. There are 483 high schools listed in the OSSAA (Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association) handbook for 2008-2009. The smallest 131 schools are in Class B. These schools range in size from 24 to 4 students per high school grade. The next larger 96 schools make up Class A. These schools range in size from 40 to 24 students per high school grade.
Following basketball from small towns all across the state of Oklahoma is a way for me to stay connected to the state as the 227 smallest schools span the 4 corners of the state as well as every county in between. This also allows me to stay connected to a sport that I love at the small high school level where it really is played for the love of the game.
Practice for the 2008-2009 high school basketball season for these small schools started this week (Oct 1). The season will culminate with the Class A and Class B State Championships in Oklahoma City on March 5-7, 2009. I have been fortunate to go to the State tournament 3 of the last 4 years (one year I went a couple weeks early and saw some earlier games in this tournament due to some family needs) and I am planning to attend this coming spring.
The funny thing is that the title of this blog is "Small Town ..." yet many of these smallest schools are rural school districts that are not even big enough to be considered a town. They are often just school districts that exist outside of towns that may have a larger school. However, this doesn't in any way take away the appeal of these hundreds of small schools competing in basketball. In many ways basketball is what puts some of these schools on the map.
Oklahoma has many many small schools as the state has not done near as much consolidation of small high schools as many other states have done. There are 483 high schools listed in the OSSAA (Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association) handbook for 2008-2009. The smallest 131 schools are in Class B. These schools range in size from 24 to 4 students per high school grade. The next larger 96 schools make up Class A. These schools range in size from 40 to 24 students per high school grade.
Following basketball from small towns all across the state of Oklahoma is a way for me to stay connected to the state as the 227 smallest schools span the 4 corners of the state as well as every county in between. This also allows me to stay connected to a sport that I love at the small high school level where it really is played for the love of the game.
Practice for the 2008-2009 high school basketball season for these small schools started this week (Oct 1). The season will culminate with the Class A and Class B State Championships in Oklahoma City on March 5-7, 2009. I have been fortunate to go to the State tournament 3 of the last 4 years (one year I went a couple weeks early and saw some earlier games in this tournament due to some family needs) and I am planning to attend this coming spring.
The funny thing is that the title of this blog is "Small Town ..." yet many of these smallest schools are rural school districts that are not even big enough to be considered a town. They are often just school districts that exist outside of towns that may have a larger school. However, this doesn't in any way take away the appeal of these hundreds of small schools competing in basketball. In many ways basketball is what puts some of these schools on the map.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Good News
I was hoping to get news today regarding the liver biopsy and I was not disappointed. I received a call around noon from a nurse in the Interventional Radiology department at Northwestern Memorial and she gave me the good news that the biopsy did not show any problems in my liver. I will be having a Hepatic Angiogram next Wednesday to inject dye into the liver to get a good view of the blood vessels and the location of my hemangioma. Hopefully this will provide some answers on why the portal veins coming into my liver have more pressure than expected.
There are still lots of questions about my liver but I am very happy that the biopsy removed a lot of possible causes from the list. I was most worried that my liver had been damaged by a autoimmune disease and that this was the cause of the portal hypertension. I was concerned when I had read of this possible cause as I do have a different autoimmune issue going on in my system which has been causing severe hives for the past 21 months. I am very thankful that this was not the case with my liver as it would have indicated a long term issue with my liver.
I apologize to anyone reading this blog that it has become so "health" focused. When I started the blog it really wasn't my plan but it does reflect my life the past few weeks. As some of the issues have come up I have tried to research them on the internet. Often I find medical papers on different procedures but what I am often interested in is anecdotal stories about people who have already gone through the procedure and any information that they can share including how they tolerated the procedure. I am not always able to find these types of stories but I am thankful when I do as it makes the procedure more real. At some point I decided that I would like to use my blog to share my medical experiences so that it may be a resource for someone else going through these procedures in the future. It is this reason that I have at times included very specific medical terms so that future google searches may hit this. Hopefully anyone that reads these entries in the future will be encouraged as I have been by reading the stories of others.
My hope is that the liver story will have a happy ending sometime in the not too distant future and I can again write about more fun things. (This is not a promise that it will be any more interesting however.) :)
There are still lots of questions about my liver but I am very happy that the biopsy removed a lot of possible causes from the list. I was most worried that my liver had been damaged by a autoimmune disease and that this was the cause of the portal hypertension. I was concerned when I had read of this possible cause as I do have a different autoimmune issue going on in my system which has been causing severe hives for the past 21 months. I am very thankful that this was not the case with my liver as it would have indicated a long term issue with my liver.
I apologize to anyone reading this blog that it has become so "health" focused. When I started the blog it really wasn't my plan but it does reflect my life the past few weeks. As some of the issues have come up I have tried to research them on the internet. Often I find medical papers on different procedures but what I am often interested in is anecdotal stories about people who have already gone through the procedure and any information that they can share including how they tolerated the procedure. I am not always able to find these types of stories but I am thankful when I do as it makes the procedure more real. At some point I decided that I would like to use my blog to share my medical experiences so that it may be a resource for someone else going through these procedures in the future. It is this reason that I have at times included very specific medical terms so that future google searches may hit this. Hopefully anyone that reads these entries in the future will be encouraged as I have been by reading the stories of others.
My hope is that the liver story will have a happy ending sometime in the not too distant future and I can again write about more fun things. (This is not a promise that it will be any more interesting however.) :)
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Liver Biopsy
Today was the day of my liver biopsy at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. This was our fourth trip to the hospital in the past 2 weeks (2 doctor appointments and 2 procedures). Today's procedure was done in the Interventional Radiology department which is the same place where I had my portal vein embolization (PVE) done last week so I dealt with many of the same nurses and they were all wonderful (again).
I got prepped for the procedure and wheeled into the procedure room where an ultrasound was used to get a good view of my liver including the large hemangioma in the right lobe. The biopsy tissue was taken from the left lobe of the liver in order to avoid any contact with the hemangioma. One of the nurses shaved part of my right abdomen and they "painted" this area with a green antiseptic prior to the procedure. Soon after this I received my general anesthesia and the next thing that I knew I was waking up in recovery. I have a small bandage on my right abdomen where the needle had been inserted to get the biopsy tissue. The procedure took a little under an hour and I was in the recovery room for two hours following the procedure.
It sounds like the biopsy results will be available in a few days (hopefully by the end of this week). As I was wheeled into the procedure room I spoke with the doctor who had done the PVE last week and he indicated that based on the results of today's test the next test would likely be a Hepatic Angiogram (injection of dye into the liver's artery to see the location between the artery and my hemangioma). This test would also done in the same Interventional Radiology department if the test is required.
I got prepped for the procedure and wheeled into the procedure room where an ultrasound was used to get a good view of my liver including the large hemangioma in the right lobe. The biopsy tissue was taken from the left lobe of the liver in order to avoid any contact with the hemangioma. One of the nurses shaved part of my right abdomen and they "painted" this area with a green antiseptic prior to the procedure. Soon after this I received my general anesthesia and the next thing that I knew I was waking up in recovery. I have a small bandage on my right abdomen where the needle had been inserted to get the biopsy tissue. The procedure took a little under an hour and I was in the recovery room for two hours following the procedure.
It sounds like the biopsy results will be available in a few days (hopefully by the end of this week). As I was wheeled into the procedure room I spoke with the doctor who had done the PVE last week and he indicated that based on the results of today's test the next test would likely be a Hepatic Angiogram (injection of dye into the liver's artery to see the location between the artery and my hemangioma). This test would also done in the same Interventional Radiology department if the test is required.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Wiped Out
Today was a rest day (I wasn't very sore today but extremely tired) and a day on the phone with the hospital about upcoming steps. We were told yesterday that we would be meeting with the doctors at Northwestern on Monday. Today there was a change of plans and I spoke with my surgeon about the unexpected results (high pressure in my portal vein) found during yesterday's liver procedure .
There are many different possible causes for the pressure and this needs to be understood better before I have the liver surgery. So next Tuesday I will have a liver biopsy to see if it shows any other problems with my liver (besides the benign tumor that I have). If the biopsy doesn't show anything then there is an additional test that will be done. I don't remember the name of this second possible test but I believe that it is a dye that will be injected into my tumor to see if it's location is causing the unexpected pressure.
My family bought tickets for a big concert tonight at our church but I wasn't up to going. My wife and older daughter went with one of her friends. The main act was Big Daddy Weave and the secondary group was Rush of Fools. I was excited about seeing Rush of Fools since I had seen them earlier this year with Newsboys and they put on a great show. I am sure that it was another good show tonight.
There are many different possible causes for the pressure and this needs to be understood better before I have the liver surgery. So next Tuesday I will have a liver biopsy to see if it shows any other problems with my liver (besides the benign tumor that I have). If the biopsy doesn't show anything then there is an additional test that will be done. I don't remember the name of this second possible test but I believe that it is a dye that will be injected into my tumor to see if it's location is causing the unexpected pressure.
My family bought tickets for a big concert tonight at our church but I wasn't up to going. My wife and older daughter went with one of her friends. The main act was Big Daddy Weave and the secondary group was Rush of Fools. I was excited about seeing Rush of Fools since I had seen them earlier this year with Newsboys and they put on a great show. I am sure that it was another good show tonight.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Portal Vein Embolization (PVE)
Well today was the procedure to block the portal vein coming into the right lobe of my liver. (see earlier blog post for the reason for this procedure). My wife and I drove into Chicago before rush hour (4:50 to 6:00) and sat around until it was time for my check-in at 7:00 am.
After this I got prepped and eventually made it into the large room where the procedure was done. I don't remember a lot after this except for the following:
- There were a number of people in the room in addition to the doctor and staff that was doing the PVE procedure as it is a less-common procedure and others wanted to observe.
- I was laying on a table which had some imaging equipment above me and which had a large bank of video monitors. I guess this is how the doctor was able to see the veins coming into the right lobe of my liver and plug them up.
- Shortly after I was situated in the proper position (45% angle between laying on my back and laying on my left side) and I had been cleaned up, I was given IV medication to put me into a light sleep and to cover the pain.
- After this I was out for most of the procedure. However, as the medication was just for a light sleep (so that I could respond to commands about deep breaths and such), I did feel some pain near the end of the procedure.
- I remember trying to move when I felt the sharper pain and the staff helping me to stay still. Shortly after this I remember hearing, "last one and now we are done" or some similar words.
Later, after I had been in recovery for a few hours, I spoke with the doctor. I apologized for moving during the procedure when I had felt the pain. He indicated that it was all fine and that I had handled the entire procedure well.
It looks like the procedure went well though we learned of one complication from our discussion with the doctor. My portal vein had high pressure for some unknown reason. Because of this I will be needing another procedure to get some liver tissue for a biopsy. I guess if we had had any idea that this would be needed then it could have been consented by me in advance and the tissue could have been collected today. However, since the doctor did not have this consent he was not able to do this and I was drugged out and could not at that point give consent.
After 4 hours of recovery (of which I mostly slept through) I was released and my wife brought me home. I then went to sleep for another 3 hours. Hopefully I will sleep ok tonight.
I have another meeting with my liver specialist and liver surgeon on Monday next week and I am sure that we will discuss the portal vein hypertension as well as the needed biopsy. In the mean time, today's procedure should induce my left liver lobe to begin to grow prior to my surgery which will likely be early in November.
After this I got prepped and eventually made it into the large room where the procedure was done. I don't remember a lot after this except for the following:
- There were a number of people in the room in addition to the doctor and staff that was doing the PVE procedure as it is a less-common procedure and others wanted to observe.
- I was laying on a table which had some imaging equipment above me and which had a large bank of video monitors. I guess this is how the doctor was able to see the veins coming into the right lobe of my liver and plug them up.
- Shortly after I was situated in the proper position (45% angle between laying on my back and laying on my left side) and I had been cleaned up, I was given IV medication to put me into a light sleep and to cover the pain.
- After this I was out for most of the procedure. However, as the medication was just for a light sleep (so that I could respond to commands about deep breaths and such), I did feel some pain near the end of the procedure.
- I remember trying to move when I felt the sharper pain and the staff helping me to stay still. Shortly after this I remember hearing, "last one and now we are done" or some similar words.
Later, after I had been in recovery for a few hours, I spoke with the doctor. I apologized for moving during the procedure when I had felt the pain. He indicated that it was all fine and that I had handled the entire procedure well.
It looks like the procedure went well though we learned of one complication from our discussion with the doctor. My portal vein had high pressure for some unknown reason. Because of this I will be needing another procedure to get some liver tissue for a biopsy. I guess if we had had any idea that this would be needed then it could have been consented by me in advance and the tissue could have been collected today. However, since the doctor did not have this consent he was not able to do this and I was drugged out and could not at that point give consent.
After 4 hours of recovery (of which I mostly slept through) I was released and my wife brought me home. I then went to sleep for another 3 hours. Hopefully I will sleep ok tonight.
I have another meeting with my liver specialist and liver surgeon on Monday next week and I am sure that we will discuss the portal vein hypertension as well as the needed biopsy. In the mean time, today's procedure should induce my left liver lobe to begin to grow prior to my surgery which will likely be early in November.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Book Review - "The Innocent Man" by John Grisham
I am a long time John Grisham fan. I have really enjoyed his legal fiction since his first book and I enjoyed his recent non-legal fiction, "Playing for Pizza", even though it wasn't critically acclaimed. I was very curious when I heard that Grisham had written a non-fiction book, "The Innocent Man", a couple of years ago but I was not in a reading phase at the time so I didn't get a chance to pick it up.
Recently I saw a reference to this book again and I read a brief description of the book online. It was at this point that I learned that the book centers on the town of Ada, Oklahoma and a real life crime in this town in the early 1980's and the incredible injustice that followed this crime. I lived and went to high-school outside a nearby town (Seminole) in the same general time frame of the initial events in the book so I really became interested in reading this book.
I purchased the book this past Friday and read it through the weekend and completed it this evening. It really is another great book by John Grisham. The writing and story telling are very compelling yet at the same time the story being told is sad and embarrassing to someone who lived very close to these events. I don't know if the book is 100% accurate but even if it is less then that, the events of the case are both unbelievable and the abuse of power is scary. The main story in the book is about two men, Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz, who were wrongly convicted of a brutal crime in Ada and many years later were exonerated via DNA testing. The story also includes additional cases of wrongful convictions that overlapped with the main story.
I was very interested in the story as it was very compelling but I was also very interested as the locations and sometimes people were things that I knew about. I was away in college in Norman in 1982 when the actual crime was committed and I was living in Illinois when the trial took place so I did not remember much about the actual events but there was so much in the book that was familiar to me.
Ron Williamson, the primary character in the book, ended his high school baseball career playing for Asher in 1971. Nine years after this I was playing high school baseball and Asher was one of my high school's big rivals. There was also a reference in the book to another unsolved abduction that had occurred in Seminole prior to the crimes in this book. This reference was to a classmate of mine. Other references to places in Seminole, Ada, Norman and other places in Oklahoma all brought back many memories to my high school and college years.
The book is a great telling of a story that really needed to be told. I hope that in some way it may prevent this type of thing from happening again in some other small town. Reading the book was at times a bit surreal due to my familiarity with so much of the setting. I highly recommend the book (even if you are not from a small Oklahoma town).
Recently I saw a reference to this book again and I read a brief description of the book online. It was at this point that I learned that the book centers on the town of Ada, Oklahoma and a real life crime in this town in the early 1980's and the incredible injustice that followed this crime. I lived and went to high-school outside a nearby town (Seminole) in the same general time frame of the initial events in the book so I really became interested in reading this book.
I purchased the book this past Friday and read it through the weekend and completed it this evening. It really is another great book by John Grisham. The writing and story telling are very compelling yet at the same time the story being told is sad and embarrassing to someone who lived very close to these events. I don't know if the book is 100% accurate but even if it is less then that, the events of the case are both unbelievable and the abuse of power is scary. The main story in the book is about two men, Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz, who were wrongly convicted of a brutal crime in Ada and many years later were exonerated via DNA testing. The story also includes additional cases of wrongful convictions that overlapped with the main story.
I was very interested in the story as it was very compelling but I was also very interested as the locations and sometimes people were things that I knew about. I was away in college in Norman in 1982 when the actual crime was committed and I was living in Illinois when the trial took place so I did not remember much about the actual events but there was so much in the book that was familiar to me.
Ron Williamson, the primary character in the book, ended his high school baseball career playing for Asher in 1971. Nine years after this I was playing high school baseball and Asher was one of my high school's big rivals. There was also a reference in the book to another unsolved abduction that had occurred in Seminole prior to the crimes in this book. This reference was to a classmate of mine. Other references to places in Seminole, Ada, Norman and other places in Oklahoma all brought back many memories to my high school and college years.
The book is a great telling of a story that really needed to be told. I hope that in some way it may prevent this type of thing from happening again in some other small town. Reading the book was at times a bit surreal due to my familiarity with so much of the setting. I highly recommend the book (even if you are not from a small Oklahoma town).
Monday, September 22, 2008
Meeting the Surgeon
So my wife and I went back to Northwestern Memorial to meet the surgeon who will be doing my liver surgery. The meeting went very well. I will be having my portal vein embolization (PVE) this Thursday. We need to be at the hospital at 7 which means we will probably be leaving home before 5. (Today however we had an afternoon appointment and made it to the hospital in just over an hour. What a difference from the drive last week where it took over 2 hours.)
I will have another MRI in 4 weeks to confirm that my left liver lobe has grown sufficiently. My surgery will be 6 weeks from now which will be the first week in November. It sounds like my hemangioma is so close to the center of my liver that the surgery will actually be an "extended right lobectomy of the liver".
I will have another MRI in 4 weeks to confirm that my left liver lobe has grown sufficiently. My surgery will be 6 weeks from now which will be the first week in November. It sounds like my hemangioma is so close to the center of my liver that the surgery will actually be an "extended right lobectomy of the liver".
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Watching Grass Grow... (not)
I have heard some say that they would rather watch grass grow then watch golf on TV. Personally I enjoy watching big golf events and there are none bigger than the Ryder Cup (US vs Europe). I have been having a lot of fun watching this the past 3 days.
Golf is normally an individual sport but the Ryder Cup is all about the teams and it is a lot of fun to watch these teams. The pressure is incredible as these guys don't want to let their teams down and it is so impressive to see their response to this pressure (which is generally very good).
I am rooting for the US team but I love watching both teams and the great golf exhibition that they are putting on.
Golf is normally an individual sport but the Ryder Cup is all about the teams and it is a lot of fun to watch these teams. The pressure is incredible as these guys don't want to let their teams down and it is so impressive to see their response to this pressure (which is generally very good).
I am rooting for the US team but I love watching both teams and the great golf exhibition that they are putting on.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Health Update
Well it looks like I will be having liver surgery after all though it will likely be November or later. I talked to my doctor today and she confirmed the surgery though I need to first go through a procedure that will do something to the veins coming into my liver so that more of the blood goes to the left "lobe" which should cause the left lobe to grow.
I have a 6.8 cm hemangioma/tumor/growth in the upper part of the right lobe of my liver that has been causing me pain. Because of the location of this growth it is necessary to remove the entire right lobe in order to remove it. Normally the right lobe is 60% of the liver and it is ok to remove it as the remaining 40% will regenerate and the liver will return to its original size (or very close to it). However in my case there is an issue as my left lobe is smaller than normal and removing the right lobe will leave me with a smaller liver which may not be large enough to be safe following the surgery.
So the plan is to do this procedure which should send more blood to the left lobe and cause it to grow larger in the next 4 to 6 weeks. After this time I will be scanned again and if the increase is sufficient then the surgery will be scheduled to remove the right lobe.
I meet with the surgeon on Monday to discuss the procedure and the later surgery. I don't know much about the initial procedure but it sounds like it does not involve any cutting (the words of my doctor) so it isn't called a surgery. It sounds like they come up through the groin to get to the liver to do this. None of it sounds like much fun but the hope is that when it is all done that the pain will be gone.
I have a 6.8 cm hemangioma/tumor/growth in the upper part of the right lobe of my liver that has been causing me pain. Because of the location of this growth it is necessary to remove the entire right lobe in order to remove it. Normally the right lobe is 60% of the liver and it is ok to remove it as the remaining 40% will regenerate and the liver will return to its original size (or very close to it). However in my case there is an issue as my left lobe is smaller than normal and removing the right lobe will leave me with a smaller liver which may not be large enough to be safe following the surgery.
So the plan is to do this procedure which should send more blood to the left lobe and cause it to grow larger in the next 4 to 6 weeks. After this time I will be scanned again and if the increase is sufficient then the surgery will be scheduled to remove the right lobe.
I meet with the surgeon on Monday to discuss the procedure and the later surgery. I don't know much about the initial procedure but it sounds like it does not involve any cutting (the words of my doctor) so it isn't called a surgery. It sounds like they come up through the groin to get to the liver to do this. None of it sounds like much fun but the hope is that when it is all done that the pain will be gone.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
"A rose by any other name ..."
Today was a day when a number of people at my work location were "let go" due to the company needing to get smaller. Unfortunately this has happened too often in the last 15 years. It has almost gotten to the point where it has lost it's sting (unless you are one of the unfortunate people impacted).
Over the years my company has renamed this exercise of firing groups of people. Here are some of the terms that I can remember (I am sure I have forgotten others):
1) Layoffs - This is the first term that I can remember being used during one of these exercises. The term must have been too well known for it changed soon after this.
2) Downsizing - This term started the trend in getting more focused on the company and less on the impacted people
3) Rightsizing - It didn't take long for the HR people to decide that downsizing wasn't a good term so they changed to this alternative. The funny thing is that I never heard this term used during a round of hiring so it was pretty clear to everyone what "rightsizing" the company actually meant.
4) Force Management Program (FMP) - This term has been used quite a lot in my company and it didn't take long for it to yield the new verb "FMPed" which applies to anyone impacted by this exercise.
5) Reduction In Force (RIF) - This is the most recent term that I have heard for our layoffs. It is actually a much more honest term than the last couple and is easily understood.
Note that all of these are terms used on the US side of my company. A number of years ago I heard the term that was being used in the UK - "Made Redundant" which I have always found very interesting. The meaning is clear enough when you think about it but initially I had no idea what they were talking about. It almost sounds like a science fiction plot where someone secretly made a clone of you while you were sleeping and now you are without a job as you have been "made redundant"...
In the end, it really doesn't matter what you call the "layoffs". The news is bad when you lose your job. Every time we have a round of this at my company there are rumors flying around about how large it is going to be - "5%"? "10%"? "40%"? People in the company feel "good" when they hear that the number is smaller but the reality is that the number is really 0% (those retained) or 100% (those let go) for each person no matter what happens to everyone else. It isn't much consolation to someone who is let go to hear that they were one of a smaller number of people impacted.
Good luck to all the people who lost their jobs today. I will be praying that God opens new doors for you for even better opportunities and challenges in your life.
Over the years my company has renamed this exercise of firing groups of people. Here are some of the terms that I can remember (I am sure I have forgotten others):
1) Layoffs - This is the first term that I can remember being used during one of these exercises. The term must have been too well known for it changed soon after this.
2) Downsizing - This term started the trend in getting more focused on the company and less on the impacted people
3) Rightsizing - It didn't take long for the HR people to decide that downsizing wasn't a good term so they changed to this alternative. The funny thing is that I never heard this term used during a round of hiring so it was pretty clear to everyone what "rightsizing" the company actually meant.
4) Force Management Program (FMP) - This term has been used quite a lot in my company and it didn't take long for it to yield the new verb "FMPed" which applies to anyone impacted by this exercise.
5) Reduction In Force (RIF) - This is the most recent term that I have heard for our layoffs. It is actually a much more honest term than the last couple and is easily understood.
Note that all of these are terms used on the US side of my company. A number of years ago I heard the term that was being used in the UK - "Made Redundant" which I have always found very interesting. The meaning is clear enough when you think about it but initially I had no idea what they were talking about. It almost sounds like a science fiction plot where someone secretly made a clone of you while you were sleeping and now you are without a job as you have been "made redundant"...
In the end, it really doesn't matter what you call the "layoffs". The news is bad when you lose your job. Every time we have a round of this at my company there are rumors flying around about how large it is going to be - "5%"? "10%"? "40%"? People in the company feel "good" when they hear that the number is smaller but the reality is that the number is really 0% (those retained) or 100% (those let go) for each person no matter what happens to everyone else. It isn't much consolation to someone who is let go to hear that they were one of a smaller number of people impacted.
Good luck to all the people who lost their jobs today. I will be praying that God opens new doors for you for even better opportunities and challenges in your life.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
A Day in Chicago
There is a very good reason that I don't live in Chicago. 3 words - Crazy Taxi Drivers...
So I had an appointment today at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago with a liver doctor. My appointment was at 10:00 and I figured that 2 hours would be plenty of time to get there from the western suburbs. Bad planning. Traffic started bad when we (my wife and I) left the house and then it just got worse as we got into Chicago. At one point there was a stalled car sitting in the far left lane. Unfortunately we were in the same lane but we were able to go on the shoulder and squeeze between the car and the retaining wall. Traffic was stop and go for too long and around 9:30 we were thinking that we would likely be 30 minutes late to the appointment.
Finally something happened and traffic lightened up and we were able to drive the last 5 miles in pretty good time. We pulled into the hospital parking garage a couple minutes before 10:00. After squeezing into a parking spot on the 7th level of the garage we raced as quick as we could into the hospital and then up to the 14th floor (after changing elevators on the 13th floor) to my appointment. Thankfully it wasn't a big deal that we were a few minutes late. This was my first time to this hospital so there was quite a bit of paperwork to fill out. I had just sat down to start on this when I heard my name called and we were escorted to an examination room. The paperwork got filled out later as I waited for my doctor.
It looks like I will need liver surgery to remove the growth (hemangioma) that I have on my liver though the doctors are still discussing this and I will know something more definite early next week. I don't mind the surgery if it resolves the pain that I have been feeling lately.
Lessons learned today:
1) Northwestern Memorial Hospital has pretty good cafeteria food (though it was kind of pricey).
2) Taxi drivers in Chicago don't need an excuse to use their horns and the city could save money with the lane markers as the cabbies don't pay much attention to them either.
3) A validated parking ticket at the hospital means that they only charge you $10 for using their garage instead of requiring you to mortgage your house to pay the regular rates.
4) A number of cars were parked in 2 parking spots instead of one. This is either due to the spaces being very very narrow or is a way to make a statement about the parking rates.
So I had an appointment today at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago with a liver doctor. My appointment was at 10:00 and I figured that 2 hours would be plenty of time to get there from the western suburbs. Bad planning. Traffic started bad when we (my wife and I) left the house and then it just got worse as we got into Chicago. At one point there was a stalled car sitting in the far left lane. Unfortunately we were in the same lane but we were able to go on the shoulder and squeeze between the car and the retaining wall. Traffic was stop and go for too long and around 9:30 we were thinking that we would likely be 30 minutes late to the appointment.
Finally something happened and traffic lightened up and we were able to drive the last 5 miles in pretty good time. We pulled into the hospital parking garage a couple minutes before 10:00. After squeezing into a parking spot on the 7th level of the garage we raced as quick as we could into the hospital and then up to the 14th floor (after changing elevators on the 13th floor) to my appointment. Thankfully it wasn't a big deal that we were a few minutes late. This was my first time to this hospital so there was quite a bit of paperwork to fill out. I had just sat down to start on this when I heard my name called and we were escorted to an examination room. The paperwork got filled out later as I waited for my doctor.
It looks like I will need liver surgery to remove the growth (hemangioma) that I have on my liver though the doctors are still discussing this and I will know something more definite early next week. I don't mind the surgery if it resolves the pain that I have been feeling lately.
Lessons learned today:
1) Northwestern Memorial Hospital has pretty good cafeteria food (though it was kind of pricey).
2) Taxi drivers in Chicago don't need an excuse to use their horns and the city could save money with the lane markers as the cabbies don't pay much attention to them either.
3) A validated parking ticket at the hospital means that they only charge you $10 for using their garage instead of requiring you to mortgage your house to pay the regular rates.
4) A number of cars were parked in 2 parking spots instead of one. This is either due to the spaces being very very narrow or is a way to make a statement about the parking rates.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Eagle Sighting
Last month my family and I spent a week in Door County, Wisconsin for a nice relaxing vacation. Door County is near Green Bay and is the "thumb" of Wisconsin (if you think of the outline of Wisconsin as a mitten).
While there we did some swimming on both sides of the peninsula (Lake Michigan and Green Bay) and enjoyed some of the parks. One of these parks is the Peninsula State Park which is very scenic and located on the west side of the peninsula. While driving through this park we saw a lookout tower and decided to climb it for the scenic view.
Here are a couple of pictures of the tower and it's sign:
From the top of the tower we had a nice view of Green Bay but even more exciting was a pair of bald eagles that we saw on a nearby tree (thanks to the family that had already spotted them).
Later one of the eagles flew off but I was too slow with my camera to get much of a picture.
While there we did some swimming on both sides of the peninsula (Lake Michigan and Green Bay) and enjoyed some of the parks. One of these parks is the Peninsula State Park which is very scenic and located on the west side of the peninsula. While driving through this park we saw a lookout tower and decided to climb it for the scenic view.
Here are a couple of pictures of the tower and it's sign:
From the top of the tower we had a nice view of Green Bay but even more exciting was a pair of bald eagles that we saw on a nearby tree (thanks to the family that had already spotted them).
Later one of the eagles flew off but I was too slow with my camera to get much of a picture.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Game On - Audiosurf
One of my biggest hobbies is PC gaming. I have been enjoying it for 20 years since my first PC purchase (a 386 desktop that I got from AT&T with an employee discount back in the 80's). These days my gaming is mostly on my new laptop.
I have played all types of games over the years but my favorites have generally been strategy and adventure games. Lately however I have learned to really appreciate some "Casual" games. The first was Peggle which stole too many of my hours. Recently I have discovered Audiosurf (link). [Note that there really isn't anything "Casual" about either game as they are both giant time-sinks and great games.]
Audiosurf is a type of rhythm game though instead of keeping beat to a song you are moving your car in and out of lanes to hit/miss blocks. The track/obstacle course is constructed when you load a song which can be any music you have on your PC or some of the free tunes that come each week from the game. The enjoyment is playing to your favorite music and attempting to set high scores which are kept on Audiosurf's web server. My girls and I enjoy competing with each other to see who can put up the best score on the high score list.
One of the best parts of the game was the price. The game is normally listed as $10 from Steam (link) but a few weeks ago it was half-price so I got for $5. It has been a tremendous value and we are getting a lot of enjoyment out of a wonderful game.
A final bonus that I am enjoying is the "Achievements" that the game allows you to accomplish. These are a type of "medal" that you can get for completing certain tasks while playing. It adds another level of enjoyment to the game. Props go out to Dylan Fitterer the creator of Audiosurf for a great game. It is unusual these days to see games of this quality put out by individual developers. Well done Sir!!
I have played all types of games over the years but my favorites have generally been strategy and adventure games. Lately however I have learned to really appreciate some "Casual" games. The first was Peggle which stole too many of my hours. Recently I have discovered Audiosurf (link). [Note that there really isn't anything "Casual" about either game as they are both giant time-sinks and great games.]
Audiosurf is a type of rhythm game though instead of keeping beat to a song you are moving your car in and out of lanes to hit/miss blocks. The track/obstacle course is constructed when you load a song which can be any music you have on your PC or some of the free tunes that come each week from the game. The enjoyment is playing to your favorite music and attempting to set high scores which are kept on Audiosurf's web server. My girls and I enjoy competing with each other to see who can put up the best score on the high score list.
One of the best parts of the game was the price. The game is normally listed as $10 from Steam (link) but a few weeks ago it was half-price so I got for $5. It has been a tremendous value and we are getting a lot of enjoyment out of a wonderful game.
A final bonus that I am enjoying is the "Achievements" that the game allows you to accomplish. These are a type of "medal" that you can get for completing certain tasks while playing. It adds another level of enjoyment to the game. Props go out to Dylan Fitterer the creator of Audiosurf for a great game. It is unusual these days to see games of this quality put out by individual developers. Well done Sir!!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Steven Curtis Chapman on CBS
I have been a Steven Curtis Chapman fan for the past 20 years. He was on the CBS early show this morning (link) and sang his "Cinderella" song. He talked about the healing that his family has been going through after the tragedy that claimed his youngest daughter Maria earlier this year. He discussed the hope that his family has through their faith even in their brokenness.
His oldest daughter Emily is getting married next month. She and Steven Curtis will be dancing to the Cinderalla song as his son Caleb sings it. I am sure that this song will always have a special place in the heart of their family and for his fans. It has become a memorial for Maria in addition to being a reminder of how precious the time is we have with our children.
My prayers continue to go out to the whole Chapman family during this time and especially to Emily and Tanner on their upcoming wedding.
His oldest daughter Emily is getting married next month. She and Steven Curtis will be dancing to the Cinderalla song as his son Caleb sings it. I am sure that this song will always have a special place in the heart of their family and for his fans. It has become a memorial for Maria in addition to being a reminder of how precious the time is we have with our children.
My prayers continue to go out to the whole Chapman family during this time and especially to Emily and Tanner on their upcoming wedding.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Waiting...
I am very impatient on some things and the worst is waiting on phone calls from my doctor's office for test results. For various reasons I have had a number of medical tests in the past couple of years and I really dislike the waiting part. I had three MRIs where the technicians told me that I would have the results in a day or two. In all of the cases it was over a week before I heard anything. Thankfully the news was always good but the waiting kills me.
Last week I had a different test and was told that I would hear something "in a week". I am hoping that it is really just a week and that I hear good news soon.
My favorite OT scripture is Isaiah 40:31:
"but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." (NIV)
I know that God is good and my hope is in him no matter how this test or any others come back.
Sept 12 Update:
I spoke with my doctor's office today and the news was good on my tests (biopsies of tissue taken from my esophagus during an upper endoscopy) from last week.
The testing is not done but at least the news has all been good up til now. Thank you God!
Last week I had a different test and was told that I would hear something "in a week". I am hoping that it is really just a week and that I hear good news soon.
My favorite OT scripture is Isaiah 40:31:
"but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." (NIV)
I know that God is good and my hope is in him no matter how this test or any others come back.
Sept 12 Update:
I spoke with my doctor's office today and the news was good on my tests (biopsies of tissue taken from my esophagus during an upper endoscopy) from last week.
The testing is not done but at least the news has all been good up til now. Thank you God!
Monday, September 8, 2008
Greetings
As this is my first post to my blog it seems appropriate to say "Welcome" to my corner of the web. I am not sure yet how I will use this blog but I have some ideas. Hopefully I will have the time and interest to keep this going.
This probably belongs in my "about me" section (and may end up there eventually) but I would like to mention a few things that keep me busy and things that interest me. I am a software engineer in the telecommunications industry and have been doing this for too many years. When I am not working I stay busy with my family and various hobbies. These hobbies including computer gaming, web surfing, listening to contemporary Christian music and watching college football (go OU!).
One of my other passions is Oklahoma high school basketball though I live in Illinois. Thanks to some wonderful web sites (www.coachesaid.com and www.okrankings.com) I am able to follow high school basketball from my home state from 750 miles away. One of my guilty pleasures is making a road trip to OKC each March to watch the Oklahoma small school state basketball tournament. I have been doing this for the past 4 years and have no plans to stop. I am able to see 16 games in 3 days of the best small schools in the state. Hoops heaven for me, especially as I have been reading about these teams and players all season leading up to these state championships.
Again, welcome to my blog!
This probably belongs in my "about me" section (and may end up there eventually) but I would like to mention a few things that keep me busy and things that interest me. I am a software engineer in the telecommunications industry and have been doing this for too many years. When I am not working I stay busy with my family and various hobbies. These hobbies including computer gaming, web surfing, listening to contemporary Christian music and watching college football (go OU!).
One of my other passions is Oklahoma high school basketball though I live in Illinois. Thanks to some wonderful web sites (www.coachesaid.com and www.okrankings.com) I am able to follow high school basketball from my home state from 750 miles away. One of my guilty pleasures is making a road trip to OKC each March to watch the Oklahoma small school state basketball tournament. I have been doing this for the past 4 years and have no plans to stop. I am able to see 16 games in 3 days of the best small schools in the state. Hoops heaven for me, especially as I have been reading about these teams and players all season leading up to these state championships.
Again, welcome to my blog!
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