Brian!
Saturday January 24th 2009, 3:01 pm
Filed under: Crohn's flare

A new doctor came by and basically said, wow, you look a lot better than I would have expected after seeing your labwork.  But she said I ought to meet the surgeons sooner rather than later; there’s still a possibility of losing the colon and she didn’t want it to be under emergency circumstances.

I mentioned the second Humira dose (two epipens’ worth for the second dose) is to be Tuesday, and we all hoped.

I have a team of gastroenterologists working on me, and I’ve been impressed at how very careful and thorough they are.

And a few minutes ago Mom and Richard and I were taking a very short walk outside my room when I exclaimed, “BRIAN!!! I’d recognize the back of that head anywhere!”

Brian turned around, surprised, and my favorite old nurse from six years ago and I threw our arms around each other.  SO good to see him. Although I prefered doing so, say, after the last time I ever knit a pair of socks: they were for him.  As a thank you for being willing to walk in his patients’ shoes.

He’s a good one.


39 Comments so far
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Alison, I am so happy to hear your voice through the blog! Glad to hear the doctors are taking such good care of you at the hospital. Better still to see Brian, a friendly face during this time. I am thinking of you every day, hoping hard that you will heal soon, that your pain will be minimal, and that you’ll be back to emailing daily and blogging with all of us soon. Hugs.

Comment by Joanne 01.24.09 @ 3:04 pm

Glad to hear your voice again; not that I don’t adore Richard, but I’m glad you’re well enough to type, even for a bit. Prayers coming at you from every direction, darling, don’t be afraid to use them.

I’m glad Brian’s there to take care of you. Hey, you brought your socks, right? If not, send Richard or someone for them…got to show them how much you mean to us, right? So they know to take extra special care of you, or else fear a horrible tide of knitters wielding pointy sticks. Arrr!! 🙂

Love you, sweet lady. Lucy does to, even if she’s expressing it today by hiding cherrios in her ear.

Comment by Kristine 01.24.09 @ 3:07 pm

Losing the colon? Crap. On the other hand, better than the alternative! Glad to hear you again. Hope things are looking up!

Comment by Carol 01.24.09 @ 3:28 pm

Kristine, your socks are on my feet today. Much love. –Alison

Comment by AlisonH 01.24.09 @ 3:33 pm

How wonderful Brian is there to look after you. Another angel by your side to make sure you are ok. More prayers for you and much love to you all.

Comment by Vicki 01.24.09 @ 4:14 pm

You just made my day! To see you blogging is wonderful!!! No offense to Richard!!! And to see Brian again, someone who cares about you personally. Is it possible that he is your angel?

Hugs to you, dear lady. I can’t wait till you are knitting again!

Comment by Joansie 01.24.09 @ 4:21 pm

I am so happy to “see” your voice! Take care of yourself.

Comment by debra 01.24.09 @ 4:24 pm

Alison! So nice to ‘see’ you! Thank you so much for writing to us. May God give the doctors much wisdom and healing for you – you are so precious to us. Love, Janet

Comment by Janet 01.24.09 @ 4:34 pm

Keep hanging in there. I am very sure things are going to start improving.
Hugs.

Comment by Sherry in Idaho 01.24.09 @ 4:37 pm

Alison, it’s so nice to hear your “voice” again. There is much love and many healing thoughts coming your way. We have all been so worried about you. xoxoxoxox

Comment by Romi 01.24.09 @ 6:02 pm

There are many folks saying prayers for you and imagining you are knitting away with rich and vibrant yarn. Thinking the very best thoughts for you and your family.
Kind regards,Susan (friend of Romi)

Comment by Susan Mall 01.24.09 @ 6:07 pm

Oh Dear God, I am so happy to see this post from you, Alison. I check several times a day to see if there is an update. Please know I am praying for you constantly, and tonight my whole family prayed together.

Comment by Amanda 01.24.09 @ 6:16 pm

I’m glad they’re taking good care of you there. I think of you often and send healing thoughts.

Comment by Jocelyn 01.24.09 @ 6:42 pm

so glad to see you posting. Thinking of you, as are much of the extended community up here (family, friends, etc). I hope your team finds a way to get you better.

Comment by Lene 01.24.09 @ 7:32 pm

I can clearly hear your voice in this post. it sounds wonderful to me.
To have Brian there is a godsend.

Hugs and prayers to everyone who is taking care of you. My one amaryllis flower, out of a second set of 4, is looking heavenwards! I swear!

Comment by karin 01.24.09 @ 7:33 pm

My mother once remarked that whenever she was in the hospital, and in need, God sent just the right person to her. Once it was in the form of a housekeeper who prayed with her before open heart surgery. I’m so grateful he has sent Brian back to you!

Comment by Barbara-Kay 01.24.09 @ 8:01 pm

Alison – I have derived such pleasure from your pattern book, with its lovely stories. You are in my prayers.

Comment by Cindy 01.24.09 @ 8:03 pm

What everyone else is saying – while I so appreciate Richard taking the time and energy to keep us updated, it is SO wonderful to see your voice (see your voice? – you know what I mean).

XO

Comment by (formerly) no-blog-rachel 01.24.09 @ 8:15 pm

Dearest Alison! So good to hear from you! And to know that Brian is there to help take care of you is wonderful to hear.

Is surgery the treatment they were talking about? I hoped there was something less drastic. But if it saves your life we will pray for your surgeons.

Love, hugs & prayers,
Gretchen

Comment by Gretchen 01.24.09 @ 9:24 pm

You can’t just LOSE a colon. (Oops, where did I put that thing?) It would have to be taken out as part of a big production. Yikes! I’ll keep praying not. In the meantime, you filed this post under “life” so I still have hope.

Comment by Laura 01.24.09 @ 9:42 pm

You and your colon remain in my prayers.

Comment by Channon 01.24.09 @ 10:19 pm

You seem better but I am going to post funny songs anyway to keep the mojo going. Maybe it will scare you colon into healing itself.

to the tune of My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean

My body has calamine lotion
my body is itchy you see
the flowers I picked for my mommy
turned out to be poison ivy!

Don’t touch, don’t touch
or you may get poison ivy, ivy
don’t touch, don’t touch
or you might get poison ivy!

Comment by Catherine mad knitter 01.24.09 @ 10:33 pm

Taking walks, recognizing the backs of heads and giving hugs sounds pretty good to me. You are a very strong lady, and I have a lot of faith in you, dear Alison. I am very glad to hear they are taking good care of you.

Comment by AmyS 01.24.09 @ 11:21 pm

Eh, colons are probably over-rated. I mean, you don’t need it to knit, that’s the main thing. And wow, up walking! You are a trooper!

Comment by Laura 01.25.09 @ 12:13 am

I’m commenting after Laura and Amy S and can’t top that! Your ‘To-Knit’ list is growing so you’ll need to getter better soon! Planning colors for the New Doctor scarf yet?

Comment by LynnM 01.25.09 @ 1:45 am

My dear woman, there MUST be easier ways to get your sock mojo back…

BTW, Carol at 3:28…pun noted…groan…

Comment by Betsy 01.25.09 @ 5:24 am

Well, now, *that’s* a development! Glad you’re up and about, sorry you might have to have surgery, glad it should help you survive, sorry you have to go through all this…

Still praying!
Pegi

Comment by Pegi 01.25.09 @ 5:37 am

Well, Thank G-d! Colons – prfufufuf – people do JUST FINE with or without them. Mom is going strong without her’s.

Every morning my family asks “How’s Alison?” because I check here first of everything. They can tell by my expression – today I expect it’s a bit more upbeat.

Love

Afton

Comment by afton 01.25.09 @ 6:35 am

Well…We all dread that, don’t we? The losing the colon thing. But we have to remind ourselves that there are much worse things than that (And then lean on our freinds and supporters to make sure we get through the thing.) It’s good to hear your voice again, Alison. Prayers continuing good thoughts streaming…Debra

Comment by debra 01.25.09 @ 7:44 am

It’s not only good to ‘hear’ your voice,it’s also very good to hear that you were strong enough to be up and walking around!Just try to keep any more moths away from your insides,OK!!!

Comment by Kim 01.25.09 @ 8:59 am

well – the colon thing. A dear friend didn’t just lose hers, she was born without the darn thing. She’s now 60-something, just finished her doctoral work, does yoga, hikes, knits (of course), travels, raises dogs, I’m sure I’ve left out something. Oh, yes, gourmet cook and interior designer extraordinaire. Terribly inconvenient, the no-colon thing, but do-able. You, and your colon, are in my prayers.

Comment by Linda W 01.25.09 @ 9:05 am

A familiar friendly face is a wonderful thing. So happy to know that you are up and about, even if it is just a short walk. Wishing you a very speedy recovery and return home.

Comment by sonya 01.25.09 @ 10:36 am

Much love and prayers from the Midwest,

Chris

Comment by Chris Murphy 01.25.09 @ 11:40 am

So Good to hear from you again!!!
Mona

Comment by Mona 01.25.09 @ 12:02 pm

Tell the doc that colon isn’t moth eaten, it’s just got dropped stitches! Glad you’re well enough to take a short walk, and so happy to hear your favorite nurse, Brian, is still there taking care of those who need him.

Saw a Christian comedian Friday night and kept telling myself, I have to remember that one to tell Alison, problem is the only one I can remember is “What does praise music have in common with a machine gun? – 99 rounds”! We laughed so hard all through the show our sides were sore! Wish you could have been there! You’d have loved it. His outlook at life is very similar to yours.

Comment by Shelly H 01.25.09 @ 2:03 pm

I don’t comment but have been aware of your difficult; your husband’s posts are kind about keeping us in the loop. Today’s post means I must comment. Please don’t consider loosing your colon as a bad thing. It will mean a respite from the pain you’ve been having. Surgery has advanced so much in recent years you will probably not even have an external bag. Your life will be pretty much normal and that’s a wonderful thing.

My husband suffered from ulcerative colitis and had an ileostomy in 1948. Yes, 60 years ago. His surgeon was one of the pioneers in the field. Marc is 73 now, eats pretty much what he wants (within reason) and has had an active and normal life. We thank the big knitter in the sky frequently that his parents loved him enough to take him by taxi from Hartford CT to Boston MA for treatment when the prognosis in CT was the big sleep.

Be strong and merry! Knit on and know your have hundreds, nay – thousands – of prayers aimed at you.

Comment by Leslie 01.25.09 @ 2:18 pm

Do you realize that if they only took out part of your colon, you would go through life with a semi-colon;;;;;;. But I really want to you just get better, period……..

Comment by Laura 01.25.09 @ 2:44 pm

I am here from the Blue Moon Site and Nathania, who must be the most wonderful friends anyone could have (though I don’t know them personally). They have introduced me to you. My son, at 17, was diagnosed with this disease in an emergency situation, post colon re-section. He almost died. I pray for you. If they have to do surgery, but have prepared you for it, then your outcome will be positive, I pray. When I read all that has happened to you, I felt like weeping. My son, now 19, is much healthier without the portion of his colon he lost. It is sad that for the rest of his life he will be on guard for loss of more of it. I will pray for you and your family and doctors and Brian. You must be another most wonderful person in this knitting community for so many people to show such love. Someday, perhaps we will meet, when you are feeling so much more healthy! Robin in MA.

Comment by Robin Desrosiers 01.25.09 @ 3:22 pm

Trying to look for positives (you know me Pollyanna to the end hehehe) let’s see — IF and that is a big if you have to lose the colon – you will feel better — you will still be able to knit (BTW did you tell that doctor never ever to say that nasty word around you MOTHS ~~~~ those are shivers just so you know) and will that mean you don’t have Crohn’s anymore??

And like someone else said they have come so far with this – it isn’t like it was even 10 years ago —

prayers still going out… Moth Eaten geeze — I like dropped stitches more too – that you can fix easily 😉

lot’s of love heading out your way too…

Comment by rho 01.25.09 @ 9:23 pm



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