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Go get ’em, VA

It’s been a while since I last sang the praies of the Veterans Administration, on which I depend for my primary medical care.

So, I’ll offer a word of praise.

An unusual event occurred today. I returned from a vacation in Greece. Then I developed a pain in my right foot. It continued to worsen. I called my physician at the Rayburn VA Medical Clinic in Bonham. I got a physician’s assistant on the phone and told her of my concern. She recommended I check into an ER today to have someone look it over.

I did. I went to Medical City/McKinney, not far from my house. The PA had given the number of the VA’s hotline, which I called to let them know I had checked into the ER.

With that phone call, the VA became hooked up with a private medical provider.

The ER did an ultrasound, looking for evidence of a blood clot. They found nothing. The doc came out, counseled me on what to do, prescribed some high-powered pain meds he said would attack the inflammation in my foot. “We are going to treat this as gout,” he said.

Fine. I was out of the ER and back home in three hours.

Not bad at all.

I am a major fan of this pre-paid medical care I earned from my two years in the. Army.

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Now comes the next leg

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Well, we now have arrived at the starting gate for the next leg of our amazing journey through life.

My cherished bride is home with where she belongs after spending three weeks in acute care. The Medical City/McKinney (Texas) emergency room team found a mass in her brain, the surgeon cut most of it out, the labs determined it is cancerous, she spent some time in ICU, then she went to rehab.

Now she is home to be with Toby the Puppy and yours truly.

Treatment for the disease they found will commence in a few days. I just have been utterly amazed, astonished and will be grateful for as long as I live for the care she received at all levels … from the ER, to ICU, to rehab.

I realize they are just “doing their job.” I realize they are trained and instructed to be nice to patients and to not let the stress of their jobs show on their smiling faces.

However, when you’re on the receiving end of that kindness and compassion — at least it’s true in my case — you might feel the need to offer serious shout-outs to the medical pros who tend to your loved one’s needs.

They answered the call.

Now comes the next step in our challenging journey through the marvelous life we are forging together. I believe we are ready.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

medical news

They’re like family … almost

I didn’t think it was possible to grow attached to a team of medical professionals who would answer the call to care for my bride.

But I have … become quite fond of the men and women who have worked tirelessly at Medical City/McKinney to assist her as she begins her recovery from brain surgery.

I will declare that I likely will shed a tear or three in a couple of days when my wife leaves their care and comes home to Princeton, Texas — to Toby the Puppy and me.

My wife told me something today as well that softens me up for the emotional goodbye that awaits. She said the nurses told her they often cry when patients leave. They shed tears when their favorite patients depart their care and venture out to begin their own journeys back to recovery.

I suppose I need to share with you this bit of intel: My dear bride has become a favorite among the nurses, techs, physician assistants and nurse practitioners who have cared for her. She doesn’t ask for much from them, as she knows how hard they work, given her long-ago experience working at an acute care hospital in our hometown of Portland, Ore.

That was then. The here and now is about to bring us a flood of emotion as we depart their care and venture into the next challenging chapter of our long life together.

I have to get ready for this.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

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Needing to keep emotions in check

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A big day awaits my bride and me. It’s coming on Monday, which is when she checks out of the Medical City/McKinney (Texas) rehab unit and returns home.

Many of you know the story by now. She had a cancerous tumor removed from her brain two days after Christmas. She has been in rehab for several days regaining her strength, her balance, her dexterity in her left hand.

Now I must prepare to say so long to some folks who have become almost like family to us. I refer to the rehab medical staff at Medical City.

I have told many of them already to their smiling faces how much we appreciate the care she has received. I am ratcheting it up a bit farther with this blog post.

To be brutally candid, at this moment I am not sure how I am going to hold my emotions in check when she leaves the rehab center.

Now, spare me the lecture about how they’re just doing their jobs; that they are trained to do the things we have asked of them; that they hear high praise all the time and they likely might not even remember us once we walk out the door.

I don’t care about any of that. I feel the overwhelming need to praise them for their kindness, their caring, their compassion, their senses of humor and their patience with doting family members who ask them zillions of questions each day.

So, I am offering them praise here. Hey, it’s my blog and I intend to use it as a source of encouragement for them as they prepare to do the very same thing for future patients who will entrust themselves to their care.

These medical professionals all have brought a measure of joy to us on this latest lap on our life journey. More challenges lie ahead but we are keeping the faith that a positive outcome awaits.

I am just want to keep the blubbering to a minimum when we leave the hospital and head for the house.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com