Baths

How can one big, wet, smelly dog LOVE swimming and running through muddy swamp water but HATE clean, warm water baths soooo much?

March for Babies

As many of you know I work as a nurse in Labor and Delivery.  Healthy moms and babies are my passion and it's what I and my co-workers strive for every day.  The March of Dimes is having their March for Babies here in New Orleans on April 24th and I'll be walking with a team of girls that I work with.  We're trying to raise as much money as possible for this organization which goes towards research at preventing premature births, education to pregnant mothers not only in the US, but around the world, and assisting parents who have pre-mature or sick babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.  If anyone would like to give towards our team you can donate by clicking here or on the link to the left of this post.

A catch up on how Scott is:

I figured it was time to update you all on Scott.  On Tuesday he went in for a follow up appointment.  They did a MRI of his bones - being especially concerned with his spine and pelvis - and it all came back negative for any abnormalities (i.e. Tumors) which we are very, very happy about.  They did a blood test to check his CEA levels (basically a tumor marker test) which came back at 2.8 - within normal range finally!  Another great thing considering those levels were up to 18 before we had surgery in January.  The real indicator with Medullary Carcinoma though are his Calcitonin blood levels which have been sent off to Mayo for evaluation and we should have results back sometime next week.
Scott has still been pretty tired and just kind of Blah feeling so it wasn't much of a surprise to us that he is still quite Hypothyroid with a TSH (thyroid hormone level) of 13.  The normal range for that test is 1-5.  SO, to combat that we have changed all of his meds up again this week.  They added a T3 medication (the active form of thyroid hormone that works immediately) and increased the dose of his T4 medication (the more continuous form of thyroid hormone that isn't as fast or short acting) that he has been taking since surgery.  We are hoping that this will help improve his mood, as well as energy and metabolism levels and help fight the Blahs.
Some of you know this, but I don't think I ever posted on here that they did a Genetic Screen on Scott due to the fact that often this type of cancer runs in families.  If the screen were positive Scott's brother's would have needed to be screened as well (as they could have been at risk for developing this kind of cancer), and our future children probably would have needed Thyroidectomies at a young age due to the fact that they would be at such a great risk for developing this kind of cancer as well.  We are very blessed that his gene typing came back negative for it, which is a huge relief in that now we know this was the Sporadic form of cancer that he got.
Everyday Scott's voice gets stronger and it seems to be getting close to back to normal and easier for him to project, which we are very thankful for.  It is becoming less and less frustrating for him to talk on the phone (people aren't saying, "What?" "Wait, say that again?" as much anymore), order food when we're out and about, and just communicate in general.  Scott has started working again.  He started out doing six hour shifts at the end of last month and has now gone up to eight hour shifts, with the hope of being able to handle 12 hour shifts again next month.  We're very happy with all his progress and it is very gratifying for him to be back in the ER doing what he loves.
So, in general everything is on the up and up it looks like.  We do another CT Scan of Scott's head, neck and chest in June or July to see if there are any more tumors and if the spots on his lung have grown.  For now it's a waiting game and we're gradually getting back to normal life.  Thank you all for your prayers and word of encouragement.  It's been so nice getting cards and sweet messages from so many of you and it's helped lighten our load knowing that so many people care.

VACATION!

Scott and I enjoy spontaneity.  I firmly believe it is one of the most important ingredients that is highly under-used in the recipe of having an awesome time.  SO, we decided around February 27th to get out of the country.  Last fall we'd planned on taking a two week trip with our good friends Ben and Abby Chapeau to either Ireland or Morocco or somewhere not too far like that.  And then Scott got cancer and we both used up all our vacation time.  Traveling was out.  Until my March schedule came in and I had six days off in a row.  Scott just started going back to work at the beginning of this month and wasn't scheduled for specific days - he just needs to go in as he can.  A trip was definitely in order and desperately needed.  Ben and Abby figured out family to take Easton and their dog, got off work, and away we decided to go on Scott's dad's stand-by passes (Thanks Dadoo!).
We were good with either Honduras or Belize.  Or Jamaica, or Mexico.  I didn't care at all, anywhere with a beach and a decent amount of heat seemed fantastic to me.  On Wednesday night of last week we decided Honduras would be the best.  Not too far, but off the beaten path enough for Scott's taste.  However, after working 13 hours that day and then cleaning the house and packing and staying up until midnight, I accidentally set my alarm for 3:15pm instead of AM.  Brilliant.  I woke up in a panic at 5am and we frantically ran around trying to re-plan our lives, since we were now too late to catch the only flight to Honduras that day.  Fortunately, we got things figured out and re-routed to Belize.  Turns out God had a nice little plan up his sleeve.  We met Ben and Abby in Dallas and once in Belize City caught another quick flight to Placencia - a small beach peninsula in southern Belize.

Once in Placenta (our affectionate name for it throughout the week) we wandered around trying to find a place to stay.  We were SO out of place in this Bob Marley-esque little beach town in our dress clothes (necessary for flying stand-by) and shoes that covered our toes.  At the verge of discouragement due to getting turned away from everywhere, we found an old man who told us he had an open Cabana that we could look at.  It was perfect!  Set back about 30 feet from the water with two double beds, a hot shower, electricity, a coffee pot AND a fridge for only $50 a night!  We snatched it right up and the four of us decided to stay there the whole week.

Our time there was as perfect as we could ask for even with the little mishaps along the way.  I had a sore throat for two days leading up to the trip and the first morning we woke up there I just could have cried my poor tonsils were so irritated.  Scott rolled his eyes, got the headlamp and told me to say "Ahh" expecting to find nothing.  He jumped back in horror (takes quite a bit to get that great of a response out of him :), felt my hot forehead, and started me on antibiotics.  It rained all day that day so we all laid around and read our books and caught up on sleep.  Every day after that was sunny but stayed in the 70's to 80's, which was just grand.  We stayed very busy doing pretty much nothing.  We read books, discussed all aspects of life, giggled late into the night, played frisbee, sipped Fanta and real Coke, and generally had no idea what time it ever was while Jack Johnson serenaded us in the background.  When our hunger got the best of us we would wander down the narrow sidewalk that went through the middle of the village and find a restaurant that pleased us.  Our greatest discovery was a little Gellateria run by a wonderful Italian man named Lorenzo.  We visited him 2-3 times every day and delightedly tried as many of his flavors as we could.  

On Monday we went out to an island called Laughing Bird Caye for snorkeling.  The water was the calmest it had been throughout our entire visit and we had great tour guides.  The visibility was perfect and we saw so many cool fish, lots of lobsters, and happily no sharks.  

Yesterday afternoon Scott and I flew back to Dallas and got stuck there overnight due to all of the flights to New Orleans being oversold.  This morning we flew to Baton Rouge where we realized we couldn't rent a car due to only having passports and no driver's licenses.  Ooops.  We managed to find a friendly cab driver who gave us a great deal and drove us back to the New Orleans airport where our car was.  Much less of a hassle than waiting around two hours for the greyhound bus and a little more comfortable.

We are now settling back in, preparing to work the rest of the weekend but feeling very refreshed.  It was exactly what we needed at this point.  A break from schedules, phone calls, bills, and our life in general right now.  It's amazing what a little sunshine and together time can do for the spirit.  

Here's a few more pictures:

Standing on our little porch with the ocean behind us ready to go sun ourselves

Out at the edge of Placencia

The goggles make life especially romantic

Laughing Bird Caye

Scott and Ben relaxing outside our Cabana

Milestones

I started this post yesterday and got distracted.  So, here it is a little out of context.

Yesterday was our one year Anniversary of being married!  We had a fantastic day and celebrated with a picnic in the park, laying out in the sun and then dinner at John Besh's Restaurant August.  

On the ferry going over to the French Quarter

Scott and I at August

We've had quite the crash course in marriage this year, but I'd say we're doing pretty well considering.  A lot of patience, loyalty, re-prioritizing, prayers, and dedication has gotten us through the Match, getting and training a puppy who has turned into a beast (she's over 90lbs now), graduating Medical School, moving hundreds of miles from all our families and friends, remodeling a house and settling into it while starting new jobs, and fighting cancer.  And yet I've come out of this year feeling so grateful to have such a wonderful marriage and couldn't ask for a better husband.  Even with our struggles, we are very blessed.  Love you Scott!  :)

MD Anderson is Terrible.

So I was holding off judgement on MD Anderson as long as possible, partly because I never got to see a doctor there. Today I finally broke and decided they are mostly evil. The physicians there might be great, but how would I know as I never got in the door.

When I first got diagnosed everyone told me to go to to MD Anderson, which is what we tried to do initially. It all seemed to be going well, I had an appointment scheduled and sent everything to them. It was all downhill from there. I got a call from one of their "account specialist" who basically told me that my insurance was no good and they wouldn't even consider billing it. This was a shock to me as we have great insurance that Megan works very hard for.

I then asked, how much is it to just get a consultation, she typed my diagnoses and said.... $18,500. I laughed at her for a minute because I thought she was joking. Turns out she wasn't. Her next words are would you like to pay 18,500 now or just cancel my appointment? Needless to say we didn't end up going there. Luckily all of this led us to go to St. Louis to get the surgery by Dr. Moley which turned out better I think anyways.

So then 2 weeks ago I got a bill from MD Anderson. Why? I found out after being on the phone today it is because they looked at my pathology slides that I was forced to send in to get an appointment. Then they told my my doctor requested a 2nd opinion. This is not true as I was the one who sent the slides in. I told her I never even got to get an opinion there so I should not be billed. She said it "is very common for people that never make it to MD Anderson to be billed". That is one of the more ridiculous things I have ever heard.

I realize they are a business. However, they are in the cancer business and I believe they are scaring cancer patients into getting unneeded tests and pouring their life savings into a hope that they provide something better. To me that seems wrong.

On a happier note...

Today was a good day.  A long day, but good.  For twelve hours I coached a shy 15 year old through labor and helped deliver her beautiful baby boy right before shift change.  She was a champ.  She did so well.  With her quiet boyfriend standing by ready to cut the cord, and her mother excitedly giggling away at her leg while she pushed.  My heart swelled with such joy as we set her fresh, slippery boy onto her chest and she teared up while fearlessly grabbing for him.  She showed so much maturity.  Their road will not be easy, but I have a feeling she'll do better than some of my 18 and 20 year olds do.  Today I loved my job...even if I did have to stay late to chart.

Frustration...

There are days I love being a nurse.  And there are days I don't.  I have worked that last three days and every day I have had patients who have pushed my buttons and tried my patience to. the. max.  Not laboring patient's either.  No, these patients have been either no where near delivering a baby or past that point and on the Labor and Delivery unit still due to complications.  I've tried sweet sympathy (it seemed to encourage the whining and general lack of doing anything they were told to without dumbed down step by step instructions repeatedly), I tried ignoring them (did NOT work - they got even needier), and then with each of them I've finally just given up and had to start treating them like naughty children and bossing them around like I was their mother.  I'm a nurse.  I don't want to treat you like a child.  You're an adult (barely, I know, but still past 18).  Just try to act like one please.  Fluffing your 9 pillows 700 times today is not in my job description.  Once I started treating these difficult patient's this way though they finally started behaving.  They actually listened to me and did as the doctor had instructed.  They still acted like tender flowers and whined, but not to the extent they had been.  Why must so many of today's mothers be so immature they still need to be treated like they are five?  I've left work every day feeling irritated and like I accomplished nothing.  I kept them alive. Wahoo. And improved their outcome maybe.  I took care of their physical and emotional pain the best I could.  I prayed for them.  And myself.  Oh Lord, I prayed.  But I still feel exhausted and frustrated looking back on it all.  I'm just hoping next week is a little less frustrating.

A giggle I did get in the last week though:
RN during admission questioning:  Any drug use throughout the pregnancy or in the last few years?
Patient: ....nooo, I don't think so.  ......Although I did use, um, that ...(thinking real hard about the name) Merry-johanna once.  
Well hopefully it made you merry, aaaand we'll be doing a Toxicology screen on you.

Love, love, love...

Happy Valentine's Day!


It's our first Valentine's Day as a married couple and we are taking it easy amongst our weekend of Mardi Gras chaos.  We went out for a brunch date this morning, took Ariyah to the park and kicked the soccer ball around, and now we're lounging on the couch together watching Olympians play in the snow and ice, planning our lobster dinner we'll be cooking together.  So, whether you're celebrating with grand events or reveling in the simple, special activities that make you happy, we hope you have a great day with the people you love.  And to the family and friends we love and miss, we're sending extra hugs and kisses your way today.

The last few weeks in pictures...

The night before surgery at our Condo in St. Louis with Scott's family watching the Saints kick the Vikings butts.

Scott all marked up and ready to get those
cancer-filled lymph nodes out

Out of recovery and up to the unit - this was after he finally got his PCA

Abby was ready with a smoothie for him

      Only one drain left in - almost ready to go home.  Thanks for the cookies Willards! They were delicious!

Out of the hospital and into the easy chair!

The day after this picture was taken we headed to New Orleans and Scott's parents came down to help us for a few days.  We got lots of projects done around the house and I started working again.

And then came Super Bowl Sunday!

Celebrating with friends - Luke and Tiffany (in the middle with the baby) came from Tulsa for the week

Who Dat Baby Clover!

Out to dinner with Luke, Tiff, and Clover the night before they left.  It was so great to have them here helping out and entertaining Scott while I was at work!  We had lots of fun

Times flyin'

    It's been two weeks since the thyroidectomy and neck dissection.  Life goes on.  For now we are waiting patiently to see what the final outcome of Scott's surgery will be - which we will probably not know for a few months as his body works itself out.  I try not to think about it too much, but it pops into my head at least once every few hours.  We talk about it regularly.  I am waiting for life to be cancer-free again.  A life where we don't have to be reminded of cancer every day by bright, fresh scars, restless nights, constant doctor's appointments, and insurance statements. We have faith that we will get there.  We're so much closer (maybe even there) already we hope.
   Scott's Calcitonin results came back: 624.  Under 1,000 which is good!  (Normal is 0-15 and we are hoping his drop to non-existent)  Scott's levels were around 3,000 before surgery.  He went in to see his Endocrinologist, Dr. Panunti, at Ochsner yesterday, and she is happy with his progress.  Scott is still feeling stiff and his right shoulder is very sore.  We've been doing all sorts of stretches and range of motion exercises every day, but he may need some Physical Therapy to get him through this.
    He's getting his energy back slowly but surely.  We managed a Super Bowl party on Sunday which was Scott's longest outing since surgery.  We left the house around noon and didn't get home until after 11:00pm.  In the middle of the afternoon we had to go to our friend's apartment for him to take a nap, and he was completely pooped on Monday, but he did great while we were out!  He was sneaky and drove this last week while I was at work (which he probably shouldn't be doing quite yet since he can't turn his head side to side really at all.  And his right arm doesn't work that well).  I, of course, gave him a good scolding when I found out - due to the fact that we have friends here who could have driven him if he wouldn't have refused it - and he went right out and did it again two days later.  "Megan. Seriously. You know I'm still a better driver than half the driver's in New Orleans even with my handicaps.  At least I use my mirrors, which is more than most people here can say...."  What's a girl to do?!  I can't lock him in the house when I'm at work.  So I just hope his angels can keep up with him.  And everyone else on the roads when he drives around.
    The biggest frustration for Scott (and me and others sometimes) right now is his horse voice.  He sounds like someone who's smoked for about 40yrs and has no volume to project what he's saying.  It's hard to understand him if we're anywhere other than a quite room with only a few people in it because he is so hoarse.  His voice is slowly getting stronger and we're hoping it goes back to normal soon.
     Alright, enough for tonight, I work in the morning.  Sweet dreams everyone

Black and Gold Won the Superbowl!

And they said we couldn't do it...

I LOVE living in this city so full of celebration right now.  It is one of the craziest, most wonderful experiences to be a part of!  People have been wearing their black and gold everyday for the last two weeks - and will probably continue to do so for the next two weeks.  The dedication to this team is unbelievable.  Right now I am proud to call this place home.

Week one down, onto week two...

Scott has been quite adventurous today.  So ambitious about life in fact, that he survived a trip to the hospital to get stuck with a needle AND a walk around the whole block (after a little coaxing), all without a nap.  We are quite proud of him.  He also managed to sit at the table to eat dinner last night AND tonight!  He's comin' back folks, so look out!
I think he's doing so well and right on track for what I expected.  However, Scott reported to me today on the ride to the hospital that he's a little frustrated with how "slow" his recovery is going.  He thought by this far out (because a week is such a long time to recover from an almost 7hr surgery) he would be back to 90%, but he only feels like he's at about 30%.  High hopes dashed upon the rocks for my poor ADD husband who hates to lay around for too long doing nothing.  I keep reminding him that he'll get there. Right now it is just so hard for him though to not have the energy or the stomach to do daily activities he's so accustomed to.  The "weirdness" and hot flashes continue, but don't seem to be as bad as they were a few days ago which is reassuring.  His hoarse, 70yr old smoker voice seems to be getting better as well every day which is encouraging.
Scott's dad is staying with us and his mom is flying down tomorrow for a day or two, just to help keep Scott occupied and assist us with some projects around the house, while I start to go back to work.  As I've said before, somebody's gotta make some money around here.

Home Sweet Home

We are home safe and sound in chilly New Orleans!  Ariyah was quite excited to greet us, but sad to see Rachelle leave.  Since we've come back, she's been pawing at me incessantly (aka tripping me as I try to walk anywhere) and bringing all her slobbery, over-chewed toys to display in my lap any time I sit down.  If those things don't seem to work well enough for her to get my attention, she will walk up to me, sit down with the most guilt-inducing look she can come up with, and place her giant paw up on my hand, or knee, and just stare at me.  Last night she kept sneaking over to the couch when she felt I was not paying her a just amount of attention, and would pop up real quick to lay a big, wet juicy one across Scott's face - much to his disgust.  Since his voice is so hoarse he couldn't really get his point across to Ariyah to stop, and she would just continue to try and excitedly break past his swinging hands to keep up the kissing until I could get a hold of her.  We're going to have to work on that.  Scott is still sleeping this morning and she has been walking up and down the house, whining every time she looks at the bed he's in.  Needless to say, this adjustment is effecting all of us here in the Mackey house.
I know some of you have asked, so we just wanted to let our friend's in the area know that we're up for visitors now.  When Scott's not sleeping (and even when he is during the day I guess) we've pretty much been camped out in the living room watching movies and catching up on our TV shows.  Right now we are VERY thankful for our Netflix account and the internet to keep Scott entertained.  Give us a head's up if you want to stop by & thanks for the continued prayers everyone!
  

The road to recovery

Scott is improving everyday.  He slept the best last night that he's slept all week - a little help from prayers and our friend, Ambien, probably had a little to do with that, so we must give credit where it is due.  Also, since last Saturday Scott has not had one dream about cancer to wake him up, so thanks for all the prayers there.
I got up early this morning and drove Abby to the airport to fly home to her hubby and little Easton who have been living without her this whole week.  Thank you to all our friend's up north (Mew, Haylee, Janna, and Ben's mom especially) who helped out so much, making it possible for her to be with us!
Scott has been up and about more and more - little baby steps.  He took his first shower since surgery this morning which was a milestone.  During the day he has been camping out in the easy chair in the middle of the living room here at the condo, while we try to keep up with his growing desire for food and all the drugs. The night we got home from the hospital his body started realizing that we took it's Thyroid away and it's hasn't been very happy about that.  This has been the most uncomfortable thing for Scott since being home, as he is in an almost constant state of unease as his hormones fluctuate.  He has hot flashes like a 45 yr old woman and is then freezing cold 30 seconds later, woozy, and overall just "weird feeling".  He has started the hormone replacement therapy that he will be on for the rest of his life and hopefully his body will even out soon.  We've been told this can take anywhere from a few weeks to months.
Another big milestone today was Scott's first outing since getting out of the hospital - we went right back there for a follow up appointment with Dr. Moley before leaving town.  The doc said he's pleased with everything overall and pathology reports should be back sometime next week.  The plan is for us to be able to do our follow up care in New Orleans, while consulting with Dr. Moley along the way.
SO, overall things are going quite well and we are very blessed by that!  We fly back to NOLA tomorrow and are excited to be home.

Done with hospital beds for a while.

Well I am finally out back into the real world a little bit. By real world I mean condo 1 mile away from the hospital with 2 nurses and tons of drugs. I'm not really hurting much anymore just rather uncomfortable. My entire right shoulder is numb to my ear and my voice sounds like a 70 year old smoker. The brain is pretty impressive at blocking out bad events as I don't remember too much of Monday, I remember it not being fun but I am glad the rest is blocked out.

Dr. Moley was pleased with how well the surgery went, even though it took about 6.5 hours. Leave it to me to have really strange anatomy and make life difficult for them. I still have a small part of my thyroid but he said he got all of the primary tumor off my thyroid so it should be fine. He was worried about damaging my laryngeal nerves on both sides.

Things I learned in the hospital:

-Don't trust anyone except the main Doctor when there are 20 residents and med students following you. They didn't really know what was going on and confused us several times.

-Pain meds can make life bearable if prescribed correctly.

-Marry a nurse who brings her nurse friend.

-Chocolate milk shakes are delicious on a sore throat.

Home Free

Discharge orders have been written.
IV and the last drain on the right just came out.
We'll be leaving this joint in the next hour or so!
We are packing up our belongings & Condo-bound...

An update

Scott's feeling a little better as the day goes on.  The Nurse Practitioner came by this morning and took out one of the drains in his neck that drains extra fluid and blood away from the incision site under his skin.  He still has the main, big one in, but hopefully that will come out tomorrow.  They just came and discontinued his PCA pump for pain and his IV fluids.  He still has a saline locked IV in, just in case they need to give him breakthrough pain medicine.  For now though the Percocet is pulling through for him.  This is such a drastic change from how horrible he was feeling last night and it is such a relief to see.  He also got up and walked in the hall for about three minutes, and was actually concerned about his butt hanging out.  We think this means he's feeling a little bit better.  :)  He's sipping milk shakes and dozing in bed with The Office playing on his laptop while we all recoup from our long day yesterday.   Thanks for your continued prayers!  Please pray for safety for Keith & Elena (Scott's younger siblings) as they drive back to Tulsa this afternoon.

Finished!

Sorry it's taken me so long to update - I know many of you have been waiting for a newer report.  Last night was definitely not one of the more fun nights of our life.  It was pretty miserable there for a few hours as soon as Scott came up from recovery to his room.  But, I'll start at the beginning.
Surgery took longer than we had anticipated - start to finish was about 7 hours (they had booked the OR suite for four hours).  Dr. Moley came out and talked to us around 3:00 when they were almost done and said it went well.  When they were in surgery he said that Scott's right vocal nerve was not working, but by the time he got to recovery it seemed to be fine as he was talking there telling his nurse, "Can I please have some Ice?  I promise I'll be a good boy" repeatedly.
When Scott got up to his room from recovery was when the day really got rough.  He was in so much pain.  The nurses somewhat blew it off at first as he had just been transferred, but as his blood pressure kept climbing as well as his pulse, they finally started taking us seriously.  They finally called the resident after his blood pressure got up to the 180's/100's (his normal is down around 100/60) and I asked them to get someone else.  Thus ensued the process which took much longer than it should have to get him a PCA pump. He got to the room around 6:00pm and finally around 9:00 his pain level went from an 11 down to a 6 and finally to almost nothing as the night went on.  He still has quite a bit of discomfort with swallowing and moving his neck, but it's not the constant intense pain he was going through at first.  I spent the night with him and they were able to give me an extra bed which was so nice.  We were up and down all night with lab draws, vitals, IV fluids, etc but around 3:15am Scott's hunger got the best of him and he decided he was ready to swallow some mashed potatoes.  He also checked his email (it was hilarious to watch him try and focus in his drugged state) and we discovered that he passed Step III Boards!!!!!!!!!!!!
This morning when the residents rounded they said we'll probably be here another night.  Hopefully we can transition to pain meds by mouth only and get rid of the PCA by tonight.
It has been so nice having Scott's family here and Abby.  I'd be rather lost without them for support I think.  Thank you all so much for your encouragement on Facebook and for the love and prayers you've been sending our way.

Here we go....

He's all marked up and they took him back just now to start his total thyroidectomy and partial neck dissection.
 Out comes the cancer!
Start your prayers and we'll let you know when we know more. Thanks for all the love and support everyone!