Donald Duck Pays Rianne a Visit!

The week ended well for Rianne and her strength improved consistently through the weekend. Her brother, Doug Katzenberger, surprised her and made the trip from Seattle to Gold Beach with a friend from back home. He left his home in Big Lake, Alaska for a work related meeting in Seattle, then drove 10 hours with Edrie Suddeth to see Rianne. It was a good visit for them all as Rianne and Edrie haven’t seen each other since high school and Rianne hasn’t seen Doug for over 3 years. They spent plenty of time visiting and discussing Rianne’s condition and just catching up on their lives. On Saturday we took a fun drive to get Rianne out of the house for awhile. She really enjoyed getting some fresh air!
It’s amazing how quickly time flies and how fast things can change! The last time I saw Doug was in 1992 when Rianne and Doug lost their brother, Tony in an accidental fall from a tree and the complications related to it. During the visit with Doug and Edrie, Rianne’s spirits improved tremendously! She was re-energized after having them here to visit her. Family and friends are so important to the recovering cancer patient and the visits are a remarkable boost for Rianne. Doug even had her laughing hysterically when he sang “Happy Birthday” to her in his Donald Duck voice. Her birthday is in December – he just knew she’d laugh if he sang to her like he did when they were young!
Today is Monday which means another Blood Draw. We rose at 5:30 and left at 6:30 to make the trip up to Coos Bay. Before the scheduled Blood Draw, Rianne had to have the tube surgically removed from her eardrum. We explained the details of why surgery was necessary in the previous post on this blog. Before we left Gold Beach she was anxious about the tube removal and the Blood Draw, so again she felt nauseated on the trip up north. She ate nothing and drank nothing, as neither appealed to her. She entered the ear, nose and throat doctor’s office at 8:30 and was soon feeling the unpleasant sting of a few shots in her ear canal to numb things up a bit. She was on her back looking up at a photographic light cover of the sky and some clouds when she suddenly started feeling dizzy. “The clouds are really moving. They’re flying by!” were the next words she said and immediately the doctor requested a wheel chair for her. He plucked the tube out of her ear and sat her up, keeping a firm grip on her knowing that she could tip over if she wasn’t steadied. She was sitting up but was in a spin, giggling and commenting on the changing room around her. Whatever he injected into her ear was working wonders as she felt no pain! We slid her into a wheelchair, thanked the doctor and his assistant and rolled on to the next appointment.
The Blood Draw was routine for Rianne. By now she knows to accept the “railroad-spike-sized needle” into her Port without even a slight twitch of her muscles. If it were me, I’d be whining, fighting, whining some more, screaming and even calling for my mother, but Rianne cooperates better and better each time a new needle finds the mark. Her courage humbles me, as my pain threshold is minimal at best. The blood was drawn by Teresa and sent to the lab. Rianne felt awful as she sat in the chair and drifted off into a light sleep. I knew the results would be low because the same pattern occurred a few weeks ago, so I mentally prepared myself for the blood transfusion which would begin this afternoon. Teresa returned with a bag of fluid and told us that it was Zofran to help with the nausea. She said it would help Rianne feel better for the ride home…...the ride home? “She can go home?” I asked, hoping the answer would be “yes” but not getting my hopes up. “Yup – her counts are good today!” We both let out huge sighs of relief, knowing that we would be able to relax during the ride home. Rianne was miserable but very optimistic, as Teresa assured her that the Zofran would ‘kick in’ soon and, with the help of an Ativan and a pain killer, she’d feel better before we arrived in the driveway. I rolled her out of the facility and helped her get into the van, then we did some quick shopping and blew with the wind toward home.
The northern wind was strong today, which made handling the vehicle a tougher task than usual. The ride home improved with each mile, as Rianne began to feel good enough to sit up and hold a conversation. This afternoon she was feeling good enough to replant some flowers into her outside flower pots. Her day just kept getting better and better. She sure enjoys her plants and they certainly make the house look nice. Rianne has always had a talent for beautifying anything that she touches!
As I type for this Blog, her parents are on their way to Gold Beach. I will be working at the Gold Beach Football Team Camp in a few days and I don’t want her to be home alone for long periods of time, which is why Don and Lillian will be here. They will spend the next 2 weeks here to help keep Rianne comfortable during my absence. As we often try to say, thanks for reading this Blog. We hope you are all happy and well. Enjoy the summer and please keep Rianne in your thoughts and prayers.