John has been a long time member here, and was very active during the days of the lounge. It would be great if those who know him would consider helping him out in his time of need, or at least, keep him in your prayers. Read below.
Cross Posted from: http://www.hamsexy.com/cms/?p=362
This afternoon, Rick Rock, posted up on the Batlounge (http://www.batlounge.us) that John’s wife known as RadioWife, had been taken to the hospital in near-death condition. I do not have a lot of information about what is going on, but for those of you who do not know, she’s been having gastric problems for almost a year, if not longer.
I am taking up a donation to get something for John, let it be flowers, a couple bucks for food, whatever he needs. I am waiting to hear back from Rick when he talks to John next so I can get some guidance on what would be the best thing for him and his family.
I will post more as information becomes available. In the mean time, you can fell free to help out by sending some paypal my way - alex ( a t ) the161.net and within the next day or so; I will hopefully get word on what is going on.
John also has support links on his forums for money, if you would like to show your support that way, I’m sure every little bit helps.
Thanks in advance, and please, keep John and his family in your prayers.
For those not firmiliar, the batlounge was spun off (much like Hamsexy in some senses) from people on the Batboard who wanted a place to BS after we decided to close down the lounge. Here is the origional post by Rick, for those who do not have access:
As some of you will remember from before the lounge got wiped out, there was a request for prayers for John’s (k4wtf) wife Radiowife, who has undergone gastric bypass surgery around a year ago because the muscles in her stomach stopped working @ all. Well, I received word early this morning that she was rushed to the hospital in a near death circumstance, so I would again like to ask for prayers from the members as they work through this VERY difficult time. Any email correspondence can be sent to lounge_lizard@batlounge.us or by using the email link for the site admins. If any of you would like to send flowers or anything else, please PM or email me and I will work that out with you there.
Again, a big thankyou to all the members here who have been with them through all this and continue their support even today.
K4WTF - Needs your Prayers and your Support
Moderator: Queue Moderator
K4WTF - Needs your Prayers and your Support
Last edited by alex on Fri Nov 24, 2006 8:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Hey folks.
OK. Here's what is going on right now:
We took RadioWife into the hospital on Friday evening - I think it was Friday - the days are running together. Anyway, we went into the hospital because the pain was so bad and unmanagable at home.
On Sunday, for some reason, the Doctors decided to give her Marinol (synthetic THC/Medical Marijuana). I'm still not clear on WHY they decided to do this because the approved indications for Marinol (and all other synthetic and non-synthetic THC products) do *not* include pain management. It's approved for increasing appetite (duh.. The munchies) and anti-nausia but, there are NO approvals for use as a pain management medication.
Anyway, Sunday morning about 11:30am, RadioWife called me on the phone. She could not speak in sentences that humans understand and it is doubtful that most aliens could understand her. I rushed to the hospital to find out what was going on. She appeared as if she was having a stroke and seizures at the same time. Her face was drawn like you see when someone has a stroke, her whole body was twitching to the point that her legs were coming out of the bed almost a foot and she could not speak. They called the neurology attending who did a head CT scan and several other tests. She had no feeling or control in her legs/feet, she could not control her right arm at all, no feeling in her face or forehead, etc. This was at about 1pm. At about 4pm, her pulse raced to 172bpm and her O2 saturation dove below 80%. They brought the crash cart in and there had to be 20 nurses and doctors there. Then, suddenly she let out a sigh and her whole body went limp - no more tremmors but no breathing either. The attending doctor did a sternum rub which after the second or third try resulted in her gasping for air and starting to breath again. Through about 9pm last night, she was on 2ltrs o2, non-rebreath to maintain her o2 saturation. The symtoms subsided to just little twitches about 10pm and that's where we are today.
Now, if that wasn't bad enough - you'll remember that we went into the hospital because the pain was not manageable. Well, when she had the reaction to the drug that I have no idea why they gave her, they took her off of all narcotic pain killers so the pain is worse than when she went in to begin with which she says is worse then childbirth but not as bad as when she had the kidney stone.
Her primary doctor/surgen had not been in yet today when I left at about 4pm so, I'm not sure what the deal is yet. I did have the stat nurse make a note in the chart that they're NOT TO DO ANYTHING without asking ME first as far as changing, adding or removing meds, etc - otherwise I would put my size 13 up someones butt and rotate it.
She didn't have a gastric bypass though. She still has all of her stomach and intestines. They just don't work. She has Gastric Paresis which in simple terms means that her stomach is paralyzed. To try to jump-start it, they implanted a gastric pacemaker. It works just like a cardiac pacemaker only for the stomach. She also has two tubes in her abdomin. One goes to her stomach to drain it so she isn't so nausiated and the other goes to her intestins so we can feed a special formula called osmolite (sp) which is basicly semi-digested Ensure.
I know - it's all very confusing and nobody seems to know why it happened or how to fix it.
We truly appreciate all of your prayers and well wishes.
Semper Fi,
John
OK. Here's what is going on right now:
We took RadioWife into the hospital on Friday evening - I think it was Friday - the days are running together. Anyway, we went into the hospital because the pain was so bad and unmanagable at home.
On Sunday, for some reason, the Doctors decided to give her Marinol (synthetic THC/Medical Marijuana). I'm still not clear on WHY they decided to do this because the approved indications for Marinol (and all other synthetic and non-synthetic THC products) do *not* include pain management. It's approved for increasing appetite (duh.. The munchies) and anti-nausia but, there are NO approvals for use as a pain management medication.
Anyway, Sunday morning about 11:30am, RadioWife called me on the phone. She could not speak in sentences that humans understand and it is doubtful that most aliens could understand her. I rushed to the hospital to find out what was going on. She appeared as if she was having a stroke and seizures at the same time. Her face was drawn like you see when someone has a stroke, her whole body was twitching to the point that her legs were coming out of the bed almost a foot and she could not speak. They called the neurology attending who did a head CT scan and several other tests. She had no feeling or control in her legs/feet, she could not control her right arm at all, no feeling in her face or forehead, etc. This was at about 1pm. At about 4pm, her pulse raced to 172bpm and her O2 saturation dove below 80%. They brought the crash cart in and there had to be 20 nurses and doctors there. Then, suddenly she let out a sigh and her whole body went limp - no more tremmors but no breathing either. The attending doctor did a sternum rub which after the second or third try resulted in her gasping for air and starting to breath again. Through about 9pm last night, she was on 2ltrs o2, non-rebreath to maintain her o2 saturation. The symtoms subsided to just little twitches about 10pm and that's where we are today.
Now, if that wasn't bad enough - you'll remember that we went into the hospital because the pain was not manageable. Well, when she had the reaction to the drug that I have no idea why they gave her, they took her off of all narcotic pain killers so the pain is worse than when she went in to begin with which she says is worse then childbirth but not as bad as when she had the kidney stone.
Her primary doctor/surgen had not been in yet today when I left at about 4pm so, I'm not sure what the deal is yet. I did have the stat nurse make a note in the chart that they're NOT TO DO ANYTHING without asking ME first as far as changing, adding or removing meds, etc - otherwise I would put my size 13 up someones butt and rotate it.
She didn't have a gastric bypass though. She still has all of her stomach and intestines. They just don't work. She has Gastric Paresis which in simple terms means that her stomach is paralyzed. To try to jump-start it, they implanted a gastric pacemaker. It works just like a cardiac pacemaker only for the stomach. She also has two tubes in her abdomin. One goes to her stomach to drain it so she isn't so nausiated and the other goes to her intestins so we can feed a special formula called osmolite (sp) which is basicly semi-digested Ensure.
I know - it's all very confusing and nobody seems to know why it happened or how to fix it.
We truly appreciate all of your prayers and well wishes.
Semper Fi,
John
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MTS2000des
- Posts: 3347
- Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 4:59 pm
- What radios do you own?: XTS2500, XTS5000, and MTS2000
I know what you are going through John. I lost my mother exactly 1 month and 5 days ago. She was 66 years old, she was diagnosed with lung cancer (and she quit smoking in 1980 and no one else in the house smokes...go figure) in February and was moved to a hospice in April as it was stage 4.She died 5 weeks later. I am not going to sugar coat it....spend every moment you can with her and make it as comfortable as you can for her. I will certainly pray for the best. No matter what know that you and her have a love that knows no boundaries or time and no one can ever take that from you both.
Regards,
Erik in Atlanta
(the guy who sold you the IBM ThinkPad a while back)
Regards,
Erik in Atlanta
(the guy who sold you the IBM ThinkPad a while back)
The views here are my own and do not represent those of anyone else or the company, the boss, his wife, his dog or distant relatives.
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northstarfire0693
- Posts: 75
- Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2006 3:02 am
- What radios do you own?: MTS 2000, HT 1250, MV
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MT2000 man
- Posts: 1307
- Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2001 4:00 pm
- What radios do you own?: XTS5000R, Astro Saber III, I
You both are in my Prayers as well. I wish the both of you my best. You will get through this tough time.Read up on it on the Batlounge - http://www.batlounge.us
She is better - and the flowers were delivered a while ago.
-Alex
She is better - and the flowers were delivered a while ago.
-Alex
The Radio Information Board: http://www.radioinfoboard.com
Your source for information on: Harris/Ma-Comm/EFJ/RELM/Kenwood/ICOM/Thales, equipment.
Your source for information on: Harris/Ma-Comm/EFJ/RELM/Kenwood/ICOM/Thales, equipment.
Hi folks. I just wanted to take a few moments to bring people up to date on RadioWife.
After the fiasco hospital stay that bordered on malpractice a couple of months ago, we fired RadioWife's doctor. Hell, we fired the entire hospital for that matter.
On Friday, we went to see a different surgen. This one is the chief of staff at a different hospital. His reaction to our detailing the saga that we've been through over the past two years was that he was disappointed but not surprised by the level of care and competency that we received. His words were a bit more colorful - to say the least.
Then he had a few more words for us: "I'm going to take your stomach out and give you your life back!" (Emphasis HIS)
RadioWife is scheduled for surgery at 0-dark:30 on August 15th to have her stomach removed. The procedure is called a "Roux-en-Y reconstruction." You can read about it here: http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/help/default.asp?page=3917
She will be having a total gastrectomy - that is, they will be removing her entire stomach.
Please keep us in your prayers. There are so many things going on in our life right now that need them!
Thanks,
John - K4WTF
After the fiasco hospital stay that bordered on malpractice a couple of months ago, we fired RadioWife's doctor. Hell, we fired the entire hospital for that matter.
On Friday, we went to see a different surgen. This one is the chief of staff at a different hospital. His reaction to our detailing the saga that we've been through over the past two years was that he was disappointed but not surprised by the level of care and competency that we received. His words were a bit more colorful - to say the least.
Then he had a few more words for us: "I'm going to take your stomach out and give you your life back!" (Emphasis HIS)
RadioWife is scheduled for surgery at 0-dark:30 on August 15th to have her stomach removed. The procedure is called a "Roux-en-Y reconstruction." You can read about it here: http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/help/default.asp?page=3917
She will be having a total gastrectomy - that is, they will be removing her entire stomach.
Please keep us in your prayers. There are so many things going on in our life right now that need them!
Thanks,
John - K4WTF
Who's on first?
John, I understand. Several years ago, my father went to a prominent local hospital for heart bypass surgery conducted by a surgeon from a leading cardiac center. Dad was in cardiac recovery for over a week after the surgery (most people only spend a day there) and spent another couple of weeks in a regular bed. He basically never recovered from the surgery and died about 6 months later.
My impression through out the whole ordeal was that Dad needed a project manager. The problem was that nobody would take responsibility for his total health picture. The cardiac surgeon declared his work on the bypass a sucess and basically walked away from the problem leaving Dad to the care of respiratory and renal people who fought with each other using conflicting meds and treatments.
It sounds like you and RadioWife are on the right track. But make sure someone is looking out for her overall health. Don't let the medical people take a micro view of their own area of specialty. The body is a system and everything has to work together.
Take care.
Bob...
My impression through out the whole ordeal was that Dad needed a project manager. The problem was that nobody would take responsibility for his total health picture. The cardiac surgeon declared his work on the bypass a sucess and basically walked away from the problem leaving Dad to the care of respiratory and renal people who fought with each other using conflicting meds and treatments.
It sounds like you and RadioWife are on the right track. But make sure someone is looking out for her overall health. Don't let the medical people take a micro view of their own area of specialty. The body is a system and everything has to work together.
Take care.
Bob...
* * * UPDATE * * *
RadioWife had her surgery on Tuesday morning. It lasted about 3 hours or so. She is recovering in the hospital. It is expected that she will be in the hospital for about a week.
The prognosis is excellent. The doctor said that after 30 or so days, she should be good as new - just like 2 years ago before all of this started!
Your prayers are much appreciated!
Thanks,
John
RadioWife had her surgery on Tuesday morning. It lasted about 3 hours or so. She is recovering in the hospital. It is expected that she will be in the hospital for about a week.
The prognosis is excellent. The doctor said that after 30 or so days, she should be good as new - just like 2 years ago before all of this started!
Your prayers are much appreciated!
Thanks,
John
* * * UPDATE * * *
RadioWife was able to get out of her bed and sit in the chair twice today! Moving from one to the other was quite painful but she said that sitting in the chair wasn't too bad.
The Doc said that things are looking very good. They increased her feedings (She still has an NG tube for a while) 3-fold today - up to about the rate she was at before the surgery.
Tomorrow is a big day. The drainage tube that is in her nose will come out. Right now, it is providing a stint to block any fluids from below the surgery from getting to the stitches (or whatever they used) and it is also serving as a drain to get rid of any seepage from the surgery area.
I know that she will be very happy to have that gone. It's irritating the snot out of her right now. She said it feels like she's got phlem in her throat constantly. She also isn't supposed to swallow anything right now which has got to be a royal pain. She has some flavored swabs to keep her mouth wet but she can't swallow. I'm pretty sure that tomorrow, after they take the tube out, she'll be able to swallow.
When I came home from the hospital this morning, we had several cards in the mail that I took back to the hospital with me this evening. I don't know if I mentioned this or not but, she will be spending her birthday in the hospital for the second year in a row this year. We are very hopeful that things will go very well with this surgery and we won't be spending any time at doctors/hospitals beyond your normal checkups once she gets healed up.
Well, I just wanted to take a few moments to give everyone an update. Thank you all so much for your prayers and warm wishes. They mean the world to us!
I'm going to try to get some sleep. I've got to be back at the hospital by 5am if I want to be there for morning rounds.
73 de WTF
RadioWife was able to get out of her bed and sit in the chair twice today! Moving from one to the other was quite painful but she said that sitting in the chair wasn't too bad.
The Doc said that things are looking very good. They increased her feedings (She still has an NG tube for a while) 3-fold today - up to about the rate she was at before the surgery.
Tomorrow is a big day. The drainage tube that is in her nose will come out. Right now, it is providing a stint to block any fluids from below the surgery from getting to the stitches (or whatever they used) and it is also serving as a drain to get rid of any seepage from the surgery area.
I know that she will be very happy to have that gone. It's irritating the snot out of her right now. She said it feels like she's got phlem in her throat constantly. She also isn't supposed to swallow anything right now which has got to be a royal pain. She has some flavored swabs to keep her mouth wet but she can't swallow. I'm pretty sure that tomorrow, after they take the tube out, she'll be able to swallow.
When I came home from the hospital this morning, we had several cards in the mail that I took back to the hospital with me this evening. I don't know if I mentioned this or not but, she will be spending her birthday in the hospital for the second year in a row this year. We are very hopeful that things will go very well with this surgery and we won't be spending any time at doctors/hospitals beyond your normal checkups once she gets healed up.
Well, I just wanted to take a few moments to give everyone an update. Thank you all so much for your prayers and warm wishes. They mean the world to us!
I'm going to try to get some sleep. I've got to be back at the hospital by 5am if I want to be there for morning rounds.
73 de WTF
Glad to see the surgery went well.
I REALLY like the post above that mentions the concept of "project manager" on peoples health.
That often is the problem.
I know of a few more people (including myself) that have found some in the medical profession only think and work as individuals.
Not as a team and "whole body" approach.
I sincerely hope RADIOWIFE has gotten thru the hard part, and is on the road to recovery.
Steve K.
I REALLY like the post above that mentions the concept of "project manager" on peoples health.
That often is the problem.
I know of a few more people (including myself) that have found some in the medical profession only think and work as individuals.
Not as a team and "whole body" approach.
I sincerely hope RADIOWIFE has gotten thru the hard part, and is on the road to recovery.
Steve K.