Thinking Day – Grenada

World Thinking Day is a holiday celebrated every Feb. 22 by Girl Guides and Girl Scouts around the world. It is a day when we all think about what life is like for girls elsewhere in the world. I thought I’d celebrate Thinking Day by sharing a little of what life here in Grenada is like. This is only my second day, though, so I asked my friends (Flat Stacy and my friends from Newcastle) to scout out some things to share with you…

On her visit to Grenada, Stacy and Celeste decided to go down to the beach to see what happens there. She saw some people using the ocean to wash themselves, others going swimming for exercise, and others swimming with spears to catch octopi and lobster. Stacy considered going snorkelling, but realized the mask would probably not fit her. Instead, Stacy decided to go fishing. Fishing is a common source of income for local people here, although many people grow spices such as nutmeg and cinnamon, and there is lots of tourism on the island.

Because it is a tropical island, there are fruit trees and flowers everywhere. Here Stacy stopped to smell the national flower – the Bougainvillea.

Grenada recently celebrated their independence day. Grenadians are proud of their beautiful country. Sarita went with Maria to a local celebration where they spotted some Grenadian Girl Guides in a parade. Sarita also got a Grenadian flag to wave at the parade.

Many people come to Grenada to learn to become doctors and veterinarians. Stacy decided to go see the St. George's University campus, where Dan, Celeste and Matt go to school. While at the university, she saw students spending a lot of hours a day listening to professors in lecture halls. Here she listened to a lecture.

Other hours of the day are spent in the library, quietly studying from books.

For more information about Flat Stacy and her adventures with Girl Scouts, see Flat Stanley's website.

Coming Home!

Thanks to everyone who has been praying for my mom. Last Friday, she had a procedure where they irritated the sac containing her lungs and the inside walls of her chest so that the lung sac would scar and attach to the chest wall. That went really well and they've been draining fluid out of her chest since then. This has allowed her lungs to reinflate. Once all the fluid is out and she's all scarred internally, there will be nowhere left for the fluid to collect, so no worries about her lungs being squished again. The oncologist claims this procedure should really keep the fluid from gathering again and causing problems.

So...mom is scheduled to head home before the weekend. They're removing the tube tomorrow and will likely observe her for a bit longer. Then she heads home with some antibiotics, blood thinner shots to give herself for a while and still a week or two until her next chemo. I think she's looking forward to no longer having a "buddy" (first the IV drip stand, then her box collecting chest fluid).

Tomorrow I get to find out the results of a bunch of tests to determine if my shoulder problem could be something other than Parsonage Turner Syndrome. On Monday I did some blood work and an MRI with contrast. Sadly, the neurologist didn't warn me that the "with contrast" would mean I couldn't nurse Penny for two days. There were some last minute purchases of bottles, formula and a breast pump to do what I could to keep her fed and prevent my milk from drying up. I called his office to yell at him over that. I've already been having problems with milk supply, probably due to stress. It was entertaining doing the switch over -- who knew it was so much trouble to wash bottles, boil them, dry them and then prepare them?!! Since I do want to resume breastfeeding, any time I wasn't messing with bottles I was trying to hand express or pump. I'm looking forward to going back to using bottles as a supplement rather than the main form of feeding. I am actually thankful that my milk had started to give out before this test hit, though. I only taught Penny to use a bottle last week as a way to supplement my shortfall. Perhaps with the pump I'll be able to get my supply up in time for the three month growth spurt I've been warned about.

So generally, things are looking up here. Depending on how Mom is doing at home, I might even have a chance to get down to Grenada soon. I'm definitely looking forward to joining Dan. He's a horrible tease, sending photos of lizards and calling at night with frogs singing in the background. He also torments me with stories of his skirmishes with the local ants. My oldest memory is actually of tearing an ant apart in the apartment we lived in when I was two or three. Yes, the love of insects does go back remarkably far. Who knows what spark will catch Penny's fancy as she grows?

Tests Are Back

My mom went in for a CAT scan this past Friday, along with a cardiac test, to find out more about why she's been short of breath and whether there are tumors anywhere in her body. She had just gotten home when the hospital called to tell her she needed to get back to the hospital immediately to check in for the weekend. They had finally gotten the results in from all her various tests...

Bad news:

1. the biopsy came back positive, so she does have cancer cells growing in her chest cavity
2. she got admitted in the hospital so immediately because the cardiac test had revealed blood clots in major arteries in her abdomen and they wanted to put her on blood thinners immediately
3. the fluid around her lungs had to be removed so she could breathe, despite risks

Good news:

1. the cancerous fluid isn't in the lungs or the sac containing the lungs, it's in the chest cavity
2. CAT scan revealed no big tumors anywhere, so surgery not required
3. Sonogram revealed no additional blood clots in her legs

On Sunday, Mom was taken off the blood thinners briefly so they could remove the chest fluid. The procedure was more painful than last time, so they didn't remove as much fluid. The procedure went well, though, so she was breathing a bit more freely. Then she was right back on blood thinners to minimize the risk of the blood clots moving somewhere dangerous. She'll be in the hospital for careful monitoring for a few more days.

It has obviously been a little stressful to have so many bad things happen in such a short time. I'm really relieved, though, because there was something obviously wrong and we were just dealing with it at home. Now at least we know what the wrong things were and she's getting treatment and being monitored. Even though the hospital obviously doesn't expect people to bring babies there (no changing tables anywhere), Penny and I have been every day so far to help raise Mom's (and all the nurses') spirits. Babies appear to be a real rarity on the pulmonary (lung) ward -- almost as rare as non-smokers. I'm not sure what to do about when Mom comes home, though. Word is, she'll probably have to inject herself with blood thinners at home. None of us currently in the house likes needles, though. I'm not sure how long the shots will be necessary, either.

We continue to play it by ear. We're not waiting on any more test results, though, so hopefully the bad news will thin out for a bit. The best way to help for now is to keep Mom in your prayers. We'll keep folks posted as new developments come.