purple room vents: ANOTHER BIG EVENT HAPPENED

First let me mention that I have April's consent to write about this. I have waited until it has happened and she okayed it.

Going back a ways, and I may have mentioned something about this a while back, Bill's sister discovered that she was a BRACC (sp?) gene carrier. It was in the family.

For those new to the genetic anomaly, this is the same gene that Angelina Jolie and Christina Applegate have. It makes offspring that inherit the gene from their parent susceptible to breast and ovarian/uterine cancer. You hear how it runs in families? Well that is the BRACC gene that causes that. Bill got tested, tested positive and both Jen and April tested positive.

One of the pro active plans for these people with the gene is to opt for a total mastectomy asap and an oophorectomy (complete removal of all female reproductive organs) when reaching the age of 40. And as you can imagine this action is drastic and pretty difficult emotionally.

Of course another option is to just pretend no such thing exists and don't even get tested. Which in my opinion isn't very brave and they live by the roll of the dice. I just read that there is a 90% chance of getting cancer and having the operations takes it down to 1%.

April was getting scheduled back in her late twenties to get the double mastectomy but that bully covid happened and anyone with covid became a whole lot more important than anyone else, no matter what they had. So here we are, years later and April finally got the call, a date, and sh*t got real. It knocked her for a serious loop. She found out one month before the date. Not a huge amount of time to adjust. But maybe that was a good thing. I don't know.

Anyway she had that massive operation two days ago. And due to certain private circumstances to do with her muscles in her chest, the muscles reacted in an unexpected way that caused her the kind of pain that makes you hallucinate...blinding terrible pain. And what makes this so awful is she can't take serious opioid pain meds. She has the kind of reaction to them that makes her go crazy. So she was given hydromorphine that basically does nothing but make you shake uncontrollably. It sure doesn't help with the pain. Anyway, details.

Suffice it to say she went through the kind of pain very few of us ever know, thank God. That poor girl couldn't move. Normally it's a day surgery and you are sent home the same day. They kept her in overnight and wouldn't release her til she could get up and make it to the loo on her own. Which def couldn't happen the first day.

Anyway Myles, bless his heart, went out to UBC and picked her up yesterday. Thank God the muscle issue seems to have died down a wee bit. He got her home and into a fabulous reclining rocking chair her awesome friend has leant her. I think she might be on her healing way. It's going to hurt for a long time though.

One thing that seems to be resolving itself....she is handling the psychological side of things waaaay better than I was so worried about. She is truly amazingly strong. I think she has even surprised herself although I think she will have a little ptsd about the extreme pain she went through...she wasn't expecting it to be that severe.

And I mention here very briefly, it just isn't alright for the mom to know their child is being butchered and in severe terrible pain. I spent the two days crying and freaking out. It's a good thing I wasn't there. I would have been a shameful hindrance. But now she is in the good hands of Myles, who is truly spoiling her and waiting on her. He has taken the week off to be with her.

And now I am turning my attention to final packing for the trip. I just checked the weather in Alaska. Sigh. It doesn't go above about 12 and it is raining. Fortunately both Monte and I are quite happy to just stay on the boat. I am the polar opposite of my sister, who is going about a week later on a cruise to Alaska. She will be hiking and participating and eating in the dining room with hordes of people, having a great time! Monte and I are not those people! Hahahaha!!!! We'd be happy if we never got off the boat.

So I am going to have to haul out my winter clothes box. (shovel list). You watch. I will pack all my warm stuff and then they will have a freak hot spell. And when you are a chub-a-lub you can't fit two season's worth of clothes in one suitcase. I think I have lost my packing ability!!! I used to be able to do this blindfolded.

Well I hope April doesn't feel like I did her any disservice in this post. It was so very traumatizing for her and Myles and her family. And I am so happy she is home with Myles, even though her next few weeks will be rough. And now I will have a niggling worry in my mind for my other children. With both of my older ones facing work issues, it never ends, the worry. You think when they are little that when they reach 20 and leave home that the worry is over. It actually gets worse. I just want them settled and happy. But...life happens!

Now I am off to the basement for winter clothes. And I will need my summer ones til we leave on the fifteenth. It's a beautiful day today....I hope it is in your neck of the woods!!! TTYL

***I always thought Karl Marx was a benevolent old dude. Maybe a little unrealistically positive, but a kind old gent. Get this quote by him.

'The only antidote to mental suffering is physical pain.' Karl Marx

Jeez Louise!!!!