Ezrah JOY's Fight

Well, village... we come to you today with another update/prayer request. After the ultrasound procedure that Tony had in March, it was discovered that he has some "sludge" in his gallbladder, which CAN be a precursor for another round of pancreatitis. (Apparently, sludge is not something most people have, and given "the perfect storm," it COULD land him back into a lengthy stay at OHSU, or God-forbid, worse.) Tony met with a surgeon on Tuesday, and it has been strongly advised that he has his gallbladder removed to eliminate that as a possibility. Surgery is set for June 10th at OHSU. If you know Tony, he is, of course, trying to wrangle anyway he can to get back to work for financial reasons in LESS than the three week sentencing. Although it will be a robotic surgery with four incisions, the down time is 3 weeks. Best case scenario. He also feels like he's FINALLY back to his fighting weight and FULLY recovered, so, to him, this feels like a MAJOR setback. Un...

             (Blurred photo to protect "the patient") Tony's procedure went really well. As always, we got an AWESOME team assigned to him. OHSU is amazing. BEST, KINDEST, HAPPIEST staff around. (Hey, they played 90's pop in the OR. THESE are my people. Backstreet's BACK alright!! I DID ask to go back with him as a back-up dancer. They smiled and nodded. Politely.) Apparently, all 3 stints had fallen out on their own. Dr. Yu said his pancreas looks remarkably well, all things considered. She said if she hadn't known of his lengthy stay here last year, she would NEVER HAVE BEEN ABLE TO TELL how bad it was. The portion of his pancreas that "died" or necrotized will not come back or repair on its own, but it appears to be functioning well. Not 100%. But, "well." She was pleased.  She did find some "sludge" in his gall bladder. We don't KNOW if that was the cause of pancrea-maggedon 2023. But, she is taking Tony's (Medical ...

It's been a minute. Isn't that just AWESOME?! I've been wanting to come on here and share the latest... We're coming up on the one year mark of Tony's initial hospital admission. March 28th, to be exact. Often, it feels like yesterday. But, sometimes, it feels like a lifetime ago. Because of that, doctors are choosing to do some recon and "check" on things. Tony will undergo an angiogram on March 20th at OHSU. The procedure is supposed to be 2-4 hours, and I'm sure you remember how well he does with those!? (Not well at all. They ALWAYS take longer, with a few hiccups in the past. We've lost count, but I think this will be the 5th one.) My guess is a CT will be around June/July to further check his pancreas. With the new year comes new out-of-pocket maxes and deductibles. But, we believe this is necessary for some peace of mind and to make sure staying off all medications is best. We are hopeful this will just be a quick in and out procedure. Would...

He's officially official. Please give a warm smack on "the bum" (or back, whichever) to our NEWEST U.S Citizen! The Nelson 8 witnessed a beautiful ceremony today at WSU. It really was a special event. Today is historic for The Nelson Legacy. (Thank you for understanding why we didn't invite others. If you know Tony, you know he's not one for attention. After this last year, I think he's "attentioned" out.) It was really just a day we wanted to celebrate with the kids. I am just thrilled that they all cleared their schedules today, and we "home-schooled" in US History, hard. (Naturalization Ceremony!? Doesn't get more American/historical than that!) A brief health update: Tony has a vascular ultrasound tomorrow at OHSU that we would really love covered in prayer. (It's at 1pm.) As many remember, the last ultrasound landed us back at OHSU for 5 days because of the newly discovered blood clots. Tony's been off blood thinners for a ...

 December Update - Kinda a big one.  Few people know, but Tony had another recent "flare-up" with his "sub-par," VERY damaged pancreas that began on Sunday and lasted two days. (Yes, he took his citizenship test in pain, cause you don't reschedule with the USCIS.) But, we aren't messing around, and so today (Wednesday) we found ourselves back at OHSU for a check-in. (Remind me to make a PowerPoint Ted Talk on TRAUMA/PTSD.)  We left OHSU with a better plan on how to manage these "flares" so that in the future, he doesn't have to miss MORE work time. (2 days off this week) And we left with future lab draws for some genetic testing. Jury says this is all still "idiopathic".... so, in a true episode of "House" fashion, we're still "guessing" on what to stay away from as far as nutrition. But, this was the VERY first time we'd heard about options should this ever become chronic and/or progressively worse. There ...

  November Update: Dare I type it....but life has been relatively boring on the medical front for Tony & Ezrah. Tony has been stable for several months, and we will meet with Hematology in December. He is still on the dockett for a repeat CT, and we will do another round of baseline labs to check how his pancreas is doing. One of the "concerns" has always been his insulin levels holding steady with a now compromised pancreas.  Ezrah had a follow-up with Rheumatology last week at Randall's. We have FINALLY found a prescription that keeps her pain at bay. THIS IS HUGE. Her doctors would like her on it for a year. She has to do a blood draw (pray for our girl) next month to make sure her liver and kidney are tolerating it well. She has NO signs of arthritis and she no longer limps. This time last year was such a scary time. We just didn't know what we were dealing with, and she was in and out of a wheelchair having one surgery behind her. What a kid. Her resiliency i...

 A lil' October update.  *Tony is stable. We meet with Hematology in December.  *Ezrah is stable. She's on a new prescription that seems to help with her nighttime pain. She has gone 5 nights (by her own choosing) WITHOUT medication, and the pain has not returned. She will have a repeat CT scan in the coming months to see if the "spot" in her bone has been reduced. We meet again with Rheumatology next month. *Micah. For those who saw my IG post. His dominant hand had a run-in with a hedge trimmer while working at our friends house, which landed us in the ER. His hand/fingers were stitched up. We are thankful. It could've been SOOOO MUCH worse. But, he has ALL of his extremities and was only out of tennis for 2 weeks. He's playing District's this weekend, and has already secured his spot for Regionals (Bi-Districts) next weekend in Tacoma, representing Prairie High School.  I'm fixin' to contact the local hospitals for my own parking spot or at LEAS...