UPDATE: I Am STILL Bill’s Gall Bladder
July 29, 2008 | Uncategorized | Comments [1]
Okay, here’s the scoop.
As the pain continued unrelenting, on Saturday early P.M. Nancy called my Doctor, and he advised that we go to the ER. After a five-hour wait there, we were finally checked out by the ER attending, and checked in to the hospital. The prognosis was a bad-boy gall bladder that would likely need to be removed ASAP.
The first complication arose when a Two-In-The-Morning ultrasound scan revealed NOTHING in the way of gallstones. So the decision was made to go for a CT scan, which took place a 5:00 in the morning (this was Sunday). Finally, about mid-morning on Sunday one (of many) doctors appeared to tell me that, indeed, there appeared to be no gallstones, but that my pancreas showed inflammation. The only thing for it was, of course, more tests.
Keep in mind that I had been allowed nothing to eat OR drink in all this time and so hadn’t had anything since 7 AM on Saturday. So whether I wanted to or not, I was definitely fasting for Beth’s sake!
I went in that night for what is called a HIDA scan, some sort of “nuclear imaging” where you have to get injected with an isotope. The thing is, you have to lie on this narrow table with barely room for your arms – they put an elastic strap around you to hold your arms in place – and it takes TWO HOURS for the entire scan.
Fortunately I had just taken my three-hourly dose of Demerol, and so I slept through most of it.
Next morning, still more doctors, this time to tell me “you gall bladder appears fine but it has VERY low production of gall,” which could mean a lot of things, of course. The most likely, for some reason – for me, it didn’t follow, but I’m no gastroenterologist – was an ulcer, either gastric (stomach) or duodenal (in the duodenum, of course).
So, yet another test, this time scheduled for mid-morning on Monday, an EGD endoscopy (esophogeal – gastro – duodenal).
One good thing is that I was now allowed to “feast” on a liquid diet including chicken broth, vanilla pudding, apple juice and milk. I really felt like it was thanksgiving, after my 40-hour fast. Beth should now be fully healed.
The next morning, of course, things were delayed, and I didn’t actually get in to the surgery for the endoscopy until after noon. Again, nothing to eat or drink for all that time. They did the scope, and it showed – nothing. There was some sort of “soft spot” that they biopsied, but it proved to be nothing, at least not as of this writing.
So, they released me yesterday afternoon, told me to just continue with my present medications, and hope that it doesn’t recur. In the meantime, it seems like all that fasting and all the IV antibiotics must’ve knocked out the infection or whatever, because I haven’t had any more pain. I’m continuing with the Ceftin (oral antibiotic) and the pain meds as needed (haven’t been needed yet) and we’re scheduled to pull out of here around noon today, headed first to Mobile.
We’ll pick up Julia and leave Mobile tomorrow, should get to B’ham in the early afternoon. We’ll leave Julia and the kids at Beth’s house for a couple of hours, and go and visit Uncle Fred at the place near St. Vincent’s where he’s taking the chemo. He probably won’t be able to actually see us, but at least we’ll see him, and the family.
Then we’ll leave, say 4:00 in the afternoon or so, and we should be at De Soto sometime Wednesday night at 7 or 8.
Love to all.
Fred at Hanover House
July 28, 2008 | Ancestry | No Comments
Bill SR tells me Fred Polhemus has opted for an aggressive chemotherapy treatment. This will keep him in a long state of exhaustion. He has been moved to the ‘Hanover House’ behind St Vincent’s hospital for those that wish to visit when they are in town. It is a care facility specifically for those undergoing harsh treatments.
Omg[osh] I haven’t been here for awhile
July 27, 2008 | Self-Kudos | No Comments
ok even though most of you saw me last night I am making an update of video’s, Pictures, and such that I have told call about here is a list.
Animation I made:
Baily had the idea for the video I just played along XD I feel so stupid lol
the music video I made for my father:
my music site: http://www.myspace.com/ortha
and I have a TON of new pictures on my art page which you can find on the side bar thing under categories,
WOOH! lol see yall Thursday!
“I Am Bill’s Gall Bladder”
July 25, 2008 | Items of Interest | Comments [2]
When I was a kid, back before Al Gore invented the Internet, before ATM machines, automatic transmissions, raised-letter tires, and continuous-roll toilet paper (forget it; you don’t want to know), “Papa Luis” had a perpetual subscription to “Reader’s Digest.”
It was ubiquitous in our household, even before the “1048 Sunset Boulevard” era (roughly co-terminous with the Upper Permian geologic epoch). There was always a pile of back-issues sitting on the toilet tank in the bath-room; I think the issue reporting on the George Washington Inaugural was permanently adhered to that of the “pink bathroom” for about 150 years or so.
Anyway, as a voracious reader I was enthralled with the magazine and its articles. I would read the many regular topical “jokes” columns that appeared monthly (such as the one regarding military life, called “Humor in the Athenian Phalanx Formation,” or that depicting daily life in general, “Life In These Loosely-Federated States of the Holy Roman Empire,” etc.), and I very much enjoyed the many “condensed books” installments (the serialization of “Plato’s Republic,” which had just come out in paperback in CXI A.D. was a particular favorite).
But by far my favorite semi-regular feature was that detailing the various organs and members of the human body, called “I Am Joes [FILL IN THE NAME OF THE BODY-PART DU JOUR ].” For example, you’d have “I Am Joe’s Heart,” about the primary muscle of the circulatory system; or “I Am Joe’s Pancreas,” which oddly enough dealt with the pancreas.
The stories were written in “first person” (or perhaps I should say “first organ”) style, so that the Heart is telling its own story – an amazing feat since no one knew that the human heart could write, much less hire a literary agent. For instance, an introductory sentence to “I Am Joe’s Lungs” reads:
“Without me, Joe could not take in oxygen to feed his red blood cells”.
Yeah, pretty riveting stuff. But it did feed a lot of factual information that later on served me well as “crib notes” for biology class, and I learned a lot of stuff I did not actually know, like the fact that “hormones” are produced by “ductless” organs (mostly residing, of course, in the the body of Joe at 15 or 16 years of age).
Oh, and who WAS Joe? Just a composite average red-blooded American male of indeterminate age (well, except for the part in “I Am Joe’s Circulatory System” that dealt with anemia).
As you might expect, given my teen-aged state at the time, and the natural curiosity about some of the more interesting parts of the body that I had kept in occasional contact with, I was very much interested to see how some of those were going to be treated. Alas, however, such articles never appeared at least in the issues that we had on the toilet tank (Mother might well have kept those out of sight, however; very unfair of her under the circumstances).
But there’s another interesting organ that I do not remember ever seeing treated in the season: “I Am Joe’s Gall Bladder.” I may well have missed it – over time, I began to skip some of the titles that promised little in the way of titillating…er, I mean to say EDUCATIONAL content.
So, herewith is my modest contribution in the spirit of that dearly-beloved Reader’s Digest series, which I have for some reason decided to call “I Am Bill’s Gall Bladder.”
I am Bill’s Gall Bladder. Not having much time or inclination toward basic research, I’m not really at all sure what I’m supposed to be doing, residing as I do in Bill’s increasingly-capacious abdominal cavity, near (or even attached to) the Liver. But I do know that I secrete a substance known throughout antiquity as “gall,” hence my rather clever name. “Gall,” or “bile,” is known over the many centuries of Western civilization as comprising two – “yellow” and “black” bile – of the four essential “humours” circulating through the human body, along with “blood” and “phlegm.” The term “bilious” arose from this belief that originated, it seems, with the ancient Greeks.
(There are rumors – or I guess I should spell it “rumours” to keep in the spirit of things – of a so-called “fifth humour”: fartus maximus, which was known to be particularly exhbited (or expressed) by males with a fondness for legumes and summer sausage, but it was eventually dropped from the lexicon of ancient medical art at the insistence of the approximate one-half of the human race known as the “female,” on the theory that “denial isn’t just a river in Egypt.” But I digress).
At some point in the life of the average Bill (or Nancy), I, the Gall Bladder, seek to gain greater attention and notoriety chiefly through the subtle act of making Bill feel like a 6′-8″ cop with a pointy riot-stick has made him the object of his attentions by poking the thing hard just under BIll’s ribs and halfway into his thoracic cavity, all without, amazingly enough, actually breaking the skin.
“Oof,” says Bill, and we’re off and running. Bill is often inclined to express his appreciation for the decades of my quiet service until that point, by visiting his primary care physician, negotiating the mounds of HMO referral paperwork (and a ten-day waiting period), and seeking to have me completely extracted from his abdomen, where I have served faithfully since a couple of months before his birth, and thrown into the nearest Biohazard container.
Yeah, thanks for nothin’.
Anyway, I apologize for the brief nature of the foregoing, but I haven’t had much of a chance to clean up the prose any, spending a great deal of my time the last couple of days since the ol’ gall bladder flare-up, popping Vicodin and moaning and groaning on the bed, much to the delight of my wife who is probably in favor of euthanasia as a possible solution to my ills, about now.
So if I appear particularly, well, “bilious,” at the family get-together next week, please don’t hold it against me.
It’s all the fault of my @#&% gall bladder which, after nearly fifty-one years of quiet reflection, has decided to thump on the ceiling of its apartment – repeatedly – to let me know how things are with it.
My doctor assures me that it’s not simply a question of age, as young people can have gall bladder problems as well. But all I can say is “if I could live without it, why the heck is it rocking the boat right now? Doesn’t it know that the Biohazard bucket is waiting?”
Can’t wait to see everybody.
Comics & Twilight Series
July 24, 2008 | Items of Interest | Comments [6]
So…Julie…I am thinking maybe You, Maria, Jordan and Myself will be sneaking off one night say around midnight to hit the closest Walmart or Book Store?? Are you in??
Ben, Jason wants to know if there are any comics you might be looking for or are interrested in. He has a few boxes full but doesn’t know what you might like. Mostly stuff around the time of Avengers, and…well…I don’t know. Can’t remember. Anyway… let me know. -carmen
EMERGENCY!!! EMERGENCY ISSUE HERE!!!
July 23, 2008 | Uncategorized | Comments [10]
OK, so look, I realize it’s less than a week till the reunion, but Julie and I have an emergency situation here! I know there are other issues we’re all dealing with right now, like:
• money
• gas
• injuries
• car problems
• pregnant teens
• the end of an awesome animated TV series
• mentally gearing up to “love” each other at the reunion as opposed to the “fighting like cats and dogs” we would normally do. Which, I thought, was our way of showing “love”. But whatever…I can fake it.
But what trumps all that is the fact that Julie and I have not seen BATMAN yet.
…
…
Well, how do we solve this people? I’m thinking: Tibetin monks, a paper clip, and two pounds of chocolate bars.
But I’m just spitball’n here.
anybody else?
Beth….
July 22, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments
We won’t be arriving in Birmingham until Saturday evening. After hearing of your condition, we won’t put anymore on you than you can bear. We will have already eaten dinner, so make no preparations for us. I’m going to call you tomorrow, so you probably won’t even see this post Love, MOM
BUDDY: Update on Fred Polhemus Sr.
July 22, 2008 | Ancestry | Comments [8]
I thought this message from BUDDY was important enough to receive a post of its own, rather than just as part of Buddy’s response regarding Beth:
I went to UAB Hospital to sit with Fred Polhemus Saturday Night (Bill Polhemus SR’s oldest brother). He probably won’t be with us through the end of the week. The cancer is everywhere. His son Rick was there with his wife and daughter Stephanie (25 yrs old). Though humor abounded (Fred has a sense of humour drier than the Sahara Desert) and everyone was glad to see one another (I haven’t seen my cousin Rick in 20 years) this is never the situation one chooses to get back together. Fred hugged me and kissed my hand and said he was so glad to see me. Rick told me that the night before, Bill SR had to go out in the hallway to cry because Fred had just thanked his little brother for all the wonderful things he had done for him and his family over the years and Fred told him that he loved him. If you have ever known Fred, you’d know that was NOT his natural way of expressing himself.
I spent Sunday evening at the home of Bill Polhemus SR’s sister, Amanda Lemay. Jacob and I went over to eat with Bill SR with his wife Sarah, Amanda with her husband Bobby, the other sister Mary with her husband Ben and Fred’s wife Beverly. Believe me when I say that loud get togethers are not just specific to Pagan get togethers. Bill SR was his jovial self, Amanda tooled around and hostessed as best she could and Mary sat on the couch to converse. They talked about everything and Mary turned to me and she asked me why my mother, Elaine never became a writer. I told her that Mom writes quite often now, why would she wonder that. Mary said that while she and Ben were stationed in Japan she used to get the most glorious letters from Mom. They were so detailed you could see and smell everything she was describing. I told Mary that Mom still writes that way and has several Grand daughters that have the same gift. Those letters came to Mary 50 years ago and she still remembered them fondly.
Anyway, the point of my own novel here was to say… let’s enjoy this upcoming opportunity. Let’s hug and bless one another while we can and while we are all still healthy and happy and earthbound. Let’s have some good memories cause the Grandkids will be talking about this when they get together in 2058:)
The very moment that has just passed by
It’s gone forever you can laugh or cry
In our memories we fall or fly …away
This Kind Goeth Not Out But By Prayer and Fasting
July 21, 2008 | Items of Interest | Comments [3]
Greetings, family. We’re of course counting down the days until we all meet in Alabama. Just a little over a week till our family leaves!
Now, I have a special request, from myself, but on behalf of our daughter, sister, wife, mother and aunt Beth Polhemus Rohrach, whom most all of you know. She and I have always had a special relationship and we still talk from time to time.
I spoke with her last week and she revealed that she has had some health problems of late, related to her back. I hope she’ll forgive me if I don’t have all the facts straight, and I’m sure she’ll correct anything that I have wrong.
She had been complaining of lower back pain, and went to see an Orthopaedist. He told her she’d probably need surgery for what looked like a herniated, or perhaps ruptured disc between two of her vertabrae. This isn’t an unusual procedure any more; our father Bill Sr. had it done about thirty years ago, and I’m sure the procedure has improved much since that time.
In the meantime, the Orthopaedist recommended that she get a “pain block” (epidural, I’m assuming) under a surgeon’s care, as she and her family were about to leave on vacation. She had that done, but just a few days later, while they were away, it “broke,” and she spent a couple of agonizing days on her hotel bed, downing pain pills, until they could get her home.
Upon examination by the surgeon, it was discovered that somehow the pain-block procedure had actually caused direct damage to the spinal cord itself, causing some bruising, perhaps even ongoing bleeding. At that point she also consulted a neurologist. Of the three physicians, the orthopaedist, surgeon and neurologist, two recommended the disc surgery and one strenuously recommended against it.
So Beth is left with the lingering pain which COULD actually get worse at some point, and a decision to make regarding the surgery. She wanted my input.
I suggested that this was something a bit beyond human understanding, given the risks, and I thought that we should have a family fast and prayer day on next Sunday, July 27, which is the Sunday before our reunion, and also that we gather to give her a priesthood blessing, those who would desire to do so, and hopefully we can give her some relief and also help her to decide what she ought to do.
So please, plan to fast and pray on this coming Sunday, on behalf of Beth, if you would. Those who have the opportunity to do so should also consider putting her name on the temple prayer roll.
Here is a scripture that came to my mind when I was talking to Beth about it:
14 …there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,
15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he afalleth into the fire, and oft into the water.
16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
17 Then Jesus answered and said, O afaithless and bperverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.
19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your aunbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have bfaith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this cmountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be dimpossible unto you.
21 Howbeit this akind goeth not out but by prayer and bfasting.
Matthew 17:14-21
I hope we can have a good participation on Beth’s behalf.
Love, Bro. Bill.
Soooooo bored… so sad… T-T
July 20, 2008 | Uncategorized | Comments [2]
Sry if this is random but i am just soooooooOOOOOOOOOOoOOOoooooOooooooo bored right now and was on the websit and sait to myself, “Hey, why dont i just whine to the pepz to pass the time?” I am sad for a few reasons. 1: I am writing at least 7 stories and have writers block. 2: I is hungry but it is to late to eat… and 3: One of my favorite shows, Avatar, the last airbender, is now over! O-V-E-R, OVER! *Great job! you just won the spelling bee championship* … I wish I won (Sniffle) stupid optomistic side of me, mak’n me feeeeeeel bad. I mean, it wasn’t the best show I’ve ever seen, its just that now there wont be any new eps and I amz going to miss the charactors soooooooooOOOOOOoooOOoOoOoOOO much!!!!! The sarcasim, the bad yet somtimes funny jokes, the suspence, the heart touching talks of hope and friendship and love that usually make you want to fastfoward threw the mushyness of it all. The flying byson Apa and Momo… Oh how I will miss that flying lemer Momo sooooooooo! If you saw the show you would get where im comming from. I cried when it ended! Luckely the saddness is slowly ebbing away. Pickles! Well, I feel better talking about it. Dont bother to leave a message. This was for self purposes only. I’m even posting it on uncategorized so you can all see it.
t-shirts
July 18, 2008 | Uncategorized | Comments [3]
They are cute as buttons, I waS GONNA ORDER SOME MORE FOR THE KIDS, BUT bETH NEVER SENT HER MONEY AND I COVERED HER FOR HER AND PAUL AND THE TWO KIDS AND COULDN’T COVER HER FOR THE LITTLE ONES. SO, THE KIDS GET SIZE MEDIUM BUT YOU GUYS THAT SENT MONEY WILL LOVE THE T-SHIRTS. AND THE KIDS WILL LOVE THE SIZE MEDIUM BECAUSE THEY CAN WEAR TEHM LATER.
Plans keep Changing
July 17, 2008 | Travels | Comments [1]
We’re thinking now that Jordan and Jani may go ahead with Luis and me on Friday the 25th to Birmingham straight to Beth’s house, with hopes that someone can be there at some time that evening to transport Jani to Crystal’s house.
Then….On Sunday, Jason and Carmen and Teyla will go to Jacksonville and pick up Maria and go straight to Desoto Park. There, we will divide up people and bags and baggage, as most of us will have checked in to our various abodes by then. Maria is having big trouble with her back, and we cannot see her driving all that distance by herself. She has been in a lot of pain. I only wish she had the time and money to go to Birmingham one day and let Lake work on her back. Just wishing. I think she goes to a chiropractor??
Anyway..See you soon.
BEN-SO SORRY!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
July 15, 2008 | Uncategorized | Comments [5]
Yesterday, that is! I can’t believe I forgot to call you, or to put your happy birthday on this web. What did I do yesterday that was so important that I didn’t remember my baby boy?? Well, I mailed you a card on Saturday, but it probably didn’t reach you on time, either. We were busy with a garage sale on Friday and Saturday! Yes, that’s what we were doing! Resting up from that hectic garage sale.
No excuse. We love you.
Tony Snow
July 14, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments
What a precious man! I was stunned to my boots to hear of his death! I never knew that he had cancer. I’ve been out of tune in politics for two years. It’s too upsetting. But he was a very kind and wonderful conservative voice. He never let liberals unnerve him, and to me, he was the very best voice that Bush could have called to represent him as his press secretary.
I only hope that someone in his family is a member of the church and will see to it that his ordinance work is done a year from now. You can bet I’ll be checking in the NEWFAMILY temple files, and watching for his name.
Here’s the Game Plan
July 11, 2008 | Uncategorized | Comments [4]
Unless it changes, of course.
Jordan will go with Luis and me on Friday, July 25th, and we’ll arrive at Beth’s and Paul’s home somewhere between 7-11:00 0′clock. That all depends on when we can get away from here, and how many pit stops we make on the way. We also have to allow for any possible breakdowns or accidents, etc., which aren’t likely to occurr, but must be factored in. We will drop our bags there, with plans to stay there on Friday night and Saturday night. On Sunday, we won’t leave for Desoto Park until afternoon, because we can’t check in until 4:00. I suppose that’s when all of us will check in, meaning Beth and Paul and the boys, etc.
Carmen will leave Debary on Saturday, because Jason can’t get off work until then. They will have Jani and Teyla with them, and they are heading to Brenda’s house. If Crystal is off work, and can be on hand to pick up Jani, that would be nice. She could spend Saturday night with them, and go to the park with them on Sunday. She will be a full seven months pregnant by July 29th. The baby is already fully active. He kicks around quite a bit
Coal wars Chapter 1
July 8, 2008 | Uncategorized | Comments [8]
Chapter 1
The air was crisp and dry as I breathed in, slowly awakening into consciousness. My muscles strained as I stretched in my small den. I yawned and licked my dry lips. Some leaves under my paws crunched, telling me I would have to find new bedding. I scratched my ear with my hand leg before scrambling out of my den. The warm light immediately hurt my eyes, and ran for cover under the shade of a tree. The shade helped my eyes, but it wasn’t at all cool. The grass under me was brown and dead and crunching as I moved; dead leaves surrounded the base of the tree, and some pale green ones that finally lost their weakened grip spiraled downward from above. A snap sounded above me and I instinctively shot my head in the direction, only to see Susan dangling from the end of a broken branch. “Help!” her small voice squeaked. I sighed and walked under her. “Susan, let go of the branch; I’m under you now,” I yelled up to her. She must have recodnized my voice, for she did not hesitat to let go. She fell into my hands with a light ‘thump’, than straiteded up and ran onto my head. Her squirrel like body relaxed as I moved down to the path to Sparrow pond. there was a thick silence and I was about to say something, but Susen beat me to it. “Have you noticed that it hasn’t rained for half a season?” she asked. ‘Way to state the obviouse’ I thought. I leapt over a log and listened to the flutter of wings before answering. “Yes, do you suppose its the dragons’ doing?” I had high suspicions that the dragons had done something to the air to keep it from raining. They always used poisons and pollutants to give us trouble. It wouldn’t be hard for them. For years now they’ve made trouble for us; one time, they dumped toxic oil into the river that that flows from the mountains. It took us half of last spring to clean the water, and 6 rock hoppers still died. I for one wanted to drive them out of the mountains altogether, but even with the whole forests help we would be no match for all those dragons. The though of an un-winable war frustrated me to no end. As we approached Sparrow pond Susan jumped off my head and ran ahead of me. She was always so energetic, and her spirit kept my hopes up about the drought. I was just beginning to enjoy the silence, when a streak behind the bushes sounded. “Susen?” I asked in a worried tone jumping through the bushes the led to the pond. When i was out into the clearing, my heart skipped a beat. Sparrow pond, the largest and deepest pond in the whole valley, was no bigger then a puddle. Oh…No.
~Hope you liked it. please ignore the grammer, and if it needs anything tell me!
P.S Its a bit late… sorry ’bout that. ‘-_- ~
BUDDY
July 6, 2008 | Uncategorized | Comments [3]
I thought of this weeks and weeks ago, and just now tonight talking to Beth remembered it, but here it is:
Why can’t Melissa come with part or all of the children part or all of the time??? I think only the little rustic cabins are left. Maybe some chalets. But there is the Motel, of course. She will receive nothing but the kindest of treatment. No one is going to this reunion with an axe to grind. If so, I think it’s better not to go.
This is a time to grow closer as a family. Think about it. I don’t know anything about her schedule (work or schedule, etc.). Anyway. She is welcome to come.
BRENDA….BETH
July 6, 2008 | Uncategorized | Comments [2]
Birmingham….We’re getting ready to invade. Just two weeks from Friday and a whole carload is heading your way. Luis, me, Carmen, Jordan, Teyla, Jani, (and I’m not sure about Jason). Maria has decided to wait until Sunday, and drive straight to Desoto Park, and drop her bag wherever somebody has space. Who will have space? Crystal? Brenda? Or Ben…have you worked it out with somebody? (Maria, herself) or maybe Tony??
But back to Birmingham. Everybody is penniless, so we will need to sleep on somebody’s floor until we check into our various abodes on Sunday at the park. So, who is going to put us up? Where should we drive to on Friday, and place our bags for two nights and two and 1/2 days?
I need to make an appointment with Hillary to have my hair shampooed, cut, and set. Will you do that Brenda. Make an appointment for me on Saturday, July 26th, and get me to the appointment. Maybe you can do your hair at the same time.
Beth…are you listening. People are heading toward Birmingham on July 25th. On July 26th, I need my hair done by my granddaughter, Hillary. Will you or Brenda see about it? Carmen may want to do it, too. I don’t know. Hillary might get flooded.