Ryan's Grandmother Winters trying to keep the transplant smell at bay!
Ryan's dad, Steve and brother, Spencer
This is what Ryan has to wear if he leaves his clean, air-filtered hospital room.Marcia and I visited Ryan last night and he is looking and feeling very good. He said he got sick in the night but it didn't last long. His biggest problem now is BOREDOM! He can't really leave his room other than to walk a limited way down the hall for exercise and he has to gown-up (see above photo) so it's kind of a pain. He watches TV, DVD's, reads, surfs the net, plays computer games and sleeps. So, if anyone has any suggestions on how to fight hospital boredom please post here! He has another 2 weeks (at least) to go.
Some good news is that he DOESN'T STINK anymore! The bone marrow stem-cell preservative smelled like creamed corn and seeped out of his pores for a day or two. It made me a bit nauseous but didn't affect Marcia at all. So, now he's fine.
OK, I posted a photo of me. It was pointed out by a couple of people that I haven't been in any of the photo's so far. It's because I'm taking them and I figured the blog would be the worse for it but there you go anyway!
Steve
Some good news is that he DOESN'T STINK anymore! The bone marrow stem-cell preservative smelled like creamed corn and seeped out of his pores for a day or two. It made me a bit nauseous but didn't affect Marcia at all. So, now he's fine.
OK, I posted a photo of me. It was pointed out by a couple of people that I haven't been in any of the photo's so far. It's because I'm taking them and I figured the blog would be the worse for it but there you go anyway!
Steve
Hi Ryan,
ReplyDeleteIt's great to hear that you don't stink any more. You a little Chanel No. 5 could help - I think a lot of other people use it:)
We love hearing the daily updates from your dad a the office, and we are pleased to hear all of the good reports. I am especially warmed when I hear that there are truely miracles happening with you.
We hope and pray that your recovery and healing will be quick and complete.
God bless,
Fred & Mary
Hi Ryan,
ReplyDeleteAs far as boredom goes, that's tough. How about your parents load a bunch of their digital pictures on your computer and you create photo books out of them using Shutterfly. You could create one for Steve's biking adventures, a couple of your parents growing up, one of your cancer ordeal, etc. At least you'd have some fun and feel productive at the same time.
Love the picture of Grandma with a lemon under her nose!
Keep up the amazing recovery!
Christine
The last picture needs the caption, "Stay a while and Listen"
ReplyDeleteI love Christine's idea! I wish I had loads of time to create photo books. (Maybe not quite as much sitting time as you have!)
ReplyDeleteOkay, Ryan, I heard that you are BORED.
ReplyDeleteSo, I've done some extensive research and come up with some wonderful?? ideas for you. Just remember that I'm not "always" serious, okay. These ideas have not been approved by the FDA, AMA or the USDA or anything of the like. No warrantee is given or implied and all that legaleze jargon.
But, we do love you and hope that it won't be long now until you are able to go and do and be all that you want . . .
Love Aunt Nola
1. Do the IV pole dance (that's "IV" not "IVY".
2. Channel surf. This may be your only chance to have the remote 100% to yourself.
3. Come up with at least one new bizarre symptom every day. This will keep your doctors amused and make them earn their pay.
4. Hit the up and down buttons on the bed and see how many strange contortions you can turn the bed into.
5. Decorate the IV pole with socks, hospital gowns, mask, doctor’s hat, stuffed animals, cards and anything else within your reach. Don’t forget to give it a name!
6. Give the phlebotomist a friendly pat on the back when she comes in at the ungodly hour of 6 AM to draw blood and afix a sticker to the back of her scrubs with the title "Dracula" written in red.
7. Order pizza for delivery (I actually did this one! Domino's Pizza delivers to Centennial Hospital directly to your room).
8. Have your friend smuggle your pet into the hospital in the suitcase of clothes they bring to you.
9. Come up with silly, inane lists like this when you are bored silly but not strong enough to get out of bed.
10. Eat a Ferrero Rocher and see how long you can make it last. Genuine fun!
11. Have your family bring you a fun coloring book and crayons.
12. Add crazy sayings to each of your masterpieces.
13. Do word searches (kid ones are good)
14. Come up with nick names for all the people working the floor
15. Have races around the floor .
16. Sudoku.
17. Read those books you always wanted to read but could never find the time to.
18. Bring a deck or two of cards and play solitaire or card games with other patients.
19. Take up crochet or knitting and make hats for other patients.
20. Start writing that best selling novel you always wanted to.
21. Download movies and songs online to watch and listen to.
22. Watch reruns of “Office” or “Monk” or . . . online.
23. Study up on different places around the world. Plan an imaginary trip and all the sites you need to visit. Then go to some of those places after you get your strength back.
24. Have a friend smuggle a trumpet to you so you can get the other patients up at 4:30 AM for aerobics. Kidding . . . just kidding!!
25. Make sure you're plugged into the hospital loudspeaker system whenever you throw-up.
26. Hold you breath. When the nurse runs in, ask for some mouth-to-mouth resusitation.
27. Organize a vital organ swap meet.
28. Make sure Dr. Kevorkian isn't on call this weekend.
29. And make sure Lorena Bobbit isn't helping out with the surgury.
30. Be thankful that at least you’re not pregnant!
31. Disconnect all those wires and tubes so you can get some sleep. NOT REALLY!!
32. Practice your on your rubix cube.
33. Have your friends bring you some plastic toy bugs. Place them around the room strategically to keep the nurses alert.
34. Have a party. Invite everyone on your floor. Tell them it’s BYOB. Bring your own bag (IV).
35. Have your dad bring you a stack of newspapers. Crumble them up and see how many baskets you can make in the trash can at a reasonable distance from bed!
36. Leave the door open (if it doesnt need to be closed to prevent infection) and wave and say hi to all the people who walk past your door and pretend like they are not looking in your room. They’ll get that look on their face like "ooops I‘m busted"
37. Use the nurses' break room to make your own food . . . popcorn . . . microwave pizza . . . fudge . . . whatever.
38. If you have a catheter in, announce loudly you need to use the bathroom and then sigh and say, "that's better," without ever having to get up. Works really well on new visitors.
39. Put up a photocopy of a bald picture of yourself on the door or wall. Below it place a bagful of different colored yarn. Everyone who comes in the room has to put on a blindfold, pick a piece of yarn out of the bag, spin around, and play "Pin the Hair on Ryan" . . . even the doctor.
40. Get a candy dish in your room . . . for the nurses. You’ll get lots of great attention whenever you need it . . . especially if it’s chocolate.
41. Play tag with the nurses.
42. LEGOS!
43. Check out http://www.sleepychinchilla.com/ and see what chinchillas do best. Sleep!
44. Blow bubbles with bubble gum
45. Have someone bring you in a blade of grass. Blow on it and make music. Your mom can show you how.
46. Crank up some music and invite the student nurses to dance.
47. Cut out photos and paste them on Popsicle sticks and have a puppet show
48. Eat 6 spoons full of sugar, two sodas and you’ll be so hyper, you won’t be bored anymore.
49. Experiment with makeup . . . or NOT.
50. Get a tootsie pop and see how many licks it takes to get to the center. If you lose count, you have to start over.
51. Laugh out loud
52. Learn how to fake an accent
53. Make a humorous crank phone call to someone you know.
54. Make an entertaining phone answering-machine message
55. Make up poems or songs about your boredom
56. Play with marbles
57. Practice your arm pit farting skills (Advanced participants try with your hand cupped on the back of your knee)
58. Read some comic books
59. See how long you can hold your breath
60. Send a tune with keypad numbers on the phone
61. Sing even if you can't
62. Spin until you're dizzy . . . maybe NOT.
63. Stand on your head . . . but only with doctor’s permission slip.
64. Stare at the ceiling and try to make something out of the dots
65. Write your name in permanent marker on all your underwear tags
66. Catch a fly, then put in a jar and stick in the fridge (this cools their metabolism down), then tie the fly to the end of a thread 15in. and hold the other end of the thread while you watch it fly around (We have tested this and it works - a lot of patience is involved)
67. Doodle or cartoon
68. Dress in something silly and laugh at yourself
69. Have your sister bring in the old game of “Candyland” and play it. Then, eat candy!
70. Find an address to your favorite famous person and write them a letter. See if they write you back
71. Flip a coin 500 times to see whether heads or tails wins most.
72. Call a radio talk show and give them your opinion on something
73. Go through the English dictionary looking up really long words like discombobulated.
74. Have a carpet picnic
75. Have a staring contest with yourself in the mirror.
76. Kiss your elbow, if you can.
77. Lay a long straight line of masking tape on the floor. Now spin around really fast then try walking on the masking tape. Careful!!
78. Learn to Juggle socks
79. Learn to peel a banana with your feet
80. Let a helium balloon float up to your ceiling and throw things at it to pop it
81. Listen to a type of music that you don't normally listen to
82. Listen to really hard music and head bang . . . ouch!
83. Listen to some polka music and eat sausages
84. Make a list of the fun things you've already done, then admire how long your list is.
85. Phone your local government rep and see if you can convince him or her to have lunch with you
86. Play bottle cap hockey...with pens as the sticks and a bottle cap as the puck
87. Play dress-up with all the clothes you have in your closet
88. Pronounce your friends names.backwards
89. Make up some silly songs.
90. Shave your head (ummm . . . is that really necessary??)
91. Sit at your desk with your left arm sticking out until it goes numb
92. Snap your fingers as if suddenly you have a bright idea and see if you get any.
93. Write a letter to your favorite candy company and thank them for the many pleasurable moments they have given you.
94. Turn on the T.V., put it on mute and make up dialogue
95. Watch 101 Dalmatians and count to see if they really show 101 dogs
96. Watch a foreign film
97. Watch cartoons (preferably funny stupid ones)
98. Write a rant letter to the newspaper
99. Write out ten things that make you happy - then do one of them
100. Find some crutches and pretend to have a broken leg . . . you'll confuse the heck out of them.
101. Go out and get your motorcycle license . . . maybe next week!