From what I understand, due to some undesirable intestinal activity, Niilo is back on intravenous food again and off regular food.  Other than that, he’s doing mostly okay for someone who is recovering from major surgery.  Perhaps Heather can add more details.    Gary

Niilo’s appetite is kicking in. Yesterday he ate a bit (including some birthday cake Heather and Mom brought in from Dane’s 19th party), and today he’s had oatmeal and more for breakfast. The PIC line in his arm vein reduces difficulty of blood draws and possibility of direct feeding. Visitors: you are welcome to ask the nurse for some applesauce or pudding and see if Dad would like some. I was helping him to some pudding yesterday while a cooking show was on the television (on when I came in), and got mesmerized by the hard shell clam preparation. Dad pushed at my arm to let me know he was still hungry. This is good, in my opinion, because the amount of food he’s had in the last week is tiny.

He’s doing a bit of aided walking. Some talking, a little reading (thanks for the Anchorage Daily News, Dick). The pain intervention has been cut back to Tylenol, allowing for a next step of Vicodin if needed. The morphine (even at half the smallest dose) may have been impacting Dad quite a bit.

His tummy track is really impressive. He got the bandage off a couple of days ago and things look to be healing well to the ignorant eye (Chena’s). Heather expects Dad to remain at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, Room 315 for another week. He is weak and not generally engaged. Visitors are welcome, and please write in the little Niilo book if you care to.

Thanks much to you who are posting, reading, calling, and generally being supportive. Love, Chena

Writing a blog isn’t Heather’s thing, and I see that the posts haven’t given credit where credit is due. Heather is the one who takes care of Dad’s health care issues. She spends hours at the hospital working with the doctors and nurses, and probably hours at home thinking about things. We are really lucky that one of her life choices was to become a Physician’s Assistant. Her employer has had to do without her quite a bit in the recent past, and that is good because we need her.

Heather moved in to the homestead house a few months ago (from next door at Brown’s House). When Dad seemed to have intestinal troubles about 10 days ago (if I recall correctly. It’s all a blur.), she was the one to listen to his heart, do blood pressure & pulse checks, and make the decision to take him to get checked by a doctor.

Alex also lives on the homestead. He took Mom to a movie yesterday as well as to visit Dad at the hospital and is usually available for no-notice help. He was the first to notice Dad’s illness during a trip to the swimming pool with him. Thanks to him also.

Sanni and Karjala (Nonni) live on the east coast, but as I wrote before, they were up in March for Dad’s 80th. Sanni’s step son Peter & his wife Anne-Lise also came up from the Bay area, as did my son Max from Massachusetts. Peter is a fine photographer and I am eagerly awaiting the disc of birthday & other Fairbanks pix he recently sent. If any of them show us to advantage, maybe you’ll see them on this blog. –Chena

This got posted on the “About” section, so I’m copying it here. Thanks, Charley. -Chena

charley basham April 11, 2008 at 6:59 pm Says:

Sending Love and Light to Niilo. The image in my mind today is the woodblock print Niilo made with the upheld hands encompassing the light from a candle. I look forward to seeing him back in his place in Meeting for Worship!
Charley Basham

We started a little book at FMH for people who visit to write in if they want. They can write about the day’s visit or about a story from 30 years ago: it is all good. One of the docs stopped in while I was
visiting and said the bile duct oopsy is a monitoring thing. Dad now has a line into his right arm for nutrition and meds and blood draws, if I understand correctly. This is good as he hasn’t been getting food for a while. I gave him some applesauce which he seemed to appreciate. He is allowed to eat some food now. Plenty of talking but I couldn’t figure out what he meant. I gave him leg and head massages, read Raivaaja parts to him. Heather came to visit after work. We don’t know if the bilirubin thing will pass or what… just waiting it out.

Not everyone who loves Dad is tied into the web scene. Heather called Laurie, who grew up with Dad in the Bronx and now lives in Florida. He sends great Finnish wishes to get better. Laurie came up several years ago and, wow, did we enjoy his stay. He is a bit older than Dad, but they grew up together in the same Finnish co-op building.

Ran into Barbara Kalen from Skagway. She sends her fondest prayers to Niilo, saying he was such a kind person and a great legislator. Gary

This is Chena’s very first time actually posting myself, so be nice, please. I spent yesterday in fetal position because my computer was acting up, but since son Ben in person and hub Gary via phone (he’s in Juneau doing what he does almost best) seemed to have done wonders for my computer, let’s see if I can let you know about today with Niilo (aka Dad aka Grandpa).

I didn’t see Dad today! Fairbanks is very snowy and I am trying to get a lot of paperwork done by the 15th (guess what kind?!) No excuses, but time slipped. I see that Heather sent me an email and this is most of what she said: “Two days out from abdominal surgery today, Niilo started drinking clear liquids and grape juice today. He stood up and walked a short bit, with help. Pain was enough for one smallest dose of morphine once, so his lucid period was short-lived, though he also told Heather and Joan about soils around the world and inhaled on the keep-the-ball-up device.

Because Niilo was a bit jaundiced and blood tests confirmed high bilirubin, he is scheduled for an MRCD (MRI focusing on the common bile duct, which did not get removed in surgery) Friday morning at 6:30 a.m. If a stone is still in the common bile duct, it could pass on its own; or it could possibly mean further surgery.” Thanks, Heather. Y’all know it’s her birthday today, right?

Heard from some out of staters and I can’t wait to tell Dad about that. Yesterday I was yelling to him about someone writing us to give love to him–I saw his hearing aids were out–when his nurse came hustling on in. I probably got them thinking I was after him big time, but they don’t know I’m almost as sweet as my Dad. (!) Anyway, his room is right near the nurse’s station, which is convenient when we want to get something answered. The nurses and staff at Fairbanks Memorial have been super eager to be be helpful and explain anything we want. I’m very happy with them.

Thanks Beth and you lovely people who have posted comments. Nancy H-D, great to hear from you! What great spirits and good vibes you folks are sending.

G’night, Chena

From Chena:

Niilo is continuing his hospital stay and not able to enjoy Fairbanks Memorial Hospital’s fine food until his surgical incision heals a bit more. It’s pretty painful going in with an open incision in the upper abdomen so he’s been doing some floating on limited amounts of morphine. He also wasn’t able to tolerate the feeding tube, so the drugs and glucose drip are having to serve for food, not the best of worlds.

Joan and Chena visited and oohed and aaahhhed over his nice long white bandage covering his gut. Chena wore a very colorful Finnish hat to the hospital and, because Niilo loves to wear a cap to bed, left it on his head. He looks so cute!

Visitors are probably welcome, but don’t expect great reparte.

The family is really touched by the messages from those far away. We have also heard from people directly (shy types, who don’t want to post) and this is heartwarming. Dad is such a people person: it is wonderful to hear that people remember him. We encourage you to relate stories of days past on the blog to share with all.

His mail is piling up big time at home. It is amazing the wide variety of periodicals and other mail
he receives, covering so many interests.

Heather’s birthday is Thursday. Then Joan’s in a few days. Dad was 80 in early March. All his kids and some of the grandkids were together for the celebration. They didn’t find any birthday cake in his blockage though.

The CT scan yesterday revealed also that Niilo had a gallstone so his gallbladder was removed during surgery. There should be no effects or special diet or pills from that in the future. There was too much scar tissue to do things laparoscopically. Surgery was uneventful and apparently the obstruction was due to scar tissue from his appendectomy (done when he was much younger).

He will sit up tonight in ICU, walk tomorrow, and be transferred back to Room 315 for about a week or less. He is on blood pressure (BP) medications because his BP has been elevated. He also had a gastric tube inserted via nose while under anesthesia, so will be fed that way for a while. Doesn’t that sound swell?

We’re obviously glad things went well and hope there were no consequences from having waited those extra days hoping the obstruction would pass.

For those of you who may or may not know, Niilo has been suffering from a small intestine blockage for some 5-6 days. Non-surgical attempts to get the blockage to pass have apparently been unsuccessful, so h is scheduled for open surgery Tuesday a.m. with the same surgeon who did his previous intestinal surgery, Dr. Robinette.