Elephants on Parade
42 x 60
It's a finish!
The elephants are in the room because it is too darned cold outside (14 F/windchill 1 F) to go take pics of the elephants hanging on the clothesline.
Last year someone gave me that 24 x 42 piece of elephant fabric that was just too nice to cut up so I decided to use it as the center of a row quilt.
I made some rows of 10 inch elephant blocks and the top was completed back in May 2024.
I quilted it on my sewing machine in swirls of pink thread. The backing is a pink and yellow stripe and the binding is a multicolor stripe.
And sew on...
***
REMEMBER, TREASURE, GROW, READ (my words of the year)
I've enjoyed doing a little creative writing off and on since high school. This year I'm trying to gather the writings I can find and put them all together in a notebook. Writing is way I have learned to deal with stress and grief and disappointment and sorrow and loss. I also write to tell stories about me, others, life, joys and things I'm passionate about.
My husband was diagnosed with oropharyngeal cancer back in 2004. In 2009 I took an online creative writing class and one of our assignments was to tell a story with an index. The story I wrote follows.
Index to “Ringside at the Big Fight. Hubby John vs. The Big C”
A
AC/DC – “play it at my funeral”, you said.
“Acid-reflux”, dr. said. It wasn’t.
Advanced.
A scratchy throat,
Anger,
A year gone by.
B
Bandages, gauze and tape.
Base of tongue, biopsy of.
Battle. Hang in there. Struggle. Win the
Big Fight
Bills, piles of.
Blood tests, too many.
Bravery.
C
Cancer.
Can’t be true.
Can’t eat.
Can’t swallow.
Carcinoma.
CBC (complete blood count)
, hct
, hgb
, mcv
, mchc
, plt
, rdw. Does the dr. speak English?
Chemo, 5FU, (flurouracil)
, CDDP, (cisplatin)
, drugs, who makes up names for?
Cleanliness, importance of.
Crushed pills.
Constipation, from pain killers.
“Try coffee”, dau. said.
D
Death?
Dehydrated. Rehydrated.
Depression.
Despair.
Diagnosis – 141.0.
Doctors: Neil,
Palumbo,
Rajput,
Sy,
Tomek,
Zaentz.
Don’t die! Please don’t die.
E
Energy depleted.
Ensure you get enough Ensure.
You liked generic better.
Only vanilla flavor, please.
Ethyol injections -Save the salivary glands. Maybe.
Esophagus, stretching procedure.
, swallow test.
Every day:
Examinations and
Exhaustion.
F
Failing.
Family worried.
Feeding tube. Food pump.
Fevers.
Funeral planning? Catholic? Or what?
G
G-tube, aliases - Gastric tube, PEG.
, dressing wounds
, falling out
, flushing
, giving meds
, hole
, protecting
, problems
, second one
Gauze, squares. (See bandages).
Google-IT, All of the “its”.
Grandchildren, angels
, born during battle
, five weeks apart
, miracles
, two of them.
H
Helpless.
Hopeful.
Hopeless.
Hospital, in on Halloween.
Huber needles.
Husband, I love you.
I
Incisions.
Infections.
Injections.
In 2003 there were 277,000 new cases of oral cavity
and pharyngeal cancers
and 7200 people died from this disease in the U.S.
IVs.
J
Jabbed with needles.
Jackets in warm weather. You, always cold.
Jalapenos, you won’t be able to eat them.
Jargon, doctor’s. Foreign terms spoken with foreign accent.
Jaw, can’t open too far.
Jello.
Jerking constantly, your body.
Just get through this, please.
K
Keep from crying, me. Put up a good front.
Keep from dying, you. Put up a good fight.
Kill cancer cells, with chemo.
, with radiation.
Kill pain.
Kindness, of many.
, of nurses.
L
Lack of sleep, mine.
, yours.
Lettuce. “Don’t eat”, said doc.
Leucopenia: reduced leucocytes, low white blood count.
Life?
Lingual tonsil, left. Take it out.
Love. “I love you” “We love you”.
Lymph nodes. “IT has spread there too”.
M
Malignant neoplasm tongue base.
Mask, bolted to a table
, primitive looking
, scary, stiff, netted, white
, worn during radiation.
Medications, many.
Metastasized.
Minister : “Let’s have coffee”. I wouldn’t.
: “Let’s pray”. I couldn’t.
Miracle, wanted..
Misery, mine.
, yours.
Morphine, liquid.
N
Nausea.
Needles.
Nonsense you babbled.
No solid food. Then no food and then
Nutritional supplement.
Nurses.
O
Odors, Smells and Stenches.
Ologies: Hematology, epidemiology, oncology, radiology, pathology.
Opsies: Biopsy, Endoscopy.
Operations
Oropharyngeal.
P
Pain.
Pain patch.
PET scans.
Phlegm, gagging on
, choking on
, drowning in
, thick
, side effect of radiation.
Port.
Prognosis?
Q
Quality care.
Queasy feelings, causes of mine.
, causes of yours.
Queries, mine.
, theirs.
Quit hoping, never.
R
Radiation, 5 days a week. 6 weeks.
Recliner, where you slept when you could
, it kept you sitting upright
, so you wouldn’t choke.
Risks.
S
Saliva, lack of.
Salivary glands, blasted.
Sick.Ailing. Ill.
Silence & Reflection.
Skin, aloe lotion for
, burnt
, dry
, flaking
, radiated
, red
Squamous cell,
Stage IV.
Statistic: Cancers of oral cavity and pharynx account for 3% of all cancers in U.S.
Struggles.
Suction machine for phlegm.
Supplements, nutritional.
T
Tatoos, purple, for radiation.
Teeth., destroyed by radiation.
Throat, sore, from radiation.
Tonsillectomy, lingual tonsils. Operation leads to diagnosis.
U
Until death do us part.
Uselessness, my feelings of.
, your feelings of. And how they differ.
Utter despair.
V
Victory.
Visiting nurses.
Vomit, mine at seeing
, yours.
W
Waist pack, portable pump, for chemo.
Waiting, I hate to.
Wan.
Weak.
Weight loss. (The Cancer Diet).
Winner. You.
X
X-ray, showed nothing.
Xanax. (Alprazolam). Anxiety.
Xerostomia: dry mouth experienced when body doesn’t produce enough saliva.
XXs tattooed in purple ink by dr. on your neck.
Y
Yahoo!
You pulled through.
You won.
Z
Zapped, with radiation.
Zero cancer cells.
Zest for life.
17 comments:
Remarkable list. Hugs to you.❤️
Powerful words!
Just a point form but it depicted an entire life time of love and support. Consider yourself hugged. ❤️🙏🧡 ;^)
Oh, wow. What fortitude you both have. Hugs.
Pat
I am so glad to see he made it through! I knew you both were suffering, but not how seriously. And yet you continued to quilt-and to donate. You are a good woman. Blessings to you both.
Your 'poem' could be a rap with its percussive rhythm! Congratulations on the finished quilt.
Oh my, as I was reading I was thinking how you must have cried while you were writing these words. I guess, like most of us, I didnt realise how long you both have been fighting this battle, or how extreme it has been for you both. The love and determination come shining through - you are my hero.
The Elephants make a delightful quilt! Your index story blew me away. Having gone through my hubby having cancer twice, I could relate to so much of it, but realize, too, that each person's journey through it is unique. So happy for you both that you made it to Z!
You are a hero, supporting both of you through such an emotional, difficult time. So happy you both made it through and you are still quilting at the end of all this. I so admire your strength! Wishing you a very healthy and happy New Year!
Wow. I hope you got an A+ on that!
Wow. Twenty years battling this cancer -- and winning. How many quilts? I have never seen a poem like that and I am blown away. I was going to miss "celebration" but now I am really looking forward to your quilts and poems of 2025. Write on!
Your elephant quilt is really great. Lucky little girl to receive it! I’ve never seen an “index story”. It says so much in so few words. Extraordinary!
Such a sweet quilt! And a touching story. I don’t guess I’ve ever seen one told this way. It’s inspiring. I appreciate you sharing it!
Hugs! ❤️
I love the elephants. I have admired your creativity since I started reading your posts. After reading your index story, I can see that you have a real creative mind. I'm not very creative. I call myself "slow but sure." LOL I do hope you are able to get your writings published. I am sure that they are all as talented as the index one. I could certainly relate to a lot of it. My son was diagnosed with cancer at 15 and through it all, with God's grace, he is now 56 and is successful. He hated the Ensure. He said it tasted like motor oil! Thank you for sharing.
What an amazing way to capture the overwhelming thoughts and emotions of a cancer journey. Your writing is exquisite. I hope you will share more of them! Wishing you the most wonderful blessings in 2025.
Wow!!!!! What powerful emotional words!!!! Excellent!!! Keep writing! I knew your hubby was very ill, but had no idea it was so bad for so long. You both are brave warriors!! Yay to winning!!! ❤
The elephant fabric is just the best!!!!!!
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