Veteran's Affairs Plus W/ David L. Washington

Announcer
0:00:00
This is a KUNV Studios original program.

Wesley Knight
0:00:04
You're listening to special programming sponsored by Making Moves Life Coaching Services. The content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 Jazz & More, the University of Nevada Las Vegas this is Vegetas Affairs Plus on 91.5 Jazz and More.

Dave Washington
0:00:53
Good day Las Vegas, this is Veterans Affairs Plus on 91.5 Jazz and More. I'm Dave Washington, your host, and I have a couple of guests that I'll properly introduce shortly. Got a few announcements. Of course, can't cry over spilled milk. The election is over. 47 will come in and trust me, there will be some hurt going on. And I only wish that people had take heed to those of us who was studied trying to promote the importance of checking out and reviewing and studying Project 2025. But it is what it is.

Dave Washington
0:01:26
There will be some hurt. I certainly want to thank former Fire Chief Eugene Campbell for setting in for me a couple of shows during October when I was still down in Houston getting myself squared away and to that I still want to say thank you And I have West to put in Frankie Beverly's. I want to thank you To one of the previous shows because I certainly think the many people to include Daughters like Joyce and others amber. They all were praying for me

Dave Washington
0:01:54
We have friends and as I mentioned on one show had one relative which I will not disclose her name or his name unless I was told to do so, but paid for airline tickets for six family members to include me and Marsha. So that was the thing that we were embarking upon in terms of my health is it's very, very expensive, you know, even though we're not poor by a long shot, but boy, boy, boy. And then the other day, my neighbor, who encouraged me to join the fire department, she brought a card by and a couple of dollars from her and her husband.

Dave Washington
0:02:35
Dorothy and Lacey, thank you so much, and I'll get a card to you thanking you. And then George Bocce Turner came by and said, take your wife to lunch, man. You've been through some struggle. And George is not well himself. So these kinds of things that people do for you make you feel so good about the fact that you are amongst the living and a fellow human being who believes in looking out for all

Dave Washington
0:03:01
of mankind, all of God's people. And it's just been part of my character. And I know on one Saturday night when Angel was in town down in Houston, they were telling me to stop doing this and stop doing that. I told her and Marcia and the rest of the family, I am not going to change my character. Y'all know I'm always a person who's been busy and moving.

Dave Washington
0:03:25
You know, when you sit down and I've seen, when I started my career in 1977 in Las Vegas Fire Department, now Las Vegas Fire and Rescue, there were guys who would die after two years of retirement because I think they were just laying around on the couch and Didn't have nothing to get actively involved in so anyway so much for all that but I do think and I appreciate God for His guidance through this matter and and so pleased that they were able to get everything taken care of and in in that vein I certainly want to

Dave Washington
0:03:57
acknowledge the fact that April, our oldest daughter, told me that this week, this month, I should say, is Pantreatic Cancer Month. So in honor of that, I thought I'd have some people come on the show and we talk about a few things. But before I do that, I certainly want to express condolences to the family of Quincy Jones, that musical icon that we lost just a short while ago. And earlier this week, the family of Stephen Stryker was in town to memorialize him.

Dave Washington
0:04:28
And Steve was a great guy, American Legion post member, as well as a member of the Elk. So that brother has gone on to the other side. He is now an ancestor, but certainly we will not forget the work that he did while here on earth. Then I want to acknowledge,

Dave Washington
0:04:46
and I don't have specific names, unfortunately, but all of those who are celebrating birthdays in the month of November, certainly want to wish you all happy birthday on behalf of myself and my family. With that, I'm going to introduce the guests, starting out with Amber Omegon. And Joyce, please properly pronounce your name because I don't want to butcher it.

Joyce Lefang
0:05:16
Joyce Lafayne.

Dave Washington
0:05:19
Lafayne, all right. Yes. All right. Joyce, why don't you start? Give us a little bit of background on yourself, if you would.

Joyce Lefang
0:05:27
Okay.

Amber Washington
0:05:28
My name is Joyce Lafayne. I live in Dallas, Texas. I'm a registered nurse. I work from home. My specialty right now is case management. I've gone away from the bedside.

Amber Washington
0:05:41
So I work with patients who discharge from the hospital. I call them on the phone, do an assessment, and then assist them with any care needs that they might have, be it medications, just equipment, whatever they may need to help them with that transition from the hospital back at home. So just, you know, the nutshell is trying to prevent readmission. So I do like medication reconciliation, just making sure that everything

Amber Washington
0:06:11
they need before, you know, because sometimes when you're at the hospital, you are sort of drugged up, like with all the pain meds, so when you're being discharged, you don't remember anything. So that's where we come. Once you get home, we have a 24-hour window turnaround to call patients and educate them on the safe discharge plan. Yeah. So that's what I do as a nurse.

Dave Washington
0:06:37
God bless you. That's admirable work. And I can tell you that without my family, in fact, I didn't even want them to come down to Houston, the children, the three girls and the boys, but I am pleased that they did come because they was able to help me, will help Marsha more than me, to get me moving around, et cetera, et cetera.

Dave Washington
0:06:59
Because when they cut into your body, it is quite something. And in that vein, I'm going to have, in the show for next week, I'm gonna have my surgeon, Dr. Jessica Maxwell, will be on and I'm gonna ask her to kind of lay out in layman's terms,

Dave Washington
0:07:17
very simple terms, whipple surgery and what that's all about. So, Amber, give us a little indication on you, and we'll come back to you, Joyce. Go ahead, Amber.

Amber Washington
0:07:27
Sure. Thank you. I'm the youngest daughter of Marcia and David Washington, and I'm married to Nathan, I have three kids, and a cat son. Stay-at-home mom. So that's one reason why I was definitely able to come out and be with you as long as

Dave Washington
0:07:51
I was during this century. And it was absolutely greatly appreciated. Joyce, what do you know? And I know that I don't know what your specific discipline is as far as a registered nurse, but I would imagine that cancer patients could be a part of your thing. Yeah.

Dave Washington
0:08:15
OK, so share some of your thoughts on some of the care that is given to, in particular, as we honor pancreatic cancer. Give me a gift, share with our listening audience some of those thoughts or things that people have to do in transition.

Joyce Lefang
0:08:32
Oh, in transition, yes. So usually when patients get home after such a surgery, I normally come in with making sure they're following the right discharge plan, be it liquid diet, be it blunt diet, because when you have that type of surgery, pancreatic cancer surgery, it's pretty invasive.

Amber Washington
0:08:55
They go in and out, you know, almost everything.

Joyce Lefang
0:08:59
Yeah.

Amber Washington
0:09:00
Yeah, they may take out many organs, so it's pretty extensive. With that, with that type of surgery, you are probably, they are limited to what type of things they can eat and how long. So I normally educate to eat small diet, small meals, educate on diet, on liquid. So I usually work with whatever the discharge plan from the hospital is. So if patients usually, there's no one for all discharge plan, I review the discharge record, then I educate patients based on what the discharge plan is from the hospital.

Amber Washington
0:09:39
So if a patient is going home with a liquid diet, I make sure they are on clear fluid, maybe anything clear, water, teas, things that are clear, not real meals. So then when the transition from liquid diet to food, to solid food, usually because with this type of pancreatic cancer, there's loss of appetite,

Amber Washington
0:10:09
there's weight loss. So those are pretty much, those are like the two of the major symptoms that I know it's pot lid usually detected late, but poor appetite and weight loss are one of the major symptoms that are detected.

Dave Washington
0:10:29
Yes. And you know, Joyce, I keep going around and around with my family about, you know, my appetite. My appetite is fine. I do want to eat. But when you can't taste it, it's like criminal for me to be under this condition.

Dave Washington
0:10:47
I'm like, oh, my goodness, man, what the heck? Because when you can't taste your food and people keep telling me, why don't you try something? And I do this as well. Something that you remember the taste of and that you like. So right now, and I know part of the issue with me and others, and I want to get your thoughts on this too, is diet. And when they assigned me a dietician early on, I'm looking at 85% of the stuff that we eat, we shouldn't be eating, to include processed food. So there's a sandwich I like at a particular, well, Port-Au-Celze, I'm not getting any money from them for mentioning their name, but I like their turkey sandwich, and I can tell you

Dave Washington
0:11:33
that. I tell them, give me half the turkey that you generally would give give me more lettuce and tomato onions was that the little pepper Peppuccino peppercino. Yeah, and then I do the combination mustard mayonnaise and oh my goodness Oh, no, I take you tell you guys a quick story. We went down to the to the retirees firefighter deal down in Chandler Arizona this past weekend. Gene Campbell drove drove us down. Anyway, I see, what's the hamburger joint? Gosh. Anyway, I like their turkey burger. So I tell the lady, I don't want any mayo, mustard and ketchup, everything else. Get to my friend's truck. All I had was meat, mustard, ketchup and bread. I'm like, where's the rest of the stuff?

Dave Washington
0:12:22
I said, do people even listen to you when you're making an order? But anyway, but yeah, diet is really, really something. So go ahead, Joy.

Amber Washington
0:12:33
Diet is a big one. Diet can definitely be a big contributor to, you know, the risk for cancer. So processed foods are one of the biggest culprits because you have things like deli meat, bacon, hot dogs, those are all things that are highly processed because they have to put stuff in it to make it stay shelf-line, to make it shelf for so long. So I really educate patients, stay away from processed foods, stay away from sweeteners,

Amber Washington
0:13:05
artificial sweeteners, cured meats, pickled stuff, things that are heavily processed because you don't know how it affects. So in a nutshell, it's plant-based diet, lean meat and fish.

Joyce Lefang
0:13:19
That's really what I dedicate my attention to.

Dave Washington
0:13:21
You know Joyce, as you mentioned sweets, I look out at my sweet tooth wife as I peer through to see her. I wish she was in here where she could hear about it. Oh, she says she can hear me. Yes, she loves sweets and then try to claim I do. Yeah, right. So, Amber, I want you to come in now and talk about the care and any thoughts that you have in terms of dealing with me as your father and as a patient. And I, you know, I'm transparent, you know, like I told you, you know, you like you might just dog me out. I'm OK with that because it is what it is and how I was as a patient is true to itself.

Dave Washington
0:14:06
You know, you can run but you can't hide. So give us some thoughts, Amber, share that with our listening audience if you would.

Amber Washington
0:14:12
Well, prior to the diagnosis, we knew that you would get frustrated about some things and get very snappy with us but like while you were in the hospital i didn't have a problem with you you were fine you know you were you were you were chill you know you still did what you were supposed to do even though you were in the hospital but once you got out I after probably like the second day I was ready to go home I'm like he he he snapping I'm just asking a small little question and he just like frustrated don't want to hear what you got to say

Amber Washington
0:15:07
so I was I was I was like look at first I was ready to leave the house but I was like I'm ready to go back home because he's trying to cut my head off and ain't even digging it. I'm just trying to think about it. I'm trying to think about it. But I think it's just the frustration of you knowing what you're capable of but you can't do it and just like you know you in the taste buds and all that kind of stuff you it's just like not normal for you and that's a process that's just going you know you're going to have to learn how to deal with.

Amber Washington
0:15:39
So we can't get mad. We can be like a little bit like, we didn't do this, like, don't take it out on us. We know you don't mean it. But it was like, oh my gosh, like, dang, look like we don't even wanna go around daddy

Amber Washington
0:15:54
because we know he gonna say something. He gonna be there and snap and bit our head off and we gonna be bleeding and everything else. But for the most part, you know, we all stuck it out. I don't know, Ray Ray didn't say anything. April didn't really say anything, but me and Angel and Mama, we was like, Oh, Lord, like, how much longer? But I do want to say, I'm so grateful for Maggie, for Joyce introducing me to Maggie, which is Bernard,

Amber Washington
0:16:30
is Maggie's, Joyce's sister-in-law, where she came and prayed for you in the hospital. So shout out to Maggie. She was great. I'm like, thank you, Jesus, for Maggie. Very anointed, very anointed. I think that definitely helps while we were, while you were in the hospital.

Dave Washington
0:16:49
Oh, no doubt. No doubt. In fact, I tried to invite her to a function at a friend's house, a former chief, Danny Smith. We tried to get her to come, but her and her husband had something going and couldn't come over.

Dave Washington
0:17:01
But I really wanted to show my appreciation to her, made sure we got several of the nurses to include her, some tea cakes. I got a book that I wrote a few years back. And no, she's a very, very powerful, praying young lady that certainly it makes you feel better when people care about you that really don't know you, that just know something about your character through others, your children and the friends of your children

Dave Washington
0:17:29
like you, Joyce. So, no, I really appreciate all the love. a lot of contradictions. It was my family, contradictions. I can't even say the word right. Look, it was causing me issues. No, no, no. It was causing me issues because they were smothering me with a lot of love and care. And I'm not, you know, I'm one of these, I'm one of these kind of guys, even, even when I was working, I don't like being smothered even though I know it was done in love.

Dave Washington
0:18:04
I mean, come on, y'all, y'all all over me. And they want to buy me this. They want to buy me – they're buying stuff that I ain't going to eat, I ain't going to touch. And, oh, my goodness, I got a note coming in, so maybe I'm not – maybe I'm doing something wrong. But, anyway, Joyce, give some further thoughts of your opinion with respect to some of the things Amber mentioned as far as me as a patient and some of the things I guess I did in terms

Dave Washington
0:18:36
of how I was carrying on to some extent, if you would.

Joyce Lefang
0:18:41
Yeah, I would say, I mean, of course, any patient that's going through cancer, it's difficult on its own, just the fear, the anxiousness, the, because you don't know tomorrow, you don't know. So I would, all those behaviors are expected and it's our place as the caregivers to the patient, support, be present, and just overall be loving

Joyce Lefang
0:19:09
towards the patient and just be there because you don't know what the patient is going through. They could be going through phases of depression, anxiety, all of these feelings. Like it's a very overwhelming feeling for most patients. So usually I would, with my cancer patients, I would pat them with the, we call it a cancer body, where you can somebody who has gone through your same type of cancer and more it's of course in remission somebody who has

Joyce Lefang
0:19:42
gone through it. That way when you have struggles you call them. So I normally pair patients with like cancer bodies. It's just something that we do, some extra thing because they understand better than

Amber Washington
0:19:53
your family members who just think you're...

Amber Washington
0:19:55
Right.

Joyce Lefang
0:19:56
Yeah.

Dave Washington
0:19:57
Well, let me say this Joyce and I've been voluntold to speak to about the other nurses besides Maggie. The nurses at MD Anderson, they were tremendous. They absorbed and they threw back at me when I was making jokes and stuff. One example, after the surgery, they get you up the next day. So these two Asian nurses, they were Indian from India. And these cats came in and I said, who are you?

Dave Washington
0:20:28
They said, well, we're your nurses and we're here to get you up. I said, what time y'all supposed to get me up to walk? They say 830. I said, what's 727? Get out of my room. And they looked at me like I was crazy.

Dave Washington
0:20:41
I said, gentlemen, I'm just joking. I'm just joking. So they broke down and started laughing too. There was one young Hispanic young lady and one, she was black, but I think she was from some country in Africa as well. Boy, they was throwing it back on me, man, because I was jigging at them and they was

Dave Washington
0:21:01
slapping me back, you know, all in front because I just felt like, you know, as much as pain, as much pain. And one thing I always try to fight off me, you mentioned depression. And there's times, trust me, that try to get in my head. I'm like, nope. And I had a friend, he's deceased now,

Dave Washington
0:21:20
he kind of schooled me and coached me on the whole matter of Whipple surgery. And he had it. And I don't know to this day where his was, but I'm thinking it must have been inside of his pancreas, where mine initially thought it was inside of it.

Dave Washington
0:21:38
And they assigned one surgeon, then they come back, they say, no, yours in the head, so we got to assign you another surgeon. Okay, whatever that means. So they feel they got it. And from all pathology reports,

Dave Washington
0:21:53
blood tests, et cetera, et cetera, they got it. But still I got to go through another round of chemo here in Las Vegas. Then I go back for another assessment. Then after that, I got to go down there quarterly for the next two years. And I understand.

Dave Washington
0:22:07
I told them I got to do what I got to do. But they want to ensure that if it comes back, they want to get on it right away.

Joyce Lefang
0:22:13
Yes, sir.

Joyce Lefang
0:22:14
Yeah.

Dave Washington
0:22:15
So, Amber, some further thoughts on, you know, you were saying that I was roughing you all up.

Amber Washington
0:22:21
Yes, father. But like I said, we're used to that, but this was a different, a whole different type. A whole different type. I even warned Chris when, you know, we got back. I was like, Chris, because he was like, I'm gonna be talking to Papa. I'm trying to talk to, you know, I think, you know, he calls you daddy. He's like, I'm talking to daddy, you know, I said, Chris, watch out. Everybody was on alert because we just didn't know because sometimes you

Amber Washington
0:22:56
know when we think everything is smooth and you'd be ready to snap again. But you know like Joyce said we don't know what you're dealing with and you know we just got to take it day by day and know that you don't mean it. It's just what you're going through right now so you can't explain it.

Dave Washington
0:23:16
Right, right. Well, this is Veterans Affairs Plus on 91.5 Jazz & More. I've got Joyce, my play daughter, and my daughter, blood daughter, Amber, on the line, and we're talking about the issue that I've had with pancreatic cancer. This is Pancreatic Cancer Month, so I thought it would be a good thing to have some guests on to talk about that. So I really appreciate you guys.

Dave Washington
0:23:37
I know we got more time yet, so any other thoughts you want to share, Joyce, in regards to some of what you do? And let me ask you this, Joyce. I would imagine that you have a level in terms of a number of patients that you're assigned to deal with on a given basis. Absolutely.

Dave Washington
0:23:55
Yes, sir.

Amber Washington
0:23:55
So we get assigned based on how many patients discharged from the hospital, we could get up to say between 10 to 20. Yes, a day to call, but that's based on the census. So if we have a lot more patients discharged on a given day, you get more patients to your roster. And if you get, if there's less, there are less patients being discharged, then you get, so it just fluctuates. It's not like a given, a given number. So then you call them and you, you know, assist them as needed based on their

Joyce Lefang
0:24:35
discharge plan.

Dave Washington
0:24:36
So your interaction with them is every other day, daily, or what's the status on that? How is that? Oh, yes.

Amber Washington
0:24:44
Yes. So when they discharge, I have 24 hours to give them a call and then if I get them on the phone that's good because then I could do all my educational pieces and all of that and get them you know on a school place. But if I don't get them I call them three days in a row. So that's what, just so we do everything in our power to get those patients so we can at least assist them between day one and day three when they get back home. Just to make sure they are taking their medications correctly, make sure pain is under control.

Amber Washington
0:25:21
You know, just certain symptoms that they could feel like, oh my goodness, I need to get to the emergency room ASAP. Those are things that if I call and they tell me like, hey, you just had a knee surgery and you are having sweat, something that's not told in the hospital, but because you were on thin meds, you did not know what needed, you did not understand what the nurses there were saying, I could come now and reinforce.

Dave Washington
0:25:44
Right. So your interaction with them is purely with the patient or do you sometimes get family members on the line as well?

Joyce Lefang
0:25:51
Yes, sir.

Amber Washington
0:25:52
Yes, I do get family members on the line as well. So, you know, patients sometimes would be afraid that I speak to the spouse or the kids or they could put me on speakerphone and then I would get permission from the patient to make sure it's while those members, family members are present. So, yeah, so it's yes, sir.

Joyce Lefang
0:26:11
All right.

Dave Washington
0:26:12
So we got about three minutes, Amber. What I want you to do is just kind of provide to our listening audience any thoughts, any suggestions you would have if they have a family member that's going through the turmoil of dealing with cancer of any sort. I would just say to be patient with them and to pray with them, just to try to reassure that the Lord is in control at all times and just try to keep their spirits lifted, that the Lord will see them through and no matter what, they'll be there with them, just stand by them. And I would add, I would add, and don't look at

Dave Washington
0:26:53
whoever the patient is, your father, your mother, your one of your relatives, don't look at him with a crazy face like my wife and my daughter would do to me. They

Amber Washington
0:27:03
would look at me like... You need to interview Marsha, your mama, your wife, I mean, that's who you need to be on the show because she'll tell a whole

Dave Washington
0:27:11
different story. I'll be trying to get her on the show different times, but she, you know, she tries to act bashful. So, any closing remarks from both of you? We've got about, probably about two and a half, three minutes.

Amber Washington
0:27:23
Yeah, I would, go ahead, Amber. No, no, no, you go first. I'll go after. No, I wanted to say I would echo what Amber said about, you know, being patient with patients going through any type of cancer, it really is scary. To me, it's one of the most scary,

Amber Washington
0:27:42
if not the scariest disease, because there's no set, like, oh, you'll be cured in two months. You never know, you can even get cured, you go on remission, and then it comes back to that uncertainty itself,

Amber Washington
0:27:59
which is a very, you know, helpless state of mind all the time. So as caregivers, as nurses, we come in, we just have to lift their spirit up. And I would echo what Amber said, pray with them, be patient with them, be there for them, shower them with love, and just, you know, just be there for them. All right. Amber? Yeah, I just want to say I'm proud of you daddy. You fought, you continued to fight because you were a fighter from day one and you're

Amber Washington
0:28:37
beating cancer's butt, you know, so I'm proud of you and I know everyone else is that you know you weren't going to let this get you down and you stayed true to

Dave Washington
0:28:46
your word. Well I thank you guys so much, so very much for being on the show. And again, next week we're going to have Dr. Jessica Maxwell, who was my surgeon, and also daughter Angel Washington, who was down, as well, down assisting Marsha with my care. So again, thank you guys so very much. This is Veterans Affairs Plus on 91.5 Jazz and More. Certainly want to thank Wes, who always keeps me on point. Have a great

Dave Washington
0:29:17
day and we'll talk next week.

Joyce Lefang
0:29:19
you you All the smoke in the air till the hate when they stare all the pain that we bear

Transcribed with Cockatoo