...she's using the...

...Big Girl Toilet...Hoo-frcken-ray!

Czn't walk there slone, but with help I'm getting there....

How's _your_ rehab going, Mark? DonnaMarie?? I can do 15 reps w/1lb.weigtht on lrft leg (the side that's gone). Feels soooooooooo slow....... Typing not much improved...How ssre you doing, Sqrq??


Whst kind of book does anyone think I cxn mske on five loops of ds Lane before Spring???

...Friday is...

..."Doctor Day"...

Which means after the radio Therapy treatment


Which means after the radio Therapy treatment, we hang out to have vitals taken [ blood pressure is up, weight is down] and we meet with our 'attending' Resident who was not there today as were many as this was one wicked Iowa Winter Day, so we got to meet with the Radiation specialist with whom we started this summer, Dr. B.

Looks like the original mass of aberrant cells has continued to shrink (lose their foothold?) He, too sees the kidney thangs as being cysts and nothing to be too concerned about..we're still trying to learn about them...

Very expensive meds to dissolve the blood clot in the left lung...lovenox...which he also seemed minimally concerned about. Then again, it ain't _his_ lung...there're four treatments left for a four-day week.

dd has been doing healing touch with some massage daily. We're so lucky to have her. It's a very different level of healing...

... all of this is getting to be enough o mke one want to pull one's hair out, How ironic. ..got to go sweep it up...but it's taken no pulling...*sighs*

Make a great weekend!

...it's before 1:00 p.m....

...and we're done with all of our medical appointments -- some of which were not even scheduled.

What _was_ scheduled was a blood draw (hemo screening) which look like they should according to Kevin. Then a chest CT. Then a meeting with Dr. C who said upon cursory glance looked _very_ good.

The other appointments started then. I haven't eaten since Monday night, because I started vomiting Tuesday morning and haven't stopped since. It's also why I didn't start this post with, "I hope you all had a good yesterday, even if you also don't celebrate the Christian Holiday," when I decided that _anything_ would be better than puking all day, including getting gifts one doesn't want.

The next stop was the chemo suite for an IV of saline solution and an anti-emetic. I felt immediately better!

Then back to Dr. C where we learned the radiologists found two other things: a spot on my kidney and a blood clot in my left lung. Kidney
thing is likely a cyst. We're scheduled for a follow-up appointment next week, and somewhere along the line there will be an ultrasound of the kidney.I'm doing well with the home therapy and nurse. (The hospital wqnted me to go to Cedar Rapids to 'special' rehab...long drive for Kevin, but after two weeks of caring for me he might see that as the better alternative...?...

The cataract surgery will have to be postponed a month or two.

In the meantime, my eyes hurt from strain. This was typed with a 24 font....

So many hellos and thankyous will need to wait until later this week. So apologies 5oewy. Seeeeeeeee!

Make a great rest of the day!

Groggy Daze

Apologies for not having blogged of late. -- it tires me to walk three feet, both of the cateract surguries have been cancelled. Since the brain surgery and radiotherapy started the eyestrain is awful and getting worse. doc, you might want to hire carl's wife, patty, to edit your book if time is an issue. everyone here seems to think my recovery is taking longer than expected, especially Kevin and his workplace *winces*

thank you kevin, sam, nancy, dd and everyone else who has helped keep the blog current.

Kevin reads me the new comments daily. Thank you all for taking time to comment.
i do have a douple of requests: if you have sent flowers, please let us know so we can add them to our thank you note list.

it seems one company was happy to leave them anywhere four days later. if the woman who found them on her door and then called us we would never known they had been sent. so we do know who sent them, thanks ann arbor and terrace place, ny!

Radiation Treatment Number Thirty-nine

...because thirty-nine down and nine to go sounds better than six down and nine to go. Afternoon treatments are not great -- dp just wants to get it over, so the wait is hard for her. We've been testing the waters of 'how early is too early' - we were there more than a hour early yesterday, and they still got us in within 10 minutes or so.

dp is spending more time in the chairs every day -- we worked on bills together this evening and we'll do some more tomorrow morning. She's got a low-grade headache and ear-ache that tylenol and ibuprofen handle fairly well, and she's tired, especially after the treatments. Still, progress is slow but steady.

She did try a little typing yesterday, and her left hand is going to have to learn to do that again. Her 'a's keeping coming out 'q's, so you're stuck with my blogs for a while longer.

The photo is the best I could do at capturing the 'crystal forest' that was our woods. Yesterday, it finally warmed up a little, and by afternoon the woods were raining crushed ice. I'm slowly catching up on everything (look, here's a blog post!), and looking forward to the four day weekend. How about y'all?

The New Grind

We went to radiotherapy in our new scheduled time -- 4:15. Day 2 (or day 35, if you count the other radiotherapy) was pretty uneventful. dp doesn't feel stable enough to walk, so we're using the valet parking feature now, and I've got Marie's old wheelchair in the back of the Baja. So far so good -- dp says the treatments are longer -- a 40-count rather than an 18. She said she could smell something different when they were radiating the lung, but now there's a solid visual cue -- she sees a blue light. So far the biggest side effect is being tired after.

Every day she's a bit stronger, though, in spite of the new therapy. She's sleeping better and longer, and her head is healing nicely. The PT should be here again tomorrow. Having Nancy around is definitely handy...

Me, I've got a reasonably clean driveway, ice storm be damned. The ice is slowly melting off the trees, and the landscape is surreal -- greyscale when it's cloudy and sparkling in the sun.

More Radiation

A bunch of folks came over Saturday to help out with holiday lights. Much fun was had, and good food was consumed and I'll have a lot more lights once I get a few more extension cords.

Sunday we just hung out and hid out, and this morning, we headed back to the U to meet with Dr. S, our new radiation oncologist. You may recall that we met with him back before surgery -- he said that radiotherapy was the standard post-surgical treatment for this kind of tumor, and left us to ponder the choice of focused-beam or whole brain radiation. Well, after looking at the CT and MRI, there wasn't much choice. The tumor was very close to the brainstem and the cavity left is fairly irregular, so he's thinking that focused-beam isn't really an option. We signed off on 15 treatments of whole-brain radiotherapy. The did the aiming scan this morning and they'll start the first treatment on Wednesday. Happy birthday, dp...

The good part about this treatment is that is has the greatest chance of preventing additional tumors. The bad part is that is has the most side effects. In the short run, dp will lose all her hair. There could be nausea, headaches, and the ever-popular fatigue. In the long run, she could lose part of her hearing, and some of her short-term memory.

Here's today's show and tell. The image on the left is the tumor before surgery, and the left shows the cavity where the tumor was removed. The tumor is the blob just right of the center of the brain. The brainstem is the darker spot just above it.

Nancy got in on time around noon -- JR picked her up at the airport and she took care of dp while I went to work and got some shopping done. When I got home, I took on the ice on the driveway again. It's heavy work, but I'm definitely winning.

Short Hairs

A tip: don't go into brain surgery with a french braid. The surgeon was pretty conservative with the shaving, but on top of the chemo, dp's hair was pretty tattered. We asked Bree to come over, and I donated my hair to Locks Of Love (the next time you snicker at somebody's bad hairpiece, remember that it might be me.) Bree cleaned up the back of dp's head, and she'll see what she can style once dp can wash her hair after the stitches come out.

Life here is progressing. The physical therapist was here today, and she's given us simple exercise to do while she clears two weeks' of visits for therapy. dp's still pretty weak, but she's eating well and only seeing one of everything. There's an appointment with the radio oncology dept on Monday, and that will include a follow-up MRI. There's another appointment on Tuesday -- I suppose I should find out where, but we've taken to dealing one appointment at a time.

Tomorrow there are some folks coming by to help with holiday lights, and I've got a new snowplow guy.

I just have to remember to wear a hat...

Home again

We got home around 12:30 Tuesday. Monday night, we set up the extra hospital bed in the King Room. Ron, Rob and I tucked it up against the closet, and there's still just enough room to get a walker in there, as long as you roll the tv back in its closet. When dp got home, she had time for lunch before she fell asleep. She woke up for supper, and to watch the end of Tin Man, and then slept most of the night. Double vision is better, dizziness is too, but she's still pretty weak.

Met with the VNA nurse today. I spent most of the time that I wasn't with dp dealing with the driveway. We're both pooped, but it's good to be home, and one of us will probably feel like writing something more before too long.

Happy Birthday...

...were the first words out of dp's mouth when she called me. That was followed closely by "they want to send me home today."

This is what happens when doctors don't speak to nurses. The nurse who worked with dp all weekend said that she'd rather wait until dp has bowel movement, since the last one triggered a vasovagal syncope. She went and talked to one of the doctors, who said that they were working on the assumption that she would be going to rehab (St. Lukes in Cedar Rapids is the closest neurology rehab), and we don't think that rehab is actually necessary. I talked to a social worker briefly, and they are supposed to send someone over to talk about home PT options.

Right now, the plan is to bring dp home tomorrow, and set her up upstairs for a couple of days, and then get her back in her own bed later in the week. She'll need a walker and a shower chair, but we've got plenty of each. They want 24/7 coverage at first, so I can probably do most of my work at home. I use some volunteers to give me some coverage for the periods that I do have to go to work for -- Cinda's been a trooper -- covering for several hours at a time, but let's not burn her out.

Meanwhile, I'll be here waiting for staff to come talk to us...

Sunday at da U

Progress is slow but steady. dp is "off-monitor," so now she only has to work around the one IV in her left hand. The infusion pump came back almost immediately after I'd noted its absence. She's getting saline that way, but all of her other meds are taken orally.

She walked (with a walker) to the bathroom today. She still lists pretty heavily to the left, still has some dizziness and double-vision, but she's eating (and holding down) solid food. They're talking about sending her home "in a couple days," but nothing definitive yet.

Trooley and I did our usual thing yesterday -- here in the morning, home for the early afternoon, and then here again until 8 or so. The ice storm made life a little more interesting, but nothing a well-driven Subaru couldn't handle.

She's still not sleeping real well at night, but she's dozing now, so I'm going to go try my hand at bookkeeping, and I'll come back tonight to watch Tin Man.

A hole in my life...

...has become the whole of my life.

It colors how I see the world,
and how the world sees me.
It affects me physically,
not to mention mentally.
It gives rise to the need for caregivers.

It alters perception of time.
It modifies schedules.
It upsets plans.

It drains energy.
It saps strength.
It exhausts.

It plays on emotions.
It angers.
It confuses.

It disrupts thoughts.
It disturbs dreams.
It interrupts sleep.

It narrows focus.
It plays tricks.
It blurs vision.

It destroys self-esteem.
It breaks trust.
It dashes hope.

It revises notions of fair.
It reorders priorities.
It reshapes expectations, spoken and unspoken.

It impacts friends and family.
It imposes itself in all aspects of our lives.
It continues to tranform everything.

-dp
I wrote this before surgery...
And I still feel torn, shredded, ripped asunder.

It's Friday

..and things are starting to look up. Vertigo is better, but not gone, and dp is cracking smiles and jokes.

I got here at 5:30 this morning, so I could talk the Doctors doing rounds. dp says he's less rude than she's alone. This is not the head head doc, but Dr. B, the guy whose cheek she pinched. I guess maybe she shouldn't have done that... Pathology confirmed that the tumor was cancer -- everyone assumes that it's metastasis, but I guess they can't prove it. Maybe I can convince Human Relations that it's another second illness, and use another 48 hours of my sick leave...

Dr. C was in this morning too. He didn't think the acupuncturist was such a good idea, which struck me as odd, given that it was his suggestion in the first place. He thinks the dizziness now could just be lightheadedness, because she's been bed-ridden for so long.

dp is off the liquid diet this morning, and is working her way through a bowl of dry Kix (weren't they for trids?), a melon plate(canteloupe and honeydew, neither a dp favorite), and an orange italian ice. We're going to have to try and find those -- they're good (Arrezzio brand). They expect her to walk today, so hopefully that means pulling the foley catheter. She's down to one IV (the last two in her right hand have gone bad -- the first "infused," and blew up her hand to yesterday morning -- the swelling was better by last night), and is pretty much gone now.

She's still not feeling very social, but she is showing definite improvement.

Waiting for Improvement

The news is not so good -- dp still has vertigo and nausea and feels absolutely awful. I'm hoping that this is swelling from the surgery mimicking the swelling of the tumor, and that it will subside soon. This is not really much solace to Diana right now, though. She is pretty beat up, but she's still better this evening than she was this morning. The kitchen serves an Italian Ice that she likes, so I've stashed a bunch of them in the freezer. She's still on a liquid diet, but she is eating better. Still she's happiest when she's sleeping, though.

She had the CT yesterday afternoon, and a follow-up MRI last night. A resident came in and looked at her stitches this afternoon, and everything looks good. Now if we can just convince dp of that...

Back in Neurology Again

By the time I got back, dp had been downstairs for her CT, discharged from the SICU, and moved back to the 6th floor (JC East, instead of JC West, but I noticed Pearly was still in dp's old room).

It's an improvement. We've got a private room with a lovely view of the emergency room parking lot, the taller parts of downtown IC, and even City High in the distance. dp's back to three leads, and I think just one IV, and for the first time since she's been admitted, no infusion pump. She still has the Kendall leg cuffs and a catheter, but I'll take any improvement I can get. dp still feels real groggy and pretty darned unhappy. I'll give the new phone number to Katie and Cinda, but rest assured, she doesn't want to talk to you right now. She's been sleeping as write this, so that's good.

Still, we're on our way out of here, now, and I think her vertigo is clearly better, even if she doesn't want to acknowledge it. The curtains here have the same vertical stripes, but since her bed faces the wall, she doesn't actually have to look at them. (BTW, SICU curtains have both vertical and horizontal stripes -- a veritable vertigo extravaganza.)

Back to last night (sorry I didn't get a chance to blog earlier -- there might have been an internet connection somewhere in the room, but I wasn't going to risk ticking off a nurse to ask for one) -- one of the "is-your-brain-still-working" questions was "what's the next major holiday?" Neither the day nurse or the night nurse knew what "Winter Solstice" meant.

Katie, Co and Mom left about 4 or so, I think, leaving a care package with Seth. When I looked in the fridge this morning, I found a bag of salad, a lasagna of some sort, assorted bananas, apples and oranges, and a pineapple. I had half the salad for lunch, but I'm still pondering about what to do with the pineapple -- maybe something with rum. ;)

SICU

..for those who don't hang around hospitals, stands for Surgical Intensive Care Unit. In theory, visitors are only allowed for 15 minutes every two hours, but if you're nice to the nurses and don't get in the way, they have the option of allowing you to stay in the room. I've been very nice to the nurses.

Other policies here seem pretty fucked up -- there are 'family rounds' that allow the family members to talk to the doctors, but that's only one day a week. (Tuesday) Given that most people are out of here in 48 hours or so, it seems like a pretty token program to me.

dp still has two IVs and an arterial line, a four lead heart and breathing monitor, a oxygen saturation sensor and two inflatable cuffs around her calves, hooked up to an air pump made by Kendall (well-known from my youth as a manufacturer of milking machines.) The arterial line gives constant blood pressure readings, but she still has a blood pressure cuff on her arm. With all that, the simple act of rolling over in bed becomes a puzzle on how to keep all those lines from fouling each other.

All the monitors say she's doing okay, but she's still pretty miserable. Sleep comes in 60 minute intervals, punctuated by the 'is-your-brain-still-working' tests. She did eat lunch -- a container of orange ice and most of another of jello. She says it sat hard in her stomach, but she's keeping it down.

A fellow could also spend quite awhile here before he realized that actual doctors work here -- I was here from 3 to 11 yesterday and since about 8:30 this morning. I saw an intern last night, and nobody today. The surgeon told us that the follow-up would include a head CT yesterday afternoon or evening, but the nurse last night said that would wait until this morning. When there was no talk of that by 12:30, I told the nurse I was concerned that it hadn't happened. She called down and came back to tell me it would probably happen in the next hour or so. Diana is shaky and groggy and not interested in talking to anyone (including me), and I want some objective tests, dammit!

The word from the nurse is that she'll probably go back up the neurology ward sometime today. Both of us are looking forward to that. She's sleeping now, so I think I'll take this opportunity to feed Trooley and myself, and find a place to upload this post.

I appreciate all the posts of support, and I imagine dp will too, as soon as she feels well enough to direct her attention outside of the world that is her bed.

Day of surgery lounge, again

We started stuff this morning about 6. They wheeled Diana down to the pre and post surgery ward, and we met with her surgeon, Dr. R (yeah, that's different). He said he got the case because of his interest in these kinds of tumors, and the fact that he's a brain surgeon and a radiation oncologist (he's two, two, two docs in one!). He said it's his birthday today, so he's feeling lucky.

Seriously, though, he didn't seem too concerned with the surgery. The biggest concern is fluid build-up, which they can fix with a drain, and intercranial bleeding, which they have to back after. They'll do a post-op CT to check for bleeding. He says the cerebellum can suffer a lot of damage without ill effects to the patient -- dp will proabably lose some eye-hand coordination with her left hand, but it will come back as different parts of the cerebellum learn how to pick up the slack.

He says his part only takes 3 hours, but with prep and post and all, it'll probably be seven hours before I can see her, and they'll probably take her back to the same room she was in before (here we come, Pearly!) He does call up with updates, so I'll hear something before their done.

Meanwhile, there's a guy here (we saw him in prep) with 16 family members for a 12 hour surgery. While that may be comforting to him, it makes the lounge here pretty damned crowded.

I'm going to try to learn javascript.

Monday Afternoon

It's official - 8 am Tuesday morning. The nurse said they'd probably take her down around 6 am, so I'll get up early tomorrow.

We're still waiting for the 'stealth' MRI. I don't think it's done in secret, but there's some sort of an acronym involved. A PA came in mid-morning, and glued what look like a series of life-savers around her skull, and eventually she'll go down for another MRI. I guess this surgeon likes to have 3-D image of the tumor before surgery.

dp is definitely feeling better today. She's slept a good part of the afternoon, and her breathing is much more regular than it was yesterday. Her blood pressure is a lot better, too -- it was up to 200/100 for awhile yesterday, but the last I saw today was 148/86. She's finished a bowl of grapes (peeled - don't ask) and a half a bag of potato chips. That's the most she's eaten in over 10 days, so it's definitely an improvement.

The anesthesiologist just came in with the anesthesia consent form. Given that we'd already signed the surgery consent, this one seems like a good idea. Following close behind were two other guys from anesthesiology, asking if dp wanted to be in a study. She'll be given a drug called mannitol (a hyperosmotic agent) to reduce the pressure of fluids in her head during surgery. They want to get blood samples from her over a 12 hour period to try and get a better profile of how it lasts in the blood. No extra sticks, so we said ok.

Cross your fingers, say your prayers, and I'll post some more tomorrow.

Monday Morning

dp is not on the surgery schedule yet -- It's possible she could still go in this afternoon, but more likely tomorrow.

She's feeling a bit better this morning -- the vertigo has improved, and she almost feels like she has an appetite. Makes a weird murphy-like sense -- she can't eat now, because she has to have an empty stomach for surgery.

More news as it develops...

Signing Papers

We signed the consent form for a "posterior fossa craniectomy" this morning. There's a scary list of things that can go wrong, but there aren't a lot of options. This thing is pushing against her brainstem, and that can cause all kinds of problems.

I forget the term right now, but she's on the surgical equivalent of flying standby, so it might be Monday and it might be Tuesday. The head of the Department (Dr. F, not Dr. G --I was tired) will be doing the surgery.

Dr. C recommended Meclizine to try and deal with the nausea. dp was doing that when we thought it was positional vertigo, and it didn't seem to help much, but any help would be good right now. Diana is back to being as miserable as she was yesterday morning. Meclizine is an antihistamine, so if nothing else, it help her to sleep.

Meanwhile, Trooley has been riding to the hospital every day. He sleeps in the car in the parking lot. The hospital does have a way to have pet visits, but it involves three forms and a vet's signature. Vaccinations are to be done within at least a year, but not in the last 14 days, and as CMan mentioned in the comments, Trooley got a rabies shot last week. I'll look into it.

Saturday's Update

...is about the same as Friday's. dp felt about the same this morning. The head head doc (let's call him Dr. G) came around this morning but had nothing new to say.

Cinda came to cover my lunch break, and dp went down for another CT scan. We didn't hear anything more about it, which means that things aren't any worse.

dp looked better when I came back -- I asked if the vertigo was better, and she said at least she was getting better at tolerating it. She's not able to read right now, so I've been reading to her. We've finished the first Harry Potter book and have started on the second.

The Day After Turkey Day

dp talked to the head head guy on rounds this morning. They want the steroids to shrink the tumor before surgery, and it's not shrinking as fast as they'd like. It sounds like they're going to watch her over the weekend, and maybe do surgery on Monday. It sounds like everyone agrees that surgery is the first step, but the 'when' is still up in the air. dp gets the feeling that Dr. C would like to expedite it, but since he's not the guy with scalpel, it's not his call.

Meanwhile, they've lowered the dose of steroids, I think because dp wasn't handling them so well. She felt better this morning -- I think she ate all the applesauce and some of the grapes last night. She ordered the same thing for breakfast today, but she fell asleep around 9:30 or so, and is still sleeping now.

Her blood pressure is still high, and they said that the CT from yesterday morning showed the tumor essentially unchanged. The double vision has gone away and the vertigo has come back, so I guess that's some progress. Diana says the vertigo isn't has bad as it was yesterday, but pointed out that whoever decided the room-dividing curtains should include vertical stripes had never had vertigo.

Dr. C mentioned that there's an accupuncturist on staff. We're looking into that.

Pearly

dp's roommate is an 84 year-old black woman named Pearly. From what we've gathered, Pearly had a tumor behind her eyes that was removed a couple days ago. She's deaf as a post, and her daughter took her hearing aids home after they told her that she couldn't wear them on the fifth floor -- apparently for the same reason I can't turn my cell phone on.

All the patients have lots of stuff written down, so that staff can see what's going on, but it seems that there's no place to write "she can't hear," so that's become dp's job, and mine when dp is sleeping.

Sometimes, Pearly will say "I don't have my hearing aid in," but often, she just stares at them. She has a deep, resonating voice, and sounds kind of like Maya Angelou. Her head is shaved, and there's a nasty-looking set of sutures that go a third of the way around her skull.

Every couple of hours, the nurses come around and do assessments to make sure that brain function isn't deteriorating. They ask you your name, where you are, and what date it is, and then they check motor function -- "grab my fingers. Push me away. Pull me toward you. Lift your toes, push them down again." dp's still passing them, but Pearly's answers can be kind of random, and then half the time she just won't answer -- whether it's from deafness or disgust, I don't know.

She also has a lot of phlegm, and they've given her something like a dentist's suction (only much bigger) to suck it away. The sound of the suction is a lot like fingers on a blackboard. I'll never hear Ross Perot's "giant sucking sound" speech the same way. They've got her in arm restraints, because every couple of hours she starts pulling the various wires and tubes out of her body. The alarms go off, and Diana instinctively starts feeling her wires and tubes to see if everything is still where it's supposed to be.

Diana's feeling a little bit better. She slept most of the afternoon. Her blood pressure is still a little high, and she's getting insulin to keep her blood sugar down and Zofran to keep her food down. The insulin works -- the Zofran doesn't. She'll take a sip of water, and then spit it up over the next 10 minutes or so. Still, she's ordered some supper -- bananas, grapes, applesauce and some toast. Ever the optimist, my honey...

She still doesn't feel very social, and I've fended off the people who called in Thanksgiving wishes. We love you all -- we just don't feel much like talking right now.

I do read her the comments to the blog, at least the ones I can read without tears. We don't cry about our situation much, but your good wishes and good deeds move us often.

Thanksgiving Morning

...is not good. dp spent most of the night wretching. Her potassium was "dangerously low," and when she couldn't keep the pills down, they started pumping it IV. According to dp, it burns.

She's dozing now, and not real interested in talking to anyone. She's pretty miserable. The steroids they're giving her to shrink the tumor increase stomach acid, raise her blood pressure and her blood sugar, so they give her more drugs to treat those symptoms. Dr. C was in first thing in the morning again -- he was very sympathetic.

Sorry I can't give better news -- I'll probably do an update later today.

The Neurology Ward

So, dp is wearing a fashionable black eye patch today -- that way, there's only one of me (and everyone else).

Dr C was in first thing this morning, and said that surgical resection was definitely the best option. Apparently, it took until almost noon for the decision that there wouldn't be surgery today, because that's when the word came down that dp was allowed to eat again. She thought the onion rings sounded good, but changed her mind half-way through the second one -- Dr A came in about then, and said that while it was good that onion rings appealed to her, she should stick to a BRAT diet -- Broth, Rice, Applesauce and Toast. I guess her stomach is still pretty burned up from all the throwing up last week. She's on IV anti-emetics, but she's still having trouble keeping food down.

We also got a visit from radiation oncology -- not Dr. B, but one of his associates. He said they would probably want to do radiotherapy on dp's head not too long after surgery, and our eventual decision is whether to go with radiation focused on the tumor spot or "whole brain" radiation. The whole brain approach results in fewer future tumors, but it has more side effects (hearing and memory loss being the two that stuck in my head), and you can only do the whole brain thing one time. Our early thoughts are to go with the narrow beam.

Surgery could be Friday, but things are pretty chaotic over the holiday, so nobody's committing to anything today.

Let's see -- as the comments mentioned, Faith was here this morning, followed by Cinda, Marcy, Faith again, Dede, Dr. A, and Cinda again.

Despite it all, I think we're both in pretty good spirits - we spent the day yesterday dreading the phone call, but once it came, we were both ready to move ahead.

More news as we get it. Thanks for all the support and good thoughts.

The 700 lb gorilla...

..has jumped up and bit us. Yeah, we all knew that there was more than one possible cause of vertigo, so when dp wasn't feeling any better by Monday, Dr. A ordered an MRI this morning. We got the news about 5:30 or so that she has a single mass on the left side of the cerebellum. The mass is pressing on the duct that all of the spinal fluid drains out of, and if that closes up, it's bad news.

So, here we are at the Emergency Room, and they are admitting dp tonight for eventual surgery to remove the tumor. For now, they'll treat the tumor with steroids to see if they can shrink it for some temporary relief, but they want to keep a real close eye on her, since the situation could change rapidly, and they'd have to do emergency surgery.

We're not sure yet how fast they'll schedule surgery, but it looks like it could happen even as early as tomorrow. Afterwards, she'll probably need about a week in hospital before she's ready to go home.

Apparently, they gave dp valium when she got in -- she's been smiling a lot, and even pinched one of the intern's cheeks, telling him that he looked awful young. Her headache is gone, and the vertigo is okay if she doesn't move. Today's new symptom, though, is double vision -- she asked me to make sure I thanked the Clan for the two beautiful flower arrangements they sent today...

We've moved up to the neurology ward on the 6th floor, where I've found a network port. We love you all, and we'll try and keep you up to date.

A Dizzy Delay

Diana's been doing vertigo since Monday, and throwing up for the last two days, so we've canceled cataract surgery for tomorrow.

I talked to Dr. A's nurse this morning, and Zofran seems to be helping the nausea, but not the vertigo. We'll check in again with her tomorrow morning.

We're both pretty tired, so all you get is this terse report.

Gone Long...

...or Long Gone?

A little of both, I think.

I have spent part, if not all, of each of the past ten days removing and moving leaves. Kevin has spent his 'spare time' working on websites, doing repairs at both houses, and taking care of me.

By the time evening rolled around last week, neither of us had the creative energy to conduct a coherent conversation, let alone describe our rather mundane schedule here.

Early last week we learned that Doc and Olive would be here this weekend, so some of our time was spent getting ready for their visit.

What we didn't expect was their arriving armed with a leaf blower and an intention to put a dent in our 'leaf situation.' By Saturday afternoon, all of what I call our 'leafing trim work' was done. Olive and I moved a couple brush piles and a couple piles of recently cut logs. Both yards and all of our parking is visible again!


Having all of that done is doublegood since we're expecting rain for the next couple days!

Somehow in addition to doing all the yardwork, we watched football games, played bridge, sat around the fire, ate well, and generally enjoyed each other's company.

Overall we've been well and counting our blessings. My energy isn't returning as quickly as I'd like. On occasion I still have problems swallowing, light waves of nausea, trouble maintaining my balance. I still feel bloated. Sleep is still interrupted. My muscles aren't comfortable with the extra weight I'm carrying. But hey, I'm two months farther along the road than some thought I'd be...

Our next trip to the hospital will be on Nov. 16th for cataract surgery on my right eye. (Left eye surgery is Nov. 30th.)

NancyTurtle, we laughed when we read your comment about the writers' strike. Apologies, we'll work on being a bit more regular with these posts.

BTW, did you hear that writers' on the picket lines were carrying blank signs??

Happy Birthday, Dede!

Happy Veteran's Day to all of our Veterans!!

Make a great rest of the weekend!

Cleopatra...

...won the Best Costume award!

And, it must have been a busy day for her because she was exhausted when she got home.

Did more leaf re-arrangement this morning and got the impatience and begonias inside. While the temps may dip to freezing at night, the days are forecast to be comfortable enough to work outside.

I'm sure Lily and Carl can tell you what it's like when we don't take care of this in the fall. I think they both spent the entire day before Uncle Shorty's Memorial Gathering raking leaves at da Red House so the Bon Fire wouldn't present a danger.

Yesterday afternoon we both went to the dentist. I got there first and was taken into the x-ray room.

Kevin came in shortly after I did and the hygienist asked if he were my son...

*leaves to ponder*

Layers...

...of leaves.

I've spent the better part of the past three days removing our first major layer of leaves from our gardens and ponds, and repotting the annuals that filled our planters so they can winter-over in Mom's sunny living room.

We have about three of these leaf-layerings each fall, and we've learned from experience that if we wait until all of the leaves have fallen to begin the removal, it's generally freezing and the labor is five times worse.

Sunday, Kevin and Hal chain-sawed some of our recently fallen branches as well as some logs which should now be good and dry and ready for the fireplaces and woodburners. Hal's help with the leaves the weekend of the Memorial also helped with what we have to do at Mom's house. *waves of thanks at Hal*

It's taking me longer overall; I notice I need to rest more often. *sigh* But I use that effort toward my exercise and walking totals which are slowly beginning to increase.

Mom was dressed as Cleopatra when she left this morning. Am looking forward to the treats she'll bring home. They're generally horrible for a diabetic, so we help her out when we can *nods*

We don't expect many trick-or-treaters. People can't find us when they have explicit instructions, so we don't get many random folks. Our friends who used to drive here with their children ... those children are driving themselves now. Nothing makes me age conscious like thinking about what friends'/siblings' children are doing now. *heh* Teaching used to strike that consciousness, but...

Wishing you the best this Halloween!!

And the Results...

...show no aberrant cells on the cervix!

There are five board certified gynecological oncologists in the state of Iowa, four of them are here. They function as a team. The one-fourth of the team that I saw thinks the spot was a cyst, since he couldn't see/find anything.

He scheduled another ultrasound for 1/18/08 with another gynecology department in the hospital. The first was the done by the pediatrics-radiology department...we're not sure why.

Cataract surgery has been scheduled for 11/16 and 11/30, both at 5:00 a.m. The right eye is worse and will be done first. I'm to expect disorientation between surgeries as the vision will be corrected some, but my glasses will be the current prescription. Don't know if clear glass would be better, as my astigmatism is so severe I'll need to wear glasses afterwards -- most people don't need glasses afterwards.

I'm scheduled for another lung CT (with contrast, which means I'm injected with radioactive iodine) on 12/26/07.

My energy is slowly returning. I'm debating whether to go back on the lorazepam that was helping me sleep at night, whether to look for another medication, or whether to tough it out a couple more days. Getting a good night's sleep is considered a large part of the healing process... I've been off all medications, except those for high blood pressure, for a couple weeks now. While I still feel 'steroid bloated,' I know I'm over-weight as well. *sighs*

So that should be it -- medically -- for three weeks. *knocks wood*

We'll post photos and trivia for a while. Anything specific you're curious about that can be posted on a G-rated blog???










This photo of our Anniversary Bed was taken by OregonConnie's son the day of Terry's Memorial. The bed was planted last fall with all of the chrysanthemums that we used to decorate the gathering for our 25th Anniversary. About half of them survived our last winter. This spring I moved some others into the bed to fill it out -- without knowing the colors. It's just coming into its full glory.


Stay hydrated and make a great weekend! Don't be shy about posting how things are with you!!

Seeing is Believing

So here are tumor scans...

These are computed tomography scans, which virtually slice people up to see what they look like inside, so imagine that you're looking up dp's torso from the bottom up. You can see her spine on the bottom of each scan, so her left lung is on the right side of each scan. The left is the scan from May, and the one on the right is the scan from today. If you click on the photo, the wonders of modern technology will highlight the tumor.



That's right -- it's less than half as large as it used to be, and Dr.s C and B agree that it will probably keep shrinking for awhile. They've scheduled another CT in two months, but for now, we'll let the radiotherapy and dp's mojo do their work.

We're back at the U tomorrow to setup cataract surgeries, and again Friday for the cervical tumor. Dr. C did not want to talk about that, deferring to the gynecological oncologist, but he did say that whatever is going on is not related to the lung cancer. He thought there was no chance that lung cancer would spread to the cervix, and almost no chance that the lung cancer was metastasized from the cervix.

So there ya go. It's the first time I've had a chance to share good news for awhile, and I'm pleased as punch about it. dp is pooped after four different appointments in the same day -- she's crashed on the couch, and I'll probably let her snooze for awhile.

This was a good day.

And A Good Time...

...was had by all.



Terry's Memorial Tree Planting and Bon Fire was wonderful!

There were a good number of folks there by the time the fire was put out -- sometime after midnight. A great group of people! The food was fabulous. The weather was wonderful. Delightful experience overall!

OregonConnie, I couldn't do the story justice. Will you post how you 'attended' the Memorial??

We started way too early and stayed way too long...

Here are some photos shared by OregonConnie:







































And, we had an equally wonderful Sunday, weather-wise, as well. A day I just didn't have the energy to take advantage of. *sighs* Fortunately, the folks coordinating the Memorial have helped tremendously with the leaves at da Red House. Kevin's been staying on top of the leaves that eventually choke our creek.

Monday I was just as tired. *sighs*

Tuesday I felt energetic enough to do some chores and both dd and Seth said I was looking more energetic and healthier.

I still feel bloated and learned today that I've gained 25 lbs. since all of this began *heavy, heavy sighs*

We also learned today that the aberrant cell count has decreased by over half!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *does da dance o' joy*

More at eleven.

Happy Birthday, Drew!

Our Friend Terry...

...McCall's Memorial Tree Planting and Bon Fire is today:

Terrance (Terry) John McCall 59, of 1020 3rs Avenue, Iowa City, died Sunday, October 7, 2007 at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, of a sudden illness.

A gathering of friends and family will be eld at 7:00 p.m. Friday, October 12, 2007 at Gay & Chia Funeral and Cremation Service in Iowa City.

A private celebration of Terry's life will be held October 20, 2007 at da Woods Bed and Breakfast in Iowa City. In lieu of flowers a memorial fund has been established in Terry's memory. Online condolences may be sent for his family through the web at www.gayandchia.com.

Terry was born in Hartley, Iowa on February 25, 1948 to Ted and Marcella (Koenck) McCall. He graduated from Everly High School and the University of Iowa. He operated Rainbow daycare in Iowa City for over 20 years. He also worked in the property management department at the University of Iowa. Terry loved gardening, puttering around his property making minor adjustments.

Terry is survived by his father, Ted McCall of California; cousin Emy Simington of Iowa City; her sons, Derek Mull of Iowa City, Darin Mull and his family of Texas.

He will be sadly missed by his friends, relatives and workers. Terry was a loving, caring, special kind of man known as "Dear Abby" to his friends and family.

Gay & Chia Funeral Home of Iowa City is caring for Terry's family.

-Iowa City Press-Citizen, Thursday, October 11, 2007

We've spent the past few days tidying the Bed and Breakfast for Guests and we're almost ready.

Friday we all got our flu shots at Mom's Day Care Center. I had a _great_ massage Friday afternoon -- thanks, again, NancyTurtle! (dd, I think it helped with the flu shot ache as well as all the rest!)

Next week we have the CT scan on Wednesday along with meetings with both of the oncologists. Thursday we have the cataracts assessed. Friday I meet with the gynocological oncologist.

Mom is doing very well right now. A new visiting nurse will be starting next Tuesday. She'd love to hear from you.

When not at work, Kevin's staying pretty busy with our web design business. For a while there I was feeling like the proverbial cobbler's daughter...


What's going on with you and what do you have planned???

Boo!

Today's procedure was a cervical ultrasound. I got to watch -- it took about 20 minutes to take digital photos of all the angles. I was watching the screen, and I think I figured out where the openings to the ovaries were, but it mostly looked like a bunch of gray surfaces to me. There were a couple of cool color overlays that the tech said were showing the direction of bloodflow, but mostly, a lot of gray. dp said there was a fair amount of pressure, but no pain.

We hung out for another 20 minutes or so, waiting to see if they needed any more images, and then they sent us home.

Dr. A called a couple hours later -- there's a tumor on the anterior cervix, about a centimeter and a half. Given the rest of what's going on, it's assumed to be cancer.

So now there's a gynecological oncologist in our future. Dr. A says somebody will give us a call in the next couple days to set up an appointment, and that we're probably looking at surgery to remove the tumor.

So it goes.

Meanwhile, we're hosting a wake on Saturday for our friend Terry, who died suddenly last week. He'd spent the evening having dinner and playing games with friends, and he was changing his clothes to head downtown and listen to music. I can think of a few better ways to go, but not many. He was at most of the Stoopid Toy parties for the last 10 years or so, but other than that, our social circles didn't overlap much. We're providing the space, and his friends are doing all the rest.

Diana's back is looking quite a bit better. It's still peeling, and thus pretty itchy, but the dark spot is a lot smaller and a lot lighter. She's still pooped, but feeling stronger.

Still Too...

...plumb tuckered.

I'm sure you can imagine what else isn't getting done -- aside from posts to the sCenario.

Otherwise we're well enough.

Here's my best idea for today: How about commenting and letting us know how you are??

*hugs* ...and hydration!

The Eyes...

...don't have it.

Eye exam yesterday shows Kevin's vision holding. I, however, have cataracts that will require an evaluation, on Oct. 25th, in anticipation of surgical removal of the worse one (right) first and the left one two weeks later.

There were no signs of cataracts up until now, but it's been a couple years since the last exam and no one speaks to the effects of RadioTherapy so close to one's face. My gums and teeth feel a bit different. My eyes were right up there, too. *shrugs*

Bets are whether I'll need to take a driver's test with this year's renewal. They do random testing as well as testing those they suspect might have problems. ...Uncle Shorty got snagged that way once...or twice. Don't know if we can get the surgery done before what would be my January deadline for renewal...

How much it seems I'm traveling in many of Dad's footsteps of late. I got to be 60 years old taking only vitamin supplements. The tray of _my_ medications on our dresser will soon put Uncle Shorty's tray to shame. *embarrassed wince*

Now the cataracts...and ability to drive *heavy sigh*

Heard today that my Vitamin D count is low, despite my taking the recommended supplement for the past six months...

Mammogram results came back normal. Cervical sonargram is scheduled for Oct. 17th. CT Scan is Oct 24th. Cervical biopsy is scheduled for Nov. 1st.

The burn on my back isn't healing as well as we'd like. There's clearly a center core that's ...itchier/warmer... than the surrounding burn. We're applying aloe (straight from the plant) and using Aveeno lotion, along with cold compresses.

Went to a session of Healing Touch on Tuesday with dd; it's the second one I've attended, dd's first. It's a clinic that happens the second Tuesday of every month. We're still talking about it and are considering going again next month.

Am still backing off the esophogial coating at half-rate. Stepped down to 1/3 yesterday and hope to be off of it by next week. Am still bloated and jittery... My legs tire quickly; I'll be trying to walk again tomorrow.

Last night I found a program on lung cancer that was done by a local hospital and taped by Kevin's channel. I've found it to be one of the better put-together pieces I've seen yet. It runs two hours, and I've taped it in case anyone is interested. ...actually, I taped it even if no one is interested *grins*

Looking foward to some energy this weekend *crosses fingers*

Howz by youz??

Town Car...

...to Carl.




JR drove an Expedition with a trailer attached and loaded with the Town Car on Monday evening. He arrived Tuesday morning, turned around, and returned home.

Took us a while, but the ShortyMobile is now where Dad wanted it to be.



Many thanks to Kevin for going above and beyond the call...again!

*contented sigh*
*notes that contented sighs don't tire her out so much*

Happy Birthday, Hannah!

The Fatigue...

...is just not to be believed -- utterly indescribable and frustrating.

Can't do anything physical without needing to rest at a 5:1 ratio; can't think to write; can't write to think, knitting tires me, reading tires me, not doing anything tires me the most, so I started a new cross-stitch project which is tiring me...

Went to Healing Touch last night; it was calming -- I don't seem to tire of calming.

I slept through last night -- for the first time in a long time. The RadioTherapy Burn on my left shoulder blade is healing well.

Today is better. ...I'm still feeling like I'm jittering out of my skin, but only about a quarter of the time; still drives me a bit buggy.
*considers jitter-bugging*

Happy Birthday, Bree, our 10/10 member of Our Birthdate Club!



Tomorrow I'll write more about:







Our friend, Terry McCall, died this past Saturday; we'll host a BonFire Tree Planting Memorial on Sat., 10/20 at 4pm. Blessed Be!



The ShortyMobile is now where Dad wanted it.
*breathes a sigh of relief*






Stay hydrated and make a great rest of the day!
*hoists up a tall glass of cool, clear water*

Happy Humpday!!

Howz by youz!!!

Unexpected Appointments...

...scheduled late yesterday afternoon -- for this morning.

About a month ago, we spoke with Dr A about scheduling some of my regular medical appointments (mamogram, PAP smear, etc.), which had been postponed because of the Chemotherapy and then because of the RadioTherapy treatments. The appearance of post-coital vaginal blood within the last month prompted her to get some of those balls rolling sooner than we'd initially planned...

So, this morning we did the PAP Smear and got orders for a mamogram, a cervical sonargram, and an endometrial cancer/fibrosis biopsy. I was able to get the mamogram done this morning. We won't worry about a bone-density test for another year.

Dr. A and dd both have concerns about the ever-deepening sredness of the RadioTherapy burn on my back, and we've talked about the ointments that dd is recommending we try. Shea butter was recommended by one of dd's clients, she's found an oil we'll try, and we'll be adding cold compresses to the healing lotion regime.

FYI: Avoid any creams/lotions that contain "parabens." Could have a number of chemical names in front of it, but parabens is a part of the name, are showing as carcinogenic, and are in almost ALL lotions and creams on the market today.

Dr A. has concerns about my blood pressure remaining so high. That, coupled with oncern about lowered potassium from the treatments, got me into the lab for both a UA and two blood draws right after our meeting with her.

Results from all of these tests won't be in for a couple weeks. They'll be in next week, but Dr A will be out of the office, so we'll wait until she returns. Should actually be about the same time that we'll be doing the CT scan on the 24th. The cervical biopsy is currently schedule for the morning of 11/1.

We've also decided that for the time being, I'll be meeting with her every two months, which means again at the beginning of December.

In the meantime, I'm becoming more easily exhausted daily. One of the women in RadioTherapy told me this will get worse before it gets better. dd confirms other clients have said this as well. I just wasn't ready for the ...force of the exhaustion. It took all day to do two loads of laundry next door *sighs*

We're backing off the RadioTherapy Shooters (the steroids) by half. To do this for a week, which is what we're all thinking it may take, we'll need to order another round of the makings for the Shooters...but only a quarter of what we had before.

Didn't sleep at all last night. Up every half hour, leg cramps, hot flashes, cold flashes... Couple that with the climbing-out-of-my-skin withdrawal symptoms from these steroids/meds/treatments, and am probably someone you'd want to avoid for a while...


Our masssage this afternoon was _just_ what I needed; thanks, NancyTurtle!!


Send Kevin your best relaxing thoughts this weekend!?!

And, make a nice weekend for yourselves, as well!

The ShortyMobile...

...began in my memory with the blue-green Kaiser-Frazer in the 1940's. That was followed by the green Plymouth, a forty-something, which we owned in 1951, when we moved to the house on Oak Avenue. I know we have photos of it...

It was Dad who kept it timed, tuned, and running perfectly -- except, of course, for the next minor tweaking it would require. Shade-tree mechanic that he was, Uncle Shorty dispensed a fair amount of mechanical knowledge around the neighborhood, and it seemed there was always some vehicle in some part of the drive being repaired or maintained.

From the Plymouth on, the ShortyMobile was always a green or blue, Chevy or Ford. Actually, despite living in 'Ford Country,' the Fords didn't start appearing in the driveway until the seventies. Buying American meant something different then...

Regarding the blue/green thing: Dad always went to the dealership intending to get the 'hot red one' he'd always wanted. And, without fail, he came home with the special-deal-floor-model -- always green or blue.

Backseat position in the ShortyMobile was critical and is what was "called" in our house. Safest space was behind Auntie 'Rie; Uncle Shorty spit snuff juice out the driver's window. Enough said??

In the seventies and eighties I remember seeing a red car, a Falcon wagon, if I recall correctly; I know he bought it, what's the current expression...pre-owned?? That vehicle eventually made it to Ann Arbor, methinks, along with the other ShortyMobiles that eventually ended up in Carl's care.

Ironically enough, in the eighties, when Uncle Shorty could finally buy the car that he wanted (instead of what he could afford), he'd still wait until someone in the family was due an extra employee discount.

He had a Ford LTD before he finally got the Lincoln Town Car, both of them midnight blue. I remember how big, elegant, enveloping and safe they always felt. I remember needing to accommodate the size differences from my green Volkswagen and gold MG Midget to his big cars in those days, and from our current compact cars, once the current Town Car moved here.

The Final ShortyMobile is a 1989 Lincoln Town Car, midnight blue -- with all of the bells and whistles. Final irony there for me is that one of the things Uncle Shorty always told me about buying machinery was that the more bells and whistles it had, the more things that could go wrong that _I_ wouldn't be able to fix.

On August 11, 1997, the ShortyMobile made its move to IC. Although Mom and Dad had been visiting the area for over 20 years, most of that time was spent in the neighboring Bedroom Community in which we used to reside. They spent much of the fall of '97 re-acclimating to the new part of town, the new roads, the new routes, the new stores, the new services, the new everything...none of which was as nice as, as convenient as, as familiar as, as good as, or as ethnic as we could get in their hometown. *sighs*

One of the things that Mom appreciated about IC is that the speed limits were never over 35 mph, most posted limits in town are 25mph. She understood that Dad needed to run the Town Car on the interstate occasionally, and really appreciated that Kevin was the one to do that with Uncle Shorty. The drive to the VA was five minutes, rather than the two hours and five minutes it took him in MI. All of the stores are within fifteen minutes, as are all of Mom's doctors' offices. All in all, it's a much calmer driving environment for us all.

When he first arrived we applied for, and were granted, permanent handicap license plates. He also got the portable hanging card so that we could have access when we were using one of our vehicles to transport them. Uncle Shorty was a happy camper; the plates were blue and white and looked good on the car.

We found the local Square Dance Club meeting place, and Dad drove himself there a couple evenings a month. He drove Mom shopping almost every day. As his knee/hip continued to fail, Dad would drive, but wait in the car while Mom did the shopping. As his eyes began to fail, he was more comfortable being chauffeured around than when he first arrived. ...one of the toughest transitions we all had to make.

I don't recall when we finally got all of their belongings moved out of the garage so that the Town Car would fit inside...sometime after 2000, I think. The Town Car wasn't cheap to operate. By 2002, we had stashed it on the half-basketball court off da Lane where it remained until this year.

Late this summer, we got it ready for Carl to take home, as per Dad's wishes. He and Patty arrived last week to drive it home. Sensible change of plans put them on the train yesterday morning; we'll be shipping the vehicle in the next week or so.

This, then, is Shorty's Final Wish for the 1989 Town Car:



Delivery should be sometime in the next couple weeks.

May we all know such a ride!

*honks horn loudly*

Family Portrait...

Carl and Patty got tickets to take the train back home on Monday morning. Kevin and I had to leave for the hospital for Kevin's procedure before they left for the train station, so we said our good-byes early.

Sunday evening the ShortyMobile was put in the garage to await shipping.

Mom thoroughly enjoyed her time with Patty and Carl. They provided DayCare for the 9-4 slot that we normally oursource, so their visit was economical as well as beneficial to us all. They went for walks, came to da Green House to visit, watched movies, planted memorial trees, watched birds, helped move the summer plants inside for the winter, and spent quality time together. CraniumMan managed to fit in a visit Friday evening, before NancyTurtle left. The only thing we didn't do that I thought we might was a bon fire; something we may still do.

Patty and Carl were able to make a couple batches of noodles while here, and we still have those to look forward to. Kevin treated them to pesto as well as a new rub for steaks. Also had Mom's spaghetti, and stew, and of course chicken soup. Then again, not eating hasn't ever been a problem for this family. *grins*

Thanks, again, for making a great week for us all!!

October 1, 2007...

....has been looming on our horizon for a couple months now, marking Kevin's second colonoscopy. Since we managed to be done with the RadioTherapy on Friday, we didn't have to contend with that today, which left our backup driver off the hook. We hope you were able to enjoy your morning, dd.

Kevin spent yesterday drinking and evacuating and drinking and evacuating, and evacuating, and evacuating in preparation... I spent the weekend hoping that I could stop taking the Shooters, but that wasn't the case. The sunburn-like spot below my left shoulder blade continues to darken, so we're treating it with aloe and healing oils.

Got to the hospital in plenty of time to walk from the parking structure to the department where the procedure was performed. Everyone was running ahead of schedule, so instead of the 11:30 am alert I was expecting, they paged me at 10:30 to say Kevin was done.

Kevin was up, very alert, and ready to leave when I walked in the door. He felt well enough to ride along while we did some errands so that we could spend the afternoon and evening letting him catch up with himself. He doesn't seem to have the memory loss or spaciness that he did with the last one. He does seem exhausted and I expect he'll retire early this evening.

The preliminary report showed two polyps, probably benign, which were removed. It appears that he also has diverticulosis. For now they encourage a high fiber diet, which we're already doing. It's apparently not treated the way it was when Uncle Shorty first had it some thirty years ago... We should have all of the results within a week or so.

We're waiting to hear that Carl and Patty made it home safely. It was a wonderful visit and we're already looking forward to the next!

So, howz by youz??

Uncle Shorty's White Oak Tree...

...was planted on Friday afternoon, on the southwest side of da Lane. We also planted the Hemlock Memorial Tree from Kevin's Family next to the one we planted on January 6, 2007 at Dad's Memorial BonFire.




Turns out that after insisting daily since Dad's Memorial that she wanted a White Oak -- not a Red Oak, or a Pin Oak, or a Swamp Oak (all readily available locally) -- Mom doesn't remember requesting the White Oak, but seems glad that it's there to see each day as comes and goes to DayCare. It's on the same side of da Lane as the Magnolia she planted in Randy's Memory, and that should help her make a connection.






We dedicated Uncle Shorty's White Oak Tree and Hemlock Saturday morning before NancyTurtle's plane left. Carl, Patty, Nancy, Kevin and I planted the remainder of Dad's ashes, nuts, and bolts beneath.



















Behind Diana to the left you can see the Anniversary Bed (double white headboard) coming on with Chrysanthemums and those 'sub-zero' Pansies. The Hibiscus in the center of the Rose of Sharon Bed above that are now in their third blooming.









The ShortyMobile is ready to be delivered. "Ridin' fine!" says CMo.

This weekend marks the resolve of a number of the major Estate Issues! *does the Dance o' Joy*


Before leaving, NancyTurtle moved (and hauled water for) two of da Lane bareroot trees (now five to seven years old) to the southeast side of da Lane, between the Pussy Willow Tree, behind the Flowering Almond, and south of Drew and Cinda's Wedding Tree. Many, many thanks!

NancyTurtle has since arrived safely to her off-the-grid locale. *waves in a southwesterly direction*

The four other gifted Hemlocks from the C-Fam were also planted on Friday, along the driveway south of da Red House.


Happy September's End, October Begin!!

*raises a tall glass of iced water*

Done...

...with RadioTherapy Treatments!

With a Certificate of Completion, signed by the technicians! The exit interview involved a review of the reasons to call the oncall oncologist: increased chest pain, problems with breathing, coughing up blood -- pretty much reasons I'll call _someone_ were it to happen.

The esophagitis will linger a week or three, but we should be able to start decreasing the amount, and the frequency, of the RadioTherapy Shooters. We're also assuming this will result in my blood pressure issues resolving themselves, and will be monitoring it daily to be sure. Official 'doctor follow-up' in four weeks, probably in conjunction with the CT scan with contrast on October 24th.

We were given some cream in case my skin begins to burn more as the effects of the molecular changes will supposedly course through my system for the next three or for weeks.

I've noticed being more tired the past few days and my vocal chords seem more affected this week. Probably good for everyone that I don't feel much like talking...

It's a good feeling to know that this weekend we can begin to focus more on healing and repairing my body from these past treatments, as opposed to just maintaining throughout the weekend for one final treatment next week. I'll be able to walk again in the morning; fall mornings are one of my favorite times to walk.

Given that this is major leaf-fall time in da Woods, I'm hoping to do a little each day so as not to have to cram it all into one or two weekends as we always seemed to end up doing in the past. Spring is a very different place here if we haven't carefully managed our leaves. *nods*

The trees that we ordered were ready to plant on Monday, but we were rained out, so they were delivered today. Five Hemlocks for the new visual block, south down da Lane, and the Oak Tree that Mom wanted to plant for Dad.

We'll have some photos tomorrow, thanks to Nancy and Patty!

This is Homecoming Weekend, so you know we'll be burrowed in da Woods somewhere.

Make a great weekend!

*raises a tall glass of iced water*

Howz by youz??

Schedule Changes, Again...

Monday was "Doctor Day." Vitals were taken, and we met both with both the Resident and Dr. B, following the third Booster Treatment.

Blood Pressure was running high. I asked for suggestions for treating the itching and redness around my shoulder blade. They suggest aloe-vera cream for the dry skin reaction and cortisone cream for any itching. Also asked again to have our records printed out for us.

They both assert that my being so bloated has nothing to do with the steroids I'm taking for the esophagitis. The don't find the weight gain anywhere near as disconcerting as I. I may need to medicate the esophagitis for up to a month after the treatmens end. They don't believe I'll need to ween myself from the current drug regime, i.e., I should be able to stop cold turkey. Overall I seem to be tolerating the RadioTherapy very well *knocks wood*

With all of our planning and expertise, we managed to schedule our last RadioTherapy treatment on the morning that Kevin is scheduled for his colonoscopy, i.e., Monday, Oct. 1st. We really did think we had that one covered. Good thing we weren't being paid to think when all that happened.

When I mentioned this at the appointment, Dr. B was most accommodating in suggesting that I have a day with two treatments before this Friday. Not something I could do today, but it's now in the cards for Thursday or Friday. That means I'll be done with RadioTherapy at the end of this week and won't have anything else scheduled before October 24th when we have the CT with contrast.

And, it means I can help take care of Kevin this weekend and on Monday following the procedure.

After today's appointment, one of the PA's came out with the records we had wanted to pick up last Wednesday. We'll ask for the hemotology reports tomorrow morning when we check in with Dr. C to see how the new BP meds are doing. I still need to email Dr. A about setting up an appointment for the regular part of my physical care, PAP, etc.

Carl and Patty arrived on time yesterday evening. They had time to visit with Mom before she went to bed and were able to unwind after the long trip before retiring for the night.




Spent the morning enjoying the rains on the Storm Porch upstairs. The rain started last night and continues as I write. We ended up postponing the Memorial Tree Planting until Friday morning.

Nancy arrives this afternoon, hopefully not hampered too much by the lovely rains we've enjoyed all morning.

We're looking forward to a relaxing week of family and friends.

And, it's Billiards Day!

Howz by youz??

-dp

September 23, 2007...

...from our neck of da Woods to yours, in celebration of the Autumnal Equinox:


Here's da video..

Flowers Before the Fall...

...on this the last official day of summer! Having Autumn Blooms was certainly a goal for this part of da Lane, but their being accompanied by an array of late summer bloom is unexpected and thrilling.

In addition to the fact the the Hibiscus are lading on for yet _another_ blooming -- in honor of our Guests arriving on Monday, we couldn't believe our eyes on our walk to get Mom's paper this morning.




The first to WOW us was the Bearded Iris:












Behind that were over a dozen new blossoms on the Pick Knock-Out Rose, growing in every direction.











Also blooming in what's now being called Uncle Shorty's Bed are the Stella d'Oro day lily (third or fourth blooming), purple bee balm, dianthus, Rose of Sharon, wieglia, and ajuga. Interesting complements to the Autumn Joy Sedum, Chinese Lanterns, Marigolds (volunteer), Chrysanthemums and Pansies.

Uncle Shorty's Bed is on the left as you drive in da Lane. The headboard is one of the first that we bought for him as he and Mom were moving out of their double bed: her into a hospital bed and him to a new twin. We ended up giving the first mattress away after learning he needed something softer. The headboard worked well because Dad could hook up all of his lights, bags, sacks, cases and watch holder.

Once Dad moved into the hospital bed, the Silver Headboard recycled to da EntryWay. That was in 2004. In the past three years, we've tried a number of things in that Bed. I think we finally got it.

Dad's Oak from Mom will be planted to mark the edge of our the property on that side (where the new Northside Fire Station is supposed to be built in the next decade or so...).






When we took the paper up to Mom, Kevin found a Morning Glory near the pond.








And our second Waterlily of the season!

















An amazing display!




On HEALthWatch:

The Booster Treatments (6600 Grays -- three times the previous dosage) leave me with less energy than the previous treatments. I walked a half mile this morning when I decided I may need to break today's exercise into smaller parts. Given that we have to walk up to Mom's to do laundry, I'm thinking that before the day is over, I'll have done the mile or more.

My blood pressure has been 125/85 Pulse has been running from 80-93.

dd and I have been working with massage, healing touch, focused mindfulness. On Friday she noticed reddening in the treatment area on my back, left of the shoulder blade. Ointments, creams, oils, etc. are prohibited; must be washed off at least four hours prior to the RadioTherapy Treatment. Given that we had three days to the next treatment, we worked with healing oils and managed to lessen some of the reddening.

The last treatment will be Monday, October 1st...the day of Kevin's Colonoscopy.

We both have eye appointments for the second week in October. Dental appointments also on the horizon; he didn't want to see me while I was receiving RadioTherapy treatments. Everyone I've told that to seems surprised *shrugs* Eye guy says I may be dealing with dry eye...

The CT scan with contrast is scheduled for October 24th. Those results help us plot our next course. That means we'll have a couple weeks free of daily visits to the hospital. *knocks on wood*

Here's wishing you the best, this Last Day of Summer!!
*raises a glass of iced water*