Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Tuesday the 30th

My treatment today went fine hardly any wait at all after the treatment Sharen dropped me off at my office and and a friend took me home after work. I was able to get work done and it was a good day.   As days start to seem the same we start to rush through them and not remember how valuable each day is.  I need to continue to look for the special part of every day above and beyond the day it self.  For me today I enjoyed the men in the radiation waiting room with your time slot you can see the same men every day and its good to see how well most of them are handling the disease they have.  One of the new men today said he was told he only had 1 year at most to live he barely looked 30.  He was smiling and relaxed could be a good act or he was dealing with it very well or maybe he has God.  
 
It felt very good to spend time in my office cleaning up a few projects. This whole experience has made me realize that retirement could be a problem its good for us to be busy and get a since of meaning in our work. That since of meaning seems to be a stretch for what I do but I do enjoy it.
 
Please continue to Keep Sharen and myself in your prayers and may God continue to bless us.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Anouther Monday Monday

Well we are back in Kalamazoo for this week for 4 more radiation treatments and one more bag of poison on Thursday.  We had a nice trip down from the cottage and got to Kalamazoo in time for my burn treatment then I spent the afternoon at my Office working on a project so I had a very nice even productive day.  Again we are staying at Vinnies this week it is very relaxing and we can come and go as required so what could be better.  My understanding after this week and Monday next week we should be done with driving until my 100 day at Ann Arbor in August that is the time when we find if the radiation has worked you never know about cancer.
 
Now from my jaded past just before going into third grade for the first time some time in August some of us kids were playing on the roof of our chicken coop and I got to close to the  edge and fell off head first into a pile of broken cement blocks and stuff.  I got a rough cut on my chin and neck so into the house with blood all down my front and on my chin and neck.  When Mom saw the blood she rushed to the medical supplies for something to stop the blood and I ended up with a gauze patch in the middle of my chin and gauze wrapped around my head now the gauze and patch missed everything the good news that the blood seemed to stop on its own.  Our family only had one car and Dad had it at work in Battle Creek so he had to rush home to take me to the Doctors office. They cleaned me up and stitched my chin and neck which is a very sensitive area.
 
Now years later when my kids were young they asked me what caused the scar on my chin and neck and I told them that there Aunt Jolie pushed me off the roof of the building which was not true but it seemed to impress them.  Well I never gave it another thought and at least 10 years later my deb ask Aunt Jolie why she pushed me off the roof of the building which caused an explosion and was very funny to watch as she informed them that she wasn't even on the roof at the time and said it was our youngest sister who was up there and it must have been her.  But no it was just me not paying attention,  I could not have planed the results any better the good news is we are still all talking.
 
Please keep us in your prayers and may God bless us all. 

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Thursday the 25th

Well with a  quick glance in the mirror I notice that I was still bald but very handsome indeed.  Today was a radiation treatment which I timed for the first time they put me on a table and check the alignment to my tat's put a leg mold on my leg's then hit me from the top for 8 seconds then rotate to the bottom and another 8 seconds then I am done with my treatment.  Not to intimidating and you get to know the people working with you.  Today was my day to see my radiation Dr. which is fine as she is a very nice person who takes time with you and tries to get too know you that action alone makes you feel you have a good Doctor.  Friday I have chemo in the morning and one more radiation treatment then we pick up our poor dog Rylie then back to the cottage for a nice weekend in the sun or whatever.
 
When we are down for the treatments we are staying with some very good friends and they like us to treat there house like our own which continues to Show God meeting our needs as they come up.  Please continue to pray for us and may God continue to bless us all. 
 
 

Monday, June 22, 2009

Monday Monday June 22

Well we are in Kalamazoo this week getting my radiation treatment which if everything is  working well only takes 30 minutes today they had a machine break down and the wait was much longer but still a nice wait.  When I go  there I see many people that are much worse then me which kind of makes me feel a little guilty but most people continue to have positive attitude's so in the long run the experience is over all up lifting.  Also my treatments do not have an effect on me in the short run and I hope that they have a correct effect on that last node which is active. 
 
When you have a family cottage and small kids no matter how rough it is it can get a lot of use and its a good family time for the kids to remember.  from my last few cottage entries most of you realize that the cottage was very rough but we had water and a functional bathroom and many bugs and mice which we tyred to not pay attention to.  The problems start when the kids get older and your time is tied up running the kids from activity to activity so then the cottage gets less attention with very little upkeep.  So we get to point where our kids have small kids and we show up at the cottage after not going there for a few years and you discover a roof that a tree was growing over and had worked a hole through the roof and around the side walls which were continually under water in the spring and fall had rotted away about 6 to 8 inches so an attack was needed and Garett and I spent two weekends rebuilding the lower part of the walls on 2 sides and a rough roof patch with out the electric frying pan (see below for electric frying pan story) which seemed like hard work but it held for the winter.  In the spring I mentioned a week end at the cottage and I was informed that Sharen would not spend another moment in the cottage with small animals  running through the walls.  So we had to decide what to do with the cottage and I found a sleazy contractor and he put poles around the existing cottage and added a roof over the outside of the poles ,.which I called repairing the roof of course the new roof was over 6 feet over the old roof.  The plan was to fix the siding the next year by placing walls on the outside of the polls.  To be continued maybe.   
 
To help understand my work ethic when I was younger when the family went to the cottage we always had a project lined up to accomplish for the week end.  So every one was up by nine or ten then Mom would start making breakfast which was Bacon sandwiches and any kind of egg and we would be about ready to start the project of the weekend by 10:30 or so and we would get a fair start on the project but at 12:00 Mom would pull out the old electric frying pan and have to start lunch.  I am not sure why this would cause a halt to the work but that act meant we would stop working until lunch was complete with a nap afterwords and back to work by 3:30 or so and the work seemed to have a low stress level also not much would get done during the weekend.
 
Please continue to keep us in your prayers and may God continue to Bless us all. 

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Thursday June 18th

Well here it is Thursday morning and we are off to Kalamazoo for first radiation treatment and a bag of poison on Friday and then back to the cottage for the week end.  The radiation treatments will continue for the next 2 weeks but not during the weekends.  As I have said this treatment does not cause an effect for me which might be why it doesn't seem to effect the cancer so we will see.  I continue to enjoy my semi retirement with books read and some work done not sure if I could stand it forever but for the summer it is great.
 
Thank you all for your prayers and may God continue to bless us all. 

Monday, June 15, 2009

Monday June 14th

Say that was a good weekend with Kids and grand kids both Sonja and Deborah with their kids good time was had by all.  By the By I just become a Grandpa for the 5th time as my Jessica has a new baby Leyna it is really beautiful and one more on the way next November not sure if life could get any better.  So I picked up a book Sunday after all the kids were gone and that filled in the rest of Sunday and most of today I will finish in the morning this book is recommended as a very good read and I need to thank John for lending it to me the book is called Avenger by Frederick Forsyth it will steal your time away in a good way. 
 
Well we continue to try to spend our time at the cottage the next trip out will be next Thursday afternoon for appointments at the cancer center and Doctor Baileys for my once a week bag of poison and radiation it may sound bad but doesn't seem to bother me so I continue to be blessed. 
 
Its hard to imagine how overwhelming it feels to have so many people care and continue to pray for us Thank you so much and may God continue to bless us all. 

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Saturday June 13th

It is now 2:30 PM I was ready to start this when I woke up which was early for an old guy 8:00 AM so I got all set up and Brie and Sonja came in from their camper and shortly followed buy Garrett and Calvin and so the day had got away from me and it was wonderful having the grand kids banging around so you could not hear your self think.  Not sure where that phrase came from but it is very descriptive.
 
We had to go home Thursday for an early appointment at the Cancer center to prep for my radiation treatment which will start next Friday.  I have the same Doctor That I had before which is great She is Doctor Watson and very enjoyable.  From the Cancer center it was off to Doctor Bailey's office for a blood test check up and then a 4 hour infusion of my favorite drug retuxin made from mouse urine I will get a treatment every week for the next three weeks the real sad thing is I enjoyed seeing all the people at the center and at Dr. Baileys its funny how you develop a relationship with all these people and very nice.  After this treatment I will not get a PET scan until my 100th day after my Bone Marrow Transplant so we need to wait that long to find out if it was successful seems to always need to wait to find out results.  I continue to feel very good and am getting stronger so we will hang on to those results for now.
 
Please Keep us in your prayers and may God continue to bless us all.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Tuesday but really Wednesday morning

Well it is really early Wednesday morning which means 9:00 am life is tough when you are almost retired I continue to feel well and seem to be getting more strength as time goes by.  Well one of the tests that had to be done at Ann Arbor was a bone morrow tap where they go into your hip bone and draw off stuff in your bone then take a small core sample.  I have had this test done at Dr. Bailey's 4 times before and it takes about 4 or 5 minutes and hurts a lot but for just for a few minutes.  Well Ann Arbor had scheduled this test to be done there and I was not to concerned since I was familiar with the test.  Well we started the test and they got the fluid without to much effort but when they tried to get the core they had to change tools many times and each time you touch the connective tissue around the bone it is unbelievable pain.  Finely she called in an expert who had stronger hands not sure what that meant but he tryed a few times and I heard that it kept slipping off the edge of the bone also felt the effects.  So he proposed that he go to the other hip that would be my left hip which worked and seemed similar to Dr. Bailey's technique.  We had went into the procedure at 2:00 PM and out at 3:30 PM they must work by the hour.  Sorry for the blow by blow account but I wanted to document it for Dr. Bailey as it looks like he is missing out on a lot of money. 
 
I just completed a very good book by Harlan Coben the title is The Innocent took a bit to get into but when you are there it won't let go so a high recommendation.
 
Thank you for all your prayers they have made a big difference God continues to meet our needs almost before we know its a need.  Please continue to keep us in prayers and may God continue to bless us all. 

Monday, June 8, 2009

Monday Monday June 8th

Well I have been a real slacker and not updated in 3 days what a slug I have become Friday we went to Ann Arbor for more testing and blood work as I said a lot of travel required.  All the testing and blood work showed that the results are continuing to be very good however the PET scan that was run in Kalamazoo showed that I still had one active node in my left groin it was much smaller but still active.  Dr. Levine listed some options to resolve but he will work with Dr. Bailey to to develop a plan.  Not sure how bad this news is but will talk to Dr. Bailey and let you know.  Some how the day we were in Ann Arbor seemed to have a lot of kids getting treatment from small baby's to maybe 7 or 8 years old.  That sort of thing helps put your life in perspective.
 
Saturday My Debbie came by with her little David so it was a very nice day and Sunday we went to a local church a lot of standing and sitting but a good pastor.  Life continues to be very good and I continue to feel better day by day.
 
Please continue to pray for us and may God bless us.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Tuesday June 2

Well the last 2 days were event full my computer stopped working so I was isolated from the world the good news is that my son in law Garett got me going and it seems to continue to work.  I'm not sure what day I did my last Blog but I started with a comment about the day not being memorable and I just wanted to highlight it.  I seemed to have fallen in the trap we seem to when things are going well and one day follows the next with out a thought so they just run together.  We must remember that every moment is a gift from God and we have no promise of tomorrow or even the next breath.  So every day must be searched for what made it special to us and how we have used it to make someone else remember the day.
 
To day was special because I got my computer going and Sharen and I went on two short trips and we continue to like each other after all these years.  Another thing is the joy I give people that get to watch me get in and out of the car and walk not quite normal with my cane.  Things could not be better as far as my health goes the Doctors say everything is in very good order Friday we go to Ann Arbor for blood work, meet with Dr. Levine, and get a bone morrow tap to check for any B cell.
 
Please continue to pray for Sharen and I and may God bless us all.