Just 3 things today that were noteworthy. Thing 1 is funny, so read that one first. Thing 3 can be read before Thing 2, so read them in whatever order you wish, but read on, brave soul....
A little background goes a long way, so here is part of it. I went to the dentist yesterday; there is another long story to insert here, but I'm only delivering on the 3 Things I promised, so I'll save that story for another day. As usual since Chemo, my gums are in bad shape and are receding faster than the speed of sound, actually, make it about a mach-2. The other background item is that I am a {dramatic pause here} night-time snacker. I ate a cherry popsicle (sugar-free) and not long after, I went in to brush my teeth. If you are following me here, I think my mouth is bleeding all over and I am freaking out. Ah, it was just a red popsicle he says as he looks at his red tongue. *sigh*
My Dad had surgery today as a follow up to his surgery and things went well. I spoke to him on the phone and he sounded good. Actually, for what he has been through, he sounded great. He does have to have radiation for 6 weeks, but I think he'll do fine with that. I am told that the cancer he had was unusual in that it was attacking the nerves in his face, so that is why he has to face the radiation.
Franklin is doing about the same today. Luckily he is keeping down a little more than he is vomiting. We are still very worried about him though. He is not getting better, just in a holding pattern.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
We Love You Franklin!
Franklin is very sick. We are not sure how much longer he will be with us. It is so sad. Both Lori and I have been crying our eyes out thinking about the little fella dying.
Lori has been giving him an IV everyday. The big thing was he was not eating. For the first couple of days home from the vet he was eating and getting his strength back, but last night he was up vomiting all night thru this morning and he has only eaten a small piece of turkey the size of a AAA battery today. His ribs are showing and the skin is just drooping around his little face. He looks so pitiful. :( :(
We don't want him to suffer, but it is a hard choice to make. I guess we need to realize that at some point we are not keeping him alive for his happiness, but ours and it will be time to let go.
Lori has been giving him an IV everyday. The big thing was he was not eating. For the first couple of days home from the vet he was eating and getting his strength back, but last night he was up vomiting all night thru this morning and he has only eaten a small piece of turkey the size of a AAA battery today. His ribs are showing and the skin is just drooping around his little face. He looks so pitiful. :( :(
We don't want him to suffer, but it is a hard choice to make. I guess we need to realize that at some point we are not keeping him alive for his happiness, but ours and it will be time to let go.
We love you Franklin!
Friday, November 28, 2008
Thanksgiving 2008 is in the books.
Lori and I went over to my sister-in-law, Bonnie's for Thanksgiving dinner. Bonnie did a great job and everything was very tasty. It was nice seeing her, Summer, Dez, Ryan and Tamsey (ok, even Dolly too). We went out shopping this morning, but the sales were not all that good and I really just went along for the trip.
Lucky for me fat pants were on sale today. I have moved into a new size of jeans. Ok, well I didn't have to move up a size today, it has probably been a while, but now it is sinking in. I really must examine my diet and start exercising.
My dad is doing much better, he will need some minor out-patient surgery next week to help with his eye, but that should be fine.
I got to visit with a good friend of mine, Todd, earlier this week. He and his family were on vacation here at Disney world and we got to catch up over a couple of beers. It was nice seeing you buddy-boy!!!
now for some bad news..... Franklin is not doing well, he was at the vet for a few days getting fluids. His kidneys are not working 100% and the little fella is not doing well. He would not eat at all at the vet and he ate ok for a few days when he got back home, but today he was vomiting again. I am afraid for my Little-Buddy. :(
Lucky for me fat pants were on sale today. I have moved into a new size of jeans. Ok, well I didn't have to move up a size today, it has probably been a while, but now it is sinking in. I really must examine my diet and start exercising.
My dad is doing much better, he will need some minor out-patient surgery next week to help with his eye, but that should be fine.
I got to visit with a good friend of mine, Todd, earlier this week. He and his family were on vacation here at Disney world and we got to catch up over a couple of beers. It was nice seeing you buddy-boy!!!
now for some bad news..... Franklin is not doing well, he was at the vet for a few days getting fluids. His kidneys are not working 100% and the little fella is not doing well. He would not eat at all at the vet and he ate ok for a few days when he got back home, but today he was vomiting again. I am afraid for my Little-Buddy. :(
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Friend lost
A friend of mine, Don Garner who I met during my first day of chemo just about two years ago has passed away.
He and I both were taking the same chemo and were in the office on the same days. We both had colon cancer, he was a stage 4 and I had stage 3c. He was not doing well and was put in the hospital multiple times during the whole ordeal. His wife, Denise, and Lori became friends and they used to drop Don and me off for our chemo while they went out to breakfast. I motivated him to go to the cancer support groups, which Don said was really the only fun he had. He and Denise went to them right up until he was put on hospice care about 6 months ago.
Don and I would sit and talk for hours while we got our treatments. We usually ended up talking about food. Don was quite the cook and gave me some pointers on cooking that he had learned over the years. Don was the person I turned my funny hat tradition over to. He and I had the same sense of humor and his wife would email pictures of his him wearing his crazy hats while taking chemo.
We made a pact to go out and have a cheeseburger and a beer at Margaritaville when we both recovered. :( I'll be toasting him next time I go.......
He and I both were taking the same chemo and were in the office on the same days. We both had colon cancer, he was a stage 4 and I had stage 3c. He was not doing well and was put in the hospital multiple times during the whole ordeal. His wife, Denise, and Lori became friends and they used to drop Don and me off for our chemo while they went out to breakfast. I motivated him to go to the cancer support groups, which Don said was really the only fun he had. He and Denise went to them right up until he was put on hospice care about 6 months ago.
Don and I would sit and talk for hours while we got our treatments. We usually ended up talking about food. Don was quite the cook and gave me some pointers on cooking that he had learned over the years. Don was the person I turned my funny hat tradition over to. He and I had the same sense of humor and his wife would email pictures of his him wearing his crazy hats while taking chemo.
We made a pact to go out and have a cheeseburger and a beer at Margaritaville when we both recovered. :( I'll be toasting him next time I go.......
Monday, November 10, 2008
Another Trip to Johns Hopkins- not for me though
Cancer Sucks!
Did I mention cancer sucks? My Dad has been battling skin cancer for quite some years. He had a spot behind his ear that had progressed to the point where he needed major surgery. He was hesitant to get it done, but finally decided to have it done at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore this past week.
I went up to provide my support and encouragement to him and my Mom. My sister Teri, brother-in-law Jim and my brother Chris had been accompanying him to his numerous medical appointments leading up to the surgery. Thanks to all of you! I drove up, leaving on Wednesday at 4:00 AM and after 15 hours on the road made it to the hotel which Teri had arranged. We got to visit for a short time that night and left for the hospital in the morning. Dad was so nervous he forgot his wallet and although we found out later it was not needed, Jim, Mom and I took a trip back to the hotel to get it.
He went back to the OR at 9 AM. They told us that it would be about 12 hours for the entire procedure. At 9 PM, after 12 hours of surgery, we were told it would be another 45 minutes. An hour later, the third surgeon that was working on him came out and told us Dad was stable and that the extra time was due to some problems they had due to the vein having issue passing a good blood supply to the skin graft. He said they would watch it very closely for the next 24 hours. The next day when we were visiting him, we found out that they would have to re-do the graft, so Dad had another 4 hours of surgery on Friday afternoon. Luckily, that graft was fine and he was moved out of ICU on Sunday and into a regular room.
I drove back to FL on Sunday and since I left at 3 AM was pretty tired when I got home at 5:30 PM, but I had to be back to work on Monday, so I had to be fresh.
We are still not sure what the prognosis is for what he may or may not have to do as for chemo or radiation or what, but we are keeping our fingers crossed. His recovery from this surgery is first and foremost, with the two skin-graft donor sites and a nerve donor site in both his legs, I’m sure he will be sore for a while. Hope you feel better soon Dad!
Did I mention cancer sucks? My Dad has been battling skin cancer for quite some years. He had a spot behind his ear that had progressed to the point where he needed major surgery. He was hesitant to get it done, but finally decided to have it done at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore this past week.
I went up to provide my support and encouragement to him and my Mom. My sister Teri, brother-in-law Jim and my brother Chris had been accompanying him to his numerous medical appointments leading up to the surgery. Thanks to all of you! I drove up, leaving on Wednesday at 4:00 AM and after 15 hours on the road made it to the hotel which Teri had arranged. We got to visit for a short time that night and left for the hospital in the morning. Dad was so nervous he forgot his wallet and although we found out later it was not needed, Jim, Mom and I took a trip back to the hotel to get it.
He went back to the OR at 9 AM. They told us that it would be about 12 hours for the entire procedure. At 9 PM, after 12 hours of surgery, we were told it would be another 45 minutes. An hour later, the third surgeon that was working on him came out and told us Dad was stable and that the extra time was due to some problems they had due to the vein having issue passing a good blood supply to the skin graft. He said they would watch it very closely for the next 24 hours. The next day when we were visiting him, we found out that they would have to re-do the graft, so Dad had another 4 hours of surgery on Friday afternoon. Luckily, that graft was fine and he was moved out of ICU on Sunday and into a regular room.
I drove back to FL on Sunday and since I left at 3 AM was pretty tired when I got home at 5:30 PM, but I had to be back to work on Monday, so I had to be fresh.
We are still not sure what the prognosis is for what he may or may not have to do as for chemo or radiation or what, but we are keeping our fingers crossed. His recovery from this surgery is first and foremost, with the two skin-graft donor sites and a nerve donor site in both his legs, I’m sure he will be sore for a while. Hope you feel better soon Dad!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Has it been that long?
I can't believe it has been all summer since I have posted any updates....
I have been so busy and time has not allowed me to even collect my thoughts, no less jot them down on here.
news- I am going back to finish up on my degree. In '86 I graduated from DBCC with a 2 year certificate in Electronics. Even tough the certificate has served me well, I always wanted to go and take those extra gen-ed courses to get a degree. Now that I have time, I am taking College Algebra and Composition at Daytona State. I am taking the 8 week course, so the pace is mind warping (The 8 week course will allow me to finish this semester and still go hunting in Nov. :) ). The home work I have is taking up all of my free time. Thankfully, my brain is in full gear and 2 weeks in, I am doing well. I've been working on homework all day. Yes, all day..... well, back to work. I'll try to check in here from time to time.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
*sigh* << relief
-the facts-
The last two weeks have been really bad on an emotional level. I am feeling pretty good now though.
Let me fill in some details. The trip I had to the ER on the Friday before Memorial Day showed a spot on my left lung. The ER doc said "they found a nodule on your left lung." My heart just about dropped out of my chest then. You see colon cancer usually metastasizes to the liver or the lungs or both. So there I am in the ER and I get this bomb dropped on me. I was freaking out. I push the ER doc for more info and he said I would need to follow up with my oncologist. Of course I was on the phone with them first thing on Tuesday morning. They sent me for another ct-scan of the chest. That was on Friday. The follow up appointment to get the results was Monday. So yeah, I was stressed to the max. Monday came and I got the report that the ct-scan showed nothing and there was no nodule. CELEBRATE!!!! WHOO WHO!! The funny thing is after all that stress, at first I felt like going out and celebrating, but after not really being able to sleep for a week, I went and took a nap. It felt good not to wake up with "OH yeah, my lung, the spot, the lung, the spot" going through my head.
-the phone game-
I called my Mom and told her what was going on during this whole mess above. As the old phone game goes; everything gets blown out of proportion with each mile of copper it traverses. With that said, I heard a lot of different versions of what had happened to me. I would ask right off the bat, "did you talk to Mom?" It was kinda funny really. NOT. I am not sure if I will tell anyone anything from now on. Not because of the worry factor, but since it does not get relayed the way intended. Then again I do have apolicy that I will not sugar coat anything and will let everybody know exactly what is going on.... I may have to re-think the timing on that one. We will see.
-back to life as we know it-
Yes, I am able to concentrate on normal life things now. Again, this experience has made me think about life and what it means to me.
I'm glad you read this. I hope you are having a great day
-what?!?!? no guestbook??-
yes, the guestbook is gone. It seems the host for it wanted money, but never sent me an email telling me they were shutting it down. I probably would have paid had I known. But shame on them for treating existing users with no respect. They were able to send me all of the old submissions, which was good. I just need to put them all back out there. Read on to see how to get your submission there
- the NEW GUESTBOOK -
I've had enough of the guestbook problems. Just send me an email with the subject guestbook sign or something to that effect and I'll add it to the page I put out there. Easy? Easy! Yes, easy, just click here and it will bring up your email program
The last two weeks have been really bad on an emotional level. I am feeling pretty good now though.
Let me fill in some details. The trip I had to the ER on the Friday before Memorial Day showed a spot on my left lung. The ER doc said "they found a nodule on your left lung." My heart just about dropped out of my chest then. You see colon cancer usually metastasizes to the liver or the lungs or both. So there I am in the ER and I get this bomb dropped on me. I was freaking out. I push the ER doc for more info and he said I would need to follow up with my oncologist. Of course I was on the phone with them first thing on Tuesday morning. They sent me for another ct-scan of the chest. That was on Friday. The follow up appointment to get the results was Monday. So yeah, I was stressed to the max. Monday came and I got the report that the ct-scan showed nothing and there was no nodule. CELEBRATE!!!! WHOO WHO!! The funny thing is after all that stress, at first I felt like going out and celebrating, but after not really being able to sleep for a week, I went and took a nap. It felt good not to wake up with "OH yeah, my lung, the spot, the lung, the spot" going through my head.
-the phone game-
I called my Mom and told her what was going on during this whole mess above. As the old phone game goes; everything gets blown out of proportion with each mile of copper it traverses. With that said, I heard a lot of different versions of what had happened to me. I would ask right off the bat, "did you talk to Mom?" It was kinda funny really. NOT. I am not sure if I will tell anyone anything from now on. Not because of the worry factor, but since it does not get relayed the way intended. Then again I do have apolicy that I will not sugar coat anything and will let everybody know exactly what is going on.... I may have to re-think the timing on that one. We will see.
-back to life as we know it-
Yes, I am able to concentrate on normal life things now. Again, this experience has made me think about life and what it means to me.
I'm glad you read this. I hope you are having a great day
-what?!?!? no guestbook??-
yes, the guestbook is gone. It seems the host for it wanted money, but never sent me an email telling me they were shutting it down. I probably would have paid had I known. But shame on them for treating existing users with no respect. They were able to send me all of the old submissions, which was good. I just need to put them all back out there. Read on to see how to get your submission there
- the NEW GUESTBOOK -
I've had enough of the guestbook problems. Just send me an email with the subject guestbook sign or something to that effect and I'll add it to the page I put out there. Easy? Easy! Yes, easy, just click here and it will bring up your email program
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