October 17th
I took the car in to get the service done on it. We were
given a free oil change etc. and I didn’t think I would be in town to use it,
how wrong I was. Anyway, it didn’t take too long; I killed time by reading on
my IPad and getting all the updates caught up since the dealer has free wifi.
October 19th
Today was the day Sarah met her cancer treatment doctor, Dr
Hill. He went over the type of cancer she has and the prognosis. He gave Sarah
a bunch of papers to look over and it was a general discussion of treatments
and what to expect. Then it was off to
see Dr Isaac the radiologist, he will do the radiology treatments, which follow
the chemo treatments.
By the time, we were done with the two appointments it was
time to eat. So we called our friends Norma & Orren and went to the Pizza
Ranch for lunch. For those of you who have never been to a Pizza Ranch it is a
buffet style pizza place, however you can order the type of pizza you want if
it isn’t on the buffet. We stayed there for a couple hours talking and enjoying
our meal.
The weekend was spent around the camper and not doing a
whole lot.
October 24th
We picked up Norma & Orren for dinner; we went to the
China Buffet. I have to stop going to buffet because I always eat too much. I
do like this place though because they have sushi, I think I tried all the
varieties they had, all were good.
October 25th
We went out to eat with Dick & Judi Wicheal and John
& Kathy Evans, this time we went to Famous Dave’s restaurant. If you read my last blog, I mentioned calling
an 800 number and by answering a few questions, you are given a code. You write
the code on your receipt and when you present it on your next visit, you get a
free desert; my favorite is the bread pudding. So we all had bread pudding, the
other stuff doesn’t count because it is all about the bread pudding. We had a
good time visiting and eating. These folks are leaving on Sunday so this was
the only time we could all get together.
October 26th
We both knew this was going to be a long day. We had to be
at Iowa Methodist, Stoddard Cancer Clinic by 10:30 am for Sarah to get a PET/CT
scan. I couldn’t go back with her but they hooked an IV to her and then she had
some dye injected so the scan would show all the hot spots in the body. Here is
a link if you are interested, http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?PG=pet.
Sarah was done with this is a bit over an hour.
Then it was time to have some lab work done, a blood draw.
All of these tests, the PET/CT scan and blood work, were done to help the
doctor decide on what treatment will be best for Sarah. After the lab work, we
went in search of something to eat; Sarah couldn’t eat anything after 6:30 that
morning. We settled on soup for Sarah and a sandwich for me from the kiosk in
the lobby of the clinic. It wasn’t the greatest but it was filling. I did get a
rice krispie treat with chocolate on one side, I love these, when I was at
Marsh one of the ladies made these and they were the best I have ever had,
these weren’t as good as those but they were ok.
At 3:30 pm, actually closer to 4 pm we, Sarah’s sister
Cynthia was with us, met with Dr Hill, he will be Sarah’s cancer treatment
doctor, he showed us the scans and went over the treatments. He had told us
before that Sarah might be eligible for a couple of studies and he showed us
three of them. Only one was appealing at all and he told us to think about them
over the weekend. The standard treatment is 22 weeks of chemo. The study had
this treatment and another treatment of only 18 weeks, the difference was the
elimination of one of the drugs in the standard treatment. So we left his
office with a lot of information to digest.
Orren’s niece, Ashley, gave us a lead on a condo we might be
able to rent. I had put out an SOS to several people we know in the Des Moines
area for leads to possible rental places. I called the number Ashley gave me
and spoke with Ed, the owner, and arranged a time to meet him at the condo. So
after the doctor appointments we went to the condo and met with Ed and his wife
Gail. It is a two bedroom completely furnished unit not far from Jordan Creek
Mall, it met our needs perfectly, so we rented it.
As I said it is completely furnished so all we have to move
out of the camper our clothes, food and liquids. I will buy a TV but we will
want one later for the townhouse in Omaha. I don’t know if I told you we have
bought a townhouse in Bennington, NE, northwest of downtown Omaha. It will be
ready May 1, 2013 so we will move into it after Sarah is done with her
treatments and she will be able to build up her strength and stamina. Our
intention is to continue going south in the winter and occasional camping throughout
the summer months.
October 27th
My brother Larry and his wife Kathy came to visit. Their
grandson Caleb is in eight grade and is already six foot tall, he was playing
in a basketball tournament in Ames. So Larry & Kathy came up to spend the
night with us and then we went to the game on Sunday. Sarah stayed home, she
had a headache and she and Cynthia were going to go over the options of
treatment Sarah could choose from. That night Sarah and I discussed the
treatments and Sarah made a decision which one she wanted to do. She chose the
standard treatment of 22 weeks of chemo and then 5-6 weeks of radiation.
October 29th
Sarah called the doctor’s office and got the ball rolling on
the chemo. She will have a port put in this coming Friday, with the chemo
beginning on Nov 9th.
We are taking the camper in to Shorewood RV in Altoona, IA
to be winterized and fix a mirror I broke, and then put it into storage for the
winter. If Sarah is feeling up to it, we
may move back into the camper as early as May of 2013, we will decide at that
time.
For now, we have a plan and we are going to follow it. All
indicators say everything will be fine and Sarah will come through this with
flying colors and be cancer free when all is said and done.
Thank you for your prayers and please keep them coming.
Until later, Dreams Do Come True.
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