Update 11/17/2014

I have hit a milestone, of sorts, in my latest journey. I have completed six, three day chemo treatments, this journey began on July 1 and ended last Friday. What we do from here will be up to the Good Lord and my doctor on Dec 8. I am scheduled for a CT scan and lab work to see what the status of the cancer is in my lymph nodes and body. I feel good, other than the metallic taste I get in my mouth but if that is the worse it gets I don’t have much of a problem with it.

I have been truly blessed, beginning with Sarah, without whom I would have a terrible time getting through these treatments. I get chilled when I read or watch TV so Sarah asked if I would like a blanket, sure I said. She went out and bought the fabric and made the “tie” blanket all in one day. The results:

  I love it.

There are so many others who have helped me with your prayers and well wishes, our children, our relatives, longtime friends who I grew up with and have known for most, if not all of my life, and then the truly amazing family of RVers who we have met in person and in some instances only know through the internet. They say for you to stay positive you have to surround yourself with positive thinking people and I have been very blessed with the most amazing circle of positive thinking people one can hope for, so for all of that I say a BIG THANK YOU for your continuing support.

Ok, what happened to the weather, it is more like January than November? Today the high is only going to be a high of 17, which is supposed to be a new low for this date and tonight the temp is supposed to be 3 with wind chills below zero. I want to go south.

Actually if all goes well we are heading south January 2, my December 8 appointment will be the deciding factor for that.

We haven’t stayed at home lately as much as I did the first three months of treatments, the doctor told me if I felt good get out and do things so we have been doing just that.

After the fifth set of treatments we left the VA and drove to Beloit, WI to see the kids and help Mason celebrate his 10^th birthday. I really enjoyed the time there, it may have been a bit on the ambitious side but I was fine except a bit tired. I enjoy the kids but I wish I could have some of their energy, they wear me out just talking with them. As I found when our kids were growing up it is very satisfying to see the how much they have grown each time we see them. I remember one day thinking to myself when did Tiffany, Robert and Daniel begin sounding and talking as adults.

We drove to Hastings, NE to visit a long time dear friend Patsy Kelly, she and her husband Tom moved to Burlington in the late seventies, he and I worked for Trailways Bus Systems at the time. In fact Tom is the one who got me into the trucking industry. Sadly Tom passed away a little over a year ago from cancer. We had a great visit with Patsy and got to see her son Trent and daughter Tabitha and granddaughter, I apologize I don’t remember her name.

October 31 ended up being a much more expensive day than I had thought. We took the car in for an oil change and as always I wanted to look at the new cars. Actually, we had decided we were going to get a newer car before we went south and at the suggestion of son Daniel we drove an Acura MDX, a very nice car, so I had arranged to drive the Lexus RX350 when we took the car in for the service. We drove a new RX and really liked it, so I asked for numbers, that and our car didn’t pass its battery test so I reasoned it was time to trade vehicles. Long story short we traded for a new RX:

 This is our new car as it sat at the dealer, we picked it up on the following Monday.

November 1 found us driving to Moline, IL to spend the weekend visiting with some folks I worked with at Ruan.

 FR: Me, Roger Mason, Tom Gerdes; SR: Sarah, Debbie Mason, Cathy Gerdes, far right; BR: George Granberg, Barb Granberg, Chris Walkup and Amy Walkup.

We had a great time, ate at Johnny’s across the street from the Radisson on River Drive. This is a great restaurant, we have eaten there every time we get together and the service and food are exceptional. Thanks folks for a memorable visit.

We stopped in Des Moines on our way back to Omaha to see Cynthia. We met her at her place for some great pumpkin pie, I can always eat pumpkin pie, well actually almost any kind of pie.

Before we left town we met Norma & Orren for dinner at their favorite Mexican restaurant, http://islacozumeldm.com/about/, Isla Cozumel, I believe this is the correct one. One thing we found out is their portions are quite big so you better have a good appetite when you go there. It was good to see Norma & Orren but before it got to late we headed west, arriving home about nine.

Monday we went to the Lexus dealer and picked up the car. Now a days with the electronics etc. they have delivery specialists who go through all the gadgets, and I love gadgets. I did get one add on and that is a coating on the windshield to protect it from rock chips etc. but the main reason I bought it was we were told it would cut down on the glare of the lights at night. When we left the dealership it was raining and dark out, the first thing Sarah said is the glare of the lights was not the same as before, and I agreed the glare is less than half of what we had in the old car, so I did good with this option.

On Tuesday we headed north for the maiden voyage of the car and to see Carl & Merilee. Carl retired from Whirlpool this past year after 42 years in the appliance mfg. business. They are in Mitchell, SD close to Amy, their daughter and four grandkids. We had a great time and are planning on traveling together to nephew Eric’s wedding in December in Texarkana, TX.

As mentioned in the beginning of this piece, I finished my sixth, three day, treatment session. I feel good, a bit tired, but overall good. So now we wait and see what the December appointment will show.

So for now that is all I have.

From Sarah and me we wish each and every one of you a Great and Happy Thanksgiving.