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Monday, September 28, 2015

Update 09/28/2015

I am doing well with the tooth situation. I haven’t had any pain or other problems, went back last Friday and the dentist said it all looked good. So other than a cleaning this Wednesday I don’t go back until March and then they do something with the implant and we go from there.

Last Tuesday I went in for my regular oncology visit. My PSA has been rising but last week it was above eight so the doctor order a CT scan and bone scan. I had been having pain in my back and he wants to rule out bone cancer. Well today they called and he wanted to know if I could get down to see him this afternoon. We had hoped the no news is good news adage would apply here but no such luck.

Two lymph nodes in my stomach had increased some in size and he said we could wait for three months and see what they looked like then or we could begin a chemo treatment right away, a different drug. So Thursday I begin treatment, Thursday every three weeks, should take 2-3 hours. Side effects will be similar to the last treatment and my hair was just beginning to look good. According to the doctor the drug they are going to use Docetaxel has been very effective in the treatment of prostate cancer. So we will see where it takes us.

So our plans to go south in January are out the window, we’ll see if we can make it somewhere in February or March.

I feel truly blessed to be given these chances at having these treatments, I would rather not be going through any of it but I am very thankful I am at this VA Hospital, they are very good at what they do.

So unless something earth shattering comes out of the bone scan I probably won’t write for a while, I’ll wait to see if anything interesting happens.

Please keep me in your prayers and send me lots of positive thoughts, I know they all help.

Later.


Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Not much going on


It is interesting living in a stick built again. I find neighbors are still nice and I enjoy the surroundings but when I get the urge to move on I find the house no longer has wheels, so I am somewhat stuck where I am. I don’t find it distressing but it was fun when we could pick up and go wherever we wanted. More on this later.

August was a busy month. We returned from our train trip and immediately went to Wisconsin to watch Mason play baseball. Sadly Madyson didn’t have any activities for us to see but we did get to spend more time with her.

Mason is improving his game every time I see him. I believe he will be very good when he gets to high school. The group of kids he plays with will all go to the same high school, if that coach isn’t watching them now he better begin because he is going to have a great core of players all trained and ready to hit the diamond hard. I really enjoy watching these kids play.

Madyson, even though she didn’t have any dances, she was showing us what she does in gymnastics. She is trying to perfect the cartwheel without touching the ground. She is good, I believe she will surpass her aunt Catherine before long.

We stopped in Des Moines on our way home, we were able to have lunch with Tiffany, Matt and Alexa, we don’t see them as often as I would like but it is always great to see them.

We also had a chance to visit with our friends Orren & Norma, Mike & Sheri and Russ & Candi, and Cynthia as usual it was great to see them. We still have to get back to Des Moines to visit a few others we haven’t seen for a while, hopefully we can do that soon.

Back in Omaha we were able to visit with Rick & Jana and John & Cindi. Rick & Jana are still on the road and traveling this summer then will continue with working somewhere this winter. John & Cindi are heading south this winter to the Benson, AZ area, I don’t remember the name of the town.

We had some doctor appointments and my urology visit wasn’t with the results I wanted. My PSA is climbing, I know it isn’t supposed to do that, so we will see what can be done about it when I see the oncologist in a couple weeks.

I broke a front tooth last April and last Friday the dentist finally pulled it. Now I do not like going to the dentist but I have to admit it wasn’t a bad time but not pleasant. The dentist did everything she could to make it as painless as possible and other than being put to sleep I think she did a good job of it, except that during the procedure one of the dentist took a 20# sledge hammer and was pounding on my face to help loosen the tooth, I guess, but I thought they were trying to break open my face. I can’t imagine anyone going through all that without Novocain.

Last Saturday Carl and Merilee came down and picked us up in there new motor home and we headed for Kansas City to visit Steve & Lynne and kids. We had a great time. We got to meet Zack’s girlfriend Olivia, very nice girl. Allison and Nick are well, they both doing good and growing up to fast.

It was fun being in the camper again but it made me truly realize I wouldn’t be able to do the job of seting up and tearing down the camper anymore, my strength is not there to do it. The thought of washing the bugs off the windshield wears me out. I did help with that job when we stopped for fuel and it was all I could do to get my side of the windshield done. So it comes down to when we travel we will stay in motels, which is ok because I still want to travel.

Hopefully we will get to see some of our friends this winter as we hopeful will be able to go south. Our plans are to head to Florida for a few weeks if we can find a place to stay.

Until later be safe.