Update 11/20/12

We are ten days past Sarah’s first chemo treatment and she is doing great. Granted it was the first of four treatments of Adriamycin (doxorubicin) and Cytoxan (cyclophosphamide). These are suppose to be tough on the body, which was proven by Sarah sleeping most of the time after her treatment. Another side effect is not wanting to eat, nothing tastes good, your taste buds are not working and we use plastic spoons etc. because she tastes the metal in the silverware. Twenty-four hours after the treatment she had a shot; I don’t remember the drug, to assist the body in building up the immune system. After 3-4 days, her appetite and energy began to improve and today she is feeling normal. The downside is a week from tomorrow she has another treatment of the same drugs and she will go through it all over again. She will have two more treatments of the same drugs for four treatments.

After the first of the year her treatments, as far as we know at this time, will be every week and consist of the drug Paclitaxil (docetaxel). These treatments will go for fourteen weeks followed by 5-6 weeks of radiation. So somewhere, around the third week of May, she should be done with the treatments and she will be able to get back to her “normal” life. She will have to take the drug tamoxifin for five years but that is a small price to pay for being cancer free.

As I have stated before we have bought a townhouse in Omaha and will move into it the first of June or sooner if we can, Sarah will then be able to recover from all of this. We are planning to go south for the winter of 2013 and every winter after that for as long as we can drive.

We are grateful for all the positive thoughts and prayers sent Sarah’s way, please keep them coming.

I have been keeping busy taking care of Sarah when she isn’t feeling up to par and trying to have patience. I did walk down to the library the other day to see if I could get a library card and I succeeded. I didn’t think they would give me one because of not being a permanent resident of Des Moines. We live on the 16^th floor of the apartment building and have a northern view. It is a studio apartment, not much bigger than the camper is, but it is home and we are making the most of it. Here is a night time view from our balcony:

We have been out to eat a couple of times with friends here, Mike & Shari a week ago and Russ & Candi last night. Thursday we are invited over to Norma & Orren’s for Thanksgiving dinner. We have been shopping with Cynthia, if fact we went to Sears Sunday to catch a sale. It seems we both were in need of winter coats because I hear it still get cold here in the winter. We bought coats, which should last us a long time.

Tomorrow Sarah and Cynthia are going out shopping or something like that. I am going, I really don’t know what I will do, but I will find something to do.

That is about all we have been up to for now. I will let you know how Sarah does with the next treatment.

Dreams Do Come True

Des Moines, IA

Wednesday we took the camper over to Shorewood RV, Des Moines, to have it winterized. I was able to leave the truck with it because I really don’t have a place to park it yet. We are totally moved into our apartment and we took a parking spot in the apartment’s underground parking, I had hoped to park the truck there also but it may be too tight, height wise we are ok, but length will be the problem. Therefore, we may have to park it outside and run it once a week or so, as long as it will start.

Sarah had an echocardiogram on Thursday and they said her heart was in good shape. So today, she had her first chemo treatment. She was a bit nervous but she didn’t take any type of sedative, even though it was offered. The treatment took about two hours and then we came home. She is doing great, but she is tired and is currently sleeping. They said she might do a lot of that.

I can see the biggest challenge I will have is keeping her from doing all the things she has always done, I am sure there will be days she will be too tired but other days I will have to help her keep from over extended herself. It is time for her to let me and others help her, at least for the next six months or so.

We received our mail from SD today and she had some cards in it, she did enjoy them, Thank you.

Dreams to Come True

Des Moines, IA

What a week we had last week. We took another load of boxes out to the condo and decided to call the complex manager to get the key to the mailbox. First, we tried to find his office but that didn’t happen so I called him and explained what I wanted, he listened and said he needed to call the condo owner. I didn’t like the sound of that but there was nothing I could do so I said ok. A couple hours later the owner called me and said he couldn’t lease the condo to me, the association had a limit of how many condo’s could be leased at one time and they were at that limit. This isn’t what I wanted to hear, so now into panic mode, we have to be out of the camper by Wednesday the 7th because it is going to an RV dealer to get the washer repaired and winterized for storage.

So, here are Thursday, November 1st, and no place to live and tomorrow Sarah is having a port put in for the chemo treatments, we have to be at the hospital at 5 am. I get on the computer and begin searching, I call a few places but the problem is twofold, most complexes won’t lease for less than 6 months and I would have to rent or buy furniture. I would buy furniture but then I would have to rent a truck to take it to Omaha to put in the townhouse. It does get a bit frustrating.

Friday we are at the hospital bright and early. Sarah’s surgery doesn’t take place until seven but you have to be there early for all of the preliminary preps etc. When she goes into surgery I head for the cafeteria, Cynthia calls and we meet up and go get breakfast. Hospital cafeterias must be the same all over, they aren’t expensive and the food is good but it isn’t somewhere you would go eat if you had another choice.

Sarah’s surgery went off without a hitch and we were able to leave about ten. I took Sarah home and she slept most of the day, which was good because I was on the phone looking for a place to live. We met some folks from Des Moines last year while working in Mesa. Bob & Judy Van Cleave, they have a home here and in a prior conversation offered to rent us their house, so I called them and set up a time on Sunday to meet their daughter at the house and take a look. Their house is on the east side of Des Moines and would be inconvenient for Sarah and Cynthia to get together, but I would deal with it. However, I still had hopes of finding something closer to the hospital and Cynthia’s.

Our friends Orren & Norma sent me an email with the phone number of an apartment building downtown Des Moines that had a couple of furnished apartments and would lease for three months or longer. I called them and visited with Connie about what they had etc. Sarah and I decided we would go look at it tomorrow.

Saturday morning I called the apartment complex and said we would like to look at what was available. We toured the apartments available, a studio and a one bedroom. The studio is a bit bigger than the camper but is just one big room, with a queen bed and to chairs, a cabinet with a TV in it and drawers on the bottom, a table and two chairs and a full kitchen, fully stocked with pots, pans and dishes, a bathroom and lots of closet space. The one bedroom was very cramped and even though it had a couch, it was too small. We opted for the studio, all utilities, cable TV and internet, we don’t have that much to put in there but we should fit. The building has a community room with library and computers and a big screen TV, there is also a nice exercise room, so we said we wanted it. Not so fast cowboy, first we have to fill out an application, $35 each, and then we have to see if we are approved. So we did all of that and left. About four in the afternoon, we receive a call saying everything looks good but they are waiting for a criminal background check on us from South Dakota.

It is now Monday, November 5th and the only person I have heard from today is Pat Boone, the singer, and I thought he was dead, to tell us we should vote for Mitt Romney. I did call the manager this morning and she said she had no news but to call this afternoon about one thirty. So we are back in the waiting mode again.

Today is election day, Hooray no more political commercials. We also heard from the apartment complex saying we are approved for the apartment. We spent the afternoon moving our things from the condo to the apartment, then it was out to the camper to get the food out of the fridge and some our clothes. I also dumped the tanks of all water etc. in preparation of taking the camper to the RV dealer to winterize it before storage.

Thursday Sarah has an echogram on her heart and Friday afternoon she has her first chemo treatment. Hopefully it won’t make her to sick.

Even though many won’t agree, Dreams Do Come True.

Decision Made

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 24^th

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 25^th

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 26^th

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 9^th.

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. 

Post Surgery

Monday, October 15th will be remember by Sarah and I for as long as we live. It is the day Sarah was given, the beginning, of a new lease on life. This is the day she had surgery to remove the spot in her right breast. It began quite early, 7:30, she was given an IV and then went to nuclear medicine to have a dye injected, then she went to get another mammogram which identified the areas of concern. The dye indicated a lymph node had cancer also, this changed the surgeon’s approach and increased the area he cleared of tissue in the breast. When he went to remove the lymph node the pathologist didn’t like the looks of another node so they removed it.

Sarah was in surgery longer than anticipated but she came through it fine and is sitting here at home giving me orders. Actually it is my pleasure to wait on her and make sure she fully recovers from the surgery. We are waiting on the pathology report so we can visit with an oncologist to see what form Sarah’s treatment will take.

Friday, October 19, what a week, the doctors here are great and we were able to get some things accomplished in a week where it takes others a longer period of time. Today Sarah had an appt with the oncologist and the radiologist. First the oncologist, Sarah has to have chemo to ensure a full recovery, radiation is not enough, this is due to the node have cancer cells in it. The treatment takes 22 weeks, so we are staying in the Des Moines area for the winter. (Note to self, buy winter coats.) We will stay in the camper until we find someplace to rent and then winterize the camper and find a storage place for it.

This isn’t what we wanted but this is the hand we have been dealt so we will play it out. The treatment path Sarah is going to go through has a very HIGH rate of success and that is what we are looking for.

So that’s it for now. I will post again when there has been a change in our situation. For now we are back in Iowa for the duration.

Dreams Still Do Come True.

A Bump in the Road

September 20^th

We met Mike & Sheri Cord for dinner at Pagliai’s Pizza, http://www.pagliais.com/; this is one of the best pizza’s I have ever tasted. We had a great visit with them and Mike brought me the latest Clive Cussler book, one of my favorite authors, I haven’t started it yet but I will as soon as I finish one of the three others I am currently reading.

September 21^st

We met Bob & Judi Van Cleave for dinner at the Olive Garden. We met them at Mesa Regal last winter; they are from the Des Moines area and called to see if we wanted to meet them for dinner. We had a very nice visit with them. We should see them again this winter in Arizona.

September 22^nd

Today we went to a “Celebration of Life” for Larry Paterson. We met Larry and Loretta at Griff’s our first year in the camper, 2010. Larry always had a smile, even with his health problems; he was fun and a joy to be around. He will be missed by all.

September 24^th

Today I headed into the VA hospital for my annual physical. I get my labs done at 7:30 because I have to fast and then I can go have breakfast before meeting the doctor. Therefore, after my labs were done I checked into the clinic and found out they had changed my appt to Wednesday. The clerk asked me if I got a letter telling me of the change, I said no. We did get the letter yesterday in our mail packet so at least they did send it.

Now I had a problem because my dental appt was for Wednesday at the same time as the one at the VA. I got on the phone to the dentist and told them of my problem. I wanted to get the dentist out of the way this week because we were scheduled to leave next Monday for Omaha. The dental receptionist was very nice and I was able to get in today being Monday, so all is good.

I hate going to the dentist. I go to a Periodontist for teeth cleaning because they check the gums for receding since I have had the deep cleaning I don’t want to go through that again. So I’m sitting in the chair and the hygienist is fussing around and looks like she about to start and I say, “Whoa there partner, I need that thar gas because I am a CHICKEN”. She looks at my chart and there in big bold letters is the word CHICKEN. So she gives me the gas. I could not go through the pain and agony of the cleaning without the gas and even with it, I struggle not to make loud noises, but I made it through the ordeal and was on my way.

September 25^th

Sarah had her mammogram today. We went over to Orren & Norma Cairo’s afterwards. Norma & Sarah are beading, Norma is very good at it, and she has some very nice bracelets and earrings. It is good for her to do and it keeps her out of Orren’s hair. Norma made chili, which was very good. The woman is a very good cook. As always, we had a good time.

September 26^th

I finally had my physical this morning at the VA. I have a new doctor, Dr. Green, a very nice lady. She is full of energy and as all of the doctors have done in the past twenty years, she told me to lose weight. “I’m trying doc, not doing a very good job but I am trying, most of the time”. I was able to get all my prescription filled.

September 28^th

John & Kathy Evans invited us to go with them to meet Loretta for lunch at Famous Dave’s. Now if you have eaten at Famous Dave’s and never had their bread pudding, you are missing a treat. It is absolutely the best I have ever had, plus take your receipt and call the 800 number on it, get a code and then get a free desert the next time you eat there.

September 29^th

We headed for Moline, IL to meet up with Tom & Cathy Gerdes and George & Barb Granberg, Tom, George and I worked at Ruan Leasing together. Chris & Amy Walkup were going to be there also, but something came up and they weren’t able to make it. Chris we had a great time wish you & Amy could have been there.

We stayed at the Radisson in Moline, it is a great hotel and right across the street from Johnny’s Steakhouse where we ate, http://johnnysitaliansteakhouse.com/ , it is a great place to eat.

We had a lot of fun being caught up on what everyone is doing, Tom & I are not working but George is selling real estate for Ruhr & Ruhr Realtors, http://muscatineproperties.com/. Barb is a retired schoolteacher for the Muscatine school system.

September 30^th

Tom wanted to see the American Pickers place in LeClaire, IA, http://antiquearchaeology.com/ and http://frankfritzfinds.com/about.php. Mike and Frank have individual websites so I have listed them.

The building is nothing to speak of, just a small garage, at sometime in the past it was most likely a repair garage. Danielle has her own antique shop across the street from the American Pickers store. It was fun to see, there is a 1950 Nash sitting out front of the store, my grandfather had one just like it, not quite as rusty but the same vintage. I bought a t-shirt with a picture of the car on the back of the shirt. I bet I will be the only one in AZ with this t-shirt.

October 1^st

We packed up and headed for the West Omaha KOA in Gretna, NE. We like this campground and as I have stated before it is the only one within decent driving distance of Daniel’s house. It is great to see the kids again.

October 3^rd

We drove back to Des Moines. Sarah had a mammogram last week and they called and said they saw a couple things that didn’t look right and they wanted a biopsy of both areas. So we headed back to get this procedure done.

October 4^th

Sarah received a call from the doctor who did the biopsy and he said the cloudy area was clean, no problem, but the spot had cancer cells in it. So we have an appointment with an oncology surgeon this coming Wednesday to see what options there are for her.

Cancer is something you always think will strike someone else until it hits this close to home. I always thought I would get it because of Agent Orange. Sarah has always been the healthy one of the family but now my best friend, companion has it, and it is a sobering thought. I pray the doctors can remove the spot and surrounding tissue and Sarah will be free of it, but regardless I know God will not give us more than we can handle and we can handle anything with his help.

October 7^th

Daniel & Marie refinished their basement and were needing more room to put things. We had several items stored with them, both in the basement and the garage, so we rented a storage unit. Today we took all of the items at their house and put them into the storage unit, plus a few of their things. I suppose we should have done this from the beginning but there was no need for a unit until now.

October 10^th

Today is the day we have been anticipating and dreading at the same time. We were both scared and hoping for the best at the same time. Sarah’s doctor, Dr. Daniel Kollmorgan an oncology surgeon, put Sarah and I at ease immediately. He told her she was going to be fine. Sarah has Stage 1 breast cancer, the tumor is about the size of a pencil eraser and is slow growing, which is why is probably didn’t show up on a previous mammogram. After he examined her, then he gave Sarah her options. A complete mastectomy or a lumpectomy, the mastectomy removes the entire breast and therefore any other cancer cells present. The lumpectomy is the removal of the tumor and some surrounding tissue, then chemo or radiation is given depending on how wide spread the cancer is and if it has gone into the lymph node.

Sarah chose the lumpectomy with five days of twice a day radiation treatments, the radiation treatment is dependent on what pathology says about the cancer and if it spread.

So we are headed back to Griff’s RV Park in Des Moines this Saturday for four to eight weeks depending on the outcome of the surgery, which has been scheduled for next Monday. We are praying for the best results, but prepared for whatever shows itself.

As with all cancer the earlier the detection, the better chance of isolating it and removing all of the cancer cells. The doctor believes this to be true in Sarah’s case.

Until later, Dreams Do Come True.

50 Years and Counting

September 14^th,

We had a great time visiting with Russ & Candi at Smokey D’s, http://www.smokeydsbbq.com/ when you are in Des Moines you need to visit SMOKEY D’S they have great tenderloins and fabulous BBQ. Darren is one of the owners; he and I worked at Ruan. He and his business partner have won many awards for their BBQ, it is that good. So when you are in Des Moines or passing through stop and try some award winning BBQ. Enough of the commercial, Candi is recovering from some surgery and she looks great, of course Russ says he is taking very good care of her. Men are good at that aren’t we?

September 14 & 15^th,

Class reunion in Burlington, IA, Fifty years, can you believe it? I never thought about it much about a 50-year class reunion until it was time for it. I can remember my mother saying she was going to her 50^th class reunion and I’m thinking, wow you people are old. Now I am the one who is old and attending our 50^th class reunion. I don’t know who all worked to put the reunion together but I want to say thank you for doing it and doing a very good job of it. Sarah and I had a great time. It was to see everyone, I know not all of the class was there, but it was great to see those who were and a couple I haven’t seen in years. I don’t remember that last time I saw Jane and Diane. Mike Cummings gets the award for traveling the greatest distance, but then he would get award at every reunion, he comes all the way from Australia.

I had a great time visiting with everyone there, I believe I spoke with everyone, if I missed anyone I apologize; it was just great to see everyone. I am still looking the length of your driveways. Diane has the lead with 300 ft of driveway or something like that. I am looking for long driveways for the RV, I’ll buy dinner. If you have hook ups for the RV I’ll buy drinks also. Thank you to my brother Larry and wife Kathy for their hospitality; we had a good time visiting with them. I also returned his truck, so now he can haul things again. We did get a picture, I want you to see how good looking we are at our age:

Again thanks to all of you who worked on the reunion it was a great time.

Monday,

I hate shopping but I need a new pair or two of shoes, I only buy running shoes, I am trying to break the three and a half minute mile. Actually, the orthopedic doctor told me to buy running shoes because size, he didn’t want to say fat, running shoes give more cushion to my feet. Anyway, Sarah & I went to Sports Authority store and I bought a shoe called Meling. It was a nice shoe and felt great in the store but after wearing it all day, I decided it wasn’t the shoe for me. Therefore, Tuesday we took the back, I will say the store took them back with no questions asked, that is nice.

We met Tiffany, Matt & Alexa at McDonald’s in Ankeny. Alexa had two catalogs from school with items for sale. We bought an item from each catalog and told them to keep them, I bought what they said they would use; I couldn’t see them shipping the items to us so they will keep them.

Tuesday I had an appointment to take the car in to get a fender bracket fixed, we noticed it when we bought it and I said I would make an appointment to bring it in for fixing. We got a loaner car, it is a good thing we did because the problem was on a recall, and it will take a couple of days to get it so we are driving the loaner. I am glad we didn’t say we would wait.

We also went out to the Iowa Veteran’s Cemetery, https://www.va.iowa.gov/vetcemetery/, so I could get some questions answered. We met Dave, and employee of the cemetery, he answered all my questions and gave us some material to look at. Sarah & I will both be buried there.

In the afternoon we went over to Cairo’s, Sarah & Norma were going to do some beading but first they had to go to the bead store. Since Orren was busy with some phone calls I took them to the bead store, Artistic Beads in Valley Junction, http://artisticbead.com/id73.html, I read while they were shopping. We returned to the house and the ladies beaded. Norma fixed chili and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner, very good.

Today I worked on the camper to get things done before we leave here in 10 days. One of the items is greasing the MorRyde system; this entails me getting under the camper. Since I am a bit claustrophobic it is not my favorite thing to do, it does help the sides are open and the camper does sit high so I am able to get the task done.

I have just finished the book “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand, I enjoyed reading it, and I knew the prisoners of war in the Pacific were mistreated but I didn’t know to what extent. This book took seven years to write and was well documented from both the Japanese and American side. Good book well worth the time to read.

That’s it for now remember,

Dreams Do Come True.