Champaign, IL.
77 deg. overcast, no wind.
Forecast = Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds light and variable.
About 9:30 or so this morning Jim and Linda hopped into Lily and headed to a little cemetery, out in the country between Champaign and Fisher. Some of Linda's distant relatives are buried there and they usually go out there when we are in the area.
After viewing the graves, they decided to head to Rantoul to stop in at the Prairie Pines CG to see if Paul and Louise were there, and say Hi to them if they were. When they arrived, Jim noticed that Louise's car wasn't there, but the office door was open, so they parked Lily and went up the walk. As they got up to the office, Linda, one of the people who had helped Louise with the CG last year came out and greeted them. Upon asking about Paul and Louise, she told them that while they were down in Texas, in December, Louise had a stroke and ended up in a hospital. While in the hospital, they discovered a large cancerous tumor, (I think in her mid-section).
I don't know all the details, but in March, Louise passed away, from the cancer!!!
Don't know what else to say. We're all in shock!!!
Paul is living in his 5th wheel trailer at the CG and helping out as much as he can. He is suffering from dementia and is having a lot of trouble. Luckily, his son, Mark, is staying there with him to help as much as possible. Both Jim and Linda said that they doubt if Paul will be able to do much of anything pretty soon.
A very sad situation.
While they were there, Ron and Marilyn stopped by, (friends of their's that are staying at the CG) and they talked for a little while. They have made plans to meet up at the Urbana Gardens Restaurant for a meal soon, and maybe Jim and Linda will learn more about Paul and Louise then.
Rest in peace, Louise. We'll miss you.
Woof!!!
Showing posts with label Cancer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cancer. Show all posts
Monday, August 14, 2017
Sunday, May 7, 2017
More On Jim's Treatments and A "Kicker"
DeBary, FL.
53 deg. clear, no wind.
Forecast = Abundant sunshine. High 88F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph.
On Tuesday, the 2nd of May, Jim had his first radiation treatment. He will have a treatment every weekday for a total of 20 treatments. He did not however. start the Opdivo treatments on the 5th as we had thought because he had some major concerns about the frequency and the total length of time the whole series of treatments would take. (Possibly taking a whole year)!!!! So instead of a treatment on the 5th, he and Linda had another meeting with Dr. Gupta which lasted for a better part of an hour.
She went into much more detail as to what to expect and also explained what the options were as far as treatment frequency, how some summer travel could be accommodated during the time Jim was having the treatments and how a treatment or two could be handled, even while we would be traveling.
All of this put both Jim and Linda's minds much more at ease and gave them a more positive outlook for Jim's future.
So, , , , , Jim will start the Opdivo treatments on the 12th of May. He'll have them every other week for 2 months and then will get a scan, (either CAT or PET). If the scan is good, he may not have to have any more treatments for at least 3 months. If the scan shows something, he will have to continue the treatments but more than likely, will be able to get a treatment or two at a facility up North during our travels.
It's not ideal, but at least we'll be able to head up to Illinois so that Linda and Jim can go to their doctors and financial adviser up there and possibly get together with some friends and family.
All in all, both Jim and Linda are feeling much better about these treatments and the outcome of them. There's always a great risk with cancer, but it sounds like they may have caught this round very early and it is hoped that the doctors will be able to knock it out. It may come back or spread in the future, but if Jim has scans frequently, they should be able to "control" it for quite some time.
OK now for the "kicker".. Jim and Linda have decided to "hang up the keys" as far as RVing goes. Laura and Lindsey, (Linda and Jim's daughter and her husband), will get Nora. They may use her as a trade-in on a different trailer, (more to their liking and smaller, so they can pull it behind their smaller truck). Jim is thinking we'll keep Big RED for now, to use for travel this summer, and then sell him this fall.
The reason for this???? Well, it doesn't look like we'll be traveling a real lot anymore and the cost of insurance, maintenance and lot rent keeps going up while both vehicles are sitting around gathering dust and rust. Jim has done a lot of research and has concluded that because we won't be traveling as much, it would be less costly to stay in hotels/motels and also save a lot of fuel by traveling either with just Big RED or even more with Lila, (Linda's car). This will also make it much easier on Jim, as he won't have to be hooking and unhooking Nora and there's less stress traveling if you're not pulling a trailer or driving a large vehicle.
I'm planning on keeping this blog going as long as I can. It won't be about RVing any longer, but it will help friends and family keep up on what's happening with Jim and Linda as well as where and what we're doing while on "vacation".
So, keep checking back. I'm hoping to blog about some of our past RVing adventures on the road as well as our travels this summer. If everything goes according to plan, we should be leaving here sometime in July or early August to head up North. In the meantime, I'll be letting you know how treatments are going and on what's happening around here.
A Quote to Ponder: "The trouble with the future is that it usually arrives before we're ready for it."
Arnold Glasgow
Woof!!!
53 deg. clear, no wind.
Forecast = Abundant sunshine. High 88F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph.
On Tuesday, the 2nd of May, Jim had his first radiation treatment. He will have a treatment every weekday for a total of 20 treatments. He did not however. start the Opdivo treatments on the 5th as we had thought because he had some major concerns about the frequency and the total length of time the whole series of treatments would take. (Possibly taking a whole year)!!!! So instead of a treatment on the 5th, he and Linda had another meeting with Dr. Gupta which lasted for a better part of an hour.
She went into much more detail as to what to expect and also explained what the options were as far as treatment frequency, how some summer travel could be accommodated during the time Jim was having the treatments and how a treatment or two could be handled, even while we would be traveling.
All of this put both Jim and Linda's minds much more at ease and gave them a more positive outlook for Jim's future.
So, , , , , Jim will start the Opdivo treatments on the 12th of May. He'll have them every other week for 2 months and then will get a scan, (either CAT or PET). If the scan is good, he may not have to have any more treatments for at least 3 months. If the scan shows something, he will have to continue the treatments but more than likely, will be able to get a treatment or two at a facility up North during our travels.
It's not ideal, but at least we'll be able to head up to Illinois so that Linda and Jim can go to their doctors and financial adviser up there and possibly get together with some friends and family.
All in all, both Jim and Linda are feeling much better about these treatments and the outcome of them. There's always a great risk with cancer, but it sounds like they may have caught this round very early and it is hoped that the doctors will be able to knock it out. It may come back or spread in the future, but if Jim has scans frequently, they should be able to "control" it for quite some time.
OK now for the "kicker".. Jim and Linda have decided to "hang up the keys" as far as RVing goes. Laura and Lindsey, (Linda and Jim's daughter and her husband), will get Nora. They may use her as a trade-in on a different trailer, (more to their liking and smaller, so they can pull it behind their smaller truck). Jim is thinking we'll keep Big RED for now, to use for travel this summer, and then sell him this fall.
The reason for this???? Well, it doesn't look like we'll be traveling a real lot anymore and the cost of insurance, maintenance and lot rent keeps going up while both vehicles are sitting around gathering dust and rust. Jim has done a lot of research and has concluded that because we won't be traveling as much, it would be less costly to stay in hotels/motels and also save a lot of fuel by traveling either with just Big RED or even more with Lila, (Linda's car). This will also make it much easier on Jim, as he won't have to be hooking and unhooking Nora and there's less stress traveling if you're not pulling a trailer or driving a large vehicle.
I'm planning on keeping this blog going as long as I can. It won't be about RVing any longer, but it will help friends and family keep up on what's happening with Jim and Linda as well as where and what we're doing while on "vacation".
So, keep checking back. I'm hoping to blog about some of our past RVing adventures on the road as well as our travels this summer. If everything goes according to plan, we should be leaving here sometime in July or early August to head up North. In the meantime, I'll be letting you know how treatments are going and on what's happening around here.
A Quote to Ponder: "The trouble with the future is that it usually arrives before we're ready for it."
Arnold Glasgow
Woof!!!
Saturday, April 29, 2017
Finally Getting Started With Treatments!!!
DeBary, FL.
74 deg. Partly cloudy, no wind.
Forecast = Partly cloudy. High 91F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph.
Yesterday, Jim had an appointment with the Chemo Doctor, (Dr. Gupta), and so he and Linda finally got some answers!!
You see, Jim took a disk of his PET Scan to the hospital and answered a bunch of questions way back on the 20th. He was told that the doctor would look at the scan and then they would call him and let him know when he should come in for the biopsy.
Well, , , , , he waited and waited. Linda finally called the hospital but never could get an answer. She then called the chemo doctor, (who had ordered the biopsy), but got no answer there either. Both places said that "they'd get back to her", but never did! :-( However, at one point, someone did say that they didn't know if Jim was a "good candidate" for the procedure as the left lung was "compromised" and he does have some emphysema.
Anyway, yesterday, he had an appointment with Dr. Gupta and he and Linda finally found out what was going on. The doctor at the hospital didn't think it was a good idea to do the procedure, but somewhere along the line, there was a lack of communication and that fact was never relayed to Jim and Linda. There was one more option, but it involved surgery and it would be risky as well, so it was decided to just go ahead and treat the new spot on the lung as though it was a worst case scenario.
This next Tuesday, Jim will go to the chemo doctor's office for "Patient Education" and then on Friday, he'll have his first treatment. They will be using the new drug, OPDIVO, and it will be given to him every other week for at least 9 weeks. At that time he will have a "scan" and any further treatment will depend on that.
There are some side effects of this drug, but he was told that most patients were able to tolerate the drug very well. Hopefully, the treatments won't be too bad.
Also, either sometime this next week, or possibly the first part of the next, Jim will start radiation treatments. It sounds like they will be scheduled just like they were the last time. 5 days a week, Monday through Friday.
So, , , , , , now you know just about all of what I know. These last few weeks have been very stressful, but now that we know when and what these treatments will be, it takes a lot of the stress out of it. Hopefully everything will go fairly smoothly and we can get back to a more normal life.
A Quote to Ponder : "Look up to the sky. You'll never find rainbows if you're looking down"
Charlie Chaplin
Woof!!!
74 deg. Partly cloudy, no wind.
Forecast = Partly cloudy. High 91F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph.
Yesterday, Jim had an appointment with the Chemo Doctor, (Dr. Gupta), and so he and Linda finally got some answers!!
You see, Jim took a disk of his PET Scan to the hospital and answered a bunch of questions way back on the 20th. He was told that the doctor would look at the scan and then they would call him and let him know when he should come in for the biopsy.
Well, , , , , he waited and waited. Linda finally called the hospital but never could get an answer. She then called the chemo doctor, (who had ordered the biopsy), but got no answer there either. Both places said that "they'd get back to her", but never did! :-( However, at one point, someone did say that they didn't know if Jim was a "good candidate" for the procedure as the left lung was "compromised" and he does have some emphysema.
Anyway, yesterday, he had an appointment with Dr. Gupta and he and Linda finally found out what was going on. The doctor at the hospital didn't think it was a good idea to do the procedure, but somewhere along the line, there was a lack of communication and that fact was never relayed to Jim and Linda. There was one more option, but it involved surgery and it would be risky as well, so it was decided to just go ahead and treat the new spot on the lung as though it was a worst case scenario.
This next Tuesday, Jim will go to the chemo doctor's office for "Patient Education" and then on Friday, he'll have his first treatment. They will be using the new drug, OPDIVO, and it will be given to him every other week for at least 9 weeks. At that time he will have a "scan" and any further treatment will depend on that.
There are some side effects of this drug, but he was told that most patients were able to tolerate the drug very well. Hopefully, the treatments won't be too bad.
Also, either sometime this next week, or possibly the first part of the next, Jim will start radiation treatments. It sounds like they will be scheduled just like they were the last time. 5 days a week, Monday through Friday.
So, , , , , , now you know just about all of what I know. These last few weeks have been very stressful, but now that we know when and what these treatments will be, it takes a lot of the stress out of it. Hopefully everything will go fairly smoothly and we can get back to a more normal life.
A Quote to Ponder : "Look up to the sky. You'll never find rainbows if you're looking down"
Charlie Chaplin
Woof!!!
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
Finally Something To Report
DeBary, FL.
Wednesday 10;00 pm EDT - 72 deg. clear, no wind.
Forecast Thursday = Mostly sunny skies. High near 85F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph.
Well, I finally have something to report.
In my last post, I told you that Jim had had a CT Scan and the doctors had found a spot in his right lung. Since then, he has had a PET Scan on the 13th of April, and it was determined that in addition to the spot in that lung, there was also evidence of something in the same place that had been treated before in his left lung. He has since been to see the Chemo doctor, and now is waiting for an appointment to have a biopsy on the spot in the right lung preformed at the hospital in Orange City.
There is some evidence that the spot in the right lung looks different than the spot in the left lung. That is actually good because if it is, that would possibly mean that the original cancer has not spread to a different part of his body, but is in fact, a different cancer. If that's the case, it would mean that the original cancer is not in his blood stream and going to other parts of his body.
So, we wait for the biopsy and then the diagnosis. After that, there will be radiation and chemo very similar to what he had a little over a year ago. :-( If that's the case, we won't be traveling at all this summer.
Jim's not doing too bad. He's "down" at times, but for the most part, he trying to keep a good attitude about all of this. He's very disappointed and is dreading having to go through the chemo treatments again, especially since he still has some side effects from the last treatments he had, just over a year ago.
Linda is very worried about Jim but is also trying to keep her spirits up. She knows that she'll have to try to stay strong and be there for moral support for Jim.
So, , , , , that's about all I know for now. As soon as the results from the biopsy come in, I imagine they'll start treatments. At that time, we should find out more about how long the treatments will last and possibly get some idea of what the summer will bring as far as any plans Jim and Linda can make.
Please keep Jim and Linda in your thoughts and prayers. I'll post update here as often as I can to try to keep all of you up-to-date.
Woof!!!
Wednesday 10;00 pm EDT - 72 deg. clear, no wind.
Forecast Thursday = Mostly sunny skies. High near 85F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph.
Well, I finally have something to report.
In my last post, I told you that Jim had had a CT Scan and the doctors had found a spot in his right lung. Since then, he has had a PET Scan on the 13th of April, and it was determined that in addition to the spot in that lung, there was also evidence of something in the same place that had been treated before in his left lung. He has since been to see the Chemo doctor, and now is waiting for an appointment to have a biopsy on the spot in the right lung preformed at the hospital in Orange City.
There is some evidence that the spot in the right lung looks different than the spot in the left lung. That is actually good because if it is, that would possibly mean that the original cancer has not spread to a different part of his body, but is in fact, a different cancer. If that's the case, it would mean that the original cancer is not in his blood stream and going to other parts of his body.
So, we wait for the biopsy and then the diagnosis. After that, there will be radiation and chemo very similar to what he had a little over a year ago. :-( If that's the case, we won't be traveling at all this summer.
Jim's not doing too bad. He's "down" at times, but for the most part, he trying to keep a good attitude about all of this. He's very disappointed and is dreading having to go through the chemo treatments again, especially since he still has some side effects from the last treatments he had, just over a year ago.
Linda is very worried about Jim but is also trying to keep her spirits up. She knows that she'll have to try to stay strong and be there for moral support for Jim.
So, , , , , that's about all I know for now. As soon as the results from the biopsy come in, I imagine they'll start treatments. At that time, we should find out more about how long the treatments will last and possibly get some idea of what the summer will bring as far as any plans Jim and Linda can make.
Please keep Jim and Linda in your thoughts and prayers. I'll post update here as often as I can to try to keep all of you up-to-date.
Woof!!!
Saturday, April 8, 2017
New Tires For Big RED, Good News and Some Not So Good News
DeBary, FL.
45 deg. clear, no wind.
Forecast = Plentiful sunshine. High 76F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.
When I last posted, I mentioned that Big RED needed new tires. Well, Ray, (a man who used to live across the street from us here in the park), e-mailed Jim and told him about a local tire shop (Big T. Tires), a little North of here. Jim took Big RED and headed over there and really liked the place. And, on top of that, they had a good price on a set of tires!!!
So, now, Big RED has a set of nice new tires that should last a good long time. :-)
This past Monday, Jim went in to Dr. Graham's office, (Jim's radiation doctor), for that CT Scan that I told you about a while back. He had the scan and then on Wednesday, he and Linda went back to see Dr. Graham and get the results of the scan. So, what's the results? you ask???? Well, there's good news and some not so good news.
First of all, the scan showed that the left lung that was treated before was clear and looked good. But, , , , , the scan showed a very small spot in the right lung!!! :-(
Now, this spot may be nothing at all, but now, Jim is scheduled for a PET Scan this coming Thursday, April 13th, to find out for sure. Then on Monday, the 17th, he and Linda will go back to get the results.
If it is malignant, it will have to be treated. If it is only that one small spot, Dr. Graham says that he's sure he can treat it with radiation and that because of where it is and how small it is, the treatments should not take long and we should still be able to travel this summer, possibly still leaving during the first part of May.
So, , , , , things have kind of been put on "hold" until we find out more.
On the other hand, Linda had a visit with her surgeon yesterday, and everything looked real good, so there's good news there.
I'll post again as soon as Jim and Linda get the results on the 17th. Jim seems to be doing pretty well with this disturbing news, but as you can imagine is pretty worried. Hopefully everything will come back negative and we can resume out summer plans.
A Quote to Ponder. "He who enjoys good health is rich, though he knows it not".
Woof!!!
45 deg. clear, no wind.
Forecast = Plentiful sunshine. High 76F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.
When I last posted, I mentioned that Big RED needed new tires. Well, Ray, (a man who used to live across the street from us here in the park), e-mailed Jim and told him about a local tire shop (Big T. Tires), a little North of here. Jim took Big RED and headed over there and really liked the place. And, on top of that, they had a good price on a set of tires!!!
So, now, Big RED has a set of nice new tires that should last a good long time. :-)
This past Monday, Jim went in to Dr. Graham's office, (Jim's radiation doctor), for that CT Scan that I told you about a while back. He had the scan and then on Wednesday, he and Linda went back to see Dr. Graham and get the results of the scan. So, what's the results? you ask???? Well, there's good news and some not so good news.
First of all, the scan showed that the left lung that was treated before was clear and looked good. But, , , , , the scan showed a very small spot in the right lung!!! :-(
Now, this spot may be nothing at all, but now, Jim is scheduled for a PET Scan this coming Thursday, April 13th, to find out for sure. Then on Monday, the 17th, he and Linda will go back to get the results.
If it is malignant, it will have to be treated. If it is only that one small spot, Dr. Graham says that he's sure he can treat it with radiation and that because of where it is and how small it is, the treatments should not take long and we should still be able to travel this summer, possibly still leaving during the first part of May.
So, , , , , things have kind of been put on "hold" until we find out more.
On the other hand, Linda had a visit with her surgeon yesterday, and everything looked real good, so there's good news there.
I'll post again as soon as Jim and Linda get the results on the 17th. Jim seems to be doing pretty well with this disturbing news, but as you can imagine is pretty worried. Hopefully everything will come back negative and we can resume out summer plans.
A Quote to Ponder. "He who enjoys good health is rich, though he knows it not".
Woof!!!
Saturday, November 5, 2016
The Scan and The Results
DeBary, FL.
64 deg. mostly cloudy, no wind.
Forecast = Sunshine and clouds mixed. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 79F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph.
Thursday morning, a little past 9:30, Lila, (who started right up after setting for 4 1/2 months with a Battery Tender hooked up to her battery), took Jim and Linda over to Dr. Graham's office for his 10:00 appointment to get the PET Scan. They got there in plenty of time and a little after 10:00 they called Jim in to get started.
After getting the injection of some radioactive "stuff", Jim had to sit in a little room for an hour to let the "stuff" completely circulate throughout his body. Then, they put him on the scan machine and in about 20 more minutes, he was finished.
Being that Jim hadn't been able to eat or drink anything, (except water), since the night before, he and Linda headed over to Bob Evans for a good breakfast.
Jim hadn't slept very well, so they decided that they'd skip going over to the CG to get more things out of Nora. Instead they came back here to the house where Jim took a nice long nap. ;-)
Then, yesterday morning, Jim had to go back to Dr. Graham's office to get the results of the Scan. He and Linda got there about 9:40, so they had to sit and wait for awhile. In fact, even after the nurse took them back into one of those little exam rooms. they still had to wait for almost 45 minutes before the Dr. came in to see them!!!
Talk about a tense time!!!!!
Eventually, the Dr. came in and gave them the results of the scan.
So, , , , , , , , , "What were the results", You ask???? Well the Dr. said that according to the scan, there are, (Are you ready for this?) No active cancer cells anywhere in Jim's body!!!!!!
There is some scar tissue in his left lung, but that is to be expected, but the lung looks better than it did in the last scan, which Jim had back in the spring. This does not mean that the cancer will never come back, but as of now, as far as they can tell, Jim is cancer free!!! :-) :-) ;-)
A huge load came off of Jim's shoulders when he said that, and Linda cried.
So, because of the thoughts and prayers from all of you and the good doctors, Jim is doing well and will hopefully, be around for quite a few more years. Thank You!!! Thank You!!! Thank You!!!
Did you know that November is Banana Pudding Lovers Month?
Woof!!!
64 deg. mostly cloudy, no wind.
Forecast = Sunshine and clouds mixed. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 79F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph.
Thursday morning, a little past 9:30, Lila, (who started right up after setting for 4 1/2 months with a Battery Tender hooked up to her battery), took Jim and Linda over to Dr. Graham's office for his 10:00 appointment to get the PET Scan. They got there in plenty of time and a little after 10:00 they called Jim in to get started.
After getting the injection of some radioactive "stuff", Jim had to sit in a little room for an hour to let the "stuff" completely circulate throughout his body. Then, they put him on the scan machine and in about 20 more minutes, he was finished.
Being that Jim hadn't been able to eat or drink anything, (except water), since the night before, he and Linda headed over to Bob Evans for a good breakfast.
Jim hadn't slept very well, so they decided that they'd skip going over to the CG to get more things out of Nora. Instead they came back here to the house where Jim took a nice long nap. ;-)
Then, yesterday morning, Jim had to go back to Dr. Graham's office to get the results of the Scan. He and Linda got there about 9:40, so they had to sit and wait for awhile. In fact, even after the nurse took them back into one of those little exam rooms. they still had to wait for almost 45 minutes before the Dr. came in to see them!!!
Talk about a tense time!!!!!
Eventually, the Dr. came in and gave them the results of the scan.
So, , , , , , , , , "What were the results", You ask???? Well the Dr. said that according to the scan, there are, (Are you ready for this?) No active cancer cells anywhere in Jim's body!!!!!!
There is some scar tissue in his left lung, but that is to be expected, but the lung looks better than it did in the last scan, which Jim had back in the spring. This does not mean that the cancer will never come back, but as of now, as far as they can tell, Jim is cancer free!!! :-) :-) ;-)
A huge load came off of Jim's shoulders when he said that, and Linda cried.
So, because of the thoughts and prayers from all of you and the good doctors, Jim is doing well and will hopefully, be around for quite a few more years. Thank You!!! Thank You!!! Thank You!!!
Did you know that November is Banana Pudding Lovers Month?
Woof!!!
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
The Scan and The Results
DeBary, FL.
87 deg. clear, NW wind @ 3 mph.
Forecast = tonight, Partly cloudy skies. Low near 65F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.
Tuesday, Lila took Jim and Linda over to the same place where Jim had his radiation treatments so that he could get a PET Scan. The scan went off without a hitch and in about 2 hours, they were on their way back here to the house.
Today, they again headed over to Dr. Graham's office to talk to Dr. Graham to learn about the scan results. This last 24 hours has been quite stressful, wondering weather or not the cancer is gone or not.
The appointment was at 10:00, but of course, Jim and Linda didn't get in to see him until about 10:30. :-( When he came in, he informed Jim and Linda that the scan still showed something in the lung, but he said that he didn't agree with the diagonis of the person that wrote the report.
The spot where the tumor was, showed no tumor at all, but there was another spot lower in the lung that the person who wrote the report thought might be a problem. Well, Dr. Graham, showed Jim and Linda the scan pictures that were on his computer, and proceeded to explain why he didn't agree!!
The spot lower in the lung was not solid, but rather spotty on hazy in the photo. He explained that if it was cancer, it would be a solid spot and not spotty and hazy. In stead, he thinks that what it shows is scar tissue that was caused by the high doses of radiation that Jim recieved. He also believes that if it were cancer, it would show up where the orginal tumor was located and not way down in the bottom part of the lung.
So, , , , , his diagnosis is that the cancer is gone and he expects that in the next PET Scan, to be done this fall, will show that he is correct. :-)
Oh, and also, he doesn't have a problem with us heading North for the summer and seeing him when we return in October or November!! ;-)
Did you know that Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia who started Mother's Day celebrations also filed a lawsuit in an effort to stop the over- commercialisation of Mother's Day? She lost her fight. Anna had hoped for a day of reflection and quiet prayer by families, thanking God for all that mothers had done.
Woof!!!
87 deg. clear, NW wind @ 3 mph.
Forecast = tonight, Partly cloudy skies. Low near 65F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.
Tuesday, Lila took Jim and Linda over to the same place where Jim had his radiation treatments so that he could get a PET Scan. The scan went off without a hitch and in about 2 hours, they were on their way back here to the house.
Today, they again headed over to Dr. Graham's office to talk to Dr. Graham to learn about the scan results. This last 24 hours has been quite stressful, wondering weather or not the cancer is gone or not.
The appointment was at 10:00, but of course, Jim and Linda didn't get in to see him until about 10:30. :-( When he came in, he informed Jim and Linda that the scan still showed something in the lung, but he said that he didn't agree with the diagonis of the person that wrote the report.
The spot where the tumor was, showed no tumor at all, but there was another spot lower in the lung that the person who wrote the report thought might be a problem. Well, Dr. Graham, showed Jim and Linda the scan pictures that were on his computer, and proceeded to explain why he didn't agree!!
The spot lower in the lung was not solid, but rather spotty on hazy in the photo. He explained that if it was cancer, it would be a solid spot and not spotty and hazy. In stead, he thinks that what it shows is scar tissue that was caused by the high doses of radiation that Jim recieved. He also believes that if it were cancer, it would show up where the orginal tumor was located and not way down in the bottom part of the lung.
So, , , , , his diagnosis is that the cancer is gone and he expects that in the next PET Scan, to be done this fall, will show that he is correct. :-)
Oh, and also, he doesn't have a problem with us heading North for the summer and seeing him when we return in October or November!! ;-)
Did you know that Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia who started Mother's Day celebrations also filed a lawsuit in an effort to stop the over- commercialisation of Mother's Day? She lost her fight. Anna had hoped for a day of reflection and quiet prayer by families, thanking God for all that mothers had done.
Woof!!!
Saturday, March 26, 2016
A Rough Week
DeBary, FL.
80 deg. mostly cloudy, E. wind @ 2 mph.
Forecast = Cloudy early with scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High 87F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Yeah!!! I know!!!! It's been over a week since I've last posted, but I wanted to find out what happened at Jim's doctor visit yesterday before I did.
If you remember, Jim was scheduled to get a larger dose of the Chemo treatment on Friday the 18th than he had been receiving in the past. Well, that went off without a hitch, but he did have to go through 5 hours of treatment instead of the normal 3 hours.
Saturday, Jim was feeling fine and Dave and Dee Dee, (the part of the "Illinois bunch" that wintered over by Tampa), stopped by for a couple hours. They were visiting some friends in Orange City and were able to swing by here for a visit. It sure was good of them to come as we hadn't seen them since last fall, up in Rantoul. From here they were heading over to Ocala to see someone else and then heading home to Illinois for the summer.
Sunday Jim was still feeling pretty well, although he was starting to get some bone/muscle aches from the heavier dose of Chemo. He was pretty much able to control it with normal pain meds though.
Monday, Laura took Linda over to an appointment with Dr. Molpus, the doctor who did Linda's surgery at the Halifax Hospital in Daytona Beach a few years ago. Linda was real worried as one of the tests that she had when we returned here last fall came back "abnormal"!!! Everything turned out OK though and a further test and an examination confirmed that there was no cancer present!!!!!!!
Yaaaaay!!!!!
Meanwhile, "back at the ranch" Jim was dealing with some severe bone/muscle pain throughout his whole body, that even the pain meds that had been prescribed by the doctor would not help much. He was also experiencing very heavy fatigue which made it very difficult to even walk from one end of the house to the other. This pain and fatigue was to last all the way to Wednesday when the pain subsided some but the fatigue persisted.
Then, Wednesday night nausea set in and he battled that until well into Thursday. Being that he was feeling lousy, he didn't eat or drink much, so by the time he and Linda went in to see Dr. Saferali on Friday for a follow-up appointment, he had lost a bunch of weight and was dehydrated!! :-( Dr. Saferali strongly suggested he stay for awhile and get an infusion for the dehydration, so that's what he did while Linda waited in the waiting room.
Jim's white cell blood count had also fallen quite low, so he received an injection to help that and was given instructions not to be around too many people for the next week so as not to get any kind of infection or virus as his immune system would not be able to fight the off and he could get very sick.
Of course, this Sunday is Easter Sunday and Jim and Linda have been invited over to Marv and Inez's house for an Easter Dinner, but being that their small home will be packed with family, it's been decided that because of Jim's low white cell blood count, it would be better to be more "safe than sorry" and just have something here at home. :-(
So, , , , , that pretty much brings us up-to-date. Jim seems to be feeling better right now, (Saturday afternoon), with less fatigue and not as much pain, but that injection he received for his blood count may cause more bone/muscle pain in the next few days. We'll just have to see what happens.
His next appointment is this coming Friday, where they'll do another blood test and see how he's doing. Then if everything is going well, the week after that, (April 8th), he'll get another large Chemo dose which should be the last one of the series. After that, he'll have another PET Scan to check for cancer and then it'll be a matter of trying to recover from all the chemo and radiation treatments, which could take months.
A Quote to Ponder : “When I hear somebody sigh, 'Life is hard,' I am always tempted to ask, 'Compared to what?'”
Sydney Harris
Woof!!!
80 deg. mostly cloudy, E. wind @ 2 mph.
Forecast = Cloudy early with scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High 87F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Yeah!!! I know!!!! It's been over a week since I've last posted, but I wanted to find out what happened at Jim's doctor visit yesterday before I did.
If you remember, Jim was scheduled to get a larger dose of the Chemo treatment on Friday the 18th than he had been receiving in the past. Well, that went off without a hitch, but he did have to go through 5 hours of treatment instead of the normal 3 hours.
Saturday, Jim was feeling fine and Dave and Dee Dee, (the part of the "Illinois bunch" that wintered over by Tampa), stopped by for a couple hours. They were visiting some friends in Orange City and were able to swing by here for a visit. It sure was good of them to come as we hadn't seen them since last fall, up in Rantoul. From here they were heading over to Ocala to see someone else and then heading home to Illinois for the summer.
Sunday Jim was still feeling pretty well, although he was starting to get some bone/muscle aches from the heavier dose of Chemo. He was pretty much able to control it with normal pain meds though.
Monday, Laura took Linda over to an appointment with Dr. Molpus, the doctor who did Linda's surgery at the Halifax Hospital in Daytona Beach a few years ago. Linda was real worried as one of the tests that she had when we returned here last fall came back "abnormal"!!! Everything turned out OK though and a further test and an examination confirmed that there was no cancer present!!!!!!!
Yaaaaay!!!!!
Meanwhile, "back at the ranch" Jim was dealing with some severe bone/muscle pain throughout his whole body, that even the pain meds that had been prescribed by the doctor would not help much. He was also experiencing very heavy fatigue which made it very difficult to even walk from one end of the house to the other. This pain and fatigue was to last all the way to Wednesday when the pain subsided some but the fatigue persisted.
Then, Wednesday night nausea set in and he battled that until well into Thursday. Being that he was feeling lousy, he didn't eat or drink much, so by the time he and Linda went in to see Dr. Saferali on Friday for a follow-up appointment, he had lost a bunch of weight and was dehydrated!! :-( Dr. Saferali strongly suggested he stay for awhile and get an infusion for the dehydration, so that's what he did while Linda waited in the waiting room.
Jim's white cell blood count had also fallen quite low, so he received an injection to help that and was given instructions not to be around too many people for the next week so as not to get any kind of infection or virus as his immune system would not be able to fight the off and he could get very sick.
Of course, this Sunday is Easter Sunday and Jim and Linda have been invited over to Marv and Inez's house for an Easter Dinner, but being that their small home will be packed with family, it's been decided that because of Jim's low white cell blood count, it would be better to be more "safe than sorry" and just have something here at home. :-(
So, , , , , that pretty much brings us up-to-date. Jim seems to be feeling better right now, (Saturday afternoon), with less fatigue and not as much pain, but that injection he received for his blood count may cause more bone/muscle pain in the next few days. We'll just have to see what happens.
His next appointment is this coming Friday, where they'll do another blood test and see how he's doing. Then if everything is going well, the week after that, (April 8th), he'll get another large Chemo dose which should be the last one of the series. After that, he'll have another PET Scan to check for cancer and then it'll be a matter of trying to recover from all the chemo and radiation treatments, which could take months.
A Quote to Ponder : “When I hear somebody sigh, 'Life is hard,' I am always tempted to ask, 'Compared to what?'”
Sydney Harris
Woof!!!
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
More Improvement But Also More Side Effects
DeBary, FL.
59 deg. clear, West wind with gusts to 20 mph.
Forecast = tonight, Clear skies. Low 33F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.
The day-to-day happenings around here have been pretty boring. Just normal living.
Monday, Jim had a radiation treatment at 8:45 in the morning and then headed up to DeLand to have his weekly chemo treatment which always includes a chemo doctor's appointment.
When Jim goes for chemo treatment, the first step is to get weighed, have blood drawn and then see the doctor. They have a lab right there, and by the time he sees the doctor, (Doctor Saferali), she already has the results of the blood test. So far, Jim 's weight has been stable and the blood test results have been pretty good, but this time, he had lost some weight since last week and some of the numbers on the blood test were out of the "normal range".
Jim's appetite has not been real good lately and so he has not been eating as much as usual, thus the weight loss. And, his white blood count is getting low and this can be a very serious thing. You see, if your white count gets too low, you loose your resistance to any infections, such as colds, or other bugs you may pick up by being with other people or eating any fruit or vegetables that are raw and not washed thoroughly or not cooked properly.
So, what does this mean? Well, the doctor recommended that for now, Jim stay away from crowded places, like busy restaurants, stores or any place where there may be a lot of "germs" floating around in the air. She also said that washing produce was very important and being very careful to cook things completely. She also said that if the white count hasn't improved by next week, the best thing to do would be to skip a week of chemo and then resume treatment after the bone marrow has a chance to bring the count up some.
Jim is also starting to have more side effects from the chemo. He's noticed more fatigue, loss of appetite, some weakness, and some bowel problems. He pretty much expected these things to happen eventually so wasn't too surprised. Oh, and he's also noticed a lot of hair in his comb when combing his hair, so that means soon he'll be losing all his hair. :-(
But, , , , the good news!!!!
Jim's lung is working very well!! In fact the chemo doctor said that she couldn't tell any difference between the left and right lung when she listened to his breathing with her stethoscope!!! That means that the lung has completely re-inflated and the tumor has shrunk enough to allow good passage of air in and out of the lung!!!! :-)
Yesterday morning, Jim had his usual radiation treatment and then saw the radiation doctor. (He sees Dr. Graham every Tuesday after his treatment), He confirmed Dr. Saferali's diagnosis about the function of the lung and was very pleased with the results. If everything goes a planned, Jim has just 12 more radiation treatments. That means that on or about the 26th of this month, he'll be finished with the every day treatments.
He also only has only 4 more chemo treatments left, but that will stretch out into April as the last 2 treatments will be at 21 day intervals. (More on that in a future post).
The weather around here has been bouncing around all over the place. We've had high temps in the 80's with lows at night in the 60's. But we've also had high's in the 50's with low's near the freezing point. We've had quite a bit of sunshine, but also some very stormy days with very heavy rain. I can't complain though, it sure has been better than the weather up north in Illinois!! ;-)
A Quote to Ponder : “Every man dies. Not every man truly lives.”
Braveheart
Woof!!!
59 deg. clear, West wind with gusts to 20 mph.
Forecast = tonight, Clear skies. Low 33F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.
The day-to-day happenings around here have been pretty boring. Just normal living.
Monday, Jim had a radiation treatment at 8:45 in the morning and then headed up to DeLand to have his weekly chemo treatment which always includes a chemo doctor's appointment.
When Jim goes for chemo treatment, the first step is to get weighed, have blood drawn and then see the doctor. They have a lab right there, and by the time he sees the doctor, (Doctor Saferali), she already has the results of the blood test. So far, Jim 's weight has been stable and the blood test results have been pretty good, but this time, he had lost some weight since last week and some of the numbers on the blood test were out of the "normal range".
Jim's appetite has not been real good lately and so he has not been eating as much as usual, thus the weight loss. And, his white blood count is getting low and this can be a very serious thing. You see, if your white count gets too low, you loose your resistance to any infections, such as colds, or other bugs you may pick up by being with other people or eating any fruit or vegetables that are raw and not washed thoroughly or not cooked properly.
So, what does this mean? Well, the doctor recommended that for now, Jim stay away from crowded places, like busy restaurants, stores or any place where there may be a lot of "germs" floating around in the air. She also said that washing produce was very important and being very careful to cook things completely. She also said that if the white count hasn't improved by next week, the best thing to do would be to skip a week of chemo and then resume treatment after the bone marrow has a chance to bring the count up some.
Jim is also starting to have more side effects from the chemo. He's noticed more fatigue, loss of appetite, some weakness, and some bowel problems. He pretty much expected these things to happen eventually so wasn't too surprised. Oh, and he's also noticed a lot of hair in his comb when combing his hair, so that means soon he'll be losing all his hair. :-(
But, , , , the good news!!!!
Jim's lung is working very well!! In fact the chemo doctor said that she couldn't tell any difference between the left and right lung when she listened to his breathing with her stethoscope!!! That means that the lung has completely re-inflated and the tumor has shrunk enough to allow good passage of air in and out of the lung!!!! :-)
Yesterday morning, Jim had his usual radiation treatment and then saw the radiation doctor. (He sees Dr. Graham every Tuesday after his treatment), He confirmed Dr. Saferali's diagnosis about the function of the lung and was very pleased with the results. If everything goes a planned, Jim has just 12 more radiation treatments. That means that on or about the 26th of this month, he'll be finished with the every day treatments.
He also only has only 4 more chemo treatments left, but that will stretch out into April as the last 2 treatments will be at 21 day intervals. (More on that in a future post).
The weather around here has been bouncing around all over the place. We've had high temps in the 80's with lows at night in the 60's. But we've also had high's in the 50's with low's near the freezing point. We've had quite a bit of sunshine, but also some very stormy days with very heavy rain. I can't complain though, it sure has been better than the weather up north in Illinois!! ;-)
A Quote to Ponder : “Every man dies. Not every man truly lives.”
Braveheart
Woof!!!
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
The News Continues To Be Positive
DeBary, FL.
64 deg. rain, no wind.
Forecast = Showers and thundershowers likely. High 71F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected. Locally heavy rainfall possible.
The news about Jim's lung problems continue to be good. Last Wednesday, ( the day of my last post), Lila took Jim and Linda over to the Imaging Center in Orange City, where Jim had his MRI. Jim says that unless you've had an MRI it's hard to describe what it's really like. He says it's lots of loud sounds while you're head is encased in a mask type thing and then inside of a tube.
Not real pleasant, but do-able!!! :-o
Then, in the evening, Jim went in for a radiation treatment, (with major machine setting changes), and had his treatment. As they were leaving and already out into the parking lot, Dr. Graham came running out and told Jim and Linda that, indeed, the lung had mostly inflated. The Dr. was surprised that this had happened so early in the treatment, and said that this would make zeroing in on the tumor and thus, making treatment much easier and more precise. He was very pleased, to say the least! :-)
Yesterday morning, after another radiation treatment, Jim and Linda again met with Dr. Graham and he went into more detail of the findings of the last CAT Scan. He showed them views of the lung, before and after, and explained how now the radiation treatments could now be more precisely directed to the tumor. He also noted that Jim's lung was now almost completely re-inflated and functioning quite well.
From Dr. Graham's office Lila took Jim up to Deland for a chemo treatment. Before the treatment, they met with Dr. Saferali who confirmed Dr. Graham's findings and also stated that she felt the lung was functioning quite well. :-)
Other than radiation treatments once a day, 5 days a week and chemo treatments once a week, nothing much else has been happening around here, just day-to-day living. Laura has stopped by a few times and Jim and Linda have called Joe, Mike and Jeff with the good news.
So, rather than just ramble along here, I'll leave you with this Quote to Ponder.
“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you stop to look fear in the face.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
Woof!!!
64 deg. rain, no wind.
Forecast = Showers and thundershowers likely. High 71F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected. Locally heavy rainfall possible.
The news about Jim's lung problems continue to be good. Last Wednesday, ( the day of my last post), Lila took Jim and Linda over to the Imaging Center in Orange City, where Jim had his MRI. Jim says that unless you've had an MRI it's hard to describe what it's really like. He says it's lots of loud sounds while you're head is encased in a mask type thing and then inside of a tube.
Not real pleasant, but do-able!!! :-o
Then, in the evening, Jim went in for a radiation treatment, (with major machine setting changes), and had his treatment. As they were leaving and already out into the parking lot, Dr. Graham came running out and told Jim and Linda that, indeed, the lung had mostly inflated. The Dr. was surprised that this had happened so early in the treatment, and said that this would make zeroing in on the tumor and thus, making treatment much easier and more precise. He was very pleased, to say the least! :-)
Yesterday morning, after another radiation treatment, Jim and Linda again met with Dr. Graham and he went into more detail of the findings of the last CAT Scan. He showed them views of the lung, before and after, and explained how now the radiation treatments could now be more precisely directed to the tumor. He also noted that Jim's lung was now almost completely re-inflated and functioning quite well.
From Dr. Graham's office Lila took Jim up to Deland for a chemo treatment. Before the treatment, they met with Dr. Saferali who confirmed Dr. Graham's findings and also stated that she felt the lung was functioning quite well. :-)
Other than radiation treatments once a day, 5 days a week and chemo treatments once a week, nothing much else has been happening around here, just day-to-day living. Laura has stopped by a few times and Jim and Linda have called Joe, Mike and Jeff with the good news.
So, rather than just ramble along here, I'll leave you with this Quote to Ponder.
“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you stop to look fear in the face.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
Woof!!!
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Good News, and The Last Step Become Floridians
DeBary, FL.
36 deg. clear, no wind.
Forecast = Partly cloudy. High near 65F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Tonight, Mostly clear. Low 42F. Winds light and variable.
Yesterday turned out to be a very interesting day. Not at all like Jim and Linda had envisioned.
It started about 7:30 in the morning when Dr. Graham's office called and told Jim that he shouldn't come in for his scheduled appointment to have a radiation treatment at 8:45. Instead, he was asked if he could come in at 2:00 in the afternoon to receive a cat scan?
The reason was that they had looked at the results from Monday and determined that the lung had indeed started to re-inflate and move around, and being that the tumor is on the lung, the location of the tumor inside of Jim's body had indeed moved.
So, being that Jim and Linda didn't have to go to get the treatment, they decided to head over to the DMV and see if they could get their Florida Drivers Licenses. The original plan was to get FL licenses as soon as we returned here in November, but being that Jim was having all those breathing problems, it just didn't happen.
Anyway, they've built a new DMV office just a little North of here, so they headed over there, When they arrived, there wasn't anyone waiting so as soon a couple of the many stations, (10 or 12), became empty they were called right in and in about 1/2 hour, they were walking out of the facility with their new Florida drivers license!!!!
We're now officially Floridians!!!!!!!
At 11:30, Jim had an appointment with the pulmonary doctor for a follow up visit so they headed over there. Her office is also in Orange City, so it was a short drive. After a successful visit, they headed over to Bob Evans to have breakfast for lunch, and then headed over to the radiation place to get Jim's cat scan.
The tech at the radiation place told Jim that there had, indeed, been some major changes with Jim's lung and that evidently the radiation treatments have been working as planned and the tumor was starting to shrink!!!!! :-)
Today, at 9:45, Jim has to head over to Deltona to get an MRI. That's a scan of the brain to make sure that no cancer has spread there. (evidently that sometime happens when you have lung cancer). Then this evening at 5:45 he will head over to Dr. Graham's to get a radiation treatment. Then on Thursday and Friday, he'll get his radiation treatments at the normal time of 8:45 in the morning.
So, , , , , a very interesting day, to say the least, but all around the news is good and Jim's lung is starting to return to it's normal shape and function. They'll have to keep an eye on it and adjust the radiation machine to match the changes, so he'll probably be having more cat scans so they can make the correct adjustments. And, it's good that Jim and Linda got their new Fl. license as that was the last step to officially make us Florida residents.
Jim is feeling better and his mood is better with the good news. In fact, life is pretty darn good right now!! ;-)
Did you know that on this date in 1985 - The most-watched Super Bowl game in history was seen by an estimated 115.9 million people? The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Miami Dolphins, 38-16. Super Bowl XIX marked the first time that TV commercials sold for a million dollars a minute.
Woof!!!
36 deg. clear, no wind.
Forecast = Partly cloudy. High near 65F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Tonight, Mostly clear. Low 42F. Winds light and variable.
Yesterday turned out to be a very interesting day. Not at all like Jim and Linda had envisioned.
It started about 7:30 in the morning when Dr. Graham's office called and told Jim that he shouldn't come in for his scheduled appointment to have a radiation treatment at 8:45. Instead, he was asked if he could come in at 2:00 in the afternoon to receive a cat scan?
The reason was that they had looked at the results from Monday and determined that the lung had indeed started to re-inflate and move around, and being that the tumor is on the lung, the location of the tumor inside of Jim's body had indeed moved.
So, being that Jim and Linda didn't have to go to get the treatment, they decided to head over to the DMV and see if they could get their Florida Drivers Licenses. The original plan was to get FL licenses as soon as we returned here in November, but being that Jim was having all those breathing problems, it just didn't happen.
Anyway, they've built a new DMV office just a little North of here, so they headed over there, When they arrived, there wasn't anyone waiting so as soon a couple of the many stations, (10 or 12), became empty they were called right in and in about 1/2 hour, they were walking out of the facility with their new Florida drivers license!!!!
We're now officially Floridians!!!!!!!
At 11:30, Jim had an appointment with the pulmonary doctor for a follow up visit so they headed over there. Her office is also in Orange City, so it was a short drive. After a successful visit, they headed over to Bob Evans to have breakfast for lunch, and then headed over to the radiation place to get Jim's cat scan.
The tech at the radiation place told Jim that there had, indeed, been some major changes with Jim's lung and that evidently the radiation treatments have been working as planned and the tumor was starting to shrink!!!!! :-)
Today, at 9:45, Jim has to head over to Deltona to get an MRI. That's a scan of the brain to make sure that no cancer has spread there. (evidently that sometime happens when you have lung cancer). Then this evening at 5:45 he will head over to Dr. Graham's to get a radiation treatment. Then on Thursday and Friday, he'll get his radiation treatments at the normal time of 8:45 in the morning.
So, , , , , a very interesting day, to say the least, but all around the news is good and Jim's lung is starting to return to it's normal shape and function. They'll have to keep an eye on it and adjust the radiation machine to match the changes, so he'll probably be having more cat scans so they can make the correct adjustments. And, it's good that Jim and Linda got their new Fl. license as that was the last step to officially make us Florida residents.
Jim is feeling better and his mood is better with the good news. In fact, life is pretty darn good right now!! ;-)
Did you know that on this date in 1985 - The most-watched Super Bowl game in history was seen by an estimated 115.9 million people? The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Miami Dolphins, 38-16. Super Bowl XIX marked the first time that TV commercials sold for a million dollars a minute.
Woof!!!
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
"Bad Dog" Has A Gripe!!!
DeBary, FL.
43 deg; clear, no wind.
Forecast = A few passing clouds, otherwise generally sunny. High 56F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Tonight, clear. Low near 35F. Winds light and variable.
I've got a gripe!!!!!! It's about Jim's cancer.
You see, a few days ago, Jim got his current medical records off of an Internet site. I don't know what many of those things mean, but when it come to patient's "Social History" it only says one thing!!!!
Now, throughout most of Jim's adult life and even as a teenager, he worked on cars and became a mechanic at a car dealership at the age of 19. During these years, he preformed many brake jobs and clutch replacements, dealing with asbestos dust. No one knew how dangerous this dust was so there were no masks or any other type of protection used. In fact, they used to use compressed air to blow the dust off of the brake parts as they disassembled the brake system. He was also exposed to all kinds of fumes, including gas fumes, solvent fumes and other cleaning and lubrication fumes. And, I'm sure he also inhaled gas and diesel fumes from the running cars, trucks and heavy equipment that he worked on.
Also, from the time he was 13, he worked on farms in the area around the small town he was raised in. Even as an adult, he worked on the farms on weekends and evenings, as a hired hand doing all types of chores including spraying insecticides, weed killers and general work out in the fields breathing in a lot of dust dirt, fertilizers and whatever else was in the soil.
Then, a few times during his adult years, he remodeled some houses, dealing with fiberglass, plaster, lead paint and asbestos shingles and asbestos house siding.
Back in the 50's, 60's and 70's no one even though about what was in all of the above chemicals.
Also, throughout most of these years, Jim smoked cigarettes. In fact, he started at a very young age and didn't quit until he was in his late 50's.
Now, can you guess what was listed under "Social History" on his medical records?????
Yep!! Smoking!!!! Nothing about farming, working as a mechanic breathing asbestos dust, breathing fiberglass or asbestos during home remodeling!!!!
So, , , , as you can probably guess, my question is why is everything blamed on smoking??? He may or may not have gotten the cancer from smoking, but why couldn't he have gotten it from all that brake dust and clutch dust that he inhaled or all those chemicals out on the farm!!!!
It's popular right now to blame smoking for a multitude of ailments and so I'm thinking that they didn't even really listen to Jim when he told at least 4 doctors about the jobs he had throughout the years. It was easier to just blame "smoking"!!!!!
Jim is doing fine, he now has had 2 chemo treatments and 9 radiation treatments. He had kind of a bad night this last Saturday when he was kept awake because of coughing. But by Sunday, he was feeling better and his breathing seemed a little easier. During the night, he coughed up a lot of "junk" and that probably means that the Radiation is working and has shrunk the tumor a little, allowing some air in and out of the collapsed lung. At his radiation treatment, yesterday morning, he told the techs what had happened and they said that although they didn't know for sure, that was what happened many times when the lung opened up. :-)
They did a scan and this morning, Jim will see the radiation doctor, (Dr. Graham), and maybe he'll be able to tell Jim and Linda if that's the case.
A Quote to Ponder: “One of the secrets of life is to make stepping stones out of stumbling blocks.”
Jack Penn
Grrrrrrrr!!!! Woof!!!
43 deg; clear, no wind.
Forecast = A few passing clouds, otherwise generally sunny. High 56F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Tonight, clear. Low near 35F. Winds light and variable.
I've got a gripe!!!!!! It's about Jim's cancer.
You see, a few days ago, Jim got his current medical records off of an Internet site. I don't know what many of those things mean, but when it come to patient's "Social History" it only says one thing!!!!
Now, throughout most of Jim's adult life and even as a teenager, he worked on cars and became a mechanic at a car dealership at the age of 19. During these years, he preformed many brake jobs and clutch replacements, dealing with asbestos dust. No one knew how dangerous this dust was so there were no masks or any other type of protection used. In fact, they used to use compressed air to blow the dust off of the brake parts as they disassembled the brake system. He was also exposed to all kinds of fumes, including gas fumes, solvent fumes and other cleaning and lubrication fumes. And, I'm sure he also inhaled gas and diesel fumes from the running cars, trucks and heavy equipment that he worked on.
Also, from the time he was 13, he worked on farms in the area around the small town he was raised in. Even as an adult, he worked on the farms on weekends and evenings, as a hired hand doing all types of chores including spraying insecticides, weed killers and general work out in the fields breathing in a lot of dust dirt, fertilizers and whatever else was in the soil.
Then, a few times during his adult years, he remodeled some houses, dealing with fiberglass, plaster, lead paint and asbestos shingles and asbestos house siding.
Back in the 50's, 60's and 70's no one even though about what was in all of the above chemicals.
Also, throughout most of these years, Jim smoked cigarettes. In fact, he started at a very young age and didn't quit until he was in his late 50's.
Now, can you guess what was listed under "Social History" on his medical records?????
Yep!! Smoking!!!! Nothing about farming, working as a mechanic breathing asbestos dust, breathing fiberglass or asbestos during home remodeling!!!!
So, , , , as you can probably guess, my question is why is everything blamed on smoking??? He may or may not have gotten the cancer from smoking, but why couldn't he have gotten it from all that brake dust and clutch dust that he inhaled or all those chemicals out on the farm!!!!
It's popular right now to blame smoking for a multitude of ailments and so I'm thinking that they didn't even really listen to Jim when he told at least 4 doctors about the jobs he had throughout the years. It was easier to just blame "smoking"!!!!!
Jim is doing fine, he now has had 2 chemo treatments and 9 radiation treatments. He had kind of a bad night this last Saturday when he was kept awake because of coughing. But by Sunday, he was feeling better and his breathing seemed a little easier. During the night, he coughed up a lot of "junk" and that probably means that the Radiation is working and has shrunk the tumor a little, allowing some air in and out of the collapsed lung. At his radiation treatment, yesterday morning, he told the techs what had happened and they said that although they didn't know for sure, that was what happened many times when the lung opened up. :-)
They did a scan and this morning, Jim will see the radiation doctor, (Dr. Graham), and maybe he'll be able to tell Jim and Linda if that's the case.
A Quote to Ponder: “One of the secrets of life is to make stepping stones out of stumbling blocks.”
Jack Penn
Grrrrrrrr!!!! Woof!!!
Thursday, January 7, 2016
Back To December 31st and Treatments Begin
DeBary, FL.
57 deg. overcast, no wind.
Forecast = Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 73F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph.
Well, lets see if I can get this all straight!!!! I'm going to go back to December 31st and try bring you up-to-date on what has happened since then.
So, lets begin!!
As I wrote in my post on December 30th, Jim had an appointment with the Oncologist, (Dr. Saferali), on the morning of the 31st to get the results of the Pet scan. Well, Jim and Linda headed over there and the news was good and bad. The good news is that the growth, (probably cancer) was all located in one part of the lung, (the inlet), and there were no other indications of any unnatural growths in the rest of his body.
Now the bad news. From the time Jim had received the Cat scan on the 4th of December and the Pet scan on the 29th of December, the opening of the lung had closed and Jim's left lung had collapsed!! This sent up an immediate alarm and Dr Saferali said that she thought is was very important that Jim head straight over to the hospital for treatment.
So, that's what they did.
Now, you have to remember that this was New Years Eve day and there were a lot of people off for the long holiday weekend. That meant that it was hard to get people together for some of the tests that the pulmonary doctor wanted to preform. And, I might add that it was not where Jim and Linda wanted to be to bring in the New Year either. :-(
They did an electrocardiogram in the ER and then immediately put Jim on heavy antibiotics because there is a high risk of infection in a collapsed lung. They also administered other medications to help him breathe easier. Then, on Saturday, the 2nd of Jan, Jim received an echocardiogram.
All showed no heart problems.
Monday, the 4th, they did a bronchoscopy which involved sedation and then running a scope down to his lungs where photos were taken. It was during this procedure that a biopsy was also taken and sent in for diagnosis.
Tuesday morning, Jan 5th, Dr. Ahuja, the pulmonary doctor that had been looking after Jim since he entered the hospital, and who is also the Dr. who preformed the bronchoscopy, came to the room and informed him of what she saw from the procedures. She is 99% sure it is cancer (no biopsy report yet), and showed Jim and Linda photos of the blocked area of the left lung and said that she thought that Jim could go home later in the day and should start getting radiation treatments to start shrinking the growth as soon as possible, preferably the next day.
Calls were made and an appointment was set up to see the radiation doctor, (Dr. Graham, the same doctor that gave Linda her radiation treatments) yesterday morning. (the 6th), by 10:00 AM, they were talking to the doctor, and by about 11:00, they were finished measuring Jim and deciding on just where the treatment needed to be directed. After that, they came home for awhile and rested, only to go back to Dr. Grahams for Jim's first radiation treatment last evening at 6:15 PM.
You see, Dr. Graham also said that it was of great importance to get that tumor shrunk down to get air entering and exiting the lung as soon as possible to head off a possible problem of the lung not wanting to start working on it's own again, which could be the case if it was blocked off for too long.
This morning, (the 7th), Jim will go back in for another radiation treatment and will continue getting treatments 5 days a week for the next, 5 to 7 weeks. (I can't remember just how long the doctor said). During this time, Jim will also see Dr. Saferali and get started on once a week chemo treatments. That means that for quite awhile he'll be doing both radiation and chemo at the same time.
It won't be easy and I'm sure it'll take a lot out of Jim, but because he's very healthy otherwise, the outlook is good. Dr. Graham also said that Jim has a good chance of full recovery, but as many of you know, cancer is a very hard thing to completely eradicate.
Jim and Linda both have very strong hopes and believe that this is just another one of those large bumps in the road that one has to go over. And besides, we still have places to go and things to do before hanging up those RV keys. ;-)
I don't know how much I'll be posting, but I'll try to keep all of you informed of anything important happening.
Jim also wants to thank all of you that have already called, e-mailed or commented. It really means a lot to know that so many of you out there are thinking and praying for his full recovery.
A Quote to Ponder : “All the really valuable things you own are things you can't photograph.”
Author Unknown
Woof!!!
57 deg. overcast, no wind.
Forecast = Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 73F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph.
Well, lets see if I can get this all straight!!!! I'm going to go back to December 31st and try bring you up-to-date on what has happened since then.
So, lets begin!!
As I wrote in my post on December 30th, Jim had an appointment with the Oncologist, (Dr. Saferali), on the morning of the 31st to get the results of the Pet scan. Well, Jim and Linda headed over there and the news was good and bad. The good news is that the growth, (probably cancer) was all located in one part of the lung, (the inlet), and there were no other indications of any unnatural growths in the rest of his body.
Now the bad news. From the time Jim had received the Cat scan on the 4th of December and the Pet scan on the 29th of December, the opening of the lung had closed and Jim's left lung had collapsed!! This sent up an immediate alarm and Dr Saferali said that she thought is was very important that Jim head straight over to the hospital for treatment.
So, that's what they did.
Now, you have to remember that this was New Years Eve day and there were a lot of people off for the long holiday weekend. That meant that it was hard to get people together for some of the tests that the pulmonary doctor wanted to preform. And, I might add that it was not where Jim and Linda wanted to be to bring in the New Year either. :-(
They did an electrocardiogram in the ER and then immediately put Jim on heavy antibiotics because there is a high risk of infection in a collapsed lung. They also administered other medications to help him breathe easier. Then, on Saturday, the 2nd of Jan, Jim received an echocardiogram.
All showed no heart problems.
Monday, the 4th, they did a bronchoscopy which involved sedation and then running a scope down to his lungs where photos were taken. It was during this procedure that a biopsy was also taken and sent in for diagnosis.
Tuesday morning, Jan 5th, Dr. Ahuja, the pulmonary doctor that had been looking after Jim since he entered the hospital, and who is also the Dr. who preformed the bronchoscopy, came to the room and informed him of what she saw from the procedures. She is 99% sure it is cancer (no biopsy report yet), and showed Jim and Linda photos of the blocked area of the left lung and said that she thought that Jim could go home later in the day and should start getting radiation treatments to start shrinking the growth as soon as possible, preferably the next day.
Calls were made and an appointment was set up to see the radiation doctor, (Dr. Graham, the same doctor that gave Linda her radiation treatments) yesterday morning. (the 6th), by 10:00 AM, they were talking to the doctor, and by about 11:00, they were finished measuring Jim and deciding on just where the treatment needed to be directed. After that, they came home for awhile and rested, only to go back to Dr. Grahams for Jim's first radiation treatment last evening at 6:15 PM.
You see, Dr. Graham also said that it was of great importance to get that tumor shrunk down to get air entering and exiting the lung as soon as possible to head off a possible problem of the lung not wanting to start working on it's own again, which could be the case if it was blocked off for too long.
This morning, (the 7th), Jim will go back in for another radiation treatment and will continue getting treatments 5 days a week for the next, 5 to 7 weeks. (I can't remember just how long the doctor said). During this time, Jim will also see Dr. Saferali and get started on once a week chemo treatments. That means that for quite awhile he'll be doing both radiation and chemo at the same time.
It won't be easy and I'm sure it'll take a lot out of Jim, but because he's very healthy otherwise, the outlook is good. Dr. Graham also said that Jim has a good chance of full recovery, but as many of you know, cancer is a very hard thing to completely eradicate.
Jim and Linda both have very strong hopes and believe that this is just another one of those large bumps in the road that one has to go over. And besides, we still have places to go and things to do before hanging up those RV keys. ;-)
I don't know how much I'll be posting, but I'll try to keep all of you informed of anything important happening.
Jim also wants to thank all of you that have already called, e-mailed or commented. It really means a lot to know that so many of you out there are thinking and praying for his full recovery.
A Quote to Ponder : “All the really valuable things you own are things you can't photograph.”
Author Unknown
Woof!!!
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Good News and A Delivery
DeBary, FL.
60 deg. overcast, no wind.
Forecast = A mix of clouds and sun this morning followed by mostly cloudy skies and a few showers this afternoon. Thunder possible. High 76F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
Had some good news yesterday. Linda had an appointment with Dr. Barnard, (her retina specialist, down here in FL). She was dreading going because she was sure that he would be giving her another one of those eye injections. Well, after checking and doing an eye scan, he determined that the last injection had taken care of the problem and her eyes were "stable". :-)
So, another appointment was made for the 23rd of February, when he will preform another scan to see if the eyes are "still stable".
Needless to say, Linda was thrilled!!!
I haven't posted lately because there really hasn't been anything to post about. Just everyday living.
One day, Jim and Linda went to Walgreen's, another day, Jim went grocery shopping at Winn Dixie, Saturday evening, they went to Gram's Kitchen for dinner and yesterday, after Linda's appointment with Dr. Barnard, they went to the 4 B's Restaurant where they both had nice meals off of the special's board. (Jim had flounder and Linda had Swiss steak).
Here at home, Linda has been working on her Family Tree program and catching up on paperwork and filing, some that was from a year ago that didn't get done while she was going through the cancer treatments. Jim has been helping when he could and going through some boxes and drawers that hadn't been sorted since we moved into the house.
Oh, and Saturday, the UPS delivery man brought a big box to the door!!! It was pretty heavy and when Jim met him at the door, he helped Jim set the box inside of the Florida room, which runs across the front of the house.
Soon after the UPS man left, Jim opened the box and I found out that it was a glider that he and Linda had ordered online.
Awhile back, Linda had said that she was wondering if anyone still made gliders because she thought it would be nice to have one out in the Florida room to sit on. Jim did a little research and found some. So, , , , they picked out the one they liked and ordered it. :-)
It's kind of like a swing, but instead of hanging from the ceiling, it has a platform that sits on the floor and it glides back and forth on it.
It came partially disassembled but it wasn't too hard to put it together, and soon Jim and Linda were gliding back and forth. :-) Both of them said that they liked it and have been enjoying it ever since.
Did you know that in the southern United States, porch gliders were referred to as divans? Especially popular was the "basket weave" pattern in the hot non- air conditioned South of the 1950s and 1960s.
Woof!!!
60 deg. overcast, no wind.
Forecast = A mix of clouds and sun this morning followed by mostly cloudy skies and a few showers this afternoon. Thunder possible. High 76F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
Had some good news yesterday. Linda had an appointment with Dr. Barnard, (her retina specialist, down here in FL). She was dreading going because she was sure that he would be giving her another one of those eye injections. Well, after checking and doing an eye scan, he determined that the last injection had taken care of the problem and her eyes were "stable". :-)
So, another appointment was made for the 23rd of February, when he will preform another scan to see if the eyes are "still stable".
Needless to say, Linda was thrilled!!!
I haven't posted lately because there really hasn't been anything to post about. Just everyday living.
One day, Jim and Linda went to Walgreen's, another day, Jim went grocery shopping at Winn Dixie, Saturday evening, they went to Gram's Kitchen for dinner and yesterday, after Linda's appointment with Dr. Barnard, they went to the 4 B's Restaurant where they both had nice meals off of the special's board. (Jim had flounder and Linda had Swiss steak).
Here at home, Linda has been working on her Family Tree program and catching up on paperwork and filing, some that was from a year ago that didn't get done while she was going through the cancer treatments. Jim has been helping when he could and going through some boxes and drawers that hadn't been sorted since we moved into the house.
Oh, and Saturday, the UPS delivery man brought a big box to the door!!! It was pretty heavy and when Jim met him at the door, he helped Jim set the box inside of the Florida room, which runs across the front of the house.
Soon after the UPS man left, Jim opened the box and I found out that it was a glider that he and Linda had ordered online.
Awhile back, Linda had said that she was wondering if anyone still made gliders because she thought it would be nice to have one out in the Florida room to sit on. Jim did a little research and found some. So, , , , they picked out the one they liked and ordered it. :-)
It's kind of like a swing, but instead of hanging from the ceiling, it has a platform that sits on the floor and it glides back and forth on it.
It came partially disassembled but it wasn't too hard to put it together, and soon Jim and Linda were gliding back and forth. :-) Both of them said that they liked it and have been enjoying it ever since.
Did you know that in the southern United States, porch gliders were referred to as divans? Especially popular was the "basket weave" pattern in the hot non- air conditioned South of the 1950s and 1960s.
Woof!!!
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Recap Of 2014 Travels and Plans For 2015
DeBary, FL.
59 deg. Partly cloudy. N. winds @ 9 mph.
Forecast = Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. High near 75F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph.
Hope all of you had a good New Year's Eve and didn't celebrate too much. ;-)
Being that 2014 was a real mixed up travel year and we have a new RV and truck, I've decided to do a little research and see just what some of the figures were. To be honest, I couldn't even remember when we left DeBary to head North and exactly when we returned. I knew we were gone for quite awhile, but had no idea of just how long.
After checking Jim's calendar, I found that after Linda's last Dr. appointment, we left DeBary on the 14th of July. We headed up to Illinois by way of GA, AL, TN, KY and arrived in Rantoul on the 22nd of July.
We stayed at the Prairie Pines Campground for 76 days, with side trips to doctor's, friends, relatives, and other places while we were there. Friends stopped by while we were there and they really helped Linda get her mind off of her illness.
Thanks to all who came to visit!!!
After Linda's Cataract removal, we left Rantoul on the 6th of October and headed to Indiana to see Linda's cousin, Mike. He was ill at the time, so we didn't get to see him. :-( From there, we headed to Ohio, came down into Kentucky where we stopped to see Linda's other cousin, Rick.
From KY, we headed down into TN and then into NC where we stopped for a few days to visit Jim and Linda's very good friends, Roland and Louise. After spending a few days with them, we headed to Apex, NC to visit Jim and Lind's son, Mike and his family. We spent 11 days there before heading to Virginia Beach, VA to visit Linda's and Jim's son Joe and his family.
11 days later, we headed South for some R & R in Myrtle Beach. Then, we continued South, down into GA and finally into Florida, returning to DeBary on the 18th of November.
All in all, we were gone for 127 days.
The trip was very good for Linda as it helped her get her mind on different things. Also along the way she showed a lot of improvement from the side-effects of the Chemo and Radiation treatments.
In case you're interested, here's a few other figures from the trip.
We traveled 5149 miles.
For the whole trip, Big RED averaged 14.6 mpg. with the best mileage being 22.5 mph. (obviously not towing), and the worst at 11.7 mpg. (coming through the mountains in TN and NC).
It was a very good trip. There were no problems with Big RED or Nora and for the most part we had nice campgrounds and good roads. The weather co-operated for the most part and we only changed travel plans once or twice because of it.
All in all, a very good trip!!!!
So, what's in the planning stage for 2015?
Well, , , , , , If, (and there's that big "if" again), the results of the PET scan that Linda will have early in April are good, we will be leaving DeBary around the middle of the month. The plan is to head up to Virginia to see Joe and his family then go to North Carolina to see Mike and his family. From there, we'll go to the RV-Dreams Rally in Marion, NC, the end of May.
After the Rally, the plan is to work our way West, ending up in Portland Oregon sometime towards the end of June. We'll stay in Portland, visiting with Jeff and Heather for about 3 weeks before heading to Illinois, via a Northern route, stopping in Minnesota to see Linda's cousin, Bruce and Wisconsin to see Linda's Brother.
From there, we'll head South, arriving in Rantoul about the middle of August. As of now, the plan is to stay there until sometime in October before heading back down here to Florida, getting here sometime in early to the middle November.
Big plans???? Yep, but if Linda's illness taught Jim , Linda and myself anything, it was to NOT put off doing things that you want to do. You really don't know what the future holds.
Now, as all of my regular followers know, all the above plans are written in pencil and Jim still has that big eraser, so all are subject to change. Hopefully everything will go well and Jim won't be wearing out the pages of his calendar with that eraser. ;-)
Did you know that noisemaking and fireworks on New Year's Eve is believed to have originated in ancient times, when noise and fire were thought to dispel evil spirits and bring good luck?
Woof!!!
59 deg. Partly cloudy. N. winds @ 9 mph.
Forecast = Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. High near 75F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph.
Hope all of you had a good New Year's Eve and didn't celebrate too much. ;-)
Being that 2014 was a real mixed up travel year and we have a new RV and truck, I've decided to do a little research and see just what some of the figures were. To be honest, I couldn't even remember when we left DeBary to head North and exactly when we returned. I knew we were gone for quite awhile, but had no idea of just how long.
After checking Jim's calendar, I found that after Linda's last Dr. appointment, we left DeBary on the 14th of July. We headed up to Illinois by way of GA, AL, TN, KY and arrived in Rantoul on the 22nd of July.
We stayed at the Prairie Pines Campground for 76 days, with side trips to doctor's, friends, relatives, and other places while we were there. Friends stopped by while we were there and they really helped Linda get her mind off of her illness.
Thanks to all who came to visit!!!
After Linda's Cataract removal, we left Rantoul on the 6th of October and headed to Indiana to see Linda's cousin, Mike. He was ill at the time, so we didn't get to see him. :-( From there, we headed to Ohio, came down into Kentucky where we stopped to see Linda's other cousin, Rick.
From KY, we headed down into TN and then into NC where we stopped for a few days to visit Jim and Linda's very good friends, Roland and Louise. After spending a few days with them, we headed to Apex, NC to visit Jim and Lind's son, Mike and his family. We spent 11 days there before heading to Virginia Beach, VA to visit Linda's and Jim's son Joe and his family.
11 days later, we headed South for some R & R in Myrtle Beach. Then, we continued South, down into GA and finally into Florida, returning to DeBary on the 18th of November.
All in all, we were gone for 127 days.
The trip was very good for Linda as it helped her get her mind on different things. Also along the way she showed a lot of improvement from the side-effects of the Chemo and Radiation treatments.
In case you're interested, here's a few other figures from the trip.
We traveled 5149 miles.
For the whole trip, Big RED averaged 14.6 mpg. with the best mileage being 22.5 mph. (obviously not towing), and the worst at 11.7 mpg. (coming through the mountains in TN and NC).
It was a very good trip. There were no problems with Big RED or Nora and for the most part we had nice campgrounds and good roads. The weather co-operated for the most part and we only changed travel plans once or twice because of it.
All in all, a very good trip!!!!
So, what's in the planning stage for 2015?
Well, , , , , , If, (and there's that big "if" again), the results of the PET scan that Linda will have early in April are good, we will be leaving DeBary around the middle of the month. The plan is to head up to Virginia to see Joe and his family then go to North Carolina to see Mike and his family. From there, we'll go to the RV-Dreams Rally in Marion, NC, the end of May.
After the Rally, the plan is to work our way West, ending up in Portland Oregon sometime towards the end of June. We'll stay in Portland, visiting with Jeff and Heather for about 3 weeks before heading to Illinois, via a Northern route, stopping in Minnesota to see Linda's cousin, Bruce and Wisconsin to see Linda's Brother.
From there, we'll head South, arriving in Rantoul about the middle of August. As of now, the plan is to stay there until sometime in October before heading back down here to Florida, getting here sometime in early to the middle November.
Big plans???? Yep, but if Linda's illness taught Jim , Linda and myself anything, it was to NOT put off doing things that you want to do. You really don't know what the future holds.
Now, as all of my regular followers know, all the above plans are written in pencil and Jim still has that big eraser, so all are subject to change. Hopefully everything will go well and Jim won't be wearing out the pages of his calendar with that eraser. ;-)
Did you know that noisemaking and fireworks on New Year's Eve is believed to have originated in ancient times, when noise and fire were thought to dispel evil spirits and bring good luck?
Woof!!!
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Another Doctor Appointment, Decorations Up and Presents On Their Way.
DeBary, FL.
41 deg. clear, NW wind @ 4 mph.
Forecast = Sunny. High 68F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Yesterday, Linda had an appointment with the Surgeon who preformed the cancer surgery on her back in 2013. It was just a follow-up visit, but it was still nice to hear that, after an examination, everything appears to be fine. ;-) The appointment was at 10:00, and by the time Linda had filled out another bunch of papers and the doctor had done his thing, it was after 11:00 by the time she and Jim got out of there.
Since it was lunchtime by the time Big RED got them back to this area, they stopped at Bob Evans and had breakfast for lunch.
Nothing much else happened yesterday. Linda was finally able to get back to working on her "Family Tree Maker" program. Between being sick and not being able to see well, because of the cataracts, she hadn't worked on it for over a year. It took her a little while to figure the program out again, but is now doing a lot of on-line research and getting more information to enter.
Oh, I don't think I told you. The other day, Laura stopped by and helped Jim and Linda decorate the Christmas tree. It sure looks pretty and if I can get Jim to take a photo of it, I'll post it here. Then, on Thursday, Jim and Linda packaged up all the presents that needed to be sent to other states, took the boxes to the Post Office and got them sent off!!! That's always a big relief to get them on their way and not have to worry about family getting their presents on time. :-)
Today, Linda wants to head over to LabCorp and get a blood test. The results will be sent to Linda's doctor, back in Illinois. Then, if they still feel like it, she and Jim want to go to Winn Dixie to buy some groceries.
Sounds like a busy day to me.
Did you know that US scientists have calculated that Santa would have to visit 822 homes a second to deliver all the world's presents on Christmas Eve, travelling at 650 miles a second?
Talk about "Speedy Delivery"!!!!!!!
Woof!!!
41 deg. clear, NW wind @ 4 mph.
Forecast = Sunny. High 68F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Yesterday, Linda had an appointment with the Surgeon who preformed the cancer surgery on her back in 2013. It was just a follow-up visit, but it was still nice to hear that, after an examination, everything appears to be fine. ;-) The appointment was at 10:00, and by the time Linda had filled out another bunch of papers and the doctor had done his thing, it was after 11:00 by the time she and Jim got out of there.
Since it was lunchtime by the time Big RED got them back to this area, they stopped at Bob Evans and had breakfast for lunch.
Nothing much else happened yesterday. Linda was finally able to get back to working on her "Family Tree Maker" program. Between being sick and not being able to see well, because of the cataracts, she hadn't worked on it for over a year. It took her a little while to figure the program out again, but is now doing a lot of on-line research and getting more information to enter.
Oh, I don't think I told you. The other day, Laura stopped by and helped Jim and Linda decorate the Christmas tree. It sure looks pretty and if I can get Jim to take a photo of it, I'll post it here. Then, on Thursday, Jim and Linda packaged up all the presents that needed to be sent to other states, took the boxes to the Post Office and got them sent off!!! That's always a big relief to get them on their way and not have to worry about family getting their presents on time. :-)
Today, Linda wants to head over to LabCorp and get a blood test. The results will be sent to Linda's doctor, back in Illinois. Then, if they still feel like it, she and Jim want to go to Winn Dixie to buy some groceries.
Sounds like a busy day to me.
Did you know that US scientists have calculated that Santa would have to visit 822 homes a second to deliver all the world's presents on Christmas Eve, travelling at 650 miles a second?
Talk about "Speedy Delivery"!!!!!!!
Woof!!!
Saturday, December 6, 2014
Worrying Works
DeBary, FL.
66 deg. overcast, N. wind @ 4 mph.
Forecast = Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 82F. Winds light and variable.
Worrying Works!!! 90% of what you worry about never happens!!!! When asked yesterday, what the scan looked like, the radiation doctor said, "Boring"!! In other words, the scan contained nothing unusual and it looked like just a normal scan of a healthy person!!!!
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Big RED said that he thinks that Linda smiled all the way from the doctor's office to the house. ;-) She was so excited that as soon as she got home, she called most of the family and told them the great news!! Then last evening, she and Jim went to Gram's Kitchen for dinner. They both had the Friday "all you can eat fish special" and said that it was just as good as they remembered, when they last went in July. :-)
The doctor told Linda that he wanted to see her again in 6 months, but when he found out that Linda and Jim had travel plans for next summer, he said that he'd see her in early April, (just before we'd be leaving), and then again next November when we return.
So, as of now, we're "good to go"!!!! :-) Jim will start making some more definite travel plans and he and Linda can get back to more "normal" living. Linda still has an appointment with the surgeon who did the cancer surgery and also the Chemo doctor, but those are just normal follow-up visits and should not be a problem.
Oh, and Nora will be going to the new RV Park in about a week and a half. Jim and Linda went to Highbanks the other day and Jim told them that he'd be taking her out of the park on the 16th or 17th of this month.
Did you know that three quarters of fish caught are eaten – the rest is used to make things such as glue, soap, margarine and fertilizer?
Woof!!!
66 deg. overcast, N. wind @ 4 mph.
Forecast = Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 82F. Winds light and variable.
Worrying Works!!! 90% of what you worry about never happens!!!! When asked yesterday, what the scan looked like, the radiation doctor said, "Boring"!! In other words, the scan contained nothing unusual and it looked like just a normal scan of a healthy person!!!!
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Big RED said that he thinks that Linda smiled all the way from the doctor's office to the house. ;-) She was so excited that as soon as she got home, she called most of the family and told them the great news!! Then last evening, she and Jim went to Gram's Kitchen for dinner. They both had the Friday "all you can eat fish special" and said that it was just as good as they remembered, when they last went in July. :-)
The doctor told Linda that he wanted to see her again in 6 months, but when he found out that Linda and Jim had travel plans for next summer, he said that he'd see her in early April, (just before we'd be leaving), and then again next November when we return.
So, as of now, we're "good to go"!!!! :-) Jim will start making some more definite travel plans and he and Linda can get back to more "normal" living. Linda still has an appointment with the surgeon who did the cancer surgery and also the Chemo doctor, but those are just normal follow-up visits and should not be a problem.
Oh, and Nora will be going to the new RV Park in about a week and a half. Jim and Linda went to Highbanks the other day and Jim told them that he'd be taking her out of the park on the 16th or 17th of this month.
Did you know that three quarters of fish caught are eaten – the rest is used to make things such as glue, soap, margarine and fertilizer?
Woof!!!
Friday, August 15, 2014
More RVing Friends Coming To Visit and Linda's New Hat
Rantoul, IL.
52 deg, clear, no wind.
Forecast = Partly cloudy. Highs around 79°F. East southeast wind to 5 MPH.
At an RV RV Dreams Rally, quite a few years ago, Jim and Linda met a couple named Hank and Selene. Well, after sending some messages back and forth, and since they are traveling through this area, they've decided to stop here at Prairie Pines for awhile. :-) Mike and Terri also know them, so it should be a fun time. ;-)
Oh, speaking of Mike and Terri, I forgot to mention this yesterday. Most of you know that Linda had chemo treatments for her cancer. Well, you probably also know that chemo makes all of your hair fall out. Linda has been wearing some knit hats that she got from the American Cancer Society and they are very nice, but she only has a few of them that she likes. Well, the other night when Mike and Terri went to the Apple Dumplin' Restaurant with Jim and Linda, Terri gave Linda a really nice knit hat that she made!
That was really nice of Terri. Linda wore the hat most of yesterday and really likes it. Thank You Terri!!!! :-)
Hank and Selene should be arriving sometime this afternoon. The family with the 5th wheel that was in the site right next to us left yesterday and I'm thinking that Louise may put them in that site when they get here.
Did you know that one of the earliest known examples of true knitting was cotton socks with stranded knit color patterns found in Egypt from the end of the first millennium AD?
Woof!!!
52 deg, clear, no wind.
Forecast = Partly cloudy. Highs around 79°F. East southeast wind to 5 MPH.
At an RV RV Dreams Rally, quite a few years ago, Jim and Linda met a couple named Hank and Selene. Well, after sending some messages back and forth, and since they are traveling through this area, they've decided to stop here at Prairie Pines for awhile. :-) Mike and Terri also know them, so it should be a fun time. ;-)
Oh, speaking of Mike and Terri, I forgot to mention this yesterday. Most of you know that Linda had chemo treatments for her cancer. Well, you probably also know that chemo makes all of your hair fall out. Linda has been wearing some knit hats that she got from the American Cancer Society and they are very nice, but she only has a few of them that she likes. Well, the other night when Mike and Terri went to the Apple Dumplin' Restaurant with Jim and Linda, Terri gave Linda a really nice knit hat that she made!
That was really nice of Terri. Linda wore the hat most of yesterday and really likes it. Thank You Terri!!!! :-)
Hank and Selene should be arriving sometime this afternoon. The family with the 5th wheel that was in the site right next to us left yesterday and I'm thinking that Louise may put them in that site when they get here.
Did you know that one of the earliest known examples of true knitting was cotton socks with stranded knit color patterns found in Egypt from the end of the first millennium AD?
Woof!!!
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Pizza With Mike And Terri and A Doctor's Appointment
Rantoul, IL.
58 deg. clear, W. wind @ 6 mph.
Forecasts = Partly cloudy with scattered showers. Highs around 81°F. West wind to 6 MPH. Chance of precipitation near 30%.
Finally!!!! After a whole bunch of prodding, Jim finally got out his camera and took a photo of Terri and Mike Young!!! I didn't think he was ever going to get a photo of them!!!
Yesterday after lunch, Jim and Linda called Mike and Terri to see if they'd be interested in getting together to have Pizza for dinner? They were up for the idea and they discussed either going out to eat at Monical's Pizza or to order something from them and bring it back here. It was decided that they'd order Pizzas and bring them back here.
So, about 5:30 Mike and Terri came over here, the pizzas were ordered and Jim and Mike took Big RED and picked them up.
While they were gone, Linda and Terri got things ready here at the trailer.
I think everyone enjoyed their food and I know they all enjoyed the visiting during and after the meal. :-) After visiting for awhile, Mike and Terri headed home. (To their 5th wheel trailer). The rest of the evening was spent watching TV.
This morning, Linda has an appointment with her primary care doctor over in Fisher, IL., (The doctor who found Linda's cancer last August). She'll be getting a blood test so she won't be able to eat or drink anything before they go. That's OK though, they;ll probably head over to the Blue Star Family Restaurant for breakfast right after the appointment. ;-)
No other plans for today. The weather has been great around here the last few days, so maybe Jim will do something outside.
Did you know that Antarctica is the only land on our planet that is not owned by any country?
Woof!!!
58 deg. clear, W. wind @ 6 mph.
Forecasts = Partly cloudy with scattered showers. Highs around 81°F. West wind to 6 MPH. Chance of precipitation near 30%.
Finally!!!! After a whole bunch of prodding, Jim finally got out his camera and took a photo of Terri and Mike Young!!! I didn't think he was ever going to get a photo of them!!!
Yesterday after lunch, Jim and Linda called Mike and Terri to see if they'd be interested in getting together to have Pizza for dinner? They were up for the idea and they discussed either going out to eat at Monical's Pizza or to order something from them and bring it back here. It was decided that they'd order Pizzas and bring them back here.
So, about 5:30 Mike and Terri came over here, the pizzas were ordered and Jim and Mike took Big RED and picked them up.
While they were gone, Linda and Terri got things ready here at the trailer.
I think everyone enjoyed their food and I know they all enjoyed the visiting during and after the meal. :-) After visiting for awhile, Mike and Terri headed home. (To their 5th wheel trailer). The rest of the evening was spent watching TV.
This morning, Linda has an appointment with her primary care doctor over in Fisher, IL., (The doctor who found Linda's cancer last August). She'll be getting a blood test so she won't be able to eat or drink anything before they go. That's OK though, they;ll probably head over to the Blue Star Family Restaurant for breakfast right after the appointment. ;-)
No other plans for today. The weather has been great around here the last few days, so maybe Jim will do something outside.
Did you know that Antarctica is the only land on our planet that is not owned by any country?
Woof!!!
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
10 Months and 14 days and FL To GA
Thomasville, GA. (City of Roses RV Park)
75 deg. overcast, no wind. humidity 96%
Forecast = Partly cloudy with scattered storms. Highs around 88°F. Heat index around 97°F. West wind to 6 MPH. Chance of precipitation near 35%.
Yep!!! 10 Months and 14 days. That's how long we were in Florida to get Linda's cancer treated. If you count the days from the day she was diagnosed till the day we arrived, you have to add another 9 days onto that, making it 10 Months and 23 days, a total of 327 days.
Anyone who has gone through the diagnosis and the cancer treatments knows what it's like.
First, there's the "I can't believe this is happening to me" stage when you are diagnosed. Then there's the "fear" stage where you realize you have this thing inside of you that may very well kill you!!
Then, you start researching specialist who poke, prod, take X-rays, CAT scans or PET scans, run a myriad of other tests and finally, after what seems like forever, give you the diagnosis that you were scared to death to hear!!!!
In Linda's case, an exam under anesthesia was needed, then, after multiple doctor's visits, surgery. This would then be followed by Chemo, Radiation and more Chemo treatments. These treatments all have serious side-effects, so there were many many days of emotional up's and down's, dizziness, fatigue, the change in appearance, (hair loss and skin changes) and feeling completely miserable.
If course, there are many doctor's appointments throughout the whole procedure.
And then, there's the family. They're scared too and the main caregiver, in this case, Jim goes through the whole process with the person who actually has the illness.
Finally after all the treatments, you get the final diagnosis, (and hopefully it's a good one), you can start the recovery procedure and start getting back to some kind of normalcy. The recovery from the surgery is long past, but there are still the side effects from the chemo and the radiation treatments that the doctors say may last as long as 1 1/2 years!!!
I'm sure there will be many more doctor appointments throughout the years ahead and I'm sure there will be emotions to deal with before every one of them.
There'll always be that fear that the cancer will return.
Linda's emotions are still right on the edge and when we left the CG in DeBary Monday, she broke down and started crying. I don't think she really knows why, but thinks that it was probably because we were finally RVing again and at times, during her illness, she wasn't sure that we'd ever be on the road again.
________
Yesterday, we left Chiefland about 9:40 and headed North on US 19. 19 took us up through Cross City and Perry where we hit some serious thunder storms. In fact, at times we were down to about 40 MPH because even Big RED couldn't see where he was going. By the time we crossed I-10, the rains had subsided and it stayed dry the rest of the way to Thomasville, GA., where we pulled into the City of Roses RV Park.
We have been to the City of Roses RV Park many times before. It's another Passport America park. ($15.00 per night) It is an old park with quite a few "permanent" RVs but the owner is very nice and always welcomes us back to the park.
It was 12:05 when we arrived, so it took us 2 hours and 25 minutes to travel the 130 miles up here.
As Jim was putting down the stabilizer jacks and hooking up the electric, it started sprinkling again and just after he came inside the trailer, it started raining hard and rained off and on for the rest of the day.
Did you know that you see your nose at all times, your brain just chooses to ignore it?
Woof!!!
75 deg. overcast, no wind. humidity 96%
Forecast = Partly cloudy with scattered storms. Highs around 88°F. Heat index around 97°F. West wind to 6 MPH. Chance of precipitation near 35%.
Yep!!! 10 Months and 14 days. That's how long we were in Florida to get Linda's cancer treated. If you count the days from the day she was diagnosed till the day we arrived, you have to add another 9 days onto that, making it 10 Months and 23 days, a total of 327 days.
Anyone who has gone through the diagnosis and the cancer treatments knows what it's like.
First, there's the "I can't believe this is happening to me" stage when you are diagnosed. Then there's the "fear" stage where you realize you have this thing inside of you that may very well kill you!!
Then, you start researching specialist who poke, prod, take X-rays, CAT scans or PET scans, run a myriad of other tests and finally, after what seems like forever, give you the diagnosis that you were scared to death to hear!!!!
In Linda's case, an exam under anesthesia was needed, then, after multiple doctor's visits, surgery. This would then be followed by Chemo, Radiation and more Chemo treatments. These treatments all have serious side-effects, so there were many many days of emotional up's and down's, dizziness, fatigue, the change in appearance, (hair loss and skin changes) and feeling completely miserable.
If course, there are many doctor's appointments throughout the whole procedure.
And then, there's the family. They're scared too and the main caregiver, in this case, Jim goes through the whole process with the person who actually has the illness.
Finally after all the treatments, you get the final diagnosis, (and hopefully it's a good one), you can start the recovery procedure and start getting back to some kind of normalcy. The recovery from the surgery is long past, but there are still the side effects from the chemo and the radiation treatments that the doctors say may last as long as 1 1/2 years!!!
I'm sure there will be many more doctor appointments throughout the years ahead and I'm sure there will be emotions to deal with before every one of them.
There'll always be that fear that the cancer will return.
Linda's emotions are still right on the edge and when we left the CG in DeBary Monday, she broke down and started crying. I don't think she really knows why, but thinks that it was probably because we were finally RVing again and at times, during her illness, she wasn't sure that we'd ever be on the road again.
________
Yesterday, we left Chiefland about 9:40 and headed North on US 19. 19 took us up through Cross City and Perry where we hit some serious thunder storms. In fact, at times we were down to about 40 MPH because even Big RED couldn't see where he was going. By the time we crossed I-10, the rains had subsided and it stayed dry the rest of the way to Thomasville, GA., where we pulled into the City of Roses RV Park.
We have been to the City of Roses RV Park many times before. It's another Passport America park. ($15.00 per night) It is an old park with quite a few "permanent" RVs but the owner is very nice and always welcomes us back to the park.
As Jim was putting down the stabilizer jacks and hooking up the electric, it started sprinkling again and just after he came inside the trailer, it started raining hard and rained off and on for the rest of the day.
Did you know that you see your nose at all times, your brain just chooses to ignore it?
Woof!!!
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