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!!!
Showing posts with label Good News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Good News. Show all posts
Saturday, April 29, 2017
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!!!
Sunday, November 20, 2016
Another Good Doctor's Report and Getting Ready For Thanksgiving
DeBary, FL.
46 deg. clear, no wind.
Forecast = Sunny. High 67F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph.
Last Tuesday, both Jim and Linda had appointments with Dr. Saferali , their Chemo Dr, and both of them had good reports. In fact the Dr. was very pleased with Jim's Pet Scan results and both Jim and Linda's blood tests. :-) She wants to see Jim again in February and then, both Jim and Linda again in April.
Not much else has been happening around here since I last posted. Jim and Linda have gone shopping for Christmas presents and groceries and, they've also gone to Lowe's and purchased some new flooring for the kitchen and dinning area of the house. The flooring that we have now is real cheap peel and stick vinyl tile and it's starting to break up in places. Now, as soon as Kevin, (the handyman that Jim and Linda use), has some time, he'll install it.
For Thanksgiving, Jim and Linda are invited to Marv and Inez's for dinner again. Laura and Lindsey will be there as well as most of Lindsey's brothers. It should be a full house again. :-)
The weather has been great here in Florida with highs in the upper 70's and lows in the 50's and 60's. A cold front came though last night though and today the temps are only going to get up to the mid-sixty's and down into the upper 30s tonight. But, then it's supposed to warm up again with high temperatures in the upper 70's forecasted for Thanksgiving day.
Don't know if I'll be posting again before Thanksgiving, so Jim, Linda and I want to wish all of you a very happy and safe holiday.
Did you know that the first Thanksgiving celebration lasted three days?
Woof!!!
46 deg. clear, no wind.
Forecast = Sunny. High 67F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph.
Last Tuesday, both Jim and Linda had appointments with Dr. Saferali , their Chemo Dr, and both of them had good reports. In fact the Dr. was very pleased with Jim's Pet Scan results and both Jim and Linda's blood tests. :-) She wants to see Jim again in February and then, both Jim and Linda again in April.
Not much else has been happening around here since I last posted. Jim and Linda have gone shopping for Christmas presents and groceries and, they've also gone to Lowe's and purchased some new flooring for the kitchen and dinning area of the house. The flooring that we have now is real cheap peel and stick vinyl tile and it's starting to break up in places. Now, as soon as Kevin, (the handyman that Jim and Linda use), has some time, he'll install it.
For Thanksgiving, Jim and Linda are invited to Marv and Inez's for dinner again. Laura and Lindsey will be there as well as most of Lindsey's brothers. It should be a full house again. :-)
The weather has been great here in Florida with highs in the upper 70's and lows in the 50's and 60's. A cold front came though last night though and today the temps are only going to get up to the mid-sixty's and down into the upper 30s tonight. But, then it's supposed to warm up again with high temperatures in the upper 70's forecasted for Thanksgiving day.
Don't know if I'll be posting again before Thanksgiving, so Jim, Linda and I want to wish all of you a very happy and safe holiday.
Did you know that the first Thanksgiving celebration lasted three days?
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!!!
Monday, August 29, 2016
It's Been Awhile Again
Rantoul, IL.
82 deg. clear, NE wind @ 3 mph.
Forecast tonight = Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 69F. Winds light and variable.
Tomorrow = Partly cloudy in the morning followed by scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon. High 87F. Winds light and variable.
It's been awhile again and I hope I can remember what's all happened since I last posted.
Let's see now!!! On the 19th, Linda had appointment with her primary care doctor. All went well and except for still having to get a blood test, (scheduled for this Friday), she was given a good report.
On the 21st, Jeff, (Jim's son from Portand, OR.) called to say that he and Heather would be flying to Illinois for a short visit and that he and Heather would like to come here to the CG on the 12th of September to visit!!!! It's been about 4 years since we've seen them, so it'll be really great to see them, even if it is for only part of 1 day!!!!
On the 23rd, Jim had an appointment at Dr. Gandhi's office to get a scan of his optic nerves preformed. Since then he has heard from the Dr.'s office that all is well, and his glaucoma seems to be under control.
On the 25th, Jim and Linda took Big RED and headed up to Peotone, IL to see Denny and Bev, (part of the "Illinois Bunch"). They have decided to sell their Winnebago Brave Motorhome because of health problems that will not allow them to travel anymore. :-( That's too bad, we've always enjoyed their visits here to the CG when we were here. They really enjoyed seeing them again and are looking forward to seeing them again in years to come.
The weather around here hasn't been too great!! :-( We've had temperatures in the upper 80's to low 90's with high humidity. When it wasn't too hot to sit outside, the bugs would drive you inside, either that or it was raining, with lots of thunder and lightning. In fact it's rained so much that we're close to setting a rainfall record for the month of August in Illinois.
The weather guessers are saying that the weather should improve for the upcoming Labor Day weekend though. As of Thursday they're forecasting cooler temps and lower humidity and are guessing that it will stay pretty nice throughout the holiday.
I hope so!!!!
That pretty much brings us up-to-date. Dave and Dee Dee, (another part of the "Illinois Bunch" are planning on coming here to the CG on or about the 8th of September. That should be fun.
Jim has been working on a trip plan for when we leave here and head, first out East and then down to Florida. It now looks like we'll be leaving here on the 21st of September, getting to Mike's, (near Raleigh), on the 28th, Joe's (in Virginia Beach), on the 13th of October, Myrtle Beach on the 26th and arriving back at the house on or about the 1st of November.
As always, this is all written in pencil and yes, Jim still has the big eraser!! ;-)
Did you know that the first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union? The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883.
Woof!!!
82 deg. clear, NE wind @ 3 mph.
Forecast tonight = Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 69F. Winds light and variable.
Tomorrow = Partly cloudy in the morning followed by scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon. High 87F. Winds light and variable.
It's been awhile again and I hope I can remember what's all happened since I last posted.
Let's see now!!! On the 19th, Linda had appointment with her primary care doctor. All went well and except for still having to get a blood test, (scheduled for this Friday), she was given a good report.
On the 21st, Jeff, (Jim's son from Portand, OR.) called to say that he and Heather would be flying to Illinois for a short visit and that he and Heather would like to come here to the CG on the 12th of September to visit!!!! It's been about 4 years since we've seen them, so it'll be really great to see them, even if it is for only part of 1 day!!!!
On the 23rd, Jim had an appointment at Dr. Gandhi's office to get a scan of his optic nerves preformed. Since then he has heard from the Dr.'s office that all is well, and his glaucoma seems to be under control.
On the 25th, Jim and Linda took Big RED and headed up to Peotone, IL to see Denny and Bev, (part of the "Illinois Bunch"). They have decided to sell their Winnebago Brave Motorhome because of health problems that will not allow them to travel anymore. :-( That's too bad, we've always enjoyed their visits here to the CG when we were here. They really enjoyed seeing them again and are looking forward to seeing them again in years to come.
The weather around here hasn't been too great!! :-( We've had temperatures in the upper 80's to low 90's with high humidity. When it wasn't too hot to sit outside, the bugs would drive you inside, either that or it was raining, with lots of thunder and lightning. In fact it's rained so much that we're close to setting a rainfall record for the month of August in Illinois.
The weather guessers are saying that the weather should improve for the upcoming Labor Day weekend though. As of Thursday they're forecasting cooler temps and lower humidity and are guessing that it will stay pretty nice throughout the holiday.
I hope so!!!!
That pretty much brings us up-to-date. Dave and Dee Dee, (another part of the "Illinois Bunch" are planning on coming here to the CG on or about the 8th of September. That should be fun.
Jim has been working on a trip plan for when we leave here and head, first out East and then down to Florida. It now looks like we'll be leaving here on the 21st of September, getting to Mike's, (near Raleigh), on the 28th, Joe's (in Virginia Beach), on the 13th of October, Myrtle Beach on the 26th and arriving back at the house on or about the 1st of November.
As always, this is all written in pencil and yes, Jim still has the big eraser!! ;-)
Did you know that the first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union? The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883.
Woof!!!
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
KABAM!!!!!! and Utica, IL To Baraboo, WI.
Baraboo, WI.
68 deg. Partly cloudy, no wind.
Forecast = Areas of fog early, then partly cloudy this afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 86F. Winds light and variable.
Because the check-in time at our next stop was at 2:00 we didn't leave the Hickory Hollow Campground near Utica until about 10:50. After getting back on I-39, we continued heading north towards Rockford, IL. About 25 miles before we got to Rockford, Jim felt a kind of "bump" as we were traveling along. Looking in the passenger side rear-view mirror, showed pieces of tire flying off of one of Nora's wheels!!!! ;-O
Jim immediately slowed Big RED down and we pulled off onto the shoulder of the road and stopped.
Jim got out to check, and sure enough, the rear tire on Nora's right side had exploded and there was only a small part of the tire still on the rim!!!! Looking back down the road, Jim could see the rest of the tire laying out on I-39!!! :-(
Now, what to do??????
Because they have roadside assistance with their insurance, they called their insurance agent, Gina Shaver at Epic Insurance who gave them names of towing services near the Rockford area. After calling a few towing services, they finally found Maggio's Towing who came to our rescue and changed the tire, putting on the spare.
Since the type of tires that came on Noa are know to have problems, we then followed the service truck back to the Maggio Service Center just South of Rockford, where Jim and Linda had the the blown out tire and the other tires of the same brand replaced!!!
It was about 3:30 by the time we left Maggio's and returned to I-39.
We followed I-39/US20 around Rockford, paid our Toll for traveling a few miles on the last end of the road in Illinois and crossed into Wisconsin. Just North of Janesville, we turned West on US 14 and followed it West and then North up to Madison. In Madison, we picked up US 12 and followed it up here to Baraboo and the Fox Hill RV Park & Campground .
Fox Hill is also a Passport America Campground, so the fees for Monday through Thursday are 1/2 price and Friday is full price. Even with paying full price for one night of our 5 night stay here the average daily cost of our time here comes to just a little less than $30 per night.
Not bad for a water and electric site in a very touristy area.
Oh, and in case your wondering, it was 5:50 by the time we arrived here at Fox Hill so it took us 7 hours to travel the 193 miles up here, wait on the shoulder of I-39 to get the spare installed and get new tires installed on Nora.
Yes, it was a scary time, sitting along side of the road with all those semi's roaring by, and it was boring sitting at the service center waiting to get the new tires installed, but all in all, we came through the whole ordeal without anything really bad happening. When the tire exploded, it did do a little damage to the side of Nora, but Jim has already secured the wheel well trim back on and there is only minor damage to the very bottom edge of Nora, which Jim is quite sure he can repair.
So, we got over another of those little "bumps in the road" and we're good to go again. :-)
Yesterday morning, Jim and Linda bought some groceries to take to the family reunion and then in the afternoon, they headed to the reunion. Because we had arrived in the area a day ahead of time, for dinner, Linda and Jim cooked Barbecues and green beans while everyone else was unpacking cars and getting settled in at the lodge.
Tonight, someone else will prepare a dinner and others will prepare future dinners.
Both Jim and Linda said that it was really nice seeing everyone again and are looking forward to more visiting the next 3 1/2 days. :-)
Did you know that the first Ringling Brothers Circus was staged in Baraboo, WI in 1884?
Woof!!!
68 deg. Partly cloudy, no wind.
Forecast = Areas of fog early, then partly cloudy this afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 86F. Winds light and variable.
Because the check-in time at our next stop was at 2:00 we didn't leave the Hickory Hollow Campground near Utica until about 10:50. After getting back on I-39, we continued heading north towards Rockford, IL. About 25 miles before we got to Rockford, Jim felt a kind of "bump" as we were traveling along. Looking in the passenger side rear-view mirror, showed pieces of tire flying off of one of Nora's wheels!!!! ;-O
Jim immediately slowed Big RED down and we pulled off onto the shoulder of the road and stopped.
Jim got out to check, and sure enough, the rear tire on Nora's right side had exploded and there was only a small part of the tire still on the rim!!!! Looking back down the road, Jim could see the rest of the tire laying out on I-39!!! :-(
Now, what to do??????
Because they have roadside assistance with their insurance, they called their insurance agent, Gina Shaver at Epic Insurance who gave them names of towing services near the Rockford area. After calling a few towing services, they finally found Maggio's Towing who came to our rescue and changed the tire, putting on the spare.
Since the type of tires that came on Noa are know to have problems, we then followed the service truck back to the Maggio Service Center just South of Rockford, where Jim and Linda had the the blown out tire and the other tires of the same brand replaced!!!
It was about 3:30 by the time we left Maggio's and returned to I-39.
We followed I-39/US20 around Rockford, paid our Toll for traveling a few miles on the last end of the road in Illinois and crossed into Wisconsin. Just North of Janesville, we turned West on US 14 and followed it West and then North up to Madison. In Madison, we picked up US 12 and followed it up here to Baraboo and the Fox Hill RV Park & Campground .
Fox Hill is also a Passport America Campground, so the fees for Monday through Thursday are 1/2 price and Friday is full price. Even with paying full price for one night of our 5 night stay here the average daily cost of our time here comes to just a little less than $30 per night.
Not bad for a water and electric site in a very touristy area.
Oh, and in case your wondering, it was 5:50 by the time we arrived here at Fox Hill so it took us 7 hours to travel the 193 miles up here, wait on the shoulder of I-39 to get the spare installed and get new tires installed on Nora.
Yes, it was a scary time, sitting along side of the road with all those semi's roaring by, and it was boring sitting at the service center waiting to get the new tires installed, but all in all, we came through the whole ordeal without anything really bad happening. When the tire exploded, it did do a little damage to the side of Nora, but Jim has already secured the wheel well trim back on and there is only minor damage to the very bottom edge of Nora, which Jim is quite sure he can repair.
So, we got over another of those little "bumps in the road" and we're good to go again. :-)
Yesterday morning, Jim and Linda bought some groceries to take to the family reunion and then in the afternoon, they headed to the reunion. Because we had arrived in the area a day ahead of time, for dinner, Linda and Jim cooked Barbecues and green beans while everyone else was unpacking cars and getting settled in at the lodge.
Tonight, someone else will prepare a dinner and others will prepare future dinners.
Both Jim and Linda said that it was really nice seeing everyone again and are looking forward to more visiting the next 3 1/2 days. :-)
Did you know that the first Ringling Brothers Circus was staged in Baraboo, WI in 1884?
Woof!!!
Friday, July 15, 2016
Canceled Fireworks, Planning for Family Reunion and Doctor's Visits.
Rantoul, IL.
67 deg. Clear, no wind.
Forecast = Sunshine to start, then a few afternoon clouds. High 81F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.
It's been a long time since I've last posted, but not a whole lot has been happening. The 4th of July celebration here in Rantoul was kind of a "bust"!!! It rained most of the holiday weekend and in fact, the city even canceled the fireworks because of the weather!! :-(
One evening, Jim and Linda took Big RED and headed into town to have a pizza at Monical's Pizza. Another day Linda went grocery shopping at the County Market Grocery Store, They had dinner at the Blue Star Restaurant in Fisher, IL. another evening and headed to Walgreen's another day for prescriptions and a few other things.
Oh and on the 8th of July, Linda had an appointment with her retinologist, Dr. Gandhi. They did a scan of Linda's eyes and then the Dr. did a visual inspection. When he was finished, he told Linda that both eyes were "stable" and that she should come back and see him in a year!!!!
Folks, that's great news!!!! No more of those dreaded injections into the eye for at least another year!!!! She will have to go see Dr. Anderson, who did her cataracts a couple years ago and have a "film" on her eyes removed though. That will be done in her office with a laser treatment.
Jim and Linda have decided to head up to Wisconsin for Linda's family reunion, at The Wisconsin Dells, the first week of August. So, this last Wednesday, Jim called the Fox Hill RV Park & Campground up there and made reservations for us to stay. I'll stay in Nora out at the CG all day and Jim and Linda will go into the Dells during the days to be with Linda's family.
We'll be leaving Rantoul on the 31st of July, arriving at the CG, (which is actually in Baraboo, WI.) on the 1st of August. We'll be at the Dells for 5 nights and will leave the morning of the 6th, arriving back here in Rantoul on the 7th of Aug.
Then, on the 8th, both Linda and Jim have appointments with Dr. Anderson, (Linda to get the film removed from one of her eyes and Jim to have his glaucoma checked.) Then, in a week, Linda will have to go back and get the film removed from the other eye.
The only other thing that I know of is that sometime before we leave Rantoul around the 22nd of September, Linda will need to see here primary care doctor for an exam and to get here prescriptions renewed.
Did you know that on this date in 1952 - Patti Page made her TV debut in a summer replacement series for Perry Como?
Woof!!!
67 deg. Clear, no wind.
Forecast = Sunshine to start, then a few afternoon clouds. High 81F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.
It's been a long time since I've last posted, but not a whole lot has been happening. The 4th of July celebration here in Rantoul was kind of a "bust"!!! It rained most of the holiday weekend and in fact, the city even canceled the fireworks because of the weather!! :-(
One evening, Jim and Linda took Big RED and headed into town to have a pizza at Monical's Pizza. Another day Linda went grocery shopping at the County Market Grocery Store, They had dinner at the Blue Star Restaurant in Fisher, IL. another evening and headed to Walgreen's another day for prescriptions and a few other things.
Oh and on the 8th of July, Linda had an appointment with her retinologist, Dr. Gandhi. They did a scan of Linda's eyes and then the Dr. did a visual inspection. When he was finished, he told Linda that both eyes were "stable" and that she should come back and see him in a year!!!!
Folks, that's great news!!!! No more of those dreaded injections into the eye for at least another year!!!! She will have to go see Dr. Anderson, who did her cataracts a couple years ago and have a "film" on her eyes removed though. That will be done in her office with a laser treatment.
Jim and Linda have decided to head up to Wisconsin for Linda's family reunion, at The Wisconsin Dells, the first week of August. So, this last Wednesday, Jim called the Fox Hill RV Park & Campground up there and made reservations for us to stay. I'll stay in Nora out at the CG all day and Jim and Linda will go into the Dells during the days to be with Linda's family.
We'll be leaving Rantoul on the 31st of July, arriving at the CG, (which is actually in Baraboo, WI.) on the 1st of August. We'll be at the Dells for 5 nights and will leave the morning of the 6th, arriving back here in Rantoul on the 7th of Aug.
Then, on the 8th, both Linda and Jim have appointments with Dr. Anderson, (Linda to get the film removed from one of her eyes and Jim to have his glaucoma checked.) Then, in a week, Linda will have to go back and get the film removed from the other eye.
The only other thing that I know of is that sometime before we leave Rantoul around the 22nd of September, Linda will need to see here primary care doctor for an exam and to get here prescriptions renewed.
Did you know that on this date in 1952 - Patti Page made her TV debut in a summer replacement series for Perry Como?
Woof!!!
Sunday, June 19, 2016
AL to TN to KY to IL and A Long, Long Day!!
Goreville, IL.
77 deg. clear, no wind.
Forecast = Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 91F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
We left the Deer Run Campground near Troy, AL earlier than usual (8:30 am), on Friday morning. The reason being that Linda was up early and the weather forecast for later in the day was for thunderstorms with high winds and heavy rain.
From Troy, we continued NW on US 231 up to Montgomery, where we first got on Westbound I-85 and then turned North on I-65. 65 took us up through Birmingham where the road is still very rough, but at least the construction that we encountered on our last trip through Birmingham was finished. Continuing North on I-65 took us up to Cullman, AL and the Cullman RV Park.
The Cullman RV Park is off the beaten path, but we've been there many times in the past and knew that they had some nice shady, level pull-through sites where we could stay for 1 night.
It was right at 12:00 when we pulled into the park so we had traveled 192 miles in about 3 1/2 hours.
Oh, and the weather that was forecasted? Well, it rained hard in Cullman after we arrived, but there were severe storms in Birmingham where there were trees down and some road flooding.
Yesterday was an eventful day. We left Cullman about 9:00 and continued North on I-65 to Nashville. On the North side of Nashville, just before we were to turn off on I-24, the traffic came to a screeching halt!!! The problem was that they had 2 of the 3 lanes of I-65 closed down for construction and everyone was trying to funnel down to the one lane. :-(
I think it took us the better part of 1/2 hour to get through that mess!!! :-(
Once on I-24, heading NW, traffic once again moved along nicely.
Following 24 took us up to Clarksville where we had planned to stay at the Clarksville RV Park. But, guess what? The park was full!!!!!
Now what to do? We had already traveled about 190 miles and those of you that are familiar with the area, know that there are not any other decent campgrounds in the area!!! We also learned that evidently, the Father's Day weekend is a popular weekend to go camping, it was a good chance that all state parks and COE parks would be full-up also!!!
Well, Jim decided that he would call our next planned stop, which was about another 2 hours farther away and see if they had sites available. They did not answer the phone, but Jim left a message on their machine and we took off continuing NW on I-24.
After awhile, the CG called back and said that they had sites available and they would be sure to save one for us.
So, , , , , , here we are in Goreville, IL. at the Hilltop CG. It was 3:15 by the time we arrived and we had traveled 335 miles in 6 hours and 15 minutes!!!!
A long, long, long day for us!! In fact I can't remember the last time we traveled that many miles in a day!!!!
How did Jim hold up?? Well he was really beat by the time we arrived, but he took his time getting Nora set up and then took a nice long nap. By evening, he was feeling better and it seemed like he was pretty well rested.
We'll be here for 2 nights and then tomorrow, we'll head for Rantoul. We'll get there a couple days earlier than planned, but I'm sure Louise, (The CG host), will have a site for us.
Did you know that Davy Crockett was not born on a mountaintop in Tennessee, as the song says? He was born on the banks of Limestone Creek near Greeneville, where a replica of the Crockett's log cabin stands today.
Woof!!!
77 deg. clear, no wind.
Forecast = Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 91F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
We left the Deer Run Campground near Troy, AL earlier than usual (8:30 am), on Friday morning. The reason being that Linda was up early and the weather forecast for later in the day was for thunderstorms with high winds and heavy rain.
From Troy, we continued NW on US 231 up to Montgomery, where we first got on Westbound I-85 and then turned North on I-65. 65 took us up through Birmingham where the road is still very rough, but at least the construction that we encountered on our last trip through Birmingham was finished. Continuing North on I-65 took us up to Cullman, AL and the Cullman RV Park.
The Cullman RV Park is off the beaten path, but we've been there many times in the past and knew that they had some nice shady, level pull-through sites where we could stay for 1 night.
It was right at 12:00 when we pulled into the park so we had traveled 192 miles in about 3 1/2 hours.
Oh, and the weather that was forecasted? Well, it rained hard in Cullman after we arrived, but there were severe storms in Birmingham where there were trees down and some road flooding.
Yesterday was an eventful day. We left Cullman about 9:00 and continued North on I-65 to Nashville. On the North side of Nashville, just before we were to turn off on I-24, the traffic came to a screeching halt!!! The problem was that they had 2 of the 3 lanes of I-65 closed down for construction and everyone was trying to funnel down to the one lane. :-(
I think it took us the better part of 1/2 hour to get through that mess!!! :-(
Once on I-24, heading NW, traffic once again moved along nicely.
Following 24 took us up to Clarksville where we had planned to stay at the Clarksville RV Park. But, guess what? The park was full!!!!!
Now what to do? We had already traveled about 190 miles and those of you that are familiar with the area, know that there are not any other decent campgrounds in the area!!! We also learned that evidently, the Father's Day weekend is a popular weekend to go camping, it was a good chance that all state parks and COE parks would be full-up also!!!
Well, Jim decided that he would call our next planned stop, which was about another 2 hours farther away and see if they had sites available. They did not answer the phone, but Jim left a message on their machine and we took off continuing NW on I-24.
After awhile, the CG called back and said that they had sites available and they would be sure to save one for us.
So, , , , , , here we are in Goreville, IL. at the Hilltop CG. It was 3:15 by the time we arrived and we had traveled 335 miles in 6 hours and 15 minutes!!!!
A long, long, long day for us!! In fact I can't remember the last time we traveled that many miles in a day!!!!
How did Jim hold up?? Well he was really beat by the time we arrived, but he took his time getting Nora set up and then took a nice long nap. By evening, he was feeling better and it seemed like he was pretty well rested.
We'll be here for 2 nights and then tomorrow, we'll head for Rantoul. We'll get there a couple days earlier than planned, but I'm sure Louise, (The CG host), will have a site for us.
Did you know that Davy Crockett was not born on a mountaintop in Tennessee, as the song says? He was born on the banks of Limestone Creek near Greeneville, where a replica of the Crockett's log cabin stands today.
Woof!!!
Friday, May 27, 2016
Guess Where We Are? and Please Take A Few Moments
Deltona, FL.
77 deg. partly cloudy, no wind
Forecast tonight = Partly cloudy. Low 68F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph.
Guess where we are?????
Not a whole lot has happened since I last posted, that is until this past Wednesday when Jim asked Linda what she thought about going camping the upcoming holiday weekend? Linda asked "What do you mean by going camping?" and Jim said that he was thinking about heading over to Paradise Lake CG where Nora is parked and just camp there. He said that he figured that while we were there, they could check out all of the systems real well and also enjoy, "getting out of the house for a few days". :-)
So, they started gathering "stuff" up and packing up the truck. By This morning, they had everything packed up for a 3 to 4 night stay, so they loaded the last of the "stuff" (mostly refrigerator "stuff") into the back seat and we headed over here to Paradise Lakes.
We're in site #118.
It sure feels good to get away from the house for awhile. Jim has already done a few small jobs on Nora. He doesn't have much stamina though and gets tired easily and has to sit down and rest for awhile before finishing the job or starting something else.
Oh! One thing that he got accomplished was to cook something on his grill. (Some Brats). Would you believe that it was sometime last fall since he had enough energy to cook out?
As of now, it sure looks like we'll be leaving Florida on or about the 13th of June. Jim can get projects done. He just has to take it easy and rest a lot, making the project take a lot longer than it usually does, and that "bugs" Jim a lot!!!!
A Quote to Ponder : “Your silent tents of green
We deck with fragrant flowers;
Yours has the suffering been,
The memory shall be ours.”
–Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Please take a few minutes this weekend to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice so that we can be free.
Woof!!!
77 deg. partly cloudy, no wind
Forecast tonight = Partly cloudy. Low 68F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph.
Guess where we are?????
Not a whole lot has happened since I last posted, that is until this past Wednesday when Jim asked Linda what she thought about going camping the upcoming holiday weekend? Linda asked "What do you mean by going camping?" and Jim said that he was thinking about heading over to Paradise Lake CG where Nora is parked and just camp there. He said that he figured that while we were there, they could check out all of the systems real well and also enjoy, "getting out of the house for a few days". :-)
So, they started gathering "stuff" up and packing up the truck. By This morning, they had everything packed up for a 3 to 4 night stay, so they loaded the last of the "stuff" (mostly refrigerator "stuff") into the back seat and we headed over here to Paradise Lakes.
There's nothing fancy about this park, but they do have full hook-up sites.
Probably over half the the sites are seasonal and most of those folks have left for parts of the U.S. or Canada that have cooler temperatures. They'll be back again in the fall.
It sure feels good to get away from the house for awhile. Jim has already done a few small jobs on Nora. He doesn't have much stamina though and gets tired easily and has to sit down and rest for awhile before finishing the job or starting something else.
Oh! One thing that he got accomplished was to cook something on his grill. (Some Brats). Would you believe that it was sometime last fall since he had enough energy to cook out?
As of now, it sure looks like we'll be leaving Florida on or about the 13th of June. Jim can get projects done. He just has to take it easy and rest a lot, making the project take a lot longer than it usually does, and that "bugs" Jim a lot!!!!
A Quote to Ponder : “Your silent tents of green
We deck with fragrant flowers;
Yours has the suffering been,
The memory shall be ours.”
–Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Please take a few minutes this weekend to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice so that we can be free.
Woof!!!
Friday, May 20, 2016
A Doctor's Visit and Plans To Head North
DeBary, FL.
75 deg. Rain, Thunder
Forecast today = Thunderstorms, accompanied by locally heavy rainfall at times. A few storms may be severe. High 87F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%.
Yeah, I know!!!! It's been about 2 weeks since I've posted, but I really didn't know anything new!!!
This morning, Big RED, (Jim dug him out of the carport the other day and took him in for an airbag recall and an oil change), took he and Linda up to DeLand to see Dr. Saferali. Dr. Saferali wasn't there, (she's on vacation this week,) so they saw her P.A., Lauren, instead. Lauren said that Dr. Saferali didn't leave any notes about us not being able to head North or anything about another scan in July, so she didn't see why we shouldn't be able to leave when we wanted to in June. :-)
YES!!!!!!!
So, , , , , , unless something comes up, the plan is to leave here around the 13th of June and head up to Illinois, arriving there about 8 to 10 days later!!! The reason it may take us that long is because Jim really doesn't know how much stamina he'll have by that time, so he may want to stop earlier in the day and even possibly stay a couple nights in a few of the campgrounds to recuperate if necessary.
It's raining today and there's a 60% chance of rain tomorrow, but after that, the forecast is for 5 days of good weather with temps staying in the 80's, (upper 80's), and lows in the upper 60's, with no rain. If that forecast holds, Jim should be able to get quite a few things done during those 5 days and be able to be ready to leave as planned.
There is quite a bit to do at the trailer though. You see, when we arrived back her last November, Jim was feeling so bad that absolutely nothing was done to the trailer. It wasn't cleaned inside or out and he and Linda will have to look to see what supplies are still over there as they just grabbed stuff that they thought they would need here at the house. The problem with the furnace blowing thermostat fuses was never corrected and Jim thinks the water pump is acting up again, so he may need to call the mobile RV repair guy to come and take a look at those items.
He and Linda have about 3 weeks to get everything accomplished and I really don't see a reason that they won't be ready by that time. ;-)
I've used this Point to Ponder before, but it's so very, very true.
Worrying works!!! 90% of the things I worry about never happen!!!!
Woof!!!
75 deg. Rain, Thunder
Forecast today = Thunderstorms, accompanied by locally heavy rainfall at times. A few storms may be severe. High 87F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%.
Yeah, I know!!!! It's been about 2 weeks since I've posted, but I really didn't know anything new!!!
This morning, Big RED, (Jim dug him out of the carport the other day and took him in for an airbag recall and an oil change), took he and Linda up to DeLand to see Dr. Saferali. Dr. Saferali wasn't there, (she's on vacation this week,) so they saw her P.A., Lauren, instead. Lauren said that Dr. Saferali didn't leave any notes about us not being able to head North or anything about another scan in July, so she didn't see why we shouldn't be able to leave when we wanted to in June. :-)
YES!!!!!!!
So, , , , , , unless something comes up, the plan is to leave here around the 13th of June and head up to Illinois, arriving there about 8 to 10 days later!!! The reason it may take us that long is because Jim really doesn't know how much stamina he'll have by that time, so he may want to stop earlier in the day and even possibly stay a couple nights in a few of the campgrounds to recuperate if necessary.
It's raining today and there's a 60% chance of rain tomorrow, but after that, the forecast is for 5 days of good weather with temps staying in the 80's, (upper 80's), and lows in the upper 60's, with no rain. If that forecast holds, Jim should be able to get quite a few things done during those 5 days and be able to be ready to leave as planned.
There is quite a bit to do at the trailer though. You see, when we arrived back her last November, Jim was feeling so bad that absolutely nothing was done to the trailer. It wasn't cleaned inside or out and he and Linda will have to look to see what supplies are still over there as they just grabbed stuff that they thought they would need here at the house. The problem with the furnace blowing thermostat fuses was never corrected and Jim thinks the water pump is acting up again, so he may need to call the mobile RV repair guy to come and take a look at those items.
He and Linda have about 3 weeks to get everything accomplished and I really don't see a reason that they won't be ready by that time. ;-)
I've used this Point to Ponder before, but it's so very, very true.
Worrying works!!! 90% of the things I worry about never happen!!!!
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, April 23, 2016
Some Good News
DeBary, FL.
77 deg. clear, no wind.
Forecast =Saturday Night 04/23
This past week has not been the best for Jim, but then I think it was better than the week before it. You see, he's still had a lot of bone and muscle ache and it's been especially bad at night, making for some very unrestful sleep periods. His appetite hasn't been too bad, but much of the food he's eaten didn't taste right and some of it, really tasted bad to him. And, he also still has a lot of fatigue, making it hard to do just about anything. :-(
Yesterday morning, it was time to go back to Dr. Saferali.s office and get another blood test to see how the counts were doing. The test went off without a hitch and when Brittney, (the lab tech), looked at the results, she said, "Wow!!! Your test results look really good!!!" :-)
Yep!! Almost all of the counts are right in the "normal" range, and those that are not, are just barely outside the normal range!!!!
Tuesday, Jim has his PET Scan and then Wednesday he and Linda will go to see Dr. Graham to get the results. I hope they're good results.
Did you know that all rose species have 5 petals, except for the Rosa Sericea, which has 4 petals?
Woof!!!
77 deg. clear, no wind.
Forecast =Saturday Night 04/23
A few clouds. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 62F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Sunday
04/24
Intervals of clouds and sunshine. High 86F. Winds NE at 10 to 20 mph.
This past week has not been the best for Jim, but then I think it was better than the week before it. You see, he's still had a lot of bone and muscle ache and it's been especially bad at night, making for some very unrestful sleep periods. His appetite hasn't been too bad, but much of the food he's eaten didn't taste right and some of it, really tasted bad to him. And, he also still has a lot of fatigue, making it hard to do just about anything. :-(
Yesterday morning, it was time to go back to Dr. Saferali.s office and get another blood test to see how the counts were doing. The test went off without a hitch and when Brittney, (the lab tech), looked at the results, she said, "Wow!!! Your test results look really good!!!" :-)
Yep!! Almost all of the counts are right in the "normal" range, and those that are not, are just barely outside the normal range!!!!
Tuesday, Jim has his PET Scan and then Wednesday he and Linda will go to see Dr. Graham to get the results. I hope they're good results.
Did you know that all rose species have 5 petals, except for the Rosa Sericea, which has 4 petals?
Woof!!!
Saturday, April 16, 2016
The Roughest Week Yet and A Secret
DeBary FL.
69 deg. overcast, N. wind @ 5 mph.
Forecast = Windy with thunderstorms. High 77F. Winds ENE at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
The injection with the "on body injector", went off without a hitch and by about 7:15 Saturday evening, the little machine was beeping and beeping, letting Jim know that the injection of the Newlasta drug was complete.
Sunday wasn't too bad, but by evening, Jim's bones and muscles were starting to ache so he took a couple over-counter pain meds before he retired for the day. By 2:00 AM he was up taking more which didn't really have any effect.
He struggled through the day on Sunday, and before heading to bed took a prescription pain medication that the Chemo Dr. ,(Dr. Saferali), had prescribed for him when he started the chemo therapy, It helped and Jim slept pretty much throughout the night and well into the morning. (This med also makes you sleepy).
And, so it went, with Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Lots of pain during the day, even with over-the-counter medications and restless sleep under the influence of prescription drugs at night. :-( Jim was able to sleep some during the days, (probably from the lasting effects of the night medication), so he was able get some rest.
But during these days, Jim was not able to do anything. It hurt to walk, sit, or do just about anything else he could think of and when yesterday, (Friday) rolled around, he was very happy to realize that his pain was no longer near as bad. :-) It's a good thing too because he needed to go back to see Dr. Saferali to get a blood test and have a "visit" (as they call it), with her.
Dr. Saferali looked at the results of the blood test and was satisfied that although all the counts were not in the the normal range, was sure they were moving in the right direction and thought that within another week, should be getting back to normal. :-)
So, now starts the recovery and then the "dreaded" PET Scan on the 26th and "nerve wrenching" Doctor's visit with Dr. Graham on the 27th of April to get the results of the scan.
Oh, one other thing!!!! Dr. Saferali asked Jim and Linda what their travel plans were for this summer and was wondering when they were thinking about heading North!! (She's well aware of our travels ever since treating Linda back in 2013). Jim told her that he din't have any definite plans and she said that as far as she was concerned, it was all dependent on how Jim felt and how fast he could recover!!! :-)
Now, don't tell Jim I leaked this information, but Jim told Dr. Saferali that if it was at all possible, he and Linda were looking at the 13th of June as our departure date to head North for the summer!!!! ( The rent for the lot over at Paradise Lakes RV Park comes due on the 13th). Well, she said that unless the PET Scan showed something that she didn't expect to show up, she didn't see why that date shouldn't be possible. She really expects Jim to be recovered enough to do what is necessary with the trailer by that time!!!! ;-)
Now, remember!!!!!! Don't tell Jim I told you this!!!! He doesn't want anyone to get their hopes up too high yet!!!!
Did you know on this in 1900 - The first book of postage stamps was issued? The two-cent stamps were available in books of 12, 24 and 48 stamps.
Woof!!!
69 deg. overcast, N. wind @ 5 mph.
Forecast = Windy with thunderstorms. High 77F. Winds ENE at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
The injection with the "on body injector", went off without a hitch and by about 7:15 Saturday evening, the little machine was beeping and beeping, letting Jim know that the injection of the Newlasta drug was complete.
Sunday wasn't too bad, but by evening, Jim's bones and muscles were starting to ache so he took a couple over-counter pain meds before he retired for the day. By 2:00 AM he was up taking more which didn't really have any effect.
He struggled through the day on Sunday, and before heading to bed took a prescription pain medication that the Chemo Dr. ,(Dr. Saferali), had prescribed for him when he started the chemo therapy, It helped and Jim slept pretty much throughout the night and well into the morning. (This med also makes you sleepy).
And, so it went, with Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Lots of pain during the day, even with over-the-counter medications and restless sleep under the influence of prescription drugs at night. :-( Jim was able to sleep some during the days, (probably from the lasting effects of the night medication), so he was able get some rest.
But during these days, Jim was not able to do anything. It hurt to walk, sit, or do just about anything else he could think of and when yesterday, (Friday) rolled around, he was very happy to realize that his pain was no longer near as bad. :-) It's a good thing too because he needed to go back to see Dr. Saferali to get a blood test and have a "visit" (as they call it), with her.
Dr. Saferali looked at the results of the blood test and was satisfied that although all the counts were not in the the normal range, was sure they were moving in the right direction and thought that within another week, should be getting back to normal. :-)
So, now starts the recovery and then the "dreaded" PET Scan on the 26th and "nerve wrenching" Doctor's visit with Dr. Graham on the 27th of April to get the results of the scan.
Oh, one other thing!!!! Dr. Saferali asked Jim and Linda what their travel plans were for this summer and was wondering when they were thinking about heading North!! (She's well aware of our travels ever since treating Linda back in 2013). Jim told her that he din't have any definite plans and she said that as far as she was concerned, it was all dependent on how Jim felt and how fast he could recover!!! :-)
Now, don't tell Jim I leaked this information, but Jim told Dr. Saferali that if it was at all possible, he and Linda were looking at the 13th of June as our departure date to head North for the summer!!!! ( The rent for the lot over at Paradise Lakes RV Park comes due on the 13th). Well, she said that unless the PET Scan showed something that she didn't expect to show up, she didn't see why that date shouldn't be possible. She really expects Jim to be recovered enough to do what is necessary with the trailer by that time!!!! ;-)
Now, remember!!!!!! Don't tell Jim I told you this!!!! He doesn't want anyone to get their hopes up too high yet!!!!
Did you know on this in 1900 - The first book of postage stamps was issued? The two-cent stamps were available in books of 12, 24 and 48 stamps.
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!!!
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
It's Been Awhile
DeBary, FL.
60 deg. mostly cloudy, no wind.
Forecast - Sunshine and clouds mixed. High near 80F. Winds ESE at 10 to 20 mph.
It's been quite awhile since I've posted, so I though I'd better let you know what's been going on lately.
Jim has been feeling pretty good, but still has a lot of fatigue. He get's quite discouraged every time he tries to do something and then has to stop and rest all the time, after just doing a little. He had a blood test last Friday and everything was OK there. He'll have another one this Friday and is hoping that those results will be as good.
Linda had an appointment yesterday with Dr. Barnard, (her retinaologist down here in Florida), and everything looked good with her eyes. She was really worried that she would need an injection in one or both of her eyes, so it was a great relief when the doctor gave her the good news. :-) Since it was lunch time by the time she was finished at Dr. Barnard s, she and Jim decided to head over to Bob Evans where they had breakfast for lunch.
Not much else to report. Jim hasn't been doing much because of the fatigue. Linda has been working on her Family Tree program. She really enjoys gathering all kinds of info about her and Jim's family and can work on it for hours at a time.
Did you know that today is "International Pancake Day?"
Woof!!!
60 deg. mostly cloudy, no wind.
Forecast - Sunshine and clouds mixed. High near 80F. Winds ESE at 10 to 20 mph.
It's been quite awhile since I've posted, so I though I'd better let you know what's been going on lately.
Jim has been feeling pretty good, but still has a lot of fatigue. He get's quite discouraged every time he tries to do something and then has to stop and rest all the time, after just doing a little. He had a blood test last Friday and everything was OK there. He'll have another one this Friday and is hoping that those results will be as good.
Linda had an appointment yesterday with Dr. Barnard, (her retinaologist down here in Florida), and everything looked good with her eyes. She was really worried that she would need an injection in one or both of her eyes, so it was a great relief when the doctor gave her the good news. :-) Since it was lunch time by the time she was finished at Dr. Barnard s, she and Jim decided to head over to Bob Evans where they had breakfast for lunch.
Not much else to report. Jim hasn't been doing much because of the fatigue. Linda has been working on her Family Tree program. She really enjoys gathering all kinds of info about her and Jim's family and can work on it for hours at a time.
Did you know that today is "International Pancake Day?"
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, February 3, 2016
Continuing To Improve
DeBary, FL.
67 deg. partly cloudy, no wind.
Forecast = Scattered clouds with the possibility of an isolated thunderstorm developing this afternoon. High 83F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 30%
Not a whole lot to report. Jim's breathing seems to be improving as time passes and so far, he hasn't had any serious side effects from the chemo treatments.
He continues to go for radiation treatments every morning, (Monday through Friday) and to chemo treatments, every Monday, after the radiation treatment. He's now about 1/2 way through the radiation treatments and is looking forward to not getting up every morning and having to be over there by 8:45.
The other day, Jim and Linda took Big RED and headed over to Paradise Lakes RV Park to check on Nora. When they returned, they said that everything looked good and that she was nice and dry with no leaks, even though we've had some serious rain storms lately. There was also some talk about putting Nora in storage to save some $$. There is a possibility that they may be able to leave her "on site" and still save quite a bit, but not quite as much as moving her to the storage area.
They'll be heading over to the Park and talk to Kelly to see just what their options are, sometime before the 13th when the current lot rent runs out.
Yesterday, Lila took Jim and Linda to Walgreen's to pick up some prescriptions and other necessities and then in the evening, over to Gram's Kitchen for dinner. Linda had a chef's salad and Jim had the Country Fried Steak. Both of them said that their meals were excellent. :-)
No big plans for the near future. The radiation treatments every morning kind of limit what can be done each day.
A Quote to Ponder : “The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.”
William James
Woof!!!
67 deg. partly cloudy, no wind.
Forecast = Scattered clouds with the possibility of an isolated thunderstorm developing this afternoon. High 83F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 30%
Not a whole lot to report. Jim's breathing seems to be improving as time passes and so far, he hasn't had any serious side effects from the chemo treatments.
He continues to go for radiation treatments every morning, (Monday through Friday) and to chemo treatments, every Monday, after the radiation treatment. He's now about 1/2 way through the radiation treatments and is looking forward to not getting up every morning and having to be over there by 8:45.
The other day, Jim and Linda took Big RED and headed over to Paradise Lakes RV Park to check on Nora. When they returned, they said that everything looked good and that she was nice and dry with no leaks, even though we've had some serious rain storms lately. There was also some talk about putting Nora in storage to save some $$. There is a possibility that they may be able to leave her "on site" and still save quite a bit, but not quite as much as moving her to the storage area.
They'll be heading over to the Park and talk to Kelly to see just what their options are, sometime before the 13th when the current lot rent runs out.
Yesterday, Lila took Jim and Linda to Walgreen's to pick up some prescriptions and other necessities and then in the evening, over to Gram's Kitchen for dinner. Linda had a chef's salad and Jim had the Country Fried Steak. Both of them said that their meals were excellent. :-)
No big plans for the near future. The radiation treatments every morning kind of limit what can be done each day.
A Quote to Ponder : “The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.”
William James
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!!!
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!!!
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