OK, I completed treatment number 6 this last Friday. My world currently revolves around my butt and not to put to fine a point on it, it's a pain in the ass, literally.
For the first time since starting the daily chemo and radiation treatments I felt the results of the radiation. It was not a comfortable or pleasant sensation, but I was reassured to know it was definitely doing something to the tumor.
The mornings are the hardest part of the day for me. I struggle to get ready, eat breakfast and make it to work. Lack of energy and nausea are my problems these days. I am getting as much sleep as possible and taking medication for the nausea, but both problems are getting worse as the treatments continue.
The weekends are a break from the chemo and radiation. On Saturday and Sunday I get as much rest as possible and prepare for the coming week.
It's not clear to me how long I can keep working. I am taking it one day at a time now.
Hopefully the treatments are killing the cancer. That is the most important thing.
22 treatments to go.
RT
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Sunday, August 31, 2014
And then I threw away her mask
It's been just over two weeks since I had my gall bladder removed. I am healing nicely. The two weeks coincided with the start of my chemo and radiation treatments. I was supposed to start last Monday but encountered trouble with the Specialty Pharmacy that my insurance uses for chemo. Because my chemo is administered by pills I had to order them myself. It seems a little crazy. It has to do with the insurance getting to charge me more for the pills. Anyway, that's done and I have had two days of treatments.
The effects of the chemo are slowly making themselves apparent. I am more tired and my stomach is a little more queasy, similar to the way it felt after my surgery. This 3 day weekend should give me a chance to rest up since treatments won't start again till Tuesday. I only take the chemo on the days I get radiation which will be Monday through Friday on regular weeks.
The first radiation treatment was surreal. I found myself thinking about what it must have been like for Vicki when she had hers. Because the cancer was in her head they made a form fitting mask and locked her head in place. It freaked her out so much she had to take Valium for each of her thirty treatments. I didn't understand until that moment what she had gone through. Now I know.
It feels so strange when the machine makes it's beeping noises while the radiation is being directed into your body. You have to be perfectly still. After all, you don't want the deadly beams going astray and frying your naughty bits. So, understanding how she felt and still feels about the mask I saved to someday make a wall plaque of her face, I threw it away.
The last thing she needs to recall is the strange feelings and anxiety associated with cancer radiation treatment.
I have 26 more treatments to go.
RT
The effects of the chemo are slowly making themselves apparent. I am more tired and my stomach is a little more queasy, similar to the way it felt after my surgery. This 3 day weekend should give me a chance to rest up since treatments won't start again till Tuesday. I only take the chemo on the days I get radiation which will be Monday through Friday on regular weeks.
The first radiation treatment was surreal. I found myself thinking about what it must have been like for Vicki when she had hers. Because the cancer was in her head they made a form fitting mask and locked her head in place. It freaked her out so much she had to take Valium for each of her thirty treatments. I didn't understand until that moment what she had gone through. Now I know.
It feels so strange when the machine makes it's beeping noises while the radiation is being directed into your body. You have to be perfectly still. After all, you don't want the deadly beams going astray and frying your naughty bits. So, understanding how she felt and still feels about the mask I saved to someday make a wall plaque of her face, I threw it away.
The last thing she needs to recall is the strange feelings and anxiety associated with cancer radiation treatment.
I have 26 more treatments to go.
RT
Sunday, August 17, 2014
In and Out Surgery
It turned out that my Gall Bladder needed to come out before I started cancer treatment. I had the surgery on Thursday. We went to the Hospital at 10 AM and were out by 2 PM. They don't mess around.
Three days after the procedure I'm starting to feel human again. The surgery might be fast but it still takes a while to get over it.
I look forward to missing the assorted pains and maladies associated with gall bladder problems.
My treatment will be delayed a week or so till I heal up enough to take the chemo and radiation. With luck I'll be able to start before the end of the month.
For now I'll just concentrate on feeling better and getting back to work.
RT
Three days after the procedure I'm starting to feel human again. The surgery might be fast but it still takes a while to get over it.
I look forward to missing the assorted pains and maladies associated with gall bladder problems.
My treatment will be delayed a week or so till I heal up enough to take the chemo and radiation. With luck I'll be able to start before the end of the month.
For now I'll just concentrate on feeling better and getting back to work.
RT
Sunday, August 3, 2014
The Good News about Bad News
I'm one of the worst procrastinators when it comes to medical tests.
So.... after 18 months of putting off something I never wanted to do, but really needed to do, I had a colonoscopy. I took Wednesday of last week off to take the prep and had the tests on Thursday. Since I have GERD, I also had an Endoscopy. The results were interesting and scary.
I found out I have a hiatal hernia in my esophagus, I have gall stones and I have Cancer.
That's the Bad News.
The Good News is that in spite of the seriousness of the cancer it is treatable. The oncologist says there's an 80% chance of success. I like those odds.The CAT scan I had Friday didn't show anything in my organs, so that's more good news.
Monday we will get the results of the biopsy. There are at least two different kinds of cancer that can occur in the area they found mine. Once we know, the oncologist will be able to prescribe the proper chemo.
Due the size and potential stage of this cancer it will be treated with radiation and chemo in tandem.
I have appointments with the radiation people, the surgeon and oncologists next week to finalize the treatment plan. I'll also need to get a PET scan as well. The radiation folks are picky about where they send their deadly beams.
By the following week I should start treatment. As it was explained to me on Friday it will be six weeks with radiation and chemo five days a week for that period. Then a month or so for healing and then maybe a surgery or not or two. There are some variables here according to the stage of the cancer, the type, my reaction to the treatment, the cancer's reaction and just plain luck.
I admit to spending one sleepless night contemplating my eminent demise before I met with the oncologist. Vicki and I were much relieved after our visit with him. If my radiation people and my surgeon are anything like my gastro and chemo guy then I am truly blessed.
You see that's the really Good News about the Bad News.The doctors who are treating me really care. It is awesome to deal with folks that give a shit and who get it.
What's your good news about your bad news?
RT
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Road Trip Vacation 2014
Well, we finally made it to South Dakota. I've only been promising Vicki that we'd get up there for the last 30 years or so. Life and other stuff kept getting in the way, priorities changed, Parents died, Sickness and ill health crept up on us and we just plain didn't get it done. Till this year that is.
Pictured at the right is Mount Rushmore from the terrace at the park. If you're going to South Dakota then a visit to Mt Rushmore is a must. The park is really something and the views of the mountain are great. It was relatively good weather the day we were there. The sun was out, the wind blowing and the temperature in the mid 40s.
The next day it snowed and I took this next shot from a viewpoint that allowed a side view of George Washington.
Mt Rushmore is located in the Black Hills, an area a little more than 60 miles long and 40 miles wide. To the north is Deadwood, an old western town full of casinos and to the south is Hot Springs, the site of an active Woolly Mammoth dig. We spent 3 days in the town of Keystone, just 4 miles from Mt Rushmore and traveled the roads in the Black Hills every day, even in the snow.
One day when we were coming back from the Mammoth dig in Hot Springs we had to stop to let a herd of buffalo cross the road. This was in Wind Cave National park at the south end of the Black Hills. Vicki rolled down her window and took a few shots of the young bison grazing at the side of the road.
We went this time of year to avoid the crowds and in that respect we were successful. While there were quite a few folks at Mt Rushmore and the Mammoth site there was easy access to all the sites we visited and the crowds small.
We also saw our daughter and grand kids in Enid, Oklahoma, Vicki's cousins in Sioux Falls, her Uncle in Keystone, and spent a couple of days in Deadwood in the Casinos. All in all a fantastic road trip totaling just over 3900 miles in 14 days.
We're home now and a little tired, but we'd pack up and go again if we could.
What do you have planed for your summer travels?
RT
The next day it snowed and I took this next shot from a viewpoint that allowed a side view of George Washington.
Mt Rushmore is located in the Black Hills, an area a little more than 60 miles long and 40 miles wide. To the north is Deadwood, an old western town full of casinos and to the south is Hot Springs, the site of an active Woolly Mammoth dig. We spent 3 days in the town of Keystone, just 4 miles from Mt Rushmore and traveled the roads in the Black Hills every day, even in the snow.
One day when we were coming back from the Mammoth dig in Hot Springs we had to stop to let a herd of buffalo cross the road. This was in Wind Cave National park at the south end of the Black Hills. Vicki rolled down her window and took a few shots of the young bison grazing at the side of the road.
We went this time of year to avoid the crowds and in that respect we were successful. While there were quite a few folks at Mt Rushmore and the Mammoth site there was easy access to all the sites we visited and the crowds small.
We also saw our daughter and grand kids in Enid, Oklahoma, Vicki's cousins in Sioux Falls, her Uncle in Keystone, and spent a couple of days in Deadwood in the Casinos. All in all a fantastic road trip totaling just over 3900 miles in 14 days.
We're home now and a little tired, but we'd pack up and go again if we could.
What do you have planed for your summer travels?
RT
Thursday, April 3, 2014
9%
Later this month when I turn 65 I will be joining the 9% club. As of the latest statistics in 2012 there were 43 million and change people in the "Good Ole USA" over 65. Of those about 4.3 million held full time jobs; 9%.
I am unsure if I'm in the top 9% or the bottom 9%.
Many days at work it seems like I'm in the bottom percentile. Today was one of those days. I can understand why the great majority of my age group do not work full time, but it saddens me. We have an experience gap in industry in this country and it is growing. There is little if any benefit from having experience in your field if you're not listened to, aren't paid for it and get no respect for it. That's the situation where I work.
The generation gap, the changing workplace and technology aren't the only reasons we over 65ers have left the workplace. The recession forced millions into early retirement. People in their 50s are having trouble finding work, much less folks my age. The economy has bounced back for the few, but not for the average working Joe and certainly not for the older average working Joe.
My company is being sold, the buyers are in the building every week now, it's just a matter of getting all the conditions satisfied for both parties. The company is an LLC and the investors are going to want their money, the owner wants his and the buyer wants to make sure they aren't being taken. In all the other company sales I've experienced we were kept informed and of course kept our customers up to date. It is the exact opposite here.
I am hopeful I can hang in there without getting fired or getting mad and quitting before the takeover.
It is an ongoing lesson in humility.
How's your job?
RT
I am unsure if I'm in the top 9% or the bottom 9%.
Many days at work it seems like I'm in the bottom percentile. Today was one of those days. I can understand why the great majority of my age group do not work full time, but it saddens me. We have an experience gap in industry in this country and it is growing. There is little if any benefit from having experience in your field if you're not listened to, aren't paid for it and get no respect for it. That's the situation where I work.
The generation gap, the changing workplace and technology aren't the only reasons we over 65ers have left the workplace. The recession forced millions into early retirement. People in their 50s are having trouble finding work, much less folks my age. The economy has bounced back for the few, but not for the average working Joe and certainly not for the older average working Joe.
My company is being sold, the buyers are in the building every week now, it's just a matter of getting all the conditions satisfied for both parties. The company is an LLC and the investors are going to want their money, the owner wants his and the buyer wants to make sure they aren't being taken. In all the other company sales I've experienced we were kept informed and of course kept our customers up to date. It is the exact opposite here.
I am hopeful I can hang in there without getting fired or getting mad and quitting before the takeover.
It is an ongoing lesson in humility.
How's your job?
RT
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Merry Christmas 2013
My father in-law went into the hospital last week and has had to have supervision till we get him in assisted care later this week. Vicki & I have taken off work to be with him, start the process of getting them out of their house and handling a bazillion details. In the meantime his wife who has dementia has gone to her grandsons' place and they are not living together. This couple has been married 63 years and Vic & I are of the opinion that splitting them up in this time of crisis is idiotic.
Such is life when many siblings are involved and most of them just want to take advantage of the situation. I am proud of Vicki for jumping in and doing her best to fix this. I have been as helpful as possible including monitoring my father in-laws' medications, doing his blood sugar 4 times a day and getting his insulin dose correct for his nightly shots.
We will be uniting Vicki's Mom & Dad today for Christmas. Hopefully it will go well. In her state of dementia Vicki's Mom is focused on their dog and money to the exclusion of all else. Vic's Dad has had anger issues when dealing with her disease and that has caused problems as well. With his Diabetes under control he is more clear headed and we think he will be more patient with his wife.
Our goal is to get both of them in the same facility with her in a Memory Care unit and him in the same building but in another wing. They will have access to one another but there will be no burden of care giving on him and no concern for her safety for her. (We hope)
Anyway... Vicki and I managed to sit out by the fire pit in the backyard on Christmas Eve for a while and enjoy a little peace. I snuck in a few whiskeys and a cigar as well.
Here's hoping your Holidays are joyful and full of cheer!
RT
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