Great Support Group

This will just be a short post to thank the people who came to our house yesterday and put up our Christmas Decorations. The Girls helped Vicki with the tree, it looks beautiful by the way, and the boys did the outside.

I supervised and did a little on both the inside and outside, but really the Kids, the 
Grand kid, and our ex son-in-law did all the work. 

So here's thanks to Jamie, Damien, Chris and Brianna for all their help yesterday.

Thanks and thanks some more,

RT

Thanksgiving 2015

Before starting this post I was reading an article on gratitude. A couple of scientists and researchers found that people who have gratitude for their lives, events, circumstance or whatever, tend to  be happy people or at least happier people.

OK, I can go along with that. Which makes me think those first settlers were smart to create a Thanksgiving Day. Maybe we would all be a little happier if we had a Thanksgiving  moment every day. Anyway I know that I have a lot of things for which to be thankful.

The number one thing I am thankful for is Vicki's results from her 5-year MRI. We got the results from her oncologist yesterday. She is not just cancer free, she in now considered cured. It was a great thing to hear.

I am also very thankful for all the family I saw today at our Thanksgiving Outing. My oldest daughter got us a Ramada at Skyline Park out in Mesa. I got to see 8 of our 14 grand kids and lots of nieces, nephews, kids, and cousins. I walked down through the park and marveled at all the different folks celebrating the holiday. It felt good to see people out having fun with their families. That's something some people never get to experience, all Thanksgiving Dinner nightmares aside.

I am thankful as well for the treatment I am receiving and the support from  friends and family. I am also very thankful for the support I get from people at work. That's another thing right there; I am thankful to still be able to work. 

When you think about it there will be a whole lot of things to be thankful for, that deserve your gratitude.  

I won't bore you with any more of mine, there really isn't room on the page. I have had countless blessings in this life and I am grateful for every one. Take a minute and contemplate all the wonderful things in your life.

RT

 

"Hold on a Minute"

Turns out that yesterday was my 5th Chemo treatment and not my 6th as my last post erroneously stated. Even so, this one got me more than any so far.

I didn't go to bed till 3 AM this morning. It took me that long and multiple pills to get the nausea under control enough to attempt sleep. It also helped that by that time of the morning I was pretty damn tired as well.

My daughter Bridgette just came by and picked up Vicki to go get her 5 year MRI at St. Judes in Phoenix. If she gets another clean MRI she we be declared cured, not just cancer free. 

I am sitting in the easy chair, watching Antiques Roadshow, and blogging. The don't call me Mr. Excitement for nothing.

Looking forward to Thanksgiving. We are having a family outing at a Park in Mesa. I should get to see a bunch of folks I haven't seen in ages. 

Have a great Thanksgiving day.

RT

Waiting on 6

I'm watching the Cards tonight and resting up for work tomorrow. Side effects have been manageable this weekend. I haven't had a lot of energy, but what energy I have I believe I've put to good use. 

Vicki came down with a kidney infection on Thursday, which we had confirmed on Saturday when she went to the urgent care a few blocks from our house. I cooked dinner on Friday night and did some minor chores on Saturday. Sunday I had enough energy to do the ironing for both of us, so I feel pretty good about that.

How I will feel in the morning is a whole nother deal. (excuse my hillybillyism)

I have my 6th treatment this coming Friday and I wonder how much it will wear me down. Each treatment has made me more and more tired. It's getting to the point where even 3 days a week will be more than I can go to work. Right now I'm scheduled for 4 days a week, but I haven't made more than 3 days for the past month. 

I'm hoping we can get Vicki healed up by my next treatment. We'll just have to wait and see. 

It just started raining again. We had the roof done last week and I'm hopeful it's holding up. This has been a very wet fall for us here in Phoenix. Climate change?

Hope things are going well for you.

RT

I take the 5th

I had my 5th chemo in this round of treatment  yesterday. I am handling the chemo better this time around than on the previous two rounds. There is still nausea and a couple of other minor side effects, but I keep them under control with meds. 

My biggest concern right now is my wife Vicki's health. She has been sick with nausea since Thursday. We think it may be stress related.  She's been through a tough year. Her Mom died on Christmas Eve last year and her Dad passed seven months later. In addition she has her last MRI coming up. This one is for her 5th year checkup. If her MRI is clean she will officially be cured of her cancer. Her work place moved a couple of months ago to a more difficult commute and a huge warehouse like space with 3,000 people in one open floor plan. And of course my treatment is more than half way into it's second year. I don't doubt I am getting to be a drag.

So... I am hoping that the treatment I am taking is killing my cancer. I also hope that we can determine what's going with Vicki and how to fix it.

The weather is beautiful this weekend. We are blessed to live in Phoenix in the winter.

Hope have a great weekend.

RT

 

God is Great, Beer is Good, People are Crazy

Well this last week was hectic and weird, but ended with good news from my oncologist. 

On Monday I went in for a PET scan. This was to determine how the treatment is affecting the cancer nodules in my lungs. After that Vicki and I went to brunch at Village Inn where I managed to leave my favorite ball cap. (I am wearing them now till my hair grows back) We went back on Wednesday but no one had turned it in. It was a good looking ball cap from one of my builders back in the 80s. Oh well, I have a bunch more I can use.

Tuesday was a very strange day. It was the reason for the title of this post. Our company is currently a mess. The new owners are struggling to understand our business and how much it differs from their other plants. We are the only one that has a large installation and service  operation and they are having trouble getting their act together. In the interim the first symptom of this is the parking issue for employees. It has gotten so bad that many people are having to park off site. Worse than that, in the morning when I get in the service vehicles have all been pulled into the parking lot. These vehicles block access to parking and even use some of the few available spaces. SO.....this particular morning, in frustration, I parked in one of the two handicapped parking spaces. The other was being used by a company service vehicle. Someone at our company called the Tempe police complaining there were no available handicapped slots. The cops were at the company by 8:00 AM. I was notified by our HR dept around 10:30. Too late to do anything and left with a $475 ticket and only 7 calendar days to respond. 

My solution was to take half day off on Wednesday and get the paperwork done for a temporary disabled parking placard. First I downloaded the form from the MVD, then took it in to my oncologist office and had them fill out their portion. Next, since my chemo was on Friday I went for blood work. That accomplished we went to MVD to get my placard. It went surprisingly well there. We were in and out in 30 minutes or so. So now I had the disabled placard. But I was not done. The ticked required I go to court and show them the placard to dismiss the ticket. 

We got word on Tuesday that our middle daughter Jamie was in the hospital out on the 60 and Higley. It was around 3:30 by then so we headed on out to see her. She was having tests for a heart irregularity. They found a birth defect that had never shown up before (she is 42 now). She is home now with more than strong recommendations from the doctors to change her diet, quit smoking and take nitro pills as needed.

My only option for a court appearance was Thursday morning. Friday would be my 4th chemo and I had no idea how I would feel on the following Monday or Tuesday, the last days I could appear without a penalty for being late. The court is on Fifth street in downtown Tempe. I got there around a quarter after 8:00 AM. The court is protected by guards and a metal detector. I flunked the metal detector part. My brief case had a kit for nails with a clipper, a nail file and worst of all tiny scissors destined to land in the neck of the judge should the case go against me. The guards dutifully took these from me and returned them when I left. Next I went to a bank of windows where I was asked to give them my ticket, my driver's license and my temporary disability placard. The clerk entered all the data from those items and sent me to courtroom 5. 

Courtroom 5 was approximately half the size of my living room, with 3 rows of shiny black benches in the back of the room and the court clerk and the judge sitting on a raised platform in the front. I was told to sit in back of the room till called. The counter clerk electronically transferred my info to court clerk's computer, who then sent that info to the judges computer. Now she knew my name and my offense. I was then called to the bench where she looked at my ticket and my placard. She asked me one question; who was the placard registered to? I answered to me and the ticket was dismissed. We chatted while paperwork was produced and I doffed my ball cap (did I fail to mention I wore a ball cap to court?) telling the pair that I was in my third round of chemo and if this was the worst thing I had to do today I was good with it. I then thanked them for their quick service and commented on the intimacy of their courtroom. I told them I felt quite special being in their boutique courtroom, which got a good laugh.

Friday was a doctor visit first before chemo. I learned my PET scan showed a small decrease in the size of the four nodules in my lungs. This means I will have another 3 treatments then another scan. If that one is good, then perhaps a few weeks rest before radiation for the spots left. All in all great news.

It was a very hectic week. The PET scan news was God being great, I had my last beer with pulled pork barbeque and it was good. The whole parking thing at work takes care of the people are crazy. So there you go.

Have a great weekend,

RT

Hair today Gone tomorrow

My hair started falling out last week. It was a mess to get off my pillow, so I had my oldest daughter buzz cut my hair after this weeks treatment. She got it down to fuzz and then my wife and I finished if off with a razor later that night. So at least I won't have to worry about the pillow issue any more. 

This was my third treatment is this cycle. The Oncologist wants another scan before my next treatment, so I should be going in for a Pet Scan in the next couple of weeks. 

I am still working 4 days a week and hope to be a able to work 4 days this next week. It all depends on how I feel when I get up. Some days I can do it and some I can't.

Vicki is hanging in and helping me get through this as always. I would not be able to do this without her.

That's it from here.

Hope all is well with you.

RT