Friday before the trip

Well...it's been a week since I last posted...as Carol so nicely pointed out. It's been a busy week--had my chemo last Friday, went to the "mussell party" on Saturday and came home with two pans of mussells-one for me and one for Lynne (who couldn't make it). That reminds me, I still owe Joanne $5! Wooops!

Well, I'll have to get the $$ to her tomorrow as we leave Sunday AM for Tennessee. We will be staying in Pennsylvania Sunday night and then driving to Dublin VA on Monday...where we will get to visit with Cindy who we haven't seen in over 10 years. It doesn't seem possible. Thanks to the internet we have kept in touch pretty regularly.

On Tuesday we head to Tennessee...where the NADAC national champsionships will be. We will be heading back home next Saturday....reversing our route and stopping again near Cindy for another visit---hopefully.

Some things about the dogs. Rocky and Truman have been going to "Wizard of Paws" which is a place where they do physical therapy on dogs. Rocky has been going to work on his left leg and right pelvis...which were hurt when he got hit by the car. He has been making great progress....and today I went to see him workout on the treadmill in the water! He was great!

Sandy works out with them on a ball in the cellar. This helps their balance and to develop their core muscles...like I do when I work out on the ball. It's great for inner core and for flexibility. She does exercises with each of the Russells...with Bubbles being the star!

Truman is getting therapy for a back and shoulder problem. He is doing really well and is cleared to compete at the agility trial. Which is good, because he loves to compete.

Sandy has been working out with all the dogs in the backyard---doing tunnels courses. Truman is going to run in the tunnels event, so it's good practice for him and good exercise for Bub and Lil. Rocky learned how to do tunnels too....and seems to love it. When he's all fixed (as much as he can be) he will start to take agility classes.

Sandy bought these ceramic magnet jackets for the two boys....for Truman's back and for Rocky's leg and pelvis. They look cute in these jackets...they hang way down all around them...to give the area maximum exposure to the effect of the magnets.

I ordered a magnetic shirt for myself. I don't usually subscribe to "new age" medicine...but years ago my nurse practitioner convinced me to try these magnets on my knees. I got the ceramic magnet sleeves for my knees and damned if they didn't help! They heat up the area just the right amount to promote healing. I had a wrap for my foot too and it helped my heel spurs. So I can see how it might help the dogs. And a shirt could help my neck and my back.

We also got some new medication for Bub and Rocky...to keep them from vomitting when they ride in the car. The poor dears, they take turns puking and sometimes they puke at the same time. Then it's stop the car, clean out the kennels, fluff up their pillows and hope that it doesn't happen again. We've tried lavender oil, ginger, pepcid and now this medication. When Bub eats the ginger she doesn't throw up. But now she won't eat the ginger anymore. Rocky is more afraid than having trouble with the motion. We tried them at a low dose today and it worked good..even though we were on back roads that were windy and bumpy. We're hoping it works on the long trip..without giving them any negative side effects.

Rocky got out of the fence the other day...Sandy opened the gate and he flew out. Fortunately I was up at the mail box and he just came flying up the driveway to me. Good thing there weren't any dogs or people going by...he would have kept on going. As it was he came right to me, all waggy tailed and happy. I scooped him up and we got the mail. Sandy and I heaved a big sigh of relief! He did look cute running towards me...his bad leg kicks out to the side making him look all galoopy when he runs. Despite this impediment he runs faster than any dog we've ever had! Can't imagine how fast he'll be when he's at full strength.

Now I have a little snugglebug up on my shoulder like a baby....Bubbles. She comes up here when something makes her hinky. And it seems every night something makes her hinky! I'm sorry that she's nervous, but I do enjoy having her snuggle with me.

I've been playing Big Brain Academy and I'm doing much better. It really helps to stimulate your brain...feels good.

I'm reading Kathy Griffin's book and it is SO GOOD! I got a few paperbacks to take with me to Tennessee...I figure I'll have time to read them in the hotel and when we're waiting for Truman's turn to run. I haven't been reading too much lately and it feels good to be getting back into the reading mode. Sandy reads every day....it's her favorite thing to do, sip her tea, read and have her dogs on her lap.

Well...I have to work on my list of things to bring on the trip. I'm really looking forward to this--we haven't been on a road trip like this since the last time we went to Nova Scotia and that was over ten years ago! Well....I guess Italy was a road trip too...we did drive while we were there. But that was in 2004 so it has been awhile. And it has been over ten years since it was just us in the car going for days.....good thing I'm on the new antidepressant and they upped my dose---it's helping me to be all mellow and enjoying things....instead of worrying and bitching about things!

So, I'll say nighty night. I will be bringing the laptop when we travel...so I can do updates on the road.

Nighty night and GO SOX!

9/11

Went out first thing this AM and put the American flag out....can't believe it's been eight years already!

They called LAST NIGHT to tell me that they had scheduled me for a CT scan at L&M at 8am. I said "NO WAY!" I needed a CT scan LAST Friday....not this Friday! I called and canceled the CT scan and left a message that I still wanted to keep my 10:30 chemo appt, not the 2:30 one that they had switched it to.

My stomach no longer hurts. I still have some residual pain in my abdomen, but that's from adhesions...I just know it! Nothing they can do about that....just need time and continue to watch the roughage. The Miralax is working.....so, life is good.

Got up to chemo and found out they forgot to order a urine test for me....so I had to pee in the cup and they sent it off. I told June (my nurse) that we were lucky...I had peed just before she broke the news about needing a specimen. Fortunately, I can pee on command! It took them forever to get the test done. An hour later, they were just getting the specimen in the lab! I got there at 10:30...didn't start getting my chemo until 1:00pm. So, I didn't get out until after 2pm as it was.

The woman at the doctor's office admitted to Sandy that the insurance company had approved the CT scan...but she lost my paperwork for a couple of days! I think they need a better system up there.

We got a wonderful anniversary card from Cathy's sister Linda, who lives in Maine. I have never met this woman, but we have a lot in common--she's a big animal lover and sends me papers from the dog park up there. Linda reads this blog and Cathy gives me good advice from time to time. Her Mom also checks the blog and sent good wishes to me when I was really sick. Nice family! Thanks Delawares!

We're getting ready to go on our trips...first up the one to Tennessee. We'll be leaving a week from this Sunday...so we are getting excited. Lots of planning. We're bringing the three Russells, Lily will stay with Jean while we're gone. We're hoping it isn't too hot and the days aren't too long down there. They say, "count on the days going from 7 am to 10-11 at night" and one woman said she was there until after midnight! NO WAY! We will NOT be putting our dogs and ourselves through that crap!

I am most looking forward to seeing our old pal Cindy as we pass through Virginia. We'll be traveling the Blue Ridge Parkway...a great trip. We haven't seen Cindy in over 10 years and we are staying in a hotel near where she lives. Hopefully we will get there early so we can spend some hours with her.

I also am checking out the "shore excursions" available for our cruise, coming up at the end of October. I found a zip-line excursion through the rain forest in Belize that I have always wanted to do; some kayaking and snorkeling in Cozumel and maybe a tour through Guatamala. It's going to be great! Can't wait.

Now I'm going to rest up for the Tennessee trip. I don't have to work this next week, just have a doctor's appointment and one other obligation, the rest of the week is free. Hopefully I'll be able to go to the gym and walk the dogs in the neighborhood. I'm reading a good book now--one of my favorites--an "OpCenter" book by Tom Clancy. I don't know why, but I do love those kinds of stories. I also have some new David Sedaris books and Kathy Griffin's autobiography arrived the other day. So I'm all set for reading material for awhile.

I also got my Beatles Rock Band game for the Wii....can't wait to have folks over to sing along. Who cares about the drumming and "guitar" playing? We've got the Beatles to sing-along to!

Now I have to watch the rest of Toddlers and Tiaras....the one I'm watching was taped in Hartford at the hotel at the airport--where we stayed once before we went to Disney. I told Sandy maybe next year we'll go sit in the audience and "scream, oooh and aaahh" maybe we'll get on tv! That show is a real train wreck....you hate to watch, but you can't stop!

I watched the President the other night and I totally love this man. He is so calm, articulate, intelligent, Presidential.

That idiot who yelled at him looked so foolish compared to the President. I may send money to the guy who's running against that jackass. What's with the South Carolina politicians? First the governor embarasses them and now this guy chimes in! Talk about train wrecks!

Anyway...."Toddlers" is calling me....

Nighty night!

Well....the pain continues in my abdomen....but it is slowing down a bit. I am doing the prune juice and sennakot route and today I dug out the Miralax that Dr. Lachance gave me months ago. All of this is working (occasionally)...but I have to keep up this routine or it doesn't come out.

And I was just thinking a couple of weeks ago, "remember when your stomach hurt so bad? Good thing that's over!" HA! I have to remember not to have such thoughts from now on.

I do believe it is adhesions from my surgeries. These are causing small blockages in my bowels and thus the pain. I don't understand why my stomach pouch was so painful though. Sandy thinks I might have had a virus of some sort.

I never got a call about the CT scan. When (and if) I do, I'm going to tell them to fahgeddabouddit!

I keep walking and moving about...that helps even though it hurts at the same time.

As I told Robin (who gave me great suggestions on what to do to help), having this is still better than having cancer!

The weather has been wonderful and it looks like it will continue. It proves the theory I have held since I was a kid...the week the kids go back to school is always the best week of the year...weatherwise! It always seemed that way when I was a kid in school. Anyway, I fell asleep on the deck, lying in the sun, this morning after having my coffee. It felt good.

I work two days this week, tomorrow and Thursday. Friday I have chemo. Then it's time to start getting ready for Tennessee!

Big Moon

Can't remember when I last posted. Sandy was off most of this week, so we did some stuff. Tuesday night we had Carol and Mark over for steak, corn from Sandy's garden and Sandy's great red potatoes cooked on the grill. I got sick, actually, sicker after I ate and ended up in the tub of hot water, trying to get my stomach to calm down.

That didn't work. My stomach had been bothering me since Sunday. Yesterday I had to go see the doctor anyway for my check up prior to chemo. I had to go a week early as there were no appointments available next week.

It's just as well I went yesterday. Saw Dr. McCourt...another new doctor--for me. She's very nice as all of them in that practice are. When she palpated my abdomen I came up off the table with the pain...and I'm usually quite stoic at the doctor's office. She doesn't know what it is and wanted me to go for a CT scan to have it checked. She and I think it's something with my stomach...not the cancer coming back.

I couldn't stand the thought of drinking that crap on top of how my stomach felt, so I told her I wanted to see how it goes. She told me to call and let her know if I wanted the test.

I felt a bit better this AM and went to pick up Lynne for our long-delayed trip to Ikea and to Lenny and Joe's for lobster that I had promised her for her birthday way back in July! We had a great time shopping at Ikea and then we got to the restaurant, after a nice, leisurely drive down Rte 1. They don't sell whole lobsters until after 5:00, so we each had a lunchtime special...the hot buttered lobster on a roll, with french fries and cole slaw.

I felt pretty good walking around Ikea, but at the end the weight of my shopping bag was starting to pull on my abdominal muscles, which made my stomach start hurting again. I kept getting twinges off and on the ride home and at the restaurant. By the time I dropped Lynne off and drove home, my stomach was back where it was yesterday. So, as I promised Lynne and Sandy, I called the doctor and told them I wanted a CT scan. Of course that was 3pm and now it's after 8pm and no one has called me back, so I guess I'll call again tomorrow. Hopefully I can get scanned tomorrow or Saturday and they can figure out what the hell this is.

I have a feeling and so does Lynne and Carol that this may be adhesions. It does feel like my stomach or something near is is very inflamed. Of course Bubbles and Rocky manage to jump on me and land on the worst spot for pain. Not fun.

The good news I got yesterday was that my latest CA 125 test showed that my cancer level dropped even more...to THREE! YAY!! I am three away from my goal of zero...which most people say can't be accomplished.

We were supposed to go to the Woodstock Fair tomorrow...I guess those plans are foiled by my abdomen...oh well...it was going to be expensive anyway.

I'm going to enjoy the moon tonight and the sun tomorrow. And maybe fit a CT scan in the schedule.

Nighty night!

Rainy Saturday

Went to Megan's 5oth birthday party today. Saw Pam, Robin, Karen and Sharon, Scott and Val and Megan, of course. Oh...and Laura Jutras, daughter of my old pal, Anne Champeau of Chapman Street. I write that for Maria's benefit.

Had a good time, but got very tired and came home early. It's been a busy week, with the beach and boogey boarding on Wednesday and going down to Jean's on Thursday and Friday. Sandy was off several days this week, so we got to do things.

We went to the movies to see Harry Potter one day...I forget if that was this week or last! Huh. Anyway, it was good. We hadn't been to the movies since that last Die Hard movie! Long time.

The beach was awesome...again, it had been a few years since we went to the beach. The waves were great for boogey boarding and we got some good rides. Carol came with us and we all agreed it was a great day. She and Mark came over for pizza that night and we had a good evening visiting and watching the game.

While we were enjoying ourselves, someone was breaking into the house down the street where the older couple live. They go out every Wednesday night from 6-8 for dinner and someone knows that...they broke in and took weird stuff....47 cans of tuna included! Who the hell has 47 cans of tuna or KNOWS the exact amount?

We are going to start a neighborhood watch for sure now. We lock our doors, even when we're home and we keep the windows locked at night. I think we are pretty safe...we have the alarm system, plus the dogs, plus the fact that we don't work regular hours...it's tough to say when we are going to be away from the house...plus we don't have alcohol in the house--that's another thing they are after---wine and hard liquor.

One house had something like 65 bottles of hard liquor taken...now who the hell has that much booze in their house? Somehow these thieves know what's in there. They aren't taking electronics though. Booze, jewelry and prescription drugs...those are the common items taken. They even left coins that were lying around in one house and a coin collection in this last place that they broke into. Odd.

So, work one day next week, out to Ikea and to Lenny and Joe's with Lynne on Thursday and to see the doctor (DiSilvestro's partner) on Wednesday. Friday there's something going on too...oh, Sandy may be off and we may go to the Woodstock Fair. Saturday is Richard and David's wedding picnic. Sunday I'm watching Janet's dogs while she is in Maine, so I may spend some time over there.

The time should fly.

Sox are beating Toronto (again) with Bucholtz spinning a beauty on the mound. Great game. Gonna go watch it.

Nighty night.

Follow up to yesterday's post

I forgot to include what happened while we were at Foxwoods!

When we got back to Janet's house, we saw that my car's lights were on....we were puzzled...and then realized that the car was still running! Sandy had forgotten to turn it off. It ran on some gasoline and mostly the battery for almost six hours. I dare anyone without a hybrid to do that!

My mileage notice read 26.4 mpg after this...prior to this it had read 38.7 mpg...when I turned the car over to Sandy.

I don't blame her...it is so easy to forget to turn the car off and it's so hard to realize that it is still running. It's so quiet. However, she did say that she heard the car beeping at her as she locked the doors. That's the alert we need to pay attention to.

And Jean told me that as she and Dorothy were leaving the gaming area after the show Saturday night a guy got up from his chair in front of a slot machine and just dropped to the floor. She was pretty sure he was dead. Sandy says that happens frequently at the casinos. They call them "casino cardiacs." I bet (get it?) that people ignore the symptoms so they can continue gambling. That is sad.

I can't believe that I forgot to include these tidbits...they are arguably the most interesting things about the weekend!

Oh, and I love the Lutherans! They are allowing non-celibate gay clergy to continue preaching.
Good for them!

Sunday and the Sox are going down.....

again.....to the Stankees. UGH! Oh well, maybe they will snap out of it in the ninth!

We ate outside on the deck tonight, steak, stuffed potatoes, winter squash and we each had an ear of corn picked fresh from Sandy's garden. Three years she's been growing corn...tonight is the first time I had any of it...and it was very, very good.

Went to the Schultzberg Family reunion yesterday. Always a great time....and yesterday was no exception. Couldn't stay long as we had a dinner date and tickets to an event at Foxwoods in the evening. Went to pick up Bob and Wini on my way to Uxbridge and they had forgotten all about it...Bob was in his shorts and t-shirt, bare footed, standing on a stepstool, washing the kitchen cupboards when I got there. He looked very cute with his new glasses. Makes him look 20 years younger!

Wini was trying to convince him to go with me, but he felt it would be too much for him and I have to agree. He doesn't know everyone there and it creates anxiety for him. It's too confusing now for him to be in large groups of folks he doesn't know well. I told him I would have Shirley and Gus come down for dinner and invite him and Wini to come too. He liked that idea and so did they. Jean and Dave will bring Shirl and Gus. It will be nice.

So I went alone and stayed for a couple of hours, then flew home in time to throw some different clothes on and get in the car to go to Janet's. We made it there in time, met Barry for the first time and really liked him. Janet, Jess, Barry, Sandy and I loaded into their van and off we went to Foxwoods. We met Jean and Dorothy at California Pizza (Dorothy's suggestion) and we had a very good meal there. I would go again.

Then we played some slots, I got ripped off by one of the machines....I had $18.45 credit, punched out and took the slip to another machine to play. It wouldn't let me play and pushed out a ticket for .20! I took it to a machine attendant who traced the whole thing...the machine ripped me off...but someone came along behind me and played the rest of my credits! I didn't see anyone at that machine...but that's what the printout said...so..... Maybe that's how the casinos make their money now. Good thing I gamble only about once a year and limit it to $20!

Then it was time for the show: "The Legends" show. It was comprised of celebrity lookalikes/singalikes. "Garth Brooks, Gwen Stefani, Bette Midler, Elton John and Elvis." Most of them were pretty good and it was fun singing along with them. We had a great time, laughing and singing.

I really like Barry and Sandy did too. Jean and Dorothy couldn't get over how easily he got along with the four of us who he had never met before. He is an easy-going guy and we are very happy for Janet! She deserves the best!

Well...there is one out in the ninth, doesn't look good for the home team. I've taken my night meds and should be crashing soon...so I'll say:


Nighty night.