Got another one under the belt

Well yesterday was a long.... grueling.... day.
Whew am I glad it is over!
Mike was great and was there with me through the whole day. We did not get home until around 5.
And once again I am on the mend. (re-mend).

{FeVeR}

Hi well my appointment went pretty good at the surgeon. There is still alot of swelling, but she said we don't need to put a drain in. Whew...that was a relief. The hospitals day surgery nurse called today, I told here I woke up with a bit of a sore throat. She told me to go on an antibiotic as a precaution. They scheduled the surgery on my kidney for 9:30 Monday. I was really glad the nurse told me to get on an antibiotic, because I kept feeling worse and worse throughout the day. Last night was one of the top 10 nights for feeling like...well.. crap. I ran a high fever most of the night, and had violent chills. I am on the uphill swing now. Hopefully I will be well enough on Monday, I would hate it if they rescheduled my surgery.


Something to make you smile

Too much info!!!

I needed a laugh!!!


The last few days were pretty rough. My surgeon said this last surgery would take longer to recover from. And of course I didn't believe her. Guess what? She was right! One of these days I will learn to listen.
Well today I actually feel like I can be counted among the living! Woo Hoo!!! I can move without pain!!! Not that I am ready to run a marathon (I will leave that to Kale).
The last few days being laid up, there really was not too much to do, and I am not into daytime TV. So I spent most of my time doing more research on Melanoma, Interferon, Kidney Stents, procedures, physical and emotional side effects, survival and remembrance stories........argh!!!! Too much information, sometimes I think it might be better to go into the whole experience without any knowledge of what is coming or what I might expect.
So today I think I will stay off line after I am done with my post.
Today I have a followup appointment with the Surgeon. I guess it is just a checkup.

On a happier note, I need to share with you how wonderful my neighbors and co-workers (friends)have been. All their words of encouragement, calls and support. I know I will say this a million times over, but without you guys I think this would be a pretty miserable thing to go through. So thanks!

monday!

Good Morning Monday!
This is a new take on Monday, Boy am I glad it is here. The weekend was pretty tough. I did too much on Friday (thinking I was so strong I could do more than I should) I know doctors rules only apply to others. So I paid for it this weekend, what do they say? One step forward and two steps back?

Well I will try to follow the doctors rules for the rest of the week. I do have a follow up appointment later this week. So I will behave myself.

I have plenty to do, Dave at work is expecting his first baby, to date I don't know If I need to work on pink or blue afghans... So I guess I will need to work on both."Any chances there are twins Dave?"

Have a great week everyone!

Interferon???

What a shock!
I went to see the Oncologist, thinking he would want to do a few radiation treatments and then follow up with a scan every 6 months or so. The Surgeon told us last week we got all the cancer and everything looked good.
Boy was I wrong!?? That's what I get for thinking for myself.
I am still trying to digest the treatment, and learn as much as I can about it, so forgive me if I post something that is not quite accurate. I am sure in the future I will get more accurate information, and a first hand experience.

After I get the Kidney stent, the doctors want to give me 4 weeks to heal and then start the therapy. I thought OK "therapy" that sounds fairly easy. As the Doctor started to explain the "therapy" I wanted to stop time so I could grasp all he was saying.

I will start on August the 18th - going to the hospital every day for 4 weeks for an IV of 20million units, (I am not sure how much that is, but I wish it were dollars)
After the 4 weeks is complete then 48 weeks of self injections 3 days a week.
The side effects sound pretty violent. But I am going to try not to thinks of that.

So anyway thats where I am today.
I am sure I will have alot of boring stats to fill everyone in on later.

Here we go again!

So I am home from the hospital.
I had surgery again first thing this morning.
They took out another few nodes and went in a little deeper, to clean up surrounding tissue. I am in more pain than last time, but hopefully we got it all this time.
Mike has been my strength through this whole ordeal.
Friday I will see the oncologist and see what the next step will be.

On a lighter note. I have better pain meds, so that makes me smile.
I am go grateful for all my friends and family for all the notes, cards, calls, prayers and support. You have made this "adventure" bearable!

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Happy 4th of July! from North Carolina!
After getting our news from the surgeon. Mike and I decided he needed to take his Corvette for a break it in trip and I decided I needed to see our Grand Babies... so here we are in North Carolina!

Our Grandsons are the cutest little guys east of the Mississippi. Every time I get to hug these little guys it is a jolt to my well being!
Cory and Krystal have a beautiful home and really fun neighbors. We were able to see the new building C3 built . It was a very impressive building. Mike and I we disappointed that we were not able to stay to here Cory preach (we needed to get on the road early to avoid all the traffic and Mike had work that needed to be done before Monday). http://www.c3church.com/



Mike and I feel so lucky to be born in this country and to be able to enjoy all the freedoms we have. And feel so moved by those that sacrificed so much for the freedoms we enjoy!

10 years!!! Hooray!

Well today Mike and I celebrate or 10th anniversary.
I can't believe how quickly the past 10 years have flown by. And all the adventures we have had. We have watched the kids finish growing up, Krystal got married Cory came into the "fold" had two beautiful children. We survived Kale and all of his teen years and watched him become an incredible young man. Teresa went through her teen years and is married. we bought one home and built another. Along with mostly up and downs! What a ride!!!

So anyway we just got back from the surgeons office, we got the results of the PET scan. There are 2 more lymph nodes that have cancer, so I will go back for one more surgery on the 9th. She will remove those and hopefully that will be all of the cancer removed. Then we get to think about the oncologist. woo hoo! In the mean time Mike and I are so happy that that is the only cancer left.
We have had so many people praying for us and I know that that is the reason this has not spread into any vital organs... So all in all we are so happy with the out come of today! And looking forward to celebrating our next 10 years!

Nothinig is easy

Well today Mike took me to the Urologist - Things just get better and better.
My kidney is only functioning at 20 percent - which isn't too bad . But with the upcoming chemo I will need strong kidneys, so..... there is a patch they can do until we get a He will be putting in a stent to hopefully help my failing kidney keep up with the requirements my body will need, this surgery will need to be done every 3 months. (hmm I wonder if the hospital has a frequent flyer club)

I am so blessed to have so many people praying for Mike and myself, the love that comes from so many people, both people we know and perfect strangers.
Wow it truly makes me feel so humble, you all fill my heart with so much joy.
Thank you all so much for your prayers and good wishes.
I know whatever the outcome is, God will be with us each step of the way.

PET Scan

Hey I had my pet scan today. It was really weird, they took me back to the testing area we kept going, out the doors into the parking lot. I started laughing at the guy saying hey wait I didn't do anything wrong, where are you taking me. He laughed and we walked up to this futuristic trailer with Radio Active signs all over it... A elevator came down and took us up, Steel doors opened up and there were 2 computer chairs and a monitoring station as soon as we walked in. The steel doors closed and they lead me back to a room with silver radioactive canisters, The technician injected me with the radioactive material that came from a silver canisters.
I said, "if I start to turn green there may be a sequel to the incredable hulk"
Well to make a long story short, I was in this "futuristic lab " for 2.5 hours. Amazing where technology has taken us!
I asked the technicians where this unit was from. He said this ones home base is in Philadelphia and they come to Dover once a week. I am so lucky to live in an area where this type of technology is available.