I have found out that you forget a lot when your on pain medication. Sharon asked me today if I applied my medication for my radiation recall. I remember thinking I should do it, but I never carried out the thought. That has happened a lot recently. I keep thinking it's Tuesday because it has only been two days since I've been home and that means it's Tuesday not Wed. That makes sense doesn't it. It seems perfectly logical to me.
My BS is still a bit screwed up. It was 189 this morning. My BP was 112/71 and my HR was 73. I found another insulin pen today that I can use when my BS is too high in between meals. I don't like to use them, but when you are trying to get regulated, it's the only thing to use. Hopefully it will be corrected by the weekend.
Brian, Darrin, and the kids took off for Tim's in Northern Michigan at around 2pm today and will be gone until Monday. I'm home alone, so if anyone wants to come over and cook etc. feel free to do so. You can actually do what ever you want too. The pool is in great shape and warm. I'm easy to please food wise, and I'm a brilliant conversationalist. I broke, so don't expect any money, just plenty of thank yous and pleases. I'm very easy to take care of as long as you do it just the way I like it. Just ask Sharon, she has been doing it her way for 47 years.
Hopefully by the time the kids get back, I will be off the drugs and able to drive the car I let them barrow for the week. It's great having Darrin and Riley home, but there not actually here very long at all. We did get a chance to be with them in Carlsbad, so it is about as long as we ever get to see them. I think there was a song about that. "I'm going to grow up just like you dad."
Love to all Tom
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
6-29-10
Hi ya kids hi ya hi ya. Well I made it through the surgery and now I'm at home recovering. I do want to thank all of you for your prayers and concerns. I will now give you a funny blow by blow of what I can remember of the surgery days or is it daze????/
It's 5:20 am Friday the 25th. of June 2010. I'm in front of the check in lady, and she has no idea what she is doing or why she is doing it. She asks Matilda some questions and she too has no idea of what they are doing. We ask if we should take the ribbon of paper we just produced when we checked in. She's not sure and asks Matilda again. Matilda is not sure either. They both decide it's best if we both sit down and wait to be called on by Sapphire. When we get the call, Sapphire, as you might expect, is new, and has no idea of how to even work the typewriter. Yes, I said typewriter, the computer is not working. We find that Sapphire, is new, because she is from a crack team of fill-in's. It seems the POOL of fill-in's are being tested to see if they have any, who can actually, FILL IN.
We are finally escorted to an actual medical pool that is also being occupied by the FILL IN'S .COM club. This one does say RN on her name tag, so we expect she is actually an RN. Or at least we think so. She is now asking actual medical information. Such as are you here for an operation?????? Explain the procedure you are expecting. Are you able to do this procedure yourself???? No, she didn't say that!!!! I just thought she might say that at this point. She then asked all the stuff about my medical history and the medications I was on etc. After that, I was escorted to another exam room and a new nurse appeared. This one had no identification on her at all. When I ask her about that fact, I was told she forgot it in the car this morning. I told her I would wait for her to get it, she just laughed and continued to give me a BP test and a Blood sample for diabetes. I then asked her where she went to school, for what she asked? I said for Nursing. She then asked, are you kidding me, I said no I'm just shitting ya. No. I want to know where you went for Nursing. She went to a two year accelerated program from Ivy Tech. I wanted to ask which parts did they eliminate in order to accelerate the program.
I finally met up with a real doctor and she was just that, a real doctor. She was Asian, but she could type faster than Cate, so I knew she was good. It turns out she went to Yale and was quite smart. She then handled all the other information until we met with the actual team that was to do the surgery.
The doctor that was going to handle putting me to sleep was a resident from Australia and she was in her final year of residency. More on her later. Dr Reiger was the last person I met with before the actual surgery. She again explained what she was going to do and how long it would take etc. We had been told up to four hours, but she said it would not take more than an hour and a half. With that I was escorted into the operating room after I kissed Sharon good bye.
In the operation all I can remember is how damn cold it was. When I saw Dr. Reiger in winter thick gloves, I panicked, but by the time I could say anything, I was asleep and the next thing I could remember was waking up in recovery.
Eight hours later I was finally sent up to a room. The floor that I was to be on for the next four days was completely full. I don't remember much until Saturday morning. The effects of the drugs were just wearing off and I was getting a bit testy. All I can really remember is telling the nurses that I was not going to take their drugs that I have much better drugs of my own. Believe it or not, the one nurse bought that line. As it turns out, so did the doctor that was on call for my surgeon. He said I could take my own pills except for the diabetes medication. He said they had perfected a great diabetes procedure and I would have to take theirs. Believe it or not, their's sucked. I still had to take it. I will not get into the disagreements, but they never got my blood work below 180, and it was as high as 320. Today my BS was 152 after only half a day on my system. I will not go into all I had to do to be able to get home yesterday, but let's just say I had to challenge the doctor on call to a foot race. I said I felt just fine, but they made me get off all the medication for pain and all my injections before I could leave. I did, but it was not easy to do so. I'm now on just pills for pain, but I am able to do it. It will be a week or so before they get all the tests back, but I'm sure I will free from any detectable cancer at that time. I have it from a good source. God. He told me that I would be OK, at least for now. He did say however that prayer was still a darn good idea. Thanks all, I love each and every one of you. Tom
It's 5:20 am Friday the 25th. of June 2010. I'm in front of the check in lady, and she has no idea what she is doing or why she is doing it. She asks Matilda some questions and she too has no idea of what they are doing. We ask if we should take the ribbon of paper we just produced when we checked in. She's not sure and asks Matilda again. Matilda is not sure either. They both decide it's best if we both sit down and wait to be called on by Sapphire. When we get the call, Sapphire, as you might expect, is new, and has no idea of how to even work the typewriter. Yes, I said typewriter, the computer is not working. We find that Sapphire, is new, because she is from a crack team of fill-in's. It seems the POOL of fill-in's are being tested to see if they have any, who can actually, FILL IN.
We are finally escorted to an actual medical pool that is also being occupied by the FILL IN'S .COM club. This one does say RN on her name tag, so we expect she is actually an RN. Or at least we think so. She is now asking actual medical information. Such as are you here for an operation?????? Explain the procedure you are expecting. Are you able to do this procedure yourself???? No, she didn't say that!!!! I just thought she might say that at this point. She then asked all the stuff about my medical history and the medications I was on etc. After that, I was escorted to another exam room and a new nurse appeared. This one had no identification on her at all. When I ask her about that fact, I was told she forgot it in the car this morning. I told her I would wait for her to get it, she just laughed and continued to give me a BP test and a Blood sample for diabetes. I then asked her where she went to school, for what she asked? I said for Nursing. She then asked, are you kidding me, I said no I'm just shitting ya. No. I want to know where you went for Nursing. She went to a two year accelerated program from Ivy Tech. I wanted to ask which parts did they eliminate in order to accelerate the program.
I finally met up with a real doctor and she was just that, a real doctor. She was Asian, but she could type faster than Cate, so I knew she was good. It turns out she went to Yale and was quite smart. She then handled all the other information until we met with the actual team that was to do the surgery.
The doctor that was going to handle putting me to sleep was a resident from Australia and she was in her final year of residency. More on her later. Dr Reiger was the last person I met with before the actual surgery. She again explained what she was going to do and how long it would take etc. We had been told up to four hours, but she said it would not take more than an hour and a half. With that I was escorted into the operating room after I kissed Sharon good bye.
In the operation all I can remember is how damn cold it was. When I saw Dr. Reiger in winter thick gloves, I panicked, but by the time I could say anything, I was asleep and the next thing I could remember was waking up in recovery.
Eight hours later I was finally sent up to a room. The floor that I was to be on for the next four days was completely full. I don't remember much until Saturday morning. The effects of the drugs were just wearing off and I was getting a bit testy. All I can really remember is telling the nurses that I was not going to take their drugs that I have much better drugs of my own. Believe it or not, the one nurse bought that line. As it turns out, so did the doctor that was on call for my surgeon. He said I could take my own pills except for the diabetes medication. He said they had perfected a great diabetes procedure and I would have to take theirs. Believe it or not, their's sucked. I still had to take it. I will not get into the disagreements, but they never got my blood work below 180, and it was as high as 320. Today my BS was 152 after only half a day on my system. I will not go into all I had to do to be able to get home yesterday, but let's just say I had to challenge the doctor on call to a foot race. I said I felt just fine, but they made me get off all the medication for pain and all my injections before I could leave. I did, but it was not easy to do so. I'm now on just pills for pain, but I am able to do it. It will be a week or so before they get all the tests back, but I'm sure I will free from any detectable cancer at that time. I have it from a good source. God. He told me that I would be OK, at least for now. He did say however that prayer was still a darn good idea. Thanks all, I love each and every one of you. Tom
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
6-22-10
For those of you that thought I dropped off the face of the earth, you were wrong. I just could not get to the computer. At the CBI you are only allowed to use the computer for 20 minutes at a time. I have a hard enough time just signing in, much less answering any e-mail etc. I could not write much in the time left over. I then came home to find that my internet was down due to a storm on Friday. So today we got the new Router and now I can communicate again.
I hope I have not lost too many viewers, I'm scheduled to go to the hospital Thursday and I will have my surgery at 7am on Friday. If they can do the scope type surgery, I'll be out in two or three days, if they have to do more than scope, I will be in another day or so. I have to go Thursday to get some tests done etc. I did have my blood test done and my hemoglobin came from 7 up to 11.2. I found out that normal is from 12 to 18. However they said it was good enough to have the surgery.
I have been trying to do as much activity as I can stand. Today I had to cut 16 bolts out of the cement where we had the slide, that the Insurance Co. said I must eliminate, used to be. It seemed like a simple job since we have a drummel tool that has every attachment known to man. However this man was not able to put the right combination together to get the job done. I tried like four different combinations and all of them were too small to actually cut the bolts. Since they have been in the ground since 1988, I guess they were harder than the new junk they sell today. I finally had to get a drill driver and an old cut off saw blade that I had and got down as close to the cement as I could and cut them off. Of course I had to change all my clothes because I was scared to death that something would go flying and cut me somewhere. So I'm out there in a winter jacket and long jeans and goggles and winter gloves. It had to be at least 85 and I was sweating like a stuffed pig. It would have been OK if I could have done it quickly, but it was not happening quickly. Besides that, after I cut them off as close as I could, I had to then grind them down so they did not stick out of the cement. All in all it was a two hour job, and then I had to put all the damn tools I had gotten out, away. Hell, it took another 30 minutes to do that. I still haven't wound up all the power cords I had to use to get the power to the drill. That's another thing, I could not find my battery powered drill, so I had to have three power cords that I had to hunt for, to get the job completed. Now I'm tired after writing all this out.
As to my health, I'm still have to treat the radiation recall with the three different topical treatments that I have. It has gone down quit a bit, but it still is swollen. I had to use it quite a bit today with the drill and all, but it seemed to be OK after I was finished. My BS was 125 this morning which is OK but not great. My HR was 79 and my BP was 128/72. I have much more energy, but I still have to rest after about 30 minutes of activity. I have been sleeping well and getting about 7 to 8 hours a night.
I will try to keep you all up to date as to what is happening. I can still use the prayers, I did get the Prayer for the Sick yesterday, but I will take all I can get. Thanks for listening. Love ya, Tom
I hope I have not lost too many viewers, I'm scheduled to go to the hospital Thursday and I will have my surgery at 7am on Friday. If they can do the scope type surgery, I'll be out in two or three days, if they have to do more than scope, I will be in another day or so. I have to go Thursday to get some tests done etc. I did have my blood test done and my hemoglobin came from 7 up to 11.2. I found out that normal is from 12 to 18. However they said it was good enough to have the surgery.
I have been trying to do as much activity as I can stand. Today I had to cut 16 bolts out of the cement where we had the slide, that the Insurance Co. said I must eliminate, used to be. It seemed like a simple job since we have a drummel tool that has every attachment known to man. However this man was not able to put the right combination together to get the job done. I tried like four different combinations and all of them were too small to actually cut the bolts. Since they have been in the ground since 1988, I guess they were harder than the new junk they sell today. I finally had to get a drill driver and an old cut off saw blade that I had and got down as close to the cement as I could and cut them off. Of course I had to change all my clothes because I was scared to death that something would go flying and cut me somewhere. So I'm out there in a winter jacket and long jeans and goggles and winter gloves. It had to be at least 85 and I was sweating like a stuffed pig. It would have been OK if I could have done it quickly, but it was not happening quickly. Besides that, after I cut them off as close as I could, I had to then grind them down so they did not stick out of the cement. All in all it was a two hour job, and then I had to put all the damn tools I had gotten out, away. Hell, it took another 30 minutes to do that. I still haven't wound up all the power cords I had to use to get the power to the drill. That's another thing, I could not find my battery powered drill, so I had to have three power cords that I had to hunt for, to get the job completed. Now I'm tired after writing all this out.
As to my health, I'm still have to treat the radiation recall with the three different topical treatments that I have. It has gone down quit a bit, but it still is swollen. I had to use it quite a bit today with the drill and all, but it seemed to be OK after I was finished. My BS was 125 this morning which is OK but not great. My HR was 79 and my BP was 128/72. I have much more energy, but I still have to rest after about 30 minutes of activity. I have been sleeping well and getting about 7 to 8 hours a night.
I will try to keep you all up to date as to what is happening. I can still use the prayers, I did get the Prayer for the Sick yesterday, but I will take all I can get. Thanks for listening. Love ya, Tom
Monday, June 14, 2010
6-14-10
The weekend was busy and now I'm waiting for the gang to get here. Tom and I are going to the Del Mar Fair tomorrow and I'm excited to see how far I can go. I've been feeling good, but my radiation recall arm is still big and red. I've been using my medication, but it is being mean. My BS is OK and was actually at 86 one morning. We went to Pollo Loco and the meal was great. Tom did not want to go, because he said it wll just be another fast food junk place. He loved it. So did I. They grill the chicken and it has the best taste and it is moist as it can be. It actually falls off the bone, but it is still moist.
I'll let you know how I do tomorrow. I'm going to see how many of Sharon's old Lottery people are around at their booth. Untill later. Love Tom
I'll let you know how I do tomorrow. I'm going to see how many of Sharon's old Lottery people are around at their booth. Untill later. Love Tom
Saturday, June 12, 2010
6-12-10
I thought it was time to let you know that I still exist. I've been in Carlsbad for an Annual meeting and then I headed for Phoenix on Tuesday. I had some things I had to do and some people I had to see. By the way, the real estate market is still in terrible shape. Most of the homes are upside down unless you bought in the early 90's and I did. Most of the ones that were bought in the 2000's are as much as 1/2 there original price. It might be a good time to buy, but not a good time to sell.
From Phoenix I went to the Las Vegas area, and it ism no better real estate wise. The strip is still there and there were a bunch of California people driving to Las Vegas from LA etc. I stopped to see a friend who has a new business near Las Vegas and he thinks things will be good for him shortly. Now only time will tell, we'll have to see how them wind blows.
As for me, my radiation recall has returned. I've got the medication, so it should get better in about a week. No way to check my BP and HR but my BS has been OK I'll keep you informed
I was on the computer at the CBI and there is a 20 minute limit and I had been on much longer than that and a lady ask me to please let her use it for just a few minutes. Being on the board, it's not a good idea to tell her no.
The entire family will be here in less than a week. It's Caila's 18th birthday on the 18th of June. Her golden birthday. It's the only time in her life that it will happen. It's also the only time in her life that she will turn 18. So any way we are going to celebrate.
Love to all
Tom
From Phoenix I went to the Las Vegas area, and it ism no better real estate wise. The strip is still there and there were a bunch of California people driving to Las Vegas from LA etc. I stopped to see a friend who has a new business near Las Vegas and he thinks things will be good for him shortly. Now only time will tell, we'll have to see how them wind blows.
As for me, my radiation recall has returned. I've got the medication, so it should get better in about a week. No way to check my BP and HR but my BS has been OK I'll keep you informed
I was on the computer at the CBI and there is a 20 minute limit and I had been on much longer than that and a lady ask me to please let her use it for just a few minutes. Being on the board, it's not a good idea to tell her no.
The entire family will be here in less than a week. It's Caila's 18th birthday on the 18th of June. Her golden birthday. It's the only time in her life that it will happen. It's also the only time in her life that she will turn 18. So any way we are going to celebrate.
Love to all
Tom
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
6-02-10
Happy Birthday Sharon, she has finally caught up with me, we are both the same age for the next 3 months. As she said today, she got the best birthday gift she has ever had. We found out today that I have only one Sarcoma, left on my lungs. It is close to the surface and should be able to be gotten with a scope and a camera. When I met with Dr. Rushing today he was very matter of fact, and called me a survivor once again. He examined me and said everything look just fine. He then went and looked at the CT Scan. When he came back in, he said I have some very good news. There is only one Sarcoma on your lung, and it has shrunk in size from the last scan. He then went on to explain what that could mean. As he said, they will not know if it is entirely dead at this point, or what % of the sarcoma is dead and what part alive. He also explained, for the first time, that the sarcoma on my arm was actually different than what he had at first thought. Sarcoma's are the rarest of all cancers, but there are still many different kinds of sarcoma's. The reason they stopped giving me chemo the first time was that they could not stop the sarcoma from growing. The chemo they decided to use was not the best one for the kind of sarcoma it turned out to be. The one that I have on my lung is as rare as hen's teeth. The surgeon was actually excited to be able to remove the sarcoma so she could have it analysed and tested to see what chemo's work on it, and which ones do nothing. She told us they never get to see this kind of sarcoma. I've known I was always special, but I didn't know how rare I was. This whole thing has been an experiment I now find out. It was a new use of already tried chemo's, but they were administered differently and in higher amount than normal. They took me down as low as I could go. I found out today that there was no way I could have had any more chemo.
I still do not know what happened to the other sarcoma's that were first visible on the scan. As Dr Rushing said, I know what we can do, I still do not know what God wants to do. He explained that they have not been able to kill sarcoma's under normal circumstances. They have killed just about every kind of cancer in the lab, but not in a human. I only know this, I will never underestimate the power of prayer. I know I had a tremendous amount of people praying for me. I even had a lady at the grocery tell me she was praying for me. To my knowledge, I have never met this lady. I was checking out and she was in front of me, and as she was ready to go and I was getting things out of my basket, she touched my hand and just whispered, I praying for you sir, good luck with your cancer. The ladies at the bread store told me Tuesday that they were all praying for me.
The other prayer that has come almost true it the fact that Maura's old roommate that owns the Boston Celtics, has offered me and Maura a ticket to tomorrows game. I must now some how get on the early flight out of Fort Wayne to Dallas so I can get into San Diego early enough to catch the 6pm game in LA. Now I still need prayers for that to happen. I know it is not all that important, but it sure makes a guy feel special. I knew there was a reason I was always nice to her when she would come to visit during college with Maura. She has been a great friend to Maura and her family.
As for me, my BP was a little high today at the Dr's office 140/78 and my HR 76 This morning it was 123/65 but my HR was also 76. My BS was a little high again at 156. I feel so much better, I drove both ways, 250 miles today. I did happen to get a hours nap after I got home at pm. It's now 8:30 and I have to o pack. This might be my last blog for a while. It depends on when I can get on a computer in Carlsbad. Love to all. Tom
I still do not know what happened to the other sarcoma's that were first visible on the scan. As Dr Rushing said, I know what we can do, I still do not know what God wants to do. He explained that they have not been able to kill sarcoma's under normal circumstances. They have killed just about every kind of cancer in the lab, but not in a human. I only know this, I will never underestimate the power of prayer. I know I had a tremendous amount of people praying for me. I even had a lady at the grocery tell me she was praying for me. To my knowledge, I have never met this lady. I was checking out and she was in front of me, and as she was ready to go and I was getting things out of my basket, she touched my hand and just whispered, I praying for you sir, good luck with your cancer. The ladies at the bread store told me Tuesday that they were all praying for me.
The other prayer that has come almost true it the fact that Maura's old roommate that owns the Boston Celtics, has offered me and Maura a ticket to tomorrows game. I must now some how get on the early flight out of Fort Wayne to Dallas so I can get into San Diego early enough to catch the 6pm game in LA. Now I still need prayers for that to happen. I know it is not all that important, but it sure makes a guy feel special. I knew there was a reason I was always nice to her when she would come to visit during college with Maura. She has been a great friend to Maura and her family.
As for me, my BP was a little high today at the Dr's office 140/78 and my HR 76 This morning it was 123/65 but my HR was also 76. My BS was a little high again at 156. I feel so much better, I drove both ways, 250 miles today. I did happen to get a hours nap after I got home at pm. It's now 8:30 and I have to o pack. This might be my last blog for a while. It depends on when I can get on a computer in Carlsbad. Love to all. Tom
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
6-01-10
June 1st., do you believe it. I got up early today, 6:30am and took a long hot shower and got dressed and headed for the bread store. It is the first time I have done the bread order in about three months. I had to get five racks of bread, so it was one of our larger orders. If you get there around 8am there is usually only restaurants there fighting for the good stuff. This time there was a church that gives the bread to the deserving people of their church. There was one of their guys on the floor kneeling in prayer in front of the white bread. I sort of joked and said something funny, at least I thought it was funny, and the other guy said he is giving thanks for the abundance of bread today. I wanted to say if he gets out of the way, there will be twelve less loaves to pray over. I've seen these guys before, but have never seen the guy who was praying. He seemed to be one of those over the top religious guys that prays over anything. When they couldn't find the kaiser rolls I wanted him to pray for me. Not really, I just asked one of the girls if they had any in the back. Thank God, they did. So I knelt down and said my prayer, paid and left.
My next stop was the butcher shop to get some beef for the beef Manhattans. Believe it or not, beef has gone up 20% in a week. Pork went up 40% a week or so ago. We will definitely have to raise prices if this keeps up. It's ok if it is just up for a couple of weeks and then comes back down, but this is crazy.
By the way I was able to walk and do all the lifting in the bread store. At the butcher shop I had the boy lift the 50 lbs of beef, but I did walk the entire distance back to the back of the store. It is a very large place, they have an electric cart, but I walked today. I then took of to the Essen House and was able to walk all the halls of the Manor House. I have not been able to even walk from the restaurant to the nurses station for at least the last two months. Today I was able to walk the entire circumstance of the place. I feet hurt, but I at least have the energy to do the walking. I'm sure that by the time I get back from Carlsbad I should be much stronger and able to walk much further and faster.
My BP today 123/56 my HR 68 and BS 171. It was a bit high today, because Brian brought home some cheddar cheese pop corn and I had some before bed time last night. Brian made me do it.
I'm all pack and ready to go to Carlsbad. Tomorrow we head for Indy early for a 10:30 appointment with Dr. Rushing and a 11:30 with the surgeon. We will know what's what tomorrow and I will let you all know tomorrow night because I will be busy Thursday on my way to Carlsbad.
Thaks all yolks, Tom
My next stop was the butcher shop to get some beef for the beef Manhattans. Believe it or not, beef has gone up 20% in a week. Pork went up 40% a week or so ago. We will definitely have to raise prices if this keeps up. It's ok if it is just up for a couple of weeks and then comes back down, but this is crazy.
By the way I was able to walk and do all the lifting in the bread store. At the butcher shop I had the boy lift the 50 lbs of beef, but I did walk the entire distance back to the back of the store. It is a very large place, they have an electric cart, but I walked today. I then took of to the Essen House and was able to walk all the halls of the Manor House. I have not been able to even walk from the restaurant to the nurses station for at least the last two months. Today I was able to walk the entire circumstance of the place. I feet hurt, but I at least have the energy to do the walking. I'm sure that by the time I get back from Carlsbad I should be much stronger and able to walk much further and faster.
My BP today 123/56 my HR 68 and BS 171. It was a bit high today, because Brian brought home some cheddar cheese pop corn and I had some before bed time last night. Brian made me do it.
I'm all pack and ready to go to Carlsbad. Tomorrow we head for Indy early for a 10:30 appointment with Dr. Rushing and a 11:30 with the surgeon. We will know what's what tomorrow and I will let you all know tomorrow night because I will be busy Thursday on my way to Carlsbad.
Thaks all yolks, Tom
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
