Home Sweet Home

Sorry for the absence of posts lately, but my hands are still not working very well so this will be short. Being home is really nice and I think I am making good progress with my rehabilitation. Both a physical and occupational therapist are coming to the house once a week. They have given me a rigorous regimen of exercises and my caregiver sees to it that I stick to the schedule. I also walk every day and am up a quarter of a mile. I use a cane while walking and occasionally use my walker in the house, but I am doing more and more unaided. Well that's all I can handle for now, but will try to do better as things progress.

More Adventures

Much has happened since my last post. I am in the hospital in San Francisco having come here to have a nice vacation with my grandson and my granddaughter. Good plans don't always work out and in this case I had a stroke sometime Saturday night and have been pretty much unable to do much of anything since. However, we are fighting the good fight, we're in rehab, and I think some progress is being made.
I'm hoping to be able to go home early next week and to continue rehab in Seattle since all of my doctors are there. My personal belief is you always heal better at home and I've got to believe I will be more comfortable around things with which I am familiar, so we will see how it all goes and we'll try to keep you posted.
This post is being sent to you thanks to the services of my granddaughter, Sarah, as it's impossible for me at this point to type. So, we'll be in touch.

NEWS

No news is good news is an old adage, but some news is not always bad, nor is it always good. Sometimes it’s somewhere in between. My new news is somewhere in between or as my oncologist put it I have gone from “too good to be true” to “not so bad.”. The CT scan done Tuesday showed a large pleural effusion (fluid) on the left lung and the cancer is showing some activity. Nothing terribly alarming, but it is there. The fluid was causing some serious breathlessness so I had that drained this morning, We got about two and one-half liters. So I am feeling much better and when the lung adjusts, it usually takes a day, I will be feeling fine again and will be able to breath normally. We have two choices. Wait awhile and see if the cancer and fluid build up continue. In that scenario I would have checkups every three weeks. The other choice is to go back on chemo with the hope that we can get back to “too good to be true.” My choice is the go back on chemo and nip this in the bud if we can. We will taking a smaller dose of Alimta than we did the last time and the hope is that I will be able to tolerate it and that it will do as good a job on the cancer as it did the last time. The first treatment will be in two weeks. If the chemo has adverse effects to the point that I can’t function normally then we’ll make another decision. None of this is particularly surprising, Cancers were born to grow and I knew that at some point we would have to fight this thing again. So, we will. I am disappointed, but not bummed. I know I will continue to have all of the great support and positive thoughts that I have had in the past and you can’t know how much I appreciate that

ON TO THE FUTURE

The lack of postings over the last several weeks sh0uld serve as a good indicator that things are going well. I am fully recovered from the fall and I am feeling great. I will go in for another CT scan this coming Tuesday and we are hoping that it will yield a good result. I am still working with the
Afib problem, but it seems to be much better now. I don't know if I mentioned it in previous posts, but I have also been diagnosed with diabetes so I am taking insulin.

I have gone back to work and have been doing some traveling. Other than some fatigue I have been getting along just fine.

With my health problems pretty much under control I will have to find other things to talk about. Politics seems like a good place to start. Now that Obama has the Demo side wrapped up we'll begin the real race. I have misgivings about both candidates. How do you feel?

UPDATE

I am rapidly recovering from the effects of my fall. There is still some soreness in my legs, but the pain is pretty much gone from my ribs. I had been curious why my legs had been so badly bruised because I didn’t think they had been directly involved in the fall. My doctor tells me that the bruises are caused by the blood from the internal bleeding settling in my legs. Good old gravity at work. Nonetheless is was quite painful and I am very grateful that I am now much more comfortable and able to get around without grimacing. The really good news is that I had an appointment with my oncologist on Tuesday and the cancer in my lung is essentially gone and there is no sign of growth. Because of the fall and the issues with my heart my doctor said, “I am not used to having one of my patients whose cancer is the third or fourth most serious thing they have to deal with.” So that part is really good and if I can stay away from any new setbacks I will be in great shape.

EXPLANATION

The bruises you see in the previous post are on my legs. That has been and still is quite painful but not life threatening. The big problem was the bruised liver which I was not able to take a picture of. However, if the bruises were this bad on my legs you can only imagine what trauma my liver suffered. So, I am a lucky puppy that everything is healing properly.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DON'T PAY ATTENTION

You all know about the fall but I thought you might like to see my bruises and also see that life in the hospital isn't all that bad. There is always someone around fussing over you and getting you whatever you want. The downside of that it is a difficult to get any sustained sleep when you are being awakened every two hours for meds, checking life signs or, it sometimes seems, just waking you up for the fun of it. Another downside is that the food is not that exciting. I am home now and the care here is just as good as the hospital and it's a lot more comfortable being in familiar surroundings. My daughter Jeanine is here doing yeoman service and appropriately babying me. It's working because I am feeling a lot better, the pain is subsiding, my bodily functions are operating properly, I have a good appetite and my balance is better, although I am using a walker just to be safe. So, I am on the mend and expect to improve every day.