Unbeknownst to me, Rick made his own post for this weeks update!
Oct 082013
Oct 072013
Well, we are officially on the downhill side of the mountain as far as Chemo appointments are concerned. 2 more left after today.
Woohoo!!
Rick has a couple more radiation treatments to go through before we can made the same statement, but that milestone will be accomplished this week and with fingers crossed the daily road trips to Rice Lake will cease and desist after November 4th.
Last week was pretty good, but not as good as Week 2. There was a little more “blah-ness” and his throat is getting sore.
He did come down with a case of Thrush which was caused by the antibiotics for the infection in his salivary glad on the left side of his neck, so he was put on antibiotics to take care of that. (If you followed that closely: he was put on antibiotics to take care of a problem caused by another antibiotic. My head hurts just thinking about that one.)
While the Thrush has been sent back to the netherworld, there still remains a yeast infection in his mouth which is caused because the enzymes that are normally there to keep his mouth happy and healthy are being killed by the Chemo drugs. So guess what we got today? Yep, another prescription.
The pharmacists are getting to know us quite well.
At the onset we were told that these things were likely to happen, so I guess it was only a matter of time. And despite running a fever yesterday and last night, his blood counts were fantastic today.
We’re still keeping our hopes up and the outlook positive, and that right there can be half of the battle.
And of course it wouldn’t be Monday without a visit from a four-legged furball.
This is Piper and she is a 4-year-old Corgi. You may remember her brother Oz that visited with us in Week One. I actually saw Piper in the hallway when I was getting Rick something to eat and greeted her as her sibling, only to be informed by her person Missy that it was a different pooch altogether.
Whoops!!
It didn’t really matter though. This little girl was just happy to be petted and given lots of attention.
Which I gladly gave her.
Sep 232013
Greetings From Lac Courte Oreilles, and Hayward, WI.
This is Rick, and I am attempting to be creative tonight by adding this guest post to Sandy’s website. She really is much better at this sort of thing than me.
But I got a few minutes and thought I would add a few things about this Monday, 2nd week of actual American Cancer Treatment at the Marshfield Clinic.
First I am aware of this day all the previous week. Mondays Chemo, then radiation later in the day. But the chemo is like having a liter of Poison pumped into you over the course of an hour and a half. Prior to that they put in a liter of saline solution, and after saline there is one more bag of liquid they put in, but I forget what they called it. So all in all that took from about 9:20 am to 1:00 pm.
Then it was off to the radiation oncology center, (we were early, believe it or not!) and 1 – 20 minute session strapped into a plastic mask made just for my face. I was done for the day. We were home about 3:15 pm I suppose. Went up to the office, did paperwork for a couple hours and then came home. Got my car in the shed, gonna change the oil on it tonight. Hope it takes me to Rice Lake faithfully for the next 6-7 weeks.
Well are you looking for any words of wisdom from me regarding cancer? If so…………………
Don’t do as I did, do as I say.
Treat your body as a temple, it is the only one you got, or will get for that matter.
Don’t smoke, don’t drink, and yes don’t do that either! Be careful out there, life does not have to be fair.
Live smart and by all means, enjoy every minute. They do have an end, someday, so don’t waist your minutes in misery over this or that.
Just ain’t worth it.
Bask in the glow of each and every rainy, snowy, sunshiny, unbearably hot glorious day.
And remember when all is said and done, that I loved you, each and every one of you.
And that is the most important piece of wisdom I can pass to you, don’t forget to love yourself, and everyone in your world.
Rick
***
PS. Sandy here. I’m sure this was just an oversight on Rick’s part, but there was more to our day than all the Doctor’s, Nurses, poison and whatnot.
Yes, we had another furry friend visit us in the chemo room. This is Kimber and she was A-dorable! It’s so nice that this facility brings in these precious babies to brighten up what can be a very ugly day.
It almost makes me look forward to Mondays.
Sep 082013
When Rick found out that he had to have all his teeth pulled he wasn’t a happy camper.
Who could blame him. Only a crazy person would be excited about getting their teeth yanked out and wearing dentures.
Oh wait, that was me a couple years ago when I had all those rotten suckers pulled and replaced with my own dentures.
Well, at least I had some experience behind me and could help Rick through the process.
Which starts with going to this place. The people who work here are top notch. They give you all sorts of happy juice so that you won’t feel (or remember) a thing.
When I went through all this fun, it took months of prep-work for my dentures so that I would be able to have them put in the day of my last extraction. Since Rick is on a different schedule, he didn’t have that kind of luxury so his dentures weren’t ready on that last day and he ended up going a week with no teeth (except 2 on the bottom).
Let’s just say it was interesting trying to find things the guy could eat.
Here’s where his family, specifically his sister Mona, comes in to save the day. She gave him her Faberware Single Serve Blender which turned out to be a lifesaver!
It blended up fruit and ice cream into delicious shakes. That little gizmo will really come in handy in the months to come!
And speaking of gizmos…
When I started talking to Rick about what to look forward to with his new dentures (cleaning and maintenance), he immediately went about looking for something to make things a little easier (and less work).
What he found was an Ultrasonic Cleaner that you can plop your dentures (or watch, glasses, rings, etc) in and it will clean them in 3 minutes.
I don’t know if the guy is just lazy or a genius.
Either way, he’ll be able to keep those new chompers pearly white.
Aug 192013
It’s another fun filled Monday of going to the Doctor with Rick, this time for a pre-op for the port to be inserted for the Chemo, and I’m guessing for the stomach tube also (sounds fun, don’t it folks??).
So I thought that I’d share this trailer courtesy of themarysue. Apparently I’m not the only one who’s had this suspicion of exactly how evil squirrels can be.
The end of the trailer really brought it all home.