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JUNE NEWS and EVENTS
July 2, 5:00pm - Sorry, I've just been slammed at work and in my volunteer life. Today was chemo- I do not know how it went because Bobbi is not answering any phone I call. Yesterday was a pretty good day- 2 weeks since chemo. Bobbi actually had an appetite and ate well (for her). Her ears continue to improve and I am very relieved. The dog is a huge pain- she has learned to barn... desperately...incecesantly.... a lot... When I hear about chome I'll post it.
June 29, 5:00pm - Sorry about no update yesterday. Yesterday was a good day. Bobbi's brother Greg and wife Susan came over for brunch and we had a lovely meal and time together. Greg even got some quality time with the dog. The rest of the day was very relaxing, but we were sad cousin Becky could not come over (earache). Bobbi did pretty well, but then it's been two weeks since her last chemo. Her ear seems to be better, but my way of telling is counting the grimaces she makes (not many yesterday).
Today it's back to work for me. Kim took Kira for a checkup- we're waiting to ear the results for that. That's about all for now.
June 28, 2:00pm - Happy Saturday y'all. It's like actually having a day off! I did everything I wanted to do today (mostly nothing)- sleep late, have steak and eggs, piddle in the garden.... Bobbi and I had a lovely late breakfast cooked in our new kitchen and enjoyed in our newly cleaned back deck. I then spent a few hours catching up in the garden. Thank goodness David and Donna weeded it for me earlier in the week. It's looking great... just a few "bugs". Something is clipping the lower leaves off of my pepper plants, and something is eating holes on my eggplant and okra leaves. Everything else is nominal. We'll have tomatoes next week and it's already time to replant the lettuce.
The spinach is about done for the summer.
Bobbi is feeling relatively well. She actually ate a large (for her) lunch yesterday- two trips to the buffet at a local Chinese restaurant. Today she's been up most of the day so far. I think the the reason is the cancelled chemo treatment this week. Even though she did have her shot to build up her white blood cells (which usually wipes her out) and in spite of her ear infection, she's not been bedridden as in weeks past. Today we go see the new baby, the "the boys" will got see the new movie WALLE while the girls watch the newborn. Hey- we offered to let the girls go see the movie and the boys stay home, but alas- none of us can give milk.
July is almost here- that means a new news page for July. The "navigation header" is getting pretty big. I guess I'll start arranging by seasons! Since several people have asked for them, I'll also make separate pages for the new baby and the garden. Keep your eyes peeled!
June 27, 8:00pm - Okay- we got home a little while ago. The doctor did not like the look of her left ear and gave her some steroid drops. He's have her back in two weeks to reassess. They may need to get more aggressive.
We then went and bought baby clothes for the baby! Then we delivered them. We had a nice time with the kids. Kira slept the whole time. Ethan is adjusting to the new sibling. Then it was back to the house for Bobbi's birthday party. Brothers Steve and Dave with wives Susan and Donna along with nephew Ian. Woohoo- it's party time! I gotta go eat! More photos later!
June 27, 5:00am - Ah, my sleep patterns are whacked. Today is Bobbi's birthday! Next year we'll plan her a big sup rise party, okay? Shhhhhh..... We have an appointment with a new Ear, Nose and Throat practice, this time in Franklin, NC (about 30 miles west of us). I hope that's a big relief to her. Baby Kira and her mom continue to do great. Bobbi spent much time there yesterday, and we'll spend much time there this evening. I gotta test out the new Kodak camera she got me (salute, uncle Ted). It's a little odd not having brother Sam to wake up to- thanks again Sam. Bobbi remains very pleased about the kitchen. Of course, she's pretty pleased about the baby and I didn't have to do any of that work at all. I say "more babies!".
One of our "sisters" called yesterday. It seems she is having "symptoms" and will go in for an MRI today (don't ask, I won't tell). All our hopes are with her today.
June 25, 8:00pm - What a day. Where to begin? I guess surviving the last six months is a pretty good birthday present. Finishing our kitchen remodeling project that was started with the help pf Sarah and Paul and Bobbi's mom and dad and finished with my brothers- that's a pretty good present. A grand daughter born on my birthday, and she'll got all her fingers and tows and her mom and her are both healthy... that is a VERY good present. All of the above- I'm the richest man in the world.
June 25, 3:30pm - We've just come home from the hospital! Kim and Kira are both doing fine. Soon the hospital will post some info on our new baby, and you can see it when it's available by clicking HERE. What a night, eh? Anyway, we're still pretty excited. Tired, but excited.
Bobbi was not able to have chemo today. Her while blood cell count was too low again even though she did not have chemo last week. This explains why her supposed recurrent ear infection is causing her so much trouble. We're trying to get into see the Ear, Nose and Throat doctors again, but they say they can't see her until the end of July. These are the same guys who, when I went to see them about sleep apnea, told me I was just fat. God- I know there's going to be shmucks in the world, but do there have to be so many at the same time? (And am I one of them for asking?) What charming folks. Anyway, Bobbi will have to have even more Neupragen shots than she has been. She'll now get four a week instead of three (she asked if they could cut her down to two a week). They really leave her with no energy. She's in a lot of pain with her ear, but it seems to require a specialist to treat her (microscopes, probes, etc). Can anyone get us a referral this month? Geeze Louise.
June 25, 3:00am -NEWS FLASH - Kira is here! Please join me in welcoming Kira! She arrived at 2:30am local time at CJ Harris hospital. She weighed in at 6pounds, 1 ounce, and both mother and child are doing very well. I'll upload more photos later, I can hardly keep my eyes open! Happy birthday!
NEWS FLASH - Kira has been heard from!!! June 24 - 10:30pm - Kim's water broke!!! Kira is on the way! We're going to the hospital to wait for my birthday present.
June 24, 11:30am - Today Bobbi feels marginally better. She does not feel nearly as tired and her ears feel somewhat better. Kim is getting closer to delivering my birthday present! Now we're juggling the new baby's birth, Bobbi's chemo and who is going to watch "boy" while Kira is yelling "Geronimo".
In the meantime Sam and I are working away on the kitchen. I almost have the floor done and Sam has assembled all the new cabinets. Then while I finish trimming and finishing the sheet rock Sam will start applying the new tile backslash. Bobbi seems almost pleased with it all ;-)
June 23, 11:59pm - Whew- we be jammin! Today was a way full day. Sam rode my butt like Zorro to make me work, and we got it done! Well, actually it's not all done, but we're getting there. First things first. Bobbi is fair. I think she's great, but she does not feel great. After several hours of phone calls we got a prescription for antibiotics like the one that helped clear up Bobbi's ears last time. She still doesn't feel well, and it takes the antibiotics a few days to have an effect. We'll keep you posted. We had a nice start to the day when Steve and Susan came to town. We all had a nice breakfast at Peter's Pancakes before they had to go back to Greenville.
Remodeling update. The floor in the kitchen is done, but before we finish it in the laundry room we decided to remodel there a little bit first. In the picture at the right that shows Bobbi looking at the new floor you can see the old laundry configuration at the far left of the picture. What you see is the good old mobile home quality nasty wall cabinet over the washer and dryer. What you can't see is an empty space where an upright freezer might go. We had used it as a pantry, but it was so deep everything in the back got lost. In the new picture you see big changes. Above the washer and dryer will be a stacked set of cabinets (the new photo shows only the top one installed), and on the right is a new 72" tall cabinet set into the freezer space. I put up mildew-resistant drywall in the area first while Sam built the cabinet. Tomorrow we'll finish the floor, finish finishing the drywall, finish assembling the big cabinet and move the washer/fryer back in. Easy, right? Then we'll install the backslash above the counter tops and we're about done with the kitchen!
NEWS FLASH - Kira has still not been sited, but we know where she is. Tomorrow evening Kim will go into the hospital, and if Kira doesn't show up on her own by Wednesday morning they will induce labor. I'm gonna have a granddaughter for my birthday!
June 22, 10:30pm - Bobbi has toughed out the day and stayed home. Sam, Dave and I laid the new floor in the kitchen (we still are- Sam is fussing at me to hurry and make a cut). It really looks so much better than linoleum.
June 22, 1:00pm - Well, we decided to wait till tomorrow to see a doctor. Sam and I continue to work on the floor. "The Coopers" came over for a visit and Jack helped me roll the dog pen to the back yard. We wanted to keep an eye on the dog while working.
June 22, 10:00am - We haven't gone yet.... There's some discussion over how effective a trip to an ER would be.
June 22, 7:30am - Complications. It seems Bobbi has been feeling extreme discomfort in her ears for many days now. She tried to make an appointment with the last ear/nose/throat guy she saw (who did help her), but he has no appointment times available until the end of July. She's see her "regular" doctor on Tuesday, but now she doesn't think she can wait that long. I am just now learning this. The nut- how can we be a team if she hides this from me? We may go to the ER......
June 22, 6:00am - Ah- up to walk the dog... again. It should be a full day here with more remodeling going on. We'll have to shift everything in the kitchen (island, stove, fridge, etc) out to get the floor down
NEWS FLASH - Kira has still not been sited.
June 21, 11:00pm - Sorry for the late post. I was up before six and off at the flea market by 7am. I was modestly successful (I gave it away). I even tried to offer one lady a quarter to take my tennis rackets... she declined my offer. When I got home I picked a big mess of greens in the garden! We had Dave and Donna over for supper, and brother Sam came over from Knoxville. Now we're planning how to install the new flooring the kitchen (but first a nice supper). Yesterday Donna came over and helped Bobbi in the yard. We all spread a truckload of mulch!
NEWS FLASH - Kira has still not been sited.
June 20, 6:00am - Well, Piddles the Pup seems to be catching on- hooray! This is a good thing because it means neither of us has to get up eight or nine times a night lately (2 or 3 maybe). The Neupragen shots are keeping Bobbi's white blood cell count up, but the main side effect is the constant feeling of exhaustion she in fact now feels. For the last two evenings I built a dog pen for the dog. Bobbi wanted to help, but mostly she had to "supervise". She'd hammer in 3 or 4 staples and then need to rest.The dog pen came out great, by the way. We finished it around 9pm last night. She stated it was too big (6'x12' ) and heavy for us to move from the driveway to the yard. I whipped out a 6' long 4x4 (okay- I whipped out an 8' long 4x4 and cut 2 feet off), mounted a small tire on each end and then lifted the end so Bobbi could roll the temporary axle to the middle of the pen. Then I just rolled the pen down to the yard and unloaded it by the garden. Nifty if I do say so myself. That ought to keep the wild dingos away from little dog.
NEWS FLASH - Kira has still not been sited.
BABY WATCH - We are still waiting for the arrival of Kira. The little rascal is 4 days overdue! I had money on the full moon, but she fooled me. Is this a sign of things to come?
Our hearts go out to the family of David Shawn Blanton Jr. Cancer is a walk in the park, I think, compared to having your son shot and killed (especially days after the birth of his first child).
June 18, 9:00am - Yesterday was a nice day. Work was about medium, we had a nice dinner with "the fam", and the dog (I now call her "Apnea") only woke me up twice. Today it's off for a Neupragen shot. Sadly, my cousin's son, a young new state trooper, was just shot and killed during a routine traffic stop. He was 24.
"You find somebody to love in this world you better hang on tooth and nail- the wolf is always at the door". Don Henly
June 16, 9:00pm - Sorry for the delay. This is an update I'm delighted to write. There is no sign of any recurrence of the tumor. Not only that, but even what might have been scar tissue seen in the last MRI is no longer apparent. We've scheduled another MRI in September to be sure, but for now the news is great! After that we celebrated with a wonderful lunch courtesy of our old friends Art and Don, then went and picked up fusswagon at Bobbi's mom's house. Then it was a quick trip trip to Dr. Pekal's for a Neupragen shot and then home to crash. We woke up three hours later (after 7pm) late to go to dinner at Dave and Donna's (chicken enchiladas with green chili's- mui caliente!). Well, I better go. It's time to walk the fusswagon.
June 16, 11:00am - We are sitting in the lobby of the neurosurgeon's office waiting to be see. We had a wonderful time at my Aunt Lib 's 90 birthday celebration. Later we had a nice quiet evening at hope. We got up early (6am) and Bobbi actually ate a little breakfast. Then we loaded the truck with Rikki (aka Fuss Wagon) and headed to Waynesville. Bobbi's mom agreed to dog sit for us. Jill's husband Chip was with her and we gladly handed the precious little bundle over to them. As much as Bobbi tried she just could not comfort the little darling (if I sound cranky it's because the little angel peed on me).
Anyway, "we" had our MRI already and now we're waiting to see Dr. Rhoton (a.k.a. The Tumor Terminator).
June 15, 6:30am - Dang that dog. Bobbi calls her Rikki, but I call her Fuss Wagon....brb... okay, I'm back. We got a dog that can only void a third of her bladder at a time, so it takes 30 minutes to pee (pee, followed by a 5-10 minute break, followed by howling, a trip outside a pee, followed by a break....). Where was I?? Oh yes- I'm home from camp. We had a great week mostly... a few "interpersonal relationship difficulties", but all in all an excellent week at camp. On the way home we ate at our favorite burger joint Jukebox Junction, and then I had the surreal experience of having 11 year old boys sing along as we listened to Comfortably Numb on the truck stereo. Dylan (black sweatshirt, front row) said WISH YOU WERE HERE (yes- we know C-Numb was released on THE WALL) was his favorite Pink Floyd album. Somebody pinch me.
Now I'm home to take care of Bobbi. Obviously she's not willing to do it herself (she can make 5 meals out of one can of green beans). I made shish kabobs for supper with corn on the cob and a salad. She ate about half of everything on her plate which is about four times more than her usual volume. Since getting sick she's lost over 25 pounds. She says she wants to loose 25 more. Grrrrrrrr....
Today we'll have a nice breakfast then visit my aunt Lib who is also my godmother. She turns 90 today. We wanted to also spend time with Bobbi's family and celebrate Fathers Day, but we have Fuss Wagon to worry about. I think we're going to build a chain link fence enclosure for her.
NEWS FLASH - Kira has still not been sited.
June 13, 12:30pm - Well, Friday the thirteenth is sort of lucky for us. Bobbi is having chemo as I type this (I didn't abandon her, her mom is bringing her home). We had a long consultation with Dr. Pekal who was mostly guardedly positive. Bobbi's nodes in her lymph nodes are barely palpable, and the Neupragen has improved her white count to 10.9 (trust me- it's good). We've scheduled a CAT Scan for somewhere around June 23rd to check the breasts and lymph nodes. Of course this Monday we have an MRI and a consult with the brain surgeon. The only bad thing is Bobbi's continuing lethargy, which Dr. Pekal seemed not too concerned with. She even suggested we may in fact want to consider a mastectomy when chemo is over instead of just chest wall radiation. For a Friday the thirteenth the news is not too shabby.
June 12, 2:30pm - Well, we won't be meeting Kira as soon as we thought. When Kim went in for her "procedure" the child had untangled itself and flipped over. She's back to a head down presentation, so the doctor wants her to go full term. Whew. Bobbi and I spent the morning watching "boy" as we all waited for news. We even took Rikki (DOG) with us, and she was carsick both ways. Bobbi feels better today. The nausea has subsided some. She even ate a little serving of green beans and potatoes for lunch. It's getting to the point where I'm afraid to leave her, even for a camping trip. Tomorrow we have a consultation with her oncologist before her chemo, so I'll see what we can do about the constant weakness. Next Monday we consult with her neurosurgeon and then have another MRI. We'll see if it's a recurrence or scar tissue.
June 11, 10:30pm - It's a late night in the middle of a long week. I took the scout troop to camp Sunday, and we've had a time. Now my friend Lloyd is out there with Mark Tyson and "our boys". I was going to work today, but we had a little scare about our new almost-here grand daughter. She seems to have taken up acrobatics in the womb, so now she's a "breach". So, tomorrow morning Kim is going in for a procedure to untangle everything and then, if successful, they will induce labor. We should welcome the arrival of Kira sometime tomorrow after lunch! While I've been gone the little dog seems to have doubled in size, but she's still just as cute.
I'm grateful to the little girl- she's gotten me extra time with my honey. Bobbi and I have had a nice afternoon together once we settle down from the Kira news. Bobbi is experiencing normal chemo side effects right now (she requests I forgo sharing any details) which she's very ashamed of <throws up his hands>. It's as if she'd picked up a bad habit. Sometimes I worry about that kid.
June 8, 6:30am - Yes- that's A.M. I'm packing for Boy Scout summer camp. I'm taking seven boys in about nine hours so I have a lot to pack. I thought you'd like a rundown of what's been happening. Monday next Bobbi has another MRI and a consult with the brain surgeon. It also looks like we're going to start right away with another three sets of chemo (three sets of three sessions). Yesterday was the best day of the week as far as Bobbi having energy. I'm going to be gone till Wednesday evening and I'm pretty worried about herself. If she has another "sinking spell" she could let herself get dehydrated again. Y'all take turns calling her and bugging her to drink a glass of water, okay? Cell phones don't work where I'm going (Camp Daniel Boone).
June 7, 11:00pm- Bobbi had chemo yesterday. She was so dehydrated they had to "hang a bag of saline" and give her a couple of hours before they could actually start chemo. Today we too her for her Neupragen ("boost my white blood cells") shot. She was actually feeling pretty good today (compared to the rest of the week). We got a lot of things done today. The garden (except for trim boards on the fence) is done! I also got six more rows of sweet corn planted, planted a set of three "hills" planted with pumpkins I already started, and I moved the boat out of the driveway. We wanted to go to the Gourd Festival, but "we" were just not up to it. We did go over to Casey and Jill's for a late shrimp dinner.
NEWS FLASH- I think Bobbi named the dog Rikki... at least that's what she's calling her.
June 6, 2008, 6:00am- "We" had to go outside, but it was very productive ;-)
It's chemo day. I checked Bobbi's blood sugar- 119, so that's not the reason for her lethargy. Oh well, Dr. Pekal will probably say it's a normal side effect. I tried to talk her into a video- no deal. We'll try again later.
June 5, 2008, 11:00pm- DOH! My bad. I forgot to change the HERE link to point to the June news (it was set to May). Okay, I'll think of a better system. Sorry for the confusion (mine).
Yeah, well- I hope the "boost my white blood cells" drug Neupragen working, because it's main side effect seems to be absolute lethargy. The creepy thing about this drug is you can't find out anything about it. Any other drug you "Google" gives you thousands of hits. Neupragen gives you 12- almost all from two blogs. All I know is it costs $300 an injection. Anyway, I don't think Bobbi was able to get out of bed more than three or four times, and that was to let the dog out when she (the DOG) "asked" to be let out. Thank goodness we can talk to the oncologist tomorrow about the drug. I think we have one more chemo treatment after tomorrow, then we reassess (MRI, etc.).
DOG still has no name. We're both smitten, so I'm glad Bobbi has a companion while I'm not here. The little rascal is smart! Bobbi had her housebroken in a day. I don't want to jinx it, but we've had one accident (and she begged to be let out before it happened) in four days. Not too shabby. Maybe we should have a "name the DOG" contest. She looks about exactly like every video you've seen of a baby bear at play (except for the color). She does act a lot like Wicket W. Warrik, the Ewok from Star Wars, and "Wicket " as a name is still in the running. She also reminds me of a "Feegle"- specifically, a Nac Mac Feegle like in the Terry Pratchet books. LOL- yup, I vote to name her "Daft Wullie".
June 3, 2008 - "Hey- it followed me home, can I keep it?" Ever hear that one? I have. Anyway, Bobbi got a dog! After discussing what we wanted for three years we finally reached a compromise- get the dog she wants. Wait a minute.... ah well. Anyway, here's our new alarm clock (the dang thing goes off all the time). She's a six week old Austrailian Sheperd. She looks like an Ewok and she might be named "Wicket". Bobbi get's another imune system booster shot today. She's pretty tired all the time. When I came in from gardening last evening she was sleeping on the floor by the puppy pen- she was too sleepy to make it to the bed. That's tired.
June 2, 2008 - Yesterday Bobbi went into her cancer clinic (yup- open Sundays) and had her first "boost my iummune system" shot. That was right before she went to the baby shower. The shower went well and Bobbi was pleased, but I think any event more than one hour long takes a lot out of her. We pretty much went to bed at 9pm. Maybe we're just getting old together. This weekend I take the Scout Troop to summercamp. I may be able to squeeze in some chores on Saturday- we'll see. I need to get something visible done every day or so....
June 1, 2008 - Happy June y'all. We've had a good weekend so far, and today is the baby shower for the new grand daughter! Baby Kira is due in less than two weeks! Remind me to tell "the kid" (Kim) good work on the baby thing. Bobbi is pretty frantic arranging food for the shower (I'm helping). I was going to spend the day in the garden while Bobbi went to the hen party, but we're supposed to get 1-2 inches of raint during thunderstorms.... maybe I'll update the web page instead!
We spent Friday and Saturday with Steve, Susan, Sam and Ian in Greeneville, then drove home last night to have supper with Uncle Roy and Dave and Donna at Dave and Donna's house. I made planked salmon filets- very yummy. It's also a period of adjustment. Yesterday we talked frankly about the physical changes Bobbi is experiencing and both of our concerns for what the future holds.While the "ear procedure" recovered some of her hearing she's still experiencing hearing loss (and that may continue to deteriorate). The chemo is helping some physical changes, but it has not cured anything- just mitigated things somewhat. It's not always easy (and sometimes damned difficult) to keep a stiff upper lip through all of this, and I don't make things easy for her sometimes by forgetting what she's going through (hard to believe I can, eh?). She's not ignoring me when she doesn't hear what I say- that sort of thing. Sometimes we're both pretty frightened.
May 29, 7:00am - June is almost here- that will be our sixth month fighting Bobbi's cancer. There's not much new to report. Her tumors seem to continue to respond to chemo, but of course the chemo is leaving her very weak. Feeling guilty about resting, she will work on projects with a burst of energy that soon leaves her pretty drained. Still, we're better off than many people and grateful for every new day. For me, one of the odd things is everyone around me being concerned about how stressed I am. Almost everyone mentions it. I thought I was dealing with it pretty well, but I guess I'm so stressed I can't tell how stressed I am ;-) OMG- I've got stealth stress! Now I'm really stressed! LOL.
Anyway tomorrow, if her white blood cell count has risen enough, Bobbi will have the last treatment of her second round of chemo (her sixth of a total of nine). Pray, keep your finger crossed, knock on wood and do everything you can think of, and I thank you in advance. I also hope you walkers are proceeding with your training. My bruised heel is coming along, so I too will continue training soon. We should be up to three miles a day, but I may need a little more time. Sarah is going to walk my butt off, I just know it.
Page updated June 27, 2008. For more information or to send us photos please contact the webmaster