Northwoods Woman » Page 10

No Regrets

Aug 122013

Usually August is a transition month for weather in the Northwoods. That time of year when you gradually go from the sweltering days of July into moderately temperate days of August that will lead to slightly chilly days in September.

That analysis only applies to normal July, August and September weather, of which we didn’t have any of this year. May was like July, June was like August and July was like May.

The seasonal calendar was all kinds of screwed up this year.

Thankfully it hasn’t seemed to have had any affect on the Blackberries. We’ve got a few bushes across the street that are just getting into their various stages of ripening.

Some are producing nice, plump berries, while others are pretty much on the green side yet.

It’s the perfect time to go out and collect a handful and plop them in your mouth without any regret whatsoever.

Which I did.

And I feel pretty pleased about that decision.

Two Good Things

Aug 082013

Thursday is usually known for being a “good” day because it comes before Friday which many rejoice for because of the end of a workweek and the beginning of 2 days of either loafing off or trying to cram 26 days of chores into 48 hours.

This Thursday has special meaning because of two reasons:

1. It is this marvelous man’s birthday; and

2. We found out that the tonsil that was removed from his throat last week was where the cancer was located.

You don’t know how hard I had to fight not to do a fist pump in the Doctor’s office when he gave us the news. Instead I breathed a sigh of relief and did a happy dance inside.

Now the fun part begins: Treatment.

And that will start next week with visits to not one, but two oncologists that will plan out how much radiation treatment there will be and if it will also involve chemotherapy.

And sandwiched in between those funfests is a cast change from the cadillac he wears right now to a more compact model.

There is still some rough road ahead, but the news is good and that is all we could hope for.

You’ve Got a Friend

Aug 072013

We had some company over this past weekend (and fortunately Thor did not give them an aromatic welcome).

Rick’s brother Rod, his wife Lora and their daughter Katie traveled from Idaho to spend some time with family back in Minnesota.

They took a few days and traversed to Wisconsin to visit with a couple of Rick’s sisters, and then made the trek up to the Northwoods.

When we got the heads-up that they were coming, I sat down and had “the talk” with Thor. This talk is always about letting him know that people are coming and asking him to be social and not hide for the entire time they are here. (Yes, he does understand me, so call off the men in white coats please.)

I have to admit he has gotten better at being around strangers, but he still has a hard time with kids.

That was until he met Katie.

These two had the longest stare-down that I have ever seen. It went on for what seemed forever and I think it was eventually called a draw.

After that determination of equality and unspoken agreement of “I won’t hurt you if you don’t hurt me”, something amazing happened that I didn’t think I’d ever see.

Thor let Katie pet him.

Not a lot, but it was the most kindness that I had seen that cat bestow on a child.

My heart melted and I wept a little inside.

At that moment I knew that Thor had some social skills that were slowly coming forward. There was hope. It will happen.

Of course, hoping we could get him into a family picture was really pushing the envelope at this stage, so I opted out of that trauma (for him and me).

It’s All in the Timing

Aug 052013

I hate writer’s block, which is really quite bizarre considering that I’m not a writer so I’m not really sure how I could be affected by this condition.

I get tons of ideas that run through my head, sometimes whole stories, but then I sit down at the computer, log on to my webpage and poof! All thoughts and stories and witty tidbits suddenly become jumbled fragments that swirl around my head or completely dissolve into nothingness.

Or maybe it’s just because I’m distracted by the stench of the litterbox wafting from the closet. Why there is such a gawd awful smell baffles me because I just cleaned the damn thing! I mean, like 10 minutes ago!

But then I remember that cats are pretty smart. They know that they have a nice clean litterbox to do their business and they wait until the perfect time to leave a “present” and not bother to wrap it.

Thor has perfected this craft. His perfect timing of leaving a pinch-your-nose-and-run-outside-for-fresh-air log includes 2:16 am and the exact moment visitors pull in the driveway.

So my question is, if he’s smart enough to learn how to use my cell phone, why can’t he figure out how to use the toilet in the bathroom?

Day by Day

Aug 012013

I’ve kinda been keeping a secret from y’all. Well, not really a secret, just something that I haven’t shared until now because I really wanted Rick to be the one to write this post but he’s a “hunt-and-peck” typer now that he busted his wrist so I get the joy of telling the story.

But instead of regaling you with every minute detail of the last last 2 months, you get the Reader’s Digest version.

It all started May 27th when Rick shaved off the beard that he’d worn for the last 9 months only to discover a lump on the left side of his neck.

He actually listened to yours truly to see a Doctor about it, which set off 10 days of more Doctor appointments involving a CT scan, biopsy and PET scan, not to mention poking, prodding and tubes going in places that were quite unpleasant.

Here we come to the good news/bad news part of our story:

Bad news: Cancer.

Good news: Caught early and Doctor said it is treatable and curable.

Bad news: Specialist that we needed to see to treat/cure problem was on vacation and we had a four week wait.

Good news: No worries, said Doctor. We caught it early.

Bad news: Rick falls and breaks wrist the day before we need to see specialist.

Good news: I got none at this point because I think we were both basket cases.

I’m going to amend that last part because we were able to see the specialist as scheduled and he is sure that this can be cured, but we had to wait 2 weeks for surgery because he had to take care of his wrist first.

Which brings us to present day, July 31st, 66 days since the day of discovery.

Surgery Day.

The day that will tell us what is going on and how it can be fixed so that we can move forward with some kind of plan, which we won’t know until August 8th when we return for the follow-up appointment to get the results from Pathology.

Whatever that turns out to be, we’ll get through it, taking it day by day.

And today, Rick has a sore throat from the surgeon taking out a cancer infested tonsil. I’m told popsicles and ice cream are the prescription of choice for this situation.

I’d better get that filled before the patient gets cranky.

Older Entries Newer Entries