Semana de cinco

Oct 142013
 

That’s week five for those of you who don’t speak Español.

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Which means that there are 3 chemo appointments left.  You heard me right:  3.

When this whole thing started we were told 6 chemo treatments, but according to the Doctor (of course I asked 😉 ) the chemo appointments fall in line with the radiation appointments.  So in this forked up math equation, his last radiation treatment is November 4th, which is a Monday, so he will also be doing chemo that day.

If you’re wondering how we skipped/missed the 7th chemo appointment, I’m still trying to figure that one out too.

But, it’s neither here nor there, the fact remains that there are eight and we just have to live with it.  As long as it gets rid of the cancer that’s all that matters, right?

So week four was a good week for Rick.  The only “issue” was the yeast infection in his mouth was causing him quite a bit of discomfort and the radiation is really frying his throat.  He is on yet another prescription that the medical profession calls “Magic Mouthwash”, which numbs his mouth and throat.  Seems to be working well for him so he can continue to eat normally.

And of course we had our expected furry visitor.

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Barkley is a 9 1/2-year-old Black Lab that was the size of a small horse.  Naturally I got down on the floor with him and gave him lots of snuggles and pets, while Rick chatted away with his person Lisa.

I think that it’s wonderful that Marshfield Clinic has this program.  This is the highlight of my Monday’s lately, and I think Rick is tolerating enjoying it too.

 

Week IV

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.

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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.

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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.

 

Week Tres

Sep 302013
 

I decided to give Rick a break and write this week’s update myself.

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Last week we didn’t run into so many bumps in the road as we did in week one.  We decided to kick the nausea to the curb with a constant dose of the tummy medicine all week long.

This seemed to work really well and by Friday Rick was feeling well enough that we had a Date Night!  He had gone to the dentist earlier in the day and got an adjustment done on the new choppers, so we even did a supper out before pulling those one-armed bandits.

It was a much deserved night out and we had a lot of fun getting out and about again.

We did have one small problem with his neck swelling up.  After his radiation treatment on Wednesday the left side of his neck looked like he had a grapefruit in it.  He saw the Oncologist on Thursday and was prescribed meds for an infection in his salivary glands.  Other than terrible sweating, everything seems to be under control.

His appetite was wonderful this weekend and I cooked up a storm in anticipation that this week he will be able to eat more and keep his weight up.  I have to note that healthy eating is no longer a rigid standard in our household.  We were told by the Dietician that high calories would be our goal going forward so Ho-Ho’s and Enchiladas (and whatever else he wants to eat that he can tolerate) are now staples until we get off this roller coaster.

We are learning as we go and hope to hold off on using the feeding tube in his stomach as long as possible.

Oh, and it wouldn’t be Monday without a visit from another furry friend in the Chemo room.

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This is Cash and he is a 4-year-old Black Lab.  He was so well behaved and even Rick gave him a scratch behind the ears.

As always, I want to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers and support.  We are venturing into the unknown here (which is scary as hell), and having all of you there cheering Rick on makes it that much easier.

 

Week 2 and Words of Wisdom

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.

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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.

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Just in time for my hearing test.  According to the doc on that one, Sandy was right again, I do have “selective hearing”!  In other words, my hearing is fine.  They just wanted to test me to make sure the radiation would do no damage to it.

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.

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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.

 

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