God has a sense of humor

What a day. Up early (I’m NOT a morning person!) and driving to the hospital by 7:00 am. Arrive at 8:00 and got Dave checked in ok. Then the long day of getting everything ready, hooked up, plugged in, okayed, checked out and started! Then you sit and watch it drip into your body. Wow. I am so impressed with Dave…he never ceases to amaze me. He is so wonderful, so spirit filled and so strong….I just don’t know how he does it. We hate the chemo, but are grateful we have something to kill the cancer. All in all…the day went well. He did good and felt okay throughout the day. Taught him how tomake rosaries…he is getting the hang of it pretty well! Hope he sleeps well tonight. We were both tired, so I decided to head for home right after his dinner at 5:30.
I got out of Lafayette…into Brookstosn, took a right and traveled down highway #18 for awhile. Suddenly, I looked up and wondered where the heck I was! Ever lose your place in the middle of no where??? Did I miss my turn at road 300? Had I gone too far? Not far enough? What was I thinking about? How did I get lost going straight? Nothing looked familiar (well, duh…it is all corn fields! And one corn field looks about like another corn field!). So…in all my wisdom, I decided to turn around and go back to find road 300.
Sounds easy and smart enough, but when I tried to turn around, the car stalled and the power steering went out and it was like driving a truck…I started the car, managed to man-handle the thing and turn around…but now something is dinging – very loudly – and I see a red light …hummm looks like a little sail boat with jagged water under it! What is this, I ask myself? And why all the dinging? So I reach over…pull out the drawer under the passenger seat and start leafing through the owners manual…while trying to steer this semi-truck….and finally find the page with all the symbols meaning TROUBLE on it!
Oh yes, I found it…the little boat means …..”your engine is getting extremely HOT” ! Oh boy, that scares me…guess I better try to pull over and turn the engine off. I think I am lost!! Where the heck am I??? I’ll call my friend Barb….maybe she knows where I am!! Hello, Barb? (hey, Pat). I think I am lost and my car is overheating and dinging and it is hard to steer…(where are you?) Good question!! Where is highway #18? I left Brookston and thought I went too far and missed 300, but now I turned around …with much difficulty…and now my car’s engine is getting extremely hot and I am lost!! (Are you headed to Delphi?) Heck’s fire…I don’t know where I am I tell ya!! Don’t you know where 18 is? (ummm well, yes, but I don’t know which direction you are even going?) Neither do I…the compass says I am going south….dang…why am I going south? (well…good question, Pat…you should be going north). Oh dear, I better turn around again! OH SHOOT>>>>>I can hardly steer this thing and now the engine is on H!!! (Pat, you better shut your engine off it is heating up!) Well, I think I know where I am now, but there isn’t any place to pull over……I’ll call you back.
Oh yes, I had actually turned onto 300 and was going north…but didn’t realize I had made my turn…so had turned around and was going back the way I came. Well…I figured that out. But now my car is dinging and getting too hot…I have to shut it off…I can SMELL it now! I pull over…can’t get all the way off the road because of the cornfield!! Now what? I shut off engine (sure can smell it now) But I still a little bit on this country road…very dangerous I tell myself! But…can I move it? And where do I move it too…….? I can’t drive into the cornfield!

I’ll call the dealership in Monticello …only about 15 minutes away….ough-oo…it is 6:30….service is closed, but I can get a sales man…(I know a couple of them!). Poop…I don’t have their phone number.
HELLO? Barbara? It’s Pat again! L-o-n-g- pause……. (where are you now?). Well…I know where I am, but I need a tow truck and need Chrysler Dealership number…can you look it up for me? (SURE! And she gives me the numer)….thanks! Bye!!
Better call Dave at the hospital and make sure he wants me to try to call AARP Motor service for the tow instead of calling a tow truck myself. Finally get Dave….he was strolling down the halls in the hospital …had to have a nurse go track him down! He is fine with it all…encourages me to call AARP first. OK…I do that! I DO have their number…
Hello? AARP? I need a tow truck! I only have 2 bars left so have to talk fast.! I meant that my cell phone was low and only showing two bars…not that I was hitting the bars!! …and my charger cord was in the other car! Great. The AAARP guy says
they have service out of Lafayette..and Logansport…wow…that is an hour away…it is going to be dark! I want someone from Monticello I tell him! Well…he finally gets me a tow truck from Lafayette. Now I wait. But first…have to call Chrysler Dealership and let them know I am coming and try to get a loner car! Where is that number Barb gave me? Here it is…..dial dial…hello? Oh..??? Wrong number?? Dang. Better call Barb back…Hey again Barb….I think I wrote that number down wrong…can you give it to me again? Thanks!!.....okay, hurry up …now it is getting later…..call Chrysler. Hello? Is Doug there? NO? Oh…HI Joe…what are you doing there in Monticello? Thought you were in Logansport? Oh…you just started working there, hu? Well…I need some help! My car overheated and has to be towed to town….I have a tow truck coming will be there later…can you get me a “loner” car (no pun intended!)? Great! Thanks a lot! Bye.
Whew…that was good timing. Wonder what this piece of paper was that I was writing all the Chrysler numbers down on? Open it up. Oh brother…it is a work order on a letter head with all the phone numbers on it from…….(you guessed it!) Chrysler Dealership! Should I call Barb and tell her? Think not!
Now just sit and wait for the tow truck. But I really have to go to the bathroom!!! Wow. What is a gal to do? I won’t tell you that part!
Actually …all went pretty smooth after the initial panic of being lost and having my car overheating and difficult to steer and not having phone numbers handy and my cell phone about out of BARS!! Called Dave and told him everything was under control. Called my son Davey and told him I would be a little late getting home!
Tow truck arrived, got us to Chrysler dealership, got a “loner” car and got home safe and sound --- a little late, but safe! Called Barb again….Hello Barb? (yes, Pat…did you find your way home?) YES!! I’m here! (are you sure you are at YOUR home?) Well…the dog barking sounds like Scruffy and it looks like my son on the couch with him…so I think I am in the right house! Thanks for your help I say as we are both cracking up with laughter!!
Does God have a sense of humor? I think so!

Can I jump yet?

Well, I can count on one hand how many times I have been so upset that I could jump off a bridge....but today would be one of those days! Now the river is down and the bridge isn't as high as it used to be, so with my luck of late, I would probably just get my head stuck in the muck at the bottom of the river...in an air hole...and just come up covered in mud and sore from the jump!

Murphy's law.....if anything can go wrong - it will. That is how I feel today. First of all we had the big let down of having to pack up and come home without getting the bone-marrow transplant. And are looking at more "Salvage-Chemo" ...lovely name....and it is as ugly as it sounds. We will start that tomorrow afternoon probably. Will see what the doc says atour appointment tomorrow at 2:30. But I know Mayo's wants it started as soon as possible so the tumors don't have a chance to start growing again. Dave and I both have a bad cold...well it is coming to a head about now, so I hope he is healthy enough to start the chemo. I had a fat lip while at Mayo's and accused him of belting me one in my sleep!! Guess it was just a cold infection as it almost gone now. Bummer. But it was actually a RELIEF to be able to come home and NOT have that awful treatment! However, we are only postponing it.
Then when we get home we find our son is wacko. Seems he is filled with anxiety and stress and can't keep his little job, can't go outside, can't function hardly at all. Now I really don't know what to do about that. He wants to go back to Virginia and perhaps that is best. I just don't know. I am going to try to get him to a doc to have his meds checked to make sure it isn't medication...but that is about all I can do. I am going with him to the psyc doc on Thursday if I can...(May have to pick Dave up from the hospital on Thursday) so not sure what else I can do.
Can I jump now?
So...now we must worry about what to do with the house, the dog etc. etc. when we go the next time if it really is going to be for two months! We had a good practice run at it and packed everything you could think you would need for two months...and it lasted great since we were only there for 5 days! What an exercise! Felt stupid taking three carts full of stuff when we had only been there 5days!
I think I will jump now!
In the mean time, we have to make plans to get Davey back on a bus and ship him back to West Va - after some testing of course. Not sure I will find out anything and the secretary at Wabash Valley already thinks that I am the one that needs a shrink!!
Maybe I better just jump and get it over with!!
And we took our boat in early....so now we are home and no boat!!!
DANG...if that isn't a good reason to jump I don't know what is!!
Well...enough of this.....I think it is just too far to walk up to the bridge and jump, so I am going to just go outside, sit on swing and have a non-alcoholic beer!!

Game Plan CHANGE

I can't add much to what Dave wrote about our change in plans. Sure is disappointing and stressful to change plans in mid-stream! We were all set to keep going here and get a BMT (Bone Marrow Transplant), but there has been some changes. Doc Yasenchek said there is too much cancer to go ahead woth a BMT so we have to go back home and Dave will have to have more chemo...one or two treatments and then return here for the BMT.
Well....that's it. Pat. I'll attach the following note from Dave to everyone.......



Well, the league office (Mayo Clinic) made some major changes in our playing
schedule. They have sent us back to training camp for more work with Coach before
we start our season schedule. After the two salvage chemo treatments in Indiana,
there is still too much cancer remaining for a Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) to be
effective. Sooooo, it's back to Indiana and at least one, maybe two more rounds of
two-a-day drills (chemo) with Coach. So the BMT has been delayed for several
months. Yippee, we'll get to start the season at the beginning of a Minnesota
winter - sounds great! Pat and I will be returning to Indiana this Fri - don't know
yet when chemo starts, but it will be soon. It's somewhat of a letdown after all
the preparations, but the "Lord's will be done". Thanks for all of your prayers and
support - and keep them coming. Through all this there is some great news - last
Sunday shorty after arriving at the Gift For Life Transplant House here at Mayo, I
was watching Tiger brush over the other golfers at the PGA, and sat next to a fellow
(in his 40's) named Andy. Andy is from North Carolina and has been here for 4.5
months waiting for a heart and liver transplant - both need to come from the same
donor. Well lo & behold, Andy received word late this afternoon that a donor had
been found. The whole house lined up in the hallway as he left and gave him a
rousing sendoff to the hospital. His surgery is scheduled for 7am in the morning.
The Lord works in strange ways. Maybe I can get a few more rounds of golf in before
the snow flies. See ya.
Dave

Tuesday - Change in the game

Tuesday was day two -- but when the head Doctor calls you on your cell phone - it ain't with good news.
At the end of the day - electrocardiogram, mouth x-ray, saw infectious disease docs who changed some scripts and then a lumbar puncture (that was the rough one)was all over...just walked out of the hospital from the spinal tap...the phone rings and it is DR. Yasenchek....ough-ooo what now?
Yep. bad news. seems the PET Scan (Scruffy's favorite, remember?) and ct scan both show the cancer is not all gone...tumors are not all shrunk down enough to do a BMT. What now? We don't know. Have appointment to see Doc Yas at 2:30 to get the new game-plan.
Bummer. But...who knows....is this good news or bad news? What does this mean? Why? What? and When now will the BMT happen...or will it happen at all? Anyones guess.
We are trying to stay positive but this really sucks. Not sure if we will stay here for more chemo or go home for more chemo. Wait and see, wait and see, wait and see. Patience! A virtue? A curse or a blessing? All I know is that my stomach is churning and I don't know what to say to Dave. We just cuddled and didn't talk much.

So...new game...same quarterback.

Day ONE - 59 to go

Monday...August 21st. Seems like three days have passed and we have only been through one day of testing! Started early this morning....we got up and walked to Mayo's clinic...only three blocks from The Gift of Life Transplant House. Nice walk..crisp and cool, but bright and sunny. Arrived first to an array of blood tests and urin tests. They have you on a tread-mill ...one appointment right after the other one. After blood work, we to get the Bone Marrow Test. They put him out for this test and take two samples of bone marrow from his back. Goes quickly and he came out feeling okay. Then they brought him some whole-wheet toast...he was all over that!! Told his nurse she was a great waitress! After he rested a bit, and made sure he was bleeding...went down to cafeteria for a light lunch. Soup was great and Dave had salad and pineapple and a boston-cream pie (some of that ended up on his jacket....not sure how that happened!!). We decided we had time to come back "home" for a little rest. Got back here in 10 minutes ...nice walk back too...and Dave checked at desk about getting his computer hooked up to the DSL. They send someone out from Venture (?) computer and had it hooked up in 10 minutes. Had a little trouble getting it to send e-mails, but "allison" from the front desk came up and between her and the guy from Venture (aren't cell phones great?) they had it printing in no time. So ... now we are hooked up and it is in our room....how cool is that? Since we have no TV in the room, it is great to have the computer.
Got back to Mayo's for chest x-rays at 1:00 and a pulmonary Function test at 2:00. Then on to the CT Scan 3:15. Got "home" around 5:00. I had some meatloaf sandwiches with us so we had them for dinner...along with some yogert, fresh tomatoes, celery and grapes. Little root beer and meal shakes to wash it down with. Visited with several other folks from here. This is a really neat place. Lots of sick folks, but wonderful attitudes and outlooks. They all say it is a life changing experience.....well...of course....some of it NOT so good stuff. We are still praying that this will get Dave "cured" ....well at least many long years of remisssion. No guarantees....no guarantees...yes, they say, no guarantees. Poop. I want a GOLD guarantee - FRAMED!!!
We went out to Wal-Mart tonight to get some supplies. We are both exhausted...obviously, Dave is super exhausted!
Tomorrow we begin at 6:45 ...with a PET scan. and ending up with a Spinal tap.
Dang. What else can they do? Looks like the "growth factor infusion" may begin on Thursday afternoon...Friday, Sat, Sunday and if needed..Monday. Then the Stem Cell collection begins...MOn.Tue.Wed.Th.Friday...That takes us through September 1, 2006. No schedule after that...have to wait and see Doc. Yasenchak on Thursday this week to find out if everything is okay to proceed. But he still has to have surgery to put in another "port"...maybe remove his current one, maybe just put another one in. ouch. Dang...this is awful rough.
Well...enough for today...all the groceries are put away, Dave is reading...and I am signing off for tonight. Tomorrow begins ...day 2.

We carry a LIGHT LOAD

Well the title is deceiving because we actually had the car loaded to the brim and arrived at the GIFT OF LIFE TRANSPLANT HOUSE in Rochester, MN at about 3:00 this afternoon. The house is awsome and after our tour, we moved in taking about three trips with the "trolly"! The house is old, built in 1913 I think, and Dr. Judd lived here with his family...he was the first surgon that worked with the Mayo Brothers. The house has been beautifully restored and maintained. Many rooms...two large kitchens, many tv rooms and computers to use. A nice laundry room...and many other things. Many sick people, but many positive people who are getting better. Lots of BMT patients and one guy, Andy, even waiting for a heart and liver!!
Although our bags were full, and now our little refrigerator and cubbard here are full and all our bags are now upacked....we are carrying a light load or at least trying to. By that I mean we are trying to turn over all over fears and anxieties, worries and stress, to the Lord and let HIM help us carry the burdon. It is quite scary and frightening. But with everyone's prayers and the help of the Lord, I feel we make it through this.
Davey is taking good care of Scruffy...and although Scruffy is still waiting my the window for us....hopefully he will sooon give it up and just have fun having Davey there. I pray Scruffy takes as good care of Davey and Davey will take of Scruffy.
Well...must sign off...early doctors appointments in the morning and Dave is already in bed. He is pretty tired from the trip today. August 20th. 2006...and here we are trying to carry a light load.

Checklist, checklist, checklist

Oh boy....I have lists to make sure I don't forget something on my other lists! What a day. Took Davey to town early this am for his meeting....(his check wasn't ready to pick up) then picked up Irene and took her to breakfast...back to pick up Davey, took Irene back home and left Scruffy with her while Davey and I went to Wal-mart.. dropped of "poop" (haha) specimen of mine at Doc's office (aren't you glad you read this blog??)
Then after dropping Davey off at Wal-mart to get his supply for the next two months...went to library to meet with and teach three ladies how to make the Rosaries for Soldiers...then back to get Davey, then met Dad in town (he stopped and picked up Davey's check) ....then on and on....hurried home, took the boat down for Larry Vost to pick up...Dad came and picked ME up!! Then home...picked about 30 tomatos off my vines...wow..what am I going to do with them all?...then fixed some great fish for dinner...then phone calles from Stace and other friends...and now...it is bedtime! I am pooped...(pardon the pun).
Tomorrow is the LIST of clothes to pack...must get started on that...the kitchen stuff is mostly packed except the refrigerator. All the laundry soaps and toiletries are packed...the radio, fan, shaklee room purifier, computer stuff and box of files are ready to go. What a mess. I HATE packing. Must have everything in the car tomorrow night...because first thing Sunday morning (hopefully about 6:00) will be in the car on our way...have a tour at the Transplant House at 4:00pm on Sunday.
They called tonight and have room for us.....
So we will be staying at: Pat & Dave Loner (room 28)
Gift of Life Transplant House
705 Second Street, Southwest
Rochester, Minnesota 55902
PH: 507-288-7470
Website: www.gift-of-life.org

Now have to go over all my lists again to make sure I am not forgetting something inportant. Tomorrow ...another day here at home.
Over..and out.

Here we go....

Well it has been a long time since I have entered anything on my blog. Since no one reads it, it isn't a big deal...but I couldn't even remember how to sign in!! Let alone remember my password. Duh.
So...ok, now I am in. It is August 17, and on Sunday August the 20th Dave and I will be heading to Mayo's Clinic in MN to begin the process for his Bone Marrow Transplant.
Yes, I am scared. Yes, he is scared. But..this seems the only path we have to try and get some "remission" time from this NHL. The IU Doctors doesn't think a Bone-marrow-transplant will give him any more remission time than any other chemo, so he didn't advise it. Dr. Khan (Coach) seems to think this is not only the best chance for some extended time, but the only option he has at this time. He keeps reminding us that Dave came in as a "HIGH RISK" patient. The doc at Mayo's led us to believe that there might be some hope for some remission time and he felt it was the thing to do. So....what DO we do? Guess we are doing it.
I think I will try to enter the days events on this blog....more just to have a record of what we do and when we do it once we arrive at Mayos. I was just trying to remember HOW to do it!
So...come next week I will be entering the daily happenings from MN. Wow. Can't believe we really have to do this.
Dave is feeling better now...after the second round of "salvage-chemo". Sure is rough and I don't know how the human body stands all this torcher. It is amazing.
Ok...one more float down the river with Davey ....the meatloaf is in the oven and then back to packing for this trip. More later.