Family Fried Fun!

Today, we met Larry's family for a fish fry hosted by Larry's brother Dave and wife Carol.  Brother-in-law Harry provided all the fish - blue gill.  It was a feast of fried foods:  fish, potatoes, sweet potatoes, pickles, onions, mushrooms, hush puppies.  All was delicious.  We even tried to deep fry oreos and snickers!  Thanks to the hosts Dave & Carol and the chefs Dave, Harry and Tim.  It was great to have so many family members there with us.

Larry is feeling OK - still tires easily - working on gaining strength for the big surgery in two weeks.

Pat

Fairly Good Day

Larry is feeling better today.  Nausea and pain in his gut are almost completely gone.  Things are tasting a little off and some strong smells bother him.  Overall, feeling better than he has felt for many days.  We also got him out of the house to the mall tonight to walk (and for dinner at Olga's).

The good feeling may be helped by the fact that WE MADE OUR FINAL MORTGAGE PAYMENT TODAY!!!!!  WoooHoooo!!!

From previous post:

• 3/7&8 to Cleveland for pre-surgery testing
• 3/14 to Cleveland for surgery (10-20 day stay)

Pat

Surgery Scheduled

Larry and I made another trip to Cleveland today for a visit with the medical oncologist (chemo doc).  Blood was drawn - all counts look good.  Surgery has been scheduled for Monday, March 14.  Next trip to Cleveland will be March 7 & 8 for pre-surgery testing. 

Larry's hasn't felt good all day.  He's got a pain in his abdomen - probably a result of the radiation.  The radiation oncologist said the radiation would keep cooking for a week or more - "just like a microwave oven". 

Pat

Family

Larry's brother Dave and wife Carol had us over for spaghetti dinner today.  After dinner we played a couple games of LCR (Left-Center-Right).  All of Larry's siblings were there except his brother and wife from Chicago and all of our nieces and nephew.  Very nice! 

Click here to see photos.

Home Sweet Home - Again!!!

We got home Friday at about 5pm.  Feels great to be home.  Overall, Larry did very well with the chemo / radiation treatments.  He still has fatigue and nausea at times, but all in all not as bad as many folks feel.  Docs say he will have good and bad days over the next few weeks.  Should be feeling pretty good by surgery time.  We'll go back Wednesday for a check of blood counts and visit with chemo doc.  Then we should have a couple weeks with no visits.  In early March, pre-surgery testing will start.  Not sure what all will be involved, but hoping it can be done in one day.  Looks like surgery will be mid-March.  Stay tuned.

Many thanks to my Owens Corning friends who are sending us dinner tonight from City Q, our favorite barbecue restaurant.  Yum.

Pat

Visited by an Angel

We had a very pleasant surprise today.  Larry's mentor from the "4th Angel" program called to say he'd like to meet us.  (If you don't know about the "4th Angel" program, see my post from January 25 titled "Touched by an Angel".)

Pete and his wife Laurie were at Cleveland Clinic today for Pete's five-year follow-up.  They met us in the lobby of the radiation oncology floor.  As luck would have it, another couple was sitting nearby and the husband (Chuck) was also recovering from esophageal cancer.  Pete went through treatment and surgery five years ago and is feeling great.  Chuck had surgery 8 weeks ago and was at the clinic for a planning session for his post-op treatment.  He says he's feeling about 80% of normal (of course that will change next week as he goes through round 2 of chemotherapy).  Both had the same surgeon and same treatment plans, but different oncologists were involved in each case.

It was great to hear the experiences of Pete, Laurie, Chuck and his wife.  And to hear how quickly they both recovered from this major surgery.  We had many questions and they were answered.

A BIG THANK YOU TO PETE AND LAURIE AND TO SCOTT HAMILTON AND COORDINATOR JAMIE WHO BROUGHT US TOGETHER!!!!!

Here's a photo of Larry with Pete and Laurie. 

Pat

Unique Building

When we had the boys here a couple weeks ago, Stephen caught a glimpse of this building that is just down the street from the Hope Lodge.  We got a closer look today.  It is the Peter Lewis Building on the campus of Case Western Reserve.  It houses the School of Management.

And, yes it's cold here.  The last photos are the huge icicles at the lodge.

A Better Day

Today was a very good day.  Less nausea, more energy, better appetite.  I brought plenty of food, but we ended up at KFC for lunch and Taco Bell for dinner.  Nothing I brought sounded good to Larry.  No issues here - no cooking or cleaning required from me!  We thought about going to a movie, but thought we might fall asleep before it was over.  So we came back to the lodge and watched American Idol.

We had a good meeting with the radiation oncologist.  We'll see him again on Friday then one more time prior to surgery.  He says Larry is tolerating treatment very well.

Another good meeting with the medical oncologist (chemo).  He also says that Larry is tolerating treatment very well.  Lab work looked good.  We'll see him next week for another look at lab work, then a couple times before surgery.  If all is well, then he will work with the surgeon to schedule surgery.  It's looking like mid-March.  We still need to watch for fever and to be cautious in public.  Extra hand washing, etc.  Fever > 100.4 will require immediate trip to the ER and admission for IV antibiotics. 

Did we tell you that Larry gained 15 pounds last week - they pumped so much fluid into him.  Well, as of today, all 15 pounds are gone and a few extras too.  Now that his appetite is improving, we'll have to watch the diet.  Surgeon is looking 5 pound loss every week until surgery.

We've met a few folks here at the lodge.  A couple checked in last night - from Hawaii!  They have been in town for treatment since November - not sure where they've been staying.  Another man is taking part in a one-year clinical trial.  He's been here for a few months and will be staying for several more.  Some are here for just a week or two and others are staying much longer.  The facility is very nice and they do a lot to make it feel like home away from home.  Still, it will be good to be home Friday evening.  Two more days!

Pat

Uneventful Couple Days

Larry's got 4 of 10 radiation treatments completed for the week.  Wednesday is "doctor day".  Two  radiation treatments, blood work, visits with the two oncologists.  They will be paying close attention to his white blood counts - if too low he will be at increased risk for infection.

Slight nausea - no energy - generally feeling "blah".

Thank you to Erin and all in Lightspeed Panel Ops for the Zen garden arrangement that was delivered on Saturday.  It was a very pleasant and much appreciated surprise.  It's nice to know that you are thinking of us.

Pat

Mike's Basketball Championship Game

Mike's team won the 6th grade basketball championship today!!!! Way to go, boys! They were 2nd of 6 teams at the end of the season. Got a bye in playoff round 1. Won round 2 by 2 points. Championship today - down by 1 at the end of the game, but ref called a foul that put Jackson on the foul line for 2 shots - no one else on the court. The game was all on his shoulders. Missed the first shot, made the second to tie. Whew! that was close. Overtime and Mike's team ended up winning by 6. Coach is treating the boys to dinner Monday night. Congrats to Mike and his team!

Oh - Larry's feeling pretty good.  He made it to both games!  Great weekend so far and we still have the Super Bowl to watch.

Home Sweet Home!!!

We're home!!!!!  And feeling pretty good.

There was some trouble with the IV very early this morning.  At 3 am the nurse came in to add new chemo bags.  Larry noticed that there had been a leak.  Apparently a problem with the IV.  It took 2.5 hours, 3 nurses, 5 needle pokes, a bit of digging around to get the new IV started.  Not much sleep for Larry.  My Friday was spent watching Larry sleep! I guess he got caught up, because by the time we got on the road, Larry was feeling pretty good.

There may be some delayed side effects from the chemo, but so far so good.

We're settled in at home for the weekend.  Larry asked for a later appointment on Monday - they obliged.  So we'll be watching the Super Bowl with Stephen & Mike.  Then back to Cleveland Monday morning.

Here's sight we were happy to see - empty chemo bags and an IV pole without Larry attached!

One More Day

It's the end of Day 4, one more day.  We're both looking forward to heading home for the weekend.  The chemo doc is pleased with how well Larry is tolerating the chemo treatment.  Larry might disagree.  He has slight nausea a couple times a day - quickly relieved with medication.  His back is still sore - best relief will come from the chair and bed waiting at home.  Not much of an appetite and generally feeling "blah".  He's not getting much good sleep at night - chemo bags changed at 2am then blood draw at 4am.  Blood counts are looking good so far, but counts generally drop to the lowest level the week after chemo.  They'll be checking blood a few times next week.  If white counts go too low, they may want an extended stay.

I'm hoping that Larry rebounds with some comfortable rest at home.  Next week should be much better - no IV pole to tote around and we'll be hanging out together at the Hope Lodge.

I went down to the cafeteria for lunch today and on my way back I heard drumming coming from the main lobby of the new building (the curved building from yesterday's photo).  I went to check it out.  Drumming, cymbals and a dancing creature.  It was a celebration of the Chinese New Year.  Two people were under the creature costume that was covered in gold.  Sorry, didn't have my camera.  Nice celebration, but totallly unexpected in a hospital setting.  I just Googled and found that 2011 is the Year of the Rabbit and 2010 was the Year of the Tiger.  The creature must have been the exiting tiger - definitely not a rabbit.

Sandra Lung - Happy New Year AND Happy Birthday!!!!  Have they ever before fallen on the same day?

Pat

A Few Photos

It's the morning of day three.  A bit of nausea and a back ache.  The back ache is not from chemo but from sleeping and sitting on unfamiliar furniture.  Larry is looking forward to going home Friday and sitting in his La-Z-Boy.


Follow this link for a few photos of Hope Lodge and Cleveland Clinic: Link to photos

Pat

Treatment - Day 2

I found 4-5 inches of snow on my van this morning.  Roads were snow covered but passable.  I got to the hospital in time for Larry's 7:30 appointment to find out that it was cancelled - the machine was down.  Radiation treatments are supposed to be 6 hours apart, but because of the machine malfunction, they doubled up on his 2:15 treatment.  That was the excitement for the day.  Otherwise pretty boring.  As I write this I'm lying in the hospital bed while Larry sits in the chair and tries every possible button on the bed.  Yes, he's bored!  Larry is still feeling pretty good.  A little nausea before lunch, but medication took care of it pretty quickly. 

That's all for now. 

(Dave - we liked the joke you posted this morning!)

Pat