Good morning ! All is well on our front! We returned to the Ivey Institute this past Tuesday for David’s eye check-up, prepared for the news that he might have to have surgery the next day. However, the report was great – eye was stable and healing and nothing else was necessary at that time. So we happily returned home and enjoyed a Wednesday free of appointments.
I had no treatments this week, either, so it has been a quiet time for both of us.
This followed a lovely birthday weekend for me – by Saturday, all four kids were home and we had a great time together. Steve took over the kitchen and fed people as they arrived but we went out to our favourite restaurant for supper. By Sunday they had to start leaving again but we had a good time together while it lasted. Pete was not on his way to Brazil as I had thought – he made a ‘boomerang trip’ from Seattle to be here and Steve flew up from Texas. Time together is the gift that I think I value the most anymore and I appreciated so much the effort that all of them made to be here.
Plans are in the works for Amy and I to fly to Texas for Steve’s birthday in September. We’ll be there for a week and I’m very pleased to think that I can do this and also that I will be able to be in Texas again. So – I really am feeling better !
Thank you again for your prayers and loving support. Hardly a day goes by without someone sending a card or some other thoughtful gift. I appreciate it all so much. May you be aware of God’s presence with you today as you go about your life.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Update - August 19, 2010
Good morning ! It’s been a while since I updated this blog, but things have been happening again, as you will hear.
Last week, I had a chemo treatment on Monday (Aug. 9) as well as my second dose of the bone strengthener, Aredia. I was expecting to have a few ‘down days’ after that, as I had had the first time, but fortunately, that didn’t happen. No reaction to anything ! Wednesday afternoon, I was at the hospital for a respiratory test to see if I need additional oxygen ( would support funding for this.) It also went very well. However, on Wednesday David also began to notice that the cloudiness in his vision that he had been experiencing since July 28 was getting worse – big ‘floaters’ in his left (good) eye. When he woke up Thursday, he could hardly see out of the eye at all and was quite concerned, as the vision in his right eye is still not 100%. He called the optometrist for an appointment and we went in Friday morning.
When the optometrist looked at David’s eye, he decided to call the surgeon in London who had treated the right eye and we were asked to come up there as soon as we could. Fortunately, Amy had come here Thursday, intending to just pick up her dog, who had stayed with us while she was in Seattle the previous weekend. So – off we went, Amy driving. The surgeon – and several other people – had a good look in David’s eye and decided that it wasn’t immediately critical – but that we should return for the clinic at 8:30 Monday morning. This is at the Ivey Eye Institute, at St. Joseph’s Hospital in north London, north of Oxford and Richmond, if you know the city. For us, it is a 90 min. drive, so that meant up and out by 7:00 a.m.
After another careful check Monday morning, the surgeon decided that there was a tear on the retina and that he would ‘spot weld’ around it with a laser, to keep additional eye fluid from leaking in behind it and tearing it more. (The cloudiness had been caused by blood from the retina tear.) So – laser treatment (which hurt) and instructions to return at 8:00 a.m. Wednesday, in case there had to be further surgery. Wednesday(yesterday)we got better news – the weld is holding but it needs more time to heal. No surgery needed – but come back next Tuesday (Aug. 24) for a check at 1:15 in case there needs to be surgery the next day. In between, in Tuesday, I had my second chemo treatment of this cycle, which went well, as usual.
So – no dull moments, still ! Amy was a real trouper – stayed with us and drove all the trips to London and then took herself off home Wednesday afternoon. We had been to London and back, including breakfast out, by noon that day ! She will return Friday, with Steve. This coming weekend is my 65th birthday – not sure how that happened – but we are looking forward to a family dinner together Saturday night. Pete is winging through from Seattle via Detroit on his way to Brazil again and will be here about 24 hours and Mike and Lian will come down Friday night or Saturday morning, once Mike gets over his jet lag from his trip to China this week. I can’t believe how the world of business just says casually to people – ‘Oh – you have to be in *** next week. Have you bought your ticket?” The amount of money spent on business airfare must be staggering.
Keep on praying, please !!
I will conclude by saying that I feel great and one could say almost healthy – just a little short of breath. I have to travel with my portable oxygen converter but it lets me go almost anywhere by myself. I also have to expect to be very tired by the end of the day and not get discouraged – a night’s rest and I am ‘topped up’ again. So things are really going very, very well for me. I appreciate all your prayers and concern. God has been so good and I am so thankful for each day.
Last week, I had a chemo treatment on Monday (Aug. 9) as well as my second dose of the bone strengthener, Aredia. I was expecting to have a few ‘down days’ after that, as I had had the first time, but fortunately, that didn’t happen. No reaction to anything ! Wednesday afternoon, I was at the hospital for a respiratory test to see if I need additional oxygen ( would support funding for this.) It also went very well. However, on Wednesday David also began to notice that the cloudiness in his vision that he had been experiencing since July 28 was getting worse – big ‘floaters’ in his left (good) eye. When he woke up Thursday, he could hardly see out of the eye at all and was quite concerned, as the vision in his right eye is still not 100%. He called the optometrist for an appointment and we went in Friday morning.
When the optometrist looked at David’s eye, he decided to call the surgeon in London who had treated the right eye and we were asked to come up there as soon as we could. Fortunately, Amy had come here Thursday, intending to just pick up her dog, who had stayed with us while she was in Seattle the previous weekend. So – off we went, Amy driving. The surgeon – and several other people – had a good look in David’s eye and decided that it wasn’t immediately critical – but that we should return for the clinic at 8:30 Monday morning. This is at the Ivey Eye Institute, at St. Joseph’s Hospital in north London, north of Oxford and Richmond, if you know the city. For us, it is a 90 min. drive, so that meant up and out by 7:00 a.m.
After another careful check Monday morning, the surgeon decided that there was a tear on the retina and that he would ‘spot weld’ around it with a laser, to keep additional eye fluid from leaking in behind it and tearing it more. (The cloudiness had been caused by blood from the retina tear.) So – laser treatment (which hurt) and instructions to return at 8:00 a.m. Wednesday, in case there had to be further surgery. Wednesday(yesterday)we got better news – the weld is holding but it needs more time to heal. No surgery needed – but come back next Tuesday (Aug. 24) for a check at 1:15 in case there needs to be surgery the next day. In between, in Tuesday, I had my second chemo treatment of this cycle, which went well, as usual.
So – no dull moments, still ! Amy was a real trouper – stayed with us and drove all the trips to London and then took herself off home Wednesday afternoon. We had been to London and back, including breakfast out, by noon that day ! She will return Friday, with Steve. This coming weekend is my 65th birthday – not sure how that happened – but we are looking forward to a family dinner together Saturday night. Pete is winging through from Seattle via Detroit on his way to Brazil again and will be here about 24 hours and Mike and Lian will come down Friday night or Saturday morning, once Mike gets over his jet lag from his trip to China this week. I can’t believe how the world of business just says casually to people – ‘Oh – you have to be in *** next week. Have you bought your ticket?” The amount of money spent on business airfare must be staggering.
Keep on praying, please !!
I will conclude by saying that I feel great and one could say almost healthy – just a little short of breath. I have to travel with my portable oxygen converter but it lets me go almost anywhere by myself. I also have to expect to be very tired by the end of the day and not get discouraged – a night’s rest and I am ‘topped up’ again. So things are really going very, very well for me. I appreciate all your prayers and concern. God has been so good and I am so thankful for each day.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Update - Aug. 4, 2010
Good morning - not much to report this week. It's my 'week off' and I have nothing medical happening at all !
Last weekend, we made plans to drive to Dublin, Ohio, where David used to live and work. However, at the last minute, David's vertigo acted up and he felt unable to drive. I was all packed and primed to go somewhere, so we agreed that I would drive to Kitchener and spend the weekend with Amy. I enjoyed the drive and felt that I had taken another big step back towards a more normal life. (It's about 2 hours from here.) I also had time with Mike and Lian, who live in the same city.
This coming Friday evening, Pete and Jocelyn are having a reception in Seattle for their friends who could not make it to Detroit in June. Amy, Steve and Mike and Lian are all going to be there. I will be there in spirit, as David probably will also, but that's as close as I can make it. Even if I took the trip out there successfully, it's not starting until 7:00 PDT (a reasonable time, to be sure) but that is 10:00 p.m. EDT and I am usuially done and horizontal long before that. So, I will wait to hear the stories.
That's pretty well all there is to say for now - just a regular week, normal life, trying to keep up with the house chores and figure out what to have for supper, the perpetual question. Hope you have a good week at whatever you are up to.
Last weekend, we made plans to drive to Dublin, Ohio, where David used to live and work. However, at the last minute, David's vertigo acted up and he felt unable to drive. I was all packed and primed to go somewhere, so we agreed that I would drive to Kitchener and spend the weekend with Amy. I enjoyed the drive and felt that I had taken another big step back towards a more normal life. (It's about 2 hours from here.) I also had time with Mike and Lian, who live in the same city.
This coming Friday evening, Pete and Jocelyn are having a reception in Seattle for their friends who could not make it to Detroit in June. Amy, Steve and Mike and Lian are all going to be there. I will be there in spirit, as David probably will also, but that's as close as I can make it. Even if I took the trip out there successfully, it's not starting until 7:00 PDT (a reasonable time, to be sure) but that is 10:00 p.m. EDT and I am usuially done and horizontal long before that. So, I will wait to hear the stories.
That's pretty well all there is to say for now - just a regular week, normal life, trying to keep up with the house chores and figure out what to have for supper, the perpetual question. Hope you have a good week at whatever you are up to.
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