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.