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Friday, January 30, 2009 Leaving on a jet plane Gary had his bone scan yesterday, CT scan today, and an appointment has been set for February 13 in Eugene to learn results and next steps.
No time to write more. Gary will be home in less than an hour to take me to the airport. I'm on my way to New Jersey to visit the munchkins and their parents! The only thing that would make it better is if Gary could come with.
Photos to be posted upon return!
Sunday, January 25, 2009 Scans ordered It’s the perfect snowy white day – 18 degrees out – which invites hunkering down near the fireplace with orange spice tea, a lit candle that smells like toasted hazelnut and a good Miss Marple mystery.
I’ve torn myself away from the fireplace for just a few minutes to post an update on rising PSA counts. Gary normally has a blood test to measure his PSA (prostate specific antigen) every 4 months. PSA is often elevated in the presence of prostate cancer – Gary’s was 44 when he was diagnosed.
With the introduction of hormone therapy treatments, Gary’s count went down into the zeroes. It’s still low – 0.32 – but has risen three times in the last 4 PSA tests, the most recent rising being a week ago.
Dr. E’s office called on Friday to let Gary know they wanted to do CT and bone scans … and where would he like them done. Apparently if they detect any cancer in either of these two scans, they can radiate just those areas.
We should probably have scan results by the end of the week. Meanwhile, Gary is the picture of health, just come indoors with slightly red cheeks from shoveling snow. And hinting for something chocolate.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009 Welcome to life I’m reading a book by Peggy Noonan entitled John Paul the Great … not because I’m Catholic or particularly interested in the pope, but because I enjoy Peggy Noonan’s writing (in her former life, she was President Reagan's speech writer and now she writes for the Wall Street Journal).
In her book on the pope, Noonan includes an essay she wrote back in 2002 about Karen Hughes, a Bush advisor who had just announced her resignation. Noonan entitled her essay “Back to Life”, and it started with these words:
“What is life? It is the nice big thing you enter each morning when the alarm goes off and you put your feet on the cool floor and then stand, with your hands on the bottom of your back, and look out the window.
“Life is putting on coffee, picking up the newspaper … You can watch the news and be interested like a normal person by what’s going on, as opposed to being interested like an abnormal person—a person who works for a president, say.”
Noonan’s essay goes on to talk about the simple pleasures of a normal life and hooray for Karen Hughes for recognizing that life could be more than the back-stabbing, high pressure, political world she had just resigned from. No shame there.
So what would I have done today if I could have resigned my job? I would have taken longer to write in my journal this morning. I would have gone to visit my lovely 70-something-year-old friend, Barbara, who recently fell and broke her hip. I would have worked on grant-writing, maybe picked up my knitting project, browsed through recipes and then walked to the store for ingredients to try a new recipe for dinner.
Ironically, these are the types of things I did for years – back when I was a stay-at-home mom and had time for sewing quilts and planting vegetables and making strawberry jam. I didn’t mean to take it for granted – this privilege of being around when our kids were there, of doing the wonderful home-making thing full-time.
garage and one out on the street, and my stomach is filled from dinner.
One of my sisters-in-law gave me a plaque a while back that reads, “There is always, always, always something to be thankful for.” Today I choose thankfulness.
Saturday, January 17, 2009 Insane residents Our home town of Bend, Oregon, has more than its fair share of insanely active residents. (Of course it helps that within a short distance of town there are mountains to ski; river rapids to navigate; cliff walls to rappel; trails for hiking, biking, horseback riding; and numerous lakes to explore.)
But I was wrong. We passed well over a dozen people along the trail – including a couple we knew from the local cancer community. And that doesn’t count the people we saw in the park. And several of them were jogging. How crazy is that?!
Saturday, January 10, 2009 Back in high school I had forgotten how much I enjoy being around teenagers. A few years back, I was on staff at a boarding high school that hosted teens from across the country and around the world. I loved it. And I love that we’ve been able to keep in touch with so many of them via cell phone, email and Facebook.
This Thursday and Friday we were back in high school. We presented a modified version of our cancer team presentation in three different health classes – emphasis on attitudes and choices that determine quality of life when challenging things happen.
The classes were each an hour and a half so there was plenty of time for interaction. We warned the students there would be a quiz after the presentation – important stuff like, “What is the name of our grandson?” and “What was the scientific study that Gary conducted?”
Summit High freshman (+ 2 sophomores) health class
I’m not sure if I’m allowed to say this, but the freshman class was my favorite. So full of enthusiasm and hope. Amazingly attentive. During the Q&A there were always several hands in the air – Oh, pick me, pick me! (Of course it helped that we threw Hershey’s kisses for every intelligent question they asked.)
And actually there were lots of really great questions from all three classes: “How did your children take the news?” … “How has it affected your life?” … “Why do you say, ‘We have cancer’?” … “Do you appreciate life more now?”
Our hats are off to Mr. Turnbull, most excellent health teacher and track coach at Summit High. To manage classes of nearly 40 students each on a daily basis and bring home state track trophies gets our full respect.
Side note: I asked the students, “Do you have to join track to get an “A” in this class?” They said no, but Mr. Turnbull said, “It helps!” ;)
Wednesday, January 7, 2009 Engaged crowd I’m thinking that traditional support groups are going by the wayside – you know, the kind where people sit around in a circle and talk about their cancer woes.
We were guest speakers at a prostate cancer support group last night at the Oregon Urology Institute (OUI) in Springfield. The young, vibrant social worker, Stephanie, who started the group just a couple months ago, is averaging 15-20 attendees at each meeting.
I think the reason is because she has managed to transform a storage area in their new radiation facilities into a safe space with refreshments, an opening half hour social time and a guest speaker – usually one of the OUI physicians.
Food, fellowship and good information. What more could you ask for in a support group?!
We gave our 20-minute survivorship talk, fielded a couple of questions, and then Dr. Bodell, urologist, stood to answer medical questions. The crowd was very engaged. After being dismissed, most of them hung around.
We've often said how critical it was for us to connect with people within the cancer community. But it's got to be the right connection. I think it's important and inspiring to see other survivors living well. And that's what's going on in Springfield, Oregon. Good job, Stephanie!
Sunday, January 4, 2009 Out of the mouths of babes I’m sitting in Barnes & Noble with my laptop and my sweetie (well, actually my laptop is here with me and my sweetie is wandering the book aisles). A little girl with the biggest brown eyes - probably around 3 years old - was having a discussion with her mom about how the McDonald's restaurant across the street didn't look like it had been cleaned.
As they passed my table, the little girl looked at me and said, "Hi." And then she announced, "McDonalds are dirty." I smiled and said, “Well thank you for telling me. I won’t go there today.” And then a twinge of pain hit my heart at not having a 3-year-old (or any age) grandchild nearby.
Speaking of cute children, I made it a habit to write down some of the things our grandkidlets said - back in the day when we lived in the same hemisphere with them:
Yep ... sure does, you brilliant, handsome, clever boy!
Thursday, January 1, 2009 Divine intervention It’s a gorgeous wet, windy day with piles of snow still refusing to melt. I’m on my second cup of tea and there’s a fire burning cheerily in the fireplace.
I’ve been reading through Andy Stanley’s book Visioneering again, and came across a comment that jolted me: “I think it is safe to assume that most Christians are not attempting anything that requires God’s intervention.”
Why is that? Is it because when we are younger with our conquer-the-world attitude we have dreams … and in time, as things don’t happen the way we envision, we lower our standards so we don’t feel like failures?
I was thinking back at what has transpired for us in 2008 in terms of our Cancer Adventures vision. There are several things that you would definitely say happened because of divine intervention – the various speaking opportunities in Idaho and Oregon, the publishing of our book, and 501(c)3 paperwork submitted with stellar board members in place.
And then there are the 2009 speaking opportunities already lined up, some of them that just came out of the blue (divine intervention):
I’ve always thought—overly-positive person that I’ve been accused of being—that God wants his children to envision larger things than is possible for us to accomplish without his help. Because then when God divinely intervenes, he gets the honor deserving his deity.
Here’s to anticipating more divine intervention in 2009!
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