Dog Days of Summer

AActually the weather here in Indiana has stayed pretty good.  Hardly any rain but getting hotter, mid 80s, and more humid.  Next week is supposed to be in the 90s.  My dog days reference is about me becoming more like our dogs.  Eat, sleep, toilet, sleep, repeat!  

The last two weeks have seen highs, lows and even a miracle.  After chemo 3 I felt good for several days.  On Tuesday when I went to get my "save the white blood cells shot" our friend Lelia Peters came to visit and have lunch.  We had Charleston's fabulous baked potato soup!  We talked about all our health issues but more fun about her horses.  

Luckily while i was still feeling good was when Carol's sister and brother-in-law, Lorraine and Richard stopped to visit on their way back home to Pennsylvania from visiting two of their daughters near Duluth, MN.  I am so blessed that they and their daughters have all welcomed me whole heartedly into the family.  I love them all!  

Sherry Miller and I rode with Carol to meet them at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods near Terra Haute, IN.  Carol and Lorraine's aunt is a retired Sisters of Providence nun living there.  We left Carol there to visit and ride home with Richard and Lorraine.  

On our way there I said that I should probably pray to Saint Mother Theodore Guerin who was the founder of the Sisters of Providence.  But before we even arrived I received a miracle!  My friend Eileen Widmer from Chicago called me with information about a renowned breast surgeon in Phoenix.  It really felt like an answer to my prayers.  I wanted to go back to Phoenix for my surgery but did not know who to go to.  Now I do!  We hired Eileen as our Executive Director of the Society of Gastroenterology Nurses and Associates while I was the President and we have remained friends.  In fact, Carol, Ruth Ann and I had lunch with her in Phoenix when she was there for her current organization annual meeting.  

Silly me, I forgot that she is now the Executive Director of the Society of Oncology Surgeons.  So now when I meet with my surgeon here next week I am going to ask her to send a referral and all my info to Dr Victor Zannis in Phoenix.  Eileen is also going to contact him for me.  I am blessed!  Eileen knows what I am going through because she is a (thankfully long time) leukemia survivor.  With all the support and prayers of my many friends I am sure I also will be a long time survivor.

On our way home from Terra Haute Sherry and I stopped to see our "old" friend Jan Bland who had open heart surgery the week before.  She was doing good and it was great to see her and her sister who came from Phoenix to help her.  

Sure seems to be a year of illness for us and our friends.  When Mindy Burcham and Lima Olsen returned from an RV trip to the NE, Lima also had to have open heart surgery.  Fortunately she is also home and doing well.

After our visit with R & L I sank into my chemo fog for several days.  Fortunately I have not been nauseated but just extremely fatigued/tired.  These are the dog days and they really got on my nerves this time.  I guess I thought I was Wonder Women 

and not be too bothered by the chemo but I discovered I am like all my other friends who have endured this battle.   But I sure wish I had those WW Bracelets!  

Even though I have had to slow down, we have had some fun times with friends.  Fortunately we have done more than I can share here - so below are some of the highlights.  And even some fun times with stuff our friends have sent me.  Check out this hat from Judy Hashem and the nose from our AJ friends Cathy Holcolme and Linda Garrett.   

Last Saturday we went to Concert on the Prairie with Linda Thornton and Irene Stevens.  It was a beautiful night and fun picnicking, visiting, and listening to swing music.

Sunday Cindy Lidister and Samantha Perkins came to visit and dinner out at our new favorite nearby resturant - Seros in Cumberland.  We took our flat Dianne and Janis with us to dinner.  They have been sending us pics of flat Carol and Nancy going out to dinner with them in Washington state.  Goofy aren't we!!!!

On Tuesday I felt good enough to ride my trike to Nashville with Carol, Linda, and Irene to have lunch with Bloomington friends Mary (Rem) Remley and Judy Hohl. 

After resting up we are now going to spend time today helping our friend Connie Kelley with her moving project. I am really looking forward to Sunday because my great friends from my VA days are coming to visit!  Will post those photos next blog.  So until then, as always, I wish you health and happiness!  By the way, all your calls have been greatly appreciated!!!!!  

All the support anyone could ask for!

I am so blessed to have the best friends, family and especially chosen family of anyone!  Support has poured in from near and far.  I have received visits, cards, packages, emails as well as Facebook messages and comments.  Each of these have expressed prayers and positive thoughts focused on me becoming a survivor.  With the toughness I learned from my Mom and all this support I know I will be a victor over this dis-ease!  Then yesterday extra support came from my good friend Marti Burcham and from my Carol.  

We traveled to just south of Cincinnati yesterday to have lunch with a nurse friend of mine from Lexington, KY.  Sallie Walker and I met through the Society of Gastroenterology Nurses and Associates (SGNA) and have been friends now more than 20 years.  We don't get to see each other often but sure enjoy the times we do.

We had a great lunch and even got to go wander around Joseph Beth Booksellers, Sallie's favorite book store.  I recommended she get and read "The Great Influenza" and she bought me "Mountains Beyond Mountains."  I highly recommend both for anyone interested in healthcare past and present.

Next we went to visit one of my BEST friends at her place overlooking Cincinnati.  When we get there Marti tells me she wants to support my battle with cancer by having me cut her hair off.  Wow, I told her, that was so very special for her to offer but she did not have to do that.  She insisted I go ahead and buzz her hair off.  We both had a drink to fortify us!  I first cut her a Mohawk and then buzzed it all off very short!

Carol had been asking me for a month if she could cut her hair off with me and I had kept telling her I would prefer to see her with hair.  However after doing Marti's buzz, leaving her just a enough that I hope she won't get sunburned I told Carol it was ok with me if we do her's too.  Since she is my love, wife, best friend, greatest supporter, caregiver, and boss (she thinks), she definitely wanted to have me cut her hair off also!  So here we all are:

Aren't they the BEST!  

Also since my last blog, many other fun things have happened with our great friends - dinners, campfires, kayaking, and our weekly Pickleball- I played and actually Pat and I won!  Deanna and Chris even gave us their great seats for a Fever basketball game since they are vacationing in Europe.