June 10, 2012

OK, confession time. I tried to update last Wednesday, but being so tech savvy, I hit the wrong button and lost the entire post. So now I’m trying to catch up and do it again.

This is a quick update on Grubbs’ Manor and its gimpy residents. Mike seems to be doing better. He’s doing physical therapy, and he feels better. His comment: it no long longer feels like walking on nails, just rocks. hmmmm…. Anyway, the therapist said it could be the therapy is working, or he is losing feeling due to nerve damage. They’ll evaluate after he’s finished this course, we guess. Not sure how the follow up will go, but I’m sure they’ll tell us at some point. 🙂

A quick report on the Meniere’s attacks: they have subsided. Hallelujah! I have quit all salt intake again (unless it’s cooked in, and then I avoid it as much as possible), and by golly it worked. I must admit, I had gotten careless and was eating chips and fries more than I should have been. Thinking: I haven’t had an attack in years. It must have passed. No, I hadn’t had an attack in years because I followed the rules. Duh. Anyway, after about a month of meclizine therapy and lots of allergy medicine, it seems to be gone. I was able to cancel the appointment with the ENT. Shew! Check that off the list.

I did have a 3 month check up with Dr. Smith a couple of weeks ago, and yes, the markers continue to rise. I was not surprised, again. He asked why I said that, and I couldn’t explain it. I can just tell a slight difference in how I feel. (Though actually, I am still feeling pretty good overall.) Anyhow, he ordered at PET Scan to evaluate the progress. We’ll get the results soon.

I was surprised when I went to the Medical Center for the scan. They have a new machine. Not the long tunnel of the past. It’s much more open, and a short little tunnel. The tech said it made everyone really happy not to go in the tunnel. OK, I get that. But I always just take a little pill and doze off while in there. This one is very uncomfortable. I had to hold my arms over my head for 25 to 30 minutes, not moving. If I’d been thinking I would have said “uh, not a plan.” Did anyone out there every accuse me of thinking? I didn’t think so. But it was a new experience so I didn’t say a word. Let me tell you, after you’ve had surgery on one arm/side of your chest wall, holding that arm over your head becomes extremely uncomfortable after 10 minutes, much less 30. Holy smoke! By the time she came to get me I couldn’t put it back down, lol. And it was sore for days. And I do believe the bed was harder than the old one. Nursed that for about 3 days, too. 🙂 I know, whine, whine, whine. I’ll just have to remember to say “gotta strap the arm down” next time. (advice to anyone going through this!) Meanwhile, all you good people out there get busy and invent a softer slab for all of us who get shot in those machines to lie on! Thank you in advance.

Like I said, we’ll get the results this week. So far Dr. Smith has said that even though the markers have risen, as long as I feel OK, we will stick with the same drug. That could change if the cancer is invading a different location, but it will be what it is.

I want to close with a quote that a friend posted on Facebook this week. It was her inspirational quote of the day, and it really struck a chord. Good for everyone:

I will not die an unlived life. I will not live in fear of failing or catching fire. I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid, more accessible, to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise. I choose to risk my significance; to live so that which comes to me as seed goes to the next as blossom and that which comes to me as blossom, goes on as fruit.

Great quote, huh? Thank you, Vicki Counts. Everyone have a wonderful week. I will post the results later. And also Mike’s news when we get it.

We love you all. Blessings and prayers to those who need them.