Month: April 2014

Today was day one of radiation. 29 to go.

Enjoy Every Sandwich: Grilled cheese and tomato with a side of chicken soup.

But, we have: Merkel Creature

Carlton goes in the Nuker tomorrow. Most people, when they are having their cancers zapped, just wonder “What the fuck is going on in there?” But, Mr C is “lucky”. He will be able to watch. And, so will you.

And yes, this is deadly serious.

Poor prognostic factors include the stage of disease at presentation, which is influenced by presence of nodal and/or distant disease. …

The location of the primary tumor also appears to be a poor prognostic factor. Within the head and neck, lip tumors have a high rate of invasion into bone, cartilage, and muscle and are associated with decreased survival. ^… Other poor prognostic factors are age older than 60 years, male sex, a primary lesion >2 cm, ….

Tumor thickness is a significant risk factor for 5-year mortality. Patients with tumors thicker than 10 mm have 18% survival over 5 years compared with 69% in patients with tumors thinner than 10 mm. Merkel Cell Tumors of the Head and Neck

But, we continue to
Enjoy every sandwich: Turkey, swiss, coleslaw on crusty roll.

It started raining late this afternoon. The weather guy told us to start building our ark. I told Mr C to start building. Ark building is surely “men’s work”.

Radiation still scheduled for Wednesday. Hope Carlton doesn’t bail on this option. Because, there is no Plan C.

Enjoy Every Sandwich: Plain Old BLT.

 

Nothing to report. A nice day.

Took all I could carry to the Goodwill. Brought two belts and one tank top back. An OK trade. So, what did I get rid of? An old digital camera, with all of its accouterments. And a purse, that I don’t really use. Never really used much. I was just keeping it around because it had fancy label. A skirt that didn’t fit with my new view of my wardrobe. A couple of silk knit shirts. Think I was keeping them because they were silk. I sure don’t wear them very often. And, I ditched my white shirt. As in “everyone needs a white shirt”. Exactly why do I need a white shirt? If I do need one, I can get one in a couple of hours from Macy’s or in 48hours from Amazon. Or from the Goodwill Store!

Mr C is still napping a lot and operating at about 80%. I think, that in addition to his major cancer problem, he still has some infection wandering around the area of his October surgery. But, we are not talking about any health matters.

Enjoy every sandwich: Turkey, provolone, guacamole – with tomatoes.

Is it only a month since I last admired the moon and venus?

March 27

It has been one hell of a month. Things are still really grim. But, we made it through another month. Or, maybe, I should say we had another month together.

Another month to:

Enjoy every sandwich: Buffalo chicken with crunchy iceburg lettuce in a flour tortilla. I might make cheese burgers for dinner. A double sandwich day?

As for my person fitness craze. Knocked out 5 miles today. And did a little yoga too.

A couple of weeks after the elegant Yoshino and Akebono Cherry Trees bloom, the gaudy, over the top Kwanzan Cherry Trees pop out.

Today is a day of nots.

• I did not stand up for 5 hours at work.
• I did not walk 5 miles. Did walk 3.5
• Mr C did not get an operation.
• I was not tired.
• Mr C was not all cut up.

Enjoy Every Sandwich: Tuna with blue cheese and tomatoes and a little iceberg lettuce. On whole wheat pita.

I love crab apple blossoms – and apparently so does this bee-type thing.

I am tired today. Real tired. Stood up all morning at work. Think I am too old to be a shop girl! Only logged 4.5 miles walking. I wonder how many miles a day “should” a 70 year old lady walk? Enough complaining.

Today was a fine day for flower watching.

Enjoy every sandwich: Roast beef, bacon, cheese on ciabatta roll.

We are still with Treatment Plan B. No surgery. Just radiation. Radiation starts next Wednesday.

We aren’t going to talk about Merkel Cell or medical treatments until next Wednesday. We still might talk about things that need to be done “just in case Plan B fails”. I am thinking maybe we should go to Kona when radiation is done. No matter what.

Got my 5 miles of walking in today. Thank you FitBit. Have I mentioned that I loath exercise. Yeah, I though so.

Enjoy every sandwich: Turkey with melted provolone and apple chutney.

Thank you, Mother Earth for putting up with your disrespectful children.

What a day. After a morning of handwringing, angst and the F word by Carlton … Me rushing home from work. More angst. At about 3:30 this afternoon, at the hospital,  Mr C said just said NO. No surgery. Then signed up for a 6 week course of radiation – starting next Wednesday. And he was told he could cancel his appointment with the dreaded oncologist.

This is not the recommended course of treatment. But, for Carlton, it is the “best” care. He is completely freaked out by the amount of skin grafting that MIGHT be required to close the proposed cut to the top of his head. So, it will be the Nuclear Option… I am totally OK with his choice.

Stay tuned.

Enjoy Every Sandwich: Turkey & Provolone on Wheat w/lettuce and tomato.

Some days, nothing happens. These are good days. Today was a good day.

Carlton went out to lunch. I knocked out my 5 miles walking. Took some flower pictures along the way. One of Carlton’s girl friends came by for a visit.  Nice normal day.

Enjoy Every Sandwich: Carlton Bacon Cheese Burger with fries – this was his lunch. As for me, no sandwich today.

No chocolate bunnies for us this year. But, we do have dark chocolate bars and chocolate covered almonds.

Enjoying a last day of denial. Maybe we can squeeze out another denial day tomorrow. But, after that back to grim reality. Surgery is Friday. Not a moment too soon.

I didn’t do much today. My normal kitchen cleaning and laundry. Some yoga. And, I didn’t let the fitbit nag me into walking five miles.

Mr C went for a bike ride and to AA.

Enjoy Every Sandwich: Turkey and Swiss with guacamole and tomatoes.

Here I am, not looking too shabby for 70 years old. (thanks Sue). Just the sort of encouragement I need to remember “Peg eating a donut will not extend Carlton’s life one instant”.

We are having a nice day. Trying to ignore “what might happen next”. We might as well enjoy a couple of days of denial.

Enjoy Every Sandwich: Hana Hou – tuna melt for Mr C and chicken salad for me.

Note to Laurent: Hana Hou is Hawaiian for repeat, do again, encore. It comes from the old plantation days. Sugar cane was planted from cuttings. And replanted or “hana hou” several more times. Hana means work and hou in this context means again.

Retail Therapy for Me: I got a little FitBit Zip. We’ll see if it can guilt me into walking 5 miles most days. Mr C doesn’t get retail therapy.