Author: Peg

The little cancer doctor decided that the bump on Mr C’s head was over his pay grade. Carlton was sent to see the big cancer doctor ASAP. ASAP was this very afternoon. Carlton called me a said “I have Merkel Cell Cancer”. A quick Google tells me that this is bad stuff really. You get a really warm fuzzy feeling when your doctor whips out his computer and starts Googling. He was using the hospital WiFi, I was using my T-M0bile LTE connection – I beat the doctor.

So, week after next, the big cancer doc will remove the big red bump, in the OR. (See yesterday’s post). We were just sort of hoping that we would have a few more good months. Those months have been postponed.

Enjoy Every Sandwich: Chicken Salad. With a side of steamed broccoli.

(The little cancer doc couldn’t let all the revenue waltz out the door. He cut a little chunk of cancer off Mr. C’s face.)

The neighborhood cherry trees are out in force. So, why not snag a little Sakura theme for a little spring cheer? This theme needs a little tweaking to use with my site – but, I am going to leave it as is. After all, the cherry blossoms are fleeting.

And now for something ugly…

Today, I deployed the deck chair for the first time this year. As soon as I got all comfy – a cloud covered the sun. But, it is the idea that counts.

Today’s sandwich: Turkey and Swiss and cole slaw on a ciabatta roll. Enjoyed. For sure.

 

Mother Nature is a bitch. But, you have to admire her optimism. Sure, why not? We can do it. Grow something wonderful and alive  in a crack on the 17th floor of a concrete and brick building. Get enough green stuff growing and Mother Nature can mow down a 20 story building. Go for it Momma Nature.

Enjoy Every Sandwich: Tuna today. Maybe even tuna melts. Depends on what Mr C wants. Enjoying Every Sandwich is not hard for us. We like sandwiches. A lot.

HL7. That is an arcane protocol that medical computers us2 to talk to each other. I find myself needing to speak HL7 myself. Trying to get our Employee Health computer to talk to the hospital lab computer(s). I am getting too old for this.

 

About this non-trivial chunk of cancer that he will have removed on Thursday. It is about the size of a cherry tomato. Growing right out of his skull.

Yesterday I started to worry again. (Hey it is my job isn’t it? Chief Worry Officer.) He agreed that if I say “We are going to the ER” then we will go to the ER, no waiting, whining, fussing or delays allowed.

Cold and rainy today.

The good news – Mr C is back to 143 pounds. Fully clothed and shoed. But, that is about what he usually weighs. He might need a couple more pounds, since he has is winter clothes on.

Enjoy Every Sandwich: Chicken Salad Sandwich tonight. I’ll put some cheese on his. A little more protein. For lunch we had big bowls of chicken and veggie soup from the freezer. I had been holding back my chicken soup because I know it isn’t very high in calories. But, I am not longer forcing calories in to Mr C – like he was a foie gras goose.

Mr C continues to eat everything in sight and do most of his normal things. He is going to have a nontrivial chunk of cancer removed from his head on Thursday. The little cancer doc – the only remaining cancer doc – since the big cancer doc told Mr C byebye – will be doing the surgery in his office. Mr C will whine a little bit, but he has had this done lots of times.

After my great day of no worries yesterday – today, I started to worry about the infection that started exactly 3 weeks ago. I worry that it isn’t gone. Just hiding. Waiting to spring out again. There is something I can do. I can monitor his temperature like a mother hen.

Enjoy Every Sandwich: Today’s offering will be turkey, lots of cheese and cranberry sauce on a fine buttery croissant for the patient. Turkey, a hint of cheese and lots of mustard on whole wheat pita for the caregiver.

Great fireworks last night. I didn’t begin to do them justice. Heck, I didn’t even set up the tripod. So, I can not complain.

I will complain about winter. I am tired of winter. Today to took the winter liner out of my raincoat and I stored my fuzzy bathrobe away. And my heaviest leggings have been banished to the back of the sock drawer. I’ll just be cold. Enough already, Mother Nature.

Another good day – that is two in a row. We are on a roll.

I took the day off from worry. And taxes. I was going to go shopping. But, I went to the grocery first. Ended up getting a chicken, sweet potatoes, and cauliflower. So, I cooked. The chicken spent an hour in the oven. I did yoga while the chicken was roasting. After 60 minutes – me and the chicken were both done. Mr C ate hardy. I exercised restraint.

Carlton took his bike for a ride today.

Fireworks tonight. Cherry Blossom Festival Fireworks.

I looked into renting a real photo-scanner. Realistically, I have more prints than I can scan the way I was doing it last summer before Carlton’s recurrence. I can rent a quality Kodak “professional grade” photo scanner for about $300 for 3 days. That might be about what it would cost to send everything to India to be scanned. But, I like the idea of doing it in my kitchen.  The scanner rental folk have been scanning medical documents for years. I think they are legit.

Enjoy Every Sandwich: Today’s Sandwich. Turkey with guacamole on English muffins. With lentil soup for Mr. C. Gotta pack in those calories, you know.

Spring seems to be hiding. But, it is a still a wonderful day in the neighborhood. Mr C made huge steps towards returning to his old perky self.

He spent most of the day out of bed. He ran the vacuum. He tinkered with his bike. He went for a little walk. He went for a bus ride. He is Carlton again.

Enjoy every sandwich – today’s sandwich was tuna on a nice croissant for the patient. On a pathetic 100% whole wheat pita for the dieter. With a nice cup of tomato soup. The patient got a big dollop of sour cream in his tomato soup. I got Tabasco.

It is a wonderful day in the neighborhood – except the Nats lost their home opener.

OK, put your aloha shirts back in the closet. Mr C’s funeral is on hold for now!

Today we saw 3 of his doctors. The cancer surgeon told him that he had done all he could. The radiologist was happy with the results of the PET scan. (The radiologist and I both thought that his cancer had progressed much farther that it has.) The radiologist really can not do anymore either – but he wants to see Carlton again in 6 months.

Carlton also saw his dermatologist. That doctor is going to do some “routine” skin cancer surgery. Yesterday, he saw his primary care doctor. She is trying to get is blood counts back in line. I think they got wonky as the result of the infection he had.

It has been suggested that he see a medical oncologist – but the only thing those doctors do is chemo and stem cell transplants. Carlton isn’t going that way. And, there is certainly no evidence that indicates he would benefit from either treatment.

I believe his short term prognosis is fine, longer term not so. But, I haven’t a clue what the time frame is. Nobody is willing to hazard a guess.

I intend to do everything I can to help him get his energy levels back up and to watch for any recurrence of the infection. And, the cancer, we will just have to wait and see what happens with the “tiny” areas suggestive of metastasis mentioned in the PET Scan report.

Back into “enjoy every sandwich” mode, until the next crisis.

Life is good.

◊Spring flowers are popping out

◊The Airness is back, and they didn’t wipe the disk.

◊Mr C continues to eat and regain his strength.

Life is good today. Seeing three doctors tomorrow.

Ah, the joys of modern medicine. A couple of PET Scan CDs arrived via snail mail today. Did any of the docs call or email – nope. Seems to me, there are some areas of concern. But the brain, liver, kidneys are OK. So, I am hoping that if we can get him eating and if his energy comes back, we can get some more good times for Mr C. We will see what the doctors say tomorrow and Thursday.

Now, about my computer which is still at the apple store. When I pick it up it will have had the disk wiped and Mavericks installed. With any kind of luck at all, my time machine backup is good. If I were not dealing with Carlton, I would reinstall all my software and just pull data from the backup. But, I am not sure that I am mentally up to that. SO, I am thinking about either doing a complete restore from my backup or and I think this is doable – fire up migration assistant and just “migrate” my data, programs and settings.

Input please. Thanks! My time machine backup has mavericks

I got home from volunteer job and discovered that the patient had eaten crackers, potato chips and trail mix plus an Ensure. Never mind that the fridge had yogurt, cottage cheese and deviled eggs right in plain sight. Next to the Ensure even.

So, I got some veggies and some chicken into him for lunch. And some ice cream. He might not be better, but he will feel better if he eats something. Something better than potato chips.

This just has to be good, doesn’t it?

Took The Airness to The Apple Store today. Unfortunately, It is down there waiting for parts to arrive. I should have brought it home and made a redundant backup. (They said they would do a clean install.)But, no, I just left it. Oh please, Mother Hopper, make sure my time machine backup is good. My brain is all caught up in this Carlton thing.

Thank goodness the taxes are done. What was wrong with Airness? Battery was at 50% goodness and one of the USB ports is wonky. Why they have to clean install, I don’t know.

When I got out of the shower, I couldn’t see across the street because of  snow squall. Earlier I walked to Trader Joe’s in a howling rainstorm. What’s next?

On the Carlton front. He is the same. I am worried that he blood pressure is getting way too low. So, I told him to stop the BP drugs for now. He got really dizzy and collapsed last night when he got up to go to his bathroom. He recovered with no apparent ill effects. Nevertheless, I have ordered him to use my bathroom and will try to wakeup every time he does to ensure safe passage. We usually take our BP meds at bedtime. I am hoping that if he doesn’t take his – he will do better.

One of his many doctors may call with the results of the PET Scan tomorrow. The primary care doc might have more information about his blood cultures.

We talked a little. About the most likely outcome of this.

It was another good day – using our new scale of goodness.