Not a bad day today 8-)

Another day of radiation. It takes longer to travel the 7 miles to UMC than it does to get him ready and do the radiation. Then I stopped at the Lexus dealer so they could sync my new cell phone with the car. I would have probably done major damage to the car and phone if I had tried to do it myself. Then onto the hospital equipment place where we got a snazzy "companion wheel chair" that is lightweight and easy to use along with a shower bench and a table that fits across his recliner - kinda like a hospital tray but lighter, easier to use, etc. We plan on going out this weekend and cruise the mall. No radiation on Saturday and Sunday. 8-) The biggest radiation side effect so far is being really tired. Unfortunately, I think the tiredness get worse before it gets better. Yesterday, this time, I was just totally overwhelmed with getting everything organized, getting meds orderd and picked up, making several doctors appts, etc but today is much better. We went to bed at 8 p.m. last night and will probably do the same tonight. One day at a time....

Busy Day

We went to bed at 8:30 last evening - we were sooooo tired. Lary was asleep within minutes and slept until 5:30 this morning. He didn't sleep good in the hospital even with sleeping pills. We got to the hospital this morning for his radiation only to find out that the equipment was out of order and they were waiting on a tech from Phoenix. The tech didn't call us because they didn't know he wasn't in the hospital..... So, no radiation today which will just add another day on at the end. Larry took a 3 hour nap this afternoon while I made phone calls and Morris was a pest. I set up 3 doctor's appt and our first appt with Dr Garland, a lung cancer oncologist, is for Dec 19th. Needless to say, we looking forward to what she ways with mixed feelings. For me, I scheduled a cleaning service to come in every 2 weeks. I also got 5 prescriptions filled at Wal Mart for Larry which was an interesting experience. The medicine to keep the toxoplasmosis at bay runs $2,216/mo. I'll be on the phone tomorrow with the drug insurance co to see if the high co-pay was due to him hitting the donut hole of are they only paying 50% of the med. Then it was time to do Larry's pill boxes. He has always done his pill boxes so it was an experience for me to deal with around 12 meds per day and get them all in the right time of day. Then we have the ones that don't fine in the 8 a.m. or 8 p.m. slot and are taken during the day. One day at a time...

He's Home!

Larry was discharged this afternoon and we got home around 5 p.m. It was a very long process and there was a steady stream of docs, case workers, nurses, even some new docs, etc all day before we could get out of there. We got home, he set down in his recliner and Morris immediately jumped up in his lap. They have been there ever since. We go back to the hospital in the morning for radiation and will be there M-F for the next 3 weeks. Needless to say, I have tons of phone calls to make, appts to set up, drugs to figure out, etc the next few days but at least I can do it from home. However, the great news is that he can stay by himself, if he is feeling o.k., while I go to the store, etc. There are no limits on what he can do, eat, etc - just use common sense if he is tired, etc. One day at a time......

A good Sunday

It was a good day today! There were no radiation today. The fog in Larry's brain wasn't anywhere near shore today until late in the afternoon when they had to wake him up to give him his steriods. If he can wake up naturally then he is fine otherwise he is foggy. He had an assessment by an occupational therapist and a physical therapist to see if he was o.k. to come home. He passed with flying colors. They gave me a list of things we need in the house such as a shower bench, grab bars in places we don't already have them, walker, etc. An oncologist from the cancer center came by to chat for awhile. Still don't like what we have to talk about but they are very kind and sympathetic while making you listen to reality. We got a wheel chair and I took him down to the cafateria for both lunch and dinner. He really enjoyed getting out of his room and off his wing. We are learning to really appeciate athe little, good things that happen and we had a bunch of them today. Larry's current room is on the 3rd floor which used to be where the children's center was before they built the new one. The pediatric oncology wing is still on the 3rd floor. Anyway, when it was the children's wing, they painted wonderfund murals on the walls the whole length of the corrider. I walk down this hall to get to his room and seeing these pictues never fails to bring a smile to my face no matter how bad the day has been. Besides the original Disney characters like these, there is also Lion King, Flintstones, etc.

Meeting with the oncologist

We met with the oncologist late yesterday. Larry has Stage 4 Adenocaracinoma lung cancer that has methasized and spread to the brain and liver. Bones could be next. If we are really, really, really lucky the will have a year - otherwise months. Radiation will continue for 3 weeks since it is a must to shrink the tumors in the brain but they will probably come back. He will have chemo but the type of chemo will be blanced with "quality of life" and that will be his call. If they threw the strongest chemo at him, it might buy him a month or two so I don't think he will go for it. We will be meeting with Dr Garland, at the cancer center, whose speciality is lung cancer. All in all, I think he is doing a great job dealing with it all - maybe better than I am. We're still hoping he can come home tomorrow.

Looking pretty good

This was today (Sat) after his shower and before we met with the oncologist. He looks the best he has since he went into the hospital. I think it will be a picture we will treasure in the coming months.

Larry in his radiation mask

This is Larry on the table awaiting the radiation. Last Thursday, they put a soft stuff over his face and let it harden to to his face. They secure ithe mask to the table frame so he cannot move his head at all and then shoot the radiation to preprogrammed spots where the tumors are.

Final diagnosis

We got the final diagnosis today and it is Adenocarcinoma (adn o carcinoma) of the lung. It's not a good lung cancer to have but it isn't the worst one. We'll get more info from the oncologist today or tomorrow. If he continues to get stronger, he may go home on Monday and continue radiation as an out patient. They do use chemo on this type of cancer but we won't know about that for a few days until we meet with with the cancer center's lung cancer specialist.

Morris, the jungle fighiting cat

Well we certainly saw another side of sweet little Morris last night! I was at home and talking to Jennifer on the phone. Morris was out in the front, fenced in entry for some fresh air. All of a sudden started screaming at the top of his lungs. I go to the door, turn the light on and there is a strange cat sitting just on the other side of the screen. I know better but I reached down to pick Morris up to get him inside the house so I could shut the door and he turned on me as if I was another cat attacking from behind him. He jumped up at me, got my left arm with teeth and claws. I couldn't believe it... I got a broom and got him inside the house where he calmed down. Then came doing first aid on my arm with one hand. Major long deep scratches, several short scratches and puncture woulds. He apologized this morning by snuggling up to me in bed before I got up. Larry's patient tech yesterday and today, used to be a vet tech so I talked to her this morning,. She said the other could have been in heat and Morris was just reacting even though he can't do anything about it or he could have been protecting his turf with the other cat and then though he was being attached from behind when I touched him. I think it was the latter.... I checked with the nurse this morning and they said a tetanus shot is good for 10 years and it has been less than 6 since I got it. The nurse looked at my arm, said I did a good job and rebandaged it. I think Larry was suspicious of my story until he saw the wounds.... Jennifer would have been my witness she I just laid the phone down by the door and she heard him. Whenever I picked the phone up she said "what in the world was that. It sounded like someone was being killed. "

Looking better

I was really amazed at how much better Larry looked this morning when I got here! He practically snatched the McDonalds Hot Mocha out of my hand. Good thing I didn't get close until after they checked his glucose..... He drank it all and was ready for breakfast. He had radiation again around 8 and then was ready for his shower. By the times the docs got here around 11 he looked like a different person than what they have been seeing. We have quit referring to it as "confusion " (sounds too much like dimentia, etc) and refer to it as a fog. When he first wakes up it can be pretty thick and then kinda moves off shore although it can move a little in and out during the day. This morning we watched CNN, discussed politics, NBA talks, the hopeless task of educating me on stocks, etc. As long as I didn't ask him where he was we were fine.... 8-) He called his broker in San Francisco first thing last Wed to tell her what was going on. She sent some paperwork over for us to sign and have notarized. Our patient tech located a notary down in financial and she came up to notarize the papers. I was concerned that Larry wouldn't be able to answer the questions to prove that the raditation and steriods hadn't affected the brain too much but he passed. He didn't know our house number but knew the street. That was a relief to him to get those done. His glucose has been running between 170 - 260 so he is on insulin. The diabetis is due to the steriods. He had another patient sitter last night which is a hugh relief for me.

Contacting us

Probably sending me an email at my regular email address or sending me a message via facebook is the best way to contact us. Cards can be sent to the house and I will bring them into show him. I also print out the email and bring them to him. You have no idea how much we appreciate your emails, cards, prayers and good thought. They mean so much right now.

Today - a very long day already

It's only 3:30 p.m. but it has been a very, very long day already. I think there are going to be many, many more of them in our future. He only got about 4 hours sleep last night even though they gave him a sleeping pill about 8 o'clock. He woke up in a confused state and that has been going all day - sometimes worse than others. At times, he thinks he is in Sacramento, was taking but seeing his doctor that treated him before he had his liver transplant, thinks they moved all the furniture in the room last night, doesn't know where he is, was going down the hall to visit his mother, etc. However, he has always known me. Yet, he sat up in the recliner for abut 3 hours and was on the computer checking his emails, looking the status of some of his stocks, knew exactly when he bought them and how much he paid for them. It's all due to the swelling in the brain and the steroids. They started radiation today and he had no problems with it. We got a semi-final diagnosis this afternoon. It is not melanoma but just plain lung cancer. However, there are several kinds of lung cancer and we won't know that until tomorrow. Once they know that, they can determine timing, course of treatment, etc. The radiation oncology doc was very optimistic that they can shrink the tumors in the brain but can't promise they won't come back at some point. We'll be turned over to oncology in the next day or so. Everyone says that the hospital's cancer center is the nicest place you hope to never visit. The steroids have increased his blood sugar so he has had 2 insulin shots today. They plan to continue the steroids today and tomorrow and then will switch to a lower, pill dosage since the radiation can make the brain swell. Two docs lectured me today on taking care of myself because it is going to be a very long haul. It is so hard to believe that we did laundry last Friday morning, went out to lunch and how here we are a week later with our world turned upside down.

Being someone else's hand

O.K., I never had children so have never been through having to help someone dress, feed themselves, fold a newspaper so they can read it, put sugar in their coffee, etc. And....it is so frustrating for Larry to not be able to do all those things for himself. His left shoulder and elbow work just fine but the hand just hangs there with no use whatever in it. Hopefully the use will come back after the swelling and tumors in the brain go down.

My notebook is now organized

It was driving me nuts just using a regular spiral notebook to keep notes in. So last night I put a notebook together with dividers, etc and feel much more organized today. After today, I think I am going to be glad of the organization with everything to keep track of. At this point it is totally overwhelming!

The Docs

The doctors in here are just incredible!!!!! However, it is a slow day since it's 2 p.m. and we have only seen 3 of them today - by this time yesterday we had seen 6-8 of them. Dr Whittman came by today and stayed about 1/2 hour. He is Larry's nephrologist and we have been seeing him the last 6 years we have been in Tucson. We see him every 3 months for a transplant check up and he has become a fiend - not just a doctor. Larry is his 4th patient who has been diagnoised with cancer this year and he is pretty bummed out over Larry being diagnoised with it. He said he keep wondering what he missed or is there any routine testing that can pick things up before they get out-of-hand. He wants to register us with one of the University hopitials in the east who is doing a study on cancer in transplant recipients. I'm having a very hard time trying to remember and pronounce the doctor's name - not may Smiath and Jones.... I've started just collecting their business cards which helps me at least connect them to their speciality even if I can't pronouce the name I can recognize it. However, I can remeber Dr Hill....she is over 6', long blond hair, perfect figure and beautiful besides being a really nice doctor. I don't think you would have a problem getting a teenage boy to go see her....

The suprises that life throws us

After 2 transplants, one thing that Larry and I did not do was to take life for granted. However, we are now more than every appreciative of us doing the things we wanted to do while we could. What a wonderful time we have had with our road trips and just enjoying retirement. Now, we really treasure those times and all the photo memories we have to remind us of the good times.


So...here we are in the hospital waiting for the pathology dept to determine exactly what stain of cancer Larry has. The steriods seem to be working since his headaches are not nearly as bad this morning and he is awake. Not only has he been awake all day but he is coherent - may not remember but that is another issue. The inability to use his left hand is very frustrating. He was eating breakfast this morning with a fork in one hand and was trying to pick up a piece of bacon in the left hand and couldn't do it. He can move his shoulder and elbow just fine but the hand just hangs there. That is due to the swelling the brain. Hopefully the steroids will soon start taking effect and the hand will come back to life. However, the docs said this morning that it may not come back until the radiation shrinks the tumors in the brain. The headachs are MUCH improved this morning. He hasn't had to have any pain meds for thm at all today - let alone the morphine that he was on for the last two days. Right now, stall things count a lot.