31 July 2018

Things have been rather quiet on McGraw Street the last few days.  Sunday we went to Church, I celebrated Mass and Rick Tanner preached a fine sermon on bread.  By the time he was done, I was looking for butter!  We came home, took a nap and then headed over to Father Tom’s home where he and his friend Andy treated us to a fine dinner.  In general, it was a lovely day.

Monday found me in the dumps which happens now and then.  So, I took the remedy given to me years ago.  After my first husband, Jeffrey, died over 30 years ago, Patty Smith, the wife of the Frugal Gourmet Jeff Smith, sent me the most current at the time biography of Queen Victoria and a box filled with VCR tapes with the prescription to watch one each day.  They were all the Marx Brothers movies and I laughed myself silly.  So, I got onto Youtube yesterday and watched comedies and comedians and laughed myself silly again.  Works every time.  

Around 4pm, Ron's colleague Rachel Goon from Pierce College arrived to go with him for a walk. They were gone for nearly two hours and apparently had a great time.  Thanks, Rachel, for making the hike up here and spending time with Ron.  It means so much to him and he had a great time.  Come again soonly!

While Ron and Rachel were off galavanting all over Queen Anne Hill, I defrosted some chili I’d made last week and our friend March came over.  We had a lovely alfresco dinner along with a fruit salad made of all the left over fruit in the fridge plus a bit of ground cinnamon. Yummy!  The added onions and cheese made the chili even better!  Ron was in bed by 9p - no surprise there!  He rose from the dead around 11p and took his meds and then went back to bed.  He was exhausted but very content and happy.

This morning, Tuesday, we were at Kaiser by 10am for an appointment with the chemotherapist.  Nice guy, a doctor followed by the pharmacist who explained the medications.  Sounds like while chemo won’t be a walk in the park, it won’t be as awful as in past times.  It’s an oral medication along with a med to prevent nausea and one to prevent infection.  We were to meet with the support team afterwards, but they were running late and the receptionist suggested we talk with them when radiation starts – probably next week sometime. 

So we toddled off to a very good Teriyaki place near Kaiser where we shared a Chicken Katsu and an order of Gyoza.  It’s interesting how our eating habits have changed.  We’re eating about half the volume we used to and are full by the end. If we want more, that’s an option but so far that hasn’t been necessary.  Tonight we had a Lebanese dish Carl and Bruce had brought last week and we’d popped into the freeze since our refrigerator was busting at the seams.  It was a lamb and eggplant dish with a tomato sauce and absolutely faboo!  As you can see, someone loved it!

Can you tell he liked the Lebanese dish????

There's really no new news on prognosis.  Much will depend on how well the chemo and radiation work on what's left of the tumor.  What we do know is that radiation will probably start next week, the week of the 8th and lasting 6 to 7 weeks.  We will need folks to take him to his daily radiation appointments and bring him home.  This process won't take much time - maybe an hour - but it will save me the duty of running up to Kaiser on a daily basis which, since I'm not a great driver, is probably for the best for everyone.  It also lets me get things done around the house as well as take a breather at care taking.  At this point, we're thinking that if people were willing to take one day of the week for the duration for the radiation jaunt, that would make the job less of a hassle.  We'll try to get a time that's mid-morning or afternoon so drivers aren't having to deal with Seattle's hideous traffic.  Either way, lunch or coffee is included as to the driver's druthers.  There are all sorts of delectable places to munch on 15th Avenue near Kaiser so it should make the job a bit more fun.  It would also be helpful to have a couple of on-call subs to step in when necessary.  And, of course, I can always do the duty if necessary and am happy to do so.  At this point, it's probably easier to email me at Phathyr@gmail.com or call at 206-390-2049 and let me know you're available.  If I don't answer the phone, just leave a message.

So, that's where we stand at the moment.  Again, many thanks for all your support, prayers, thoughts, good will and all of that good stuff.  It's what's keeping us going.  

Much love to you all and Peace.