12-19-07 Update on Wayne

Wayne had several appointments at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center on Tuesday, beginning at 8:15 AM. We got there a little after 7, early enough to have a breakfast of pancakes, bacon, fruit, and coffee at the Waterfall Cafe before the first appointment. We went to two appointments, ate lunch and then had two more appointments in the afternoon.

Good news! The surgeon had the pathology report on the specimens submitted after surgery and everything was free of cancer cells. So, he will not have to undergo chemotherapy or radiation. We were very happy to get that news. The doctor will see him again in four months as a follow-up, but things are looking good.

Other developments: the pacemaker doctor recommends that he see the pacemaker surgeon to be checked. He thought everything was fine at the last visit, but he noticed something this time that he wasn't able to correct. The doctor said he isn't in any danger, but since he can't make the pacemaker perfect, he would like the surgeon to check it out and decide whether or not anything should be done.

Wayne is doing very well. Over the last 2 1/2 weeks, he seems to have turned a corner and has gotten out of the house before 7 AM every day and has been working on Robin's little house just about every day. He's sleeping well at night and feels pretty good. Thanks to all of you for your concern.

When we were ready to leave M.D. Anderson, we paid for the valet parking and then waited...and waited...and waited for them to bring the car. We were told that they couldn't get the car to go in reverse. I had backed out of the garage that morning, but that must have been all she wrote! Anyway, they pushed the car out of the parking spot and it would go in Drive, so we headed home with me driving, nervous as a cat. All I could think about was having the thing give up the ghost on Hwy. 90, or the Sam Houston Tollway, or the Southwest Freeway. We left the hospital at nearly 4 PM, so there was plenty of traffic. The problem would occur when the car hit about 20 MPH...it wasn't shifting, so it was making lots of noise, but not doing much until it would get up to about 26 MPH, then it would shift and be almost normal. There were a number of lights that we had to stop at, so it was a tense time for me. I imagined every little sound was the transmission about to quit. Wayne, meanwhile, had the sports section and was paying little attention to anything else. It was quite a relief to get past all the busy traffic areas and be running at a more consistent speed. We left the car at the barn and Wayne took it to a repair shop this morning. By the time I got home from eating out this evening, it was back in the garage, sporting a brand new transmission. Guess I won't get a new car for Christmas.

Christmas Program at the CDC

What a treat today! Wendy came by and picked me up to attend the Christmas Program at the CDC. In the video, Gage and Zane are the two in the middle wearing red shirts. Ha! Near the end of the video, Zane loses his grip on the jingle bells and they fall to the step below the one they are on. As Zane leans over to try and reach them and you can see Gage put his hand on Zane's back to keep him from falling forward. My hero! And, if you listen, you can hear me exclaim, "Oh!" at about the same time. It was a nice program, with cameras flashing like mad and most of the kids singing their hearts out. A few of the little ones were having a hard time. It was just luck that Gage and Zane were sitting together. Sure made it easier for taking photos.

Decking the halls

Well, I finally got the Christmas tree finished. I drug it out of the closet a few days ago and assembled it. It was a bit easier than the past few years when I had squashed all the limbs back together and stored it in the original box. Last year I bought a Christmas tree bag (probably at the Container Store) and when it came time to take the tree down I separated it into the three sections and put it in the HUGE bag. It was a chore to carry it the 20 feet or so and push it to the back of the closet under the stairs, but it was certainly easier to put it back together this year. Thumbs up on the tree bag.

It's a pre-lit tree and as I was correcting the branches I noticed that a section's lights were out. Luckily, I found the missing light socket right away. Unluckily, I didn't know whether or not extra lights had come with the tree, or where they were if they had been included. So, I just took a bulb from another section that wasn't so visible and put it in the empty socket. As I got to the bottom of the tree, rearranging the branches, voila!, there was a packet of extra lights taped to a lower branch. The company was pretty skimpy with the lights on the top section...my only complaint...well, not quite the only complaint. The other complaint is that the top section's branches are "weaker" and don't hold much more than a very small ornament. But, it's a pretty nice tree for one that cost about $70 or $80.

I don't usually have the television on during the day. I am too easily distracted and will end up sitting down and watching TV rather than tending to whatever chore I should be doing. But, for decorating the tree, I thought I should at least be listening to music. I found a channel of 50's and 60's music and danced up a storm as I decorated. My bad... I must have been the one person who paid no attention to who sang the songs back in those days. So, today, I would dance and decorate for a couple of minutes and then have to walk to the TV to see what the name of the song was and who the artist was. Slowed my decorating down quite a bit.

But, the tree looks great! If I do say so myself. I'm always happy with it when I'm done. It's a very eclectic tree...all sorts of ornaments, many of them gifts from friends and family, a lot of them made by me (I was a whiz at baker's clay ornaments.) I have some that look like little Tyrolean people that are really nice. I started making them in about 1975...but only did it for about 3 years. Then there are also purchased ornaments. One of the items I added in the last couple of years was pretty clever (and cheap!) and adds a lot to the tree. I bought a pack of Christmas colored glittery pipe cleaners. They were all different colors...silver, red, fuschia, blue, green, and gold. I wound some of them around a wooden spoon handle so they made little spirals. Some I left about 3 inches long, others I pulled out a little longer. I just place them wherever it looks a little dull, in the crook of a branch, for instance. Some of them I left straight and just hook them onto the tree, maybe toward the inside of the tree, just to add sparkle. Even very young children could help you make these easy decorations. I don't think you can do much to mess them up.

Enough of this...I need to go shop for food. I invited all the kids over for tacos tomorrow and don't have any of the ingredients here.

This old dog can learn new tricks

As I was folding towels a couple of days ago, I suddenly realized that I had spent almost 43 years taking great care in making sure the tags on the towels were on the inside of the folded towel, not sticking up like a little tongue wagging at me. What a waste of my freaking time! I would actually unfold a towel or wash cloth and refold it to have the tag out of sight. The previous day I was at Walmart and saw a clump of white washcloths, 18 for $3.50, which I promptly threw into my basket. You really cannot have too many 19 cent white washcloths. Personally, I like cheap washcloths better anyway. So, now I'm folding all these items and after carefully dealing with the tag on about 3 of them, I had my moment of clarity. I immediately got up and went to fetch the scissors and cut the tag off every towel and wash cloth in sight. Talk about freedom! Do I live on the edge, or what?

From now on I intend to have the scissors with me when I fold towels. And not just to cut off the long strings that wrap themselves around other items. Don't tell me you can't teach an old dog new tricks!

A few words about the grands

Gage broke his foot almost three weeks ago. He was at the "end of soccer" party at McDonald's and another child fell on his foot. So, he has a cute little blue cast on it. He also has a little blue boot to wear while walking. The doctor didn't want him to go to school for at least a couple of days, so Wendy stayed home with him the first day and then he stayed with me the next day. There was a lot of television watching going on...in fact, he finally got tired of it and wanted to draw. We got out papers and crayons and he made a book of himself in different scenarios. They were very interesting and I don't know what made him think of them. He drew some of them and gave me detailed instructions for drawing others. At one point he said, "At least I'm not watching t.v."

Gage and Zane got haircuts recently. They got "gelled" and their hair was pushed up in the front. It looked really cute. Gage never liked it when Wendy tried to push his hair up, he would brush it back down. But, I think he liked the way it looked when they did it at the barber shop. They came to Carolyn's house from the barber shop and we all ate supper with Carolyn and Brent. When they were leaving and we were giving hugs and kisses, Gage said, "Don't mess up my hair." I haven't seen it pushed up since then, however.

Carlee was really sick a few weeks ago. She had viral bronchiolitis. She was too sick to cry for about a week. The pathetic looks she gave us would break your heart. It looked like she was pleading for help. She took nebulizer treatments and finally felt well enough to cry a little after a week. Since then she has rallied back and is keeping Carolyn busy trying to get enough food in her. She's added cereal to her diet and this week has started on peas. Carolyn made all of Kate's food and she is doing the same for Carlee. Carlee loved the peas, by the way. She made Carolyn give her more!

Kate continues to escape the house and play outside. Last week, when it was cold she went out, apparently right after a meal (see photo with stocking cap and bib.) I guess she put on the stocking cap herself, because I'm pretty sure none of us would have let her out without putting a jacket on her.

11-29-07 Update on Wayne

Wayne had good news today. The doctor who was worried about the pacemaker said that everything looks good. The issue that had worried him had resolved and it looks like there should be about five years of usage left in the current pacemaker. So, it looks like no more surgery for Wayne this year! Obviously, we are very happy to get that news. Now we just have to wait a little longer for the pathology report to find out whether or not chemotherapy will be necessary. We should hear something soon. I called earlier this week and was told that the final report takes about six weeks.

Just wanted to let you know the good news.

11-27-07 Update on Wayne

Wayne is progressing nicely, for those of you who are still checking in to this site. He is tired a lot, but we suspect it has something to do with the Chantix...the stop smoking drug, as well as the residual effects of the surgery and anesthesia. This morning he was up and out of the house before 7. Quite a change from yesterday when he didn't leave until 11:30.

Tomorrow, November 28, will be five weeks since the surgery. We still haven't gotten the pathology results, so we don't know whether or not he will require chemo. He has an appointment with the cardiologist on Thursday. The reason for the visit with the cardiologist is to check on his pacemaker. The resources were somewhat depleted during the surgery, so it needs to be replaced. Geez!