Update on Mom's radiation treatments...

Tamie took mom to the cancer doctor today and they have set her up with a schedule of treatments starting on Thursday, April 21, 2011.  These treatments will be 5 days a week for 25 days.  Each treatment should be only 15-30 minutes long.  We'll keep you updated as she progresses. 

Mom and the cancer doctor appointment

Yesterday mom went to her first cancer doctor appointment. This appointment was to let mom know about the procedure she was going to have. Tamie and dad were very comfortable with this doctor. He took the time to explain what was going to be done in nonprofessional words, easy enough for them to understand, and answered any questions that Tamie asked. I’m sure this put mom at ease now that she has an idea of what to expect.

This coming Wednesday, they go back and mom will be put through a CT simulator that will measure where the mass is on her lungs and how she will do laying down while the radiation treatment is happening.

The following week, she will go back to be “tattooed” – they place a mark on her chest where the mass is so they will know where to place the radiation each time, and they will then finalize the dosage of radiation they will give her.

Then finally, the last week of April, she will begin her radiation treatments and will go everyday for 25 days (Monday through Friday only).

Tamie expressed a concern we all had about this radiation treatment because of the research Tamie has done on radiation treatments, and because mom has trouble breathing and swallowing. The doctor felt that mom should have very little side effects, and what little effects she will have will be tolerable. He said that if she didn’t do this radiation, it could spread into her lymph nodes and become an even bigger problem.

I’ll keep you posted as to her progress. She’s tough and this is just one more hurdle that she will overcome. Besides, I think she wants to be around to see her grandson, Karl graduate from college in September and (yet to be born) great grandchild graduate from college as well.

Dad's return visit to Bill Johnson's Big Apple...

Dad and mom had Tamie take them back to the Big Apple restaurant we were at yesterday so that she could see the size of the bone-in ham that dad had ordered yesterday. Both dad and Tamie ordered a bone-in ham with their eggs and here is a picture of it, it is enormous! Tamie says that the waitress asked them if they were serious about ordering the ham, and when the ham arrived, Tamie said her jaw dropped to the table. Here's a photo of the ham slice. It really is a huge piece of ham and it fills an oval shaped plate. This was Tamie's ham slice, and dad had one just as big. 

The swap mart adventure.

Paul and I took mom and dad to the Phoenix swap mart today.  It was Paul's birthday, and this was how he decided to spend his birthday.

It had been raining the past two days, but today was just perfect.  

Mom rode her scooter and dad rode the electric wheelchair... and the race was on.

These two were, I think, having a lot of fun. At one point, mom had to stop suddenly because a couple of kids ran in front of her, meanwhile, dad didn't see her stop and ran right into the back of her scooter.  It was kinda funny, a "car" crash without "cars".  The good news, there were no injuries and the shopping resumed.

We didn't buy much, a couple of belts, two hats, a necklace/bracelet, and a pair of sunglasses.  Each one of us got something. Dad said it had been many, many years since he had been at this swap mart, and I think both of them enjoyed the day.  

Mom's scooter has never been charged since she got it, but that's because she hasn't really used it for any length of time when she has used it.  So today, we finally used it for an extended length of time, and we almost had to push it as we were heading for the car.  It had just enough juice to get to the car. 

Today was Paul's birthday!!!

Happy birthday dear! 

We went to Bill Johnson's Big Apple this morning with mom and dad for breakfast on our way to the swap mart.  The waitress brought Paul a hot apple pie with ice cream and the other waiters/waitresses sang happy birthday to him.  I was laughing so much that I forgot to take a photo of him trying to slide under the table.  hee hee  It was well worth it.

It's been one of those weeks...

It started with dad having a stroke a week ago, but we were not very sure until we went to the doctor and he confirmed it. Then mom who had just gotten over her bout with pneumonia, found out she has a mass on her lung and had a PET scan that confirmed it was possibly cancer, but it wasn't finally confirmed until we had a biopsy done that actually confirmed that she does in fact have lung cancer.  Dad is now on Coumadin® and has to go twice a week to have his blood drawn to check on it, and Monday, April 11th, mom goes in to the cancer doctor to begin her first treatment of radiation.  She is not a candidate for chemotherapy nor can she have surgery to remove the mass.  We are hoping that radiation will stop this growth and possibly eradicate it completely.

On the bright side, Paul and I rented an insulation blower and blew 13 bags of insulation into our attic and then got 7 more bags and did the same at mom and dad's house.  They had hardly any insulation in their attic, so this should help them with their electric bill this summer. This machine was awesome.  The bags were about 3 feet wide.  You cut them in half and put half into the machine at a time.  I got the easy part.  I put the bags into the machine and Paul had to crawl around in the attic.  It was a perfect day to do this, we had rain for most of the day but the temperature was just perfect.

My supervisor at work retired and last Friday was her last day.  This coming Monday, I will be the temporary supervisor until they start the interviewing process. I am so scared because  my supervisor was one of the best people to work under and I worry about filling her shoes.  Her knowledge and expertise will be hard to live up to. So needless to say, I am stressing out about my new role at work as well as mom and dad's health condition. I am so thankful that my sister, Tamie, is able to take mom and dad to their doctor appointments. It would have been even more stressful if she had not been able to do the running around that she has done so far. 

The date has been set... now I need to save the money

Tiffany's baby shower has been set for Saturday, May 28, 2011.  I am so excited and need to start saving b/c I want to buy, buy, buy!