Father's Day! Greg and I both failed!

Yesterday was Father's Day, so Greg wanted to grill.  Nothing new about that, his nickname when we were younger was "Greg Grill!"  One of the first meals he cooked for me was steak that he grilled in the rain (under the neighbor's garage overhang) and in about 40 degree weather!   So, Greg wanting to grill is no big deal.  He wanted to make a Beef Brisket that we had in the freezer, so he took it out a couple days early and rubbed it down.  It was kind of a "thin" brisket, but was a brisket nonetheless.  He figured it would take quite a while to cook, along with adding some smoke.  Somehow, he managed to cook it at too high of a temperature and we ended up with shoe leather!  Mind you, HE is the one that called it a "failure!"  

And, just to be truthful here, I had my own failure.  For the first time, I made my mother's Pineapple Upside Down Cake.   I didn't realize at first that it called for a 12" cast iron pan.  I have more cast iron than most people have regular pots and pans, so imagine my utter shock that I do not own a 12" cast iron skillet!  Oh, the horror!   I had to improvise, so I used a 10" skillet and a 6" skillet.  I thought because of the amount of baking powder, that it would rise a lot more, and be OK.  Well, THAT was wrong!   My skillets are completely smooth and totally non-stick, but apparently, it was too much for them to have that much butter and brown sugar!  I don't know.  I DO know that I will have to try this again!  The cake tastes amazing, it just looks a little ugly!  LOL

Now that you know I've failed at cooking something, you need to know that that was NOT easy for me to admit!  LOL  Even with this, I'm still an AWESOME cook!  LOL!  

Aside from all the yard work I've been doing I was finally able to finish planting my flowers and cleaning up the deck!  I've had to put the plants under cover a lot because of all the storms we've had.  I certainly don't want to lose them!  I do that every year, but this year we are having a LOT more storms than normal.  Like every other day or every third day.  That's very unusual for North Central Wisconsin.  So, I've often times felt like the "Dunkin Donuts" guy -- put the flowers away; take the flowers out.  OYE!   

So, here's some pictures from the deck that I took the other day. 

We made the benches on the deck two years ago based on something I saw on Pinterest!  I changed it up a little bit as Pinterest didn't have "backs," and I felt it was too "unfinished looking" without the backs, so we added that.  Plus I had to figure out how to do the corner so that I could do both sides.  I painted the cinder blocks last year, and they turned out really nice.   They're actually quite comfortable, too.  You just have to be careful not to "slide" on them, so you don't accidentally get a sliver in your butt!  Ha, ha!  

Three years ago, when the steps were starting to rot, we couldn't afford to replace the stairs, so we did the next best thing by adding bricks to them!  That also turned out very well and very reasonable! 

And one final picture.  Every time it rains, the barn seems to fall a little more.   

So, that's all that's going on right now.  Greg is doing very well since his last radiation.  They told us it would get worse before it gets better, and so far, that ball has not dropped!  There is still much amazement from his doctors at how well he is tolerating all of this, especially considering how poisoned his body has been from previous radiation and chemos. 

Prayers to all!

Julie 


Greg's Go Fund Me

35 DAYS OF RADIATION ARE DONE!!!!

Things have been going well around here.  Last I posted was about my alleged vacation.  I returned to work yesterday and spent 3 hours just going through my emails!  OYE!  But, I know you're not interested in me today (and I'm OK with that!), you want to hear about Greg's radiation. 

He began radiation on May 1, 2017 (May Day) and continued every weekday through June 14, 2017 (Flag Day).  It was a struggle having him driving to Wausau (60 miles round trip) every day and not being able to work, but we did get through that!  There's still some financial struggles, but we're doing the best we can at this point and that's all we can do. 

Last week, he had the nurses take a picture for him.  Of course, Greg, being Greg, he's a goofball in the picture!  

So, with today being the last day (and the longest treatment), he was able to bring his mask home!  And of course, we had to take more pictures!  This is a happy, happy guy! 

And yes, those are our chickens and geese in the background!  Just wanted to prove that he's really, really home and done!  The doctors were really amazed at how well he did, especially seeing as he's 61 years old!  He was able to drive himself to every treatment, has not lost weight (a big issue with this type of cancer) and has continued to eat a little bit every day as directed by his doctor, to keep those swallowing muscles working!   As always I'm truly amazed by his strength!  The doctor's did tell us that even though radiation is done, he's going to start feeling worse over the next couple of weeks before he starts feeling better.

 Now mind you, he's not done with treatment, as he still has chemo in July and August before all is said and done.  After that, they will do another endoscopy and other tests to see how well the radiation and chemo tackled his cancer.   Oh, and sometime between now and November, he has to have the battery in his pacemaker replaced!  That will be another surgery to remove the pacemaker, put a new battery in and stuff it back in his chest!  But you know, considering everything else, that's pretty minor!

And finally here's a happy guy!   

YAY!  Does anything more need to be said?  I dont' think so!  

Blessings to all! 

Julie 

Greg's Go Fund Me

Vacation? What vacation?

I've been on vacation all week, but unlike most normal people, MY vacation was spent doing yard work!    Doesn't that sound like fun?!  NOT!    We have a LOT of yard -- 2-1/4 acres worth of yard!  AND, lucky us, almost all of that consists of grass we have to cut!  WHAT were we thinking when we bought this house 13 years ago?!  I can tell you with utmost certainty that it was NOT about how old we were going to get and how much work it was going to take, especially if one of us has the nerve to go and get cancer (again!) and I'm stuck doing all the yard work!   You can bet your sweet bippy that that is not something that ever crossed our minds!  (Of  course, this is all said tongue-in-cheek, so just chill out, k?)  

That being said, I've been working my butt off every day of this so-called vacation.   First thing was to spend Sunday with my dear neighbor, Jessica, mucking out the chicken coop!  I'm pretty sure this was hands-down, the nastiest job that needed to be done!  Abby had cleaned some of it out, but there was a LOT left, and when I say a LOT, I mean a BUTTLOAD!  We use the "deep liter" method in the winter, which means the coop does not get mucked out, and we just keep adding sawdust, so the resulting composting chicken poo helps to keep the coop warmer in the winter.    It was probably about 1-1/2 feet deep, and in an 8x16 foot coop, that's a LOT of poo and sawdust!  So, now that the coop is cleaned out, we've been letting the floorboards dry and will be putting in fresh sawdust.  We're also going to be making a new roost and nest boxes for them.  Hopefully, that will get done in the next couple days. 

To give you an idea of the amount of poo we had to shovel out, all the "brown" in this picture in the front and on the side of the coop used to be IN the coop!  We spread it out there because the chickens love to scratch around in it for bugs and stuff!   That tire is there for me to get some cardio and strength training done.  All I need is a sledgehammer!  If you have an extra, or know of someone who does, I would certainly appreciate hearing about it!  

I spent the rest of my days planting flowers and using my incredibly awesome walk-behind trimmer to trim all around the yard.  It's my hope that now that it's under control, it won't take anywhere near as long to get it all done.  I also cut the grass in the  front yard, around the U-shaped driveway, and the entire area to the west of the barn, and all around the chicken coop.  I then power-washed the deck stairs and of course, power washed the goose ponds. While I was trimming on the west side of the barn, I decided that the trees needed to be cleared out.   Our friend, Aaron Knight was over to help out and he used the push mower to clear out most of the ditch.  The grass and weeds were more than two feet tall, so it was a LOT of work.  The grass and weeds around the trees were the same height, and it was driving me nuts!   I didn't think to take "before" pictures, so you're stuck with just the "after" pic.  If you look at the grass behind the trees, that's what the ditch was like and that's what was 2 feet in front of the trees and all in between them!!!!   

That patch toward the left of the picture is actually some wildflowers (that is pretty much how tall all the grass and weeds were!).   When you get up close, they are beautiful yellow flowers that I just didn't have the heart to cut down.  

In the picture above, you can see how the ditch is cut down.  I wish I had a "before" picture!  
Today, I only had left to trim the back and side yards, which includes in our little forest area, and then cut the rest of the back yard.  It took about an hour to trim the back yard, and then I started on the side.  I trimmed on the house side, and then went to work tackling the "forest" area.   It wouldn't be so bad, but we have an astronomical amount of burdock.  Burdock is Wisconsin's answer to Velcro, only it clings to EVERYTHING, not just the other half of Velcro!  LOL     While this may not sound like a lot, it really truly is!   

Here's the "before" and "after" pictures of our little wooded area on the north east side of our home. 

A lot of the "weeds" here, aside from the burdock is creeping charlie.  The creeping charlie is slowly starting to take over.  I definitely not mind if the creeping charlie took over completely.  I'd take that over the gigantic burdock any day!  

While I was trimming in the woods,  I wasn't really paying attention to the time, as I kind of get "in the zone" when I'm trimming.  Just concentrating on what I was doing, mostly because that sucker is dangerous!  I always wear my work boots, but I still have on shorts and a tank top.  Of course, I wear safety glasses.  This is the only piece of yard equipment that I use safety glasses with and insist everyone else that uses it wear safety glasses.  In fact, if I  could find a full face mask for lawn equipment, I think I'd buy one!  This sucker shoots out more crap than you can believe!   Suffice it to say that you really need to keep your mouth closed when using it!  

Here's some other general pictures of the yard.  Many of them are before I trimmed.  

This one is looking west, from our driveway.

This is the front of the house.  I need to trim the bushes, but I can't do that until fall.  

Rufus likes to play King of the Hill! 

The GORGEOUS Fuchsia I bought at Valentine Greenhouse.  Absolutely the most gorgeous and stunning fuchsia I've EVER seen!  The flowers are just STUNNING!!  

Back to my trimming . . . So, I was trimming along, and about half done, when I somehow manage to hear what sounds like a lawnmower behind me.  What the? . . .  I turn around, and there's GREG RIDING TOWARD ME!     He wasn't exactly a knight in shining armor, and not quite a prince riding to save his princess on his beautiful white horse, but you know what? He doesn't need a white horse or even a nice shiny new zero turn mower (I wish!). He's MY prince!  

I'm going to end this right here, because this is awesome way to end the evening!  Blessings to everyone!  

Julie

 Greg's Go Fund Me

Oh, the Things He Puts Me Through!

Today, while I was on my lunch break and making a sandwich, Greg decided to let the dogs out.  Now, mind you, he had chemo on Tuesday, so he has his battery pack pump attached to him.



That "pack" is on the left side (on his hip) in this picture is filled with a chemotherapy drug called 5FU and it has to be given 24/7 over a five day period.  That means that here is a tube that runs from that pack to the PICC line in his right arm.  You need to be careful with this, as you don't want to somehow yank it out, as that would be bad.  Very, very bad.

Anyway, he was hooking Minnow on his rope (he's a jerk and runs into the road (Minnow, not Greg!), which is why he only has one eye and hip problems!).  Minnow started running outside, and Greg realized that he hooked it through his chemo line!  Greg started hollering in a way that scared the crap out of me, and I started running to him, realizing what was going on.  We managed to get Minnow to stop so we could take his rope off and untangle him from Greg's chemo line.  Whew!  That could have been a BIG problem!   Yea, he likes to scare the daylights out of me and keep me on my toes!  




Because Greg wasn't able to get this pack until Tuesday, I will have to disconnect him on Saturday, because the Cancer Center is closed on the weekends.  That meant I had to go with him to the Cancer Center today so they could show me what to do to disconnect him.

His short term memory is so bad right now that there's no way he would have been able to tell me what needed to be done.  That's what's known as "chemo brain."  It is a real thing, and it really, really happens!  So, here is the "stuff" we were sent home with:

That's a bio hazard bag, some gloves, some tape (to tape up his PICC line), some alcohol wipes, a new "connector" for his PICC line and a couple syringes of sodium chloride to flush out his PICC line.  The nurse kept asking if I was OK with this.  She has no idea what I had to do for Greg during his transplant!  This is nothing!

Here's a close-up of the battery pack that is giving him the chemo.  That's what's in that pack that he has on his waist in the other picture.  He can also wear this around his neck.  Depending on what he's doing will depend on how he wears this.  Fortunately, it's only for five days once a month, or it would really be a pain in the butt!   










You've seen the pictures of him getting his radiation mask made, but we've never done anything else with regard to his radiation. Seeing as I was with him today, he wanted me to take some video.  I started with my phone upright and then switched it to landscape, but I would have been better off keeping it upright.  So, I apologize for it not being the best!  We have two videos, one as he was getting set up and one when he was being taken out. There's nothing scary about them, but it may affect you in ways you didn't think it would (I know it did me!)! 

Here's the first one, where they are getting him ready.  That thing he's holding in his hand is his chemo battery pack. 

And here's the second one, when he was all done (5 minutes later).  

I have to say again, he has gone through so much, and it just blows my mind at his attitude.  I really don't know how he does it.  He is certainly blessed!  

Blessings to everyone!  

Julie 

If you wish to help with Greg's travel expenses while he is unable to work just go to his Go Fund me.