Things have been uneventful here at the Mik Homestead, so I haven't posted much. Aside from the lawnmower breaking down (AGAIN!), things had been going good . . . . until yesterday, that is!
As I've stated in the past, Greg was advised by his doctor to eat at least once a day, in order to keep his throat and swallowing muscles working. Usually that's been dinner, which is, of course, the best meal of the day! Well, we had gotten quite a deal on some beef tenderloin steaks a few weeks ago and decided to have them for dinner. It can be hard to cook them to perfection on the grill, so we decided that I would cook them on the stove. I have an amazing cast iron grill pan and I've learned to cook steaks to a perfect medium rare on it. So, we had the steaks and sauteed onions, together with roasted asparagus (it was on sale for just $2.29 a pound, so we grabbed one bunch of it while at the grocery store) that I marinated in balsamic vinegar, olive oil and garlic and I made teriaki noodles to go with.
After about two bites, Greg started coughing. And gagging. And coughing. And gagging. Apparently, what can happen is that with the tumor in the throat, food has to go around it, so it goes down one side or the other. Sometimes, food gets stuck. It's not like when you're choking and can't breathe, but you can't drink or swallow much and you need to be able to cough it up.
I hate to say it, but it really sounded gross, and both Abby and I were almost gagging just at the sounds he was making in gagging and trying to cough it up. We watched and we waited. And waited and waited some more. After about 45 minutes, Abby and I decided enough was enough, and we were taking him to the Emergency Room. It was late enough at night that there was no urgent care facility open at that time.
As we're all getting ready to go to the ER, Greg actually manages to cough up whatever it was that was stuck in his throat! Whew! No ER visit! We both commented on how something like this was supposed to happen and happen fairly often. It's part of the reason why so many with this horrible cancer don't eat and lose much weight -- and hence the need for the feeding tube.
So, I guess we're lucky that this was the first time this happened. Greg has chemo one more time next week, and then he will be done with all his treatments. It will be a month or so after that that he has any new scans or tests done, so please keep your prayers going!
Blessings to all!
Julie
Showing posts with label cancer of the esophagus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cancer of the esophagus. Show all posts
Monday, July 17, 2017
Monday, June 19, 2017
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
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
Thursday, June 8, 2017
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!!!!
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
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.
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!
Julie
Monday, May 29, 2017
The Dark Days are Over! God's love Wins!
Last week I posted a fairly dark entry. I was in a bad place and just couldn't get out of it. I needed the release that blogging gives me, so I let everyone know just how awful things can be for a caregiver, a wife, a mom, in short, a human being dealing with cancer for the third time. And you all responded to me in such a beautiful fashion. You really helped me to be able to get through that very dark day. I hope to never have one like that again! I am much, much better now and am once again, the happy, loving, caring Julie that you all have grown to know and love! Ha, ha! I'm guessing that some of the people that read my blog are reading it because they are happy to know about all the challenges we have had to face. But you know what? I don't care! I have the Lord on my side. He is here, holding my hand, and speaking life into my heart. He has been with us every step of the way, from almost losing our house to foreclosure, to having to file for bankruptcy when our business failed to losing our 5th wheel instead (that paid our mortgage for almost a year!), to Greg's 1st bout with cancer, his second bout with cancer and bone marrow transplant, and now his third bout with cancer! Yes, He is here, and He is wonderful! All the glory is His!
Every so often, I think about my current job that provides us with health insurance at a cost that is much less than what most people pay. I had temped for this company back when we first had the idea to open our store. If I had actually applied for a job there and never opened our store, we would certainly be much further ahead financially than we are now, but I ignored that little voice. It seems that, like with Jonah, God chased me down and turned me around and got me back to where he wanted me in the first place! Unlike with Jonah, it took me over 10 years to get where He wanted me to be to begin with. Obviously, He knew what was coming down the pike, and knew that we were going to need health insurance!
I know you all know the story of Jonah and the whale, but do you know why he was swallowed by that whale? It's because God told him to go to Nineveh, and he refused, instead, running away in the opposite direction to Tarshish. It was because of his disobedience to God that he ended up in the belly of that whale. God kept him alive in that belly for three days and three nights and when he was spit out on the shore, God again commanded him to go to Nineveh. And, lo and behold, Jonah listened the second time! (I would imagine being stuck in the belly of a whale for three days and three nights was enough to get him to listen to God!) Read the Book of Jonah, and you will understand what I am trying to say. It's so much more than a man and a whale. I'm not saying that I'm anything like Jonah, but you need to understand that God wants us to be where He wants us to be. And we don't always listen. One way or another, you WILL end up where He wants you to be. Whether that's in the belly of a whale, or struggling to find a job to be able to pay your mortgage and provide health insurance for your family. He will continue to correct you until you are where He wants you to be. You may not understand, but all will be clear one day, when you are face to face with Him.
OK, so, on Monday, Greg got a phone call from someone who said he had spoken to his father and wanted to come and try to get our lawn equipment started. We had three things that wouldn't start after winter, and we really needed them to be able to get our yard taken care of. We have a pressure washer, a push mower and a walk-behind trimmer and not one of them would start! The riding mower did, so we were able to get some of the yard cut, but with all the rain, we couldn't get it all done, either.
Anyway, so 20 minutes later, he showed up with his own tools and got to work. Mind you, this person is always talking about how he is not a "handy" kind of guy. We knew this, but he said he had his father on speed dial, and his father IS a handy kind of guy! So, he worked on them for about 2-1/2 hours, and Greg had to leave for radiation. Our helper ran into town to get some spark plugs and came back. I'm not sure what he all did, but he was able to get the push mower started! He was pretty pumped by that, so then went to work on the pressure washer and he was able to get that one started too! (Again, feeling very manly about this victory!) Next was my walk-behind trimmer which was a little trickier. Mind you, I just bought it last year, so it's not like it was old or anything, but it was it's first winter. After a call to his father, his dad knew exactly what to do, and lo and behold, the trimmer started! WAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now, if you're wondering who this person was, it was our very own Pastor Will! Truth be told, he was not exactly at the top of our list of people to help us get these machines started! And before ya'all get all upset, HE is the one who is always saying he is not a "handy" kind of guy! Greg is not necessarily a "handy" kind of guy, either when it comes to a lot of stuff, so I'm not being rude here by any stretch of the imagination! I am much more mechanically inclined than Greg is, and that's OK. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. Apparently, Greg's biggest strength is beating cancer! And I'm OK with that! But, Pastor Will is never allowed to say he is not a "handy" kind of guy ever again! We now know the truth!
Oh, I guess I forgot to mention that Pastor Will had to leave and said he'd be back to help get the grass cut. True to his word, he came back about an hour or so later, with a young man from church and they went to town cutting our lawn! Mind you, we have 2-1/4 acres, and just about all of it is grass and has to be cut. Pastor Will hopped on the riding mower and Rudy took over the push mower. Between the two of them, they got almost all the grass cut for us! We cannot thank them enough for all their help, and especially Pastor Will for getting our lawn equipment going! I was so excited that by the time he came back, I had already trimmed all the gigantic burdock that was overtaking our little wooded area that I was desperate to get to! I think he was a little surprised to come back and see me covered in grass and sweat in my work boots, bandana, shorts & t-shirt! It was not a pretty site, to be sure!! LOL
Here's Pastor Will on the riding mower. He stopped to chat with Greg at one point, and said that cutting our grass gave him a new appreciation for living in town. I believe his next words were "you have a lot of grass!"
Our push mower is a "mulching" mower, but we haven't used the bag since we moved up here. Rudy decided that it would be much faster to open the flap at the back, so he was covered in grass by the time he was done! You can see it all flying out the back, right at him! We couldn't convince him not to do that, and he said the grass was no big deal. He cut the whole front yard with that push mower!
We are so appreciative of our church family! All the prayers and help they have given us has truly touched our hearts. I also received a beautiful basket of geraniums from Pastor Will's family (read: Pastor Jen!) and a beautiful card reminding me that God loves me and their family loves me, too! I needed that! Every time I look at this beautiful basket I am reminded of God's love for me.
May God's love inspire you and fill your heart with His goodness.
Julie
Every so often, I think about my current job that provides us with health insurance at a cost that is much less than what most people pay. I had temped for this company back when we first had the idea to open our store. If I had actually applied for a job there and never opened our store, we would certainly be much further ahead financially than we are now, but I ignored that little voice. It seems that, like with Jonah, God chased me down and turned me around and got me back to where he wanted me in the first place! Unlike with Jonah, it took me over 10 years to get where He wanted me to be to begin with. Obviously, He knew what was coming down the pike, and knew that we were going to need health insurance!
I know you all know the story of Jonah and the whale, but do you know why he was swallowed by that whale? It's because God told him to go to Nineveh, and he refused, instead, running away in the opposite direction to Tarshish. It was because of his disobedience to God that he ended up in the belly of that whale. God kept him alive in that belly for three days and three nights and when he was spit out on the shore, God again commanded him to go to Nineveh. And, lo and behold, Jonah listened the second time! (I would imagine being stuck in the belly of a whale for three days and three nights was enough to get him to listen to God!) Read the Book of Jonah, and you will understand what I am trying to say. It's so much more than a man and a whale. I'm not saying that I'm anything like Jonah, but you need to understand that God wants us to be where He wants us to be. And we don't always listen. One way or another, you WILL end up where He wants you to be. Whether that's in the belly of a whale, or struggling to find a job to be able to pay your mortgage and provide health insurance for your family. He will continue to correct you until you are where He wants you to be. You may not understand, but all will be clear one day, when you are face to face with Him.
OK, so, on Monday, Greg got a phone call from someone who said he had spoken to his father and wanted to come and try to get our lawn equipment started. We had three things that wouldn't start after winter, and we really needed them to be able to get our yard taken care of. We have a pressure washer, a push mower and a walk-behind trimmer and not one of them would start! The riding mower did, so we were able to get some of the yard cut, but with all the rain, we couldn't get it all done, either.
Anyway, so 20 minutes later, he showed up with his own tools and got to work. Mind you, this person is always talking about how he is not a "handy" kind of guy. We knew this, but he said he had his father on speed dial, and his father IS a handy kind of guy! So, he worked on them for about 2-1/2 hours, and Greg had to leave for radiation. Our helper ran into town to get some spark plugs and came back. I'm not sure what he all did, but he was able to get the push mower started! He was pretty pumped by that, so then went to work on the pressure washer and he was able to get that one started too! (Again, feeling very manly about this victory!) Next was my walk-behind trimmer which was a little trickier. Mind you, I just bought it last year, so it's not like it was old or anything, but it was it's first winter. After a call to his father, his dad knew exactly what to do, and lo and behold, the trimmer started! WAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now, if you're wondering who this person was, it was our very own Pastor Will! Truth be told, he was not exactly at the top of our list of people to help us get these machines started! And before ya'all get all upset, HE is the one who is always saying he is not a "handy" kind of guy! Greg is not necessarily a "handy" kind of guy, either when it comes to a lot of stuff, so I'm not being rude here by any stretch of the imagination! I am much more mechanically inclined than Greg is, and that's OK. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. Apparently, Greg's biggest strength is beating cancer! And I'm OK with that! But, Pastor Will is never allowed to say he is not a "handy" kind of guy ever again! We now know the truth!
Oh, I guess I forgot to mention that Pastor Will had to leave and said he'd be back to help get the grass cut. True to his word, he came back about an hour or so later, with a young man from church and they went to town cutting our lawn! Mind you, we have 2-1/4 acres, and just about all of it is grass and has to be cut. Pastor Will hopped on the riding mower and Rudy took over the push mower. Between the two of them, they got almost all the grass cut for us! We cannot thank them enough for all their help, and especially Pastor Will for getting our lawn equipment going! I was so excited that by the time he came back, I had already trimmed all the gigantic burdock that was overtaking our little wooded area that I was desperate to get to! I think he was a little surprised to come back and see me covered in grass and sweat in my work boots, bandana, shorts & t-shirt! It was not a pretty site, to be sure!! LOL
Here's Pastor Will on the riding mower. He stopped to chat with Greg at one point, and said that cutting our grass gave him a new appreciation for living in town. I believe his next words were "you have a lot of grass!"
Our push mower is a "mulching" mower, but we haven't used the bag since we moved up here. Rudy decided that it would be much faster to open the flap at the back, so he was covered in grass by the time he was done! You can see it all flying out the back, right at him! We couldn't convince him not to do that, and he said the grass was no big deal. He cut the whole front yard with that push mower!
We are so appreciative of our church family! All the prayers and help they have given us has truly touched our hearts. I also received a beautiful basket of geraniums from Pastor Will's family (read: Pastor Jen!) and a beautiful card reminding me that God loves me and their family loves me, too! I needed that! Every time I look at this beautiful basket I am reminded of God's love for me.
May God's love inspire you and fill your heart with His goodness.
Julie
Thursday, May 4, 2017
Chemotherapy and Radiation Begin!
So, it has taken me a couple days to get to this post. I needed some time to think about it, and some time to just gather my thoughts. We spent all day Monday at the hospital. And by all day, I mean from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. So seriously, ALL FREAKIN' DAY.
The day started out with Greg getting his PICC line. I posted a video a couple days ago about how this is done, so I won't post it again. Once Greg was taken into the operating room, it took about a half hour for the procedure to be done. Greg was worried about any pain he might feel, because it HAS to hurt having that long tube traveling through your body, but when he came back, he said he couldn't feel a thing! He was VERY happy!
So, here's a picture of the PICC line:
He only has one "lumen" and from that they can withdraw blood or give him meds. This is awesome, because that means NO MORE POKES! YAY!!!!!
Next was an appointment with the oncologist, but that wasn't until 10:45 a.m., so we had a lot of time to spare. We decided to go out for breakfast, seeing as neither of us had eaten, and we didn't know if we would have time for lunch, breakfast seemed like a good idea! We went to a place near where I work (OK, the building I used to work in), called the Blue Willow Cafe and were pleasantly surprised to find the parking lot FULL! That's always a good sign! After we sat down we saw lots of plaques on the wall that they were voted "Best Breakfast" in the area! Ended up being a great choice! Two eggs, hash browns with onions in them and whole wheat toast for $4.99! Greg had the same thing, so a good breakfast at a sit down restaurant cost us less than McDonald's! BOOM!
So, after getting back to the Cancer Center and meeting with the Oncologist, it was time to start his first chemo. Because it's so hard on the kidneys, they first have to hydrate you, and that takes an hour for the entire bag to drip. Next came the various drugs that entail the chemo cocktail. Greg had to use the restroom, and while in there, he decided to take some pictures! LOL
Of course, I got a couple too!
I really don't like how pictures post on Blogger! ACK!
To make a hectic day even more hectic, I had a doctor's appointment at 2:45 p.m. to review my meds. I figured it would work OK as my doctor is on the same campus as the Cancer Center. By the time I got back, Greg was already gone to his first radiation treatment.
The "leads" that you see on his chest are for his pacemaker. Apparently, they measure the amount of radiation his pacemaker is getting. Because of the leads and pacemaker, he had to get more tattoos! He's now got 3 or 4 purple dots on his chest so they can line everything up properly.
After the radiation, Greg got hooked up to his 5FU, which is the chemo that he will have 24/7 over the course of five days. He was given a portable infusion pump that has the chemo meds in it and has a couple of different "bags" to keep the infusion pump in, so he can move around, etc. The infusion pump looks like this:
The clear/smokey area at the bottom is where the medicine is kept. We also have an "emergency chemo bio-wipe bag," in case there would be a spill. According to the nurse, that has never happened, so we're not too concerned! The 5FU chemo will pump continuously until Friday, at which time the nurses will remove it and he'll be free for 28 days!
We finally left the hospital at 4:30 Monday afternoon. It was a completely exhausting day, for both Greg and me. We came home, ate dinner, and both of us went to bed!
Unfortunately, Greg wasn't able to sleep very well. Between the chemos and the steroids that everyone who gets chemo is put on, he was wide awake after just a couple hours. It's going to take him some time to get used to everything. In addition, the steroids make him CRANKY!
If anyone's wondering about me, well, working at home is going well and I'm very happy to be at home. It's kind of odd, because I don't even need an alarm clock! I have one set, just in case though. It is pretty awesome to be able to walk down two flights of stairs and start working! So, I guess I'm doing OK. It could be better, and it could be worse.
Just for fun, here's a picture of Greg with all the "stuff" hanging on him! I now call him "Lumpy Greg!!"
With that, I'm going to end this post. It's time for me to relax. Night all!
Blessings!
Julie
Greg's Go Fund Me
The day started out with Greg getting his PICC line. I posted a video a couple days ago about how this is done, so I won't post it again. Once Greg was taken into the operating room, it took about a half hour for the procedure to be done. Greg was worried about any pain he might feel, because it HAS to hurt having that long tube traveling through your body, but when he came back, he said he couldn't feel a thing! He was VERY happy!
So, here's a picture of the PICC line:
He only has one "lumen" and from that they can withdraw blood or give him meds. This is awesome, because that means NO MORE POKES! YAY!!!!!
Next was an appointment with the oncologist, but that wasn't until 10:45 a.m., so we had a lot of time to spare. We decided to go out for breakfast, seeing as neither of us had eaten, and we didn't know if we would have time for lunch, breakfast seemed like a good idea! We went to a place near where I work (OK, the building I used to work in), called the Blue Willow Cafe and were pleasantly surprised to find the parking lot FULL! That's always a good sign! After we sat down we saw lots of plaques on the wall that they were voted "Best Breakfast" in the area! Ended up being a great choice! Two eggs, hash browns with onions in them and whole wheat toast for $4.99! Greg had the same thing, so a good breakfast at a sit down restaurant cost us less than McDonald's! BOOM!
So, after getting back to the Cancer Center and meeting with the Oncologist, it was time to start his first chemo. Because it's so hard on the kidneys, they first have to hydrate you, and that takes an hour for the entire bag to drip. Next came the various drugs that entail the chemo cocktail. Greg had to use the restroom, and while in there, he decided to take some pictures! LOL Of course, I got a couple too!
I really don't like how pictures post on Blogger! ACK!
To make a hectic day even more hectic, I had a doctor's appointment at 2:45 p.m. to review my meds. I figured it would work OK as my doctor is on the same campus as the Cancer Center. By the time I got back, Greg was already gone to his first radiation treatment.
The "leads" that you see on his chest are for his pacemaker. Apparently, they measure the amount of radiation his pacemaker is getting. Because of the leads and pacemaker, he had to get more tattoos! He's now got 3 or 4 purple dots on his chest so they can line everything up properly.
After the radiation, Greg got hooked up to his 5FU, which is the chemo that he will have 24/7 over the course of five days. He was given a portable infusion pump that has the chemo meds in it and has a couple of different "bags" to keep the infusion pump in, so he can move around, etc. The infusion pump looks like this:
The clear/smokey area at the bottom is where the medicine is kept. We also have an "emergency chemo bio-wipe bag," in case there would be a spill. According to the nurse, that has never happened, so we're not too concerned! The 5FU chemo will pump continuously until Friday, at which time the nurses will remove it and he'll be free for 28 days!
We finally left the hospital at 4:30 Monday afternoon. It was a completely exhausting day, for both Greg and me. We came home, ate dinner, and both of us went to bed!
Unfortunately, Greg wasn't able to sleep very well. Between the chemos and the steroids that everyone who gets chemo is put on, he was wide awake after just a couple hours. It's going to take him some time to get used to everything. In addition, the steroids make him CRANKY!
If anyone's wondering about me, well, working at home is going well and I'm very happy to be at home. It's kind of odd, because I don't even need an alarm clock! I have one set, just in case though. It is pretty awesome to be able to walk down two flights of stairs and start working! So, I guess I'm doing OK. It could be better, and it could be worse.
Just for fun, here's a picture of Greg with all the "stuff" hanging on him! I now call him "Lumpy Greg!!"
With that, I'm going to end this post. It's time for me to relax. Night all!
Blessings!
Julie
Greg's Go Fund Me
Monday, May 1, 2017
Building 429 and Josh Wilson Concert
What better thing to do the night before starting chemo and radiation than attend a Christian music concert! A night of awesome music and worship is just what the Great Physician ordered! Building 429 is a fabulous Christian rock band and they came to Wausau, Wisconsin with Josh Wilson. An up and comer, with some great songs under his belt!
On Thursday night, I decided to send an email to the folks at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church and let them know about Greg's diagnosis and ask if they would be willing to pray over him at the concert. It meant so much to me to have a couple hundred Believers praying for him! I didn't really think anything would come of it, but hey, if you don't ask, you'll never know! I received a response from the head pastor within an hour of sending my email! He stated that he would let the radio station that was sponsoring the concert (89Q) and the group (Building 429) and see what they said. That was the last I heard.
Until Sunday, at the concert! April and Mike were talking about the radio station and their current Sharathon, to keep them on the radio for the next six months, and the difference the station has made in the lives of so many people. THEN, April started talking about a gentleman in the audience who is battling cancer for the third time! She read a lot of information from my email and then proceeded, along with a couple hundred Believers, to PRAY FOR GREG! Greg had NO IDEA that I had done this! AND, earlier in the day, at Church, we had our congregation pray over Greg as well! It was absolutely amazing! And THEN, later on in the concert, the lead singer, Jason Roy, started talking about Greg, as well! How awesome is THAT?! We were truly blessed by everyone's prayers yesterday!
One of Building 429's most popular songs:
All in all, it was a truly incredible concert! Josh Wilson is a fabulous artist and played the most glorious acoustic version of Amazing Grace. One of my favorite songs is called "I Refuse."
And here's a couple of my pictures from the concert. Click on the picture for a larger version.
Hope everyone is well. Blessings to all!
Julie
Greg's GoFundMe
On Thursday night, I decided to send an email to the folks at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church and let them know about Greg's diagnosis and ask if they would be willing to pray over him at the concert. It meant so much to me to have a couple hundred Believers praying for him! I didn't really think anything would come of it, but hey, if you don't ask, you'll never know! I received a response from the head pastor within an hour of sending my email! He stated that he would let the radio station that was sponsoring the concert (89Q) and the group (Building 429) and see what they said. That was the last I heard.
Until Sunday, at the concert! April and Mike were talking about the radio station and their current Sharathon, to keep them on the radio for the next six months, and the difference the station has made in the lives of so many people. THEN, April started talking about a gentleman in the audience who is battling cancer for the third time! She read a lot of information from my email and then proceeded, along with a couple hundred Believers, to PRAY FOR GREG! Greg had NO IDEA that I had done this! AND, earlier in the day, at Church, we had our congregation pray over Greg as well! It was absolutely amazing! And THEN, later on in the concert, the lead singer, Jason Roy, started talking about Greg, as well! How awesome is THAT?! We were truly blessed by everyone's prayers yesterday!
One of Building 429's most popular songs:
All in all, it was a truly incredible concert! Josh Wilson is a fabulous artist and played the most glorious acoustic version of Amazing Grace. One of my favorite songs is called "I Refuse."
And here's a couple of my pictures from the concert. Click on the picture for a larger version.
Hope everyone is well. Blessings to all!
Julie
Greg's GoFundMe
Sunday, April 23, 2017
Chemo will begin soon!
We got a call from the Cancer Center to advise us of Greg's chemo schedule. On Monday, May 1, 2017, he will have to go in and get his PICC line installed (he will not be getting a Hickman, as we previously thought). This will be a full day at the hospital. I'm not sure of the order of all of this, but here's what we will be doing. We will meet with the Oncologist to go over Greg's treatment plan. We will also meet with the Radiation Oncologist. Greg will have his first radiation treatment and then will have his first chemo treatment.
Radiation will be Monday through Friday (every day) for 6-1/2 to 7 weeks. The radiation itself is only about five minutes, and the whole appointment will be rather short. Greg will be driving himself unless and until such time comes as he's not feeling well enough to drive. If that appears to be on the horizon, we will be sure to let everyone know so we can get some volunteers to help take him, as we simply can't afford to have me take off work that much to take him. We are praying that never happens!
Greg will also have his first chemotherapy treatment on May 1. He will receive a drug called Cisplatin, which is one he had the first two times he had cancer. It takes 2-3 hours to administer the Cisplatin, so we will have some downtime while the poison is being pumped into his veins. I would apologize for calling it poison, but I'm not going to, because that is exactly what it is.
Once he's done with the Cisplatin, they will set him up with a pump, so he can receive a drug called 5FU on a continuous infusion for five days. When he goes in for radiation on Friday, they will remove the 5FU pump.
Greg will have the Cisplatin and 5FU approximately every four weeks, so he will have two courses of chemo during his radiation treatments and two courses of chemo after his radiation treatments. Based on this schedule, he should be all done with all treatment by the beginning of August. If that is the case, I'm hoping and praying that he will be feeling better (at least normal?) by the time of our son, Aaron's wedding in October.
Because I have the kind of job that United HealthCare allows telecommuters, I will start telecommuting tomorrow! I'm SO excited to be able to do this, and cannot thank my supervisor and manager enough for all their support! In order to work at home full time, I need to have a separate room for me to work. If you know what our house is like, then you know that we have an abundance of bedrooms to choose from! Ha! I chose Aaron's old room, as the heat works well in the winter, and it's always cooler in the summer, because it's in the lower level (we have a tri-level house).
In order to make that my office, I needed a desk! We went to EVERY STORE IN MARSHFIELD that sells furniture looking for a desk for me! I was amazed at what little choices we had, and quite disappointed! I did NOT want a cheap "Sauder" desk. We finally found a halfway decent desk at Walmart, and yes, it is a "Sauder" desk. 😒 Not exactly what I wanted, but it is what it is. In order to get the desk put together, we had to move the bed out of Aaron's room. Jessica and I did that, and then needed Abby's help to move it up to Erica's old room. We bought that bed when we moved to Sturtevant, in 1998. We moved up here and it went into Aaron's room. Aaron got a new bed and this one went upstairs to Erica's room. Erica got a new bed, so it went back downstairs to Aaron's room (he was not living at home any longer). And now, because Aaron's room is my new office, it has gone back up to Erica's room! That bed has gone up and down more than Seattle Slew! 😆 And, it's HEAVY! It doesn't use a box spring, as the mattress sits directly on the bed, with three drawers underneath.
Jessica and I (OK, mostly Jessica -- my dear friend and neighbor) put the desk together.
There were 18 steps to put it together! YIKES! Jessica did most of it, and I was just there for moral support and to hand her the pieces. We worked together very well, and only had to take apart one piece that we had put together wrong! I think that was pretty darned good! Abby came to help again, and put together my "cube" that you'll see in pictures below.
I'm SO happy with how my office turned out! Tomorrow is going to be a GREAT day at work! I can wake up at 6:30 and be at work by 7:00! No worries about hair, make-up, clothing, etc! And yes, I will begin each day at work in my jammies! How cool is that?!
Here's my new office:
I am so blessed to be able to work from home and to have this beautiful office to work in! We serve such an amazing God who is always good, all the time! We continue to praise Him as He guides us through this latest trial. We will get through this, with His help and grace.
Blessings to all!
Julie
Greg's GoFundMe
Radiation will be Monday through Friday (every day) for 6-1/2 to 7 weeks. The radiation itself is only about five minutes, and the whole appointment will be rather short. Greg will be driving himself unless and until such time comes as he's not feeling well enough to drive. If that appears to be on the horizon, we will be sure to let everyone know so we can get some volunteers to help take him, as we simply can't afford to have me take off work that much to take him. We are praying that never happens!
Greg will also have his first chemotherapy treatment on May 1. He will receive a drug called Cisplatin, which is one he had the first two times he had cancer. It takes 2-3 hours to administer the Cisplatin, so we will have some downtime while the poison is being pumped into his veins. I would apologize for calling it poison, but I'm not going to, because that is exactly what it is.
Once he's done with the Cisplatin, they will set him up with a pump, so he can receive a drug called 5FU on a continuous infusion for five days. When he goes in for radiation on Friday, they will remove the 5FU pump.
Greg will have the Cisplatin and 5FU approximately every four weeks, so he will have two courses of chemo during his radiation treatments and two courses of chemo after his radiation treatments. Based on this schedule, he should be all done with all treatment by the beginning of August. If that is the case, I'm hoping and praying that he will be feeling better (at least normal?) by the time of our son, Aaron's wedding in October.
Because I have the kind of job that United HealthCare allows telecommuters, I will start telecommuting tomorrow! I'm SO excited to be able to do this, and cannot thank my supervisor and manager enough for all their support! In order to work at home full time, I need to have a separate room for me to work. If you know what our house is like, then you know that we have an abundance of bedrooms to choose from! Ha! I chose Aaron's old room, as the heat works well in the winter, and it's always cooler in the summer, because it's in the lower level (we have a tri-level house).
In order to make that my office, I needed a desk! We went to EVERY STORE IN MARSHFIELD that sells furniture looking for a desk for me! I was amazed at what little choices we had, and quite disappointed! I did NOT want a cheap "Sauder" desk. We finally found a halfway decent desk at Walmart, and yes, it is a "Sauder" desk. 😒 Not exactly what I wanted, but it is what it is. In order to get the desk put together, we had to move the bed out of Aaron's room. Jessica and I did that, and then needed Abby's help to move it up to Erica's old room. We bought that bed when we moved to Sturtevant, in 1998. We moved up here and it went into Aaron's room. Aaron got a new bed and this one went upstairs to Erica's room. Erica got a new bed, so it went back downstairs to Aaron's room (he was not living at home any longer). And now, because Aaron's room is my new office, it has gone back up to Erica's room! That bed has gone up and down more than Seattle Slew! 😆 And, it's HEAVY! It doesn't use a box spring, as the mattress sits directly on the bed, with three drawers underneath.
Jessica and I (OK, mostly Jessica -- my dear friend and neighbor) put the desk together.
There were 18 steps to put it together! YIKES! Jessica did most of it, and I was just there for moral support and to hand her the pieces. We worked together very well, and only had to take apart one piece that we had put together wrong! I think that was pretty darned good! Abby came to help again, and put together my "cube" that you'll see in pictures below.
I'm SO happy with how my office turned out! Tomorrow is going to be a GREAT day at work! I can wake up at 6:30 and be at work by 7:00! No worries about hair, make-up, clothing, etc! And yes, I will begin each day at work in my jammies! How cool is that?!
Here's my new office:
I am so blessed to be able to work from home and to have this beautiful office to work in! We serve such an amazing God who is always good, all the time! We continue to praise Him as He guides us through this latest trial. We will get through this, with His help and grace.
Blessings to all!
Julie
Greg's GoFundMe
Thursday, April 20, 2017
Installation of the Feeding Tube
Not sure if that's the right thing to call it, but what else would you call it? He had surgery and they put in a feeding tube. They used the method shown in the video from yesterday's post if you want all the gory details.
We got to the hospital at about 9:45 this morning. Thanks to a suggestion from my dear friend, Wendy, we asked the nurse to have the anesthesiologist put in Greg's IV line. If you will recall, in recent weeks, he has had notoriously bad luck with having IVs put in because his veins are shot from all the chemo he's had over the years. The anesthesiologist did a GREAT job and it took only one poke. Greg said he didn't even feel it! That made me very happy! Thank you, Wendy! Until Greg gets his Hickman installed, we will only ever allow an anesthesiologist to put in an IV again!
OK, so a couple weeks ago, my brother had open heart surgery. He's doing well, but had some fluid in his lungs that needed to be removed and he was having that done today. I thought that was something that was going to be done in the doctor's office, but I guess not! As we were sitting in Greg's room in the surgical area, I heard my maiden name, and then my brother's voice! I walked out and saw my brother was in the room almost across the hall from us! Was certainly not expecting that! It was nice to be able to see him and his wife. We didn't really get to chat, because they had to take him to the procedure room to get that fluid off is lungs. I understand he's doing well now!
Greg was taken back to the OR around 11:15 and was back by noon! Dr. McDreamy said that everything went well with the tube. Unfortunately, Greg was in a LOT of pain. Now, Greg can handle pain. He's in pain daily. I've never seen him complain or fuss the way he was this time. The nurse called Dr. McDreamy, and he said he wasn't surprised because the way they had to position Greg, he probably didn't get the full effect of the local anesthetic. Poor Greg! He was able to get quite a bit of morphine while we were in the hospital and that helped, but not as much as one would hope. He's pretty sleepy here.
We didn't leave until about 1:30 p.m., and had to wait for the nurses to show me how to flush the tube, because it's not going to be used for a while (hopefully!), we don't want it to clog up, so I will have to flush it every day.
When the time comes that we will need to use the feeding tube, we will meet with the dietitian again and have some home health care set up, along with getting the "food" ordered for him. I'm not sure what the insurance is going to cover for all this, and I know that Medicare will not cover it because it's not permanent. Whatever it is, it is. I'm not going to worry about it. God will provide.
In case you're wondering, here's a picture of the tube. I'm guessing that you'd be surprised if I didn't post a picture of it! HA!
Eventually, the gauze underneath it will not be needed, but obviously, we need it for now. The other end of the tube actually has closures on it just like a blow-up mattress! That made me giggle.
We'd certainly appreciate your prayers that Greg's pain ends quickly! I really HATE to see him in so much pain!
Blessings to all,
Julie
We got to the hospital at about 9:45 this morning. Thanks to a suggestion from my dear friend, Wendy, we asked the nurse to have the anesthesiologist put in Greg's IV line. If you will recall, in recent weeks, he has had notoriously bad luck with having IVs put in because his veins are shot from all the chemo he's had over the years. The anesthesiologist did a GREAT job and it took only one poke. Greg said he didn't even feel it! That made me very happy! Thank you, Wendy! Until Greg gets his Hickman installed, we will only ever allow an anesthesiologist to put in an IV again!
OK, so a couple weeks ago, my brother had open heart surgery. He's doing well, but had some fluid in his lungs that needed to be removed and he was having that done today. I thought that was something that was going to be done in the doctor's office, but I guess not! As we were sitting in Greg's room in the surgical area, I heard my maiden name, and then my brother's voice! I walked out and saw my brother was in the room almost across the hall from us! Was certainly not expecting that! It was nice to be able to see him and his wife. We didn't really get to chat, because they had to take him to the procedure room to get that fluid off is lungs. I understand he's doing well now!
Greg was taken back to the OR around 11:15 and was back by noon! Dr. McDreamy said that everything went well with the tube. Unfortunately, Greg was in a LOT of pain. Now, Greg can handle pain. He's in pain daily. I've never seen him complain or fuss the way he was this time. The nurse called Dr. McDreamy, and he said he wasn't surprised because the way they had to position Greg, he probably didn't get the full effect of the local anesthetic. Poor Greg! He was able to get quite a bit of morphine while we were in the hospital and that helped, but not as much as one would hope. He's pretty sleepy here.
We didn't leave until about 1:30 p.m., and had to wait for the nurses to show me how to flush the tube, because it's not going to be used for a while (hopefully!), we don't want it to clog up, so I will have to flush it every day.
When the time comes that we will need to use the feeding tube, we will meet with the dietitian again and have some home health care set up, along with getting the "food" ordered for him. I'm not sure what the insurance is going to cover for all this, and I know that Medicare will not cover it because it's not permanent. Whatever it is, it is. I'm not going to worry about it. God will provide.
In case you're wondering, here's a picture of the tube. I'm guessing that you'd be surprised if I didn't post a picture of it! HA!
Eventually, the gauze underneath it will not be needed, but obviously, we need it for now. The other end of the tube actually has closures on it just like a blow-up mattress! That made me giggle.
We'd certainly appreciate your prayers that Greg's pain ends quickly! I really HATE to see him in so much pain!
Blessings to all,
Julie
Greg's GO FUND ME
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