Thankful for Family and Friends

With everything going on with my dad (who received a the permanent pacemaker yesterday evening), I must report that I'm thankful that my siblings have taken on a bigger role in taking care of my parents. That's a good thing since I'm still anemic and get tired in the evenings.

I've also stayed busy hanging out with friends and family.

On Monday, I had lunch compliments of the colleague whose class I taught in - thanks, M., for lunch!

On Tuesday, I had lunch at the hospital while I was getting my infusion, but it wasn't enough so then I had lunch at McMenamin's (no, O'Callahans, no, McGillicuddy's, no O'Flanahan's; LOL, Reen!) with my sister, who bought lunch for me! Thanks, Reen!

I was going to go visit dad Tuesday evening, but my godmother (my godparents arrived yesterday after a bowling tournament in Reno so they could visit Dad) told me I looked tired and should stay home. So, I did. I still paid bills, though.

On Wednesday, I had acupuncture, then lunch with a friend from high school (Thanks, L., it was fun getting caught up!). I was pretty tired after school and into the evening. I still had dinner with another friend, B., at McGrath's. Yummy!

Today, I met with Dr. K., who agreed that I shouldn't wait until April 22nd for surgery. So, he was able to get hold of the surgeon at OHSU, who reported that he was trying to find a different plastic surgeon who could get me in sooner. In the meantime, I've been putting turmeric spice on the dressing and, while I have no empirical evidence, I tend to think it's helping to slow the growth of the damn thing under my armpit.

I also broke part of a tooth under a filling a few weeks ago, so I finally got into the dentist today (canceled last week because I had a fever). The decay was further back than expected, so they may have gotten close to a nerve. Because I'm on Zometa, it's very difficult to do root canals or extractions as the bone doesn't heal. We don't want to have to go that far, so we really have to watch my teeth for signs of decay to make sure it doesn't get far enough to need a root canal or extraction.

This evening, I'm having dinner with a grad student whose been working for me. That'll be fun to get caught up.

In the meantime, my dad is due to come home this afternoon. My colleague, K., offered to let us use her recliner for awhile, while dad recuperates. (Thanks, K.!! It is much appreciated.) My brothers made room for the recliner by taking apart the futon couch - we put the mattress under Eddie's loft bed and the frame is out in the garage. (Sheesh, someday, I would love either more storage space or to do another decluttering effort.)

Tomorrow, I meet with another grad student who works for me and will have lunch with a colleague about our spring term course.

So, life continues to be busy. I am thankful to family and friends - family for taking care of my folks, to friends for their company, and to colleagues for their ongoing support. Thank you!

Busy busy busy

I've had a busy few days.

I couldn't sleep well on Friday night - thanks to the steroids - so I was tired on Saturday. I relaxed a bit on Sat., then had a date for lunch, then it was home again to rest. Even though I was tired, though, I had some work to do. I had som edits to do for a co-authored article, then I drafted an application for research release time and wrote up a blurb for the King Island website for a newsletter. I even typed up everything.

Got a decent night's sleep on Saturday night. I decided since I had worked all afternoon and evening on Saturday that Sunday was a day of no work. So, mom and I picked out some gifts for two tags I got from Eddie's school's Giving Tree. I also had to return a pair of pants I bought for Eddie that were too big. Then, Eddie's dad dropped him off at Kohl's and then we went home. I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening beading and we also watched movies. Harry Potter movies were on one of the satellite channels and then dad got the Sorceror's Apprentice. That was fun.

On Monday, I edited the release time application and got the necessary signatures and submitted it to the Research Office, then I typed up a letter of support for a colleague, and then edited various pieces of the grant proposal - and then that got submitted! Yay!

I also had a faculty meeting on Monday afternoon. We were trying to figure out what the new chain of command was - and who was responsible for what - but in the end, I don't think much got settled. As far as I'm concerned, it's out of my control. If there is anything I need to do, I just ask before I do it. That way, I'm covered. I figure I'll wait for the dust to settle and not get too stressed out about things. Keep a low profile, in other words.

Didn't sleep as much as I wanted last night and we got up early to go to Shriner's Hospital - Eddie had an appointment. In the end, we're not going to do anything although we may, in the future, do surgery to stabilize his right foot. We finished earlier than expected, then looked around downtown, had lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings (where Eddie played a trivia game), and then spent three hours at OMSI. We all enjoyed our time there! We didn't get home until 5:45pm - so a really long day. Poor Eddie had some homework - he's been at it ever since. He's coming down with a cold.

Tomorrow, acupuncture and wound care. Then, a meeting on the new Native American Cultural Center, then grading papers. In the evening, a holiday get-together at the Center for the Humanities and then the OSU bookstore sale. I still need to finish my beading project.

So, I continue to be busy. I am trying to give myself a chance to rest . . . kinda hard with so much going on at work and for the holidays. But it seems that I have the energy to do all the work . . .

A big thanks to my folks for cooking dinner and grocery shopping and cleaning. I wouldn't be able to do all that work if it weren't for your help!

Everyday Happenings

I really don't have any news to share. Which is a good thing. It just means that I'm living my life, going to work (where I'm getting caught up on a variety of tasks), taking Eddie to and picking him up from school, hanging out with his class on a fieldtrip (in the rain and hail!), hanging out with friends, enjoying life. You know, all the mundane daily life sorts of things.

It's a nice place to be.

Nothing profound to say. There's a couple more ideas from Dragonfly Eyes but I haven't really taken those ideas from the back burner into my consciousness, so they are still there percolating. I'm scheming for ways to find more time for writing. I'm getting an urge to write more. To finally dig into some of the research that I and the King Island place names crew created.

So, it's a good thing. It's a good life. And, it's sunny today, for which I'm thankful!

Enjoy!

Visits, Visits, and More Visits - It's all good!

I forgot to report that I had a visit with my oncologist on Wednesday. He just noted the side effect I get from Herceptin (fatigue), mentioned my swollen lymph nodes, discussed whether or not I was in the trial (I didn't know when I saw him - I found out several hours later), and I requested a referral to see a physical therapist. I forgot to ask about the echocardiogram results - it's normal for the most part. We noted the slight decrease in the CA15-3 tumor marker.

In other words, there really wasn't much to report. Status quo. Which is a good thing.

I decided that I wanted to see a physical therapist because there's been some recent reports that lifting weights and/or exercise is good for lymphedema. I have lymphedema around my ribs on the right side (where the cancer was). I have also had some lymphedema on my upper left arm the past few days. I think the swollen lymph nodes are causing some back up in the arm.

I also have decreased strength in my arms and also it seems that my legs aren't as strong as they used to be - or maybe it isn't leg strength, it's core strength. I can't balance on one leg as easily as I used to. My decreased core strength is due to the TRAM flap, of course, where they released the left TRAM muscle that runs down on the side of the midline on the front of my torso. My right shoulder also curls forward, due to the right side getting radiated twice and after two major surgeries. I want to try to strengthen my arms, my chest and torso, and my legs possibly. I figure I should work with a professional to make sure I don't overdo any exercises and get advice on the best exercises I can do.

So, back to my visits. On Wednesday, there were some tribal reps on campus hammering out an agreement for a repatriation - and since the Army Corps of Engineers has ownership (we are only holding it physically), their rep was there, too. Turns out it was an archaeologist that was in my classes when I worked on my master's degree here at OSU. It was nice to see him again - hadn't seen him in a long time. We had a chance to get caught up.

On Friday morning, I chatted via Skype with a colleague in Oxford, England. I went to Oxford last August to attend a workshop and to meet with him - we're collaborating on a project. We needed to assess where we're at in terms of data collection and to get a sense of what we wanted to do with the data in terms of analysis after we're done with data collection.

I went to a noon lecture on Friday, then we met with our Ph.D. students to discuss some advanced theory. This group had discussed just prior to our meeting that they wanted to grab a beer with a couple of other folks - so in the end, about nine of us met at a local place to have a mid-afternoon beer and visit. It was fun! Then most of them left and my Ph.D. student and I had a chat about her dissertation research - another good conversation. Because of her changed direction, I invited her to go to dinner with me at my colleague's house - my colleague's guest works for CAFE (Center for ?? Faculty Excellence) at University of Alaska Anchorage. I thought it might be good for J to meet her.

Dinner at my colleague's house was fun - there were several people from Alaska there - heard a grizzly bear attack story! - got to chat with lots of people and get caught up.

Then, my volleyball teammates were having a beer after the game - so I stopped by to visit with them a bit, too.

Basically, other than the noon lecture, I talked to people from about 10:15am to about 9:30pm. I was bushed when I came home last night. But a good tired.

Today, my folks and I went to the Friends of the Library sale ($10 for 8 books), then over to Albany to do some shopping (Eddie needed new shoes and I wanted a new shirt that was spring-like) and to exchange a couple of things, then dad and I with some help from my brother started to straighten out the garage. We loaded up my car and after dinner, took it to Goodwill.

All in all, a good couple of days. Good friends, good colleagues, good conversations, good errands. Good days. Thanks!

Conversation with my Colleague

As I posted a few days ago, I'm not entirely convinced that those lung spots on the CT are cancer. I chatted about it today with my colleague, who has a Ph.D. in genetics (I think) and whose brother is an MD (I think). S. has been my source for medical research reports - he'll read them and then explain the nitty gritty details for me. (S., I know you read the blog - please correct me!)

First, I asked S. about what he knew about the relationship between tumor markers and metastases, particularly in the lungs. I asked how likely it would be that I would continue to have low tumor markers and still have a metastases. In the end, from what I understand from him, it would be highly unlikely to have a lung metastases with my low tumor markers.

Second, I mentioned how unconcerned Dr. K seemed to be when we talked on the phone last week. He had the CT report for six days before calling me, which suggests that there was no urgency. He said that he just wanted to stay the course in case of my treatment regimen (Tykerb). If it grows in the next three months, then we consider Xeloda. But he said "if". He also told me to go ahead and keep with my long-term planning with work (i.e., years). He gave me the impression that he didn't expect the spots to grow at all. As I reflect back on the conversation, Dr. K seemed really unconcerned.

Third, I mentioned to my colleague that I had a 1cm spot and 2 4mm spots. Now, my first bout with cancer, I had a 2-2.5cm tumor that the doctors said had been growing for 8-10 years (slow-growing). This time, I had tendrils that extended out 5cm and then had spread to my skin and I had bb-sized ones in my bone marrow, which Dr. K estimated had been there for "months". This cancer was "medium growing". My point is that how did a 1cm lesion grow so quickly in 8 months? My cancer wasn't fast growing - those spots weren't on the CT scan in August. If my latest cancer was "medium growing", I just have this impression that it wouldn't be so big so quickly.

My colleague and I then talked about how perhaps I picked up some kind of infection that's affected my lungs while I was on the airplane to Norway, which would show up as spots on a CT scan. He also said that the spots could be caused by many different things.

Then, about 30 minutes later as I sat in my office preparing for class, S. came into my office and asked me if the CT scan found anything in the liver. When I replied that it didn't, he said that, in general, most breast cancers progress to the skin or the bones first, then the liver, then the lungs, then the spine, then the brain. It doesn't very often happen that it would go to the lungs before the liver. So, again, it's highly unlikely, since my liver is clear, that those spots are cancer on my lungs.

So, all in all, a good conversation about the likelihood that there is cancer in the lungs - not very likely at all. It made me feel better. I was feeling a bit down this morning as I walked to work - I didn't really want to be at work both because it was gorgeous out and because I'm burnt-out still from teaching; I got to thinking about how long it was going to seem before my next CT scan (and having to live with uncertainty); and I still had to grade some papers (the worst part of my job). It was a Monday, for sure. The conversation with S. perked me up. Thanks!