Thursday, January 31, 2013

Silver Lining

This was a day of decision making.  It didn't start out that way, but a series of conversations propelled Mary to come to the conclusion that she will not travel to see Kathleen and Gary this next week.  Mary is truly heartbroken but every disappointment has a sliver lining.  In the coming weeks she can grow stronger and make sure she can make the trip without any unhealthy repercussions.  She spoke with Kathleen and looked at calendars and she can actually spend more time with her, visiting a bit later in Feb/March.  Bonnie has been wonderful in this whole decision process and can't thank her enough for being so understanding!

Mary had a super productive day in addition to all the phone conversations.  She had a wonderful conversation with Janet.  So much so that she didn't even notice when Doug came in.  He walked by the couch a couple times while Mary was engrossed in her convo before she realized he was there!  That must have been some conversation!  Doug had a long list of "Honey Do's" and he managed them all.  He is a true blessing.  He got Mary all set up in the family room with her computer so she can work on her taxes.  She made great headway at that today.  She also had a long phone conversation with her friend Barb.  About an hour!!!  I'm surprised she doesn't have cauliflower ear!  To end her busy day Annie stopped over with her walker, all put together and ready for use.  This will really help as the neuropathy in her feet makes her pretty unstable.

Overall Mary has had a pretty good day and is feeling ok.  She was pretty stiff yesterday after sleeping in one position for most of the night.  So that was definitely an improvement today.  As she continues to make headway please keep the prayers coming!  She can feel them!

No other mischief to report.  I will, in closing, give out a word of warning.  So during the night Mary needs her cane to aid her to/from the bathroom.  When she woke up she grabbed her cane and phone and made her way.  As she returned to her bed, she heard a mans voice..."Hellllooooo.....Helllllooooo".  She came to realize that she "pocket" dialed her son Bill's in-laws.  OHHHH MY.....So a word to the wise.  If you see Mary calling late, late at night do pick up the phone but don't panic!  It might just her butt :)

KK

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

"So thanks for making me a FIGHTER"

This lyric made popular by music artist Christina Aguilera has been playing through my head ever since I got off the phone with Mary late morning.

Makes me that much stronger
Makes me work a little bit harder
It makes me that much wiser
So thanks for making me a fighter

Honestly, the song has nothing to do with cancer, but I feel like they apply.  The last couple of weeks have showed Mary once again that she is stronger than this horrible disease.  She sounded STRONGER today.  She had already WORKED HARD, getting her day started (even a bathroom cleaned).  She had spent the majority of her day yesterday with her good friend and frequent travel companion Bonnie.  She ate good solid meals, drank her water and found a reasonable solution to taking her potassium "horse" pills.  She had grown WISER!  She's an incredible FIGHTER!

Not a ton else to report.  Mary is feeling better but still has a way to go.  Although she didn't have the greatest rest last night she had an optimistic outlook to the day.   She was feeling pretty good and her mood was helped by a lovely floral gift sent by Mary and Norm McGraw. What a wonderful and beautiful surprise.  Mary was overjoyed by this gift and we thank you so much for sending some sunshine her way!

So the week continues with a strong focus of building up strength so she's ready for Chemo on Monday.  We thank you for all the prayers, phone calls, and notes.  Mary is relishing in all the outpouring of love!

Karen


Monday, January 28, 2013

Happy Birthday Bill



Mary wanted me to make sure to post happy birthday love and good wishes to Bill!! Turned 48 today and is enjoying a birthday week skiing in Utah!!  Happy birthday!

The Long Way Home

The journey home from Hawaii was an arduous one! The details aren't necessary, but upon Mary's return she was beat beyond reason! Her own bed and rest didn't seem to improve the situation and at weeks end she felt a medical assessment was in order.  You would think this would be an easy issue to manage but after not getting the answers and help she needed from her primary care a trip to the hospital was the only other option! That is how bad she was feeling! They admitted her as her potassium levels were dangerously low and she was dehydrated.  After two nights in the hospital she came home on Sunday and is working on increasing her strength. She was due to have chemo this morning but given her weekend hospital stay her Dr. wants to give her a week of eating, drinking and potassium building! Hopefully chemo can resume next Monday.

Please give renewed vigor to your prayer ritual!  Mary really needs them! I pray that her body gets the nutrients, water and potassium it needs so she can have some independence to continue with that bucket list. Any and all prayers please!!!!!!

Karen
(Tom's wife)

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Sorry I Missed Yesterday

For some reasoni I'm having trouble getting on line with this wifi, and I got frustrated last night and gave up. So here ewe go now.
We started out with a massage class at 11 a.m. And the got a snack and went toa Lei making class the little old Hawaian lady was very slow and it took two hours to make a 155 minute Lei. I have to admit that they are beautiful, but...if she was organized it would have been so nice.
We came back to the room, and I took a short nap. When I got up June and Len were off to get her nails done. We were supposed to meet them there, and go to a fancy Hawaiian place for dinner. For some reason she thought it was right by where she was having her nails done...wrong. It was the wrong side of town...the really wrong. Since June had her chair wecouldn't take a cab to the restaurant so we started walking back to find a good place to eat. We found a great five star buffet...like no other. The flat rate was$48 per person. June asked if I could get a discount as I had cancer and could eat very little. So the waiter asked and said they would only chargers for three. I volunteered to pay half with Judy. The food was mostly sea food, never seen before.
got to get going Love and Prayers. mand it was fantastic.i had crab legs and claws, lobste, crab cakes, scalloped., scrimp in several different.. It was sea food like you've

Monday, January 14, 2013

Let's Try This Again

I hope this works this time. I'm really having trouble doing my blog on the new iPad and don't know if it's the iPad or the operator.  I wrote a long post yesterday, and thought I published it, but it's lost in space, and the blogspot keeps giving me error messages.
So here is a short version of yesterday, and then I,ll add today's blog.
I didn't write the night before cause we went to bed early and didn't have time to write. So lets see how far I can remember back. Friday we pretty much did nothing but move from one timeshare to the one we will be in till we leave on the 22nd and arrive home on the 23rd. This is very nice, full kitchen, laundry,, and two bedrooms.  Judy and I each have our own beds, and Len and June have a king with on suite which is huge with a jacuzzi. After the big move, and a nap we went out for dinner to P.F. Changs we each ordered something and had it family style. After dinner we went to the cultural for a free concert with hula dancers and all. Then while walking back home, we came a pond Somme street musicians who were only 12 and 15. They were so talented, we stayed and listened for about a half hour. Fun night. Then yesterday, we went to the international market, shopping and each of us purchased a piece of clothing. Thren wandered to another free concert and sat and listened for over an hour. By then we got hungry and were in the food cout. Judy and I probably found the most expensive food vendor, but everyone said it was the best. We shareda lemon Maui Maui fish served with corn and sticky rice. It was wonderful. It is also where I got the orchid for my photo on Facebook. From there we went to a grocery store to get snacks and some breakfast stuff. We couldn't believe that bread was over $7 a loaf. Oh we'll, that is life in paradise.
Came home had a nap. Judy and I chose to spend the night in while Len and June went out for another free concert at the cultural center.  When they got back we all watched the movie The Trouble WithThe Curve.  They all liked it but didn't cry like me.  We all went to bed early, cause we had to be up at 7am to go on the Pearl Habour Tour.
The tour was very interesting and emotional.  We didn't get back home till 2:30, and all headed to bed for a nap.  I slept the longest, and didn't get up till 4:30. I couldn't believe I was out cold...but the first day I had to use my cane cause June had to use the walker. They wouldn't let her take her motorized cart.  This evening we went to a fancy place on the beach, called the Hula Grill. The dinner was fabulous. Judy and I shared a beet and pear salad, and a mixed grill of scallops, shrimp and the best ribs I've ever had. The sauce was great that they had on it.
On the way home Len went into P.F.Changs to buy a one piece of chocolate cake, which was big enough for six. Yummy.  Now I've been fighting with this blogger and writing this for a couple hours.  I sure hope it works this time.  Love and prayers, m

Saturday, January 12, 2013

I'm alive and Well

We arrived late last night, and to make it even longer, there is a four hour time change. The plane rides were long but I was able to sleep a lot. When getting on and off, I always had a wheel chair and great assistance. I never lifted a finger.
After arriving, we visited a short time with June and Len, and went to bed. Karen called at about 5am and I couldn't figure out where I was.  I grumbled that it was the middle of the night, told her I was fine, and I loved her.  We got up several hours later.
We went out to lunch, and came back to the time share waiting to get into the timeshare. We finally got in around 2:30,, and we all took a nap.  Then we tried to decide what tours we wanted to go on. We went to dinner at about five, and then walked to the culture center to watch some free entertainment . We all ended up buying their CD. It was really a fun and entertaining. Then on the way back to the timeshare we came a pond a street performance of three young boys, 15, 12, and 9. They were so good we stayed for quite awhile to watch. We are now back in the gorgeous surroundings. It's one of the nicest units I've ever stayed in.
I took several pictures tonight with my phone and uploaded to Facebook.  I will add a few here if I can make it to work.  Using the new iPad. Sorry that didn't work. Love and prayers, m

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

One day till Hawaii

Today was quit a day. They still don't know if I have a urine infection yet. But they took another sample and gave me the antibiotic just in case. Then when talking with the pharmacist, he realized that I was going on a long flight, and I was in danger of a blood clot, and he went to talk to my doctor and she agreed that I needed a blood thinner. So it happens to be a shot I have to self inject. My favorite nurse Julie gave me instructions.  I gave myself the first one and tomorrow and the next day I will give myself the next two. Then when I return I have to give myself three more. I guess I'll live.
After all that Bonnie and I went to lunch with Lois.  Nice lunch at Bakers Square.  Then Bonnie took me to Walgreens to pick up a few more things for the trip.  Power bars, apricots, and candy.
When I got home I was ready for a nap. So to the couch I went. Got up and tried to print my boarding pass. For some reason I couldn't get the new printer to work, and after several hours messing with it, I gave up and forwarded the email to Annie, and had her print it for me, and Doug will bring them to me in the morning on his way to work. I then finished filling my pill trays, and packing my bags.
I think I'm ready once I finish this blog. Now that I've practiced on my iPad.. I think I did pretty well.
So, I'm off to bed.  Love and prayers, m

Ugly Day, and Happy Day

Yesterday I was so sick, I wasn't up to writing, but today I woke up and everything was better.  I was dehydrated, had protein in my urine, felt like vomiting, stomach was distended, headache, and later in the afternoon when I woke up after chemo my teeth hurt from clenching them. They wouldn't give me the Avastin with my chemo today because of the protein in my urine, and were supposed to do a urine test to see if I had a urinary tract infection. But when I called today to check on it, they said they didn't have enough urine to find out.  So I have to give them more tomorrow when I go to get unplugged.  Then they will check it, and give me a prescription for an antibiotic and fill it there.  So I hope that gets done before I leave for Hawaii on Thursday.  I don't want to be sick over there.
Judy and I did pretty well once they started putting the fluids in me and giving me the chemo, so we played cribbage all morning, and I lost every game.  I couldn't believe my luck....atleast I didn't get skunked even once.  But for some reason at 12:45 when we got in the car to find someplace for lunch, I immediately got sick again, and told Judy to just bring me home.  I got home and she needed to use my computer, so I laid down to nap, and never even heard her leave.  I woke up around 5 p.m. and got up and took my 4 p.m. pills, and then drank an ensure, and went back to the couch to sleep, and then the kids started calling and checking on me, as Annie had alerted them that I wasn't doing well, and Annie asked if she should come and stay with me, and she did stay all night, and went to school from here.  Karen suggested I start drinking water, which Annie assured I did, and I believe that it was the "Water of Life", that and all their prayers gave me new life this morning..
Today was a good day.  I packed my suitcase, and have everything ready for my carry-on except my pills which I will refill tomorrow, and take all my pills with me, as I only have one week pill boxes, and I have one for day and night, and the other one for the 4 p.m. pills.
I plan on buying some ensure, water, and some other personal products once I get there as I can't bring them all on the plane or not enough to last me two weeks.
Napped for awhile this afternoon, then showered and dressed to go to card club this evening, and in between time, Jimbo brought over Jack's Ipad that I purchased from him.  I have most everything sync'd with it except my pictures, and I can't figure out how to do that yet.  My music and a few books are on it, Facebook, my email, and some other things.
Say some prayers for me, so I stay well for my trip, and please pray for my cousin Louie who is having problems with his blood pressure regulating.  It goes high and then low and spikes high again and the doctor hasn't been able to stabilize it.  I'm ready for bed.  Hopefully tomorrow night I will write from my Ipad.  Love and Prayers, m

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Happy Day!

Day started out slow, but around noon I got a call from Joe and Chris Sedesky, and they were checking to see if I was home, and they wanted to stop by with some nourishment,  is what they said.  They were at the door soon, with several six packs of Ensure for me along with a couple of cans of soup.  Chris asked what kind I would like, and I picked one, and she started making it, and tried to open the wrong drawer and we called Joe in to fix the drawer that was falling apart   He did get it fixed, and hopefully it will last.  He may come back with a piece of wood to brace the runners.
As Joe was working on the drawer, Annie walked in to both of their surprises, Annie's and Sedesky's.
Annie went right to the basement and through in a load of wash.  She continued to wash clothes and visiting with Joe and Chris.  They left before she was done, but she got three loads of wash done and folded, I told her not to put them away, as a lot of what she washed I needed to take to Hawaii with me.  I worked on the packing after she left, and finding some things I wanted to take with me, but couldn't find. I didn't get it done yet, but Annie brought up the suitcase for me, and I have everything gathered I think.
Jimbo emailed that Jack would bring his ipad over for me to buy, by Tuesday.  He also may be taking me to the airport on Thursday, but won't know till tomorrow.
I have to be at the clinic tomorrow morning at 7:45, so Annie volunteered to take me before she goes to school.  I told her I would be ready by 7 a.m. so she could get to school on time.  Because I have to get up and start moving at 6 a.m., I'm cutting this short tonight, and will go to bed when the news is done.
Please keep your prayers coming for my cousin Louie and for safe travels for Judy, June, Lenard and me.  Love and Prayers, m

Quiet Lazy Day!

Well not exactly lazy.  I did a lot of digging out stuff for the trip, clothes, and other necessities I'll need.  I worked on that for several hours this morning, then worked on the computer. I figured out what rides I needed etc. and other help, and  I sent out an email to the kids with the list.  Haven't heard back from any of them, so I may be sending out a list to my drivers tomorrow afternoon.
I didn't do much this afternoon, and I got a call from Judy around 6 p.m. asking if I wanted company watching the game, and I said yes.  So she drove out from Shakopee to do that.  I made us some dinner (if you can call it that, it was 10 small egg rolls.)
We watched the game while visiting and making plans for our trips.  We are now going to Hawaii on Thursday, and then in May we are going to Holland and Switzerland together.  She brought up the fact that medicare will not cover us when we are out of the country, so we are trying to figure out what we will do for insurance....as all of us are not in the best shape health wise.  Anybody got any ideas?
Talked to Gary to congratulate him after Judy left.  Didn't talk long, as they had moved from the game to Dowton Abby.  I'm moving on to bed.  Love and Prayers, m

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Easy Access to HD TV?

Got up and started moving around 9 a.m. like usual, and had a real spurt of energy.  I unpacked about 3 bags of Christmas presents that had been set aside, while I frolicked with the family all last week.  Not only did I unpack them, but I put them all in their rightful place.  Started a pile on the bed in the back room for my trip next week....which is coming faster and faster all the time. I even unloaded the dishwasher and refiled it, after cleaning out the fridge of leftover food that was becoming moldy. It is garbage day tomorrow, so I wanted to get it out before it was picked up.  By noon I was getting tired and slowed down on the couch till the UPS guy dropped a huge box on my door step.  It was about 1 foot deep and 3 feet in length by 3 feet in width. So I couldn't even attempt to get it in the house and I couldn't figure out what it was or who it was from.
Shortly the mailman came, and Jim (from across the street) got my mail and brought it up to the door, and he put the box in the house for me.  I soon figured out it was the small box from Comcast to change my digital converter to a HD converter.  Not more than 2 inches deep and 10 inches long X 8 inches wide....why do they need such a big box?
I started to put it all together, and couldn't get the coaxial cord un-attached. So I call poor Doug.  Like always he appears at my door in minutes.  He get's it all set up, and we log online to activate it, and then the trouble began.  It said it would take 45 minutes and then we got this error message on the screen....this was after about 45 minutes with Doug on the phone pushing buttons and responding with one word like "Yes" and finally was told it would now take another 45 minutes to activate it.  So Doug went back to work (Don't tell Jimbo that he was working for me) and said I should call when it came on.  Well it never came on, so at about 5 p.m. he called me back, and of course came back to call Comcast again.  Again he pushed buttons a lot, got cut off twice, and finally the third try he got through to a real human-being   It than took about 15 or 20 minutes and the guy finally got us a picture....but said it would be another 45 minutes for the stations to activate on the guide.  So we could change the channel, but it wouldn't tell us what station we were watching.  I don't know how long it took, but I now have it fully activated.  Maybe 6 hours or so.
I didn't do much but sleep, cause I didn't even have a TV to watch all afternoon.  Then my brother came to visit, and he stayed for about an hour.  His daughter Theresa or as she is now called Terri, got married this afternoon, at a small intimate ceremony at her home in Coon Rapids.  So since he was in the neighborhood, he stopped in.  It was then time for me to watch the news and Jay Leno, and I figured I better get this blog written before I fall asleep like last night.  It takes me about an hour to complete, cause I'm watching TV at the same time, and get distracted a lot.  But it is time for me to go to bed.  Love and Prayers, m

Friday, January 4, 2013

First Friday Group Rocks!

Marianne Nold, decided to host us at her house this evening, instead of going to a restaurant for dinner.  She had a Fondue of meat and cheese along with an apple, craisen, and broccoli salad.  It was great!
It was so much better than going to a restaurant where the noise is loud and you feel like you can't sit and visit as they want the table for more customers. It was a relaxing fun evening.
I had 3 scarves made, and made the 4th while I was there, so I could give them each one.  Helen wasn't able to be there this evening, so I will make one for her and give it to her the next time we get together. They all loved them, and it was fun to see their reaction when I said I was making them for them.

Sorry I fell a sleep at the keyboard last night as I was writing this, so I have to finish now.
Earlier in the afternoon Bonnie and I went to Walgreen's  and spent a bundle.  It was 20% off for seniors, and we were buying things we always use at great prices, along with stuff we wanted to take on our trip the end of the month.  Anyway I went through the line first, and then when Bonnie went through, she asked if she got the senior discount, and the women said no, so she gave it to her before she finished.  So I checked and sure enough I hadn't gotten it either.  So she sent me to another register to get that.  I did, and then the manager was there, and said they had to refund me first and then re ring the whole thing, a shopping cart full.....uggggghhhhh.  But it saved me almost $15.
Other than that that's about all I did.  Doug did go to HP on his way to work and got one of my prescriptions, the other wasn't ready, cause they needed a doctors permission to refill it.  So he has to go again on Monday for that....they did give me enough pills to last the weekend.  Getting everything refilled now will help me get through the two weeks in Hawaii....then I'll have to do it all again before we leave for SLC and Sedona.  Well, that was my day.  Love and Prayers, m

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Day of Pain

Because of the long holiday weekend, and I was at the cabin....my Oxycontin was gone. I had to wait till 8 a.m. this morning to call and try to get it refilled.  I couldn't do it online like I can with Health Partners.  Anyway so at 7 a.m. all I had to take was the 5 mg Oxycodone which I took one, cause I didn't know how long it was going to take me to get the 40 mg Oxycontin  So at 8 a.m. I call HHH, and the pharmacy said they would try to find a doctor to sign for it.  Londer wasn't there, and either was Dr. Marowtra that I am changing to.  So at noon, I called them back and asked them to call me when it was filled so Doug could go and pick it up for me....at that point they still hadn't gotten a signature....but shortly after 1 p.m. they called and said it was ready and Doug went and got it.  By 11 a.m. I had taken 2 of the break out pills, and so at 2 when I finally got the drugs, I didn't dare take any till 7 p.m. this evening, so I ended up taking another 2 at 3 p.m. of the 5 mg pills.
I now know that the 40 mg pills really do work, and I need them.  I spent most of the day laying on the couch trying to find a comfortable position.  I did get up a few times and answer some email, but that was about it.
I did call Jim Zimmer and wish him a happy birthday this evening, after the meds took hold.  I'm off to the couch.  Love and Prayers, m

Welcome 2013! Happy New Year!

Hi, I can't tell you what a wonderful week I've had. Must be the best surprise I ever had.  Thank you to my family for making it happen.
Sunday Tom and Karen picked me up at about 2 p.m. to go to the cabin. We got there in plenty time to watch the Viking game, with Jim and Ann, Annie and Doug, and all the grand kids   After the game and the celebration of it....the kids went down to the ice and played on it a lot.  They worked at shoveling off the ice so they could skate on it yesterday.
I made chicken and dumplings after eating a ton of snack food during the game.  It went over well, and it was my contribution to the mounds of food we had.
I played cribbage with Jim and Ann, and first Jimbo skunked both Ann and me, and then Ann skunked Jimbo and me.  That was enough of that for the night.  We headed for bed around 12:30 a.m., and it was a great day.
Yesterday we all got up late, and kind of vegged around most of the morning.  Finally at about 2 p.m. we had lunch, a large batch of sloppy joes Tom made.  The grandma Schoenecker recipe, with baked beans.  Her way of making them go farther....or stretching the recipe.  We ate those all afternoon, along with another bunch of snacks of all kinds.
The kids spent all afternoon on the ice, and the guys built a fire in the grate on the deck....they all came up smelling like smoke.  The kids wrote their names in the snow, and even Happy New Year in the snow on the  ice. Presley said it was the best week she ever had.  I think that was my sentiment too!
Around 6:45 Bill, Kim, Katie and Tom arrived, and we could have supper.  Jimbo was in charge of that, and we had beef stroganoff.  Wow was it good.  I hadn't had that for a long time. We laughed and visited all evening, as well as playng some more cribbage  We continued to eat snacks, a new bunch was supplied by Kim.  I finally beat Bill and then Tom in two handed cribbage and was feeling pretty good.  Then after celebrating the New Year, Jimbo, Tom, Ann and I played a game of criss-cross which is sort-of-a four handed version of cribbage....at least you score it like cribbage.  We played girls against the boys, and Ann and I ended up losing.  Oh Well.
The new year celebration was fun, as usual the whole gang except me, went down to the ice about 10 minutes before midnight, and got the camera's and tripods set up and ready for the ball to drop, using their cell phones to keep track of the time. Here's the picture they took at midnight! Note Jack and I are missing.
When they got back to the cabin, we poured sparkling grape juice for the grandkids, and champagne for all but me and Tom.  I think he was drinking coffee, and I had Killebrew Creme Soda....yum, yum.  The party continued and I think the grandkids went down and watched Pitch Perfect for the 10th time or more in two days.  What great fun.
This morning again we all were slow at getting up, but I had promised to make Grupfins (a Hungarian form of fried bread dough).  So I took out 3 bags of frozen Texas rolls from the fridge and placed them on cookie sheets to raise at about 6:30 a.m., and then went back to bed to wait till 7 a.m. to take my pills, which I over slept for and took at about 7:45 and went back to sleep till 9 a.m. I thought, but ended up being 9:30, when Bill had just gotten up as well.  He put the coffee on, and I started getting things ready for frying the dough.  I also turned the oven on and placed a package of turkey bacon on another cookie sheet to get cooked, and warm up the kitchen. I also poured two bottles of oil into a large frying pan, and had to wait quite a while for it to get hot enough.  Several of the kids, and adults had never had them before, and didn't have the foggiest idea what they were or how they would taste.
They all loved them, and Kennedy and Tommy both came to watch how I did it, and Kennedy even made a couple herself, so she can help Karen make them again tomorrow.  I am so happy we have another of grandma Schoenecker's recipe's being passed down to another generation or two. After breakfast, I had a whole pan of rolls raised and ready to be baked, so we did.  Everyone took some home with them.
We packed and cleaned and left as soon as we could.  Doug, Nicole and Allie left first as the girls had to be back for hockey. Then I think the Bill Kiecker's left as they were having Kim's family over for dinner, and then Tom and family as they had to drive back to Naperville.  Annie, Matthew, Jimbo, Ann and I all left at about the same time. I spent the rest of the day resting! What a wonderful Surprise Week! I couldn't ask for more!  Love and Prayers, m