Monday, September 28th

The move was finally made on Saturday (insurance hold up again!) and therapy has begun. The St. Luke's rehabilitation unit is very nice and the therapy gym has tons of space and activities. Today was my first full day of physical, occupational and recreational therapy - I was exhausted when I finished. They say that is a good thing, because they want to push you as hard as possible without hurting you. Yesterday my sister, Beth, and her husband, Jeff, came to visit from Illinois. Beth brought excellent cookies and we had a good visit. I have decided that I want a large screen HD TV for the living room when I get home, so Carole and the boys are busy scoping out what we need to make that happen. Jeff Sikkema is going to take care of the wiring.
We are expecting a lot of company this weekend. Jeff and Cathy are coming for a long weekend, and Brian, Karen and Connor are coming as well. Both my mom and Carole's mom are visiting on Sunday and brothers and sisters are involved in helping them to make that happen. Carole's mom is going to stay for awhile to help with rehabilitation. We go back to the UIHC on Thursday, the 8th of October to see what the doctors have to say. Hopefully that trip won't have to take place the way the past two have.
The good news is that between the steroids and the therapy there is a chance to get back to where things were before.
Thanks for all the calls and support from family and friends - it always helps!

Thursday, September 24

Moving day is tomorrow. I will be going to St. Luke's in Cedar Rapids to stay in the rehabilitation center. I'm hoping to be able to go home in a little while. For now I'll be working on getting strength back in my right side and being able to move around with some assistance.

I've really appreciated having malts and drinking buddies for the last couple nights! Tory also brought some Hawkeye flowers but was kind enough to put "Purdue" on the other side of the ribbon. The colors worked perfectly, and everyone has enjoyed the nice smell. I also received a gift bag of goodies from Carole's mom, Ailene -- they sure taste great. I hear I'll be burning off some of those calories and getting quite a workout in the next few days.

Wednesday, September 23rd

It's been a long weekend. I took a fall on Friday and then again on early Saturday morning. Carole ended up calling 911, and I was taken to St. Luke's in Cedar Rapids. On Sunday evening I was transferred down to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and have been there ever since. There is swelling that is effecting my movement and especially my right side. I have been on a major dosage of steroids to get the swelling down, and I am getting limited function back on the right side. They did an MRI last night, and the preliminary results show that there are no major differences which could be good news if the tumors are not growing. Andy, Tory and Carole have been here pretty much non-stop, and friends and co-workers have also made some visits, and have even brought a malt (thanks CA and Sherry). My appetite has not been impacted! I hope to hear today what the plan will be to get me home. When they asked what my goal was on Sunday evening, I said it was to "Get out of here". I will write more when I get home again. Thanks for all the support and caring thoughts.

Wednesday, September 15th

The chemo pills arrived from CVS/Caremark yesterday (UPS did their normal stunt and left more than $5000 worth of pills sitting on the front porch and never even rang the doorbell) so I started a new round of chemo last night. The pills are more than double the dosage of the pills I took my last round, but I only take the pills five days a month. It was kind of a rough day today. My strength and balance are not very good. Walking is getting harder every day. The chemo doctor says it might be from the steroid I'm taking to reduce swelling. He's going to try to back me off the steroid dosage once I'm past this round of chemo. I surely hope that helps. Backing off the steroid may help me sleep better at night, too. That would make Carole happy as well.
I had a new experience tonight. I went to Target with Carole and drove around the store in one of their motorized carts. It was great to get out, but a couple of times, I think Carole thought I was going to knock her over because I was a "little" bit out of control. Then, once I got the hang of driving the cart, I couldn't seem to stop. I even unintentionally drove away from Stephanie when she was trying to ask me a question. Sorry, Stephanie! I really wasn't intentionally ignoring you.
Take care, everyone!

Saturday, September 12th

I've been trying to stay as positive as possible, but I was really expecting bad news yesterday. Fortunately, the news ended up being about as good as could be expected. The tumors (or lesions as the doctor calls them) had grown a lot between June and July, but after looking at the pictures from yesterday's MRI, they appear to be about the same now as they were in July, so the rapid growth seems to have been stopped. The bottom line is, we're going to start another round of chemo as soon as CVS/Caremark can ship me the next prescription of pills, and we're cautiously hopeful the trend will continue. The chemo pills are supposed to arrive next Tuesday, so I'll start Tuesday night. It's kind of a pain, but that's the way it works. Brian drove down from Minneapolis Thursday night, and along with Andy, joined Carole and me for the doctors' visits on Friday. I had an MRI, then met with the radiation oncologist and the chemo oncologist. It's always nice to have an extra set of ears listening to what doctors are saying (especially when we all heard the same thing) plus it's reassuring to have friendly faces in the room with you. It was a really exhausting day for me, but it wasn't as long as I thought it might be. The long-winded chemo doctor was actually not running as late as I thought he might be, and he offered some hope I didn't anticipate when he said the fatigue I'm experiencing in my legs may be related to the steroid I'm taking. He doesn't want to make any changes in the dosage while I'm starting the new round of chemo, but in a week or so, I think he'll try to wean me off of the steroid a mg at a time. Hopefully that will improve things with the fatigue.
After the doctor's visits, we made a stop at Whitey's for a malt, then Tory met us at The Vine where I had their Friday Fish & Chips special. Good stuff!
Thanks again to everyone for your sympathies regarding my father's death. Cards are still arriving almost daily. My family and I really appreciate your thoughts and concerns. Thanks also for your prayers for my health. I always knew they wouldn't hurt, but they seem to be helping!

Saturday, September 5th

Here's a picture of Bengt, Gerd, Carole and me taken a few weeks ago at The Red Frog in the Czech Village area of Cedar Rapids. The Frog Burgers were awesome, and huge (as you can see). If I remember correctly, they are ½ pound burgers and I know they are awesome! As you can tell, I'm still thinking about food all the time. It's more than just chocolate malts in my mind, but the malts are still at the top of my list.
Carole has been working half days, staying home with me every morning, making sure I don't have any problems, then teaching her 6th graders in the afternoon while I try to nap. So far the plan has worked. She has a sub she really likes a lot that has a similar teaching style to hers, so she isn't stressing about what's going on in the classroom while she's home with me.
I feel as if I'm repeating myself, but this week has gone pretty well for me. I still go through times when I'm really tired, with weak legs and poor balance, but a quick nap usually helps. I'm starting to get anxious about next Friday's visit with the doctors in Iowa City. Just the date, Sept 11th makes me nervous. Andy and Brian are planning to go along with Carole and me. I hope all goes well, but I'll just have to wait and see what they say.

Wednesday, September 2nd

The last couple of days have gone pretty well for me. My balance still needs some improvement and my legs are still weak, but I've been able to work 4 - 5 hours each day (with naps in between), and overall I'm feeling quite a bit better than I was a week ago -and I think even Carole would agree with that assessment. I'm sleeping better overnight which makes a huge difference.
Thanks to so many of you for the sympathies you've sent regarding my father's passing. I appreciate your thoughts and support during this stressful time. I'm fortunate to have two sisters and a brother who live close enough to my mother who are able spend time with her and help her through her grieving process. Additionally, I have another sister who lives in Peoria who can be there in four hours if needed. I guess there's something positive to be said for big, supportive families. I know I'm certainly happy to have Andy, Brian and Jeff calling, encouraging me and checking on me so frequently.
Lastly, welcome back Negebe. I missed you. Good to see you overcame your technological challenges, and I'm glad there's somebody else out there who can relate to some of the non-cancer things I'm facing with such great humor.