Almost Autumn

February was a long time ago. Once I began using Facebook regularly I didn’t feel the need to blog, though I realize many people do both. It was an eventful spring and summer. March and April were spent recovering from February’s sinus surgery plus a sinus infection in the other sinus. March also saw Sondros flying as an unaccompanied minor to Florida to visit his Dad over spring break. He flew Northwest, need I say more. Home one day late, at an extra charge no less. I hate Northwest, AKA Delta.

In June I was hospitalized with GI bleeding. Endoscopic exam showed erosions in the stomach from the pressure of a large hiatal hernia. Surgery was recommended and scheduled for August, as I had a commitment to be with Sondros at his Dad’s in FL. Jim took him down and stayed a few weeks, then I went down for a few weeks and drove him home. Summer in Florida is not my idea of fun. Hotter than hell, humid, daily heavy rains. Sondros and I took a boat trip on the gulf out of Tarpon Springs, saw dolphins, really neat.

In August I went in for the scheduled surgery. Surprise, cancer of the stomach (GIST) was found so I had major surgery. 4 days on IV dilaudid helped with the intense pain. I came home after a week and have been slowly recovering. I lost a lot of blood and needed a blood transfusion, hopefully no hepatitis virus in it. I have found another cancer diagnosis a kick in the head but one must deal with what one is dealt. I wonder if I took a vacation to Chernobyl and just don’t remember.

This is the first year since retirement in June 2007 I can say I’m thankful to be retired. My stamina is gone. I work 4 hours every Saturday in our apartment rental complex and that really is pushing it for me. I’m so exhausted and tired. At 64 I feel about 80 which is such a change for me as I always felt much younger than I was and was so dedicated to my work.

As life moves on Alex and Camila will be adding a new member of the family in April. Armando will get a baby brother or sister.

I will try to update the blog about once/month.

The Long Winter

This has been a long winter. Actually, every winter in Minnesota is long but this has been a much colder winter than most so it seems longer. January was below zero almost the entire month. This weekend was the first above freezing days all month. My lungs cannot take the frigid cold so I’m housebound a good part of the winter. And boy, when cabin fever sets in it is hard to shake. It on top of seasonal depression (SADD) from lack of sun is enough to make anyone want to hibernate. I’m beginning to see why a lot of retired people head south for the winter. I can’t afford that, or even a vacation to a warm spot.

I had a Vitamin D level done this summer, when I was getting plenty of sun, and it was below normal, meaning in winter the level was practically non-existent. I started in Vitamin D in high doses and I’m in the normal range now.I have noticed two positive effects. My SADD wasn’t as bad, and my chronic muscular aches and pains were improved. This was a welcomed change as each winter saw my SADD becoming worse. They should put Vitamin D in the water supply since almost everyone has SADD to some degree, especially as they age.

Even the cats want to hibernate in this weather. They love my electric blanket. They are not liking the balcony being covered in a snowdrift.

My next sinus surgery is this Thursday. The hope is that the tumor can be removed in one piece. If the bone has been invaded then it will be removed and a titanium plate and screws inserted. I’ll be glad when it’s over.

Post Op

Today is my 3rd post op day since my sinus biopsy. I’m slowly feeling better. About the time I’m feeling back to normal it will be time for the next surgery.

Going into surgery the surgeon was reasonably sure we were dealing with a metastasis from my ocular melanoma. The good news is the tumor is not a melanoma, saving me from stage IV melanoma for now. The tumor is a very rare tumor seen most often in men and smokers. Go figure! It is the first time my surgeon has seen such a tumor. The incidence is 5 to 10 per million people, so almost as rare as ocular melanoma. We will know this week whether it is benign or malignant. Either way it must be removed. Squamous cell cancer tends to be hidden within the tumor. The tumor is also aggressive and tends to erode the bone. It frequently recurs.

I am relieved it isn’t a melanoma. It will require on-going treatment and follow-up whether benign or malignant but that’s life.

The day I had surgery it was about 40 degrees below zero wind chill. Today it is actually pleasant enough out I have the windows open. It’s in the 20’s. There were beautiful big snow flakes this morning. I haven’t been out of the house yet so I’m looking forward to getting out this week. I see the surgeon Wednesday and set up the next surgery.

My Birthday

Well, today is my birthday. First, the good parts. Alex and Camila took me to lunch at TGIF, my favorite place. I always order the flat iron steak with Jack Daniel's glaze. It was good as usual. They gave me roses (from Colombia), and Camila brought me a pretty porcelain box from Colombia, along with a string bracelet in Colombia's colors. When I got home there were tulips from Emily and roses from my sister Helen. Wow, three flower gifts in one day! This morning Arthi gave me a porcelain box she brought from her recent trip home to India, it is very colorful. I didn't have any porcelain boxes, now I have two. I will use them to store earrings.

Now, the not so good part. On Monday I had a PET scan done. I have CT scans every 6 months because of having ocular melanoma. OM tends to be an aggressive cancer with a high incidence of spreading, usually to the liver. My oncologist decided I should have a PET scan this time instead, and I'm glad she did. When I saw my pulmonary doctor Tuesday a.m. he shared the PET scan results with me. It showed uptake in the right maxillary sinus, indicating a possible malignancy, likely mets from the eye. This morning I had a CT of the sinuses and saw the ENT surgeon. Well, my sinuses show no infection or sinusitis, I have a tumor in the posterior maxillary sinus on the right. I have been having a lot of facial pain and assumed it was dental, I have a dental appointment next week. I'll have to cancel that for now because I am having a surgical procedure next week to get a biopsy. I will have more surgery but just what depends on the biopsy. If it is recurrent melanoma we are hoping we can get a vaccine made. Melanoma doesn't respond well to chemotherapy. I will probably look for a clinical study if this is melanoma. So much to think about. Cancer, the "gift" that keeps on giving.

I see my oncologist tomorrow a.m. I have the very best medical team. There aren't many places where you'd have a PET scan one day, report the next, and everything set up the third day. For that I am very thankful.

Then Friday I go scrapbooking for the weekend. My favorite The Scrapbook Shop of St. Paul has moved to Lexington/Circle Pines. It's about 20 miles away, it used to be 2 miles away. I'm staying overnight at a motel so I can scrap two whole days and forget cancer for awhile.

Catching Up

I returned home today from visiting my daughter and her family in northern Wisconsin. My 11 y.o. grandson went with me. He and my 4 y.o. grand-daughter always have fun together despite the age difference. Yesterday we all went to see Bedtime Stories at the local movie theater, that still remains open in these days of big cinema plexes. One movie feature at a time. They just recently added some seats with cup holders, hopefully all the old seats will be replaced. It is still much finer than the theater we attended in Thurles, Ireland in 1967. Just wooden folding chairs. The movie was I Saw What You Did and I Know Who You Are. Very scary!! Fortunately Bedtime Stories wasn't scary. It was funny. I enjoyed it, not expecting to for some reason. I have now seen 2 movies in a week (Marley and Me was the other), which is more than I normally see in a year! I'm planning to start seeing more movies this year.

I'm sure we were all sorry to hear about John Travolta's loss of his son. On the news tonight they mentioned he had had Kawasaki Disease at the age of 2 and they wondered if it had contributed to his death. He was diagnosed after 2 days, much earlier than my grand-daughter, who was diagnosed late and had a very rough course. Kawasaki is a rare disease that attacks the blood vessels of the body. It occurs primarily in children under 5 and more common in Asian children. The complication that develops in some children, and can occur at any point in time, are aneurysms, most often aortic aneurysms. Travolta's son had a history of seizures and reportedly had 2 nannies even though he was 16 y.o. . I saw a clip of him on the news and he definitely had the look of a special needs child. My educated guess as to cause of death is the seizure he was reported to have suffered. He did hit his head during the seizure which brings up the possibility of a subdural hematoma, esp if he was on Depakote for seizure management. Depakote tends to thin the blood. It must be very hard to lose a child. No parent is exempt from this possibility, even the wealthy and famous.

Tomorrow I have my PET scan, hoping for good news.

Have a Safe and Sober New Year

As 2009 looms only hours away I hope everyone has a safe and sober holiday. I have never understood the lure of drunkeness. As for drinking and driving, that is for losers. I hope none of you are losers.

Tomorrow my older grandson head for my daughter's in Wisconsin. I've been without heat in my car so yesterday I forked oner $370 to get a new heater. Ouch!!

I'll write about my resolutions when I get back on Sunday. Next week is appointment week: PET/CT scan, pulmonologist visit, and oncologist visit. Each week in January I have medical appointments.

Happy New Year everyone.

Basting the Turkey

Thanksgiving is one holiday where I love to cook. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, doesn't get much better than that. My daughter taught me a great, quick recipe for basting the turkey with. Melt butter, add white wine. Baste the turkey every 20 minutes or so. The white whine gives a good tang to the gravy. Like most recipes like this we don't measure. I kind of use one quarter of butter to a cup of wine.

I'm cooking this year for my younger son, his wife, and their almost18 month old son.

I hope everyone has a nice Thanksgiving.

Chocolate Pecan Pie

Thanksgiving is later this week. My son Nate moved to Florida3 weeks ago. I wondered how soon he'd call for my chocolate pecan pie recipe. It was today. I started making this recipe when we lived in Alabama. The recipe is from a Southern cook book.I don't like the pie as it is way too sweet for my palate, which prefers sour.

2 squares unsweetened chocolate
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup light corn syrup (Karo)
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs slightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup pecan halves or pieces
1 unbaked pie shell

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Melt chocolate and butter together. Mix sugar and syrup together, bring to a boil, boil together for 2 minutes and pour slowly over beaten eggs, stirring constantly. Add vanilla, melted butter/chocolate, and nuts. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 375 degrees until it puffs up all over the top. Cool.

October Afternoon

I promised Lucinda and Robin I'd blog when I got home from October Afternoon's packing party but I'm tired and my feet throb so it will have to wait til tomorrow.It was fun, their products are great, and it was a surprise to find old friends there.

Arthie, today was very dreary, no sun. A little rain, not enough to count. The temp was in the high 50's so warm.It was very windy, not good for the allergies. I did the filing for Melissa. Tomorrow is happy hour, then Melissa's jewelry party. How are things in India?

Another Gorgeous Day

Today was another gorgeous day, no rain as predicted, close to 70 degrees. The great weather was a boon to people getting out to vote. Minnesota typically has an 80% turnout, they expected 90% today. I am not watching the election coverage, way too boring. But I turn to MSNBC when the ads are on HGTV. Minnesota has gone to Obama, no surprise there. I think Ike might have been the last Republican to win Minnesota. I hope our senate winner is the Independent candidate. The Democratic candidate is a vulgar, rude comedian. The Republican, who used to be a very liberal Democrat, goes whatever way the wind blows.

I started decluttering and organizing my garage today. I use it strictly for storage, not the car. Uffda, it’s a major mission organization endeavor.

Tomorrow I’m working at October Afternoon,a scrapbooking business whose warehouse is in Apple Valley. I will be packing boxes. My pay for 4 hours is $50 worth of their product. I’ll post tomorrow about the experience.

This photo is along the railroad tracks in front of my apartment.