It was a very good day yesterday, after we went to the temple with Amanda, she invited everyone back to her house for a barbecue and swimming (she had heated the pool). She had a very good turnout of friends come to the temple from her ward, and Adam and Tazia Murie came down as did Chris Dickman. It really was a special day.
At the barbecue they got a game of pool basketball going, by the end it couldn't really be described as basketball anymore, I'm not sure what to call it, but anyone that played won't forget it today, they will all be limping around and tending to their sore feet and sore bodies from it. Amanda has a pebble-tech surface under the water and it can be a little hard on body parts that slide against it.
The side effects I had experienced on Friday never came back, I had a very good day and was able to enjoy the time at the temple and at the barbecue very much. Rob and Renee (Ryan's parents) came over to the barbecue and we enjoyed our time talking with them and getting to know them a little better.
It's Sunday today, the beginning of my week off treatments, I will be starting the Dex again tomorrow, but it will be nice to stay home for a whole week.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
5/29/2010 The day after Arida
We got up yesterday morning in Coral Canyon and went over to get my treatment. Patty had work to do in Mesquite, so she dropped me off and went to do her work while I had my long treatment - about 3-1/2 hours with the Arida or Bone medicine. Everything went well, and when the unhooked me I called Patty to see how she was doing. She had lost track of time and was still working in Mesquite. I told her I would go over to the temple parking lot (about 1/2 block away) and find a good shady spot to read.
I started walking over there and then remembered something we needed to get done at the credit union - it was only about 4-1/2 blocks away and I knew Patty would be at least 40-45 minutes getting back here, so I took off walking up 200 East to Tabernacle and then east to the credit union. I got the business done and then walked down through the Elks baseball field and down to the temple parking lot. I had just sat down and pulled out my book to read when Patty called and so she picked me up so we could get some lunch.
We ate and then went back to the house to get our things before we headed back to Vegas. Before we left town I had to make another stop a the lab to give 4 more vials of blood, they wanted some very specific tests done before Round 3 starts on June 8th, so it was either do extra on this trip up, or make a special trip next week just for labs - Patty and I both voted for extra blood letting on this trip. We went there, I gave blood and we hit the road. We got back to Vegas around 4:00 pacific time.
I think I had a reaction to the Arida, after we came home, Patty said I looked tired and sent me in the bedroom to take a little nap to gather strength before dinner and anything else we wanted to do. Well, I just couldn't get warm, so I laid in bed and shivered and dozed for a while. I did get feeling better before bedtime and this morning I feel quite good, so hopefully the side effects are behind me now.
Today is a big day in the Dalton and the future Dalton-Stewart house holds, Amanda is going to the temple to take out her own endowment today. She is scheduled to go during the 2:00 pm session and then afterwards we are going to her house for a barbecue. We are very happy for her. Patty and Amanda have to be up there early, Josh and I will leave to go about 1:00 pm.
I started walking over there and then remembered something we needed to get done at the credit union - it was only about 4-1/2 blocks away and I knew Patty would be at least 40-45 minutes getting back here, so I took off walking up 200 East to Tabernacle and then east to the credit union. I got the business done and then walked down through the Elks baseball field and down to the temple parking lot. I had just sat down and pulled out my book to read when Patty called and so she picked me up so we could get some lunch.
We ate and then went back to the house to get our things before we headed back to Vegas. Before we left town I had to make another stop a the lab to give 4 more vials of blood, they wanted some very specific tests done before Round 3 starts on June 8th, so it was either do extra on this trip up, or make a special trip next week just for labs - Patty and I both voted for extra blood letting on this trip. We went there, I gave blood and we hit the road. We got back to Vegas around 4:00 pacific time.
I think I had a reaction to the Arida, after we came home, Patty said I looked tired and sent me in the bedroom to take a little nap to gather strength before dinner and anything else we wanted to do. Well, I just couldn't get warm, so I laid in bed and shivered and dozed for a while. I did get feeling better before bedtime and this morning I feel quite good, so hopefully the side effects are behind me now.
Today is a big day in the Dalton and the future Dalton-Stewart house holds, Amanda is going to the temple to take out her own endowment today. She is scheduled to go during the 2:00 pm session and then afterwards we are going to her house for a barbecue. We are very happy for her. Patty and Amanda have to be up there early, Josh and I will leave to go about 1:00 pm.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
5/27/2010 Travel Day Again
Yesterday was a very good day, I had a little heartburn, but had good stamina and stayed at work pretty much all day. I don't know why the side effects are being so low after the 3rd treatment of the second round, but they are and I'm grateful.
Pretty much slept through the night again, but I seem to be developing foot and leg cramps that come on me during the last hour or so of sleep time, rather than thrash around and bother Patty, I got up a little after 5:00 to walk around the living room to work them out, I'll have to do some searching and asking to find out how to combat them.
This afternoon is travel day again, we'll go to the lab and then spend the night at Coral Canyon but I have to say this round seems to have gone very fast, Patty and I talked to Mom last night and we talked about how this two weeks has seemed to go by very fast.
Tomorrow is the long day of treatment where I get the Arida bone medicine, and then the day will be a little longer because I have to go back to the lab tomorrow afternoon to give several vials for some more complete blood tests to be run.
Pretty much slept through the night again, but I seem to be developing foot and leg cramps that come on me during the last hour or so of sleep time, rather than thrash around and bother Patty, I got up a little after 5:00 to walk around the living room to work them out, I'll have to do some searching and asking to find out how to combat them.
This afternoon is travel day again, we'll go to the lab and then spend the night at Coral Canyon but I have to say this round seems to have gone very fast, Patty and I talked to Mom last night and we talked about how this two weeks has seemed to go by very fast.
Tomorrow is the long day of treatment where I get the Arida bone medicine, and then the day will be a little longer because I have to go back to the lab tomorrow afternoon to give several vials for some more complete blood tests to be run.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
5/25/2010 Treatment Today
Good day today, we slept through the night again, I didn't get out of bed until 6:30 (Utah time) which is when the alarm normally goes off at home (5:30) anyway so I count that as a win, and Patty got to sleep in til about 7:15 +\-. Got up and did some work - remote logins to work computers are amazing things.
Treatment was probably the quickest I have ever had. The treatment room was full, and the nurses did a great job getting everyone hooked up and running, I got in the chair at about 5 minutes to 9:00 am and got out of the chair about 3 or 4 minutes after 10:00 am. Josh took me to treatment because Patty had some work to do this morning, and there was enough time that he was able to get some errands done during the hour I was in the chair.
We dropped by the doctor's offices to pick up the cover letters for the Downwinder paperwork and then drove back to Vegas this afternoon, I felt good enough to drive about half the way back and so far so good tonight, I know the fatigue will come back tomorrow or Thursday, but tonight I'm feeling pretty good and not very tired at all. Amanda and Matt came over to have dinner with us tonight, so we had a great dinner and now the 5 of us are now watching the American Idol final competition show.
Treatment was probably the quickest I have ever had. The treatment room was full, and the nurses did a great job getting everyone hooked up and running, I got in the chair at about 5 minutes to 9:00 am and got out of the chair about 3 or 4 minutes after 10:00 am. Josh took me to treatment because Patty had some work to do this morning, and there was enough time that he was able to get some errands done during the hour I was in the chair.
We dropped by the doctor's offices to pick up the cover letters for the Downwinder paperwork and then drove back to Vegas this afternoon, I felt good enough to drive about half the way back and so far so good tonight, I know the fatigue will come back tomorrow or Thursday, but tonight I'm feeling pretty good and not very tired at all. Amanda and Matt came over to have dinner with us tonight, so we had a great dinner and now the 5 of us are now watching the American Idol final competition show.
Monday, May 24, 2010
5/24/2010 Travel Day Today
Travel day today, as I wrote before, Josh came up from school and will be going up with us today to drive the truck back tomorrow.
A pretty good thing happened last night, I slept in my bed all night and got woke up by my alarm clock - that hasn't happened in quite a while. Maybe the Dex is out of my system and I'm just running on the rest of the treatment drugs.
We had a good weekend, went to Penn and Teller on Saturday night, had a coupon from my old days of giving blood (as opposed to needing it now), it was a good show at the Rio. They get a lot of audience participation in their act and have a lot of physical humor. I was tired, but glad we went.
I'll get labs done this evening and then treatment 3, Round 2 tomorrow morning.
A pretty good thing happened last night, I slept in my bed all night and got woke up by my alarm clock - that hasn't happened in quite a while. Maybe the Dex is out of my system and I'm just running on the rest of the treatment drugs.
We had a good weekend, went to Penn and Teller on Saturday night, had a coupon from my old days of giving blood (as opposed to needing it now), it was a good show at the Rio. They get a lot of audience participation in their act and have a lot of physical humor. I was tired, but glad we went.
I'll get labs done this evening and then treatment 3, Round 2 tomorrow morning.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
5/22/2010 Treatment Day Yesterday
You might have noticed I changed the name slightly, Patty didn't think it was right (and I agreed) that this was all about my journey of life, we've had lots of life and will have lots more, so I decided to just name it "my current journey" or side trip through life at this time.
Pretty good day yesterday, we got up and went to Dr. Te's for treatment, pretty full room for a Friday but the nurses were great getting everyone started, and the best part it was only a one stick Friday, the other Fridays the nurses had a terrible time finding a vein, so I had been use to 4 & 5 sticks on Fridays. The appointment went well, we are in the final stages of gathering the information to send into the Downwinder's so I had to request some additional information from both Dr. Te and Dr. Smith to complete the application. We hope to have it ready to send next week.
We picked up the car we had purchased on Tuesday and headed back to Coral Canyon where I proceeded to take a nap, since I had once again woke up way before dawn, I've got to figure out how to sleep through the night without waking up at between 4 and 5 to solve world problems.
We came back to Vegas yesterday afternoon in the Sante Fe and left the truck at Coral Canyon, Josh finished his finals yesterday and will be coming for a week to visit, we'll make him drive with us next week and bring the truck back down for us on next Tuesday.
Still feeling pretty good, coming down from round of Dex (steroids), so hopefully I won't crash too bad, but will get some sleep. The next couple of days will tell that. They are stretching out the frequency that I take the Dex from 4 on and 4 off to 4 every two weeks, so that will be a new roller coaster ride to get use to. We'll see how things go over the weekend.
Pretty good day yesterday, we got up and went to Dr. Te's for treatment, pretty full room for a Friday but the nurses were great getting everyone started, and the best part it was only a one stick Friday, the other Fridays the nurses had a terrible time finding a vein, so I had been use to 4 & 5 sticks on Fridays. The appointment went well, we are in the final stages of gathering the information to send into the Downwinder's so I had to request some additional information from both Dr. Te and Dr. Smith to complete the application. We hope to have it ready to send next week.
We picked up the car we had purchased on Tuesday and headed back to Coral Canyon where I proceeded to take a nap, since I had once again woke up way before dawn, I've got to figure out how to sleep through the night without waking up at between 4 and 5 to solve world problems.
We came back to Vegas yesterday afternoon in the Sante Fe and left the truck at Coral Canyon, Josh finished his finals yesterday and will be coming for a week to visit, we'll make him drive with us next week and bring the truck back down for us on next Tuesday.
Still feeling pretty good, coming down from round of Dex (steroids), so hopefully I won't crash too bad, but will get some sleep. The next couple of days will tell that. They are stretching out the frequency that I take the Dex from 4 on and 4 off to 4 every two weeks, so that will be a new roller coaster ride to get use to. We'll see how things go over the weekend.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
5/20/2010 - Our 32nd Wedding Anniversary
Not much to say today that isn't covered in the heading above, My beautiful bride Patricia has put up with me for quite a while now. We'll have some dinner tonight with Bruce and Cara after we get to St. George to get labs done, then probably stay up clear until 11:00 tonight, we are just that wild and crazy. Patty is my rock through all of this, she is the water nazi and protects me from myself when I rebel. I am so very grateful for her.
Saw an article on the Deseret News this morning, good quotes by Thom Pronk in the article entitled "New Study shows which Professions are hiring in Utah" - The article also had good news for Future Pharmacists, which I think we know one of those too.
The only side effects I seem to be having from the last treatment is just a little fatigue as the day wears on, of course that could also be effected by being up before dawn most mornings, but I actually stayed in bed until about 4:30 this morning, so I really only got up about an hour early which gave me time to do a little reading and blogging.
We made the appointment yesterday to go to Salt Lake to have the initial consultation meeting with the LDS hospital people for the middle of July, we'll have more information after that as to the details of what will happen once we get to the transplant stage of this and will share more of that when the time comes.
Saw an article on the Deseret News this morning, good quotes by Thom Pronk in the article entitled "New Study shows which Professions are hiring in Utah" - The article also had good news for Future Pharmacists, which I think we know one of those too.
The only side effects I seem to be having from the last treatment is just a little fatigue as the day wears on, of course that could also be effected by being up before dawn most mornings, but I actually stayed in bed until about 4:30 this morning, so I really only got up about an hour early which gave me time to do a little reading and blogging.
We made the appointment yesterday to go to Salt Lake to have the initial consultation meeting with the LDS hospital people for the middle of July, we'll have more information after that as to the details of what will happen once we get to the transplant stage of this and will share more of that when the time comes.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
5/19/2010 Treatment yesterday - good day
We got up yesterday and went to Dr. Te's Office for treatment. We met first with Dr. Te, he gave some good news, my proteins are dropping, which means I'm responding to the treatments. He answered several other questions and also contacted LDS Hospital to get things started for a consultation up there at the end of June or middle of July.
Then we did some running around to pick up prescriptions, receipts, invoices and other documents we need to submit the Downwinder's package and insurance forms, we were very successful in getting most of what we needed.
We then spent the afternoon buying a car, we decided to get a used 2007 Hyundai Sante Fe w/ only 22,000 miles on it. We had been putting all the miles on my truck and didn't want to devalue it any more, the new Sante Fe will get us up and down the road, use less gas and will serve us well for the next phases of our life, besides we got an extended warranty that will cover it bumper to bumper until it has 107,000 miles on it or 5 years, which ever comes first - I'm betting on the mileage. We will pick it up this Friday.
We then hit the road and made it back here last evening. So far so good on the side effects from Treatment 1, Round 2. I'm sure I'll start feeling some fatigue, but right now I feel very good.
Then we did some running around to pick up prescriptions, receipts, invoices and other documents we need to submit the Downwinder's package and insurance forms, we were very successful in getting most of what we needed.
We then spent the afternoon buying a car, we decided to get a used 2007 Hyundai Sante Fe w/ only 22,000 miles on it. We had been putting all the miles on my truck and didn't want to devalue it any more, the new Sante Fe will get us up and down the road, use less gas and will serve us well for the next phases of our life, besides we got an extended warranty that will cover it bumper to bumper until it has 107,000 miles on it or 5 years, which ever comes first - I'm betting on the mileage. We will pick it up this Friday.
We then hit the road and made it back here last evening. So far so good on the side effects from Treatment 1, Round 2. I'm sure I'll start feeling some fatigue, but right now I feel very good.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
5/18/2010 It's 5:00 am, where else would I be
Got in CC (Coral Canyon) last night after stopping for labs - she did a very good job sticking me.
Came to the house and had a good dinner with Bruce and Cara, then Mom and Dad came over for a while to check on all of us, we had a good visit. They will be pulling out of Hurricane - probably on Wednesday some time to go back to their "house" to wait until they can move their "home" up to the mountain, with this crazy weather, who knows when that will be.
I have an appointment this morning, but eyes popped open at around 5:00 Utah time, the Dex (steroids) started yesterday and unfortunately I didn't take them as early yesterday as I would have wanted, I think that contributes to the early hours. The good news is that I finally have my work laptop setup to get to our network, so I've spent the past 45 minutes dealing with all the emails and work things I can do for now.
Busy day today, we have quite a few things on the agenda before we head back for Vegas later this afternoon. We hope for limited side effects from treatment today.
Came to the house and had a good dinner with Bruce and Cara, then Mom and Dad came over for a while to check on all of us, we had a good visit. They will be pulling out of Hurricane - probably on Wednesday some time to go back to their "house" to wait until they can move their "home" up to the mountain, with this crazy weather, who knows when that will be.
I have an appointment this morning, but eyes popped open at around 5:00 Utah time, the Dex (steroids) started yesterday and unfortunately I didn't take them as early yesterday as I would have wanted, I think that contributes to the early hours. The good news is that I finally have my work laptop setup to get to our network, so I've spent the past 45 minutes dealing with all the emails and work things I can do for now.
Busy day today, we have quite a few things on the agenda before we head back for Vegas later this afternoon. We hope for limited side effects from treatment today.
Monday, May 17, 2010
5/17/2010 Ready for Round 2
Monday morning, we had a really good weekend. Having the week off last week allowed my body to recoup and get some strength back.
Mom and Dad came down for Anjalee's 1st birthday party over to Conni and Russ' house and then spent Saturday night with us, that was good. Pretty boring night, watched Sandlot and Goonies - how much more fun could anyone ask for. The last time they had seen me was a week ago Thursday - and I wasn't a pretty sight - I was worrying everyone, I think I looked and acted a little better this time.
Patty and Amanda did wedding preparation things most of the day Saturday, I made Matt go to Iron Man 2 (again) with me, I don't think he minded too much - and better yet, he bought the tickets.
Well, this afternoon starts it again, we'll be leaving after work to go to St. George for labs tonight and treatment tomorrow, hopefully we know what to expect now - we can live with that.
Mom and Dad came down for Anjalee's 1st birthday party over to Conni and Russ' house and then spent Saturday night with us, that was good. Pretty boring night, watched Sandlot and Goonies - how much more fun could anyone ask for. The last time they had seen me was a week ago Thursday - and I wasn't a pretty sight - I was worrying everyone, I think I looked and acted a little better this time.
Patty and Amanda did wedding preparation things most of the day Saturday, I made Matt go to Iron Man 2 (again) with me, I don't think he minded too much - and better yet, he bought the tickets.
Well, this afternoon starts it again, we'll be leaving after work to go to St. George for labs tonight and treatment tomorrow, hopefully we know what to expect now - we can live with that.
Friday, May 14, 2010
5/14/2010 Ready for the weekend
It's a little after 5:00 am, and I don't work on Fridays so where else would I be except up and staring at the walls, it seems this is my time to solve the world's problems, the doctors said it could be an offshoot from the Dex (steroids), but since I'm off them for a few days again, I think it's just getting to be a nasty habit.
Amanda sent me a text last night letting me know I had some dates using the the wrong month, I think I cleaned that up, but if you read something that just doesn't make sense from a logical standpoint, please let me know, it was probably some 4-5 am rambling.
We heard from Mom and Dad last night, they are coming down this weekend, will probably stay with us Saturday night, I gave mom a copy of the Downwinder's papers and she had already got information for me to help fill them out, we'll also be contacting the LDS church as they have records as to what unit you were assigned to and when, which I guess the feds take as "gospel". Going to enjoy the weekend before Round 2 treatments start next week.
Amanda sent me a text last night letting me know I had some dates using the the wrong month, I think I cleaned that up, but if you read something that just doesn't make sense from a logical standpoint, please let me know, it was probably some 4-5 am rambling.
We heard from Mom and Dad last night, they are coming down this weekend, will probably stay with us Saturday night, I gave mom a copy of the Downwinder's papers and she had already got information for me to help fill them out, we'll also be contacting the LDS church as they have records as to what unit you were assigned to and when, which I guess the feds take as "gospel". Going to enjoy the weekend before Round 2 treatments start next week.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
5/9/2010 No Treatment Week
Sunday, We slept in all the way to 7:00 am, which would be great except church starts at 11:00 and by the time we got there, I was pretty tired again, I made it through sacrament meeting and then came home to rest for a while.
Patty has been serving as the Relief Society President for nearly 2 years and she will be released next week, she is sad in many ways about this, she has served very faithfully and will miss the bonds with the sisters and comes from serving in a calling like this. But with everything we are going through, she was feeling a little guilty dropping so many things on her counselors, so it's probably for the better, hopefully they can put us somewhere together to serve.
You might have noticed some of the posts have some odd posting times, I think it's partially due to the steroids, they wake me up over night and there comes a time where it is pointless to lay down and toss and turn, so at least I can get up and do misc. things like write this blog or read some scriptures or stare at the walls.
It is now Thursday morning 5/13 at about 4:10 am, I've had a pretty good week, my chest is loosening, I have more energy and seem to be gaining my strength to be able to start Round 2 next week. I'm going to try to get another hour or so of sleep before the alarm goes off.
Patty has been serving as the Relief Society President for nearly 2 years and she will be released next week, she is sad in many ways about this, she has served very faithfully and will miss the bonds with the sisters and comes from serving in a calling like this. But with everything we are going through, she was feeling a little guilty dropping so many things on her counselors, so it's probably for the better, hopefully they can put us somewhere together to serve.
You might have noticed some of the posts have some odd posting times, I think it's partially due to the steroids, they wake me up over night and there comes a time where it is pointless to lay down and toss and turn, so at least I can get up and do misc. things like write this blog or read some scriptures or stare at the walls.
It is now Thursday morning 5/13 at about 4:10 am, I've had a pretty good week, my chest is loosening, I have more energy and seem to be gaining my strength to be able to start Round 2 next week. I'm going to try to get another hour or so of sleep before the alarm goes off.
5/7/2010 What do you mean no transfusion
So we got to Dr. Te's office on Friday morning, Patty had called ahead and told them she thought we needed to see K. or Dr. Te that morning because of my condition, they took us back to an exam room and waited. It seemed like we waited a long time, but it really was only 10 - 15 minutes, K. came in and had some puzzled looks, it seems the blood test I had taken the night before had my iron count at considerable higher levels 32 instead of 26, so she said we would have to take another count "stat" to find out which one was accurate, because above 30 they couldn't transfuse me that day. She listened to my chest and then made an order that I would need to get a chest X-Ray and some antibiotics to battle what ever was going on inside me. Patty was completely justified being so worried about me the night before. So one of the nurses, Christi took the blood for the test and they also did blood cultures that were to be for growing cultures to see what kind of bugs might have gotten into me. They are suppose to grow for about 5 to 7 days so we'll see next week what that means.
I took my treatment with the Friday Group, but I wasn't in much mood to talk to anyone, I mainly dozed off in the recliner room, although I did talk some more to Tim, the arborist and ex neighbor of Jack Herdt from work. We left the office and went down to get the X-Ray which went pretty smooth, then went up to drop off the RX for the Z-Pack they had ordered, I had a couple of others that were ready for refill so we dropped them off too. We picked up some lunch for me and Patty dropped me at Coral Canyon to rest while she went to lunch with Ann Elite, a friend from the Washington Fields that worked for Patty for a while who also has a husband that is a cancer survivor. I dozed and slept most of the afternoon, which helped me quite a bit. I had to get feeling stronger.
We stayed the night in Coral Canyon without too much incident on my part and got up the next day 5/8 to come back to Vegas to get ready for my week off treatment.
I took my treatment with the Friday Group, but I wasn't in much mood to talk to anyone, I mainly dozed off in the recliner room, although I did talk some more to Tim, the arborist and ex neighbor of Jack Herdt from work. We left the office and went down to get the X-Ray which went pretty smooth, then went up to drop off the RX for the Z-Pack they had ordered, I had a couple of others that were ready for refill so we dropped them off too. We picked up some lunch for me and Patty dropped me at Coral Canyon to rest while she went to lunch with Ann Elite, a friend from the Washington Fields that worked for Patty for a while who also has a husband that is a cancer survivor. I dozed and slept most of the afternoon, which helped me quite a bit. I had to get feeling stronger.
We stayed the night in Coral Canyon without too much incident on my part and got up the next day 5/8 to come back to Vegas to get ready for my week off treatment.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
5/5 - 5/6/2010 dropping off the roids
Wednesday morning came and it was time for work, felt pretty good but as the day wore on, I really got tired and started tightening up in my chest, I was pretty sure it was just because of the low iron count K. had been talking about. Thursday came and the problems started getting worse, and to make matters even worse on Thursday, the wind was blowing and I spent too much time outside at an employee appreciation picnic that was held at our offices.
By Thursday night, we were heading up for the next treatment, I was too beat to help much at all, Patty had to drive all the way. We stopped a the lab to give the blood and I had to give a little more to be able to to the type and cross match for tomorrow's transfusion. We went out to Coral Canyon to meet Mom and Dad and Bruce and Cara to have some pre-Mother's day desert. I could tell everyone was pretty concerned with my condition, I tried to convince them it was completely because of the low iron count, which at the time I thought was the truth. We finished desert and it was getting late so we all turned in for the night - tomorrow was not going to be the day we thought it would be.
By Thursday night, we were heading up for the next treatment, I was too beat to help much at all, Patty had to drive all the way. We stopped a the lab to give the blood and I had to give a little more to be able to to the type and cross match for tomorrow's transfusion. We went out to Coral Canyon to meet Mom and Dad and Bruce and Cara to have some pre-Mother's day desert. I could tell everyone was pretty concerned with my condition, I tried to convince them it was completely because of the low iron count, which at the time I thought was the truth. We finished desert and it was getting late so we all turned in for the night - tomorrow was not going to be the day we thought it would be.
5/4/2010 Treatment #3 Round 1
We came up last night and of course went to the lab to give my sample for them to look at.
When we got in the office, we were shown to an exam room and after a few minutes Dr. Te's Nurse Practitioner K. Didion came in and was pretty excited because of the blood test the night before, she said the red blood iron count was alarmingly low 26.6 where over 41 is normal, she explained that her job was to work with me to monitor the blood tests, and my diet needs to help with side effects and keep me as strong as possible for the trials to come. So she was very concerned about the iron count and told me that we would need to schedule a transfusion of blood as soon as possible to raise the numbers into manageable levels, this hit us as a shock as we had been told that it would probably come to that, but no one had said it could come so soon. The other thing that was happening was that I was coming of a round of steroid use that they have me on 4 days on, 4 days off and will continue until they tell me not too. Anyway getting back to today, I asked K. if we could wait until Friday and get it done then, she was a little reluctant, but agreed to wait. So after talking for a while, we went to the treatment room and I had treatment #3 for Round 1, we went and picked up our stuff from Coral Canyon and headed for Vegas that afternoon. We got back in Vegas about 3:00 in the afternoon. As it turned out, might not have been the best idea. But that's for the next story.
When we got in the office, we were shown to an exam room and after a few minutes Dr. Te's Nurse Practitioner K. Didion came in and was pretty excited because of the blood test the night before, she said the red blood iron count was alarmingly low 26.6 where over 41 is normal, she explained that her job was to work with me to monitor the blood tests, and my diet needs to help with side effects and keep me as strong as possible for the trials to come. So she was very concerned about the iron count and told me that we would need to schedule a transfusion of blood as soon as possible to raise the numbers into manageable levels, this hit us as a shock as we had been told that it would probably come to that, but no one had said it could come so soon. The other thing that was happening was that I was coming of a round of steroid use that they have me on 4 days on, 4 days off and will continue until they tell me not too. Anyway getting back to today, I asked K. if we could wait until Friday and get it done then, she was a little reluctant, but agreed to wait. So after talking for a while, we went to the treatment room and I had treatment #3 for Round 1, we went and picked up our stuff from Coral Canyon and headed for Vegas that afternoon. We got back in Vegas about 3:00 in the afternoon. As it turned out, might not have been the best idea. But that's for the next story.
4/30/2010 The Friday Group
We left to go to St. George on Thursday evening again so I could stop at the lab to give my blood. I'm still feeling very good and don't think I'm having hardly any side effects, I get a little fatigued towards the end of the days, but other than some gas, a little heartburn, hiccups and the fatigue, I am feeling very well.
We showed up for my appointment Friday morning, the crowd was a little smaller just 3 or 4 people, they got my IV hooked up, it took a few tries for her to find a good vein to get the IV in, but afterwards everything went OK, the Arida went in taking the 2 + hours expected and then they started the normal nausea, Velcade and saline. all in all it took a little over 3 hours. Patty was able to go to the temple and do a session which worked out well for her, I'm glad.
As it was a smaller crowd, we talked a little more than the previous time, I'd overheard a husband talking to the nurse about trees and I started by telling him the story of my mesquite tree breaking in two last summer, turns out his job is the arborist for the City of St. George which sounds like a real good job, but busy considering all the parks and trails that St. George has. The interesting part of the conversation turned out that Tim (his name) had grown up in North Las Vegas next door to Jack Herdt one of my surveyors at work down here, we talked for a while and then the next Monday I asked Jack about him, sounds like they both have lots of stories - one of those small world things.
We stayed the night in Coral Canyon just to make sure the side effects from the Arida didn't do funny things to me. That night it didn't. I got up the next morning and made my way out of the subdivision as the ironman race was going by to get the oil changed, safety inspections and license for the truck, when I got back we packed up and hit the road for Vegas. Welcome to May.
We showed up for my appointment Friday morning, the crowd was a little smaller just 3 or 4 people, they got my IV hooked up, it took a few tries for her to find a good vein to get the IV in, but afterwards everything went OK, the Arida went in taking the 2 + hours expected and then they started the normal nausea, Velcade and saline. all in all it took a little over 3 hours. Patty was able to go to the temple and do a session which worked out well for her, I'm glad.
As it was a smaller crowd, we talked a little more than the previous time, I'd overheard a husband talking to the nurse about trees and I started by telling him the story of my mesquite tree breaking in two last summer, turns out his job is the arborist for the City of St. George which sounds like a real good job, but busy considering all the parks and trails that St. George has. The interesting part of the conversation turned out that Tim (his name) had grown up in North Las Vegas next door to Jack Herdt one of my surveyors at work down here, we talked for a while and then the next Monday I asked Jack about him, sounds like they both have lots of stories - one of those small world things.
We stayed the night in Coral Canyon just to make sure the side effects from the Arida didn't do funny things to me. That night it didn't. I got up the next morning and made my way out of the subdivision as the ironman race was going by to get the oil changed, safety inspections and license for the truck, when I got back we packed up and hit the road for Vegas. Welcome to May.
Monday, May 10, 2010
4/27/2919 First Treatment - Round 1
Tuesday morning, we show up at Dr. Te's office at 9:00 am for my appointment and the first treatment. They take us back to exam room 3 and one of his nurses did a teaching class to us on what the medicines would be and what side effects we should expect, that took an hour or so and then after a while Dr. Te comes in to talk with us. At first we are still under the impression that the with him as an out patient would not be too much longer than 6 weeks and then we would move to Salt Lake for the final treatments at LDS to complete the transplant protocols. Dr. Te answered all the questions we had for him at that time, and in the course of answering, we got a more realistic view on what the schedule would be for the majority of the summer. First the chemo treatments would consist of 3 - 4 elements each visit. 1) they will start the IV with nausea and side effects treatment that takes about 25 minutes +/-, then 2) they push the Velcade a low dose Chemo drug that is suspended in only about 30 ccs of liquid, then to run it through my system, 3) they push a small bag of saline solution through my veins. This process takes about an hour to complete. The procedure will happen twice a week for two weeks and then I get a week off, so treatments are Day 1 (Tuesday), Day 4 (Friday) , Day 8 (Tuesday), Day 11 (Friday) and then begin again on Day 22 (Tuesday) that actually becomes Day 1 for the next treatment cycle, today is Day 1 - Round 1, May 18th is scheduled to be Day 1 - Round 2. Also once every 4 weeks I am suppose to get a bone treatment drug called Arida (I think), for now that is scheduled for this Friday 4/30.
He started talking about the longer course of treatment, that is when we brought up our scheduling issues for late summer, namely Amanda and Ryan and their day to be married on August 14th. It was decided that treatments would last until then or past and then we would be transferred to the care of LDS. We were relieved and happy. He also said he believed I would probably have hair still at that time - which is the least of my worries. After talking with him for quite a while and getting most of our answers, he led us down the hall to the treatment room.
The treatment room, imagine what you might think it would look like - OK then forget that and think of a fairly large room, that has 10-12 large black leather recliners jammed into a room lining the walls with people sitting in them attached to IV pump machines. Really rather cozy, and absolutely no privacy, so you share everything with everyone, which seems to work very well for the circumstance. They started my IV - after finding a spot that wasn't bruised already from previous hospital stays. I got the treatment, we left and ran a couple of errands, got some lunch and went back to Coral Canyon where we both were very grateful once again to Bruce and Cara for the "chair-ity) of the recliners they brought there as we took naps to un-wind and relax.
Mom and Dad came by during the afternoon to see how we were doing, then Bill and Ruth Ann brought us dinner and cooked at our house, it was very good. Bruce and Cara ended up staying Tuesday night too. We ended up staying the night and got up the next morning 4/28 to go back to Vegas, I got to work around 10:00 am and at that point, I didn't think there were really any side effects evident.
He started talking about the longer course of treatment, that is when we brought up our scheduling issues for late summer, namely Amanda and Ryan and their day to be married on August 14th. It was decided that treatments would last until then or past and then we would be transferred to the care of LDS. We were relieved and happy. He also said he believed I would probably have hair still at that time - which is the least of my worries. After talking with him for quite a while and getting most of our answers, he led us down the hall to the treatment room.
The treatment room, imagine what you might think it would look like - OK then forget that and think of a fairly large room, that has 10-12 large black leather recliners jammed into a room lining the walls with people sitting in them attached to IV pump machines. Really rather cozy, and absolutely no privacy, so you share everything with everyone, which seems to work very well for the circumstance. They started my IV - after finding a spot that wasn't bruised already from previous hospital stays. I got the treatment, we left and ran a couple of errands, got some lunch and went back to Coral Canyon where we both were very grateful once again to Bruce and Cara for the "chair-ity) of the recliners they brought there as we took naps to un-wind and relax.
Mom and Dad came by during the afternoon to see how we were doing, then Bill and Ruth Ann brought us dinner and cooked at our house, it was very good. Bruce and Cara ended up staying Tuesday night too. We ended up staying the night and got up the next morning 4/28 to go back to Vegas, I got to work around 10:00 am and at that point, I didn't think there were really any side effects evident.
4/26/2010 Today work, tonight St. George
The weekend was about as normal as it could have been under the circumstances, Josh had gone to his school dean and explained what is going on with me, he got permission to come to Vegas last Friday and would stay until going home on Tuesday morning. I was very nice to have everyone at home this weekend. I did a stupid, about 8 weeks ago while at the driving range I had pulled the muscles over my right ribs while working on my swing that I had aggravated while playing a golf at Aliante. This weekend I thought every thing felt better, but forgot that for 2 of the last 4 weeks I had an IV plugged into my left wrist, so I had the bright idea to take Josh and Matt back to the driving range to work on my swing with the hope that I might be able to get a little fresh air. After about 2-3 swings, it became very evident that the pull had now moved to a spot right under my right peck muscle. It looks like it will be a while before I try that again. I tried to show Patty the bright side. It saved her money because if my swing was working I would have probably went to Golf Galaxy to get a new Burner Driver that afternoon.
Monday came, I went to work because other than a pain in my chest from golfing (or trying) I still felt very good. I worked until mid afternoon when I came home so we could pack to leave for St. George.
We made it to the River Road Lab with no problem, they took my blood and then we went to dinner with Bruce and Cara for my supper before treatment started the next day.
We then all retired back to Coral Canyon for all of us to get sleep before the start of the next day.
Monday came, I went to work because other than a pain in my chest from golfing (or trying) I still felt very good. I worked until mid afternoon when I came home so we could pack to leave for St. George.
We made it to the River Road Lab with no problem, they took my blood and then we went to dinner with Bruce and Cara for my supper before treatment started the next day.
We then all retired back to Coral Canyon for all of us to get sleep before the start of the next day.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
4/23/2010 Where oh where could the offices be?
Friday morning, we got up to begin the day, we had several things to do, first we needed to go to Dr. Te's Office which after looking in the phone book (I had never bothered asking him where he was) took us to the Huntsman Cancer center at the old DRMC campus - he wasn't there, he had moved a while ago to a stand alone building at 200 East and 300 South. A pretty big office, but crowded and rumor around the office is he may be looking for a larger office space. We checked in and got everything ready for next week. I got orders to get blood taken each night before my treatment so that will be the standard protocol for the duration of the out patient procedures - which at this time is still in flux, somewhere between 6 and 12 weeks we think - more to come on that topic later.
The next offices we want to find were for the RECA - Radiation Exposure Compensation Act - or for those of us that lived in the 50s and 60s in Southern Utah - The Downwinders office. It is a fund that helps qualifying peoples with compensation to help with bills and other needs. We were told by Dr. Te's staff they thought the office was located in the new hospital campus, so we went there. We were told at the new hospital the offices were located at the old hospital campus, so we went there. We were told by the staff at the old hospital campus that the offices were in a medical clinic building on 700 south just east of the I-15 overpass so we went there. We saw evidence in this office where they use to be, but couldn't find anyone to talk to. So somewhat dejected we decided we would go back to Coral Canyon, pack out bags and head for St. George to look online for information that might get us closer to a real answer.
We left Coral Canyon heading for Vegas (When I say Vegas, I mean our house in North Las Vegas of course), we stopped at the Maverick station at the new Washington Parkway exit on I-15. Patty had been praying pretty regularly for "mortal angels" to help out our journey. We got gas and were heading out to our car when we literally ran into Sue Heflebower. Rick was our
Bishop after the ward split and we had become fairly good friends with them. Sue had actually worked for Patty for a while but is now the secretary for Ron Whitehead, PLS and the Washington County Public Works Director. They lived in the Washington Fields when we did the commute thing and their son Kyle was good friends with Matt and Chris - he still works for Bruce and Cara. They had moved to Harmony Farms several years ago when we moved back to Vegas and we'd seen them a few times but most of our contact had been 3rd party with Kyle through Bruce or Matt. Anyway, Sue walked up and ask how we were doing. Patty looked at me and then told her what we'd found out the past few days, she was very upset with the news and as we calmed her down we got a chance to talk with her and find out what had been happening with their family, after getting up to date with family news from both of us, some how we commented on the failure to find the Downwinder's Office that day, she perked right up, turns out that she had worked across the hall from Senator Hatch's office for a while and knew exactly who we needed to be talking to to get copies of the forms to fill out. Her name was >>> and Sue immediately called her and left a message for her to talk to Sue the next week. To her credit, she contacted Sue the next week and then got in touch with us, we are now in the process of filling out the forms to get them turned in. You can all wish us luck with dealing with the Feds on this one. How's that for a "mortal angel" story, pretty good huh?
We resumed our trip back to Vegas. For the record, according to Google Maps, it is 123 miles from house to house and 115 miles directly from the Vegas House to Dr. Te's Office - which we never do because we always have to get there the night before to give blood and be ready for the early appointment time, but Conseco is going to want this information to pay claims on a supplemental policy I've been paying for nearly as long as I've been working for the City of North Las Vegas. Then it's 11.8 miles back to Dr. Te's Office.
Next week 4/27/2010 treatment begins, until then, I feel like the healthiest sick person you could know.
The next offices we want to find were for the RECA - Radiation Exposure Compensation Act - or for those of us that lived in the 50s and 60s in Southern Utah - The Downwinders office. It is a fund that helps qualifying peoples with compensation to help with bills and other needs. We were told by Dr. Te's staff they thought the office was located in the new hospital campus, so we went there. We were told at the new hospital the offices were located at the old hospital campus, so we went there. We were told by the staff at the old hospital campus that the offices were in a medical clinic building on 700 south just east of the I-15 overpass so we went there. We saw evidence in this office where they use to be, but couldn't find anyone to talk to. So somewhat dejected we decided we would go back to Coral Canyon, pack out bags and head for St. George to look online for information that might get us closer to a real answer.
We left Coral Canyon heading for Vegas (When I say Vegas, I mean our house in North Las Vegas of course), we stopped at the Maverick station at the new Washington Parkway exit on I-15. Patty had been praying pretty regularly for "mortal angels" to help out our journey. We got gas and were heading out to our car when we literally ran into Sue Heflebower. Rick was our
Bishop after the ward split and we had become fairly good friends with them. Sue had actually worked for Patty for a while but is now the secretary for Ron Whitehead, PLS and the Washington County Public Works Director. They lived in the Washington Fields when we did the commute thing and their son Kyle was good friends with Matt and Chris - he still works for Bruce and Cara. They had moved to Harmony Farms several years ago when we moved back to Vegas and we'd seen them a few times but most of our contact had been 3rd party with Kyle through Bruce or Matt. Anyway, Sue walked up and ask how we were doing. Patty looked at me and then told her what we'd found out the past few days, she was very upset with the news and as we calmed her down we got a chance to talk with her and find out what had been happening with their family, after getting up to date with family news from both of us, some how we commented on the failure to find the Downwinder's Office that day, she perked right up, turns out that she had worked across the hall from Senator Hatch's office for a while and knew exactly who we needed to be talking to to get copies of the forms to fill out. Her name was >>> and Sue immediately called her and left a message for her to talk to Sue the next week. To her credit, she contacted Sue the next week and then got in touch with us, we are now in the process of filling out the forms to get them turned in. You can all wish us luck with dealing with the Feds on this one. How's that for a "mortal angel" story, pretty good huh?
We resumed our trip back to Vegas. For the record, according to Google Maps, it is 123 miles from house to house and 115 miles directly from the Vegas House to Dr. Te's Office - which we never do because we always have to get there the night before to give blood and be ready for the early appointment time, but Conseco is going to want this information to pay claims on a supplemental policy I've been paying for nearly as long as I've been working for the City of North Las Vegas. Then it's 11.8 miles back to Dr. Te's Office.
Next week 4/27/2010 treatment begins, until then, I feel like the healthiest sick person you could know.
4/22/2010 In, out, in and then out of DRMC ?
Thursday morning, Dr. Te came by to tell us the news, the biopsies were confirmed, I definitely have Multiple Myeloma, the most painful part was him taking the bandage off my hip to look at the biopsy location (hairy back). He had some good news, the only bone damage they had been able to find in the X-Rays and the CT Scan was a couple of small holes in my T-9 vertebrae. We talked about how the treatment would go forward and they started making plans to switch us over the Multiple Myeloma program that is up to the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah. The case workers had supposedly called and it would be covered under my insurance. Then he left for a minute, when he came back, he had got us cleared to go to Huntsman and were were just working on the logistics of how to get there. He then told us we had to do something that seemed a little weird at the time, but still being in shock, we did it. They told us to temporarily leave the hospital to go the the office of Dr. Ahee an Ophthalmologist so that he could check the pressure in my eyes, from talking to Josh later, we figured that if too much protein had spilled, some could have made to the eyes causing potential eye sight problems. We went over there and found that everything with my eyes were OK.
On the way back to the hospital we stopped and got some lunch.
When we got back they were working on getting us discharged, it got pretty crazy during this time, I think we went from being life flighted to being sent home and multiple other types of transportation in between a couple of times. They brought in the discharge paperwork that had us released to Huntsman's care and we were suppose to get a call from them within a couple of hours. Then just as we were about to leave, they came back in to say we couldn't go to Huntsman, it wasn't on our insurance. The case worker down the hall came in and verified she had called, I then started calling my insurance and confirmed the Huntsman Cancer Institute was not on my provider list. I think the confusion lies with the fact that Huntsman is also in partnership with IHC hospitals for some cancer treatment centers, but the actual Cancer Institute is associated with the University of Utah Medical Center. That is when the final decision was made to pursue the treatment at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City. They have a very similar program to Huntsman that has been going for just about the same length of time with very similar results.
We called mom and dad and told them not to come to the hospital, as we would be leaving soon - although due to problems, it was longer than we thought it would be. We made arrangements for them to meet us at Coral Canyon later that day.
At this time we still thought we would be leaving for Salt Lake either Friday morning or the following week to begin the out patient procedures that had been discussed with us when we were still going to Huntsman. That too was changing, when I talked to Dr. Te again, he said we would be going to do all of the out patient procedures with his office in St. George, he talked a little about it, but said that we'd meet at his office the following Tuesday morning at 9:00 to begin. We left the hospital and went back to Coral Canyon. A while later we got a call from Dr. Te's office for us to come by his office on Friday to get the insurance started and authorized so we could be ready for Tuesday.
On the way back to the hospital we stopped and got some lunch.
When we got back they were working on getting us discharged, it got pretty crazy during this time, I think we went from being life flighted to being sent home and multiple other types of transportation in between a couple of times. They brought in the discharge paperwork that had us released to Huntsman's care and we were suppose to get a call from them within a couple of hours. Then just as we were about to leave, they came back in to say we couldn't go to Huntsman, it wasn't on our insurance. The case worker down the hall came in and verified she had called, I then started calling my insurance and confirmed the Huntsman Cancer Institute was not on my provider list. I think the confusion lies with the fact that Huntsman is also in partnership with IHC hospitals for some cancer treatment centers, but the actual Cancer Institute is associated with the University of Utah Medical Center. That is when the final decision was made to pursue the treatment at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City. They have a very similar program to Huntsman that has been going for just about the same length of time with very similar results.
We called mom and dad and told them not to come to the hospital, as we would be leaving soon - although due to problems, it was longer than we thought it would be. We made arrangements for them to meet us at Coral Canyon later that day.
At this time we still thought we would be leaving for Salt Lake either Friday morning or the following week to begin the out patient procedures that had been discussed with us when we were still going to Huntsman. That too was changing, when I talked to Dr. Te again, he said we would be going to do all of the out patient procedures with his office in St. George, he talked a little about it, but said that we'd meet at his office the following Tuesday morning at 9:00 to begin. We left the hospital and went back to Coral Canyon. A while later we got a call from Dr. Te's office for us to come by his office on Friday to get the insurance started and authorized so we could be ready for Tuesday.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
4/21/2010 Still in DRMC
True to his word, Dr. Te showed up early Wednesday morning to perform the blood and bone biopsy on my pelvic bone. He did the procedure himself with help from my nurse. They knocked me out and did the procedure, the next thing I knew it was around 9:30 or 10:00 and Patty was showing up to see how I was doing. I'm glad she was able to get some rest away from the hospital. They scheduled me for a CT scan after lunch and other than that we spent the day reading, watching TV and wondering which door we would get.
Dixie Hospital loves to count, they loved to count amounts of things for me, so we had to save all my urine, one thing I forgot to talk about was the IV drip of saline that had been started and going in me at 125 ml / hr since I had been there. Needless to say, they got all the samples they could have wanted.
We called mom and dad and told them I was in there - probably should have called sooner, but I was still in denial about the results of the tests and didn't want to upset them over nothing, they came over in the afternoon to see us for a while and we talked about what we knew up to that point - which wasn't very much. Not much else happened on Wednesday, we knew they were running the biopsies and looking at the CT Scan results.
Dixie Hospital loves to count, they loved to count amounts of things for me, so we had to save all my urine, one thing I forgot to talk about was the IV drip of saline that had been started and going in me at 125 ml / hr since I had been there. Needless to say, they got all the samples they could have wanted.
We called mom and dad and told them I was in there - probably should have called sooner, but I was still in denial about the results of the tests and didn't want to upset them over nothing, they came over in the afternoon to see us for a while and we talked about what we knew up to that point - which wasn't very much. Not much else happened on Wednesday, we knew they were running the biopsies and looking at the CT Scan results.
Friday, May 7, 2010
4/20/2010 In Dixie Regional Hospital
We got some sleep Monday night, not sure how, but we did, for which I am very thankful. We got up in pretty good time Tuesday morning, packed a few things and hit the road to St. George. When we got to the hospital, we went to registration and found that I was already cleared, so they sent us up to the third floor and we were shown to room 309 West, which is really a surprise, I was on the east side of the building, so I'm not sure where or if 309 East exists. I guess it doesn't matter, but I spent too much time worrying about that bit of trivia.
We got in the room and the blood takers showed up to take their samples, but before I could even get the gown on, they took me down to X-Ray and took about 15 X-Rays to make a full skeleton view of my bone structure, I guess that's where the damage to the body starts. After getting back from X-Ray Patty and I stayed around the room. Dr. Smith came by a little later to check on me and told me that Dr. Joseph Te (tay) an Oncologist he was referring me to would be by later that day to see me and to talk about what was going on. Cara came by during her lunch hour for a few minutes. We spent the rest of the day watching TV, talking and wondering when someone would come in to tell us anything else. The RN and CNA were good, being in the oncology ward of the hospital, they were very attentive and tried to be helpful, but no could really tell us anything. I do have to applaud the food at this hospital, after trying to choke down the food at Centennial Hills, the food here was a real treat. Cara and Bruce came over after they got off work that afternoon.
We met Dr. Te later that evening at around 9:00 pm, he was pretty direct regarding everything, which I appreciated. He talked to us for quite a while and then told me he would be back at around 7:00 in the morning to perform a blood and bone biopsy on my pelvic bone to make the final determination and diagnosis. at this time we were hoping for something else, Dr. Te used the term doors #1, #2 & #3, we didn't want the door we got. I kicked Patty out so she could go to the house in Coral Canyon and get some sleep. This is a good place to be very thankful for Amanda and here employment during the past several years that enabled us to purchase that house, it hasn't exactly been a great investment, but it has really been a life saver for our family.
We got in the room and the blood takers showed up to take their samples, but before I could even get the gown on, they took me down to X-Ray and took about 15 X-Rays to make a full skeleton view of my bone structure, I guess that's where the damage to the body starts. After getting back from X-Ray Patty and I stayed around the room. Dr. Smith came by a little later to check on me and told me that Dr. Joseph Te (tay) an Oncologist he was referring me to would be by later that day to see me and to talk about what was going on. Cara came by during her lunch hour for a few minutes. We spent the rest of the day watching TV, talking and wondering when someone would come in to tell us anything else. The RN and CNA were good, being in the oncology ward of the hospital, they were very attentive and tried to be helpful, but no could really tell us anything. I do have to applaud the food at this hospital, after trying to choke down the food at Centennial Hills, the food here was a real treat. Cara and Bruce came over after they got off work that afternoon.
We met Dr. Te later that evening at around 9:00 pm, he was pretty direct regarding everything, which I appreciated. He talked to us for quite a while and then told me he would be back at around 7:00 in the morning to perform a blood and bone biopsy on my pelvic bone to make the final determination and diagnosis. at this time we were hoping for something else, Dr. Te used the term doors #1, #2 & #3, we didn't want the door we got. I kicked Patty out so she could go to the house in Coral Canyon and get some sleep. This is a good place to be very thankful for Amanda and here employment during the past several years that enabled us to purchase that house, it hasn't exactly been a great investment, but it has really been a life saver for our family.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
4/19/2010 The call from Dr. Smith
Patty and I were both home from work. It was around 5:00 pm. My phone rang, it was Dr. Smith calling just as he had said on Friday that he would. I had almost forgotten, but then the conversation started and I remembered what we had talked about on Friday. He wanted to know where we were. Of course, we were in Vegas, we have lives and jobs and it was the start of the work week.
He then told me that he believed I had Cancer, a nasty bug called Multiple Myeloma. Dr. Smith wanted us to get in the car and make our way to St. George that night, but then realized that no-one would see me (us) until the next day, so the decision was made to spend the night in Vegas and then get up Tuesday morning to go to St. George for the tests that would confirm the disease.
After getting off the phone, we called the kids and asked Amanda and Matt to come to the house. We called Josh in Phoenix to tell him the news. We called Bishop McMillan and asked him to come to the house to give me another blessing before we left for St. George. It was a beautiful blessing and many promises were made, but I think that "patience" word crept in there a few times. I have to learn the real meaning of that word.
It was probably one of the strangest nights of our life, we were in shock and emotions were naturally very close to the surface.
He then told me that he believed I had Cancer, a nasty bug called Multiple Myeloma. Dr. Smith wanted us to get in the car and make our way to St. George that night, but then realized that no-one would see me (us) until the next day, so the decision was made to spend the night in Vegas and then get up Tuesday morning to go to St. George for the tests that would confirm the disease.
After getting off the phone, we called the kids and asked Amanda and Matt to come to the house. We called Josh in Phoenix to tell him the news. We called Bishop McMillan and asked him to come to the house to give me another blessing before we left for St. George. It was a beautiful blessing and many promises were made, but I think that "patience" word crept in there a few times. I have to learn the real meaning of that word.
It was probably one of the strangest nights of our life, we were in shock and emotions were naturally very close to the surface.
4/16/2010 Visit to Dr. Smith
As I had said previously, I already had my standard appointment with Dr. Gordon Smith. M.D., an internal medicine doctor with IHC scheduled for Friday 4/16. I had started seeing him for my blood pressure several years ago when we were in the middle of our commuting period and saw no reason to stop going to him. I think he takes good care of me and the medicine he prescribed has always worked.
I met with him and explained what I had been through, the hospital stay, the diagnosis, the anemia and the respiratory issues that Centennial Hills had treated me for. I had requested Centennial Hills to transmit my records to him so that he could review them, but of course they hadn't made it to him yet, so I didn't have access to everything they said about me. I thought it was a good visit and as always, at the end of the visit he sent me across the hall to give blood.
We had some things to do in St. George and so didn't hurry to get back to Vegas. Later that afternoon Dr. Smith called me personally, which I guess should have triggered something in my brain, but it really didn't. He commented that the blood had come back with very high Protein levels that concerned him and that he would be running more tests on that blood to find out where the protein was coming from. He said they would know more on Monday 4/19. I didn't want to put a damper on the weekend, and I didn't really have anything else to go on, so I just attributed to to the fact that he didn't have my inpatient records from Centennial Hills yet to give him the rest of the story.
We finished our business in St. George and went back to Vegas for the weekend, and a few more days of innocence.
I met with him and explained what I had been through, the hospital stay, the diagnosis, the anemia and the respiratory issues that Centennial Hills had treated me for. I had requested Centennial Hills to transmit my records to him so that he could review them, but of course they hadn't made it to him yet, so I didn't have access to everything they said about me. I thought it was a good visit and as always, at the end of the visit he sent me across the hall to give blood.
We had some things to do in St. George and so didn't hurry to get back to Vegas. Later that afternoon Dr. Smith called me personally, which I guess should have triggered something in my brain, but it really didn't. He commented that the blood had come back with very high Protein levels that concerned him and that he would be running more tests on that blood to find out where the protein was coming from. He said they would know more on Monday 4/19. I didn't want to put a damper on the weekend, and I didn't really have anything else to go on, so I just attributed to to the fact that he didn't have my inpatient records from Centennial Hills yet to give him the rest of the story.
We finished our business in St. George and went back to Vegas for the weekend, and a few more days of innocence.
4/7/2010 Should have stayed in bed
I was still home, but at work everyone was anticipating today. It was layoff Wednesday at the City. I was in contact with work and got the notice that the 4 anticipated layoff notices would be given on this day, this on top of the two recent retiring of employees, and since we had been using some building inspectors to help us get all of our work done, it was another 3 net position reductions from just the days before. This was expected by nearly everyone and was very hard to take.
I went to work the next day 4/8 as scheduled. My direct supervisor Randy DeVaul, P.E., Deputy Director of PW came to see me first thing that morning. I had sent him an email requesting a short meeting to tell him what I knew about my situation (which turns out was nothing), but his meeting was for a completely different need. It seems that on Wednesday afternoon it was decided that the Survey Division was going to have to lose two more employees to this layoff list. The final two positions took our Division down to 8 positions from a total of 20 that we had just two short years ago - it was a very depressing environment all of that day, and into the next week as everyone was deciding whether to take an immediate buyout, or try their luck with possibly bumping to other positions within the City. We are a union environment, so the possibility of bumping does exist for some of them, and I hope they can find places, unfortunately those places will have to come from other people that need their jobs too. I will miss any of our staff that will be leaving, it's very unfortunate, but the City has absolutely no choice but to make some pretty drastic cuts all around. The only bad thing is many times there are political decisions made to answer technical questions.
I went to work the next day 4/8 as scheduled. My direct supervisor Randy DeVaul, P.E., Deputy Director of PW came to see me first thing that morning. I had sent him an email requesting a short meeting to tell him what I knew about my situation (which turns out was nothing), but his meeting was for a completely different need. It seems that on Wednesday afternoon it was decided that the Survey Division was going to have to lose two more employees to this layoff list. The final two positions took our Division down to 8 positions from a total of 20 that we had just two short years ago - it was a very depressing environment all of that day, and into the next week as everyone was deciding whether to take an immediate buyout, or try their luck with possibly bumping to other positions within the City. We are a union environment, so the possibility of bumping does exist for some of them, and I hope they can find places, unfortunately those places will have to come from other people that need their jobs too. I will miss any of our staff that will be leaving, it's very unfortunate, but the City has absolutely no choice but to make some pretty drastic cuts all around. The only bad thing is many times there are political decisions made to answer technical questions.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
3/31 to 4/5/2010 Centennial Hills Hospital
During March, I had a couple of episodes of lousy feeling that took me to the Quick Care for some help and prescriptions. After the second visit to Quick Care I was feeling pretty good and was ready to get on with spring. Then on the morning of March 31st I woke up (well tried to) and felt like crap. Patty was scheduled to go to Beaver that day to set a new Hallmark display at a store there. I assured her I would be OK and told her to go. I went back to bed and then got up around 2:30 or 3:00 in the afternoon. Patty called from Cedar City later that afternoon and realized that I was just a little out of it. It was then she had Amanda come over to see first hand how I was doing with instructions that she was going to take me to the doctor's office once again. When she came, I tried to hold it together so I didn't have to go to the doctor, but I failed and through my fog realized the only way to satisfy the women in my life was to let Amanda take me to the ER, we went to the Centennial Hills Hospital ER. They were very nice, thorough and within a few minutes I was in a gown lying on my back with and IV in me and being tested for who knows what. The doctor's initial diagnosis was a type of Pneumonia and to top it off, he classified it as viral contagious variety, thus began my 5 days of isolation stay in the hospital.
At this point there should be a blog just devoted to Patty getting back to Vegas that night, because she was in The Cedar/Parowan area, she was able to get a car (Thanks Minnie) to get her back to me (cue snow storm stories) before they actually admitted me the evening of the 31st. Amanda and Matt were great to stay with me until she got back to send them home to get rest.
To all of you that have had multiple stays in hospitals during the past - I am so sorry, I hadn't stayed overnight in the hospital since I had my bone spur removed from my left knee during the fall of 1976 at Dixie Hospital.
Centennial Hills would come alive at 10-11 each night, yes I said each night and they would poke, prod, stick, scan and you name it for the next couple of hours. After two nights of that, I kicked them out and told to leave me alone and let me get some sleep. Which they did on the 3rd and 4th nights I was there. Here is a bit of news that shocked me. TV medical shows lie to you. They take a test, go to commercial and then come back and miraculously cure you or tell you the bad news. This is a LIE, it takes at least 48 - 72 hours for any results to get back, and for some strange reason, they keep taking samples to test during the entire time. I had samples taken from places I didn't know existed.
During this entire time my family was great (as always) Patty spent nearly all the days with me and would have spent the nights if I hadn't kicked her out. Amanda and Matt brought me everything I needed. Amanda called Ryan and their friend Jacob to come to the hospital to give me a blessing. As I listened to words of the blessing, I listened for comfort, which was certainly there, and for further blessings and promises. The word he kept using was patience - I had no idea (probably still don't) what that word is going to mean during the next year. I was promised to recover and I believe that I will.
One exciting thing that happened during this stay was the Baja California Earthquake, we were sitting around the room and felt the shaking going on from the 7th floor, we've been in them before, but being up in a building really let us feel the movement. I think that was Sunday 4/4, the same day we started getting some answers as to what they thought was going on. The final diagnosis coming out of there was Strep Pneumonia that had side effects of Anemia and raised Protein levels in my blood. They were also treating me for respiratory issues, although because it was bacterial, my lungs and heart were always very clear. My internist Dr. "O" got approvals from Dr. Shaw the infectious disease doctor and another doctor that I can't remember to kick me loose the next day on Monday 4/5. They sent me home for two days and then released me (at my request) to go back to work on Thursday 4/8. I already had my every six month appointment set with my Dr. in St. George for Friday 4/16 so they gave me some information to give to him.
At this point there should be a blog just devoted to Patty getting back to Vegas that night, because she was in The Cedar/Parowan area, she was able to get a car (Thanks Minnie) to get her back to me (cue snow storm stories) before they actually admitted me the evening of the 31st. Amanda and Matt were great to stay with me until she got back to send them home to get rest.
To all of you that have had multiple stays in hospitals during the past - I am so sorry, I hadn't stayed overnight in the hospital since I had my bone spur removed from my left knee during the fall of 1976 at Dixie Hospital.
Centennial Hills would come alive at 10-11 each night, yes I said each night and they would poke, prod, stick, scan and you name it for the next couple of hours. After two nights of that, I kicked them out and told to leave me alone and let me get some sleep. Which they did on the 3rd and 4th nights I was there. Here is a bit of news that shocked me. TV medical shows lie to you. They take a test, go to commercial and then come back and miraculously cure you or tell you the bad news. This is a LIE, it takes at least 48 - 72 hours for any results to get back, and for some strange reason, they keep taking samples to test during the entire time. I had samples taken from places I didn't know existed.
During this entire time my family was great (as always) Patty spent nearly all the days with me and would have spent the nights if I hadn't kicked her out. Amanda and Matt brought me everything I needed. Amanda called Ryan and their friend Jacob to come to the hospital to give me a blessing. As I listened to words of the blessing, I listened for comfort, which was certainly there, and for further blessings and promises. The word he kept using was patience - I had no idea (probably still don't) what that word is going to mean during the next year. I was promised to recover and I believe that I will.
One exciting thing that happened during this stay was the Baja California Earthquake, we were sitting around the room and felt the shaking going on from the 7th floor, we've been in them before, but being up in a building really let us feel the movement. I think that was Sunday 4/4, the same day we started getting some answers as to what they thought was going on. The final diagnosis coming out of there was Strep Pneumonia that had side effects of Anemia and raised Protein levels in my blood. They were also treating me for respiratory issues, although because it was bacterial, my lungs and heart were always very clear. My internist Dr. "O" got approvals from Dr. Shaw the infectious disease doctor and another doctor that I can't remember to kick me loose the next day on Monday 4/5. They sent me home for two days and then released me (at my request) to go back to work on Thursday 4/8. I already had my every six month appointment set with my Dr. in St. George for Friday 4/16 so they gave me some information to give to him.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Welcome
Oh, by the way, I'm the old guy on the right of the photo, the others in the photo are my wonderful wife Patricia (upper left), our daughter Amanda and my two sons Joshua (behind Amanda) and Mathew (our baby) That great looking dog is Maggie, the second best dog that has lived on this earth. Another player in the game that wasn't in the photo (they weren't engaged yet) is Ryan Stewart, our soon to be son-in-law who has also been a big help.
What a difference a couple of months can make. I've been diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, a cancer that starts by messing up your blood system. I'll learn more about it and will most likely add additional information about it as I learn more about what it is and what it's doing inside me.
Of course I should have started this over a month ago - but a month ago, I didn't know I wanted or needed to start this, I'll catch up and then the posts should be smaller and a little more like an actual blog - as opposed to these diary entries. Never done this before, I'm sharing it, but it's really to help Patty and I keep a handle on the timing and goings on with my treatments and procedures during this year to get this into Remission.
I also need to add this: We are active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - The Mormons - Faith is a very important part of our life and I suspect will become more important as time goes on. There is a great object lesson for faith housed in the Indiana Jones and the Holy Grail movie. When they come out of the cave on top of the bottomless pit, Indy looks at the book and notices that the person is suppose to step out in faith to continue on his path. I think this is great, it is what God asks of us and I hope I am up to the challenge.
What a difference a couple of months can make. I've been diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, a cancer that starts by messing up your blood system. I'll learn more about it and will most likely add additional information about it as I learn more about what it is and what it's doing inside me.
Of course I should have started this over a month ago - but a month ago, I didn't know I wanted or needed to start this, I'll catch up and then the posts should be smaller and a little more like an actual blog - as opposed to these diary entries. Never done this before, I'm sharing it, but it's really to help Patty and I keep a handle on the timing and goings on with my treatments and procedures during this year to get this into Remission.
I also need to add this: We are active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - The Mormons - Faith is a very important part of our life and I suspect will become more important as time goes on. There is a great object lesson for faith housed in the Indiana Jones and the Holy Grail movie. When they come out of the cave on top of the bottomless pit, Indy looks at the book and notices that the person is suppose to step out in faith to continue on his path. I think this is great, it is what God asks of us and I hope I am up to the challenge.
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