Kaity's day in Indianapolis

Today we took Kaity to the long and awaiting appointment with a specialist at Riley's. They did a series of arm and leg stretches with her. Did a thorough looking over. Their conclusion was that she is my daughter and will have to live with that. Actually, they believe her not to have anything serious, except that her joints are loose and her hamstrings are to tight. The doctor said 15% of kids have this problem. They will have to live with it but, will have to do certain stretching and strengthen exercises to help make easier to manage( some do grow out of it). It was also recommended we get her into swimming, buy shoes with high arches, and have her take a warm bath before she goes to bed. They believe her previous labs was a false positive so labs were done again and hopefully this time the lupus results will be negative. We will get those results by a week from this Friday. She will have a follow up appoint in September.

The day as a whole was very enjoyable otherwise. The trip up was quick with no traffic(eat your heart out Chicago). Sally and I chose Riley's because, we knew the traffic would be a lot better. Riley's has more doctors offered to help with treatment plus there is always one on call. It has better accessibility to the facilities and the surrounding area has a lot you can do with the kids in a closer proximity to the hospital. Last but not least, when it comes to the best treatment, I want my kids to have the best and I and Sally thought Riley's to be the best after our thorough investigating of both Chicago and Indianapolis hospitals. I am only saying this because some people thought we made a mistake taking her to Indianapolis. Sally doesn't allow me to make mistakes. So I(we) know we made the right decision.

I was a nice experience for Kaity, because after every check-up and test she took there, she got a toy. I thought what the heck, after all the test, surgeries and check-ups I had, I received nothing (but the best medical care). If I was Kaity I would have my own toy store by now. I didn't say anything to her, because I didn't want to hurt her feelings.

A few weeks ago we all were going to Albanese candy store. I was driving along with family in tow. When I started to smell a very stinky smell. I casually looked to me right and there it was, A cattle hauler that hasn't been cleaned in weeks or months. I started to gag and swerve all over the road. There was a car in front of us, not allowing me to go past this diesel fart. I could just see the guy in the car ahead of us saying ,"look honey at that guy, what do you think is wrong with that drunk." He did finally move over and I flew by him as he and wifey were staring at me. We did have the air off and thought it safe to turn it on after being a mile down the road now,wrong. The smell finally went away just before we got to the candy store. I tell this story because it happened again, today. On the way to Indianapolis another cattle truck was pestering me. This time he got the best of me with the help of my loving? wife. Driving behind one you can't tell if its a cattle hauler or a garbage hauler. I started to smell this smell ooohh that smell. I looked at Sally and said not again. I went through the process of some more hacking and coughing. There wasn't anything to do because we were in a gaper and couldn't get around the stinky and smelly truck. I looked at Sally and said how am I going to get around this thing. A light bulb went off in her head and she preceded to turn on the AIR CONDITIONER.

I looked at her and said no way you didn't just do that, do what, try to kill me. My face had to of been beet red. This can't be happening to me, were is the damn camera. Finally some movement and we started to go a little faster. I felt like I wanted to go out and push some cars out of the way. I knew this would be stupid not because I knew I wouldn't be able to push any of the cars but, because I would be out with the enemy with no protection. I did finally get past the truck and maneuvered with the grace of a seasoned race car driver to save myself. I told Sally not to touch the air conditioner(ever) until we were totally out of harms way.

I will try and post a little more frequently. I have been very busy, sick and had computer issues. I have been doing very well otherwise except always feeling tired. Thank you all for all the prayers and kind words that I have been receiving. God Bless you all!!!

Jumping for Joy?

Surprise!

I am still alive and well. Our family computer is being repaired. I do not like to use the net book because my eyes are going bad (side effect from chemo) plus my stubby chubby fingers have a difficult typing on a small compact key board. I will go back to writing my famous blogs and posting pictures of my crazy family soon. I have been keeping notes. I have enough material to write for awhile

I have been busy with work. Working extra hours to stay on top of the bills. I am still tired all the time from chemo but I do not have the leg cramping, tingling, and nausea any longer. Sally still has a four page "to do list" posted on the fridge for me not to forget. I try covering it up with lovely art work from Zach and Kaity but it still manages to get uncovered. I had the past weekend off. I didn't do anything on the to do list but I did do a lot with the kids. Doing things with the family is the only way I can avoid the list without getting deadly glares from the wife.

Today has been a very good day for me. That is the main reason for me to write the blog today. I huge cloud has been lifted but it put my life back in perspective again. Sometimes we need a kick to remember what is important in life. At the end of April I wasn't feeling so well. I had some issues with my stomach. One night I was up the entire night with stomach pains. It was so bad I had to call off from work which is something I don't do. I was feeling better but the wife doesn't let anything go. At the chemo session she had to tell the nurse. Who in returned told the doctor who in turned ordered a CT scan. I had to wait for almost another 2 weeks to find out there is a spot on my liver. To be honest, that was very frightening to hear. A lot of things flashed through my mind and I had a long talking with God. The following Monday I had a MRI done. During it I felt at peace and the worrying went away. I realized a lot of things that I wanted to learn from getting cancer I had forgotten. It was a reminder again to me to re-evaluate my life and remember what is important.

I had to wait almost another 2 weeks for the MRI results. Oddly, it was easier waiting for the MRI results then the CT results. This afternoon I had the appointment with the doctor during the infusion. The nurse put us in a room and told us there was one patient before me. Sitting in the 12x12 room waiting for the results is awful. Especially when I am kept waiting, waiting,and waiting some more. The longer I wait the more nervous I become. The longer I am sitting there, the more my mind wonders how awful the news is. This time was different. I think the culprit was that I was watching "People's Court". It was a very good case. Right before the ruling and I was dragged to the doctor's office. Leaving my mind wondering what happened with the case. Instead of worrying about the results I was more perturbed about not knowing what happened. I told Sally to go ahead, that I will be in when this case is over. She than gave me the look,(married men you know what I mean)coming dear As I was sitting in the chair I noticed a window. I have been in the room several times but today I noticed this full body length window with no bar. I thought it is a little peculiar to have such a large window in an oncologist office. Which made me wonder if anyone ever contemplated jumping out the window when they heard bad news. While I was staring at the window I noticed an oxygen tank on the floor next to the window. Which made me wonder if that is there to help the person break the window if they want to jump. Then I looked at the examination bed which is in front of the window. It is slanted which looks to me like a diving board. I thought "Wow!" the perfect plan. A person gets the bad dreaded news and all they have to do is grab the oxygen tank, jump on the table and dive out the window. Hopefully they won't blow up before they fall 3 stories. It kept me entertained for awhile. Then the room got silent again and the nervous waiting began. Finally (not soon enough) the doctor came into the room. He said that he looked over the films himself and talked with the radiologist. He is 99% sure the spot in the liver is scar tissue. What a big relief. While Sally and I were walking to the car a board up service truck pulled up to the clinic( honestly one did show, I did feel this a little ironic). I felt that maybe I should show them where the room is. We couldn't help but laugh. I told the doctor my thoughts about the window but I never thought he would respond that fast and have the window boarded up. I am sure the trucks wasn't there for that window but it was funny to see the truck there.

I go back to work tomorrow, working the midnight shift. I work through the weekend. The wife threatened so hire a service to mow the lawn. I do not like how Michael cuts it and Sally has asthma really bad. They are forbidden to cut the grass. So I need to get to bed so I can wake up bright eyed and bushy tale to mow the yard. Last week the front yard was so long my neighbor got tired of looking at it and mowed it.

Wanted to share my good news with you.
God Bless,
Bill