For Dave

My hero called me today to check on me because I had surgery last week. I won't go into the details of my situation right now, but the reason I am writing this is that he is going in for a PET scan tomorrow which will show whether or not his tumor has shrunk.  HIS tumor, but he is worried about me.

For those of you who have followed my very sporadic blogs, you know that I am talking about Dave Andersen, who is my hero. He works for my husband at Delta Air Lines as a mechanic.  He loves his job. He loves his wife. He loves his kids. He loves his grandchild and has another one on the way.

Prior to my breast cancer diagnosis last year, he was given the news that he had esophageal cancer. He underwent chemotherapy and radiation. That was followed by surgery to remove the esophagus. It was a long hard climb, but things improved for him. As it did for me, but my ordeal was minor compared to what he was going through. He was there for me every step of the way, even though he was in worse shape than I was.  If he wasn't calling me directly to see how I was doing, he called Mark to ask about me.

After six months, he recuperated enough to go back to work. He lives for work, his family and his friends.  But recently he lost his voice. He thought it was just a common case of laryngitis and that things were fine.  It turns out there was a lymph node that had grown and was pressing against his vocal cords.  He had more chemo then radiation and then a procedure to insert Teflon in an attempt to free up his vocal cord (don't ask me, but the medical profession must know what they are doing).  His voice slowly returned and now he is going to be waiting on pins and needles for the test results.

But he still called me to see how I was doing.

I would like everyone to do whatever it is they do in a time like this:

Pray, send good thoughts, love, hugs, vibes.

He deserves the best news ever.  Not only a shrinkage, but an obliteration.

tweet, tweet

heather thinks i should get a twitter account

because i say such witty stuff on facebook

i don't use very good punctuation and grammar even though it is my pet peeve in most instances

i would fit in on twitter, don't you think

except i would have to limit my characters to 140 per tweet

i am my mother's daughter, and anyone who knew my mother knows that it would be impossible for me to restrict myself in that manner

but you may see me out there soon so don't be surprised

heather is making me do this

it has been almost two months since i last blogged, did anyone miss me?

i have been pretty busy learning medical billing...i spent six weeks in michigan with my sister, who is technically my ex sister in law, but in actuality is my best friend...she is my teacher, she has her own business out of her home and she has the patience of a saint...

i didn't get to visit too much, but i did get to see two of my kids, heather and nick, along with my brothers larry and john and their families (almost all of their families, anyway), but i was there to learn, not socialize, right?

i did spend a lot of time with terry going back and forth to garden city hospital to visit her sister gladys, who was having stroke related health issues...

i am back home with my hubby, mark, who made my trip possible, and who waited patiently while i was gone...he did get his fix of mexican food, which i am not fond of, while i was gone...

on another subject, it has been almost a year since my breast cancer surgery, the mastectomy and reconstruction, and i am going for my annual check up on may 17th...if all is good i am going to have follow up surgery to repair some of the cosmetic aspects of the original procedure...

i will keep everyone updated on my schooling/national exam and my health, and hopefully it will not take two months to get back into this...

love and hugs to all!

medical billing training

just a quick post to brag that i got two 100% scores on practice tests so far...i am in michigan with my sister in law and she is teaching me a new skill...

Enquiring minds want to know...

hey everyone! updating you on my health:

i had two doctors appointments on tuesday and two on thursday:

tuesday i went to the general surgeon who did a breast exam and asked questions and said everything was good and would see me in three months for my year follow up...i will have a mammogram of the left side then and blood work to check my liver...

i also saw the reconstructive surgeon who is going to tweek the original work she did last year on my right breast that the general surgeon removed...she is also going to do a breast lift on both sides to even things out and my dog flaps from the tummy tuck will be going away...all this is follow up and is considered part of the legislation that requires insurers to cover women to have work done to restore them to as close to before the cancer surgery as possible...the abdomen is where the tissue came from to reconstruct the breast after the mastectomy...this is currently scheduled for april 21st but is contingent on blood work that will determine if my body is ready after having chemo...also pending an answer to how long after surgery am i able to have a mammogram, so it may not take place until after the may appointment with the general surgeon and radiologist...

thursday i saw the podiatrist...this has been an ongoing process for a couple of months as i have plantars faciitis and a pinched nerve in my right foot...he has been giving me injections and they have been helping, but i am not yet 100%...getting there slowly but surely...i will see how things are in about three weeks for further treatment by him...he also pumped up my orthodics and that has made a difference...

i also saw the oncologist and she did a physical examination and blood work and said she would see me in SIX months...that made me very happy to know that i am doing good enough to go that long until my next appointment with her...

my current blood work includes checking my a1c level to see how i am doing with my diabetes; testing for hiv, hepatitis and any other blood borne illnesses due to my transfusions when i was hospitalized back in october with an e coli infection; and checking my white cell count to see if my plastic surgeon can go ahead with my procedures soon...

all my doctors have given me instructions to not hesitate seeing them if i think i am having any trouble, though, and i am not to wait until my next appointments to have anything checked out...early detection improves the odds of treating and curing a recurrence and i am going to get my kicks on route 66 in about six years so i am taking every chance i get to stay on top of this disease!

i have to thank everyone for their prayers, vibes, thoughts, love and words of encouragement as i travel this road...being in utah without family or friends close has been extra difficult, but mark's work crew has shown so much support it has helped tremendously...facebook has been instrumental in me getting the word out en masse to everyone and keeping everybody so far away up to date...

i am not embarrassed or ashamed to say 'i love you' to you all!

family is everything

they make us who we are...or who we are not...nature versus nurture...can you be like your relatives if you were not raised with them? who knows, but i get to find out this summer when i meet long lost family members at a reunion in virginia! i am so excited to see people i have not seen in a while, but even more geeked to meet people i never knew existed, much less were related to me!

my only sadness about the whole event is that there are not going to be family members there that would have loved to be...the ones that have passed on...mom, especially mom, she thought funerals were social events, she lived such a sheltered life and lived far away from her loved ones...she only got to see some of them on a hurried trip to bail out one of my dad's brothers from jail or to see his dying mother in the hospital, only to find when we got to west virginia, mammaw was standing in the kitchen cooking!

ned, who died way too young, at age 27, from kidney disease...he would have been a hoot! and everyone would have loved him!

rick, who also died way too young, at age 52, from brain cancer...he is still the family hero with his kindness and unselfishness passed down to his children, sara beth, who is organizing the reunion, philip and chris.

and granny roten, mamie dell austin roten...i cried at her viewing because i was staring at her hands and thinking about all the crafts and clothes and other items i would sit and watch her make in her resale shop down on the main drag...baby brother john and i got the joy of spending the summer with her in 1976...she never made us feel like we were intruding or being in her way...she loved us because we were her daughter's children.

there are numerous and sundry others who will be missing, and missed, in june, as at all times, and i can't wait to learn about them!

love while you have them with you, because you will miss them when they are gone...FAMILY!

follow up to learning to scan

my apologies in advance for when we retire and start visiting everyone...it seems we will be spending extra time with mark's cousin :Mary and her clan, probably a month or so (compared to the average week i anticipate with everyone else)...our payment for staying there is to look at pictures, and anyone who knows me, knows i HATE (she said facetiously) to look at pictures! the reason i have so many is that i get caught up in looking at them i never get around to doing anything with them...people hide their photos when i am around because i ignore everyone while i tiptoe through the memories...gonna be a great time in corpus christi is all i am sayin'...can't wait to see pictures of uncle jack's crew from back in the day! i am sure that Mary won't mind my ignoring her...but wait, she has kids, and i love kids even more than looking at pictures...in fact, i will be taking so many more pictures i won't have time to look at pictures...well, you get the point...