Thursday that feels Friday

Am I ready for the weekend or what?


My friend Mac arrives this afternoon for a weekend break from her family. I imagine that blogging will be light while many giggles are shared and wine consumed. Hubby is due home after a week away on business too! Whoohoo!

Latest Uncle Ben update -- we got some good news last night! So they did another MRI and CATscan yesterday just "in case" (we thought it was a done deal after 2 no-way-jose's) and now they have decided to do surgery! He goes in Friday. I am so thankful that they can do *something* -- it just wasn't looking good. Now it is still crappy but we have a ray of hope. I talked to him this evening and he was happy to have some kind of solution instead of just a wait and see stance (aka death sentence). HE really wants to fight and live -- can't say that I blame him.

Anyway, just thought I'd share the sorta good news. Give a shout out to the BIG GUY for Uncle Ben for me if you have a chance. Thanks.

Uncle Ben 4/26

We are still waiting on a course of treatment to be decided uopn. I *hate* the waiting. It will be 3 weeks on Thursday that we discovered that there was even a problem so I know that I am being impatient -- but I don't care. I want to start kicking this stuff's ass now.

What we know now is that it is Stage 4 renal carcinoma. Bad, bad, bad stuff. It has metastized and is causing considerable pain. Fortunately, the pain at this point is being managed fairly well with medication. I hope that continues to be the truth.

I am not so secretly hoping that he decides to seek teatment in Rochester, MN. That would allow me to lend practical support since I do not live all that far away. Today I mentally planned out how I could furnish an apartment for him (if it is possible for him to live *away* from the hospital while getting treated -- or for family members to stay nearby, for that matter) out of all of the extras I am storing around here.

It looks as though my Mother is going to assume the responsibility for his primary care. She is excellent at this sort of thing but I know that it will take a heavy toll on her. I am hoping that I will be able to lend more than moral support -- but with my girls being too young for me to just pick up and *go* I have to hope that treatment proximity will be in my favor. If that is the case I would as least be able to relieve her on the weekends and she could get some rest. Even if only intermittently. I worry for her though since she was the one who cared for *her* parents as they died from various forms of cancer -- she knows what is coming if we are to fear the worst.

I hate this disease and what it does to families -- but I must admit, I am proud of the way my family has come together. I even forgave my father for the fight he picked with me the other night (he doesn't react well to scary/painful situations beyond his control) and all of the mean things he said. But that is a post for another day. Maybe.

I would ask that prayerful people would send a little prayer. And even if non-prayerful people could send some good thoughts -- every little bit helps.

Other Peoples Underwear

Is it just me?????

Or does *everybody* find themselves walking through their house carrying a handful of someone else’s clean underwear?

It’s probably just me. Criminy! Another "mom thing" I neglected to read the fine print on.

This blogging thing is tough!

So once again Harvey of Bad Example fame puts together another post that speaks to me as a neo-blogger just when I really needed it.

I have been an avid fan of MANY blogs and bloggers for the last 2 1/2 years or so and really, as a blogger I feel rather inadequate. Other blogs do such a great job in so many different ways it is hard to feel like I have anything to contribute to the blogosphere that hasn't already been done better, funnier, smarter or more in depth than anything I could imagine.

It's not that I am looking to draw in a ginormous readership like A Small Victory, Lileks, IMAO, Bad Example, Althouse, or Instapundit. I am just looking to find my own voice, vent when I need to, create a family journal, and write everyday. Is that so much to ask? Some days it is. But thanks to Mr. Bad Example I think I will stick with it -- for a while longer anyway. Even if the whole "how to leave a track back" thing still eludes me..... I'll figure this stuff out eventually I hope! :-)

Beautiful Day

It is a beautiful day in my neighborhood -- 70 degrees and sunny-- I hope that it is in yours as well. I have about 6 posts kicking around in my head that I want to get written but I have a feeling that this weekend will be a blogging washout. You never know! I think sunny, warm, relatively bug free days should be savored (preferably with a margarita in hand). Have a good one! Ta!

Bits of Wednesday

Company cancelled! Our friends from TN won't make it up here this weekend. I am sorry that we won't get to see them but not unhappy about the fact that I won't have to work as hard now. I can use the break.

Latest news concerning Uncle Ben is that it is cancer. A lot of cancer. He meets with the oncologist on Thursday to formulate a plan. I anticipate hospitalization and surgery early next week. Today I sent him a "going to the hospital" care package. My parents are traveling to be with him and I hope to have some sort of definitive plan in place soon that I can help with.

Car is in the shop today -- the electrical system had a seizure of some sort. *Sigh* So I am waiting for the call to tell me how much it will be to fix it. Hubby informed me this morning (5:30!!!) that he is tired of putting $$ into the van and if it is going to be a lot to get it fixed maybe we should trade it in on some sort of car. Then I would drive the new Uplander we got (since with the new company -- no company car) and we could get him some kind of mid-sized car to drive. Something to think about anyway.

Well, housework and laundry call. Something neat I read yesterday -- the navy has "attack dolphins." How cool is that?!?! Matthew Heidt of Froggy Ruminations had the link and an excellent post concerning the protection of our ships in port.

Update The car got fixed for $83 -- just a blown fuse. Yay!

Bad News............

So now the company is gone (until Thursday) and a bit of a family crisis has come up. You see, my beloved Uncle Ben is going to have to undergo some serious medical treatment on the not so distant future. This has blind sided the whole family as he was just going to the doctor to try to get a handle on some lower back pain he has had since a car accident 2 1/2 weeks ago. Chiropractic and over the counter meds were not working. They discovered much more.....
_________________________________

All,
Came to Sher today to be with Ben for his Dr H interview ---He put a C D (Do you know someone we could send it to??) into a laptop and showed us a CT scan -----slices of Ben's torso from the chest to tailbone-----all looked normal at top except for an old calcium scar on the spleen (size of a 50 cent piece)-- no problem--then moves down to the top of kidneys-----right kidney is normal and rounded left is fuzzy and irregular and twice as large------spine here is normal. Then halfway down kidneys, left kidney is still very large and spine is beginning to show abnormal growth on left side, Then further down left kidney becomes normal size 3/4 of the way down, and left side of the spine shows larger abnormality covering nearly all of left side of the sacrum and going into the iliac joint of top left of pelvis----(also iodine marker showed very little urine production in left kidney). Dr. H said that in his opinion there was no chance that he could see that any of these abnormalities could be linked to the accident, and that he feared we were looking at cancerous growths, and advised Ben strongly to get an immediate biopsy (six cores 1 in long, the diameter of ball point pen refill)--- which he did-------results should be in late Mon. Will advise as we learn more.
___________________________________

That is an exerpt from an email from my father. God, I am sick and sad and researching airfares to go out there if they decide to do surgery next week. Uncle Ben has been a good friend to me my entire life. We have talked practically every week for years (since his wife/partner died). I am praying very hard that this works out okay. The family is rallying -- but it was so hard to hear the fear in his voice yesterday. And now we wait -- Monday he gets the biopsy results and we will know what is next. Fucking cancer. I hope that it isn't--but have a feeling it is. Fucking cancer.

Cancer took my voice when I was 11 and now it is threatening to take a man so dear to my heart I tear up everytime I think about it. It has taken countless other loved ones from so many, I know. I have lost grandparents already to the disease. I know I should be more positive about things but right now I am just pissed. Sick. Sad. Scared. And Pissed. And waiting for Monday. I hate waiting for news that is almost certainly bad................

FUCKING CANCER

That's it. I just wanted to formally say "fucking cancer" right now. I'll be posting more on the matter soon. Again -- fucking cancer............... Bah................ We've gotta win this one.

Lots of Company

Yeah, company. My in-laws were here for the weekend. Father- in-law flies out this morning, mother- in -law is here for the remainder of the week. The girls and I will be taking her to her daughter’s house in Horicon on Friday—a trip that I am NOT looking forward to but that is another post.

Company. So for years I thought that everybody had company all of the time just like we do. Upon further investigation, however, I have discovered that nooooooooo – it’s just us. How much company? A lot. It is rare for us to not have guests from out of town staying with us any given month. I should probably mention that my house is only 1450 square feet and has 3 bedrooms (1 bedroom is also our home office and has a sleeper sofa).

Thanksgiving? Hubby’s grandmother was here for 10 days.

Christmas/New Year? My parents were here for 2 ½ weeks and my brother and his family came for 5 days right in the middle.

February? My friend Stephanie was here for a week—we watched the Oscars.

March? Well, the afore mentioned visit by my in-laws took care of March and the first part of April and my friend Mac is planning an escape from her family and will be here the last weekend of this month. Also, some friends from Tennessee will be here the weekend of the 14th for a wedding in Madison. It is so far unclear which nights they will be staying with us but I expect one if not two.

May? My parents are to arrive for another 2 ½ week visit at the end of may through the first week in June. Hubby’s grandmother is slated for another weeks visit in June as well.

July and August are as yet open but I am sure that you can see a pattern here. We have company. Lots and lots of it. Funny too, when I talk to some of our frequent guests they will often say things like, “Wow! So and so was staying with you for an awfully long time!” and I am thinking to myself, “Ummmm, last time you were here you stayed for the same amount of time….” Sheesh people!! I have no idea why we have so many visitors. I used to think it was because I had cornered the market on Grandchildren. But now others have procreated and we are still faced with an ever increasing amount of company. Do you think that this is just God’s way of suggesting I buy a bigger house? Something to consider – after all Christmas is right around the corner!

Company

My in-laws are going to be here this weekend and it is supposed to be sunny and nice out so I don't imagine I will get much blogging done. We have a lot of company. And by "a lot" I mean that rarely will a month go by where we do *not* have a guest (or 4) from out of town. I used to think that everybody had people coming to stay with them all of the time but I have discovered that it really is just me. Huh. Anyway, have a nice weekend! Enjoy whatever kind of Spring you get!