From Pop's Caringbridge site...
"SUNDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2007 10:10 PM, CST"
"Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2008 to you!"
"It’s amazing when the doctors say that 2 weeks post radiation the radiation will leave your body and things will begin changing for the better. The first week after radiation was the worst! The doctor said that also! Mouth was the driest and food was horrible. Milk and protein shakes were my diet. Well, as of 4 days ago the bad taste of food is all but gone. Still doesn’t taste the way it should but the bad taste is gone. I have had clam chowder soup, scramble eggs and tonight was chicken pot pie! Things are looking up. My radiation burn is just about gone and my energy is progressively getting better. Can’t wait to get back to work. Tina and Zach surprised Margaret and I by coming up to Georgia for Christmas for a couple of days. Our best gift! Then it was great to have Jerry and Kathryn visit from Fargo for Christmas. They were very happy also to get away from the frozen north! Now I am starting to focus my energy in getting back to work and plan events in 2008 to get my mind in the right direction. Thank you all for supporting me with your thoughts and prayers. We love you all. May 2008 be the best year for you and your family."
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Surprise Visit
Zach and I made a surprise visit up to see Pops and Nano before Christmas! What a surprise it was for Grandma! I think she was in shock for our whole visit. It was great to spend some time with Pops and Grandma for Christmas.
Friday, December 14, 2007
T.G.I.O!!
Yeah! It's over! Congratulations Pops! You made it!
Here is the update from Caringbridge...
"FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2007 11:56 AM, CST"
"Day 27 through Day 31 – Monday through Friday – Summer weather arrived all week with temps in the 70’s breaking records for 3 days. No rain, fantastic weather. It’s Over, It’s Over, It’s Over!!!"
"T.G.I.O. - Thank God It’s Over!! 31 days completed today and the radiation is finally over! Taste buds shot, mouth dry as the desert and my neck is blistering from the radiation. From what the Dr says it will continue burning through next week. The radiation should be out of my system in about 2 weeks. Now the healing process begins. The radiation burn or suntan as I have referred to it should be gone in 3-4 weeks. I return to my radiation Dr in early February so he can take a look and also on the same day see my Surgeon to see how everything is healing. I will also be having an MRI to make sure everything is clear and nothing remains of the malignancy. You will also see a NEW photo of me holding my mask from radiation. Not sure what to do with the mask but would take recommendations as what I should do with it. One other radiation patient I had conversation with said he was going to take the mask out to his hunting camp and shoot it! Not a bad idea! So now the healing has or soon will start and take 2-3 weeks. My taste will or should come back in 1-3 months. This concludes part 2 of my recovery. Part 1 being surgery. I cannot express how grateful I am to receive your thoughts and prayers on Caring Bridge and also phone calls and emails. You all are so wonderful. Margaret has been a trooper through all of the radiation process and I could not have made it without my Bride! Love to all"
Here is the update from Caringbridge...
"FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2007 11:56 AM, CST"
"Day 27 through Day 31 – Monday through Friday – Summer weather arrived all week with temps in the 70’s breaking records for 3 days. No rain, fantastic weather. It’s Over, It’s Over, It’s Over!!!"
"T.G.I.O. - Thank God It’s Over!! 31 days completed today and the radiation is finally over! Taste buds shot, mouth dry as the desert and my neck is blistering from the radiation. From what the Dr says it will continue burning through next week. The radiation should be out of my system in about 2 weeks. Now the healing process begins. The radiation burn or suntan as I have referred to it should be gone in 3-4 weeks. I return to my radiation Dr in early February so he can take a look and also on the same day see my Surgeon to see how everything is healing. I will also be having an MRI to make sure everything is clear and nothing remains of the malignancy. You will also see a NEW photo of me holding my mask from radiation. Not sure what to do with the mask but would take recommendations as what I should do with it. One other radiation patient I had conversation with said he was going to take the mask out to his hunting camp and shoot it! Not a bad idea! So now the healing has or soon will start and take 2-3 weeks. My taste will or should come back in 1-3 months. This concludes part 2 of my recovery. Part 1 being surgery. I cannot express how grateful I am to receive your thoughts and prayers on Caring Bridge and also phone calls and emails. You all are so wonderful. Margaret has been a trooper through all of the radiation process and I could not have made it without my Bride! Love to all"
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Merry Christmas!
Here is another reason to be thankful this Christmas season! Zach will turn one year old on December 20, 2007! Amazing how time flies! He is walking now and becoming quite good now! We are having a cookout on Saturday to celebrate his first birthday will all of our friends.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
One Hand
5 treatments left! The end is in sight and there are many reasons to be thankful this Christmas season! Here is Pop's latest journal entry from Caring Bridge...
"Day 22, 23, 24, 25 & 26 – December 3rd – 7th – Monday through Friday. Cold for Atlanta with highs in the 50’s. Sunny and no rain"
"26 Days Completed – 5 Remaining! Getting very close! Down to counting the days on one hand! Wonderful! Asked the Dr when my taste would return. He stated there are 2 different possibilities… First case is if you are eating but the food has no taste at all. Doesn’t taste bad just no taste. In this case tasting food would return within 12 months post radiation. In my case where the food has an indescribable bad taste the Dr said my taste should come back in 1-3 months! Much better than 12 months for sure. Great news for me on eating. The radiation burn to my neck is continuing and getting a little worse but manageable. Margaret is applying a healing lotion each evening and this is helping a great deal. I must completely wash everything off in the morning shower because if I leave any lotion on during radiation I would get FRIED during my daily treatment. I actually did not think my mouth could get drier but it has. Feels like a mouth full of cotton. Always caring a water bottle and chewing gum. Fortunately at night I breath though my nose not my mouth. My next update will be when I have completed 31 days of radiation. What a marathon process this has been. I am blessed to have wonderful friends and family keeping me going. Thank you and god bless you all for your thoughts and prayers. Till next week…"
"Day 22, 23, 24, 25 & 26 – December 3rd – 7th – Monday through Friday. Cold for Atlanta with highs in the 50’s. Sunny and no rain"
"26 Days Completed – 5 Remaining! Getting very close! Down to counting the days on one hand! Wonderful! Asked the Dr when my taste would return. He stated there are 2 different possibilities… First case is if you are eating but the food has no taste at all. Doesn’t taste bad just no taste. In this case tasting food would return within 12 months post radiation. In my case where the food has an indescribable bad taste the Dr said my taste should come back in 1-3 months! Much better than 12 months for sure. Great news for me on eating. The radiation burn to my neck is continuing and getting a little worse but manageable. Margaret is applying a healing lotion each evening and this is helping a great deal. I must completely wash everything off in the morning shower because if I leave any lotion on during radiation I would get FRIED during my daily treatment. I actually did not think my mouth could get drier but it has. Feels like a mouth full of cotton. Always caring a water bottle and chewing gum. Fortunately at night I breath though my nose not my mouth. My next update will be when I have completed 31 days of radiation. What a marathon process this has been. I am blessed to have wonderful friends and family keeping me going. Thank you and god bless you all for your thoughts and prayers. Till next week…"
Monday, December 3, 2007
10 Days to go...
Another update from Pop's Caring Bridge Webpage:
"Day 20 & 21 – November 29th & 30th – Thursday and Friday. Wonderful weather and the weekend was spring-like."
"21 Days Completed – 10 Remaining! Two weeks remaining! What a blessing. I can’t wait till the end! My diet now mostly contains Milk and Protein shakes. Very little solid food. It gags me. There is an addition to my last post over the Thanksgiving weekend. I forgot to post that Richard was able to come and join us for the long weekend as well as run in the Thanksgiving Half Marathon in Atlanta. It had been several months since we had seen Rich. This past weekend was quite eventful… we had professional tree cutters cut down 2 trees. One in the front and one in the back yard. The larger tree in the front was a piece of cake. The tree in the back yard was more of a problem and they fell the tree on the house!! So after what should have been a 6 hour job they will complete their repairs after 3 days. 10 Days of radiation, weigh in today, Monday and we then will be on single digits. Thanks to everyone for calling, emailing and posting to Caring Bridge. God Bless you all for your thoughts and prayers."
"Day 20 & 21 – November 29th & 30th – Thursday and Friday. Wonderful weather and the weekend was spring-like."
"21 Days Completed – 10 Remaining! Two weeks remaining! What a blessing. I can’t wait till the end! My diet now mostly contains Milk and Protein shakes. Very little solid food. It gags me. There is an addition to my last post over the Thanksgiving weekend. I forgot to post that Richard was able to come and join us for the long weekend as well as run in the Thanksgiving Half Marathon in Atlanta. It had been several months since we had seen Rich. This past weekend was quite eventful… we had professional tree cutters cut down 2 trees. One in the front and one in the back yard. The larger tree in the front was a piece of cake. The tree in the back yard was more of a problem and they fell the tree on the house!! So after what should have been a 6 hour job they will complete their repairs after 3 days. 10 Days of radiation, weigh in today, Monday and we then will be on single digits. Thanks to everyone for calling, emailing and posting to Caring Bridge. God Bless you all for your thoughts and prayers."
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