Friday My Town Shoot Out - Yard Art

Nothing like coming out of the gate with a new group and falling flat on your face for everyone to see. It was chemo week for TJ so my schedule was pretty hectic. Last night I snapped a couple of quick photos of this old timey jack that TJ put in the front yard a few years back. I think it has character so I didn't complain. As for the barbed wire on the barrel cactus...don't know. He was cleaning the garage one day, put it there and there it stayed.

My comment about next week's topic - Great idea and I am sure it will make for some beautiful pictures, although those of us living in the desert (116 farenheit today) will really have to work hard. Fun though!!

Not a Bad Chemo Week

All in all TJ has made it through this week of chemo pretty well. Hopefully we have the right combination of drugs. He is taking 3 Hydrocodone a day, I am putting the lotion on his back 3 times a day and he is taking 2 Ginseng tablets a day. So far his energy level is much better than any other chemo week. Having said that he gets his Neulasta shot tomorrow so that will really let us know if our combination is working. Last night he felt so good we bowled 3 games on Wii. He even beat me 2 out of 3! Today he is a little more tired but still not bad.

I guess I don't really have a lot to say today. Probably because since it is chemo week I am not sleeping and am just dog tired. I think I am more tired than TJ today and that is just insane. Should be able to sleep tomorrow night after he gets his Neulasta shot.

I will update in a couple of days about how our new drug combination is working with the Neulasta shot.

Battle On TJ, Battle On

Possible Change in Treatment Schedule ?!?!?!

As usual TJ saw Dr. Nabong this morning. He always sees him on chemo week Monday. Usually it is to just to go over labs and make sure all is well for him to move forward with more chemo. I am not there for this appointment because as a general rule it is pretty routine. I wish I would have been there today. I had TJ ask him about taking American Ginseng orally to help with his fatigue and he said if we wanted to try it then it would be OK. I read about a clinical trial with cancer patients and American Ginseng and thought it would be worth a try as long as it has no adverse interactions with his other medications. I think I am going to take it also and see if it will help my energy level too. It sure can't hurt. TJ also spoke with Dr. Nabong about the severe back pain and he got the answer that I expected, basically that is just part of it and all we can do is up the amount of hydrocodone he is taking.

Here is the real shocker....and TJ didn't tell me about this until I arrived to pick him up from chemo. Dr. Nabong said he is considering 2 additional rounds of chemo!!! This news almost brought tears to my eyes. I so just want this to be done for him. Nabong said that the tumor in his lung has gone from 4 cm to 2 cm and he just wants to make sure we get rid of all of it. I don't know if he will do another scan before making the final decision on this or not, but I hope so. So, we thought that his final chemo was going to begin on August 3 (right before TJ's birthday on the 9th) and if they do 2 more rounds the last one will begin on September 14 (right before my birthday on the 17th). I am so tired of this, but I know that TJ is even more tired of it than I am. So, I guess we just suck it up and hope for remission and make plans for the day when this is all behind us and we can get on with our life together.

Ewwww, just realized this is my 13th post. TJ was diagnosed on Friday the 13 so not real thrilled about that number any longer. Will for sure post tomorrow just to move forward from that number just like TJ & I have had to do since his diagnosis.

Battle On TJ, Battle On

Rough Weekend

In the past, the weekend before TJ's next round of chemo has been pretty good. Not the case with this one. He had terrible back pain all weekend and spent most of his time on the couch or in bed. I hate that I can't seem to manage this symptom when I have so far successfully managed all the others. I am at my wits end with this back pain. Tomorrow morning he will be seeing Dr. Nabong, his oncologist, and although I will not be there I have started a list of questions and ideas to help manage this pain without keeping him so drugged that all he does is sleep. We will see what he has to say and hopefully he has some kind of an answer.

Today, TJ's mom was coming down from Payson and the 3 of us were going to go to lunch. We thought it was going to be a great day. But when TJ woke up this morning his back hurt so bad that he just did not feel like going. I understand, but I would have liked him to be able to spend that time with his Mother. Instead, she stopped by and we got to show her wedding pictures since she had not seen them yet. We had some printed out for her and I showed her the DVD montage that Kelly (our photographer from http://www.justmarriedphotos.com/ ) had put together. Of course she loved the photographs and even found an additional 2 that she really liked and I printed them out for her. The picture you see above is one of those. She liked it because almost the whole family was in it. We were only missing Webb (TJ's Dad) and Dennis (TJ's sister's husband)...wish you guys could have been here!

Brief personal note: Love ya Phylicia and if you want a print of the pictures she took of you and I let me know and I will print one for you and drop it in the mail. ;)

Tomorrow is chemo day and of course that means 4 nights of no sleep for me beginning tonight. It is that feeling of stress for what TJ is about to go through. It also means short days at work and that stress me out also. But, after this week we only have one more round to go.

I know it is tough for him right now, BUT...

Battle On TJ, Battle On

Labrador Retriever

Have you ever seen those quizzes that tell you what kind of dog you would be? Well, TJ would be a Labrador Retriever. I know this without him ever even taking a quiz. I used to have a Lab, his name was Phantom. I had to put him down in 2004 after enjoying him for 14 wonderful years. Even TJ, who wasn't really a dog person when I met him, fell in love with him. He was an extremely friendly and well behaved dog. This is a picture of him taking a nap at "The Shack", our property down south. As you can see he is very gray at this point. So my point in this is that Phantom's first vet in Indianapolis was Dr. Swengel and when as a pup Phantom displayed the symptoms of bad hips he was the one I took him to. I explained all the things I was seeing but I told Dr. Swengel that he did not really show any pain. He explained to me that Labrador Retrievers are very apathetic and show very little pain as they just want to please. I really realized the truth in this as Phantom went through 2 surgeries to correct his hips and allow him to live a long and full life.

Today TJ did not feel as good as yesterday. When I spoke with him a little after noon he was on his way to have lunch with some friends. That made me happy as it always does. But then he told me that if he hadn't already committed he would not be going as he is very tired and his back is super sore. I told him it might do him good to get out and visit with friends, he said he was just going to eat and head back home to nap. Turned out it was a fairly nice size group of people so he hung out visiting for a couple of hours. TJ would never let those down that came out to see him. When I got home from work he was sleeping. When he did wake up he was only up for a couple of hours complaining about his back the whole time and then back to bed he went . I think it is a sure bet he didn't let his friends know how uncomfortable he was. Do you see the correlation that I am making here? Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. I am actually amazed that he can turn everything off for a bit, if only for 2 hours, and enjoy time with his friends. Believe me, if I was in his shoes I would be whining to my girlfriends about how miserable I feel. Right now I can just hope he has a better day tomorrow.

Battle On TJ, Battle On

Weird Week

Just like last time, TJ felt pretty good this week with the exception of his back. I don't know why but the week before his next chemo he gets severe back pain. It just doesn't make sense to me, but hey, neither does this whole cancer thing. They just don't warn you of all the side effects of chemo, all the mental ups and downs, basically you know nothing about this journey until suddenly you are tossed into it head first. When I say head first I mean that literally, you feel like someone has dropped you on your head and left you there all alone to struggle with the pains and the not knowing if you are OK or not. Basically, it sucks, but thank goodness for the great sources of information such as Twitter, Blogs and friends that have "been there, done that".

Now, for the weird part of the week. This morning when I left for work at 6:20 am TJ was absolutely miserable with back pain. I expected him to be down most if not all of the day. He took a Hydrocodone as I was leaving and I also put some of the lotion on his back.

I was at work trying to concentrate but worrying about how TJ was feeling as I had not received a text from him since about 8:30. Well, lo and behold who walks through my office door at 11:30? TJ, declaring that he is hungry and wants to order some lunch!! Once again I ask you - WHO FLIPPED THE SWITCH??!! Crazy cancer chemo stuff! So, we ordered some lunch, he went and picked it up and we ate together at my desk, it was nice. I am so grateful to work for a great guy that allows this without question even though I work straight 8's. I love my hours, 7 to 3, and am lucky to have some freedom to do things like that today. When I got home TJ and I actually had a beer together and "HE" cooked dinner and even cleaned up. Makes me dread chemo week next week when all this will go away. Oh well, just gotta enjoy the good times while we have them.

Battle On TJ, Battle On

Not A Bad Week Overall

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. No excuse really, just sometimes my new life gets in the way. My new life? Yeah, the one I have now that TJ has been diagnosed with cancer. We were just talking this morning how different things are now. His whole perspective has changed as has mine. He has really slowed down and it is actually kinda enjoyable. Our weekends are less stress filled and more relaxing. We take time to visit with friends more and spend more one on one time together. So much more of our time is cherished, especially when he is having good days. It is nice and I think I like my new life. I just wish TJ didn't have to get cancer for us to realize we both needed to slow down a bit.

Anyway, the beginning of this last week was of course a little tough for TJ but towards the end of the week he began feeling much better. Friday he and I brought the car home so now it is in our garage and he can work on it more as his health allows. I am glad to have it back home.

The good news of the week is that we picked up our wedding photos. Kelly did an awesome job with the pictures and we got 473 pictures on 2 CD's. She also did a DVD montage set to music. We are just so happy with all the pictures. We have printed out pictures of TJ and I and framed them for his Mom and Dad and printed a couple of just TJ to send to his kids. I also put some on Flickr for everyone to see.

Here is the link to the DVD montage, it is about 10 minutes long but worth it

http://smilebox.com/playEmail/4d5441784d7a4d334d5456384d6a41324d6a55324d7a6b3d0d0a&sb=1

Here is the link to the Flickr photos that I put together, some are also on the DVD montage but these are my personal favorites of all we received: www.flickr.com/photos/flyingwg

Battle On TJ, Battle On