Thursday, 23 June 05
Well, maybe I did too much on Father's Day because I had a seizure this morning preparing for work. I was reading in
Judges about Gideon and began to feel faint. Next thing I knew, I looked up from the floor to see two paramedics
hovering over me calling my name. They checked my blood sugar levels, which were normal, and the oxygen level of my
blood, which was also normal. Spoke to my oncologist, Dr. Virginia Stark-Vance, who had me go ahead and get a MRI now, rather than waiting until next Wednesday for the next scheduled scan. I made a few phone calls to get the prayer chain going, and then the scan was performed at 12 noon. It came back clean - great relief! We do not understand why I had no seizures prior to surgery and why no seizures after surgery until today, but I am now taking Keppra anticonvulsant med to block any future episodes. I slept and rested the rest of the day, feeling tired and very sore - like I just ran the marathon. The paramedics said that I would feel this way, as a seizure can work all of the muscles in your body at once, releasing lactic acid and making you sore. Even my jaw is sore.
Sunday, 19 June 05
I had a great Father’s Day. Our church prayed for all of us dads during the morning service. My eldest son Andrew put his hand on my arm during the prayer in a show of support, as did many other children to their dads. It was a moving experience to see hundreds of fathers standing across the auditorium! It is more difficult to be a parent now than when I was in high school in the mid-1970s, in my opinion. It will be more difficult still when Andrew is a dad. During the closing song, a picture of Aimee and me taken at the Father-Daughter dance was shown on two enormous screens, along with many other dad-kids images.
We ate lunch at Christina’s Tex Mex – no crowd when you get there at 11:15 am! I then cut down a huge, dead tree limb spanning the driveway at home. We typically park the van in this area and this branch could have damaged the van should it snap off during a storm. I was 15 or 20 feet off of the ground on the ladder using the chain saw. I worked on this monster incrementally, cutting a bit, then waiting, then cutting more, waiting, until I heard the first big crack of this eight diameter branch as gravity began to overcome the remaining uncut part of the branch. I then I came down from the ladder and used a rope looped around the limb to pull it down.
Swimming was next on the agenda, playing freeze tag for a couple of hours. Aric is unstoppable at this game. He moves quietly and swiftly through the water and is hard to see with six people in the pool splashing around. He hides behind folks and objects and sneaks up behind you from seemingly nowhere. You just can’t get away from Aric if he has you in his sights! The water hitting the surface of the pool from our waterfall and twin spray heads enhanced Aric’s stealthy movements. The pool looks beautiful right now, including the landscaping around it.
After this, we played the domino game called “42” for a couple of hours. I used to play 42 all the time in my younger days - it was nice to resume this activity. Aaron, Austin and Aimee are particularly fond of this game. Next, I played basketball with Austin while I cooked steaks for dinner on the grill. Huge quantities of food were consumed.
We watched Spurs-Pistons basketball game, which San Antonio won in overtime. And then I finished up the first half of the 9th round of chemo (next MRI will be Wed 6/29/05 at 9:30 am and oncologist appointment will be Fri 7/1/05 at 1pm) and went to bed totally dumbfounded at all the day’s activities and what the Lord has done since February 4, 2004. Sometimes all I can manage to pray is a simple “Thank-you.”
Best Father’s Day ever, just because I am alive and able to be with the family. Unfortunately, Kathy’s stomach was bothering her all day, but she is tough as nails and still somehow managed to participate in all activities, except for swimming.
Tuesday, 07 June 05
The vet says that the tumor removed from the back right leg of our dog Grizzly on 01 June was benign. He had his bandage removed today, but now wears a hood over his head to keep him from licking, scratching and biting his wound where the tumor was removed. The hood gives him a rather odd appearance, from looking like a new type of satellite dish to wearing an upside down lamp shade to a black bear head mounted over the fireplace.
Monday, 06 June 05
D-Day plus 61 years. My monthly visit to the oncologist was accomplished today. CBC results look good (first blood work done since March because there have been no issues with the previous 24 CBC readings that began in March 2004), and so I will start the second half of the 9th round of chemo tonight. Following two weeks of Temodar at 140 mg/day, I will have two weeks off of the chemo, and then post-op MRI #9 will be conducted on 01 July 05.
Wednesday, 01 June 05
I am searching for a 1976 Firebird Formula model made by MPC, kit # 1-7615. This is the only 76 Firebird plastic model that I am aware of for 1976. I built one of these kits in the 1970s, but it melted on the dashboard of my Trans Am.
