Dear Family,
Ken and I have been living with my brother Don since November of 2009. To help Mom we found Don a townhome and renovated it for him. Then we moved in with him so Mom could have a break. Unfortunately she never regained her strength since we did not know she was dealing with colon cancer until it was too late. Did you know she passed away on the same day I had my PET scan last month? I have felt her there with me several times during this scary process. Cancer sure can sneak up on you!
This past year (2011) Ken and I (and Don) began to build and train Don's caregiver team with the goal of us returning to our mountain home every weekend. When the lumpectomy became a mastectomy with the cancer diagnosis we changed that to building his team to full time since we just don't know what the future will bring me- in terms of treatments, energy etc. We have been successful enough that starting this month, Ken and I are able to live at SunHaven 4 days a week and spent only Tues, Weds and Thurs at Don's townhome. So when I am in town with Don is when I schedule doctor appointments, tests, healing treatments, errands and shopping.
For contact info-
All three of us- Don, Ken and I have the same mailing address-
305 West Magnolia St PMB228, Fort Collins, CO 80521.
That is a mail stop that always has someone there during business hours that can receive FedEx, UPS and mail for us. We need that for the many packages and medications Don gets.
Don named his townhome "HobbitHouse" and it is located at 924 Gilgalad Way in Fort Collins, but none of us get mail there. Our mountain home, SunHaven, is located at 1154 Mount Ethel Rd in Bellvue, but we don't get mail there either. Don has a phone at HobbitHouse that his caregivers can answer for him. It is 970-224-2495. My cell phone is 970-402-4031 and that is the only phone we use, except Ken's cell at 970-305-0678.
Healthwise-
The PET scan was an easier process than I expected, but the results were somewhat mixed. We were not able to rule out stage IV since the cancer still shows up on the scan. But there appears to be no tumors on organs or cancer in my bones- Yeah! Just in 2 more lymph nodes. Still the oncologist wants to treat it as stage IV and do aggressive chemo, radiation and then hormone therapy for several years. Nothing can start until I'm more recovered from the surgery so I'm reading, researching, and visiting with all kinds of experts like a 2nd oncologist (this Weds), MDs, my surgeon, Don's holistic MD, and my naturopathic doctor to help me decide what course(s) of action to take. Meanwhile I'm on a strict, but yummy, anti-cancer diet, and doing a number of holistic treatments designed to help me recover from the surgery and fight the cancer.
Don is doing well. He is enjoying the team of caregivers we've developed and trained for him these past few months. (Just in time!) Most of them are young college coeds who share his interests in music, movies and adventures. He text messages with all of them often and they share pictures with him of their ski trips and rock climbing adventures. His 54th birthday was last week and several of his caregivers took him shopping for birthday cake ingredients, then off to one gal's apartment where together they all baked his birthday cake. So even though he can not eat it, he had birthday cake to share with the many birthday well-wishers who stopped in the next day.
To help with my surgery healing process and recovering my range of motion, Ken and I found a small used hot tub online on Craigs List. We set it up on Don's deck at his townhome. So while Ken and I are having a peaceful retreat this weekend at our mountain home, Don can have a hot tub party for his friends. Even paralyzed in the wheelchair, they can help him dabble his feet in the water while they soak. As you know, he loves to try all kinds of new adventures. Very little gets him down- he is my model for dealing with challenges.
Thanks for your encouragement and support.
No comments:
Post a Comment