Friday - October 19, 2012

Had blood count check yesterday - some up - some down.  I will start another round of gut shots on Monday.  That will the third of the predicted six.  Feel good.

We had  a quiet week here in Brevard.    I played golf once and plan to play a round with Rick Ciordia on Monday.

Joyse's Florida friends and neighbors arrived today in a long RV.   Jane is busy cooking cornish game hens as they are joining us for dinner tonight.  It will be great fun to see Ferdie, MaryLou, Mike, Mitzy, and Jan as we have visited with them many times in JAX while seeing Joyse.

 

We are going to Dallas, NC tomorrow to see Sara Peters ride in a horse show.  I did not know of Dallas, NC but we will find it via GPS.  Sara earned all of the costs of this show by working in the stables where she takes lessons. 

"A sense of humor is a major defense against minor troubles"   Mignon McLaughlin

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Had a great visit from Gail, Jane’s sister, Nancy, Jane’s cousin, and Paula, Nancy’s daughter.  We all went to see waterfalls and clouds.  Really appreciated their visit. Enjoyed it very much.

 

Saw the doc this week and the counts are OK.  We are just monitoring at this time and will have shots again the week of 22 October. 

 

Looking forward to the Peter’s visit today. 

 

“ I want to rock and roll all night and party every day.”  KISS

Saturday October 5, 2012

I am a lucky person to have this kind of support.  Thanks Amy,  Kevin, Julia and Sara for your participation in the Light the Night Walk.  What a team!

I appreciate all the support from my family and friends.  Never thought I would be the recipient but it makes one feel positive about the future. 

No blood readings this week so I must be good.  I feel great and have been hiking and playing golf.  Jane, Joyse, and I did a fairly strenuous hike off of the Blue Ridge Parkway in an area called Graveyard Fields (of all places).  The meadow was filled with bright red blueberry bushes and orange trees.

Thursday night we went to dinner at one of our good restaurants in Brevard and listened to Shannon Whitworth pick and sing.  She is a great vocalist and local talent.

"Think of life as a terminal illness, because if you do, you will live it with joy and compassion, as it ought to be lived."  Anna Quindlen (Author of "A Short Guide to a Happy Life")

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Oops,  Saturday came and went and I forgot to publish the weekly blog. 

It has been a great week here even though it was gut shot week for me.  Again, blood counts are so good that the doc says he will not take another reading until 11 Oct.  The only side effect is a sore tummy which heals in a few days.

This great week included a visit from Taylor and Anne Manley and friends.  Jane and I had lunch Monday in Brevard with Taylor, Anne, Mike, Nancy, and Carol Anne.  Great fun, food and conversation that one does not get in the hospital. 

Taylor and Anne returned on Wednesday and stayed with us until Friday.  We hiked to Skinny Dip Falls but did not.  Taylor and I played 18 holes of golf on Thursday while Jane and Anne went shopping in Hendersonville. After that we had cocktails at Joyse's new home and then had dinner out.  Thanks for the visit, we enjoyed it.

NGC friend, Larry Stover, called.  I hope we can visit againg soon. 

Jim Melton made his periodic check which I appreciate.  I'm doing well, Jim.

All I can say is that I feel and act normal as I have always been.  This has been verified by Jane who states that I am as much of a pain as in the past.


"Doing nothing is very hard to do--you never know when you're finished."  Leslie Nielson

Friday, September 21, 2012 Once again all blood count numbers are excellent and the docs are amazed. Next week I start another round of gut shots which are designed to continue to reduce the leukemia cells. It might lower the other levels for a while but so far this has not happened. Lewis Brewer, old high school friend, and his wife Judy, stopped by Brevard this week to visit. It was fun to see them. I am humbled by the number of old friends that have expressed their care and prayers. I do not feel sick enough to deserve it. We are having a great week. Yesterday we visted Amy and Kevin in Huntersville, NC and watched Julia as a cheerleader for her middle school football team. She is impressive. WE are very proud of her as she is an excellent tumbler and the team is exceptional. Sara also is excelling in her first year of middle school and is very enthusiastic. We are proud of both. Sara is excelling at horse back riding and works at the stables to earn points to save her Daddy money. We are now in Commerce, GA near the arena where Laurel and Clay will compete in riding competion tomorrow. It is a great event in Homer, GA which we all enjoy. Laurel is an up and coming rider and so is Clay. Marsha and Ron go to a great deal of effort to offer this opportunity to these two. Thanks to them. "It is great to be on the road again" Willie Nelson

Saturday - 15 September 2012

All is well.  My blood count numbers remain excellent i.e. ANC, the immunity score, is above  average.  I also had to go to Ace Hardware to buy a leather hole punch in order to modify all belts.  Hell of a diet.

We are headed to Asheville to celebrate Joyse's birthday at the Grove Park Inn,  Ike and I will then go downtown to the Brewgrass Festival (that is not a typo).  Ike got 2 free hundred dollar tickets from his work as they did all the signs and shirts for the event.  It should be interesting.  In Asheville, tattoos are acceptable substitutes for clothing which sometimes is not pretty.


"The way I see it, if you want the rainbow you gottta put up with the rain."  Dolly Parton

Saturday - 8 September 2012

Happy Birthday, Ike!  32 years ago today we were blessed with a baby boy who has been mostly a joy ever since.  We are very proud of you.

It has been a great week.  Jane and Ike harvested 4.5 gallons of honey from our hives. It must have been my good supervision.

Also, all my numbers, blood counts. are in the normal range which made the Doc and me very happy.  If they continue to remain up over the next 3 or 4 months he will do another biopsy to see if a a marrow transplant is in order. He believes the chemo is still working because it is too soon for an impact from the current rounds of Vidaza to be reflected in the blood counts.  This is good news so we are cautiously optimistic.  We still will not know anything for certain for several months but for now all is good.  Chemo head is gone as some of it was caused by low blood pressure.  I am now off most all high BP meds.

We are headed to the Mountain Song Festival today at the Brevard Music Center for some good bluegrass sounds, beer, and bar-b-que. 

Had a great visit with Jim and Sandy Melton who drove up from their new East Coast home in Cumming, Ga.  What a great visit.  Thanks for driving up guys.  Also, had a call from Bobby Briggs.  It is wonderful to hear from friends.

"Doubt has never changed anything, belief changes things." Amish Proverb again,