Today has been a good day.  With the patch, I think we’ve finally gotten both the pain and the nausea under control.  Yippee!  Maggie had a decent-sized meal for lunch, something she hasn’t done for more than a week.  And there’s been plenty of smiles to go around.  We are both quite happy about this turn.  So happy, in fact, we will be heading out, if briefly, to a Halloween Party to say hi to friends. Continue reading Good Day →

More of the same.  No bad news.  Encouraging words from the doctor. A variety of clinic trial options are ready when we are.  However….. Continue reading San Antonio Day 2 →

Imagine this scene:  I’m sitting at my laptop in Hooter’s, fingers slightly stained from hot wing sauce.  My beer glass is empty and bad pop music is blaring in my left ear.  I have papers covered with thick, incomprehensible medical jargon spread out all over a table that is size-appropriate for six rotund construction workers and the back of my laptop is resting just on the edge.  The burly men around me are trying not to stare impolitely when I wipe tears from my eyes.  I have to laugh because it’s just so…. Improbable.  Ah, what a journey we’re on. Continue reading San Antonio Day 1 →

First, the good news: the radiation treatments appear to be working.  Next, the bad news:  Maggie’s been running a fever and feels horrible.  Side effect of the radiation?  Nope.  But we’ve got blood cultures cookin’, antibiotics workin’, and more radiation coming on Monday. Continue reading Radiation Working →

Tomorrow we’ll be starting radiation treatments to hopefully alleviate the pain that has become a recent problem.  Today, we got the first good close-up picture of the cause of that pain in her neck at the radiation clinic.  Despite what some of you think, it was not a picture of me.

Please note that this post will be, for most, disturbing to read.  Choose to read it at the right time for you.  Also know that Maggie and I are optimistic about the outcome of the upcoming treatments, as is the doctor.  In fact, I’m serene as I type this. Continue reading Radiation and Other Stuff →

Where to start?  How about status:  Maggie is in good spirits.  Maggie’s pain in her shoulder has mostly subsided but the swelling remains.  We’ve developed a bonus pain in her bicep that seems to be growing in intensity but at this time we don’t know if it’s just some phantom pain or worse. We’ll know soon enough.  She’s switched to oxycodone to manage the discomfort and is finishing off her last few steroid pills today.  Dr. Loukas says she can’t have any more steroids otherwise we’ll have worse problems when she stops taking them.  Instead, if the pain continues, we’ll begin targeted radiation treatments as and where necessary.  And now, the rest of the story….. Continue reading Trials →

We met with Dr. Loukas today to discuss our situation in more detail. Things are worse than even he (and we) thought. It is very unfortunate. Continue reading Lighting Strikes →

Despite the rough treatments we’ve endured recently, Monday’s CT scans showed that the tumors are continuing to grow. This puts us in a rather difficult position. Remember that eye-of-the-hurricane reference I made waaaay back in June ’07? Well, I’m fearful that the other half of the storm is about to hit. Continue reading Storm Clouds Ahead →

In February 2007 on the advice of the good people at The Spa, we applied for disability from the US Government.  At the time, with our heads spinning, we weren’t even sure what that meant.  Now, one year and eight months later, we still aren’t sure what it means but we’ve been approved for Medicare.  “Yay!” you’d think we’d say.  But wait.  There’s more. Continue reading Medicare →