Thursday, Sept 13, 2012

We are back from Seattle. Leland had a Power Port inserted under his skin on Tuesday afternoon. It has a catheter that goes from a small recepticle inplanted just under his skin and right under the collarbone. The catheter goes into the jugular vein and moves whatever is being infused much more quickly and efficiently than a vein, as the blood flow is much faster there. This saves him from having his veins pierced each week, and hopefully will keep them from breaking down.

His blood is drawn each week, and the status checked before they do any therapy.  He will have the CT scan done tomorrow in The Dalles  and we should get the results when we go to the clinic next week.

His treatment is including high dose IV Vitamin C now, 25,000 units.  The treatments are going well, and he continues to feel better and able to enjoy his food again.  He still needs to nap throughout the day, but in between has energy and interest to do a few tasks as long as they don’t take too long.  He got his desk cleaned off again and has even done a session of Flight Sim which he had not had even the mental energy to do for a couple of months.

I got acquainted with a patient across the aisle from us this last week with   Stage IV Lung Cancer.  She was very friendly and we ended up visiting for several minutes while Leland dozed.  She told me they gave her 6 months to live, and first she was depressed, then she got mad.  So in colorful language which I will not repeat here, she stood up and told her Doctor that he was wrong, she would NOT Die and he was not going to help her, then he was fired.  She endured traditional treatment for 18 months, then found the Seattle Cancer Treatment Center and switched there.  The original DX was three and a half years ago, and she has been at this clinic for 2 years.  She has a fighting spirit, and great respect for the protocols here.  She was inspiring. 

 She told me that she has learned a few things through all of this, that life will never be the same again, but she is grateful to still be here, and refuses to spoil the gift of today with grieving over what she has lost.  She is alone with a 15 year old daughter so has huge incentive to keep fighting.  Her name is Tera   for anyone who would like to add her to your prayer list.

 We see patients there who seem quite well, and a few which are in much worse shape than Leland is. 

 

 We feel so blessed that he is feeling better, and is able to enjoy the trips there and back.  He has even been able to drive part of the way, which is really helpful.  So far I have done all the driving in the city, which has been rather stressful to me.  We see more cars going through one change of the intersection than we do all month in Goldendale!  But I remind myself that God has this all under control, that I can do all things thru Him Who strengthens me-even drive in crazy Seattle traffic surrounded on all side by 18 Wheelers!  Leland teases me that I must really like those trucks, cuz we are always right behind one : )  (Apologies to Laura and Larry)

Thank you dear Cherilyn and Todd for the housekeeper who came while we were gone and did the routine cleaning for us-what a help that was!  And to Pat for picking up our mail and leaving it on the step along with a basket of organic produce from her garden, to Stanton for delivering our Azure order today.  We will enjoy and be thankful for all we have this day.  And last but not least, we are also very happy that Cherilyn and Todd will be making us grandparents again on or near March 25 : ).  Hugs to all of you.