Boo Hoo, Platelets going the wrong direction

Just found out my lab results. The Platelets are now down to 61. They were 71 on Monday, so they are getting worse instead of better. Guess this is fairly common when you are on chemo for a while, it is hard on the bone marrow which is where the platelets are produced. Time is the only thing that can help. So they want me to have lab work done on Sun. to maybe have chemo on Monday.

I changed the blog picture to one of me on my new "tree seat" up at the Homestead. I had mentioned to Stan and my Dad that I saw this neat tree that was down on the property and I thought it would be fun to lean against the garage door. So a few weeks ago, I was floating in the pond and I heard the big John Deere tractor coming down the road. Sure enough, here it was my Dad with the big tree attached to the front. I was so happy that they brought my tree. The bear broke the bottom of our garage door a couple years ago, and because we don't really need to open that side of the garage, and we didn't want to replace both doors at this time, we put up a decorative "stick" fence in front of that part of the garage. I will post a picture of that.

People are so sweet and still remembering and encouraging me with notes and cards. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. They are all so special, and it helps so much when I get discouraged or sick of this disease I am fighting. This one particular card came from a new friend of mine. On the front of the card is says this:    Tough Cookie (tuhr kook-e) - noun.
    1. Someone with just the right mix of sweetness and strength.
    2. One who doesn't crumble under pressure.
    3. A fighter who's too busy kicking butt to sit down and cry, but knows it's okay to do both.
    4. A person who doesn't always ask for support, but has lots of friends who would do anything to help

Inside is says,    Hang in there Tough Cookie

I guess I am a tough cookie. I told my Dr. that and he said, there are Tough ones and then there are broken ones. He sees both.

I need to go to church now and help Mieke with a kids choir she is starting,. I will finish this later.

Bummer, No Chemo Again

My platelets were too low today, so no chemo again. They want me to keep taking my premeds, have my blood rechecked in Holland on Wed. at noon, and if it is OK I could have my chemo on Thursday. So please pray that it all works out. I saw Dr. Downey today and he said, if my CA-125 was normal this week, then maybe I would be done with treatments for now. That would be two treatments past normal.  Then he tells me that we could do the reversal surgery in 6 wks. instead of waiting 8 wks. I can't quite figure it out?, and I hearing them wrong the first time, or are they changing their minds?? Anyways, I might be having the surgery sooner than I thought. This is fine with me, but I do have to get rid of some work commitments that I signed up for in November.

This weekend we had a surprise visit from a friend David and his dog Benson. He had made some meatloaf for us hot out of the oven. It was delicious! We also got to see Benson's tricks. He picks up things you drop on the floor and he shuts the door. Amazing! David's daughter Emily is a quadriplegic and she taught him to do those tasks.

Also, a big thanks to my neighbor Kay. She lives in Chicago and comes to her house across the street from us occasionally like her cottage. She brought me a couple of bottles of Chardonnay from Trader Joes. So sweet of her.

I have lots of pictures to post from Labor Day, the wedding reception in Detroit and others, but I have to figure out how to do it. I am going with Mieke tonight to a make up party in Fennville.

Tomorrow, Ross and Rumy are coming to Holland. Ross has to play at a funeral and we are going to go to Artprize. We saw some of the pieces on Sat. night before the symphony. So fun to see so many people roaming around GR.

Been a while

Stan here:

A few people who follow this have asked for the update.  Well, the update is that there have been a few computer problems of late and it has been hard to keep everything up to date. That is getting fixed.  So back in action in a day or so.  Even if this thing was working good there is not all that much new to report.  Deb's chemo date is the 24th and I am sure she will update at that time.  As time has gone by it seems she is feeling better and things are going in the right direction.  She was warned that she would lose her hair again and slowly but surely she became annoyed that whenever she wore anything fall like or dark it would be littered with reasonably short grey hair at the end of the day. So she took the measure of taking that down to the short and she now has a reddish (auburn) new wig that she looks rather different in.  I have always thought that she deserves some red tint in the deal. Somehow, knowing her like I do, it seems like red is a color that fits her quite well. I have always heard stories about redheads. Something like they are opinionated and can be kind of resilient.  So now she has a color that fits her quite well.

On the resilient side she has been working a little more lately. Last night she got called in on the 7-11 shift and this morning she had to teach a birthing class to expectant parents. So she rolled in at 12 last night and the alarm went off at 6:30  this morning to get up and teach this class. The only reason I tell this is to let people know that things are more normal than they have been in a long time.  There are times when the energy level is in question and she becomes disappointed that the get up and go has got up and went. As long as the ability stays to put one foot in front of the other she seems to have the ability to do it, no matter how she is feeling.   We are planning to attend the GR symphony opening this evening to see our son Ross and hear the concert.  So to give you some feel for things a normal person would want to rest after teaching a full day class. But her parting words this morning to me were to have the car warmed up because if we got going at 4.00 we could take in art prize before the concert.  I am not sure why I am boring you with this story other than to welcome you to my life.  Also, to tell you that things are seeming to be a little more like old times around here.  I am quite certain that at 4 I will load a redhead in the car and shortly thereafter we will be walking the streets of GR looking at some form of art that some person thought would meet the eye of a 60 year old guy that is on his first date with a redhead.

So what we have is a date with chemo on the 24th.  Another one in three weeks.  And then the potential of a reversal surgery.  Of all the things that have been a problem this has been the thing that Deb has at the top of her list.  If all goes well this would take place at or near the Christmas holiday season. You know the song " All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth."  I am not sure sure I could write that good of a song about our issue but I think you get the idea.

Otherwise life is OK.  Romney is tanking, the Tigers are going to still win this thing, I am going on a a date with a redhead tonight, a bunch of people are going to learn how to have and take care of a baby today, and the potential for the life that Deb deserves is seeming like a higher probability.

So long:

Stan the Man

Chemo Round 2 #6

Thought I better publish a little update while I am sitting in the chemo recliner. OK, I will tell you all the truth why I couldn't have chemo two days ago. I FORGOT to start taking my chemo premeds last Sat. I thought of it on Sunday night and when I told them that on Tues. they said it is just TOO dangerous because of the reaction I have to the Carboplatin too give it without taking it for the full 3 days. They have had to rush people to the hospital because of reactions. SOOOOO, it was a wasted trip to GR, I was mad at myself, but I will give you my excuse. I was so busy thinking about going to work on Sat. am, to teach expectant parent classes, and thinking about feeling good and normal, that it totally slipped my mind to start premedicating myself. Don't you think it is partly my Dr's fault?? because he wanted me to go back to work and try to feel "normal"??   No?? They didn't buy it at chemo either.

So I wait two days, take ALL the pre meds, and here I am. It feels wierd to be here on a Thursday, because I have always been here on a Monday or Tues. It is a whole different set of patients. But, you learn from them. One girl has been doing this for 6 years and she was told she had only months to live also. She had 4 years of "remission", but then her CT scan showed spots of cancer had come back. Her CA-125 didn't go up, so they don't even use that as a test for her. First time I had heard that.

I forgot to mention in my last post that I will be having a CT scan in Sept. They will finally send my CA-125 in today, so hopefully will get those results tomorrow to know if only two more of these chemos.(this round).

We will be up north for a long weekend. My parents will be at their log home, and all the kids should be up there for a part of the weekend. Should be fun and nice and hot.  It will probably be the last weekend for floating around in my blow up raft chair with the cupholder. I might even fill it with something fun! It is always beautiful around the water, with a breeze usually and stays nice and cool in the house.

Guess what I did yesterday? I played 9 holes of golf with my friend Karen. I never would have gone had she not encouraged it. It was a beautiful day, sunny with a nice breeze. I hits some good shots, many bad ones. We didn't keep score (after the mulligans). So that took all the pressure off. We will hopefully try it again this fall.

The past few weeks I have had fun doing some shopping with my friend Deb S. who organizes the Honduras mission trips that Mieke and I have gone on. We got to go to Spectrum Health's warehouse and pick out LOTS of wonderful large items for the surgery center in Gracias, Honduras and the work that they do in the villages. I also helped sort and pack in boxes lots of donated drugs that they give out. This all had to be done before Labor Day when they send out a large shipping container over there. To go on another brigade with this group with the Luke's Society is definitely on my bucket list!

Some of you know the following because you follow Facebook, but I will  update those who don't use that.
1st -Ross won an audition and is now the second chair trumpet for the Lansing Symphony Orchestra.
       He beat out 9 others, who he said were all very good players, and at the end a woman (from U of
       M). He was very glad to have an official position, it means regular work, you get calls for other
       and hopefully more students for lessons. They don't have as many concerts as the Grand Rapids
       Symphony, so he will be able to play with them also. He is scheduled already for their first  
       classical concert in Sept.
        He is also going to go on tour for 3 wks. in Nov. with a National Touring Broadway tour of
       Fiddler on the roof. He is subbing for a trumpet player who needed the 3 wks off. You can go
       on their website and find out where he will be playing, starting Nov. 14. We are going to try and
       go when they are in Muskegon. He ends up in Florida and then they fly him home.  He will be
       gone over Thanksgiving and he offered to have the family over for a Thanksgiving meal early
       at HIS house before he leaves. (I put this in writing, so he won't forget his offer...)

2nd- Mieke has excepted a full time job at Park Elementary School in Hudsonville. She will be     
        working as a para pro in Kindergarten in the morning and 5th grade in the afternoon. She loves
        this school, the principal, the teachers, etc. They hire most of their teachers through their para
        pros, so this is what she is hoping will happen (sooner than later).  She did get offered a teaching
        job in Niles, but did not except it. She and Aaron are happy to stay living in Holland.  She was
        asked to start working the day she excepted the job by going to a Kindergarten open house , so
        she could meet all the kids, their parents and all the teachers. Of course she was wishing she
        was the"teacher" , but that is only natural, she will learn so much this year, and there will not
        be all the pressure and work at home every night and weekends to make lesson plans, etc.

 3rd- Aaron is going to start a full time job selling at Michigan Air Specialties in GR. He has benefits
        so that took the pressure off Mieke to except the teaching job that she didn't feel was a "good
        fit". He is very excited to start this new position next Tues.

      I have to admit I am thrilled to have them stay around for a while.  I am thankful, and thank       
      God for all three of these new jobs!!

Sorry this is so long. We will be up north for the long weekend and hopefully all the kids will be
there for some part of the weekend.  Next weekend we will all be going downtown Detroit and stay at a hotel in Greektown. We will be attending my nephew Kyle and his new wife Richenda's wedding celebration party at the Detroit Yacht Club on Bell Isle.  They live in Australia, and  their wedding was the one we went to in Hawaii in January. This reception is for the friends and relatives who
were not as fortunate to go to that wedding in Hawaii. Can't wait to see everyone again. My niece and her boyfriend from Chile will also be there.

Just got a call from Ross, and guess what? I get to tell you that one more of my kids got a new job!!
Rumy is now going to be working at Albion College as an accompanist for students. Ross has students there and they can go in together. So good to have on her resume and the added income!!

What is going on with the Tigers loosing?? No good. Hope they do better this weekend. Have a
wonderful Labor Day weekend!! Next chemo Sept.24, would you do me a favor? If you see me, please remind me on Sept.20 to start taking my pre meds. OK? The nurse said it happens usually once to patients on premeds, but what it tells her is that people are living their lives and not just thinking about the big "C".

Oops.....

I now know why I can't find out my CA-125 results. They drew the blood, but never sent it. I guess because I couldn't have chemo last Monday, they want to keep your count at the same time as you have chemo. So now I know, and we will hopefully find out what it is next Monday.

Worked four hours L&D last night. It feels good to get back. Stan is going up north tonight with a friend, and work on "deer stuff". I am kind of glad to stay back here for a change because I teach all day tomorrow, get to go to outside church, see everyone there and I plan to have my neighbor across the street and her friend over for lunch on Sunday. She is the one who was so kind to loan out her house for my family to use at the time of Mieke's wedding. Speaking of Mieke, she has another teaching interview today so say a little prayer for her. Today is Aaron's last day at DeBoer Bakery, they are having a little send off party for him. I know they will miss him!!

I forgot to mention that we had a nice time visiting with my sister-in-law Lisseth last Sunday. She stopped by at the Hoksbergen Homestead on her way home from the Leland area. He husband Roland (Stan's brother) is in Ghana until December leading a group of students from Calvin. Lisseth is a Spanish teacher at East GR schools so she couldn't go along.

The grey hair is getting very thin on top, it is getting harder to hide the bald spots....

My Tigers are doing good lately which makes watching the games so much fun!!

Couldn't have Chemo

My Platelets were too low, so no chemo on Monday. I have to go back next Tues. They did draw blood and sent it in for my CA-125 count, but I can't seem to find out those results. I called twice today, and she said they are not back yet. It has never taken this long before, but she thought maybe because it is summer, and less people working?? Anyways, she said call on Thursday am if was "all that important to me to know the results". Well, I guess that person has never had cancer, or she would understand.
This week delay has now pushed back my surgery date. I need to pray for patience. I have worked three days so far. It is going OK. I am teaching all day next Sat. expectant parent classes.

Today my friend Lori picked me up in her convertible and we drove up Lakeshore Dr. to Grand Haven. It was a beautiful sunny day and she treated me to lunch at Snug Harbor. After lunch we walked around downtown and checked out some shops. I really don't know the stores in Grand Haven that well and it was a fun day.

Yesterday I got rear ended. I was at a stop light in Holland and a woman ran into me. Luckily it only scraped my bumper. We called the police and he made out a report. I was just leaving work and she was a nurse just going to work. I felt bad for her, I bet she got a ticket.

Tonight Mieke and I had dinner at Itty Bitty Bar. We ate outside on the patio. We walked there from our house, it is so close and so nice out tonight. Stan had his golf league and stopped by on his way home.

I have really had trouble with my ileostomy lately, it is painful, leaks and is a real PAIN. I am sooooooo ready to get it reversed. It is all I think about. That date can not come soon enough for me.

Listening to the RAIN...

Hi, thought it was time to give a little update of last weekend.

It was a success. The weather was wonderful, nice an warm on Sat. so we could have fun in the water, and a bit cooler on Sunday so we could sit outside all day in beautiful non humid sunshine. Sat. night was our "Detroit Tiger" theme dinner for my Mom's 80th birthday. We had ribs and chicken and had the tent outside all decorated with Tiger paraphernalia. We gave her a Tiger banner to hang up wherever she is watching the games. We watched them win that night. So fun to all be together.

Sunday we had a pigroast. My crazy brothers got up at 3am to put the apple in the mouth, grapes in the eyes and start it roasting. It was delicious and we had plenty with a 100 lb. pig. We had about 50 relatives and friends, and even some "up north" neighbors came over. Dessert was ice cream sundaes with all the toppings and homemade brownies. We had a wonderful program lead by an old friend from the Grosse Pointe Christian Day School days, Jim VW. He played the guitar, sang, taught us fun songs, we did skits, people told stories about Mom and Dad and we gave them a framed Tribute signed by us 4 kids. My sister Krista read a beautiful writing that touched on all the things we are thankful for from our parents. She did a great job putting this together.

The little kids couldn't get enough Gator rides and pushes on the swing from Great Grandpa.
I was so grateful to feel pretty good throughout the whole weekend.

I did work 4 hours last Tues. and it went good. I didn't feel my best that day, but did get through it. I am singed up to go in Next Tues and do it again. I also signed up to teach two Saturday expectant parent classes. It was good to be back and work with my co-workers again.

We head back up north tomorrow to attend a wedding in Petosky on Sat. afternoon.

We are so happy to hear the good news of our friend Kent's results of his recent PET scan. It shows that the chemo is working, little to no glow. He will soon have surgery to remove half of his liver.
Hang in there Kent, we are praying for you!

I am sad the Tigers lost today. I was used to them winning with a 6 game winning steak.

Have a great weekend and enjoy the rain, I am.