confusing results ... back on the roller coaster

argh argh argh! Guess it was too much to ask for this to be over, huh?!

The surgeon called with confusing information. He told my husband that the pathology results show that the cancer was more aggressive than thought. 

For some reason they don't understand, the biopsy and MRI results did not show that. 

That means it could reappear somewhere.  He told my husband that he has a 40% chance of recurrence but that he is optimistic that all will be well. 

So shocked and unsettled ...

too pooped to post

Sorry to be so long in updating but I'm worn down to a nubbins and too pooped to post much of a blog post. The two and a half month build up of worry and stress has taken it's toll and I have zero energy.  So just letting go and giving in and enjoying reading and napping and eating curative chocolate LOL.

My husbands surgery went very well HURRAY HURRAH!  Now we wait for the pathology results of the "suspicious" area on his MRI - hopefully we will hear tomorrow, Thursday. His surgeon believes all will be well.  Keep those fingers crossed!

 

Thanks so very much for all of your care and concern and healing thoughts and prayers, we so appreciate it and all of you. Please know you are so very dear. 

today's the day

I can't sleep, woke up at 3:20. Drat drat drat. And it's going to be a very long day - my husbands surgery isn't until 12:15 and will last about four hours. 

I so appreciate all the great blogger energy and healing thoughts and prayers coming our way. 

Thank you so much for your kindness and friendship!

sixteen years

Yesterday was our 16th wedding anniversary (January will be 20 years we've been together). We picked up our old selves and went out to dinner at our new favorite restaurant - a vegan sushi restaurant. I had read how fantastic their Downtown location is for years and they finally opened a spot on the West Side near us.  YIPPIE! 

They're having a Halloween tasting menu during October and so we decided to try it. Pumpkin Tempura, Pumpkin Soup, Pumpkin Sushi, and Pasta with Pumpkin Cream Sauce. Yummy!

When dessert time rolled around, all the servers came over to our table with our desserts and a candle had been placed on one of the plates to celebrate the occasion.  Then they told us to hold this heart-shaped wreath and that they were going to take our picture.  We weren't sure what was going on??

When we were done with our dessert, the servers came back with the card at the top of this post, with our photo in it. So much fun! Very sweet.

We're hoping for a quiet weekend. 

My husbands surgery is scheduled for 12:15 Monday afternoon and his surgery should be over about four hours later and then post op can take another few hours.  We need to arrive by 9:45 that morning, so it's going to be quite a long day.

distractions

It's hard to get through the days over here. Between my husbands approaching surgery this coming Monday and losing our doggie, George, I'm a mess. I move in slow motion, getting practically nothing done. So overwhelmed.

I can easily get lost in silly stuff on the internet for hours. Halloween bar cookie recipes. Halloween cross stitch patterns. Linky parties filled with Fall and Halloween decor, etc. entries.

Pumpkin Spice M & M Brownies from 

What Does She Do All Day
sound easy and yummy.

Orange and Black Cookies and Cream Magic Bars from
Hungry Happenings
look tasty and sound like so much fun.

The Little Stitcher
created this most darling witch silhouette pattern
and it's a freebie for all of us!

Wishing you a Spooktacular Halloween!

georgie is not going to make it

One year ago this very morning, we drove down to meet two senior Golden Retrievers who had been dropped off by their owner at the animal shelter to be euthanized and rescued by a GR rescue organization. We came home with two new best furry friends.

Two months later, we found out dear George had inoperable cancer. He has met and weathered all other setbacks like a champ, outliving the specialists dire forecast for him by ten months.  He has been the sweetest and best boy, bringing us joy every moment the past year.

But his cancer and this current challenge has proved to be too much. He cannot hold down food or water or his medications. 

I am sitting by his side, rubbing his dear and noble face and crying endless tears.

We will love him and cuddle him today and tomorrow we will say goodbye and let him go ...


Thank you so very much for all of your kind words and prayers for Georgie!

update on georgie

(gracie and her georgie at the doctors)

Georgie didn't want to eat much this morning ... he only ate a cup of food but I thought I'd be able to get him to eat more later. He seemed alright at first but then he refused to even eat the chicken I offered from my hand, which he's never done before. So we called the doctor and were able to get an appointment just a couple hours later for 12:30.

The doctor said he looked like a very unhappy doggie. He said that Georgie was severely dehydrated and nauseous. He wasn't sure of the cause and said he didn't know if he had a virus or an infection or if it's related to his original cancer, or what???

He said for us to leave Georgie and they would give him intravenous fluids to hydrate him and a mega dose of IV anti-nausea medicine and that they would also do more xrays and see if they could determine if something had changed about his original mass they found back in December. 

His blood work from Thursday, came back normal - nothing wrong with his kidneys, liver, etc. And nothing more learned about the new suspected mass. The doctor said that from the standpoint of his blood panel alone, Georgie appeared to be a very healthy doggie ... but we know that's not the case.

He's rebounded before so we are trying to remain hopeful --- but we also know he's been one very brave and strong doggie and fought back against a bad diagnosis for a long time already ...

Thank you so much for your sweet comments and praying for our Georgie!

please think a good thought for georgie

Well, whoever thought up the old adage when it rains, it pours, sure knew what they were talking about.  Sheesh. 

Georgie had seemed to be a bit better following his recent illness.  But then yesterday he threw up several times in the morning and I had to put on my big girl panties and put aside that I don't feel well and that I have severe arthritic pain in my thumb and run him to the vet.  I had to drop him off since the vet had no openings and I felt too wobbly anyway and remind myself he was in the best of hands.

We went back to pick him up after eight o'clock last night - the vet having done lots of xrays and blood work and finally having time to talk to us and tell us what he thinks is causing Georgie's nausea.

Heartbreakingly, he believes Georgie has another tumor, either on his pancreas or on his liver - there's a new mass on his xrays.  The blood work will make it clear which organ. We should have the results tomorrow, Saturday, and also find out what, if any, treatment can be done for him.

October 7th will be one year since we adopted George and Gracie from the rescue and October 7th will also be 10 months since George was diagnosed with terminal cancer and not expected to make it more than three or four days.  

If we know anything, we know Georgie is a fighter. He is one big, sweet, funny, loving, fur ball and he hasn't wanted to leave this life yet.

Please think lots of healing doggie thoughts for our George.

Thanks you guys! xo

hunt and peck

How are you doing? Hope you've been well!  We've been having the loveliest of days here, gorgeous blue skies with not a single cloud.

My husband's sick and I feel a bit under the weather too.  And on top of a cold, I'm all creeky and ouchie over here --- my right thumb joint is killing me. The past two days it's been so painful that I can't drive, or hold a pen to write, or a book to read, I can barely open the doggies prescription bottles, etc. WAH!  But I can type,  well, I can hunt and peck so I can whinnnnnnnnnneeee LOL.

My thumb has been giving me momentary flashes of discomfort the past year but now it feels like when I had my frozen shoulder in 2007-2008, like the joint is frozen and immovable.  ouchers!  I've tried heat, I've tried ice, I've done thumb exercises, tried Tylenol and Ibuprofen.

And I was so looking forward to doing some stitching on my new Halloween cross stitch patterns from the Primitive Hare ... look here and here, aren't they cute?!

I adore Notforgotten Farm and she has a Halloween freebie chart here.

I love this time of the year, with all the excitement and fun of the holidays. Are you dreaming of crafty fun too?

october 21st

So sorry for not updating earlier! I am going at a snails pace these days and not accomplishing much.

On the eighth day of waiting, the surgeon finally called my husband with his MRI results. He said there is something suspicious on one side and that he believes sooner is better than later for the surgery. He also told my husband that he's not in danger but good gosh ... WAH!  So very scary!

So my husband will have his surgery on Monday, October 21st. We won't know until the Friday before, what time the surgery will be --- so frustrating, but I guess that's the way things are at teaching hospitals???

Georgie is doing fine, turns out he has bad reflux and he also had a bladder infection. 

We still haven't received the final results for Gracie - it's been quite a ride this week with her. I came home from my first support group meeting Thursday and found that she had chewed her dew claw off and there was blood all over their doggie bed.  sniffle sniffle SOB. So I had to run her over to the vet's lickety split and since she was there, they moved up the secondary test they give for a definitive Cushing's result, so we wouldn't have to bring her back today for it as planned. 

Rather feel like I'm losing my mind ... trying to remember to breathe ...

Since I am buried underneath a mountain of stuff over here, I have placed myself on a no purchases diet, oh yeah sure bwhahahhahha - but I just ordered myself some fun Halloween crafty stuff, to hopefully lose myself in. 

Miss you all, hope you're doing well! 

waiting

We haven't heard from the doctor yet regarding the test results. WAH! My husband called the office and was told that the results have been entered in the system and that the doctor will call him but the office personnel didn't know when that would happen.  So we're waiting ...

And George is a bit under the weather today and has me concerned. He's now been with us nine and a half months longer than they said he had left.

He only ate a little more than half his food this morning and I ended up feeding him by hand for some of it. He's been eating really slowly this week, but eating all of his food though, every day up until today. He's also started a new thing of drinking tons of water this week. (He is wagging his tail and playing catch today.)

So tomorrow we're off to the vet.

Gracie also has a problem ... they ran a test for Cushings last weekend but they didn't take enough of a sample (GRRRRRRRR), so she has to be tested again tomorrow.  

I wanted to stay by Georgie today and have been going through notebooks of craft patterns, templates, etc., that I've clipped or printed out over the years and merrily tossing most of them in the trash.

I am embarrassed to say that I may be personally responsible for the demise of the forests due to all of my printing out of unneeded junk from the internet. 

Good grief. 

My mission is to keep only what fits nicely in our (tiny, egad) home ... I know, I know, but a girl can dream, can't she?! 

Wishing you and yours a lovely weekend! 

dutch postcards

 

A wee bit of red for Rednesday ...

two charming postcards from the Netherlands 

that I found in my mom's things - postmarked 1968.

Joining in the celebration of red with Melody,
at Brown Gingham Creations.

test today

My husband is having a MRI test today. The results will determine how quickly he must have his surgery. Please think a good thought for us this morning. 

Thank you for continuing to show up here and for your kindness and friendship.

cancer support community

Oh my gosh, I just went to Orientation at the most amazing organization, Cancer Support Community. 

I've been plagued with terrible anxiety and panic and migraines since my husbands diagnosis and even though I haven't been to one of the support groups or other phenomenal resources available yet, I left feeling lighter already. Certainly this is one of the places where angels dwell. Everything is free ... support groups, individual counseling, yoga, pilates, zumba classes, art classes, on and on. All free for the cancer patient and family and care givers.

I felt as if my best friend had given me the biggest bestest warmest of hugs, squeezes and smiles.

party like it's the first official grand opening welcome back Rednesday day!!!

I've got a little bit (alright, a really teeny tiny bit)
of my brothers childhood red to share 

for this weeks first official outing of Rednesday.

Hope you will join in the fun with our hostess Melody

 at the all new and fantabulous home of Rednesday Wednesday,
Brown Gingham Creations!