Month: April 2006

Oh So Close

For those of you hanging around to see if my lipid profile ever levels off with all the numbers in the green, you will have to come back in 6 months. My latest numbers, from a blood draw on the 6th of this month, are the best ones yet, but a couple of numbers are still slightly off. Medication remains the same from the last testing, Tricor, and the supplement as well, 600mg of “red yeast rice.” Two things have changed since the December test; 1) in January I started drinking one 4oz glass of red wine with dinner at home and 2) about a month ago I changed my breakfast cereal from Frosted Mini Wheats to the new Smart Start? Healthy Heart Maple Brown Sugar.

  Chol HDL LDL Trig
Goal <200 >40 <100 30-150
09/21/04 209 24 131 271
01/10/05 176 33 110 167
05/06/05 174 27 108 194
06/17/05 164 31 85 238
07/28/05 177 30 113 169
12/08/05 182 35 120 137
04/06/06 168 37 106 126

Visited Norway Today

Visited Norway TodayI may have to start a South Scandilina gallery. I’ve already got a picture of me in Switzerland and the town of Denmark is just around the corner.

Donna and I got up early and drove to Orangeburg to visit the city’s really nice Edisto Memorial Gardens. Not the best time to visit, the roses aren’t totally out yet and most of the azaleas are past, but still worth the drive. There is a really nice sensory garden, a really cool metal palmetto tree fountain and a long boardwalk along the south fork of the Edisto River. We walked all over the place for a couple of hours, but knew it was time to go when Easter services around town let out and families descended on the place to have pictures taken in their spring finery.

I spent the afternoon up a step ladder installing two ceiling fans in our soon to be new bedroom. Two, because the first one didn’t work once I got it 90% installed. Lowes was more than happy to swap out for another of the same style fan, but they wouldn’t refund me for my time spent. The good thing about the second install is it took less than half the time of the original one.

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 112

Saturday?

We took Thursday off as a vacation day. We had Friday off as a holiday, so we are having a nice little 4 day weekend with no real plans. We have done a bit of shopping for stuff we need (and some stuff we didn’t need) as we are redoing one of the bedrooms. We want to move in on the other side of the house because it is cooler in the summer than our current bedroom.

Thursday seemed like Saturday to me, but it was not. Friday seemed like Saturday too, but it wasn’t. Today was Saturday and it felt like…Friday. Wonder what day I’ll think tomorrow is?

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 112

‘Bout Time

We started the year right on our quest to bicycle more. We did the out portion of the Aiken Bicycle Club’s traditional New Year’s Day ride to the Aiken State Park or 20 miles. We rejoined the Club with intentions to do some of the easy Sunday rides. Aaah, the best laid plans…

If you don’t count the 5 mile ride I took with the Club for a photo op back in February (and I don’t,) today was the first time we have ridden since January 1st. We got up early to beat the heat and did eleven flat miles. We took it sorta easy for two reasons; 1) we hadn’t been on a bike for, well, 3-1/2 months and 2) it has only been 4 weeks since Donna had surgery.

No More Elephant In The Room

For the last couple of weeks we have had an elephant in the room with us. The tests the oncologists ordered were not only to see if Donna could withstand the rigors of chemo, which we were fine with, but there was also a darker reason for them, to see if the cancer had metastasized to her bones or other places.

Today was truly “Good” Friday for us, as we found out that we dealing with nothing extra, just your run of the mill breast cancer. She will still have 4 sessions of AC chemo, followed by the 6 weeks of radiation to make sure there is not one single cancer cell left anywhere in her body. Because her cancer was ER+, after that she will be on Tamoxefin or similar for 5 years to foil any more cancer.

Although there are a list of side effects as long as your arm for each of the two drugs she will be getting, Adriamycin and Cytoxan, each person will have different reactions to the medicines. Hair loss is almost always a given, but we are physically prepared with out scarfs, turbans and hair tidbit. Nausea is another, but they have so many different anti-nausea drugs out there we should hopefully be able manage that.

Right now we both have a positive attitude about this and from all we have read, that is a big help in getting through this. Later when Donna is actually dealing with the chemo and the attitude slips some, then it will become my job to prop it back up. I don’t have a definite plan on how to do that right now, I’ve considered ordering “Clowning for Dummies” from Amazon.com, but any other suggestions are welcome…

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 110

Slice of Wife

Slice of WifeTwo weeks ago the oncologist ordered up a series of tests before he begins treatment. Last Thursday was 2 tests, an echo cardiogram (ultra sound of the heart) and a bone scan to make sure those systems are up to the rigors of chemo. This morning was a CT scan w/contrast.

We were supposed to see the oncologist this afternoon, but they called and left a message on our answering machine yesterday to reschedule the appointment until Monday because we were only having the CT Scan that morning. This did not sit well with either the patient nor her spouse because we had taken the day off from work, so we could do both things.

We went over to the hospital and did the CT scan early. I think Donna must have been the first patient of the day, because we breezed right through and were out of the building by 8:30. When Donna asked the tech how long would it take to get the pictures because we were going to have an appointment later that day, she said, “Hold on, I’ll burn you a CD.” Cool we thought, we’ll drop these over at the oncologists office and we can still keep the Thursday appointment. Nope, they not only needed the images, but they needed time for a radiologist to read them before we could talk to the doctor. But because we pushed, they could get the results of the scans on Friday morning and the doctor could see us at 11:00AM. This worked out almost as well because we have Good Friday off and won’t need to miss work.

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 110

Updates

MLB.com – For the heck of it this morning I tried the 1-800 number for customer service. Instead of the busy signal I have gotten the last dozen times or so, it rang. They must have added more incoming lines, but they didn’t add anyone to answer the phone. Because I have a speaker phone at work I decided to just let it ride and see how it would take to get a human. I turned off my music and listened to their classical on hold stuff. Ten minutes into waiting my wife showed up for our morning break. I left the phone alone and we went for our two laps of the parking lot. Fifteen minutes later when I returned the classical music was still playing. I went about my usual business, not worrying about waiting by the phone. Fifty-five minutes into the wait the music inexplicably changed from classical to classic rock. Finally, at one hour and fifteen minutes, Shay asked how she could help me. She did confirm that on the 6th my request for cancellation was honored. I was then informed that it takes 7-10 working days to get the refund credited back to my card and if I don’t see it by, say, the 20th I should call back.

Allstate – When last we left it, I was waiting for Allstate to call me and tell me everything was worked out, so I could go get the car fixed. Flush with my success with MLB.com I decided to call the 1-800 claims center and see what was up. What do you know, it was all settled and I could pick my body shop. Just when were they going to call me?

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 110