A Caregiver's Inspirational Journey Through Cancer
Posted in CB (CaringBridge), MM Chrono Journey on Dec 6th, 2010
“To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there.” ~Barbara Bush What can I say? Dave’s parents are amazing. When Dave was diagnosed and we called them it was brutal for us. This is not a call you want to make. But to ask them NOT to come was even more […]
Posted in CB (CaringBridge), Our Life on Sep 29th, 2010
CB#34 July 2008 “Home is where we are.” – Lori Puente I have finally arrived in California. I don’t know how to describe the feelings I’m having about what was to be a fun grand adventure. It is still an adventure to be sure, but not at all how we imagined it when it all […]
Posted in CB (CaringBridge) on Sep 24th, 2010
CB# 33 Tuesday, July 15, 2008 “Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart.” – Henry Clay Dave didn’t make many entries in his Caring Bridge, but he made a few… The photo you see is him having won the mini golf tournament on […]
Posted in CB (CaringBridge) on Sep 23rd, 2010
CB# 32 July 12 – 15, 2008 “… Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom.” – James Allen Things are heating up for my departure. Dave is still giving me overall good reports on his condition. Sleeping OK, pain levels controlled and low level, but having a lot of muscle stiffness. […]
Posted in CB (CaringBridge) on Sep 23rd, 2010
CB# 31 July 11, 2008 “Everyday holds the possibility of a miracle.” – Elizabeth David ARGH! In the midst of all the things I’m dealing with, an employee at UMD mentioned to me that my car tags were days away from being what we call “dead”. It can be quite a pricey fine and I […]
Posted in CB (CaringBridge) on Sep 22nd, 2010
Trying to “get back” to chronicling our journey with MM. The further we get away from it the harder it becomes as we all feel we are getting back to a more normal lifestyle. But… I feel it is important, for those in the throws of this journey to know that they are not alone […]
Posted in CB (CaringBridge), Misc on Aug 4th, 2010
CB #29 Marilyn, our wonderful friend and doctor, who I have mentioned before, sent us a “healing blanket” shortly after Dave’s diagnosis. This blanket was one made by all the members of her family; her sisters and their children, for her mother when she was ill and dying. It is a quilt of squares that […]
Posted in Caregiver Thoughts, CB (CaringBridge), Multiple Myeloma on Aug 3rd, 2010
CB# 28 “No one experiences freedom until they stop pushing against others. The only thing that binds you is the pushing against that which is unwanted.” – Abraham The rules in California are like none other, when it comes to healthcare. I have several complaints that have made our experience more difficult than it needed […]
Posted in CB (CaringBridge), Multiple Myeloma on Jul 19th, 2010
There are a lot of people with MM who have been using Tumeric (cucurmin) with excellent results. I have filed in the back of mind as a mental note to look more into this. I posted the following on my Caring Bridge site and wanted to share it. CB Entry (Out of Order) Thursday, August […]
Posted in CB (CaringBridge), Misc, MM Chrono Journey, Our Life on Jul 17th, 2010
CB #27 Originally, Dave and I were to pack up the Brookeville house and Kip and I would stay with my neighbor Gail. I would keep working and then take vacation and head off to Egypt with a group of folks, primarily my friend Paula, who owns Rosehaven in Lexington, Kentucky. 0
Posted in CB (CaringBridge), MM Chrono Journey on Jul 22nd, 2009
Image via Wikipedia CB #18 Wednesday, June 25, 2008 I made my first of many “narcotics runs” to the pharmacy. Each time the pharmacist would want to meet with me. Each time, I would explain that I understood that he had “other” narcotics and that we needed to be careful, and so on and so […]
Posted in CB (CaringBridge), MM Chrono Journey on Jul 16th, 2009
CB #17 June 26, 2008 Oh man! Well we went for the radiation treatment for Dave’s ribs and we got hit with a bunch of stuff that needs to be done for his treatment to start on Monday for the Myeloma. The upshot is that it was my first moment of frustration and anger given […]
Posted in CB (CaringBridge), MM Chrono Journey on Jul 14th, 2009
CB #16 June 23 & 24, 2008 So I called Diane and got the skinny on Dr. Creep. I discovered he is not well thought of by the staff or colleagues, but “he’s much better now.” Oh God! I felt better though having been validated about my instincts. This further spurred my desire to get […]
Posted in CB (CaringBridge), MM Chrono Journey on Jul 14th, 2009
CB #15 Monday, June 23, 2008 (evening) Before we left Rideout, we had a couple of visits from doctors. Dave came through the emergency room and was admitted and it wasn’t until the following day that the Oncologist, Dr. N, became involved. Of course I wasn’t there, so I didn’t know these guys. But one […]
Posted in CB (CaringBridge), MM Chrono Journey on Jul 14th, 2009
CB #14 While all this is going on on the West Coast, I learned that my incredible friends and neighbors were rallying around and organizing a “packing” schedule. When I got home I had troops of friends all doing something and coming over here and there to help me pack 27 years of CRAP for […]
Posted in CB (CaringBridge), MM Chrono Journey on Jul 14th, 2009
CB #13 Its a Tuesday, the 24th of June, 2008 Dave has been in the hospital almost a week now. He is desperate to get out and I’m desperate to not be sitting in a hard chair all day long, but… the pain is really tough. He is having a hard time emotionally taking all […]
Posted in CB (CaringBridge), MM Chrono Journey on Jul 14th, 2009
CB #12 One of the things I have always been really good at is lining up all the things that need to get done and organizing it in a logical manner with tight scheduling and make it happen. I still had a job! I had left abruptly while my boss was out of town, I […]
Posted in CB (CaringBridge), MM Chrono Journey on Jul 13th, 2009
CB #11 What the hell does T8 & T9 “Involvement” mean? All we knew was Dave had “lesions” on his spine and shoulder. Ok, so this explains the pain I guess. The solution was to handle it with radiation. Ok. Dave couldn’t move, so an ambulance had to come to his room, get him from […]
Posted in CB (CaringBridge), MM Chrono Journey on Jul 13th, 2009
One of my CB entries early on… CB #10 Monday, June 23, 2008 Whew Folks! What a week. From Monday morning when Dave couldn’t get out of bed and missed his trip to Las Vegas, to Monday evening being told after a chest cat scan that he had metastatic cancer of the spine, to finding […]
Posted in CB (CaringBridge), Misc, MM Chrono Journey on Jul 13th, 2009
I knew about Caring Bridge (if you don’t, you should check it out) from friends of a teenager who had been in a car accident. It is a wonderful tool that allows you, in seconds to set up a website and tell everyone what is going on and then make “Journal” entries that friends and […]
