"How's Connie?"

I get that a lot.  How do I answer that?  That's a tough one.  Connie always used a stock answer of "hanging in there", and I guess that's an accurate depiction of her current state.

She's still a roller coaster, although the good days aren't as good.  To give you an example, a few days ago she said she thinks she's going to make it to her birthday (March 1st), but all bets are off after that.  Then, yesterday, she's asking the nurse about 'graduating' from hospice.  That's the roller coaster.  It's the end of the 2nd month of hospice care and we've already had a few "this is the beginning of the end" moments, and just as many "she's going to be here through next Christmas".

Most days are Groundhog Day.  Nothing on the schedule other than which nurse is coming.  She's awake around 7 - 7:30.  Has a small breakfast, a 'boost' protein drink, and some bites for dinner.  She rotates between sitting up in bed and laying down.  When she's sitting up, she watches the park out her window, listens to either the radio or what's on the TV in the living room.

We've just recently starting trying again to get her to sit on the edge of the bed, even stand while being propped up.  I hope that type of progress continues.  It's baby steps, and she's exhausted after that short 'workout'.  She wants to at least get out of the bedroom.  Get out of diapers.  Sit out in the living room.  Some days I think that's going to happen in the next few days.  Some days, I think that's never happening.

However, the shooting pain headaches have returned.  The short term memory is concerning.  Some days she's really focused, other days she just wants to sleep. 

Roller Coaster.

Bonus Month 1 in the books

It's been over a month now.

I think being off the chemo has given Connie a bit of a lift.  Her spirits are good.  She thinks she can do things (even though she often bails at the last minute). 

The brain is still her biggest problem.  Finding the right words, having a thought and not being able to finish it, etc.  Doesn't let her have good balance.  I'm starting to notice pretty large short term memory loss (we talked about a show this morning at pretty good length, tonight she didn't know what I was talking about).

Still a lot of sleep time.  A normal day is she's up at 8, in bed from noon-ish to 2-ish, down for bed around 7p.  Now that football is over, I'm catching up on a lot of Netflix and Prime Video.  Plus, the business has been hopping, which is really helpful.

Her appetite is as good as can be expected.  She has a breakfast, a snack, one of those Boost protein drinks, and a dinner.  All small portions, but at least she's eating.

Hospice nurses are here every day through the week at this point for 30-60 minutes.  We've got oxygen ready to roll, as we feel it's going to be a necessity and wanted it here for when that eventuality happens.

A few people have been nice enough to call, stop over, bake some things.  All of which is really appreciated.  I can run to the grocery, post office and not be a basket case if I time it around one of her naps or a nurse visit.  She actually sat out and watched a little football Sunday, along with going to the beach once for about 45 minutes.

That's pretty much the update, thanks for taking the time to think of my wife.

Weekend in review and week ahead

This past Wednesday, we went to our first Whacky Wednesday at the Back Porch.  Connie didn't last too long in the heat, but she hung in there. 

We went to a new bar Thursday night (Lelo's, the former Wild Horse Saloon and Grill) for the Parrotheads of Port Aransas Fourth Thursday Happy Hour and Connie was a trooper.  Liked Lelo's.  The burgers/buns were fantastic.  It was a huge turnout.

Friday was a big test for us.  I went to play golf while Connie stayed home with the girls.  She got along famously.  First time I've done that since June 4th.  Always worried in Amherst since there were so few people there during the week.  That night, I had committed to work on the food committee for the Wings Party of the PHC and I helped at the beach party, while Connie stayed back.






Saturday night, I helped on the food committee at the Gala while keeping tabs on Connie at home.  Again, she did great -- there was even a beer or two missing when I got back.

This week is going to suck for her.  Last treatment, her port couldn't be accessed (as was the case towards the end at the Cleveland Clinic), and she had to go through her arm.  Made the decision to get her port replaced.  This week she's got a treatment on Monday (through her arm again), pre-op appointment at Shoreline Hospital Tuesday, the actual procedure on Wednesday, then a brain CT for the neurosurgeon in Cleveland gets done on Thursday.

Days on the road

We traveled to our home town of Wilmington (OH) Monday late afternoon, and stayed through Wednesday morning.  Visited with Connie's dad (forgot to take pictures!!!) and also stopped by an old friend from HS that opened a new shop, the Wooden Moose.

Wednesday and Thursday were total travel days. 

Wednesday, we boondocked in a WalMart parking lot in Normal, IL  There was a Pizza Hut across the street for dinner, and (bonus) a bakery inside the WM for fresh donuts!

Thursday, we boondocked at the Isle Casino in Waterloo, IA.  They had a nice restaurant (one of four), The Brew Brothers, inside that had local craft beers, and some pub grub. 

I had some loaded fries (pulled pork, BBQ and cheese sauce) that were fantastic.  Couldn't finish it, but they were so good.  Not sure why else people go to casinos if not for the food and drinks?



Friday we rolled into Sioux Falls, SD and the Sioux Falls KOA.  Had an appointment at 5p to renew our driver's license that we just barely made due to some construction.  Our Google GPS taking us to a closed exit (thinking it was open) then having to follow a detour back to an open exit (that was what Google thought was closed).  Let me tell you, we zipped in and out of the DMV in 32 minutes.  They were the nicest DMV workers I've ever encountered.  What a pleasant experience.

After the licenses, we went downtown to a "First Friday" event put on by Downtown Sioux Falls and met our new BDM (business development manager) for Sandals (Adults Only All Inclusive Resorts) and Beaches (Caribbean All inclusive resorts for families), Monica Huether.  Great weather and company.  Talked a lot about our business, our backgrounds, ways Sandals and Beaches is growing and thoughts for expanding our niches.

Really enjoyed the small town feel of the event.  Also got introduced to Monica's friend, Julio Espino.  Great story.  Came to Sioux Falls as an engineer, noticed there wasn't an authentic Mexican restaurant in town, so he started it.  The restaurant did well, but people started wanting his salsa.  So, he started marketing his Inca salsa and sold the restaurant to his sister.  He's getting outlets at Hy-Vee, Wal Marts and working on expanding elsewhere (including H-E-B in Texas).  Fascinating conversation on the ins and outs of his business.  Was nice enough to give us some samples, looking forward to trying them.

Need a day of rest, and what better way than to watch College Football.  Weather is supposed to get crappy, so that will make it even easier to hang in the rig.

What a week....

Sitting in some church's parking lot two blocks from the Cleveland Clinic with the rig and the girls.  Thought I would reflect on the week passed.
We had nothing but rain and miserable weather the first part of the week.  Awful.  Zero good.  Don't think it ever broke 60.
On Tuesday, there was a little bit of a break, so I thought I would dump the water out of the raft and maybe take a little test.  Got just far enough away from the dock and the engine died.  Rowed myself back to the dock (which was a great cardio workout, by the way) and took a look at the engine, the line, the tank.  I couldn't figure out anything simple, which would have been all I could have dealt with.
Tuesday, I got up early and headed to the south of Ashtabula County (actually, into PA) and had a Nissan outboard guy take a look at it.  Turns out, our tank lid has a leak and there was tons of water in the tank.  He went in, cleaned some things up, and within an hour, I was back on my way.
I took Connie to Ashtabula Medical Center at noon, as she was scheduled to do some CT scans and MRI's.  After she was done at 4:30p, we headed off to our daughter's place to celebrate her 27th birthday.  Hardly seems possible.
My good friend Rich was in town at the airport for some business, and we were fortunate that he could join the four of us at a restaurant in Rocky River for dinner.  Great times as always.
While we were gone, the girls and Tucker kept themselves amused at Bethany's house and continued on after we got home.  Damn, that dog can play hard.
Wednesday, we headed back to Ashtabula and stopped at the Cleveland Clinic in Willoughby Hills for my blood work as I had an appointment on Thursday as part of my annual check up where they tell me I'm fat and need to change my diet.
Rained again on Thursday, so no packing.  We did however feel safe since we hadn't heard from any doctors saying to get Connie to the hospital making our reservation for the National Heartland RV Rally in Goshen, Indiana put on by the Heartland Owners Club.  A solid week of networking, meeting old friends, making new friends, hearing seminars from suppliers and what not.  We'd been holding off until what we thought was the last minute.

First trip for the bike!

Friday morning it let up and we could get the rig packed and head to the Ohio Heartland RV Rally at Scenic Hills RV in Berlin, OH (Amish country, Little Switzerland, etc.).  Sugarcreek, OH that we got the call we didn't want to get.  Our oncologist was setting up appointments for Connie at the Cleveland Clinic on Monday to see their radiation oncologist and gamma knife specialist.  Results from the CT scan weren't good.
It was as we were passing through
Nothing that was going to make us turn around that moment, but it was going to make us change our plans.  (more on that in a moment).

There were 8 couples at the Scenic Hills RV Park, all Heartland owners and 3 couples from Xenia -- about 17 miles north of where we both grew up (Wilmington) and 8 miles west of where I taught for my first four years (Jamestown).  Was a fantastic time, with eating and a campfire being the main attractions.
Our first meal on Friday night was at Mrs. Yoder's kitchen, a great buffet that was packed on a Friday night with both tourists and locals.  (The parking lot was the giveaway).

Saturday afternoon we took a drive into Sugarcreek (the park gave us a couple for a 1/3 lb. of free cheese at the Swiss Village Bulk Foods -- can't pass that up!).  They had samples of Homemade Chocolate Chip Cheeseball with graham cracker prezels that was awesome!
On the way back started looking for a furniture piece Connie had seen at the RV office which would be the answer for our dilemma of sitting in our recliners and not being able to put down our beverages.  Not only found that in a color/wood we liked, but also a "C" table that solved the same problem for our couch.  Wonderful!

Saturday night, we went to an Amish family's house for dinner.  Spectacular food!  We finished the evening around the fire (with hard woods supplied by the campground, which was outstanding).


Sunday, our change of plans took effect.  We were supposed to roll over to Bethany's in laws to celebrate his birthday and spend the evening with them on our way to Goshen, IN.  Once the Monday appointments took place, we called our friends Don and April, who have a church behind their house, to see if we could bum a night there.  Worked out well, generator worked well, good night of boon docking (or "coon doggling" which is a long, funny story I won't get into).
Got business done Monday morning and took off to the Cleveland Clinic where I dropped Connie off for her appointments, then found a large church parking lot where the cabbies are all sitting, waiting for their next fare.
The girls and I will sit here until after Connie's appointments.  If she has no further appointments the rest of this week, we're heading to Indiana from here.  If she has to come back this week, we'll go back to Ashtabula and have to scuttle plans to do the rally.
I'll be blogging either tonight or tomorrow when I know.

A Day off!

Connie had her 2nd Herceptin treatment yesterday.  Had to switch to the left arm, since the right one had been stuck enough.  She's going to have to relent and go to a mediport for the future IV's.  She's not happy about it, but it's what needs done.

Her appetite is like that of a pregnant woman:  some crazy cravings.  10 years ago, she pretty much swore off sweets, they didn't taste good to her.  Steak.  She LOVED steak.  This time, she's getting a little bit of her sweet tooth back.  Yesterday, as we're driving back from her treatment when I asked what she wanted to for lunch:  pizza.  Hit the Pizza Hut in Portland for the buffet and she went at it.

She hasn't been experiencing the aches and pains today, her stamina has been really, really good.  Honestly, if you would see her today, she'd be just like she was a year ago or any other time.  Nothing really noticeable which is terrific!

Tomorrow, we roll out early to Corpus for her stress test.  Cardiologist ordered it Tuesday so that we can get a baseline for her heart and how its handling the chemo and Herceptin.  Going to take the girls (Carmen and Sloopy) to Bruno's for some day care.  Time (and money wise), we're better off doing that than me dropping her off, coming back and heading back in again.  Will probably get the tires rotated on the truck to kill some time, too.

Our time with our friends, Fred and Vickie is rolling to a close, also.  We're going to go with them to our Heartland Owner's Group tonight for a meal at Texas A1 Steak and Seafood in Portland.  Then, they're out to the Island for most of tomorrow before hitting the road again on Saturday back to Dallas.