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 June 1, 2007  In the immortal words of Gilda Radner (SNL), "It's always a-something!" Well, yesterday while shad fishing with Frank and Fred, I managed to dislocate my left hip, which most of you know is artificial. Actually, both hips are titanium implants.  Anyhow, after 20+ years without a problem I finally popped one out. When they dislocate, let me tell you there's not a doubt in your mind what happened. It tends to be a tad painful, for one thing.  The other clue is that your foot is turned at a weird angle and you can't move anything from the hip down. So I decide this might be a good time to call it a day and Fred pulls the anchor while Frank runs the engine and we head back to the dock.  I'm busily making phone calls to Maria, doctors, nurses, funeral homes, Santa, etc. You should have seen the look on Fred and Frank's faces - I think they were more afraid than I was. When we arrived at the dock, Fred called 911 and ordered me up an ambulance.  We were only few miles downstream of Cascade Locks (we were at Dodson in the Gorge) so it didn't take long.  I was unable to move my left leg at all, so you can imagine what it was like getting me out of the boat and up the dock to the ambulance. What took the time was figuring out how to get me out of the boat with a minimum amount of additional pain. That took an hour or more, I'd guess, and, ultimately included Fred, Frank, and a host of other fishermen. Eventually, and with a liberal dose of morphine, they got me out and into the ambulance while Fred and Frank dealt with loading the boat up and getting everything back to my place. Then, I had a lovely 45-minute ambulance ride on a carry board to the Southwest WA Medical Center E-Room. 

I was in the E-Room from about 3:30 to 9:00 p.m. last night. In addition to the morphine, they gave me some Dilaudid which kept the pain fairly well managed. The x-rays confirmed what was going on and that there was no fracture. Let me tell you, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind what had happened!!  After several hours, they put me to sleep (sedated – not anesthetized) while the doctor popped that sucker back in place. They apparently over-sedated me a bit because I couldn’t come out of it. I kept falling back asleep and they wouldn’t let me go until I could stay awake. Finally, they had to give me a shot of the “antidote” to whatever it was they  put me to sleep with. It was awful. It was like having “instant flu.” I was nauseated, had chills, started feeling the pain, and a bunch of bad things things. The nurse said that’s what it’s like for a drug addict when they come off a drug addiction - but many, many times worse. These symptoms lasted about 2- hours. I was able to walk out of the place on my own, but am sore as hell this morning - like I might have been in a train wreck - and my hip feels kind of loosey-goosey. Oh well. The doc said to be especially careful for the next couple of weeks until the muscles strengthen up again.

So, once again, I've screwed up an otherwise great fishing trip. Good weather, fish biting, plenty of food and drink, good friends. Then, whammo! But.....I want to acknowledge what a great job Fred and Frank did. Thanks again to both of you (!) for taking such good care of me and taking care of the boat and all. I couldn't think of two better guys to get dislocated with. Let's do it again soon!

I had  Frank take a picture which I have posted on the May 31st Diary page.

June 3, 2007  This is getting old.  Maria and I just returned from the E-Room.  My breathing yesterday was on the wane, and was worse today, giving us concern that the reduction last week in my steroids, Prednisone, might be allowing a relapse of the problem, namely "BOOP"  (Bronchial Obliterans Organizing Pneumonia).  Maria was supposed to go to McMinnville today for the second day of an art workshop she's taking but instead, decided I needed to be seen by a doctor and that she wanted to be with me.  I told her I could drive myself or that she could drop me off and Lynn could pick me up IF I came home.  She refused to let me go alone (one of the many reasons I love her so much).  So, once again, I messed up someone's plans.  As always, they don't know what's going on, but they took some blood, did an EKG, put me on O2, gave me an extra dose of  Prednisone, and told me to see my Pulmonologist tomorrow.  All this before lunch.  After a couple of weeks of good progress, it's really frustrating to be going the other way again.  When I'm inactive - just sitting around - my O2 saturation drops into the high 80's without supplementation;  It should be in the high 90's.  When I'm active - like walking around the house or yard, I get short of breath more quickly now and it takes me longer to recover.  So, I'm back on being dependent on the old oxygen tank again.  Tomorrow some folks are coming out with an oxygen pack of some kind that works off of liquid O2, so it's quite mobile and lasts for up to 8 hours.  It will give me a little more confidence in being away from home and "Rollo," my little oxygen concentrator buddy.  This was planned even before this last episode.  Maria is trying her damnedest to keep my spirits up, which has grown into a full time job the last three days.  She reminds me that I am (was at least) coming down on the Prednisone dosage which makes me cranky and emotional.  I heard today from the son of a friend that it's called "roid rage," and advised us to never argue with someone taking steroids.  So I try to take it all in stride and hope that tomorrow will be a little better.  Take Care.

June 4, 2007  The lady from the medical supply place brought out my new oxygen hook up today.  It's a small tank that I can carry right with me and should last 6-8 hours because it's an "on demand" system.  It only releases air when I breath in.  It weighs about 8 pounds and comes in a little bag that you can sling over your shoulder.  It will be handy for traveling, chugging around the yard, in the boat, sky diving, water skiing, and cross country biking.  I don't know that I will ever be totally independent of O2 supplementation again.  This BOOP stuff is just plain BAD!  It's funny how quickly you can go from feeling badly for people that you see carting oxygen around with them (the "There but for the grace of God go I," thing), to being thankful for there being one that makes you more mobile.  We have an appointment with the pulmonologist today at 4:00.  I'm hoping he doesn't put me in the hospital or substantially jack the prednisone dosage back up.  My breathing is no better today than the last couple of days but I don't sense that it's any worse either.  I'm guessing he will find I'm not critical and not put me in the hospital but will order a barrage of tests and err on the safe side and take me back to a fairly high steroid dose (can my face swell up any larger?).  If  I don't write any more here today, then you will know I guessed wrong (or is it "wrongly?").

Steve and Ann Smith and their boys, Russell and Bruce came over yesterday for a couple hours and visited.  We hadn't seen the boys in quite a while, probably a year.  Russell has turned into a moose (about 6'5") and is becoming quite a handsome young man.  He will go to Oregon next year.  Bruce just graduated from William and Mary and will be heading back to Richmond in a couple of weeks to start work as an investment  banker in "mergers and acquisitions".  Ah, to be young again and still have all my mistakes before me . . .

Back from the Doc. He said to stay on the increased Prednisone (40 mg) in case it's a recurrence of BOOP, in case it's a new pneumonia, check for fevers and call if I have one (no antibiotics), and that it could have been caused by aspirating some saliva while I was under for the hip relocation. So nothing for sure. Wait and watch. Go back and see him in 3 weeks.

June 5, 2007

June 7, 2007  Well, this morning I'm off for the infamous and all-revealing PET Scan.  It's the one that tells you if the tumor is growing, behaving, migrating, or having friends drop by for a party.  As ordered, I've prepped with a 24-hour low carb diet and nothing to eat or drink after midnight last night.  The side effect of the Prednisone I'm taking (eat anything that doesn't get away) isn't very compatible with the "eat/drink nothing after midnight." instructions. What was that?  I think my stomach just took a bite of my backbone!  Anyhow, test today, results tomorrow.  More later.  Hold a good thought for me.

June 8, 2007  Well, we visited Dr. S, but he had not yet received the Radiologist's report on the results of the PET/CT Scan so we still don't know anything. It seems the Vancouver Clinic and SWMC's computers are not yet synched and the Clinic sends their Scans to Eugene for reading. So, Dr. S was going to try and call them this afternoon to get the results and then give me a call back. 

(Later, same day) Got the call and the news is....."pretty good." Cutting to the chase, Dr. S. said the report indicates there is one new tumor (small) low and near the spine but, other than that, there are no really significant changes from the earlier scan. This leads him to think that there is no compelling reason to begin another round of chemo immediately, particularly given my somewhat dismal history of chemo causing these annoying little lung problems - like not being able to breathe for several weeks. He'd rather that I "hair up and heal over" a bit more first.  But, because the radiologist compared the current PET Scan to a January scan rather than a more recent April scan, there is more to come. However, as best that I can determine, the current report delivered by Dr. S should be a worst case scenario. So we are good to go on our planned trip to visit Maria's folks, so long as my breathing doesn't go downhill. 

On another happy note, I was visited this afternoon by two old friends (well one of them isn't all that old), Donna Silverberg (DS Consultants) and Jim Ruff (NPCC). Donna is a business colleague and Jim was my boss while we were at NOAA.  Both are good friends. Donna brought me a beautiful glass plate that she made herself and the plate came bearing chocolates they picked up from some foreign chocolate store. I was hoping for American-made chocolates like Hershey's or Wonka's.  But, no, these were from Switzerland, which I think is in Norway or one of those other Baltic countries. Although the chocolates lacked that certain plastic texture I've come to enjoy so much, they weren't bad, especially the Champagne Truffles. In fact, "sinfully wonderful" comes to mind as an appropriate descriptor.

We were still sitting out on the deck chatting and enjoying the birds and sunshine when Dr. S. called to give Maria and me the report on the scan. Gulp! I told Donna and Jim that they were welcome to stay to hear the news, good or bad, if they liked. So they remained, squirming nervously while Maria and I consulted with the doctor. They tried their best to appear to not be cueing in on the one-sided conversation or on our reactions to whatever Dr. S. was telling us. I swear, Donna looked so nervous that I don't think she knew which client to bill for the time - a state I've never seen her in before. Jim, however, was more composed, secure in the knowledge that he had forgotten to sign out from work and, therefore, would be paid his regular salary while screwing around visiting me.

Actually, I had a great time catching up with them and appreciate their taking the time to come all the way out to visit.  Many thanks to both of you. It was fun!

June 9, 2007  Dr. S. gave Maria and me the go-ahead to "get outta Dodge" for a few days so Monday we are heading south to visit Maria's mom and dad in Saratoga, CA, and spend Father's Day with Al. We haven't seen them in over a year now so we're really looking forward to the visit. We assume they are too. We are going to take two days going down, spending the night in Gold Beach and then poking around in the redwoods along the coast from there to Saratoga the second day. We have a friend "House Sitting" while we're away, and Dandy (our cat) has made it known that she will allow many her adoring fans to drop in unannounced. Apparently, she will be willing to let visitors scratch her ears, rub her under the chin, or provide tasteful piscine snacks. Those who show appropriate love and respect could be favored by a head nuzzle or nose lick (quantity limited) from the little Princess herself.

So, while we're out of town next week, we won't be posting any updates here. You are free to pursue other interests temporarily - maybe learn to paint or have children or something - but be sure to return by the 19th to find out whether I survived the trip or not. In the meantime, take care and - remember to breathe.

June 18, 2007  We left Saratoga, CA yesterday about 10:00 a.m. and arrived safely back home last night shortly after midnight. Long drive. But we messed around a bit on the way to see some sights and do a little shopping at the "Liquor Barn" and "Olive Pit."  Also took some time to help an elderly lady out at a rest stop that couldn't make it back to her car. We had a great visit with Maria's folks, brother and Sister-in-law, sister, and two nephews. I will post some pics on a separate page later in case you're interested. Also we watched a wonderful baseball game - GO BEAVERS!

I have not been progressing very well in getting my wind back since the last episode following the hip displacement and so I was dependent on oxygen the whole time we were in CA. Some days were better than others. On Wednesday morning I felt quite short of breath and kind of panicked being so far from home, feeling like I might be going downhill. We ended up calling the pulmonologist (in Vancouver) who recommended upping my Prednisone dose from 40 mg to 60 mg, which he said is the only treatment they can offer. He said if I didn't get any better, then I needed to go to an E-Room down there or try to get home. I think I improved a bit during the week - at least felt a little better - although my 02 saturations are still quite low. They drop to the high 70% range after very little exertion. That's too low! About 88% is as low as I care to see it go.  Normal and healthy is about 98-99%. So I have an appointment with Dr. B today and I expect he will do an x-ray and compare it with the last one. If it's not much improved or worse, I'm sure the Prednisone will go up again. Man, I hate that stuff. I have lots of appointments with doctors and nurses this week so it will be a busy week.

On top of everything else, Jeff went to the cabin to work on (remove) the deck in preparation for the new one and uncovered significant insect and dry rot damage. So much so that there would be nothing to nail the new deck to. So we have to figure out how to address that little problem as well. It will be a substantial project requiring replacement of some studs, siding, beams, and flooring before we can even start on the new deck. When it rains, it pours! Well, at least I have my health.....Oh, nevermind.

June 18, 2007 - More  We just returned from the Pulmonologist's. The info is kind of detailed so I've chosen to put it on the Diary page, instead of here, in case you're interested. If you want to have a look at a dozen select pictures from our Father's Day trip to visit Maria's parents in California, CLICK HERE.         HOW ABOUT THOSE BEAVERS OVER ASU!

June 19, 2007   Today was a good day.  I woke up feeling good, breathing a bit better me thinks, and in a good mood.  Unfortunately, this was at 3:18 a.m. - a Prednisone wake up.  But, whaddrya gonna do?  And it was such a beautiful day.  Blake Jones (Rob and Paula's son) came over, as he does on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and works around the ranchero doing the stuff I'd love to do but can't right now.  I, of course, pay him handsomely.  I feel I'm part of his WSU educational program  - kind of a scholarship if you will (I wonder if I can deduct him on my taxes??).  Actually, he's a great young man, eager, enthusiastic, and a hard worker, so I don't mind giving him $2.75 and hour for his labors.  Maria and I set him up with what needs doing and he tends to it while I nap and Maria plays in the clay.

Bill Tweit (WDFW) called and asked if he could drop by this afternoon for a visit.  I said sure which, as it happened, turned out to be a really good call.  He brought two pieces of Spring Chinook salmon for Maria and me to devour - likely an apology for not calling on us sooner.  Anyhow, he caught me up on what's going on at WDFW and the world in general while we quaffed a couple of beers on the deck and, of course, watched the birds.  It's always great to talk with Bill because he's always up on the latest and is pretty damned smart for a biologist.  We sent him off with a couple bottles of our fine co-op wines.

After Bill left, Maria and I enjoyed a drink together on the deck - perfect temperature and just enough breeze to stir my curly hair a tad.  We are BBQ-ing a couple of rib-eyes which we will also eat out on the deck while listening to "Pink Martini" (It's a local Portland thing.) and sipping a little Pinot Noir.  I tell ya, "It just doesn't get any better!"  Take care and...........remember to breathe.

June 20, 2007  OSU Beavers 7, UCI Termites 1!! Maria and I went to see "Body Worlds" at OMSI today. It was pretty good if you enjoy looking at that kind of thing - real bodies with everything splayed out so you could see it. But not cadaver-like; more artistic.  Also fairly educational, but I was somewhat torn between whether they were shooting for artistic, science, or justifying the public presentation of real bodies. I'd be interested in how others might have perceived it.

After that, we went for my all too frequent visit to see the Oncologist. It's getting almost humorous, as we note that I can't seem to go for a whole week without some kind of  ill-fated adventure. He starts the discussion by asking what kind of mess I got into this week. So, we explained the California breathing experience, but that I seem to be getting better again. We "reviewed the bidding" relative to the treatment plan with Dr. S., and decided that the most important thing right now was to get beyond this BOOP problem ASAP so the chemo option is ready to go. The high prednisone dose for the BOOP carries its own set of risks, so the sooner we can get control of it and lower the dose, the better off I will be. One of the risks is contracting something called Pneumocystis (anything that starts with a silent "P" can't be good). The Pulmonologist wanted me to ask the Oncologist what he thought of using another drug on the BOOP in combination with the Prednisone. The concern is that the other drug is an immunosuppressant and could encourage the growth of the cancer. 

Finally, for the last few days, I've had a fair amount of pain on my rib that has the small tumor in it. Dr. S. said that we can irradiate it (his preference), do a pain block, or use "radiofrequency ablation" which will also likely kill the tumor. These are not life-threatening tumors we're talking about here, although we'd all prefer to get on with thumping them as soon as possible before they get too rambunctious. Tomorrow the Home Health Care folks come out an check me out. On Friday I have to go have blood drawn for a Coumadin reading and then I have an appointment with the radiation oncologist so we'll see what he thinks about the rib problem. Then more appointments in a couple of weeks with lung guys, thyroid guys, and cancer guys.  Ka-$hing. Boy, I live for those rare days with no medical appointments and and the precious opportunity to spend quality time with Maria, go fishing, do yard work, or almost anything but sit in a waiting room.

June 22, 2007  Happy First Day of Summer! Yesterday was a great day!  I felt good, my breathing was pretty good, and the weather turned out better than advertised. In the morning we did some yard work around the house and I made a huge pot of elk spaghetti sauce for the family dinner last night. In the afternoon all of the kids (Lynn, Michael, and Jeff, plus spouses) came over for a "make-up" Father's Day, since Maria and I were in California on the real one.  It's always a hoot when they all get together. After being up and about all day, I was exhausted when things wound down about 10:30 p.m. But, like "it's a dry heat," it was a "satisfyingly good exhaustion." Fortunately, I  was able to sleep in until the first bird chirped at 4:30 - then up and about. All in all, a wonderful day! Now, on to meet with the radiation oncologist......Just got back from seeing Dr. H., the radiologist.  He checked me out and couldn't find any tumors he wanted to treat at this point unless they become painful or show signs of growth.  He said if the one rib that was hurting me earlier starts hurting again or becomes a problem, he could zap it in one big shot.  Ribs are easy.  But it's small and he doesn't think it's a problem.  It was a pretty good check up - encouraging .  So we're back home and getting ready for the weekend and happy hour on the deck.  I'm looking forward tomorrow to a visit from the Iverson's and the CWS Beaver baseball game.  I'm thinking Martini tonight - 2 olives - shaken, not stirred.  "It's a dry Martini"

June 23, 2007  The Perfect Fire:  About happy hour time last night Fred and Pat dropped by to return the house key they had from feeding Dandy, our cat, while we were away. Maria and I invited them to join us for a cocktail and chatted for a bit. Then, Maria decided to whomp up some dinner out of some leftovers and an old dead salmon and, after a great deal of coercion, we persuaded them to join us. For dessert we rounded up some home-made Kahlua and ice cream. By the time we finished dinner on the deck, the breeze had died off, the had sky cleared, and it became a beautiful, cool summer evening. Apparently this stimulated our primal urges for we decided a fire was in order. We gathered up the last of the wine and migrated to the fire pit where Fred deftly stacked the kindling and lit it up. The fire was absolutely perfect, an observation first made by Fred, who was responsible for it. He noted that it was very warming (Fred's observant that way), that there was no wind to blow the smoke into your eyes, and that there was no smoke either, since the wood was very dry. We all agreed and complimented Fred on his keen observation and his fire-building acumen, and toasted the fire with a sip of Pinot Noir. We sat in its flickering warmth the rest of the evening, sharing stories of the glory days, some true, some perhaps emboldened by the warmth of the wine, laughing, and having a great time. Each time there would be a slight lull in the conversation, Fred would be quick to point out how perfect the fire was, and would nod in agreement as the the rest of us confirmed that, indeed..... it was a perfect fire.

June 25, 2007  How 'Bout Those Beavers!!  National Champs - AGAIN!!   Since I'm not on chemo or radiation right now, things are fairly quiet. My breathing is still not up to par. As long as I'm sitting still, it will stay at about 94% or higher without supplemental oxygen. But when I get up and walk a bit around the house, even the slightest exertion will take it into the 80's, and even down to the high 70's if I do very much. This is a backslide from where I was a month or two ago when I could traipse all around the house at a reasonable clip without going below 90%. I can't figure out what's different at this point. Maybe it will just take more time after the relapse? As long as I'm using my supplemental oxygen, I can keep it in the 90's but my objective has to be to do that without the oxygen.

I'm still awakening around 3:30 every morning (Prednisone), often with quite a bit of abdominal pain. Maria and I can't figure out what's causing it. And the doctors don't seem to be overly interested in this aspect of my well being - maybe because they don't know what's causing it either. Perhaps it just goes with the territory? Today one of them advised me to take an extra Prilosec (prescription antacid). We'll see if that does any good. Around noon, I ventured out to get my blood drawn for a Coumadin check and to buy some lawn fertilizer and stakes for the tomatoes that are starting to get reasonably bushy now. I took a half an hour nap this afternoon (you working stiffs eat your hearts out) and now need to go outside on this beautiful day and do something productive.

June 27, 2007 

June 29, 2007  More doctor appointments today but first a word about last night.  Yesterday evening was the dedication of Maria's sculpture, Anillos, which won "The People's Choice" award from the Lake Oswego Foundation of the Arts and was purchased by the city.  It will remain forever in L.O. (currently outside Chico's on 1st and A streets).   We were accompanied to the dedication by both friends and family - Lynn & Phil, Michael & Mo, Rob and Paula Jones, Eddy and Julie Kokoruda, Larry and Ila Larson, and Fred and Pat Olney.  Maria couldn't say enough about how wonderful it was to have all of you there and to have your support.  Maria had to give a short speech and she did wonderfully on it.  I was so proud of her - for lots of reasons.  I'm sure Maria will add some stuff to Maria's Musings and hopefully put some pictures of the function on a separate page.  So I'll stop here and just say that it was really a great time.

Regarding doctors, health, cancer, and the more mundane things in life, I just returned from seeing a new doctor - an endocrinologist - then getting a chest x-ray, and I have a late appointment with the Pulmonologist this afternoon (he didn't want to wait until my appointment next Thursday??).  He called me on Wednesday night to find out how I was doing.  He now thinks he wants to try a new medicine on me to continue treatment of the BOOP.  Apparently it is a strong immunosuppressant and he first needs to rule out the possibility of lung infection of some kind before using it - ergo, he wants me  to consider letting him do a bronchioscopy.  If I did have a lung infection, the new medicine would likely make it worse.  The idea of the new med is to try to get me down from or off of the high dose of Prednisone that I'm currently taking, while containing and preventing yet another relapse of the BOOP.  All of these things carry their own set of risks, the BOOP, the Prednisone, the bronchioscopy, and the new med.  Maria reminds me though that it's all up to me....not to the doc.  I can choose to do it or not.  Arghhhh!  What to do?

June 30, 2007  Dr. B., the Pulmonologist, said there was a slight improvement in my x-ray over the last 10 days so decided he didn't need to do the bronchioscopy.  Yeaaaa!  He does want to go ahead with the additional drug though.  Boooo!  He's hoping it will hasten my recovery from the BOOP and allow us to safely start backing off of the Prednisone (hopefully before my face explodes).  There are some side effects - "Ask your doctor if Imuran is right for you.  Tell your doctor immediately if you develop any of the following: unusual skin changes, change in the appearance/size of moles, unusual growths/lumps, swollen glands, unexplained weight loss (yeah, right!), night sweats, unexplained itching, signs of infection (e.g., fever, persistent sore throat), easy bruising/bleeding, or unusual tiredness."  Besides being a strong immunosuppressant, he said if I start spontaneously bleeding, get jaundiced, feverish, or am throwing up, to quit the medication immediately and call a Priest.  Not really, except for the "quit the medication" part.  He did a blood test to make sure I didn't have pancreatitis and is supposed to call me today to okay the medicine.  I will start it in a day or two most likely and will have to be very careful about infections.  So visits to or from friends and family will need to be limited to healthy folks only again. 

I also went to an endocrinologist yesterday about my thyroid dose possibly being the cause of my atrial tachycardia (racing heart) which has hovered at about 100 bpm for the last few months.  She scheduled me for an ultrasound of the thyroid to check for malignancy and will likely change my daily dose of thyroxin.  Boy, it just seems to go on and on.  But I guess that's better than the alternative, huh?

Beautiful day today - and for the rest of the week, I understand.  I might try to do a lawn mow today if I can find enough oxygen out there.  I hope you all can get out and enjoy the weekend too.  Have a great, safe 4th of July!  (And happy birthday Julie!)