Hey Tin Man

Let me jump right on in here.

So we’ll start this one with an update on our heroine. The pain has been terrible since we last spoke. Like, excruciating to watch much less go through kind of bad. So we had a meeting with the doctor/PA today. After going through the symptoms she said the story all adds up to the two new spots they found on the outside of the liver. Remember those, the one the radiologist sort of dismissed? Yeah, those. That apparently even though they’re super small they can rub up against the wrong nerve and send searing pain from the abdomin all the way up the right shoulder. So Dwayne the drain was not the culprit as my Holiday Inn Express level of doctorin’ has concluded. So they switched her chemo meds up to something that would specifically target these tumors. Again, lets be clear, they’re tumors, more on that later. So she gets them and goes home with a pump that infuses her with more chemo for 46 hours. This sounds terrible but its not as bad as one would think with the port plus the fact that we’re only a few hours in and she can actually breathe without pain. Which I’m sure is a relief because, one needs to breathe. And It’ll help with the swallowing and everything else as well. They also prescribed a steroid that will act as an anti-inflammatory and should help with a lot of other stuff (energy/appetite?who knows). If things get really dicey again they could do something that I could only describe as blocking the nerve so it doesn’t radiate pain. But for now, things are fine. The new chemo was a little scary though as when the nurse injected the one dose, it seemed like they mixed up FU-5 (the chemo med, I laughed a little to as it’ll be easy to remember as its one of my favorite, go to phrases) and instead administered high grade heroin as her speech immediately slurred. She assured us she’d seen that before and not to worry. OK. Easier to say than to do. But everything seems to be ok. Still a little light in the head but ok nonetheless.

So I’ll go to my review of the Mayo Clinic breakfast selection today. I thought about eating light with some fruit, maybe cottage cheese and/or oatmeal. I also considered an omelet as they are always a satisfying choice. However, I was tired. And fat boy needed some comfort food. So I went in. I asked the woman behind the counter for eggs, the potatoes, a link of andouille sausage and a biscuit. This meal turned out to be about as comfortable as a prison cot or a fold out couch. The eggs had all the taste of a dry sponge. The potatoes were so cold they were almost refreshing. No matter how much ketchup, vinegar, and hot sauce were applied they were terrible at best. The sausage looked and tasted like something I’d left on the grill from the other night when I got hammered and passed out and pulled off in the morning. The biscuit was an insult to biscuitry. It was not fluffy, nor moist even though it was undercooked in the middle yet mortar-like with the crust. I would’ve rather eaten at the Golden Corral with a group of fourth graders with colds that are below the sneeze guard. One out of ten bacon slices.

While driving up though I heard this song “Tin Man” by Miranda lambert. I’m not a country music fan as most of you know. I’ll listen to it with Elizabeth as she is but its not my genre of choice. However this song, I dont know if its a good song or a song that hit me at the right time. Like when you’re starving in Europe a McDonald’s Filet-o-fish is five star dining but when you get a full belly stateside, its barely edible (experience guys). But it went into how lucky the Tinman in the wizard of Oz was because he didn’t have a heart to break. It scratched me right where I itched. I got out of the truck with tears in my eyes, which the past couple of days has been the norm. But man, how I identified with that song. But I have a heart, and as sappy as it sounds, half of it is Elizabeths. And its been breaking the last few days. When we were with the doctor/PA, and she started crying with the news of the two new tumors, man, that sucked. Bad. We’ve done it a few times and it always sucks each and every time just as bad as the last one. But along with it there was a little hope. They can fix this problem I think. I’m sure of it. So, I’m cutting and running from today as between this, the Vegas shootings, and the passing/nonpassing of Tom Petty, this is a say I’d just soon forget. I wont but you know. Anyway, love you guys and blog at you latter. Big Hugs.