Let's Catch Up!

So, to begin where I left off two years ago around this time, we met with Dr. John Cameron at Johns Hopkins on March 5, 2012. The day before my appointment,  we went up to Baltimore and met Steph at the Admiral Fell Inn in Fell's Point. She arrived triumphantly with a somewhat deflated, but otherwise wonderfully- colorful bouquet of balloons each with an inspiring message inside from a friend or family member. I felt surrounded and supported by all the love and prayers.  I was hopeful that the first course of treatment had "done the job" and surgery might be possible.  But, when we met with him,  he said,   "Folfirinox."   The CT scan done at Hopkins showed my tumor was shrinking so chemo and radiation had helped, but he wanted to be more aggressive with it; beginning late March until July the Riverside Cancer Center became my second home and folfirinox my new course of treatment.  I even had some transfusions which freaked me out the first time, but the nurses at the transfusion center were so fantastic they made that experience bearable.

August 1, 2012 I did have surgery at Hopkins; about 6 hours, the Whipple procedure.  The next day I knew Dr. Cameron was very pleased.  The tumor had virtually been obliterated by the chemo.  My recovery there went well.  I was moved from the post-op area to an incredible room in the Marburg Pavilion where I felt like I was being taken care of in a world class hotel.  Dr. C apparently has connections.

Oh, since I haven't really "mused" very much yet (I apologize for jamming in so many facts at the expense of reflection), I have to go back to the day before the surgery to share its blessings.  Once again, Steph came 5 hours from Christiansburg and we came up from Seaford to stay for a few weeks at The Brookshire Hotel (I was to be in the hospital for a week or so and then had to stay in the area for another 3-4 days for recovery before seeing Dr. C for discharge.) The evening before my surgery, we had so much fun being together, walking around the inner harbor.and even taking the water taxi. We also went on a wild ride aboard the Seadog--a large motor boat that cruises slowly out of the the harbor and then guns it once out in open water!  Nearly lost my hair piece "Jane" (that's a whole other blog entry!). Dinner was at the Rusty Scupper overlooking the harbor where I had the most incredible scallop dinner of my whole life. We got a wonderful picture of the 3 of us that I will always treasure.  I was filled with such joy, hope and optimism that evening.  I was not only surrounded physically by their love, but by the prayers and love of everyone in my life.  I know that it all made a difference in the success of my surgery the next day.

So, that was August, 2012.  Fast forward to now, 1/29/2014.  There is 5" of snow outside and I re-discovered my blog.  My son-in-law, Marvin re-set our computer during the Christmas holiday and he put categories for me to easily find at the top.  He put Musings right up there along with education, financial and travel as if to say to me, "Why not use it every now and then?!"  So, why not on a snow day, right?  Chuck is outside busily clearing the driveway, the front steps and now the back deck (swept off the top of the hot tub, too--great night for the hot tub with temps in the teens!)

Re-reading my blog entries and re-visiting past events makes me mindful once again of the value of life, love, family, friends and health.  I feel really good right now physically, but I have discovered through a series of CT scans last April, July, September and again in December, that there are some "nodules" in my lower pulmonary area (4 total now) too small to biopsy that are "suspicious."  They appear to be "indolent" and are "lurking" (words from the CT scans) so as of now, I don't know exactly what they are and, if they are cancerous, what is to be done next.  I have an appointment with a Dr. Zheng, an oncologist at Johns Hopkins, for a second opinion and, hopefully, guidance with what might be a possible course of treatment for this new situation.

Looks like I may have won one "battle" with this cancer, but not yet the "war" so armed once again with the love and prayers of my family and friends, I will wage a new battle.  I thank God for my life and re-dedicate my efforts to contribute to those around me in any way that I can.  Communication is so important. I want to make sure that those who are a part of my life know how much they mean to me, how much I love them, and that I think of them constantly even when they don't hear from me.

Again, to relate past events,  I re-tired in December, 2012 thinking that I was complete with teaching. Since I was missing students and mostly Woodside, my high school, I started to sub in March of 2013 and did that until the end of the school year.  Not for me I decided--no ability to have relationships with the students. I felt like I was done. Then, August, 2013, several circumstances led me to "inquire" about possible job openings in Newport News and I was offered my pick from 10--school system really needed me and I thought, why not give it a try!  I was matched with and chose (looking back, not really sure why but...) a special ed position at Dozier Middle School collabing in, for those of you who know me don't laugh, math (I've always been an English collab teacher since my undergrad degree is English). Out of retirement I came and back into the fray!  Oh, my goodness, what a different world it is in middle school and also math!  I pretty much knew from the beginning it wasn't a good match, but I hung in there until the end of the semester. I got everything wound up that I could and just re-retired effective 1/24/14!

I have decided that I will continue to tutor a student at Woodside using the Wilson Reading System, perhaps do some subbing (quite selectively) and begin to set up my own tutoring business, iRead Tutoring; have even ordered business cards.  I will use my certified training and belief in the Wilson Reading System to help any person--young or old--learn to read. I have really discovered I am passionate about sharing this program if it can make a difference.  I know from working with past students that it has impacted their lives, and thoughts of their success inspires me.

That's it for now, dear readers.  I forgot how therapeutic writing this blog can be for me. I promise to stay in touch more often.  Take care!