What a Wednesday

This morning for breakfast I made myself a couple eggs that I put on a bed of dark rye toast covered with the onion, mushroom and salmon cream sauce. Yes it was very good, I could have eaten a whole lot more, but luckily for me there was no more of the sauce left.

The rest of the morning was pretty normal the radiation treatment went well and we even stopped off at Bi-Mart, the post office and got gas for Kathleen's SUV. We got home just a little before 1500 and it was none too soon as I just had enough time to change clothes and then made my way to the bathroom.

This afternoon I had half of the leftover macaroni, salmon and pea casserole from the other night. Then the rest of this afternoon I pretty much just sat around and read a couple magazines and dozed.

For dinner tonight Kathleen made one of her famous "yellow" meals, macaroni and cheese with peaches for dessert. I think it was good; I was/am too tired to know for sure.

One of the things that I was reading today gave me some encouraging information; I thought that I would share that with you as it is not too long. So here goes:

Surgery and Radiation Seen as Best for Localized Prostate Cancer
Compared with less definitive approaches, radical prostatectomy and radiation therapy result in significantly higher survival rates in men with prostate cancer that hasn't spread beyond the gland

TUESDAY, January 23 (Reuters Health) - Both surgery (radical prostatectomy) and radiation therapy result in significantly higher survival rates in men with prostate cancer that hasn't spread beyond the gland, compared with less definitive approaches, according to the results of a large study conducted at the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit.

Dr. Ashutosh Tewari, of New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City, and colleagues studied 3,159 men, 75 years of age or younger, with biopsy-confirmed, localized prostate cancer, treated between 1980 and 1997.

"A patient was considered to have undergone radiotherapy or prostatectomy if he received that treatment within 6 months of diagnosis; otherwise, he was assigned to 'conservative management'," the researchers explain in the medical journal Urology.

The overall survival rate at 15 years after treatment was 35 percent with conservative management, 50 percent with radiation treatment and 65 percent with radical prostatectomy, the team reports.

When deaths due specifically to prostate cancer were considered, survival rates were 79 percent, 87 percent and 92 percent with conservative management, radiation and surgery, respectively.

Looked at another way, men who had radiation treatment lived an average of 4.6 years longer with radiotherapy, and 8.6 years longer with radical prostatectomy, than those managed conservatively.

Because this was a look-back study, Tewari and colleagues caution that forward-looking clinical trials are still needed to compare the survival benefits of each of these three treatment approaches.

SOURCE: Urology, December 2006.

Have a good night!

A Tiring Tuesday

This morning while my oatmeal was cooking I emptied the dishwasher that I ran last night, and then I sat down to enjoy the oatmeal. It is not the same without the raisins, but the raisins seemed to be doing a number on my intestines, so I will give them up for a while. I can not wait until the radiation treatments are over so that I can start eating nuts, grains, fruit and vegetables again.

After finishing breakfast I went into the living room to read the paper and the mail, when it arrived. After the obligatory reading, I recycled the junk and the paper, and then I went onto my computer to pay a couple bills that had arrived in today’s mail.

Once that was done I decided to vacuum the downstairs carpeting, it is funny as I was doing it I realized that I vacuum more often when the weather is nasty outside. It seems like when it is nice out, I am outside doing things, but when the weather is not so nice I spend a lot more time inside and I notice the dog fur a lot more.

Well, my appointment was pretty normal, today the doctor took a look at the skin to see what kind of burning has been taking place, she said it looked pretty normal. I really have not had much of a problem with burning, just a little bit, my bowels are what have been giving me most of the problem, and that is one of the side effects I was told to expect.

After the appointment Kathleen needed to pick up a couple prescriptions for Fred Meyer, so on the way we stopped by the credit union to deposit a couple refund checks. Kathleen also had a couple prescriptions to drop off, so we had to wait about a half hour before they all would be ready.

We got home just in time for me to start my afternoon bathroom voyages, usually around 1500 they start and are pretty regular until about 1730 or so. Then I have a couple hours relief and then it starts all over again, usually until around midnight.

I had some of the leftover tofu, onion, mushroom and tomato sauce over macaroni for lunch again today. I finished it off, it was good while it lasted, but all good things must come to an end.

This afternoon, when I was not in the bathroom, I pretty much spent in my chair reading a book on what to expect after cancer treatments are over. It was a pretty short read, only about a hundred and twenty-five pages or so.

Tonight for dinner Kathleen made some salmon, cream of chicken soup and peas over pasta, Kathleen did not care for it too much, as the salmon was packaged and not fresh, but I like salmon even when it is not fresh. I do prefer fresh, but I like to eat salmon whenever I can.

There was enough leftover so that I will be able to have it for lunch some day. Well, I think that is about it for tonight, I am tired, so have a good night.

A Mixed Monday

Weather wise today had something for everyone. Early this morning it was rainy, then as I was going to my radiation appointment, the rain got really thick and probably at a little higher elevation it was actual snow, then when I came out of the hospital, the sun was so bright that it hurt the eyes. Now it has been rain showering since mid afternoon.

After my shower this morning I loaded up the washer with the light clothes and turned it on. It finished just before we left for my appointment so I loaded the clothes into the dryer and turned it on. After my appointment we stopped at Winco to do our grocery shopping, something we had not gotten done in a couple weeks.

By the time we got home I started my usual after appointment not feeling well, but I unloaded the groceries out of the car and then helped Kathleen put away the groceries. Then I heated up some of the left over macaroni and sauce from last night, I saved enough so that I can have the rest of it tomorrow. Then I made a couple English muffin toast pizza.

After eating I went into the living room to read a magazine that I got today and tried to stay awake. I caught myself dozing on a couple occasions, but never really got to sleep. After a while I realized that I still had not taken the clothes out of the dryer, so I did that. I then took them upstairs to fold and put away.

Kathleen made some onion, mushroom, and salmon in a cream sauce for dinner tonight. She also baked a couple potatoes, I used the sauce over my potatoes, and Kathleen just put butter on hers. Mushrooms and onions are not some of her favorite things. She also cut up an avocado on the side.

Well, I think that pretty much sums up my day, nothing very exciting, but that is how my life is nowadays. Well, good night!

Swampy Sunday

Well, after a couple days of mostly rain, the ground around here is getting rather swampy. I went outside this afternoon for a little while in between showers and it is a good thing that I have different footwear for outside and inside, because the rubberized sandals that I wore outside got pretty muddy.

Anyway, about today, I had my usual Sunday toast for breakfast, but like most Sundays for the last month or so, I did not go to church. Even though I am feeling much better, the amount of time that I need to spend in the bathroom makes it difficult to really go anywhere.

Anyway, since I slept in, I did not eat breakfast until about 0930. After breakfast I loaded up the washer and did a load of towels. While they were washing I read the paper and then vacuumed the downstairs carpeting.

By this time the wash was done, so I loaded it into the dryer and unloaded the dishwasher and put the dishes away. When the towels were dry, I took them out and folded them and put them away.

For lunch I made some toasted bread pizza and had the leftover cake from Andrea's shower. Kathleen came downstairs and made some scones for herself and started to make a tofu, tomato, onion and mushroom sauce for me. She does not like tofu, but I rather enjoy it, so I will eat it and she will have something else tonight.

I told her that if she got her clothes into the laundry, I would do the laundry this afternoon. So finally around 1600 I went upstairs and brought the dark clothes down, loaded them into the washer and started it up. They are in the dryer now, so I will have to stop in a bit to take them out to fold and put away.

Around 1800, I asked Kathleen about dinner and she said that I could have the sauce and leftover macaroni from last night. So I filled up a bowl with macaroni and put some of the sauce that Kathleen made this afternoon and heated it up in the micro wave. It was really good, I think that there is enough left over for lunch tomorrow.

Kathleen tried a little of the sauce and she said that the texture just did not sit with her very well, so she would not be eating any more of it. Oh well, her loss, it is one of the things that I can eat and not have problems with it later on.

Well, the dryer just went off, so I think I will close this and say good night for today.

Soggy Saturday

I woke up this morning to rain on the sky light in the bedroom and it has rained most of the day. It has rained hard at time and other times it was more of a drizzle, but late afternoon if finally let up at least for a little while.

I made myself a couple eggs and sausages for breakfast and than washed the dishes and whipped down the counters in the kitchen. Then I went into the living room and read the mail and paper. I cannot think of what else I did other than run to the bathroom a few times, but before I knew it Andrea was here to take Kathleen to the shower that Andrea's friends from the hotel were throwing for her.

I heated up the leftover chicken and mandarin sauce from the other night and then made a couple toasted bread pizza for my lunch. It seems like I have that almost every day, but it is something that I can eat without any problems and I have not grown tired of it yet.

They left here about 1315 and did not get home until after 1800. They seemed to have a good time and Kathleen was tired when she got into the house. Kathleen heated up the leftover salmon for dinner and also cooked some macaroni for dinner tonight. For dessert we had some leftover shower chocolate cake.

Well, it has been another rather unproductive day and I cannot think of anything else to say, so I guess that I will just say, good night.

Friendly Friday

Well, today was a little different as I had my radiation appointment at 1100 instead of at 1300. So I got up a little earlier and eat breakfast before getting on my computer to have my devotions and read my e-mail.

While my appointment was at 1100, I did not get into the radiation room until about 1145. They had to take new x-rays of my "target" zone, and then they started the new treatments. In doing a more narrowed down zone, they also use six positions where before there were only four.

We had thought that we would stop by the grocery store after the treatments, so after we left the hospital Kathleen stopped by fabric depot to pick up some thread. I stayed in the car and waited for her, but by the time she got back I was starting to feel not so good, so I asked if we could just go home.

After changing clothes I wound up having to sit on the toilet three times in the next half hour, so it was a good thing we did not try to do the grocery shopping after all. Kathleen heated up the left over soup from the other night and I made a couple pieces of bread pizza for my lunch.

Andrea came over for a little while this afternoon and left around 1630 to try to avoid some of the freeway traffic. I have felt pretty good since about 1500, so hopefully this will last through most of the weekend.

Tonight Kathleen cooked a couple salmon steaks, heated up the left over rice and squash for dinner tonight. I think that I could eat salmon every day of the week.

Well, I cannot think of anything else to write about tonight, so I will just say good night.

Thankful Thursday

Well, today is about a week since I started to feel better. I still do not feel great, but soooo much better than I had been feeling.

This morning was pretty typical, I got a pretty decent night sleep, and it makes a lot of difference when one does not have to get up a half dozen times a night. I had oatmeal for breakfast, only now I am not adding raisins. I never would have thought that a few raisins would cause so many bowel problems.

I guess that for now I just have to eat an unhealthy diet. It seems like just about everything I really enjoy, I can not eat. I am limited to white bread, no or as little fiber as possible, no raw fruit, limited milk products and no spicy foods.

I have been reading and updating some of my computer files this afternoon, I went outside a couple times, but the weather has been rather unstable. On minute the sun is shining and the next it is raining.

Kathleen made some Mandarin orange chicken and rice for dinner tonight. It was pretty good and there was a little left over for a lunch or snack. Well, I can not think of anything else to write about, as my life is not all that exciting at this point. So I will just say my good nights!

A Wow of a Wednesday

This morning started off where yesterday ended. By that I mean, I felt so much better than I had in over three weeks, it was hard to believe. Kathleen made "Granny Smith" pancakes this morning, only this time she peeled the skins on the apples and that seemed to make some difference as I did not have any problem with my bowels this morning.

When I went in for my radiation treatment today, the nurse that talked to me last week was there, she only works on Wednesdays and she asked me how I was doing. I was happy to report to her that I have felt better over the last week than I have since this whole radiation procedure started.

Kathleen and I stopped by the library after my radiation appointment today, we each had some things to drop off and we both wound up checking out a couple more books. I finished one, over 400, pages this afternoon and have started on the other one.

This afternoon has been really good as well; I have been feeling a little tired, but that kind of goes with the radiation. I have not had any problem with the cramping for going on three days and my stomach is feeling much better.

Tonight we had some of the leftover hamburger and rice soup that Kathleen made last night. It was very thick when I put it into the refrigerator containers last night so we just added some water to thin it down just a little.

Today the weather has gone from very sunny early this morning to overcast this afternoon. They are predicting rain off and on for the next few days, so this is just the precursor to the change in the weather.

I enjoyed getting outside for a little bit each day for the last couple days, but they are saying that the rain will not be all day affairs, but rather scattered showers with the possibility of some thunder and lightning a couple times.

Well, I am feeling much better, but I still am not getting much done around the house. Well, that was my day; I hope you all had a good day as well. I guess I will just say good night for now. If anything else exciting happens later tonight, I will either write an other blog tonight or write about it tomorrow.

Tempting Tuesday

This morning was normal by my radiation standards. Radiation went normally, but this afternoon has been quite pleasant. That is I have spent very little time in the bathroom, very different from my normal afternoons.

Monday was much better than my typical afternoons, but today was much better than yesterday. I would like to hope that this is a new trend, but by the same token, I do not want to get my hopes up too much.

I wish that the day had been a little nicer, it would have liked to have tried to gotten some yard work done. I did go out a couple of times, but the weather was just to changeable. Maybe it was a good thing as I probably did not need to get too worn out.

Besides not needing to use the bathroom a often, I have not had the cramps that I normal have in the afternoons and evenings, so that has been another very good thing. So what this means to me right now is that I am not as tired as I have been for the last month or so.

If the next month or so goes as well as the last couple days have, I think I can handle it. The way it had been going, I was not sure if I made the correct decision as far as the radiation goes. Next to the time I ate some bad oysters, I think that this is the worst I have felt for an extended period of time.

Well, I cannot think of anything else to write about so I think that I will just say good night.

Monday Madness

This morning seemed like a normal morning, at least since the radiation treatments started. I did my normal 8 - 10 trips to the bathroom and other than a sore bottom I felt pretty good.

Alyssa stopped by for a few minutes and brought over a couple tee shirts for me, she knows how I wear tee shirts all the time. Then a few minutes after she left, my little brother called, and we talked for about forty-five minutes.

We talked about how much things had changed since we were younger and how even then people did not believe how much our family was like Ozzie and Harriet, the Donna Reed Show, or father knows best. I guess we were a pretty unique family even back then, although more families were like that then, then there are now.

Anyway, after talking to Brad, I took my shower and got ready for my radiation appointment. Kathleen came home about 1230 and we left a few minutes after that.

After my appointment, as we were walking down the hallway to leave, we ran into Tami and the two girls. Alexis had been throwing up and Tami was taking her to see the doctor. Both girls had been sick off and on for several weeks. In fact the whole family has been not feeling well for at least a month.

After leaving the hospital, we stopped by the library to drop of some of the books Kathleen and I had checked out. The library was closed, due to it being president's day, so I just dropped the books off at the outside book drop.

We had just gotten home and I changed my clothes when I had to make a mad dash to the bathroom. I had two runny bowel movements in the period of about a half hour and since then I have not had to go.

For me that is pretty good, normally I go about a dozen time between 1500 and midnight, but here it is almost 2230 and I still have only gone those two times. I could live with this.

Anyway that has been my day. Friday I have to go in at 1100 so that they can line me up for my new procedure. This is where they give me the same dose but they do it in a smaller area. I am hoping that when they narrow down the field of radiation that I may not have some of the effects that I have been experiencing for the last several weeks.

Well, that is about it for today, so good night, sleep tight.

Sunny Sunday Continued

Well, I went outside to take the recycling out to the garage and while it was not quite as nice a day as yesterday was, it was still an okay day for Portland in the winter. So I decided to do a little more weeding.

I had been noticing some weeds growing right around the back door, so I got out my mat and started to pick the weeds that I found. There were more than I thought there were, but I got them all done.

Then as I was getting ready to put the mat back into the garage, I decided that I would get the weeds growing by the tree rose that is by one of the back gates. There were not too many weeds there so it only took a few minutes.

Once back in the house I decided to make myself some lunch, so I heated up the left-over spaghetti from last night. Having satisfied my hunger, I thought that I would vacuum the downstairs since I had not done that in a couple days.

I am still amazed at the amount of fur that Reggie deposits every day. Oh well, it gives me something to do a couple times a week.

Kathleen made something out of bacon, rice and Velveeta, it was not too bad. Kathleen did not care for it, but I did not think that it tasted too badly.

Well, I think that is all for tonight, so I will close and say good night.

Sunny Sunday

Well, I thought that I would try to do a quick blog, as I am feeling almost normal right now. I know that if I wait until later today, I will be too tired to think or write anything.

Yesterday was a pretty normal morning for me, normal that is since I started the radiation treatments. I did sleep in until almost 0900 and felt pretty good when I got up. Now if you consider that I went to bed a little less then 12 hours before that you could understand. I do not remember the last time I had that much rest.

Anyway, after reading the paper and the mail, I was noticing how really nice it was outside, so I decided to go out and sit in the sun for a little while and get some vitamin D. So I went into the garage and got one of our canvas deck chairs and set it up in a sunny spot in the back yard.

Well, it was not long before I started looking around and though that I really should take advantage of the nice weather and do something. So I got out my edger and started to edge the big rose garden in the back of the property and then followed the garden around past the back side of the berry patch.

After I had everything edged, I got out my little garden fork and started to loosen up the soil in the area that I just edged, pulling weeds out as I went. While doing that I also dug up a couple butterfly bushes that had started to grow near the stomp of one of our old apple trees. So I dug them up and put them into a couple pots. Did anyone want them, I know that I gave some to Alyssa and Tami last summer, but I do not think that I will be using them and they will just be tossed if no one wants them.

I finally could feel myself getting tired and thirsty, so I gathered up the tools and the chair and put them away in the garage and then went into the house to clean up. Once cleaned up, I realized that I was also getting hungry, so I made myself some English muffin bread pizza.

I am not suppose to be having cheese, so I used Velveeta instead and tomato products are suppose to be good for me, so I have been having that quite frequently lately.

After eating, I filled my weekly vitamin pill tray downstairs and then went upstairs to fill my morning and evening medicine pill tray, when I came back downstairs, Kathleen had called my Mom. She whispered that she was talking to her and so I got on one of the other phones. It was good to talk to her and she sounded like she was feeling good as well.

Kathleen had been watching a cam of Syracuse and saw that it was sunny out so she though that it would be a good time to call. Syracuse and most of the upstate New York near the lakes is been having quite a spell this last week and a half or so.

I made it past 1500, which is the time during the week that I start to feel not so hot. It is two hours after my radiation, and about the time that they tell me is when the radiation starts to do its thing.

In fact it was almost 1700 before I started to feel kind of yucky. The good thing, one of many, about weekends is that, I do not feel quite as bad as during the week, and I go longer in between the cramping.

The children and grandchildren all went bowling and than on to Alyssa and Dan's for a barbecue and cake to celebrate Chucky's birthday. I would have liked to have gone, at least to Alyssa and Dan's, but I am not very good company at the moment. From Alyssa's blog, it sounds like they all had a good time, especially Hayden. By the way, Alyssa, I liked his shirt!

Well, I think that I will close for now; I wrote more than I thought that I would, and probably more than I would have if I had tried to do this last night. I hope that you all have a good day, we missed church again today. It has been a month since I have been there, just a little while after I started my therapy.

Tuesday's Trials

Today really started last night about 2330 when I started to get chilled and shivering uncontrollably. To make matters worse, I still had to use the toilet three or four times during the process. Not much of anything came out, but I needed to go just to be safe.

Somewhere around 0100, I started to warm up and the shivering stopped. By this time I was really exhausted and flat out did not feel good at all. I was finally able to get to sleep and with the exception of getting up about three or four times I slept until about 0700.

When I got up, I was still pretty tired, but I needed to get my day started. Kathleen got up shortly after I did and made eggs and hash browns for breakfast. She had the yokes and I had the whites, with cheese.

Reggie has not been doing too well for a couple months, and Kathleen was finally able to take him to the vet, so now we have a couple different pills to give him each day and some drops to put in his ears. Unfortunately, Reggie does not fall under the classification of dependent so he is not covered under my medical plan.

Kathleen dropped off the valentine goodies to Becca and Alexis; they were both taking a nap when she got there. I did not go as I really was still not feeling really very good.

I finally started to feel better around noon and then it was off for my radiation appointment. We had talked about going out again later in the day, but I started feeling poorly again around 1500, so I sat around most of the afternoon, I even dozed off for a while.

I guess that we will have to take the goodies to Natalie, Zander and Hayden some other time.

Well, that is about all for today, not much here, but then again I am not doing too much either. Well, good night

Feeling better Friday

Well, since it has been almost a week since I blogged and since I am feeling better today I thought that I would do a quick blog.

I had my final radiation treatment for the week today; next week I will be half way through my treatments. I have really been feeling poorly for the last week or so, and just have not had any energy.

For the last couple of days I have spent about an hour out in the yard working, but I have gotten so tired that I just sat around for the rest of the day. Most of the time it was a struggle to just stay awake.

Today, I was feeling bad because it has been relatively nice out the whole week, nice for Oregon in the winter, it has not been raining and the temperature has been in the fifties and low sixties. So I went out side and did some weeding, in the blueberry patch, I also dug up some irises and set them aside.

These are a different variety than the ones that I dug up last fall, so I want to find a place to place them in another area. They were getting too close to the blueberries and making it difficult to keep the area weeded.

We had some left over chicken soup tonight, Kathleen made some for dinner last night and put the bones into the oven to roast them with the intention to make some more soup, but when she took it out of the oven and placed the pan on the stove, it was not on enough and wound up on the floor. So I helped her clean it up and then washed the area rugs and a couple towels that we used to mop the floor with.

Well, I am tired again, so I will say good night and hope to have this much energy again tomorrow.

Sitting Saturday

Well, I think that I am over the hump as I have not had to sit on the toilet for at least four hours now. I just about wore it out yesterday, I think I went almost two dozen times, today was only about half that amount.

I was so worn out yesterday evening that I did not get to do my blog. I almost did not do it tonight, but I feel a little better and almost awake.

Kathleen made some Granny Smith pancakes for breakfast and I think that helped plug things up a little. Then I made myself some peanut butter toast for lunch. Kathleen went to the grocery store and picked up a loaf of English muffin bread, so I made myself a couple pieces of pizza toast mid afternoon.

Tonight Kathleen heated up the roast that she made last night, I did not have any because nothing appealed to me. So far I have been able to keep the dinner down and it has been two and a half hours since I ate.

I have been sitting or laying down most of yesterday and today, except for a little time when I was installing some of the programs back on my computer. We, that is mostly Kathleen, finally got the new hard drive installed, so now it is just the tedious task of installing the programs again.

Well, I do not have a lot of energy, so I think that I will say good night.

Thursday Timings

Pretty normal morning, up through my radiation appointment. After I finished Kathleen wanted to stop off at the Dollar Tree store so we did and then after that we stopped by Office Max as Kathleen wanted to try to find some origami paper. I think that she found a couple pads of it.

Shortly after we got home Alyssa called and wanted to stop by with the grandchildren. So they got her a little after 1600 and we had a good time playing with them. Kathleen feed them some graham cracker "bugs" and Bugles and when they were done with that Natalie came over to me and whispered in my ear asking if they could have some licorice . I did not have any licorice left so I gave them the rest of my "Swedish" fish.

They left around 1730 and were still hungry, Alyssa says that they are always hungry. I remember when we had little one's, it seems that they were always wanting to eat. Those were the days when we could go the grocery store two or three times a week and still never have any food in the house.

Luckily we had picked up a Papa Murphy's pizza on the way home from the store this afternoon, so I put it into the oven and cooked it up. It was done just in time for Kathleen and I to eat a couple pieces and then Kathleen went off to a shower and I took off for the accountability group.

I got home a little after 2200 and here I am writing this. Well, I am tired and it is late, so good night.