The End of Summer

Time has flown this summer. I can't believe it is over and the kids are back in school. Denny has continued to work and I am taking care of the homefront. My current job position is "caregiver".

I got a very nice card from Denny's cousin, Teri. She sent the sweetest letter inside addressed to one caregiver from another. I have been amazed by many things during this journey I've traveled with Denny. He and I have been pleasantly surprised by the outpouring of emails, blog comments and phone calls of encouragement from our friends and family. We know you are out there and you have our sincerest thanks for all the support you have given us these last 5 months.

We are still climbing the mountain but I have no doubt that Denny will make it to the top. He has shown his strength in overcoming every obstacle that has blocked his path. We have faith that when this journey is over, he will have won this battle against cancer once again.

When a chemo patient at the Siteman Cancer center finishes treatment, it is a tradition to ring a big bell. When that happens, you will hear a big round of applause. When Denny rings that bell, be ready. I want the world to hear our noise!

Love to all,

Deb

All quiet on the Southern front

It is nice to say that life is normal. Denny went to work at his usual time for his usual day. He is feeling great! The infection is clearing rapidly. There are no medical or insurance problems to deal with. All is quiet...

Love to all,

Deb

Sick person? Where?

It is so crazy around here! Denny went to our primary care doctor to have his infection checked out. She said it looked great to come back before he leaves for St. Louis for a final check. Also, she reduced his blood pressure medicine so he won't have any more problems with sudden drops like last time.

I guess Denny figured that since everything checked out, he was going to do the things he wants to do. Therefore, he and Dan took off early this morning for a "Wildlife Expo". After touring through that, they are headed for a Nashville Sounds baseball game. "Bye, Deb! See ya!" and off he went! That was so quick, the dust hasn't even settled yet! :)

Love to all,

Deb

Life goes on

12:20pm The doctor's office just called. Dr. Adkins has decided to delay Denny's chemo treatment for 2 weeks. He felt it was too risky to proceed considering Denny just had an oral surgery yesterday and is dealing with 2 infections. He said the infection takes priority over the chemo right now. As a result, the follow up appointment with the neurosurgeon and the MRI had to be rescheduled also.

10:15am. Denny is back at work this morning. Last night, he mowed the grass. Nothing stops him! Keeping busy is a positive way to cope with our situation.

His face didn't look swollen and he said he felt good. Things are going in the right direction. Life goes on!

Love to all,

Deb

One Bumpy Ride!

This week has been one bumpy ride so far. Denny actually was able to get in for a consultation with the oral surgeon late yesterday afternoon. As a result, he was in surgery at 9:30am this morning. It was all over in 45 minutes. However, it took us about an hour to get home because there was a terrible accident on the highway and all the lanes were closed. I detoured but it still took awhile.

When we got him home, I fixed him some tomato soup and then ran to the pharmacy to get the medicines he needed. By the time I got home, he was asleep in his chair. The oral surgeon didn't see any reason to hold up the chemo because he got all the infection out of the abscess.

On Friday, Denny will see the primary care doctor about the other infected site. The St. Louis docs will decide whether or not to proceed based on her opinion. Unless something really drastic happens, it will probably move along as scheduled.

I've got to sign off for now. I have to get Dan to golf practice! I'll post with updates as soon as I can.

Love to all,

Deb

"Abscession"

Denny went to the dentist today to see what could be done with the abscess. He has to get rid of the infection before he can receive chemo. The dentist would not extract the tooth due to Denny's unique situation. He has been referred to an oral surgeon. Our dentist got him an appointment for tomorrow afternoon. Denny will go to a consultation with the oral surgeon and hopefully, receive treatment before Thursday. The good news is that the swelling appears to have gone down and he is feeling better.

Love to all,

Deb

Making Progress

5:45pm: Denny is home from the hospital. He is feeling much better. He still has an abscess under his cheekbone so he will be going to the Dentist first thing in the morning. The doctors feel that his tooth should be pulled in order for the antibiotic to be able to work at full efficiency.

The big question remains as to whether he will be able to keep the the final chemo schedule. We are supposed to leave for St. Louis on Aug. 29th for his treatment to begin on Aug. 30th. He will see our primary care doc on Friday who will make the determination as to whether he is up to the final round. If the incision and infection have not healed sufficiently, the the chemo will have to be delayed. The doctors in St. Louis say the infection has priority right now..then the chemo. I will post to the blog as soon as I have any new info.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. Please keep them coming!

6:30am: Denny is still in the hospital at Vanderbilt. I stayed with him until about 7pm last night. He had a pocket of infection up under his right cheekbone that kept swelling. The docs ordered a CAT scan to see what it was and they identified it as an abscess. They had to go up under his gum line; make an incision and drain it. The antibiotics should be able to work better now. He was on pain medicine and resting comfortably last night. There was talk that he would be released today. I will post later with more details. Thanks for checking in.

Love to all,

Deb

Hospitalized at Vanderbilt

Shortly after my blog post yesterday, Denny started running a fever. He went to the Saturday Clinic offered through our primary care physician and was referred to the ER. Due to the chemotherapy, his immune system is at it's lowest point right now. The fever indicated an infection so he was admitted to the hospital to a private room at about 10:30pm last night.

He is receiving some pretty potent antibiotics and his fever is down to normal. Luckily, this was caught soon enough to prevent any serious problems. He will probably be in the hospital today and be released probably tomorrow. This is subject to change at the doctor's discretion.

Please check the blog for updates. I will post as I get new info. Thanks for checking in.

Love to all,
Deb

Happy Birthday, Denny!

Today is Denny's 57th birthday. He says it is just another day. I say it is a miracle; a milestone and a celebration!

I feel this way for a good reason. I went to the beginning of the blog and was reading through all the entries this past week. When we are in the middle of the crisis, sometimes we can't see the details in all the miracles we have been given. Looking back, I am seeing everything with new eyes and I'm in awe, once again, of these miracles.

This birthday is a celebration; a reason to be happy and a stick in cancer's eye. It gives us renewed hope and faith that Denny will beat this disease and I will be writing about his 58th birthday next year!

Love to all,
Deb

A normal life

After a little bit of a rough start on Sunday, Denny has been feeling well the past couple of days. He is feeling a little tired but is having no other problems. The heat and humidity have been a little hard on him so he is staying inside most of the time. Aren't we all? Considering everything he has been through, he is living a normal life.

Love to all,
Deb

The Wrinkle in the Plan

We didn't get out of St. Louis as quickly as we had planned. His shot was scheduled for 3:30 pm. We checked out of the lodge and got to the hospital at 3pm. When we arrived, Denny started feeling bad. Eventually, he got to lay back in a recliner. He said he felt light-headed; like he was going to pass out. His skin looked snow-white and his forehead was beaded with sweat. The nurse took his blood pressure and it was really low. She took it in both arms and got low readings. They called the doctor and hydration was ordered. It took about an hour but then he was back to himself and feeling good. We are not sure what caused the wrinkle in the plan but he wasn't released until they felt he was okay. They gave him his shot of Neulasta and we headed for home. We got back to Tennessee about 11:30pm. Everything is back to normal and he is feeling very good today; just a little tired.

Love to all,
Deb

Leaving the LOU

Denny and I are getting ready to head over to the hospital for his shot. Once that is given, we will be on the road for home. Thanks for hanging in with us through this week. We are coming down the homestretch in the treatment plan. Round 4, which is the last treatment, will start on August 30th. Keep the faith that Denny will beat this thing once again!

Love to all,
Deb

Family Times

We are winding down to the last day of treatment tomorrow. Denny will get his Neulasta shot around 3:30pm and then we will head for the hills (of Tennessee!)

We spent today with Denny's family. His sister, Anita, made a wonderful lunch and we got to have a nice visit. His brother, Mike, brought a birthday cake and we all sang "Happy Birthday" to Denny a little bit early. His birthday is August 21st. We really enjoyed the afternoon.

We had to get back to the lodge by 3pm to meet the home health nurse. Denny had to get the chemo pump removed from his port. Then, he watched the Cardinal game.

Thanks to everyone for the continued encouragement messages. The prayers, cards and emails are greatly appreciated!

Love to all,
Deb

Smooth Sailing

Everything is going well here in St. Louis. Denny is feeling pretty good. He had a little bout with hiccups last night but nothing major. All is well. Smooth sailing so far.

Love to all,
Deb

Chemo treatment & the therapy dogs

We just got back to the lodge from being at the hospital all day. Denny's treatment went smoothly. The only problem was a glitch with the health insurance filling a prescription he needed. It seems like lately I'm on the phone constantly getting insurance problems corrected. There are too many other things that need to be done so that is getting old.

While Denny was getting treatment, the therapy dogs came in. They were so pretty! Three golden retrievers named "Cherry", "Teddy" and "Tucker" visited Denny in his room. There was also a little Llaso Apso named "Jin Li" that visited. I got a kick out of her "person". She was a little old lady with the funniest sense of humor. You could tell she really enjoyed visiting patients with her little dog. I have to say "Teddy" was my favorite. He had laughing brown eyes that reminded me of my son's dog, Dakota.

St. Louis is under the same heat warnings as Tennessee. We will be glad when Fall comes! We are looking forward to colorful leaves, bonfires and cooler air!

Love to all,
Deb

On the Road Again

Tomorrow we hit the road for St. Louis. I've got most of our stuff packed. It is becoming more of a routine now. The hardest part is getting the kids taken care of with school and their sports schedules.

Denny is still feeling fine. I hope round three goes as well as round two did. I will update during the week from Hope Lodge.

Love to all,
Deb

Round Three

I was looking at the calendar today. It is hard to believe we are coming up on round three of Denny's treatment. The schedule is changed a bit since his doctor is out of town next week. This treatment will go from this coming Wednesday to Sunday instead of Monday through Friday.

Denny's cousin, Glenda and her husband, Steve, are coming down to stay with the kids while we are gone. Steve will probably bring his boat so she said they would make a little vacation out of it.

Denny has really been doing well. I haven't been posting daily because I felt I would be saying the same thing over and over. You would never know he was going through chemo by the way he is living his life. I am so proud of him. I know if anyone can beat this cancer, it will be Denny!

Love to all,
Deb

The Golf Guys

It has been very busy in the Woodruff house since our return from St. Louis. We have been getting ready for a big golf tournament fundraiser, held this past Saturday, to support the high school team that Dan is now a member of.

Denny and Dan played with friends, Aaron and his dad, Kim. They had a great time laughing and joking their way through 18 holes. As Denny said, "We didn't win, but we didn't come in last either."

I was worried about him out in the heat but as he says, "I can't live in a glass bubble." So when I opened an email from a friend today, there was a quote that jumped out at me and is now in my little notebook:

"If you don't learn to laugh at trouble, you won't have anything to laugh at when you are old." - Will Rogers

You know what? He is absolutely right!

Love to all,
Deb