A lovely autumn

It has been a lovely autumn here in Wisconsin. The leaves are disappearing from the trees. Things are changing with my dad, too.

Last week he met with the Palliative Care Team at the cancer center. Palliative care manages symptoms for people with life-threatening diseases. This initial visit introduced my dad to members of the Care Team. It gave the Care Team a chance to get to know my dad and better understand him.

A Stop to Chemotherapy

Sorry I am late on this. Phil saw the doctor on Wednesday. The doctor and Phil decided to stop the chemotherapy treatments. Three bad weeks and one good week between the 5FU was not good. Phil was drinking the new shakes that we got. The shakes provide about 2000 calories a day. However he did not eat for all those weeks again, and so his weight only stayed steady. No weight gain, but more importantly, one pound of weight loss. The blood work showed that he was less malnourished.

The plan now is to get going on his exercises again, to eat, to take the shakes, to get stronger and to gain weight. We are seeing the dietician again in October. We are also going to see the palliative care team at the hospital just to get connected. If he is doing well enough, then we will check in with physical therapy again for more exercises.

In December, he will get another CT scan and see if there is an appropriate experimental drug available. If there is one, we may start it.

We are hoping that the better nutrition and the exercises will make him stronger and help him fight the cancer better than the 5FU did.

He is eating much better the last week and still taking the shakes. Thanks for all your prayers.

Judy

Trip to Michigan

The last time Phil was getting treatment I came into the room and found him on the computer looking up information on Michigan. This was another trip we always talked about. He said he was thinking about going up there but that he was probably not going to make it to next summer. Which we are both thinking is true. We are going to give it another try though by stopping the chemo and seeing if he can eat again and get his strength back. We will talk to the doctor on September 24th.

Okay, I got off the subject. The weekend after chemo, Michael came up to Door County, and I asked Michael what he thought. I told him we could not do the trip alone, and it would be pretty cold up there soon. Michelle had just got back from vacation, but she was my next contact. I did not tell Phil right away. Michael said that he would check at work, and it would be tough to get away on such short notice. Michael decided on the 5th that he could go on the 14th. Then we had to see if Phil felt well enough to go. Phil asked about Michelle, and I called her. I knew if she said yes that he would pull himself together and go. She could not make plans that fast but she would consider it. A few days later Phil said yes. Then Michelle said yes, for her and Kyle, and we were off.

We left Manitowoc on the Ferry on Sunday afternoon. It was a stormy day and probably 1/4th of the people on the boat got sick. The Badger is a really big boat. Kyle enjoyed playing Bingo with the activities director. He won a sailor hat and a chance to get a free trip on the Badger. He was really excited. He liked the big boat. There was a movie theater and a museum and a quiet lounge. Two tv lounges but no Packer game. They could not get local channels on their satellite. They did however keep track of the score on the general sports network. Two restaurants were also on the boat and there was an upstairs area where people had radios on and we could listen to the Packers play. We did that. There was also a massage lady so I got a much needed massage. We left Ludington and drove to Mackinaw City where we spent the night.

Then the Monday morning we caught a boat for Mackinac Island. We got a carriage ride and lunch. (Kyle liked the horses.) It was a beautiful and sunny day as it always is when you travel with Phil. We drove up to see the locks at Sault Saint Marie. Watched two boats go through. We arrived just as the first boat was about to leave the lock. We did not know the schedule of the boats but we had Phil, and everything's goes right for him now. That night we drove to Charlevoix, MI.

The most important part of the trip was Beaver Island. The home of Phil's grandfather. Phil's great-grandfather, "Black" Pete McCauley, is one of the original settlers of the island. He and several others came from an island in Northern Ireland and settled on Beaver Island which is very much like Ireland in many ways. Everyone except Phil's great-aunt left the Island. (She married a Nackerman and had 5 grandchildren. One of her grandsons lives on the island next door to his grandmother's home, but he leaves the island for the winter after Labor Day. We expected to find no one on the Nackerman property.) When we got to the house of Phil's great-aunt, we found a car. Then we walked down the road to the water, where a lady was trimming a rose bush. It was Phil's second cousin who decided to come out for the day from the mainland. (Again, when you travel with Phil things just work out. God is watching over him.) We drove Phil down to the water, and he had a nice chat with his cousin about the family and the island.

We flew onto the Island on a 5 passenger plane. (Kyle loved the plane ride). Of course the skys were clear (we had phil) and we could see McCauley Bay from the sky. (The birth place of Phil's grandfather and the homestead of "Black Pete" McCauley. The actual home is gone).

After we landed, we drove to the McCauley Bay. Most roads on the island are not paved and many things are just the way they were over 100 years ago. Michael knocked on the door of the couple who own the land on McCauley Bay. They were very welcoming and told us to look around and spend as much time on the land as we wanted. We took rocks from the water on McCauley bay.

People on Beaver Island were very friendly. It was the off season and many things were closed. The lady at the airport on the island made a phone call to get the Beaver Island Historical Museum opened for the family of "Black Pete".

At the museum we found the birth records of Phil's grandfather and a photo and information on Black Pete. (You can see the picture if you go out to history of Beaver Island on the web.) The gentleman who opened it was very friendly and helpful. We also went to the cemetery and saw a stone wall dedicated to the founders of the Island. A rock in the shape of a fish was put in it for "Black Pete". We found many graves of the relatives who stayed on the island.

We saw the lighthouse monument to the citizens of Beaver Island who died at sea. One of Phil's great uncles names are on it. We just enjoyed the beauty of the island and the great weather. After our flight to the mainland we drove back to Ludington and the next day caught the boat to Manitowoc. The only thing I regret was not spending Tuesday night on the boat. It would have been better than waking up at 7 am to catch it. The boat ride home was sunny, with calm seas and warm weather. Kyle won a corndog playing bingo. Phil and I took a nap and watched a movie. Michael came in for the movie, and we all played games and sat on deck and enjoyed the weather.

The trip was wonderful. Although Phil got tired once when he walked on a short trail on Beaver Island, he said that he loved it. His favorite part was spending time with Michael, Michelle, Kyle and me. He really enjoyed having the kids learn about his family and could recall stories his grandfather told him about playing on the island as a kid.

We came home and are really missing our dogs. My sister and niece have them and are going to bring them up on Friday.

This has been a special 21 months since his diagnosis. It is hard to imagine that we did so much living in so little time. Keep the prayers coming.

Judy

Irish Fest

Below is the information on Irish Fest that many of you have asked for.  My parents are undecided on whether or not they'll make the trip.  It is an exhausting ride between Door County and here for my dad.

Friday, August 15 at 6:30

at the Milwaukee Pub Gardens Stage

Mark will play the Irish flute and the tin whistle.

Rhys will play the bodhran (Irish drum).

Muriel will play the fiddle.

They are playing as part of the Irish Fest School of Music.

Admission is free from 4-5 pm on Friday.  (Remember that kids 12 and under are always free.)

Mark, the kids, and I could really use some moral support, so please consider meeting up with us at Irish Fest this year.  For those of you that caught the Irish Fest School of Music performance at the Domes in March, this performance involves less background noise and more amplification. :)  The musicians in the performance are students, and this is their school recital.

Thanks, thanks, and more thanks

I feel fortunate that there are so many people to thank recently.

I'll start with those that helped in my search for suspenders for my dad.  Thank you to Roberta and Anna for getting suspenders to my dad.  Thanks to Renee and Margaret for suggestions on where to get them.  Below is a picture of my dad wearing a pair of smiley face ones.

Many of you already know of the annual camping trip each July to Peninsula.  This year the trip went as scheduled, but definitely NOT without a hitch.  The pop-up mechanism broke on my parents' pop-up camper.  So, my thanks goes out to all those who helped my mom with the broken pop-up camper: including John, Ritch, Mark, Rhys, Brian, Rick and Muriel.  (Please let me know if I forgot someone since I wasn't there for the set up or take down.)  Thanks also to everyone who made food for my parents during the Peninsula trip including Nancy, Mary and John.  Finally, I'd like to thank all those who visited with my dad on his campsite. Many times my dad was too weak to walk around and visit with his family and friends.  Several times I stopped by his site to find my dad busy chatting with one or more drop-in guests often while working on one of his quilting projects.

In the picture above my dad is quilting, too.  I mentioned back in the fall that my dad was taking a quilting class with my daughter Muriel and that he had done quilting in the past.  Then, in November my parents gave me a handmade queen size quilt with a Door County wildflower theme for my birthday gift.  What a surprise!  I was so overwhelmed with emotion initially that I didn't tell anyone about it.

I had known for some time that he was working on a quilt, but I never dreamed that he and my mom were making such a large one for me.  There were times I saw him go to the Wilson Park Senior Center to work on a quilt when he was very sick and nauseated.  (Remember, this was when the depression was bad and before any stents were put in.)  At the time, I was angry with him.  I knew he was working on a special project that I wasn't supposed to know about.  But, I didn't think anything could be that important that he should go when he felt so sick even if it was a surprise for me.  (I always assumed the surprise was for the whole family.  I never dreamed it was just for me.)  When I received the quilt, I felt embarrassed that my dad had put so much time into something for me when he felt so ill.

Of course, later my dad and mom also finished a quilt for my brother in time for Christmas.  Michael's is also a queen size quilt.  For his brother-in-law John, my dad made a wall hanging.  And my dad has made several small wall hangings for family and friends that my parents have visited since my dad was diagnosed.  (I don't know whether or not my mom did work on the wall hangings.)  Currently, he's finishing a twin size quilt he and my mom made for my son Kyle's birthday gift.  He still has several projects that he's hoping he'll be able to finish.  Fatigue is getting the better of him more and more.

So, my biggest thank you is saved for last.  Although it isn't very timely, it is important nonetheless.  Thanks to my parents for the quilt they made me.  It is very special.

Hopefully, I'll someday get photos of some of the quilts up on the blog. We'll see.

Looking for suspenders

My mom is looking for some clip-on suspenders for my dad.  His pants aren't staying up very well.  I thought it might be fun if he had some nifty designs on them like smiley faces.  I'm looking for suggestions on stores that might carry these.  (Plain ones would also do the trick.)  Email me using the link on the right or leave a comment with your suggestions.  Thanks.

The puppies are gone (except one)

Today is a sad, but necessary day.  The last of the puppies went home with his new family this afternoon.  My mom really enjoyed the experience.  Last week was the only hard part because my dad had a rough week.  When I wasn't helping my mom with the puppies, I was chauffeuring my dad around.

Everything worked out well enough though.  My parents were here for a long stay to help me out.  I had periodontal surgery on Tuesday.  My dad was feeling stronger by Tuesday and my mom was down one puppy.  My kids got to spend a bunch of extra time with Grandma and the puppies because my recovery was slower than expected.

There is a great picture of my dad with one of the puppies on the puppies' blog.  Check out the blog at tillyspups.blogspot.com, if you haven't already.  My parents are keeping the puppy pictured with my dad on Day Fifty-One.  She was the only female in the litter.