Travels

Monday night was our last meeting for Relay for Life. It put us on the road about 8:00 pm and our first time taking I-94 towards Detroit. The change of scenery was nice and I knew we would end up in D-town late so I called ahead to let them know we would arrive around 10:30 or so....Or so was more like it! I set the GPS to head to HFH, but not the one in Detroit, rather West Bloomfield. As we were heading towards the end of our destination I was looking out the window and telling Tom how familiar this area looked. We recognized the highway and streets and then I realized we were heading to the wrong destination. We were about 1/2 hour out of our way. Tom was very good though not happy about driving through downtown. He now knows where all the gentlemen clubs are in Detroit.

His appointment was bright and early the next morning so we got up, went down to the hospital's cafeteria for breakfast. We met with Dr. Ali who was pleased with all of Tom's levels and has decided to put Tom back on the Chemo at a reduced rate. We had to wait for all of Tom's labs to be processed before the pills could be administered. We had most of the results back within an hour except one. Three hours later we finally got the last one and Tom was ready to get home.

We were supposed to be out of the room by noon, but we were a little late and the staff was wonderful about it. There guest housing are 1 and 2 bedroom apartments on the 6th floor of a 22 story building on the hospital grounds. We are still very impressed with this hospital. I couldn't help but think if Tom does need surgery down the road, I'll be very comfortable staying at the hospital in these apartments. I made sure the GPS was properly programmed to take us home and nowhere else; only to realize 10 miles down the road that I had left a couple items in the room and we had to turn around to go back to get them! I am not sure if I will be invited to go with Tom again :)

Tom has asked his doctor to clear him to return to work after Labor Day weekend. He has asked to change his schedule to Friday-Sunday nights so that he will not need to take any further time off of work for his trips to Detroit. I am not sure if Tom feels well enough to return to work or is just worried about finances. I hope he does not try to over do it.

I wanted to share with you again some of my readings from my morning devotion (thanks again for the book Mom Andrews)

There is nothing but God's grace. We walk upon it; we breath it; we live and die by it; it makes the nails and axles of the Universe.
by Robert Louis Stevenson

Normal

I just wanted to share a few things this week about what's going on at the Andrews' household. On Friday, we were in Hastings, MI for their annual Relay for Life event. It was a hot one and I think we were drenched about 2 minutes after getting out of the van! We had 10 walkers during this event with 5 of us staying the entire duration. Our walkers were awesome and dedicated. I don't think that we had more than a few minutes that someone was not walking the track. A few dedicated (crazy) walkers tracked over 20 miles. I think 28 miles was the top team member's achievement. Great job Martin!!!

The Survivor dinner was good and they had each Survivor give a sash to one Care Giver. The speech that was given before the walk is that the survivors could not do this alone. The music they played was "Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler. It was powerful and I had to make a huge effort not to cry the whole lap. The event hit to home when one of our friends from another team came over to tell Tom that a fellow friend/fire fighter lost his life to cancer during the night. They had a silent lap in his honor & I don't think there was a dry eye at the park. At the end of the event they handed out the awards. Team Sleepwalkers received 2 awards: Third place for On Line Donations & Second place for highest overall donations for a first year team. Way to go team!

It took us the rest of the weekend to recover from this event. I could not walk up/down the stairs and putting on shoes was not an option until Monday when it was required. I was so proud of Tom for being there and participating the whole time. Tom walked 18 miles himself.

The good new is that as of this weekend, Tom is able to eat like normal. He even drank a pop this week! We believe this will be short lived as Tuesday he will head back to HFH to start treatment again at a lower dosage.

I just wanted to say "Thank You" to all who helped with our event in anyway.

THANK YOU :)

Timeout

Tom and Kyle headed out the door at 7:00 this morning to head to HFH. Tom had some blood work done & talked with the clinical nurse. It was decided that Tom will be taken off the drug for 2 weeks because of his side effects. In two weeks, on August 24 Tom will head back in for his Dr. appointment and 4 hour visit. At that time Tom will resume taking the drug but at a lower dose.

Tonight when Tom came home he received a call from his primary doctor checking up on him. I am glad that he has a doctor that is very engaged in Tom's treatment. Tom also received his calcitonin level from his last blood work here on the west side and his level is 785. It is up a little bit, but still way down from the start of this program.

This weekend we will be involved in the Relay for Life 24 hour walk. A friend from my work, whose husband is a Throat Cancer patient at U of M, will be joining us for a little while. It was funny to find out that her daughter is in charge of the event. It truly is a small world! I told Tom to just show up & not worry about walking the trail, but you all know how well he listens to me ;) Thank you to all who were involved in our first campaign & to those who donated. We have raised $2,929.00. It was far from our first thought of setting a goal of $1,000.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!

Each morning when I get up for work after my little workout I do a devotional. I have decided to share a little of my writing:

My God I say to you:
Please help us feel Your love
Shinning down deeply from above
Show us the way, the path we shall follow
Live our lives to the brim, do not leave us hollow
Fill our hearts with compassion, taught by your son
Living life to the fullest, until our days are done
Lord, only you know the path we shall take
Daily give us mercy for all our our sake
Grace & mercy pour out from you
We receive it every breath, all the day through
Your humble servant is here today
To proclaim your words & silently pray
That you protect my loved ones & help them now
They will turn to you, trusting you somehow
I proclaim my trust in You, My Lord
Send down your spirit like a sword
Remind us that Jesus is the way
As I remember this early in the morning of everyday