A year of living.

[Wayne in Maine]

Betty and I celebrated our 44'th anniversary last Saturday. Today we got the results of my PET scan. Last night I prayed: "To be honest with you God, I'd really like to get some good news." The scan was very clear showing that the prayers and the chemotherapy are working! In the words of my Oncologist: "It's melted" and "I've never seen such a response so fast".

As a result I'm being taken off Oxaliplatin, which is the chemo drug with the worst side effects - fatigue, cold sensitivity, etc. I'll continue on the 5FU and Immunotherapy (and prayers!). We also agreed to skip one or two chemo sessions in August so that we can enjoy our family trip to Iceland at the end of the month.

I asked the Oncologist what this might mean for my prognosis "Will Betty and I celebrate our 45'th anniversary?" His response "More than likely". He also advised me to not spend all my life savings right now, I might need them a little longer.

I'm still going to be reserved in my expectations. I have not been cured, only God can cure this cancer. I'm thankful that He saw to it that Betty and I got some good news today.

[temporal1]

Looking forward to reading about Iceland!
Do you recall Klayton’s thread on his trip to Ireland? I still remember some of his pictures.

Esp one of an ancient knitted tunic -
not unlike one I’m now knitting for my grdaughter.

I miss the many pics+videos shared on MD.

[Wayne in Maine]

Day 4 after chemo is usually the roughest for me. Typically I confine myself to my easy chair and simply rest on days 3 and 4 (and recently, the necessity for rest had gone into day5!) Yesterday (day 3) I was as active as ever. I had practically no fatigue which is the biggest problem I've had with the cancer and treatment. We were wondering if it was the progress of the cancer or the chemotherapy that was causing the fatigue, now we have the answer: since I've been taken off the Oxaliplatin I'm getting some vigor back and feeling healthy again.

Of course I expect this is only a respite, but I'll enjoy feeling healthy while I can. It's always a trade off with "palliative" (as opposed to curative) cancer treatment: quality of life vs longevity. My next blood tests and later PET scan will determine how long I can avoid the "hard stuff". The timing of this respite is perfect as our Maine house goes on the market in 4 weeks and we have a lot of packing and painting and general clean up to do.

[Wayne in Maine]

These are very, very busy days. We list the Maine house for sale in 2 weeks, with an open house the week after. That means a lot of cleaning up, freshening up and just making the house presentable.

As we take pictures or shelves and other items off the walls the need for a fresh coat of paint is revealed. It's not a job we wanted to do but it has to be done to help the sale. Last week Betty's sister and husband, as well as Betty's nephew came to help us out. They painted the living room walls and trim which really needed the freshening up. They also re-painted the mud room. We took the spice and tea cabinet off the wall of the kitchen where it had been for 22 years. Ya, the kitchen needs a coat of paint too!

Thankfully Betty is no longer working and I'm feeling pretty good with the change in my chemotherapy. I need that extra energy right now, and I think God decided to give it to me.

Franzi and Dickon came up on Thursday with the grandchildren and Dickon's mother, Beth. Dickon's father, Harry, arrived with the truck on Friday. On Saturday a crew fro the Brethren church arrived to lend a hand. In those three days we go the barn empty except for what we will try to sell when we hold a "Yard and Barn sale" next Saturday. Harry got two truckloads into the truck! Some odd repairs got completed around the house and lots more packing got done. The house is looking quite empty and sparse. We filled a 30 yard dumpster, mostly with junk from the barn, and we have a big burn pile of wood junk in the old garden.

On Sunday we went to the beach. It was a perfect day for it, the grandchildren enjoyed the sand but Elanor as skeptical of the water that kept going in and out of the little cove we sat by.

Yesterday Betty and I took a break from our work and took a drive to the White Mountains in New Hampshire. We stopped at a couple old favorite shops, but like everything these days, things have changed and (for example) the backpacking gear shop that used to sell decent cheap gear and supplies for making your own, had pretty much gone up-scale and had expensive “look like a cool hiker” clothing and gear. The mountains were still quite beautiful. For Father’s Day, my children bought a helicopter excursion for me in the White Mountains. Betty and I will take the flight sometime this summer. I’ll enjoy flying over some of my favorite hiking territory.



Today is day 1 of Chemo session #7, I go in for my infusion in a few hours. I'm feeling great being off the Oxaliplatin, I'm going to ask to be taken off the steroid (that offsets the side effects of the chemo) - while I like the "Superman effect" on day 2, I don't like the sleeplessness or the crash - I just want to stay on an even-keel and feel like a 64 year old man (with an arthritic knee!).

[MaxPC]

Those photos are quite nice. Moving house is a marathon in and of itself. I am glad you have help.

[Wayne in Maine]

I hardly recognize my own home.

Other than having a semi-successful Barn and Moving sale last Saturday, we have been working steadily to get the house ready for sale. Our focus this past week was to get it "photo ready", as we had a photographer come yesterday to do the photos for realty marketing. We had a crew of carpenters in to repair and replace trim as well as to replace the tub surround in the bathroom (which turned into a major job). Again, as we took things off the walls we found the need for more painting. When all was said and done the mud room and kitchen were painted, a couple walls in the bathroom and dining room and all the trim in the first floor. We finished burning the wood scraps from the barn and around the house (a bigger job then you would think - we save everything rather than throw it away!) and cleaned and re-organized the barn twice - once for the barn sale and then again for the photographs.

There were a lot of small jobs during the week as well , from replacing hinges on one of the horse stalls in the barn to replacing electrical switch and outlet plates. After the painting and repair work came a massive clean up, clearing the stuff that was packed or half-packed, getting tools and paint stuff out of sight and making the main house look as empty as possible. We were literally vacuuming and sweeping inside as the photographer arrived and took photographs of the exterior. A lot of stuff just got hidden in closets, drawers and in the garage. The realtor wanted the living room furnished more sparsely which presented the problem of where to put the couch - the solution? in the back of my pickup truck!

Now we have to re-organize the garage (where we are putting stuff that's packed and ready to ship to PA), clear out the basement, and set up a way to hide the fact that there are two people living in this house when we have the open house and showings starting next Saturday.

I'm thankful that my chemotherapy regimen has been changed so that I have more stamina for this work. Nevertheless I've been getting a nap or at least a solid rest time in the afternoon and I end up collapsing at the end of the day, getting to bed before 9:00. We are taking this morning off for a break but we'll be right back into the work this afternoon and tomorrow (I may have some help coming in the morning). This is the big final push to get the house salable. We hope to have the final pre-move truck load sent to PA in another three weeks and we'll hopefully sell or distribute the last of our unneeded goods (bee keeping equipment, some furniture, tools, etc.) over the next two months.

And then there's getting the boat in the water and our "camper" ready for our July-August outings in Vacationland.

God is good.

[JimFoxvog]

You're in my prayers. Fixing up a house to sell is a BIG job. I got to do that for our family home last winter and it sold for the asking price. Here's the real estate folks presentation if you're interested. https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3509 ... 74113_zpid

[Bootstrap]

It's so strange to work that hard to turn a home into just a house. Our family just went through this with my mother's house, she is moving into a senior living facility. It's a lot of work. And a lot of emotional work, so many items are attached to people - the grandparent or great-grandparent or uncle who made it or bought it or treasured it.

When we saw the realtor's video, everything was recognizable, and I can see how that video would sell the house, but it no longer feels like the home it once was, it feels like it is already becoming someone else's house.

My mother enjoyed the opportunity to make sure that things went to people who value them. I imagine things like your books, beekeeping equipment, tools, etc. are really meaningful to the people who know how to value them, worthless to those who do not, and a temptation to hoarders who don't need them. That's how it was with us, at least.

[MaxPC]

I hardly recognize my own home.

Other than having a semi-successful Barn and Moving sale last Saturday, we have been working steadily to get the house ready for sale. Our focus this past week was to get it "photo ready", as we had a photographer come yesterday to do the photos for realty marketing. We had a crew of carpenters in to repair and replace trim as well as to replace the tub surround in the bathroom (which turned into a major job). Again, as we took things off the walls we found the need for more painting. When all was said and done the mud room and kitchen were painted, a couple walls in the bathroom and dining room and all the trim in the first floor. We finished burning the wood scraps from the barn and around the house (a bigger job then you would think - we save everything rather than throw it away!) and cleaned and re-organized the barn twice - once for the barn sale and then again for the photographs.

There were a lot of small jobs during the week as well , from replacing hinges on one of the horse stalls in the barn to replacing electrical switch and outlet plates. After the painting and repair work came a massive clean up, clearing the stuff that was packed or half-packed, getting tools and paint stuff out of sight and making the main house look as empty as possible. We were literally vacuuming and sweeping inside as the photographer arrived and took photographs of the exterior. A lot of stuff just got hidden in closets, drawers and in the garage. The realtor wanted the living room furnished more sparsely which presented the problem of where to put the couch - the solution? in the back of my pickup truck!

Now we have to re-organize the garage (where we are putting stuff that's packed and ready to ship to PA), clear out the basement, and set up a way to hide the fact that there are two people living in this house when we have the open house and showings starting next Saturday.

I'm thankful that my chemotherapy regimen has been changed so that I have more stamina for this work. Nevertheless I've been getting a nap or at least a solid rest time in the afternoon and I end up collapsing at the end of the day, getting to bed before 9:00. We are taking this morning off for a break but we'll be right back into the work this afternoon and tomorrow (I may have some help coming in the morning). This is the big final push to get the house salable. We hope to have the final pre-move truck load sent to PA in another three weeks and we'll hopefully sell or distribute the last of our unneeded goods (bee keeping equipment, some furniture, tools, etc.) over the next two months.

And then there's getting the boat in the water and our "camper" ready for our July-August outings in Vacationland.

God is good.

Wayne, I am edified by your efforts to continue living a productive life for Christ. I have personally known a number of acquaintances who succumbed to depression and even thoughts of suicide in the face of cancer. You are living in victory with Christ. Indeed God is good.

[Wayne in Maine]

It's so strange to work that hard to turn a home into just a house...

That's a good description of our situation. We're turning our home into a house. Here are some before and after pictures.

I don't feel at home in this house anymore.




Yesterday several folks from our old church came to help with some of the last cleanup tasks - the basement. It was always a bit of a crowded space with laundry, food storage, sink, shop and lots of storage, but in the past month it became a dumping place for stuff that had to get sorted. With a sizable crew and some organization we got it to where Betty and i just have a little sorting and packing left. While we are not hoarders, we save lots of things that might be useful, and that includes a lot of wood scraps, screws, pieces of pipe, etc. Yesterday it all had to go. I also had to sadly let go of my workbench. It was an old double desk I bought at a yard sale in Mount Joy PA 25 years ago that I converted. It really has no place at our new home and I was going to replace it with a smaller one anyway. Still it was a bit of a heart break to see its final destination. I did a lot of projects on that.