The New Adventure

Well the new adventure started the beginning of April with my noticing that my pee was a funny color. (Great way to start, huh!) We waited until the 7th to go into the doctor to see what might be causing it. They ran blood tests that indicated my liver enzymes were way off the chart and that I was definitely a very interesting shade of yellow. I actually didn't believe them and was going to wait until we got back in town on Saturday but when we got back out to the car, I looked in the visor mirror. Wow! Definitely yellow. So that is when it all started. I went for Ultra Sound, CT Scan and more blood tests. They finally said it appeared there was a blockage of my bile duct (e.g yellow skin). So then I was scheduled for a procedure that went down my throat and into the duct and they took pictures and put in a stint. That was on Tuesday the 12th. So all this time I've had to go without food and water after midnight. So that went well except for I woke up early on the 13th with some pain. Tried to eat and drink something and it came right back up. Come to find out that one of the possible side effects of this procedure is Pancreatitis. Wow, did it hit me. Ended up in the hospital for four days while my poor little pancreas calmed down. IV fluid (no nutrients). Very nummy :-(

While I was in hospital they had an Oncologist come in to see me. He is a very nice man and seems very knowledgeable. Oh, this is all taking place in Puyallup, WA. He started talking about getting me in for a PET Scan and biopsy. Nothing is really said but we are not the last crumb on the plate. So Jeff and I looked at each other with tears in our eyes but still never really addressed that it was cancer only that it might be. Dr. Liao not only scheduled us for those two tests but scheduled me to get a Port placed and to start Chemotherapy. Got out of hospital Sun, 17th, appt with Dr. Liao Mon, 18th, PET Scan Wed, 20th, Biopsy Thurs, 21st, Port placed Fri, 22. We did get to go over to Tri-Cities to spend Easter with Jeff's sister and family. Then Mon, 25th had an appt with Dr. Liao before Chemo and he went over the test results from the previous week. From PET Scan it shows cancer in pancreas, liver, lung and bone marrow. Chemo was very interesting. You sit in this chair for one and a half to three hours hooked up to an IV line. You wanna know the great part is now that the Port is in, no more pokes in the arm. That was a huge relief. I was starting to feel like a pin cushion. They can do most anything they need through the port. :-) I am scheduled for Chemo every week at this point but we are scouring the internet for alternatives. I have an appointment with a Naturalpath next week to pursue other options.

All that to say we KNOW who is ultimately in control and from the very start we are looking at this as an adventure to see what awesome things God is going to do through all of this. To see what lives we get to touch and to be a part of. I will continue to try to post through this blog when anything knew comes up, but other than that just know that we are okay and ready to live.

We are currently renting a house in Spanaway, WA, 6515 208th St East, 98387. We decided to rent up here after we bought a business making 3/4 scale '32 Roadster kits. We don't build the cars, just the kits for somebody else to build. We weld the frame together and make the fiberglass body and some sundry other parts. Put it together and ship it off. We are getting ready to ship our first one out just shortly. We had to get permission to live up here from our boss. But since our bid run puts us up here twice a week, they realized it would not interfere with our working. The cats have lots of room to run and it is nice to have a real flush toilet again. Oh, the things we take for granted. It has been wonderful to see the grandkids on a regular basis. Up until the hospital stay, Aidan was over every weekend. It has been great.

Well bye for now. God bless and keep you all. - Lori