Halfway thru this round of treatment

This has been a quiet week. We are getting better at predicting the ups and downs of the medication, making small adjustments that help improve the quality of daily life. John continues to work in daily short walks and goes to physical therapy twice a week. He's been touching base with more folks by phone. He seems stronger, relaxed, and is tolerating the lack of activities like a champ. We enjoyed support this week from Marguerite Timmel and Nancy Crane - the meals were delicious! Notes from friends and family brought us up to date and keep us amused. We are looking ahead to June and hoping to make a trip to John's family vacation home in Sea Island to see his mom and sister and have a change of scene. Hopefully, he will feel up to the ride, with Dee and Ellen taking turns at the wheel.

Change of Watch at Tampa Yacht Club

Tuesday evening, John was able to attend the Annual Meeting at the Tampa Yacht Club, which is also called the Change of Watch. He accepted the burgee as new Commodore, made very brief remarks, and headed home. We're so grateful to Norman Stallings, who provided transport and a sturdy arm. John was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support shown to him in this first "public" appearance since this saga began. Arriving home exhausted but happy, he recovered quickly. We've dined on Cuban food from Mary Margaret Docimascolo, Chris' Cookies from the Gonzalez family and a smoked turkey from the Chambers. We feel so blessed and thankful for all the help and good wishes. It truly is making a positive difference.

Sunday afternoon

John continues to go to physical therapy and work on this at home as well. He started taking Sutent (the inhibitor) again on Friday, we hope this won't increase the fatigue which has abated a little bit. He will continue the Sutent for four weeks and on June 22nd have a reassessment at Moffitt. He's eating well, thanks to many friends offering tasty dishes. Harriet Plyler brought over lamb curry and Leah Martorana provided Thai dishes, all delicious and much appreciated. It's been so helpful we extended the food calendar through June. You can't imagine how supported we feel, thank you so much for notes, food offerings, and emails, it all helps and John remains patient and positive.

John's physical therapy continued today with an hour's workout, followed by a restorative smoothie! His regular doc also cut back on some medication today that might be contributing to his general feelings of tiredness, so the saga continues as we work to get him back on track. A pasta meal from the Doney's is also what the doctor ordered - didn't they always say eat pasta when you work out?? Thank you so much to Jeanne for thinking ahead. :)

Some improvement

John has been doing the PT exercises and eating more for a couple of days and we're seeing a little improvement in stamina. It probably helps that he is still on a break from the Sutent which resumes on Thursday. Yesterday he rode out to Moffitt with Ellen for some more bloodwork which was an exhausting event, but mission accomplished and back home for a rest. Flip and Rick Miller came by this morning with home baked bread to go with her strawberry-banana and champagne jellies, perfect for Saturday brunch, and we look forward to a salmon dinner this evening being prepared by Andrea Zelman, thank you!

John is well enough today to use his Blackberry for e-mailing, so we are all getting a little work done and enjoying this sunny day.

Physical Therapy

Will and Lauren flew back to CA Tuesday; we so enjoyed their company and all they did for us while here. Will lent his incomparable high tech talents to all of us, and Lauren her always cheerful willingness to help with whatever presents itself.

Today John had his first PT appointment with Nan Morris. He was happy to have an idea of what to do to build up his muscle strength and will return for more therapy with Nan, and following her instructions, now has a work out program for home. He feels better already!

This, combined with new prescriptions to address weakness caused by the radiation which compromised the thyroid gland, give us all hope for some strength returning in a few weeks.

Dinner tonight was a beautiful seafood crepe menu courtesy of Sharon Pizzo. Delicious! Thanks to everyone for your continued support.

Monday, May 3, 2010

It's been a festive week here, with family coming in from out of town to celebrate Dad's 60th birthday. Anna arrived on Wednesday evening, in time for his actual birthday on Thursday.

Dad unfortunately spent much of his birthday on an unplanned trip to Moffitt, where the family had questions about the fatigue that has been dogging him in the past few weeks. Happily, the doctors were very reassuring, finding no neurological problems or other issues to worry about. They did a few blood tests and seemed confident that either the fatigue would fade as he completes inhibitor treatment near mid-June, or else it was due to something easily treatable like a hormone imbalance.

Thursday also marked Dad's final day of his current round of medication, which he is happy to put behind him!

Late Thursday night, Lauren and I came into town as well. On Friday, we properly celebrated his birthday along with Lauren's and Aunt Dee's. We even made Dad's favorite boyhood cake, a "1-2-3-4 cake" with vanilla frosting.

Here's a picture of the festivities. Apparently no one else got the message that this was the "zany" picture:

On Saturday, Lauren and I went to Men's Wearhouse to select groom and groomsman outfits for our wedding this summer! The suit passed muster with Dad, who has quite a critical eye for menswear.

Sunday saw a bit of an increase in Dad's energy level. He spent a lot of the day chatting with Lauren and me, also reading three full newspapers(!).

Since the last blog post, we have been so grateful for the delicious food brought by many friends and neighbors: Debbie Edwards, Mary Lib Howell, Dana Ludwig and Irene Guy, Harriet Plyler, and Karen McKinney. It's very touching to see this great outpouring of support from so many corners. I've also got to ask Dad just how he came to know so many amazing chefs! This is WAY better than what we're used to out in California.