An Uninvited Guest

An uninvited guest has come to stay with us. We wish he would leave on his own but it sounds like we have a lot of work ahead to evict him. John has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Yesterday we met with the urologist to discuss treatment. So far, after a bone scan and a CT scan, there is no evidence the cancer has metasticised—it hasn’t spread. That is good news. But this guest is embarrassed to come in to somewhere it isn’t welcome. That means we have to fight to get rid of it. That means tests like an MRi, radiation who knows what else. I do know that this guest claims a lot of time and space in our time, space, future plans. Our calendar is full of encounters with the visitor or plans to get rid of it. all began with a colonoscopy in July. That led to two endoscopies in September and October, then a biopsy in October then a bone scan followed by a CT scan this month. The urologist also wants an MRI. Since John has a pacemaker, that means he needs to connect with a cardiologist here in Colorado It seems pacemakers are picky about electrical activity from an MRI. When the doctors gather all the information they need, John will see a doctor who will recommend the radiology treatments they feel will be the most effective to eliminate (evict) this guest. We came to Colorado for the summer. We had planned to establish a relationship with medical care here then travel to Arizona for the winter We have wintered in Arizona and traveled in our RV during the warm weather months. But we are aging—we will both turn 80 next year—and we have lived most of our lives in Colorado. This is home and where we have family. We just didn’t plan on getting so well acquainted with our new doctors right off the bat.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What Season Is It, Anyway?

Image
 Thursday the high temperature in Denver was 88.  Today, the high will be 41.   The low last night was 37 and tonight it may get down to 28.  I thought we came to Denver to spend the summer where it would be cooler than the low 100s in Arizona.  But below freezing and snow?  That wasn't supposed to be part of the deal.   This is a shot taken from our patio last night. This was the same view this morning after the snow had been knocked off the trees. As we drove home from the grocery store yesterday, this was what we saw. The temperature was only 37. Today, Saturday, as I write this, the outside temperature is only 40. Thursday, we did our daily walk at The Bluffs, an open space area nearby in Douglas County.  We could see views of nearby neighborhoods, the prairie land along the trail and the snowcapped mountains to the west. Some days, we take the light rail to Park Meadows Mall for our walk.  Much different scenery there. We will ...
Read more

Total Change in Routine

               I like routine.  Oh yes , and control.  And now I don’t feel I have either.  It started with tripping and falling.  And then, I fell out of bed. Several years ago, after developing sore muscles in my right hip, I went to the doctor and was given exercises to stretch the muscles in  that hip and performed them each morning before getting out of bed..  This spring I fell the first time March 30,  On April 1 I fell the second time.  Then, on May 9, I fell out of bed..                 Two days later, May 11, the neurologist performed a craniotomy.  May 13 and 14 I was unable to verbalize what I was trying to tell people  about my thoughts.                 For a woman who lives in her head and wants to communicate, that was so frustratin...
Read more

Decorations galore

Image
This will be our first Christmas in our apartment. We are enjoying seeing how folks decorate, especially in the hall outside their door. Since our own Christmas decorations are still stored in our Arizona winter home, our apartment doesn't look very festive. We did buy a tree. The garland (?) of yarn is a tribute to the tree decoration our first holiday in the funeral home we owned in Castle Rock. We had moved in just a few days before Christmas and we brought our artificial tree from our Boulder home to Castle Rock. My sister-in-law had some yarn that was very thick and I used it to make large bows on the branches of the tree. This year, I didn't want to duplicate the decorations we have stored in Arizona, so I again used yarn and a borrowed nativity. Next year we will have our own decorations in our apartment. The nativity scene next to this tree is borrowed from our daughter-in-law, Liz. She has a collection of these and agreed to my using this one this year. Many ...
Read more