Thursday, July 1, 2010

Maladies.

Here's a little update on Trav's many maladies.
I'm thinking of changing the blog title to travscrappydiseases. You like?

Disease #1.
The cancer.
Trav had a bone scan on Tuesday. It's been almost 3 years since his last one, and he was due. He said when the initial scan was over the tech very wearily told him he needed to take another picture of his rib....and he seemed a little relieved when Trav told him he already knew there is cancer there.

We were happy to report that there was no new cancerous growth on his bones.
Score 1 for T.

His rib pain seems to come and go, which is better then the constant pain he had a few weeks ago, but still not as good as it could be. He's determined to golf next week, and I've told him he can, but if he hurts himself I may kill him. :)

At the end of the month he will get his CT scan. (I know, has it been 3 months already?) We will be able to see what the radiation did, and are really hoping that for all the pain it's been, it's done something. And for those of you who need a little reminder, my birthday is also at the end of the month (write it down, it's a big day) so I figure happy scan results make for 1 happy b-day.

And we all know that my birthday is really what matters most. (I kid.) (A little.)

Disease #2:
Bursitis.

The steroids really helped pretty quickly, and after the first few days the pain started to lessen. I'd say he isn't %100 quite yet, but he is much, much better.

Side note: The nurses at the cancer center (who we adore. a lot) gave Trav quite a bit of crap today for having yet another old person disease. Apparently he was compared to and "old lady with bursitis in her knees" and taunted and teased when they put on "The Andy Griffith show" and assumed it was Trav's type of show, because he is 80 after all.

Heaven bless those nurses.

Disease #3 and #3.5
Arthritis and Slipped disc.

I don't really know which one of these nasty buggers has caused some discomfort as of late, so I will clump them into one.

Once T's shoulder started to feel better, his poor back started aching, and I started wondering who had it out for him. Luckily a few days later it seemed to work itself out, but all these aches have us thinking a bit...

The drug he takes is supposed to prolong life for 10 months. (10 months!) (Hooray for 100 treatments! and what, like 3 years? on that stuff). It hasn't been approved for very long, so in the haze of achy backs, achy ribs, and achy shoulders, we wondered if maybe all of these things are long term affects of his drug treatment. Not that it really matters, or that we will ever really know, but it gave us something to ponder. And now you can ponder it too. Aren't you excited?

A lot has happened in the past month making us even more thankful for what we have. We've watched a (I want to say friend, though we've never met them, so I guess acquaintance is the right word?) pass away after a very hard cancer battle, leaving his lovely wife alone with their 4 beautiful, and young children. When I find myself feeling blue or picked on, I just remember that still, we have a battle to fight, and we should be thankful for it.

5 comments:

Eileen said...

Just come over. We're always up late together. We might as well be together.

And through all that, Travis still finds time to serve others. We love him. Tons.

What are we going to do for your week long party?

And since it's been awhile:
nosioni

Anonymous said...

Reading about your ongoing battle makes me weary, even in spite of all of the heartache I'm feeling over losing my T. We all know life is worth the battle. I feel for you and think of you often.

Candace said...

I just don't know how he or you do it. With all these aches and pains and diseases and discomforts, how are you so positive?

I'm so glad you have each other. You are both amazing, A-M-A-Z-I-N-G I tell you!

Mary said...

I found your blog when I saw you won Cjane's swimsuit giveaway for your friend. I was amazed, heartbroken, uplifted, saddened, and even humored as I read through your most recent posts. That you can keep a sense of humor (and a clear head!) during this trial is a testimony to your strong faith. God bless you and keep you. Will check in with you regularly. Praying for you in Memphis.

Haylee Munk Brown said...

I am glad the scan went ok. Tell Trav it is ok to have those old person diseases. I have had my bursa totally removed in my shoulder, and had the discectomy, and the arthritis. It is such a bummer to have those with what he is already dealing with :(