News we would really
prefer not to have to share
prefer not to have to share
It happens to the best of us. We get sick. Janice though, went through weeks of relentless coughing before getting an X-ray that was diagnosed by a nurse practitioner as having walking pneumonia. 3 rounds of antibiotics and a second X-ray later and she was no better.
Moving up the food chain, she saw a doctor who immediately ordered a CT scan. We were given the news the same day that she had some fluid in one lung, nodules in both lungs and that they were possibly cancerous. The fluid was removed a few days later in an out-patient procedure and was then confirmed to be stage 4 metastatic lung cancer. The next step was to have a PET scan, to determine if the cancer was localized to the lungs or had spread to other organs.
The news came back positive, so to speak, as it was localized to the lungs. The oncologist said that her cancer - while not curable, was of the type that responded well to currently available chemo treatments and could be 'controlled' by up to 6 chemo rounds, administered once every 3 weeks. This followed by a 'maintenance' regime of another cocktail of medications (not chemo) every 3 weeks thereafter, for the rest of her life to keep it at bay.
Polyanna does not live here, so our eyes are wide open to the possibilities, as well as the hope for more time, especially with new and better drugs hitting the market all the time.
Meanwhile, Janice started her first chemo treatment on August 12th with subsequent treatments already scheduled. This will cause us to alter our schedule and rotation from one home to another but will have no effect on our ability to travel to Europe or anywhere. She can be treated in California, New York, France or where ever as she sees fit because the treatments are available everywhere and are all exactly the same.
The news came back positive, so to speak, as it was localized to the lungs. The oncologist said that her cancer - while not curable, was of the type that responded well to currently available chemo treatments and could be 'controlled' by up to 6 chemo rounds, administered once every 3 weeks. This followed by a 'maintenance' regime of another cocktail of medications (not chemo) every 3 weeks thereafter, for the rest of her life to keep it at bay.
Polyanna does not live here, so our eyes are wide open to the possibilities, as well as the hope for more time, especially with new and better drugs hitting the market all the time.
Here we go again....cancer # 3
Meanwhile, daughter Cassie flew out from Oregon to be with mom for a week and was a big help. Not to be outdone, daughter Mandy will arrive shortly for a visit also.
No rest for the lazy
Before
I finally got on the last side of the cabin to finish striping it of the old shingle siding and replacing it with the live edge Adirondack siding. This task was made all the easier by the fact that Janice had already treated all the wood last fall, but I now required help from my friend Bud to help hold one end of the long boards so they could be screwed in place. Note that the fairy house is still located in the bottom of the tree.
After
More
OK, as long as we are on the subject, we discovered a waterfall nearby. Nearby, as in between our front door and our dock. Seems that water began flowing out of the rocks in what I believe is only the 3rd waterfall - to my knowledge -, in the Thousands Islands. The fact that it required a tiny pump and a buried power supply is not really the issue as it has become as popular with passing boaters as our flower boat or our Little Free Library.
The waterfall in the background or...
...you can see the video
Cross one more off of Janice's "you know what you should do?" list.
Our web sites
For years, we maintained 3 web sites for our properties. The idea was that we could advertise them for rental purposes when we were not in residence. Reality though, proved that few people, if anyone, could find - let alone go to - the sites at all. They were cool to have but it finally became obvious that they were little more than 'vanity' sites. It was an easy way to show pictures of the homes to someone 'on the spot'. Sometimes our kids would want to show them to their friends (look what I am going to inherit! :) Cool, but expensive to maintain.
Then, I found a reasonable (read cost effective) substitute. So kids, here they are. All the pictures that there are to share in 3 easy locations.
Our home in California: Vistaseas.blogspot.com
The Island in Canada: Honeybeeisland.blogspot.com
The Villa in France: Villasurmer.blogspot.com
Other tid bits
Morning visitors by our flower boat
Long time friends Joe and Charlotte on a return visit to the Bee to introduce their nieces to Island Life. After dragging them around the river in a rubber donut and running them ragged on the jet ski, they were sold.
Other tid bits
Morning visitors by our flower boat
Dinner with friends Bud and Bev, Ian and Lyne who is in the witness protection program pretending to be a photographer
Cassie, taking to the river.
Living the life of Riley. Or in this case, Pat and Wally
The girls
