First of all, many thanks for all the calls and concerns since the last blog entry. Each time I go to town to do a few things, the question is asked when I will be back to work. It is clear to me that my physical and mental fitness is not even close to being prepared to meet that challenge.
My food intake continues to improve, but am down to a weight of 172 pounds. Some folks in the valley do not recognize me now. I had to buy some jeans that are the same size that I wore in high school 39 years ago. When I was in SCB the other day I bought some 50 lb. feed sacks and could hardly lift them. That being said, I have a lot of recuperating to do to get my strength back. My gray gelding, Doc stares at me each day wondering what the heck is going on, as I haven't thrown a leg over him since the end of May. Luckily, our 2 year old bay gelding (Tiger Tom) has been at the trainer since June 5.
The rad/chemo treatments have held me back longer than I expected. The effects are starting to subside, but I have still been sleeping 12 hours a day. As you can see, I'm not able to accomplish much else with that regimen. I keep tearing the stitches out on the feeding tube, causing it to work its way out. This entails a trip to the doc to get it secured. We try to keep it thoroughly taped but I'm just too active. I have been taking vicodin for pain through out this process, but am weaning myself off of it now due to its side effects. Some of those side effects are requiring other pills to relieve them. The vicodin was effective for quite a while in easing the swallowing difficulties but is not worth the other issues. The final radiation treatments were intensified and more localized in the end, causing my esophagus/chest to be quite swelled and painful. It's like I have poker chip stuck down there, making it hard to get much food through. My neighbor said well its a lucky chip for you and will cash out soon. So, I am now trying a more holistic approach mixing some home remedies with a little faith.
I feel like a sad sack entering the medical stuff, but am very honored to be loved by you all and that you truly care about me as I continue this journey through the clearings and thickets ahead.
I am catching up on my reading, however. The home library is filled with books that I read about a third of the way, having got sidetracked with other commitments. One book that I finally finished was Aunt Doris' book "Destination Denver City". That was such an exciting time in regional history and her book sure described it well. As a pony express re-rider, I find it interesting to read about that time period. Times are different now, and it makes my personal struggle seem like less of a battle than what the settlers and Indians went through.
Fortunately, it has been summer and our beautiful property is the greenest we have seen it. My deck chairs have been getting well used. If I need to change the view; I just switch chairs or go to the other side of the house, as we have a deck on each side. While on our walk yesterday, we noticed that some of the prairie grass spears were over 5 feet tall. The sandhills are wonderful this year; just add a little rain water and it really responds. All this has kept my spirits lifted.
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