Ruth's musings

I have been dealing with breast cancer for a while, and have been sharing my journey with friends, family, and prayer partners. This blog brings all my updates together in one place, and leaves me free to muse on other parts of my life. Thanks for visiting!

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Ruth Update, January 26, 2008

Dear Friends, Relatives, and Prayer Partners,
 
My dear son pointed out that it had been a while since I had posted, and all of my fans were wondering what had happened to me.  This is the same son who made the dean's list his first semester in college.  By the way.  Not that I am proud of him or anything.  He also has his first job, a work-study thing in the theater department.  I don't know for sure which shop he is working in, whether the costume shop or the scene shop, I just know he needed a copy of his social security card.  This is the first time he has needed the card for actual work!  Yay, Matt!
 
I have been feeling more aches than I had.  Yesterday, I came home and got into my jammies and crawled under the covers and napped until Paul got home.  We then went to dinner and the theater.  Today, I had planned to bake bread and pizza, but am still feeling achy, so I am wussing out, and the pizza is coming from Domino's.  Aw, heck, they are having a sale.
 
I have shared my concerns with my oncologist, and she has ordered a PET scan.  This will be on February 9th. 
 
Please continue praying for me.  Thanks.
 
Get your mammograms.  Do your self-exams.
 
Ruth
 
 

Friday, January 11, 2008

Ruth Update, January 11, 2008

Dear Friends, Relatives, and Prayer Partners,
 
I had a treatment today, and all went pretty well.  I got a little woozy at the end, while I was getting my intramuscular injection.  I had to sit down rather quickly, and the nurse made sure to check my blood pressure before I got up.  I don't know if it was the "sting" from the medication (the stick itself wasn't bad), or if was a side effect from the muscle relaxant I had taken the night before for my backache.  I attribute the backache to watching a hockey game in a sports bar on Wednesday.  See my blog for details.  Yes, that is a blatant attempt to get people to my blog, why to you ask?  ;-)
 
I did not see the oncologist today, but will do so next month.  Generally, I feel pretty well, so I imagine things will go on as they have been going.
 
Thank you for your continued prayers and support.
 
Get your mammograms.  Do your self-exams.
 
Love,
 
Ruth
 
 

Rams 5, Warriors 2

One thing we did while we were in Minnesota was attend a hockey game. Roseau High School is the defending state class AA boys hockey team, and they have a tournament over the holidays. The games that we saw (I only saw the first one), the Rams pretty much mowed down the competition. My brothers had never seen a high school hockey game before, but I think they enjoyed it. Tony said he now has to find some high school hockey in the Philadelphia area. No fighting allowed at the high school level, though the checking can be pretty ferocious. I think I might be able to recognize icing and offsides if I saw it now. Maybe. It was pretty funny at one point before the first game. Andy was sitting in the bleachers with his brand-new Roseau stocking cap on, and a fellow walked by, grabbed his arm, pounded him on the back, and kept going. Small towns. Gotta love them. Especially when the hockey team is doing well.

Anyway, Tony had been checking out the Roseau Rams website, and found that the Roseau/Warroad game was going to be on Fox Sports Network North, and we might be able to see it if we had DirectTV. We don't even have cable, and if we did, our local cable company doesn't carry it. We found out where it was, and went to our friendly neighborhood sports bar, here in Virginia, Glory Days Grill. I stepped up to the hostess desk and asked about it. One of the employees went to check, and soon a manager came by. He said the channel was up, but he couldn't guarantee that it would stay up, as the local service sometimes changes feed mid-game for something more local. This does not go over well with some customers. Anyway, he seated us, and it wasn't too hard to tell which sets to watch, as they were showing "Vikings Week."

Long story short, we watched a high school hockey game in Minnesota in a restaurant in Virginia. We saw the whole game, and I texted my SIL who was in the stands. Also my nephew, who asked "Who is this?" He didn't know I had his number.

Ain't technology grand?

Quote of the night, from a Warroad hockey player: "We know these guys. We sometimes carpool down to the Cities with them. It's like playing your brother -- you wanna beat the crap out of them!" Roseau and Warroad are 21 miles apart. In fact, one of our nephews goes to Warroad High, even though he lives just outside Roseau. Traitor.

I also got a crick in my neck watching the game sideways, which morphed into a backache. I had to go to bed early the next night, and well-medicated, too.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

If You're Gonna Be One . . .

One thing I try to do when I see someone in military uniform is to say "thank you for serving." It doesn't always happen. Sometimes it just doesn't feel right.

Anyway, when traveling over the Christmas Holidays, there are a lot of people in uniform in the airports. At one point, I saw two young men in their battle dress uniforms going the opposite direction from us. I noticed their First Infantry Division patches, so I called to them: "If you're gonna be one, be a Big Red One!" Their unison response was "Hoo Rah!" My family was much amused. And I called after them: "Thank you for serving!" I can only hope they heard that part.

Ruth
92nd MP Company, 709th MP Battalion, Fifth Army, Germany, 1976-79

Sunday, January 06, 2008

Our visit to the frozen north


When my brother Andy said he would have Christmas week off and would like to spend it with us again, I had to tell him that we were going to visit Paul's parents and family for the holiday in Northern Minnesota. One thing led to another, and both my brothers spent the week with us and Paul's family. They assured me that they enjoyed it! For one thing, they had never driven snowmobiles. Paul's brother, Jim, works for Polaris, and was able to check out two "sleds" for the time we visited.


That's Jim giving Matt a lesson. Matt loved it, of course.




And here is Andy getting ready to roll. That is Tony behind him.



And Tony, in the driver's seat.


I, of course, had ridden a snowmobile before, so I decided I wasn't going to ride this time. Right.




I even impressed Matt, who was on the other one trying to keep up with me.


Yes, Paul rode, too, and Timmy got to ride along, supervised. He seemed to like being pulled on the sled, best. Though this is Matt.
More to come! As I think of it.

Ruth Update, January 6, 2008

Dear Friends, Relatives, and Prayer Partners,
 
May you have a Happy New Year, and I hope you had a Blessed Christmas and Epiphany!
 
It has been brought to my attention that is has been a long time since I sent out an update.  I guess that is because there is no news on the cancer front.  My cancer markers in my last blood test were slightly elevated from the previous month, but my oncologist assured me that it was not statistically significant.  We will continue with the once-a-month Aredia and Faslodex for now.  It is a bit soon for another PET scan, but you will be among the first to know when I have one.
 
We had a great Christmas in Northern Minnesota, with most of Paul's family, and my brothers!  There were snowmobiles and hockey involved.  There is so much to tell that I have decided to tell it in bits on my blog.  This way, those of you who are mostly interested in my cancer progress can skip it, but those of you who are interested u\in the trip can check the blog.  I need to load the photos into the computer, too.
 
I have another treatment with more blood tests this week, so there may be more news next week.
 
Get your mammograms.  Do your self-exams.
 
Love,
 
Ruth