Ruth Update, May 20, 2008

Dear Friends, Relatives, and Prayer Partners,

 

I am doing "remarkably better," to use the words of the oncology nurse who reported my Monday blood counts to me.  Good thing, too, because I was at work at the time she called!  I had the blood drawn on my way in.  One of the things I had to do while my counts were so low was to avoid raw foods, so as soon as I got home Monday, I had a salad.  My cough is also much better.  I stayed home on Sunday as planned, and so did Paul.  He spent the weekend digging up a good portion of the front yard and laying plastic film down next to the foundation in an attempt to keep water out of the basement.  The boys spent part of Sunday morning and afternoon helping him fill in the trench.  Today, we got a new sump pump on the other side of the basement, and Paul cleaned out the rain gutters last week.  He hopes that these tactics will keep the basement drier than it has been, and delay the spending of thousands of dollars for a new drainage system in the basement.

 

Today, I had a "routine" GYN exam.  The doctor who did it had never seen me before, and I am pretty sure she had never opened my record before she shook my hand.  Poor woman hardly knew what hit her.  She handled it well, though.  Being a part of my HMO, she has access to all my records via the computer.  She did ask if I minded if she looked at my last PET scan.  I told her to go ahead. 

 

Speaking of PET scans, I will have another one tomorrow morning, and I should get the results from my oncologist the following afternoon.  I like that much better than waiting around several days after having a scan.  I will encourage the PET scan people to expedite the report, and they are pretty good about that kind of thing.

 

Matt is driving himself to rehearsals now.  We figure that is cheaper than paying for parking at the METRO lots, and then paying rush hour rates on the train.  We skipped the dry run, as I found the route so easy that I was pretty sure he could handle it.  He did it with no problem the first time, and only got a little bit confused for about five minutes on the way home.  He still does not have a job.  I think he is mostly looking at places he would like to work, rather than places that are actually hiring.  I am nagging him.  That's my job.  I am, of course, encouraging him to look at places close to home.  Perhaps we should shift our focus to places close to the theater. It's a thought, anyway.

 

Get your mammograms.  Do your self-exams.

 

Love,

 

Ruth

http://ruthsmusings.blogspot.com