Moving through medical molassas

Dear Family and Friends,
It seems like it has been a very long time since I last blogged. In other words the past 24 hours have been busy ones. Dana continues to recover from her hand surgery and keeps getting her hand wet which is a no no. Nan changes the bandages to dry ones. This morning I got up at 7 and had an appointment at 9:30 to see a relo property out at Bethel Island, a neighboring waterfront community. When I got back Nan had come down on her own but there was no Dana. We considered checking on her since it was past noon and still no word. Turns out she had gotten up at 6 with allergies and taken some meds which gave her a few more good hours of rest. This lady works very hard at home, both at the school cafeteria but also at home caring for grandchildren and staying on top of everything. So this is her month to relax and sleep in. She made Nan a beef bacon sandwich with tomatoes, avocado and of course fried bacon. Nan loves the sandwich and seems to handle it well. Later in the afternoon she had some strawberry pie and that did not set so well and she lost it. That was depressing to her but she was able to sleep some during the day, her colostomy bags gave out twice today which is also trying on the soul.
When I was on my way home from the morning appraisal and getting diesel at Safeway my phone rang, it was Dr. Melynk. He said he had received the forms to fill out for the AMN trial and was ready to call in a prescription for Sprycel, would I be able to go by the Antioch office and pick it up? Yes of course. So on my way to Atherton which is near the SF airport I went by Antioch and pickup up the precious slip of paper. Then I called Longs to see if they had it in stock, no but they could have it by tomorrow but first, lets run it by insurance. Well that was a wall, insurance demanded a doctor consult. I called the doctors office and they told me to have Longs fax the form, Longs told me they did not have such a form but would call the Dr office with an access phone number for our insurance company which they did. That's where it ended for the day. I heard no more from anyone so once again in the morning we will pursue the precious medicine which helps 1 out of 10 GISTers with their tumors. I am praying that nan will be that 1 in 10 that gets some help. So I had to come home empty handed without the drug. Nan was in her hospital bed resting when i got home. She and Dana had a low energy day and Dana had some very good food ready when I got home at 9 pm.
On the way home I stopped by Steve and Nikki's house with files and Steve did the nicest thing. he sent precious corn, potatoes and two huge tomatoes from his own garden. I was very touched as it is a small garden and I know he does not have that much room to grow things. I intend to eat those items very carefully knowing where they came from. Steve also reported that the boat is starting and running perfectly now thanks to his work and his friends work on it.
Today was just a hard day of work for me and I'm thankful to have work. I cranked out a review, finished a relo that Jean had worked up, did research for the 1.6 million dollar home I was to see this evening and then drove about 200 miles round trip through traffic. Fortunately the angels gave me a safe and uneventful trip, the city was beautiful and this evening as I left the subject area the fog was coming over the coastal range and was cool and beautiful. I was so late coming home that there was no traffic jams at all. The GPS found every address today in an area that can be tough to figure out.
Nan continues to have increased pain. I have urged her to increase her pain meds back to a higher level where they were for awhile. That is 40 mg of oxycontin morning and evening. Our most effective pain reliever is Adavan which I gave Nan about an hour ago when she got her new TPN, fresh ice water and warm covers. Now that she is eating much more we have to be up several times during the night to empty the colostomy bag. While it is hard to wake up at times the overriding thrill of having it work again helps ease the waking trauma.
We continue to get work over the Internet, the fax and the phones. Some is far away and some is just plain tough to do but we are very grateful for the loyalty of some of our clients.
This evening my thoughts go to our friends who are traveling through Russia and nearby countries and who emailed the blog yesterday. How thrilling to hear from Sylvia and yes the lazy susan is still in order and using the things located there is much easier since your organizing work. I also hear from Art nearly every day. He and Connie with her sister Liz are traveling through the northwest, yesterday Victoria Island and now Glacier National Park is next. They are having a very good time and are enjoying all the beautiful sights and smells.
We hope to be able to go to the Lammerdings Cabin at the end of this month for at least an overnight trip in the motorhome. It is a beautiful place that we have enjoyed for years and we think Dana would enjoy it too. It will depend on how Nan is feeling.

Tonight as I wind up this epistle I want to thank each of you for caring hearts, kind words, thoughtful emails, appreciated phone calls, cards and even spending money like nan found in a card that came the other day, thank you so much. I think she is saving it for having her nails or toes done soon.

I seek your prayers in Nan's behalf. She could use more strength in her legs and back, for tumor control and shrinkage, for the leaking to stop and for a calm stomach.

Please pray for Jo as she and jason enter the final month before little Timothy makes his appearance. Moving about is getting more challenging for her and finding a place to sleep thats comfortable is almost impossible now.

love

tim and nan and dana