Things are starting to look up

Some good news to report. My CT-Scan revealed some Old Trauma. I did go to see my doctor yesterday and he informed me the tests were to see that the Cancer had been contained successfully which apparently it had been.

I think the Prednisone is starting to help Loretta and that the swelling of her feet and legs is starting to go down. However the medication has it's own problems which show in weight gain in the trunk. However she has stopped gaining weight. Now to get her to feeling better too. She still doesn't feel up to doing much. The doctor said we were free to travel until her next appointment in June. But no sense in going anywhere until she feels better. Our doctor said that Minimum Change Disease is very treatable even if they don't know the cause. Thank the LORD for that.

Not too much else to report at this time.

Andy and Loretta

Biopsies, etc.

Biopsies, etc.

On Monday, April 17 I took Loretta to Maury Regional Hospital for blood tests and paperwork in preparation for the biopsies. Then on Tuesday we were back there at 0730. As she was already registered, she was soon taken to Same Day Surgery. I left her at the nurses station and went to Nuclear Medicine for my Radioactive Shot. When I got back to her room, son-in-law Bill was with her. They took more blood and put IV in in preparation for the Kidney biopsy. Bill works in that hospital so we were able to accompany her into the Ultrasound room at about 0900. We had to leave during the procedure, but waited outside in the hall. The pathologist came out soon to say he had a good sample and should have results in 48 hours. Then she went back to her room to wait till 1030-1200 for the Lymph Node biopsy. At 1030, I went back to Nuclear Medicine for the Full-body Bone Scan. That should have taken less than a half hour, but they also did extra scans on my feet. Then after looking at pictures they wanted more scans of my head, then X-Rays of my head.

When I got back to her room, Bill left as he had work to do at the farm and was tired. She was hungry but couldn’t have food yet, however the nurse brought some broth and Jell-O which helped. It was about 1330 when they took her into a CT-Scan room for the Lymph Node biopsy. That didn’t take long and she said it was “A piece of cake”, and she doesn’t like CT-Scan machines. She was allowed to go home as soon as she could keep food down. She took it easy for next few days as she is still swollen, hurting and tired.

On Thursday, my doctor came to say he now wanted a CT-Scan of my head. He booked that for Friday. Then in the evening, the Kidney doctor called to say he had the test results and wanted to see Loretta on Friday also. So I had her at his office at 1100. His diagnosis was “Minimum Change”. Apparently the Kidneys are allowing to much protein to pass from the blood into the urine. He said that this was the better of several things he had considered. The others would require Chemotherapy, but he is treating her with High Dosage Prednisone and another medication to reduce stomach distress caused by Prednisone. He will see her in 6 weeks and hopefully can start to slowly taper her off the medicine. Thank the LORD for modern medicine. He said that in the old days they would not even be able to see the cause through a microscope. Even modern microscopes and dyes did not reveal the problem. They had to use the Electron Microscope to detect it.

In the afternoon I went to the Outpatient Pavilion at the hospital for my CT-Scan. That only took minutes, but the wait was hours. Loretta is feeling relieved as she was concerned about Cancer even though the doctors had told her it wasn’t. We did go out for dinner with her family in the evening as great-granddaughter (looks like a young adult) who had been visiting was returning to NY state. Loretta is still swollen and uncomfortable, but hopefully the medication will start to do the job soon. Keep on Praying for her please.
Andy

Biopsies, etc.

Biopsies, etc.

On Monday, April 17 I took Loretta to Maury Regional Hospital for blood tests and paperwork in preparation for the biopsies. Then on Tuesday we were back there at 0730. As she was already registered, she was soon taken to Same Day Surgery. I left her at the nurses station and went to Nuclear Medicine for my Radioactive Shot. When I got back to her room, son-in-law Bill was with her. They took more blood and put IV in in preparation for the Kidney biopsy. Bill works in that hospital so we were able to accompany her into the Ultrasound room at about 0900. We had to leave during the procedure, but waited outside in the hall. The pathologist came out soon to say he had a good sample and should have results in 48 hours. Then she went back to her room to wait till 1030-1200 for the Lymph Node biopsy. At 1030, I went back to Nuclear Medicine for the Full-body Bone Scan. That should have taken less than a half hour, but they also did extra scans on my feet. Then after looking at pictures they wanted more scans of my head, then X-Rays of my head.

When I got back to her room, Bill left as he had work to do at the farm and was tired. She was hungry but couldn’t have food yet, however the nurse brought some broth and Jell-O which helped. It was about 1330 when they took her into a CT-Scan room for the Lymph Node biopsy. That didn’t take long and she said it was “A piece of cake”, and she doesn’t like CT-Scan machines. She was allowed to go home as soon as she could keep food down. She took it easy for next few days as she is still swollen, hurting and tired.

On Thursday, my doctor came to say he now wanted a CT-Scan of my head. He booked that for Friday. Then in the evening, the Kidney doctor called to say he had the test results and wanted to see Loretta on Friday also. So I had her at his office at 1100. His diagnosis was “Minimum Change”. Apparently the Kidneys are allowing to much protein to pass from the blood into the urine. He said that this was the better of several things he had considered. The others would require Chemotherapy, but he is treating her with High Dosage Prednisone and another medication to reduce stomach distress caused by Prednisone. He will see her in 6 weeks and hopefully can start to slowly taper her off the medicine. Thank the LORD for modern medicine. He said that in the old days they would not even be able to see the cause through a microscope. Even modern microscopes and dyes did not reveal the problem. They had to use the Electron Microscope to detect it.

In the afternoon I went to the Outpatient Pavilion at the hospital for my CT-Scan. That only took minutes, but the wait was hours. Loretta is feeling relieved as she was concerned about Cancer even though the doctors had told her it wasn’t. We did go out for dinner with her family in the evening as great-granddaughter (looks like a young adult) who had been visiting was returning to NY state. Loretta is still swollen and uncomfortable, but hopefully the medication will start to do the job soon. Keep on Praying for her please.
Andy

Fleetwood Travelcade Club Rendezvous

Fleetwood Travelcade Club Rendezvous

I think I already said that Loretta did not want to go to doctor in Louisiana and did not want to leave the rally early. So she stayed in the trailer a lot and really did not participate much. I kept active as always and would have had a very good time had Loretta felt better. We had some excellent entertainment as usual. Also the meals and socializing was good as always. I knew Loretta was not feeling well at all when I signed her up for the Joker Tournament and she refused to go.

We had planned on spending a few weeks visiting our friends Craig and Paulette while in the area. However, I called them and arranged for them to stop by our rig after the Sunday Church service at the rally (which Loretta did attend). It was great to see them again, Paulette has been undergoing Cancer therapy. But she looks very well and said she has borne up well, Praise the LORD. Keep her in your prays for continued healing. They drove us to Frog City Truck Stop where we enjoyed a good meal and great visit.

As we had secured everything before their arrival, when they dropped us off at our rig, we hooked up and hit the road at about 1030. I had planned on 3 days for the trip with stops about every 2 hours for rest and exercise. However when we got on I-59 at Slidell, we found few places to stop for the night. The hurricane damage was still very visible along I-59 which branches off I-10 about 50 miles inland from the gulf. Extensive tree damage continued for another 75 miles or so and noticeable tree damage about 50 miles more. There was some building damage and blue tarps along the way, but not as much as we had seen along US-98 and I-10. One point of interest was a lot where RV’s and Park Models were apparently waiting for dispatch to those in need. Hard to believe but there were many hundreds still there in that lot, perhaps a thousand or more.

We stopped at Queen City Truck Center near Meridian, MS for supper and spent the night in the lot there. Monday we continued on to Circle P Farm near Lynnville, TN as we had covered more than half of the mileage on Sunday. We did make some stops for fuel, food and rest along the way. We arrived at Loretta’s daughters farm in late afternoon. I got parked and set up and we visited and had supper with the family. It was too late to call the doctor for an appointment so that would wait till Tuesday.

Loretta to hospital - April 11

Loretta to hospital - April 11

Loretta called our family doctor in Columbia, TN in the morning and got an appointment for early afternoon. He examined her and had me take directly to Maury Regional Hospital. He had faxed the orders over and she was soon in a room and tests underway. She spent 3 days in the hospital while they ran a multitude of tests. The same problem that the ER doctor had observed was apparent here, except the protein imbalance was worse. Dr. Barr a Kidney specialist was called in and after more tests he ordered a Kidney needle biopsy. Our doctor had noticed an enlarged Lymph Node for some time. There was no apparent change, but he did want more info so ordered a needle biopsy on that also. I brought her home on Friday. She was swollen and hurting, but did enjoy Easter with her family and friends here. Also her son drove from Jamestown, NY with his family to be with her as he is very concerned.

Our doctor had also ordered a Full-body Bone Scan on me for next Tuesday. Loretta’s biopsies are scheduled for the same day, so that will be a busy day at the hospital.

More later
Andy and Loretta

Rayne, LA

Rayne, LA

We left Panama City, FL early Monday morning. First real evidence of Hurricane damage on that leg was the I-10 bridge east of Mobile, AL. The eastbound lane had been destroyed. Traffic was using a temporary steel bridge. Construction on the new span was under way and I would say that about 25 cranes were in operation on that project. There were some damaged and new buildings along the way. I think the most damage was visible in Mississippi where roofing, appliances, pieces of buildings and trash were in the woods along I-10. After getting into Louisiana damage became less obvious as we were getting farther from the Gulf by time we got onto I-12. We were getting pretty tired by time we got off the 18 Mile bridge, so parked in a Casino lot near Henderson. We had supper at Landry’s, an excellent restaurant.

Next morning we drove the remaining 25 miles to the Rayne, LA convention center. By time we got parked and set up, Loretta’s feet were causing such pain that she agreed to let me take her to the Emergency Room in Crowley. Blood tests and ultrasound revealed no real cause for her problem. However the doctor did want her to follow up with another doctor in a few days as her protein levels were out of balance. She opted to wait till I could get her back to her doctor in Tennessee.


Will continue as soon as time permits. Loretta is home from 3 days in hospital now bufeelingng poorly. No cause has been found yet.