If it is Wednesday,its time for a Update!

Its 7:28 pm Monday

    Another bitterly cold day here in Michigan....we're about 20 degrees colder then we are supposed to be. Now I like winter but sheesh,enough is enough already....I want it to warm up so we can go outside and warm up,walk around a bit.
 Right now I'm upstairs typing this entry,Lori is downstairs in the quietness of the family room....trying to hold to her dinner...its been a rough couple of days on the food front. While we made it through the weekend is decent shape,our experiment with some simple mac and cheese last night proved a huge mistake even after we had mushed it to almost like baby food and taken two Ativans before she ate. 25 minutes after she ate,she lost it....I think our mistake was two fold,she didn't eat enough throughout the day so there was nothing in her stomach and she laid down right after eating and the food was too heavy for body to digest it.
  So we are adjusting,making the food even finer and walking after the meal to encourage her body to start the digesting process...a one step forward,one step back process.

Its 7:54 pm Wednesday

   Once again light snow is falling outside...its in the 20s and I'm wearing a Grand Valley State hoodie to stay warm here upstairs.Derek is sleeping in his Christmas bed....Lori is getting ready to watch American Idol. So far all is good.
  Monday morning saw us back at the infusion clinic for hydration...our guardian nurse Mel was once again there and waiting for us. Back we went into Chair One with a heated blanket. We told Mel about what Dr. Johnston said about our case,she was pretty surprised and very sorry about it. The rest of the nurses all came by and said "hello" and wondered how we were. We chatted with Mel for about 20 minutes while her assistant Karen hung up the hydration IV drip.

Soon after Lori fell asleep and I surfed on the iPad. Two hours flew by as Lori got another bag as well. As we were talking about when we could come next with Karen,Mel said "Come tomorrow at 7 am,I'll be waiting for you." Karen nodded her head and said "Me too". That being set up,I put Lori back into her wheelchair and pushed her out to the car. Sadly,we both agreed that we'll be needing a wheelchair,Lori's legs are just too weak right now for any long term walking.




After our treatment,instead of heading home,we headed to JC Penny to get Lori some better fitting comfy pants. We have been keeping track of the downward spiral that Penny's has been in the past couple of years. Its really a shame as the stand alone store we shop at is just beautiful in its layout and the prices are just awesome.
  But between the nasty court battle with Macy's over carrying the Martha Stewart collection and a huge layoff of several layers of middle store management,you are getting the feeling the Penny's is running out of time. Putting all of your hopes on a Canadian clothes maker that hardly anyone knows of is downright risky as hell. Which is a shame because the stores within the store concept is very charming to say the least. It does feel like a shopper is visiting several different shops while getting great prices. You just wonder if JCP managed to roll it out fast enough to make any difference.
The linchpin to their hopes for the spring and summer looks nice enough,its very colorful but is it enough to


you drop everything and rush out to shop it? Sure didn't look like it at our JCP store.
 I walked in and noticed how they only had 2 cashiers up front while a line was forming up. The cashier who helped me get a wheelchair was very kind and professional. They used to keep the chairs upfront but I guessed they moved them back because I had to wait almost 10 minutes before someone wheeled one up. I wasn't upset,I felt bad because it wasn't the employee's doing,they just didn't have the staff anymore.
  I went and got Lori and we went inside. We walked through a near empty store back towards the women's section. Once there we priced several comfy pants,the prices were good but the selection was a little thin.
We picked out three pairs and Lori had me push her to the clearance rack. Amazingly,we found three pair of pants that were half the price of the new ones. So I put the new ones back and got the 3 on sale.
  We decided to stretch our little outing a bit as I pushed Lori around the store looking at the new layout.
We not only didn't see hardly any shoppers but also hardly any employees. The ones we did see,we could see the stress and uncertainty on their faces. We both know the feeling,we too have seen the companies we worked hard for close out from under our feet. Its very sad to say the least.
After picking up a nice work polo for 7.00 in the men's clearance,we headed up and paid for our things. We left the wheelchair at the front and I slowly walked Lori to the car and we headed home. That was about as much as she could do.
  Tuesday morning we woke up at 6:00 am to get ready for hydration. As Lori got dressed,I ran down stairs,fed the cats,got fresh water for them and then prepared Lori's vancomyacin.



We left the house at 6:50 am and got there at 6:55 am. We checked in and then were told to go straight back to infusion. I rolled Lori down the hall...and saw Mel and Karen waiting for us. We were the only patients! They had come in early just for Lori...the normal start time is 8 am,we were very moved by this to say the least but hey,you can understand this if you have had the chance to meet Lori...*s*.
  After hooking her up,the nurses and doctors held their weekly meeting in the room...it felt sort of strange to be able to sit there and hear how the clinical staff worked to solve any issues.
  90 minutes later we were done and I took Lori home before heading to work. I asked her to call the diet specialist in Ann Arbor and ask about more food choices. This led to the request to stop by KFC to pick up mashed potatoes and gravy. I had my doubts about the gravy,I didn't think that was a good idea. But hey,nothing ventured,nothing gained...



I picked up the potatoes and gravy and headed home. We enjoyed our day and I prepped a very small bowel of the potatoes and gravy. We then took two Ativan pills before we ate....and after she ate,we walked a few laps around the house. Just when I thought maybe we had a winner,she got very sick. The gravy was a bad idea to say the least. She started crying but I held her very close and said it was okay. We are just feeling our way through this. I cleaned up afterwards,got her tucked in and warm and rubbed her feet.
   Today was better,she drank two Boost (which is wickedly expensive!!!) plus a small bowl of chicken broth plus a 20 oz bottle of water,all which she kept down.
  Looks like the trip to the Karmanos Center is off the board because our insurance doesn't cover clinical drug treatments. We are going to try and see if her employer will change this for us so we can at least get a chance at this treatment. While I have faith that we may get this,I'm thinking the partial bowel obstruction is what will hold us back from being considered.

  The mail has become very important to Lori,getting cards is a major boost to her morale.We got three very cute cards from some incredibly kind people and I can't thank you enough for them!

If you are reading this and feel like dropping a card.....feel free to do so.

Lori Sullivan
45249 Lemont Road
Canton,Michigan 48187

Thank you very much for reading!

Aaron,Gabby and in support of Jewel Shepard

Its 11 am

   Another grey day here in SE Michigan. The snow is almost all gone from last week's storm. It went from being zero to 52 degrees yesterday but dropped to freezing again last night. I was expecting a somewhat warmer 1.2 mile walk when I went out in the early evening but I pretty much froze my ass off! Next time,wearing gloves.

   Nothing too much exciting to report on the homefront. We are down to the last 3 days of radiation and are so excited for that. We'll be meeting Dr. Johnston on Friday after radiation and labs. Lori has a recurring urinary tract infection that needs to be looked at a little closer but Dr. J will handle that on Friday as well as getting her chemo port cleaned.
   We haven't talked about it but we both know that we are going to have to go through another round of chemo because of the tumor on her colon. The chemo treatment for colon cancer is different then uterine cancer with different drugs being used. We don't know what those drugs are as of yet but I'm we will know sooner then later.
   I went to a job fair yeterday for Aldi's. It was being held in a local hotel and I went after we got back from Ann Arbor. While I didn't expect a cattle call type of job fair,I still was taken by how many people were there at 11:30 am. I saw at least 6 people as I entered,another 20 people in the room filling out applications and another 15 come in after me. I was only there for 10 minutes as all they wanted was a application. They said they would be calling folks by Thursday afternoon for interviews. I am little hopeful,I have a strong supermarket background but I have been out so long that they may not want to look at me. I saw a lot of older people at the fair and not very many young folks.  Its still pretty brutal out there to be sure....
 Caught the new blog by my buddy Scorpion. His blog,As My Stomach Turns,is real hoot and what I love about it is how its interactive. His readers send in jokes,stories and tidbits that he combines with his own life story. Its like reading a old fashioned variety show where everyone is trying to get in on the act.
His blog is listed on the right hand side under Blog I Follow.  Drop by and take a peek.
   I saw that Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords has resigned her seat after being shot in the head last year. She has made a good recovery but when you suffer brain damage like she has,being able to serve was going to be incredibly tough so she did the right thing and stepped down.
  Of course our taxpayer dollars will continue to pay for Gabby for the rest of her life and would have regardless if she was a congresswoman or not. How many others like Gabby who have no insurance but will need lifetime care from gun crimes are out there? Tens of thousands and the countless billions wasted in taking care of them will continue to go on and on.
   Nothing will change and soon Gabby will slide out of the headlines and become a footnote of history much like James Brady did. Her pain and suffering will have been in vain because we as a nation lack the moral courage to repeal the 2nd Admendment or allow gun makers to be held accountable.
  And while I don't begrudge Gabby for her continued taxpayer supported care for a PREVENTABLE condition,I am also struck on how unfair it is....
  Compared to legendary fanboy/scream queen actress Jewel Shepard who is fighting breast cancer.
Being a actor in Hollywood is a strange beast. Folks look at actors as rich if they se them on the silver screen or TV. But like a documentary pointed out,the major studios make maybe 200 films a year and while TV may have more shows,they also pay much less as well....and when you have 140,000 actors scrambling for roles. For every George Clooney,you have 10,000 actors fighting for a line or a scene. And being a working actor is no cakewalk,you have classes,auditions and sometimes make-up and wardrobe. Its an expensive profession. Add SAG fees plus paying commission to a agent,manager,public relation person. And that is coming from a semi-working actor. And Hollywood being Hollywood,the older a woman get,the less roles are there for them. Most actors can't afford health insurance and due to the uneven work pattern can't qualify for Social Security.
   So combine this together and you have a lot of talented people who are just as poor as you and I in a lot of cases. You hear a lot of stories of actors losing homes,savings and struggling very hard to stay afloat. And getting a real job has its drawbacks,be it the risk of ridicule,the idea that they are slumming when a real could a job,etc,etc.
  So when a actress like Jewel does get sick,she is also at the mercy of a terrible healthcare system. I have followed her via her writings of how hard it is for her to get any help at all. She doesn't qualify for SSI and when she wrote how she approached different cancer charities for help,they told her to contact the government.
   And there lies yet another mindfuck....just exactly where DOES the money the Karmanos and Komen charities beg for all the time go? I was of the mindset that some of the millions raised went to help women who really are sick. But just watching this,has led me to try and see what will happen if I call for help. I wonder what they'll say. And how about you,dear reader? Just where does that money GO that they ask for?
Reading what happened to Jewel reminds me of the abuses that 60 Minutes uncovered about the United Way. The only people that were being truly helped were the people running the charity. The one I will give money too anymore is the Salvation Army. We donate old clothes,household items and books to Purple Heart but as far making a donation,nope. Not unless they want to share IN DETAIL where the money is going.
  I very much wanted to walk the 3 Day Walk in my area....I know that you are asked to raise money for the walk and I have no problem with that but asking me to PAY 90.00 just to register and then raise 2,300.00 by the start of the walk is a insult. This is a VOLUNTEER event,what a volunteer raises should never have an set amount. Unless of course the Komen charity is paying for the cops,the use of the public roads,the workers on the route,the food and water the walkers are using....but we know that is not the case,these services are donated as a tax write to the different companies who help out. Maybe it would be a little different of a walker or a person donating their money said "I want MY money on the front lines of the fight,to help a woman who is struggling to be able to afford healthcare and the medicines they so badly need but are having a hard time affording them". All these big glitzy events for Karmanos and Komen.....who really is benefiting from them?
 
  But speaking of funding....when we first moved to our new house,we need some furniture. Lori spotted a old comfy chair on eBay near by and we bought it for 65.00. But that was over 4 1/2 years ago and now the chair is ready to give up the ghost. So now we have started a Replace the Chair Project outta of the 2011 Christmas Fund Project. I wonder if I could do a 3 Day Sit to help reach our goal of 150.00.....