Thursday, August 16, 2012

Updates

Tim's feet have gotten really bad this week to the point he is now using a cane and they have held chemo until they start to improve (which we are hoping happens VERY quickly!). He's developed a greater sense of empathy with his grandparents at this point too :).  So far there has been lots of icing, pain meds & today he was issued a handicapped parking decal which will make our lives much easier. Otherwise we finally got a new TV (Tim is madly in love) and got everything fixed from the lightning strike last week only to find that our sprinkler system was apparently hit by the lightning too so that's being replaced tonight and we should be good to go after that (knock on wood). We've got some friends coming into town this weekend to help celebrate Tim's birthday which we are very excited about so it should be a fun weekend ahead!

On another note, the Colon Cancer Alliance recently mentioned this store in their last newsletter in which the jewelry designer is making these cute colon cancer awareness bracelets and $5 goes back to CCA for each bracelet purchased. I just bought one & thought others might be interested too so here is the link: http://www.shopthebluerose.com/product/bob-bracelet

Oh & finally someone asked a question on the last blog post about what lotion Tim is using for his feet & hands now but didn't leave an email address so thought I'd answer that here. He's using Udderly Smooth cream with Urea in the morning & night on his hands and feet along with something called Heel Balm we got at Whole Foods for his feet. He uses just the plain Udderly Smooth cream throughout the day on his hands (& should on his feet as well but I'm pretty sure he doesn't). He also uses the Band-Aid Blister bandages on all of his foot blisters (& sometimes his hands when they get really bad) for cushioning & to help heal them but we've discovered that 2nd Skin (its a gel like pad thing typically for burns) works pretty well too when something gets bad. Hope that helps!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Start of Month 3

We have gotten back from Charleston and I have started and almost finished the first week in my 3rd month of being on the new drug.  They have been keeping up with my CEA count and we found out that it has dropped 1.3 points from last month to this month.  This was the news that Jenny and I have been waiting to hear for 3 months.  We were also having problems with my blood pressure being too high, but I have been on a medication for about a month now and we finally have that under control as well.

I decided to coach at another tournament in Charleston since I was going to be down there anyways.  It was nice also for Jenny and I to be able to get away for a weekend and hangout.  We had some good food and we were able to see Sheena and Katie one night too.  

This past month of the treatment were not bad.  The blisters that I have been getting on my hands were not nearly as bad this time as they were last month.  Jenny talked last time about a certain type of lotion that is supposed to work the best for my hands (thank you for all the response about this) and I have been using it the entire time so I guess it really does work.

On a funny note.  Our house got struck by lightning the other night.  Yes I do know how bad that sounds.  But it is actually not too bad of a thing because we are now going to be forced to get a new tv for the living room since the lightning decided our old tv needed to pass away.  I have come up with a spreadsheet (which everyone makes fun of me for) so we can figure out which tv is the best.  The storm also decided to kill our modem and one of the Direct TV boxes as well.  So it has been a crazy start to the week for the Bright household.

Jenny has been giving me grief lately because this coming up Tuesday I will be turning the big 3-0.  I don't feel any different but for some reason she thinks it is a big deal I guess because she is so much younger than I am.

I hope that everyone has a great week and thank you for all the support.

Tim