Another diagnosis

The dermatologist said erythroderma, the oncologist said he had no clue, and today the optometrist said Pop has ectropion - ectropion is a condition in which stretching of the lower eyelid with age allows the eyelid to droop downward and turn outward. Eyelid burns or skin disease may also cause this problem. The doctor also said that there was a stitch from Pop's cataract surgery leftover in his eye, a surgery that happened years ago.

So basically, the eye doctor said the droopy eyelids would clear up as soon as the rash did. In the meantime, he gave Nana a bunch of samples of eye drops and creams.

So that's our update for today. Next week we should have something else to explain this terrible rash.

Erythroderma

Anyone who has seen Pop in the last week has also seen the unsightly and disturbed rash that started on his hand, moved up under his eyes and now covers his entire body. Most noticeably his face, which is peeling intensely, is affected - along with his eyes, but we'll get to that in a minute.

Well now we know what to call it, erythroderma. Nana and Pop just got back from the dermatologist and he said the most likely cause of the rash is erythroderma. This is much worse than anyone expected - the general consensus (or guess, really) was that it was a side effect of one of his drugs, or withdrawal from a drug.

Erythroderma (also known as "Exfoliative dermatitis," "Dermatitis exfoliativa," and "Red man syndrome") is an inflammatory skin disease with erythema and scaling that affects nearly the entire cutaneous surface. Specifically, the doctor believes it is related to his cancer (or lymphomatous erythroderma), and took a biopsy to test - results of which will come back next week.

So I guess sometimes no news is good news...

Just another day

Except today Maureen, BooBoo, and Patty came by to say hello with Doug and Maureen's new dog Zeus. Now that is a handsome dog, a pure black lab. I keep bugging Nana and Pop to get a dog, but no dice so far.

In any case, things are going smoothly at the Politi homestead. Pop has another doctor's appointment Monday or Tuesday, so hopefully we'll get some news. I wish I had more to report, but that's all for now.

Shit, Piss, and Corruption

I swear to god, those are the only three words Pop remembers anymore. I came downstairs after my shower this morning to discover Pop making his own breakfast and swearing up a storm (at least there were no large knives involved this time). You would have thought Nana was secretly plotting to sabotage him with the amount of profanities he used when he had to get a napkin from THE OTHER END OF THE FUCKING TABLE! Not a happy camper.

Besides being grumpy and bored all the time, Pop hasn't made any changes health-wise. Although he keeps scratching his head and making a sore at the top of it, and I think he has some dry skin on his nose and ears. The reason I think this is because Nana and I caught him filing the tip of his nose and ears with an emory board the other day. When Nana said something to him he said, "Well, this is what its fucking for!!" "No, hun, its for your nails!" "No! No, its not! It's for getting this f..... well you get the idea.

What a beautiful Saturday

And luckily, Nana was able to get out and go to Fisher's Island with Paul, Tanya, and Jill (Tanya's roommate). Nana just got back and reported that she had a wonderful day - so many thanks Paulster for showing the ole girl a good time.

Meanwhile, Pop and I fended for ourselves here at the homestead. Vic was fine all day, had a quiet lunch, took naps on the porch, did the crosswords, all without a peep - until Nana came home. As soon as she walked in the door it was "Where's my sweater?" "Meta I need a pain pill." and when she asked how he was his response was, "I've had a fucking terrible day!"

So maybe she didn't have a great first step in the door, but when I told her how happy I was she had a good day, all she said to me was "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Darn Sudaks...

They brought this cold into our house :-(

I have been sick the past week and trying to avoid Nana and Pop, and I have been doing a good job too. Basically, I've just been sleeping after I get home from work - that's how lousy I feel.

But alas, its all for naught! Nana is now sick with an unending runny nose. I'm hoping with enough OJ and meds that we can knock it right out of her.

In Pop news, Vic doesn't have to see the doctor again for another month. After the month, he'll get tested, then we'll wait some more for the results, then we'll have some answers and maybe an interesting update.


Well that's all for now. I'll be back on Monday with another update (I'm going to UConn and Cape Cod this weekend for some irresponsible fun).

I know, I know

It's been a very long time since I've posted and part of the reason is that I've been away on vacation and the other part is that nothing is happening here.

Right now we're waiting for Pop's doctor's appointment on Wednesday so the doctor can set up another appointment for him to get tested to see if the chemo did its job.

So we're doing a lot of waiting.

More to come soon.

Good news everyone!

Wednesday was Pop's LAST TREATMENT OF CHEMO!

So this means that next week he's going back to get a CAT and PET scans, which will assess how effective the treatments were. So until then we're all holding our breath and hoping they worked (the next step would be radiation if it didn't).

In other exciting news, I will be going on a road trip to Kentucky today and coming back late Sunday night, so I'll be offline for that time.

Also Friday is Caroline's birthday and she and the family are coming over for dinner with Nana and Pop tomorrow night. Happy Birthday!!

That's all for now. :-)

Monday, Monday

And that pretty much means the same old, same old. Nana and I went shopping yesterday and got some nice towels and clothes respectively. Pop stayed home and talked with one of his old buddies. On Saturday, Nana and I took a trip to the miniature store, and when we left the house Pop was in his bed with the covers on. This of course is ridiculous considering how FREAKIN' hot and muggy the weather has been lately.

Besides his ludicrous cold-ness, Pop is doing okay. He has another doctors appointment tomorrow and is scheduled for another dose of chemo. Supposedly, he and Nana were told that he would receive six treatments of chemo. Tomorrow is that sixth treatment. So let's cross our fingers, kiss that rabbit's foot, get on our knees, and do whatever else it takes for a spot of good luck.

Sleepy

That's what Pop's been this past week or so. He gets up only to eat and use the bathroom and such and then goes straight back to bed. So basically there's nothing interesting going on here because Pop Van Winkle hasn't been up long enough to do anything.

Hopefully, some other news will come about soon. Until then I will keep wishing this darn humidity away...

Going off for a weekend adventure

so I won't be able to keep you all up to date with what's happening here on Flax Rd. In fact, I'll actually be missing the shindig of the year because tomorrow is the POLITI FAMILY REUNION 2009!!!! Hosted by the adorable Meta Politi and catered by the entire Politi clan. Nana hasn't told Pop yet, and she doesn't plan to until my mom (genius party planner Amy) gets here tomorrow to set up. Silly Nan.

Other than the party things are going pretty smooth here, nothing new to report. Pop has been sleeping an unusual amount of time, so Nana is thinking of reporting this to the doctor because it's in the list of side effects of the chemo that you should call your doctor about. She hasn't actually called yet, so I have to make sure she doesn't forget or just shrug it off.

Well that's all I have for now, so I'll leave you all with this other gem I found in Pop's emails:
In 1989 my XYL, Meta and I planned a trip to to the annual Paris Air Show and a vist to several of their air museums plus a side trip to visit the Normandy beaches. At that time the French government required that you must apply for a visa which we promptly did to the French Embassy in Washington. In a weeks time we received the visa form and one of the questions on the form was as follows." Have you at any time ever entered France or any French territory illegally". I could not resist answering this question truthfully.

My answer was as follows: "Yes, on November 8, 1942, I illegally entered the French territory of Algeria as a member of the U.S. Army 26th infantry Regimental Combat Team at Les Andalouses, Algeria sans a Passport or Visa. Also on March 15, 1943 I entered the French Territory of Tunisia sans passport or visa. On June 6, 1944, I entered The Republic of France again illegally via the Beach code named "Utah" with the 8th Infantry Regimental Combat team near Ste Marie du Mont, Normandy France.


In a weeks time the Visa duly arrived with no comments but attached to it was a nice short handwritten note, probably from some secretary of the embassy. The note read " Dear Mr and Mrs. Politi thank you and your Country for what you did to free my Country. Enjoy your trip to France and God Bless you both."


While we were visiting Normandy I showed it to our young French tour guide and he asked me if he could keep it to show his fellow guides. I agreed but now wish I kept a copy of it as I have long forgotten the young ladies name.


73 de Vic, W1NU

Found some interesting stuff

while sifting through Pop's clogged up email. I finally sorted everything out and now it's possible to tell when he gets new messages. My mission for tomorrow night is to respond to all your wonderful well-wishes that have gone unanswered. Thank you all for reading this and keeping Vic in your thoughts.

In addition to all that I found this little piece of Vic history, its a poem he wrote in January 2006 titled "Ode To 19 Set User"

Here I sit broken hearted

On the 19 set net that ORP started

All went well until round two

Because at dinner Dave had a few

Davy,Davy, how could you forget

The only Op with a 19 set

Outstations, which were just a few

Were just as bad as they missed it too

It must be the chirp on my old Mark II

That made all forget 83 year old NU

73 de W1NU

Breaking news

"Hon, do we have any sugar free ice cream?"
"Why are you so hungry tonight?"
"I don't fucking know, show me the ice cream."
"Oh shuddup"


Gotta love those two.

But seriously, he ate two hefty pieces of toast this morning, had two glasses of juice this afternoon after I came home, he ate all his dinner, and had a fresh blueberry crepe (blueberries courtesy of Pegster, thanks ^_^). Needless to say his blood sugar was off the chart just now. As bad as that is, its still good to see him with an appetite. Now if he'd just gain some weight...

I've been busy

which explains why I have kinda dropped the ball with keeping up with these posts. Between work and all my chores I forget to keep up with, I haven't been on the computer often. However after talking with Nana, I now have another daily chore - keeping up with Pop's email. It is completely full of just about everything and Nana has neither the time nor the patience to sort though it all. This means that I should be on the computer regularly and posting more often.

Besides all that Pop seems to be holding in there. Nana reports that everything is stable. We haven't had problems with his blood pressure dropping since he started this new medication and getting a shot on Friday to improve his blood count.

He has increased the frequency of his swearing however. This morning Nana left to run some errands and I was getting ready for work. At some point I heard some banging and loud swearing from the kitchen.

Pop had gotten up and decided to make breakfast.

Before you read on, I know you are already giggling at this thought (I know I did writing it just now). So I walk into the kitchen and he's standing next to the sink with a loaf of Italian bread with THE LARGEST KNIFE IN THE KITCHEN hacking away at this loaf of bread with a stream of "SHIT" and "PISS & CORRUPTION" flowing from his mouth. I have to give him credit though, he managed to slice himself two hefty wedges of bread without actually slicing himself. After that I took over and toasted it for him and getting the rest of the breakfast accouterments, and things proceeded peacefully.

Later this afternoon, when I returned from work I was eating my lunch, and Nana was gone yet again! (This time to the pharmacy) While eating I heard Pop get up and go into his room and then the bathroom. Now I have no idea what he was doing, but he was swearing the ENTIRE time. It was like dinner and a show.

Well now I suppose that's sufficiently made up for my lack of presence lately. Until next time.

Back on track, for now

So Pop got his first full dose of chemo in I don't know how long. He seems to be doing ok, he slept through the whole procedure and pretty much the rest of the afternoon. Friday he's going to get a shot to improve his blood count so his blood pressure doesn't drop again.

Keep them fingers crossed

because hopefully Pop will start chemo again on Wednesday. The doctor said on Friday that his bloodwork was improved and it appears as though the new medicine he's on to raise his blood pressure is working. Its been 6 weeks since Pop has had chemo and I really hope he's healthy enough to get a full dose this week. More news to come soon...

Another Doctor's Appt

The diabetes doctor reported that Pop is in okay condition. He has lost more weight and developed neuropathy in his feet/legs. Bascially that means that the nerves endings in those areas have gone caput and Pop can't really feel anything on his feet anymore. The doctor said this is very common for diabetics. Pop was also prescribed a new medication to raise his blood pressure (let's cross our fingers it works). Other than that everything is stable. Hopefully Friday will bring us more answers.

*SLAM*

Yeah, so guess who's in a cranky mood today...

Pop has slammed the door twice in the past 5 minutes, once into the bathroom and once into his bedroom. It's quarter to one and he has to go to bed because he's "fucking tired and I don't fucking feel good!" Luckily, his resident whipping boy (aka Nana) has tougher skin than a full grown rhinoceros. He refuses to eat lunch because he had breakfast at about noon because he woke up so late. I bet he'll scarf down that delicious looking dessert Nana made this morning though...

Enough of the cranky news though, let's celebrate something a little more special. Uncle Paul got out the hospital yesterday! He can eat solid food and has no trouble... er... passing said food through his newly patched up insides. The sun is also out so the poor guy will probably spend his first free day soaking up the rays in the backyard. We all wish him a speedy recovery, and I hope he's ready for some body boarding in Rhode Island in August!

Things ain't too good

Pop went to the chemo doctor today and once again didn't receive chemo because his blood work was too bad. It appears that the cancer has caused his bone marrow to stop/slow his blood cell production and as a result he is very weak and has little to no appetite. (Today for instance he only had an Ensure at breakfast, a cup of soup, a rib and a spoonful of potatoes for dinner) His CT scan also showed no improvement. No one has offered Nana any solutions or options yet. The doctor has cancelled Pop's next Wednesday appointment and moved it back until next Friday. They gave him a shot that should help boost his platelet count but if that doesn't work I'm not sure what's going to happen. The doctor also strongly urged that Nana get Pop a wheelchair. Nana said she doesn't think Pop will be able to use the walker much longer either, and she would feel better if we had one on hand. We're all scared here and no one knows what to do. I guess the only thing to do now is wait and see.

Setting - The Kitchen

Characters - Meghan, the quirky, mooching granddaughter; & Nana, the loving grandmother
Scene - After dinner, Meghan has just brought the dishes into the kitchen

Nana: Oh Meghan, I told you you didn't have to do the dishes. I'll do them later.
Meghan: I know but I kept hearing my mom and Tanya in my head yelling at me if I let you do the dishes.
Nana: Oh don't listen to them.
Meghan: Did you just tell me to stop listening to the voices in my head?

Scene.

I know you all miss my pointless stories, so here's my latest. ^_^ It was funny the way she said it. I guess you had to be there.

Update: Pop's going to the chemo doctor tomorrow, let's pray for the best. Also, Uncle Paul got out of surgery today and is reported to be doing well. Let's all send a prayer out for him too.

Quick Update

Not too much to report today. Yesterday morning Pop was complaining of a stomach ache (he claims it was the hot dog at the party on Sunday that did it) but after he and Nana got home from his CT scan he ate a whole sandwich. Apparently the stomach ache wasn't THAT bad. Right now Pop is still sleeping and will probably keep that up for the rest of the day. He lost weight again and it has Nana worried.

To top that off the fridge broke, again. Nana called the appliance place and found out that the repairman that came on Saturday still hadn't put in an order for the parts to fix it. I'm not sure how much longer we can hold out for with just a mini-fridge.

However, Sunday was a blast. We had all the family over for a joint graduation party for me, Mike, Laura, and Peter. Amidst sock ball and pool spoons (patented Politi games) I kept watch over Nana to make sure she wasn't doing any work. She was forbidden from doing anything for the party besides providing the place. The little sneak made some Scottish meat pies before I could stop her, but other than that she didn't have to clean up, set up, or make a thing. At one point she even complained to me that she "was bored because there was nothing for her to do!"
...why I oughta...

Nana asked me not to blog ^_^

...because this morning both her and Pop managed to spill Pop's coffee, not once, but twice. The first time it happened, Nana brought the cup over to the table fresh out of the pot and placed it in front of Pop. Little did she know, Pop's thermometer was underneath the placemat and this caused the full cup to topple over. I haven't seen Pop move that fast in about 5 years. But at least Nana had an excuse. After Pop ate his yellow egg and buttered toast, he managed to spill his coffee yet again! He just knocked it over with his hand. When we were cleaning it up, again, he said something to Nana about spilling coffee everywhere, to which he responded, "Me?! I didn't spill any coffee! I wasn't even here!"

And who says living with two 80 year olds can't be hilarious?

In general health news, Pop did go to the hospital after he fell in the doctor's office. They gave him a unit of blood (or a gallon if you ask him) and sent him home that night. He actually didn't get any chemo because his blood turned bad again and he had low blood pressure. The bump on his head is doing quite nicely, you can't see much of it anymore its just a little bruise now.

The doctor at the hospital did suggest that Nana get Pop one of those motorized wheel chairs so falls like this wouldn't happen in the future. Nana wasn't too keen on this idea, and neither am I. If he gets into something like that he'll probably never walk again, and right now he's not doing bad overall, he uses his cane on some days. His first fall happened because he tripped over the rug, and if he has trouble in the doctor's office, they have wheel chairs he can use while he's there. As of right now I don't think he needs a hover round, or whatever they're called, but we'll see.

Damnit

Pop went in for chemo today and when they were coming out of the doctors office around 3, he fell and "bumped his head" (he didn't trip, he fainted). Nana called me at about 3:15 to report that they were in the hospital and didn't know how long they would be there. Nana said he would probably get hooked up to an IV and get some fluids.

As of right now, I don't know much else. Nana said Pop hit his head, but didn't say if he was hurt or how bad the bump was. I will keep everyone posted as I hear anything.

Rain, rain go away

Hey y'all out there, nothing new to report in here. Pop is doing pretty well and the general consensus is that he looks better but that's probably because he hasn't had a full dose of chemo in about 5 weeks. He should be getting his newly adjusted (via the MUGA scan results) dose tomorrow. I guess there will be something worth reading then.

Other than the Great White Father, Nana is doing okay. She claims to be a 10 on the happiness scale of 1 to 10, but I know that's probably not completely honest. She can't do pretty much anything she wants to, even little things like going outside and puttering around in the yard/garden. She, probably like Pop, is going stir crazy from the combination of the bad weather and lack things to do.

She also says she wants to go to Rhode Island, but doesn't see much chance of it happening. I asked her about a day nurse or something, but she says he really doesn't need any help except for taking insulin. He can do most other things on his own (he even started using the cane again today yippee!). I also don't think she could allow herself to be away for that long, she'd worry too much. So in summation we're doing okay, not stellar, but at least not miserable.

Ahh well, like Nana says though, this too shall pass.

Spot of good news

Yesterday, Nana says, was the first time she has ever seen Dr. Malefatto smile in relation to Pop's test results. His blood apparently looks fine and the doctor was pleased with his condition - woot! He looked so good in fact, he doesn't have to go again until next Monday (which is quite a while around here). On Monday he is going to get a MUGA scan...

The MUGA scan (MUltiple Gated Acquisition scan) is a noninvasive test that produces a moving image of the heart. From this image, the health of the heart’s major pumping chamber (the left ventricle) can be assessed. This is important to do because Adriamycin (generic name – doxorubicin) - the chemotherapeutic drug he's on - can be toxic to the heart muscle, and can lead to heart failure. (More info about MUGA scan and Adriamycin can be found here http://heartdisease.about.com/cs/otherriskfactors/l/blmuga.htm)

So after we get this scan the doctor will be able adjust Pop's dosage and hopefully give Pop the full dosage come Wednesday. Two weeks ago he was in such bad shape he only got 1/2 a dose. Let's cross our fingers this goes well.

Oh yeah, and another thing, on Wednesday Dr. Malefatto told Nana that hearing loss is in fact NOT a side effect of chemo (Pop has been using this as an excuse lately). When Nana was explaining the MUGA test, Pop thought she was talking about an Indian guy... because apparently Muga sounds like an Indian last name to Pop.

At dinner Nana told Pop about the hearing thing and asked him if he wanted to consider a hearing aid. His first response was, "WHAT?!?!" and after that a vehement "No" with a string of angry utterings attached. In the end Nana and I decided it probably would be best if Pop couldn't hear everything we said. ^_^
But next time any of you talk to Pop and he blames his hearing on the fact that he's sick tell him he's full of beans - to which he'll probably respond, "Beans? yyyuck!"

I'm not a total waste of space,

because I finally got a job. Yeah, its just a job at the local Spic n Span food market over in Southport, but its something for now. I can start paying off Nana for the food and shelter she's been giving me these past few weeks. So that's good news.

Nana and Pop went to Malefatto's again yesterday (the chemo doctor) and will be going there AGAIN tomorrow. I'm going to assume here that no news is good news, everything is stable. Pop still can't be exposed to any infections and he has to be extra careful not to bleed (even when brushing his teeth!). Otherwise, we're all plodding along here, the rain is still bringing us down. Some sun is trying to break through today, but its not having too much luck.

I would like to thank all of our visitors that came over this past Sunday: Maureen, Doug, Caroline, Peter, Amy, Meta, Peggy, Paul, and yes, even my deliquent friends that drank all of Pop's apple juice ^_^

Right now Pop is doing his crossword puzzle and just read through all your comments that I printed out for him....

Oh snap, Pop JUST got a package... its... wait for it.... flowers! .... from.... Joann! "Oh for cripes sake, that's nice." Good thing Tanya's here so she can arrange the flowers in the vase - Nana's thought not mine. It looks like two dozen or so miniature roses for Father's Day - how adorable. Thanks Joann!

In any case, Pop read through all your comments and thanks everyone for their thoughts and well wishes. He keeps saying how he should get on the computer, but hasn't made a motion for it yet. We'll get him there, eventually.

Oh bother

Things aren't too hot here on Flax Rd, the weather has really been bringing us down. Pop has basically slept all day yesterday and all day today. He eats a little and goes back to bed. The poor guy is so bored off his rocker. He can't do his radio thing, its too cold to go outside for some excercise, and he doesn't even want to sit at the computer and go through his emails. Hopefully the sun will come out soon so we can all go outside and relax.

Nana has been super worried about Pop these past few days but hopefully we'll get some good news tomorrow at the doctors (or even no news, that'd be okay too).

Doctors AGAIN

Nan and Pop went to Malafatto again today to check on Pop's blood, and everything is reported as "stable." Pop still can't be exposed to any sort of infection due to his low blood count, but he seems to be doing okay. Tom, Sean, and Peg all stopped by today, which perked up the ole feller, and Pop went for a walk up and down the driveway. And - here's the big news - he complained he was HOT today and he to take off his sweater and roll up his sleeves. Other than that, not much is going on here. Nana is good, Pop is good, I'm good. S'all good.

To Vic's radio buddies,

Being the one in charge of "this damn contraption," aka the computer, Vic has me read his emails to him because he no longer likes to sit at the computer. The chair hurts his back and he has trouble using the mouse, which is why all his emails have gone unanswered for now. I know you all wonder how he's doing and when you'll hear from him again, but I hope this blog can be somewhat of a help. I check this site everyday now for comments, like that from Paul in Arizona, and I pass them onto Vic (who appreciates them very much). I hope that he will start using the computer again, but we'll see. For now, thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.

Its Wednesday again

...and Wednesday means a trip to the chemo doctor. Pop's blood is all out of whack and he got a new prescription for antibiotics (among others) because his white blood cell count is so low. With his condition right now any little cold would probably send him to the hospital. Nana said he's not in good shape, but he did gain a pound and his blood pressure was good. After Pop gets his new prescriptions, he has to go back to the doctor on Friday so they can check his blood again - let's hope everything evens out.

In non-medical news, the garage got slightly emptier today and the yard a little fuller. We filled the back of Terrific Tommy's truck with the old carpet, broken beach chairs, the old army tent, and old Omaha Steak containers. However, due to Pop's vehemont insistence, a whole mess of old antenna wires were dropped off. Pop insisted he needed them again so he could hook up his radios again. Here's hoping he'll be able to get to it.

I finally found the cord to upload pictures from my camera and I discovered this beauty from May 23rd-ish. Nana was spreading mulch and I was mowing, Pop felt he needed to contribute to the yardwork by adding "constructive criticism." Gotta love that guy.

It's been a while

I know I should have posted again sooner, but I've been busy around here. Even though it rained on Friday (much like it is today) Terrific Tommy came over and demolished the big red rug in the living room. He must have asked Nana about 100 times if she was SURE if she wanted to get rid of it. She said yes, no doubt about it, and admitted she has always hated that rug. Yep, it only took her like 20 years to admit she never liked the color of the rug. She only kept it because "Pop picked it out, and it never wore out!" Fair enough.

Pop took a nap directly after lunch and didn't here a thing. By the time he woke up Tom was gone, and the living room had been completely scrubbed and put back together. And we scrubbed it down good, no corner went unwashed, no baseboard un-scrubbed. I even vacuumed some of the dolls that had collected a noticeable amount of cobwebs.

When Pop got up from his slumber he seemed to really enjoy the newly discovered hardwood. He was "cruising around really fast" with his contraption and had a much easier time moving from room to room.

The rest of the weekend turned out to be pretty busy for me and Nan. We visited Doug's for Pete's birthday Friday night, Nana had a funeral Saturday and I went canoeing, and Sunday Nana went to Amy's and Meta's dance recital and I did some pool and beach cavorting. Pop seemed really happy that I had friends over to use the pool and told me, "have as many friends over as often as you can!"

Yesterday, Tanya and Pop's friend Bob Nevans came over to visit and Pop really perked up. On Sunday and Monday he went out in the driveway and did some "laps" up and down the driveway all on his own, without me or Nana asking/telling or helping him. He also told Nan he wanted to go to my Mom's house and get his antenna wires back so he could talk on the radio again. I think when visitors come over he really gets a boost, he talks like he's going to beat this thing and hang around for a lot longer (which is fantastic). I think just sitting in that chair all day tends to get him down, so if you're in the Fairfield area, please have no qualms about stopping by, Pop really loves (and needs) the visits. Even if it's just to pop in and say hello, he really appreciates all your love and support.

Right now the two old birds in the kitchen getting ready for breakfast and arguing over who put a band-aid on Pop. Neither one of them can remember, and the mystery continues. That's all for now, stay tuned for the next exciting installment of Life with the Politi's!

Where to begin...

So I got to thinking that a website might be a good idea for anyone who is interested in keeping tabs with Pop. You all can keep track of his progress and what's going on here on Flax Rd.

I have wanted to do this for a little while now and I just rearranged some furniture in the living room so I can actually use the computer without completely blocking Nana's view of her soaps. But I guess we can just get to it then...

Today Vic went to his diabetes doctor, and we got some okay news. His chest is clear, his mouth is healed up, and the edema in his ankles is getting better, but he still hasn't gained weight and his blood pressure was a little low again. Nothing terrible, but the weight thing is a concern for a couple of his doctors. Me and Nana have been trying to give him high fat foods, and he seems to have a good appetite - but still no weight gain.

Yesterday he got a half-dose of chemo, his blood-pressure and weight were too low for the doctor to do a full dose, but they didn't want to wait any longer for another treatment. Before going to the doctor, Vic managed to take a spill in the living room and get a nice gash on his hand. He's tripped over the rug several times with his walker the past few days, so Nana and I are thinking its a good idea to get it out of the living room - easier said than done.

Well, that's all for now. More to come soon.