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...
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
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
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
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
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
Monday, July 20, 2009
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...
"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.
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.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
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.
Monday, July 13, 2009
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...
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
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.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
*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!
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!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
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.
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