What do I say? I already knew that x-rays and ultrasounds would show nothing definitive if any thing at all. I've been down this road before twelve - thirteen years ago where everything was tried to relieve me of nerve pain in my foot. It took exploratory surgery in 1998 to find the spindle cell sarcoma, a very small tumor. A year later the same pain the same sort of surgery and more of the same spindle cell sarcoma. Another year would go by when I decided to have a below the knee amputation.
Now here I am ten years later I've had the ultrasound, the x-ray and now the MRI... the only definitive tool for what I think is the problem... the only diagnostic tool that would show the abnormal cells that could be in my right arm. I noticed the small lump on the inside edge of my right elbow some time ago but it did not start to bother me until just recently.
I have a new Doctor who did not waste anytime getting me set up with the necessary tests. She has contacted the cancer centre in Saskatoon, I have signed a document so she can obtain all my files in regard to my previous diagnosis of spindle cell sarcoma and surgeries. This Doctor has done more for me in the few weeks I've been her patient than the whole time with the one before her.
OK... so what is the diagnoses? I have four measurable lesions, all of them are under 1 cm in size, one is in the "subcutaneous tissues medially at the level of the medial epicondyle" (I think this is the one I can feel). The second lesion is ill-defined and superolaterally to the first lesion "this lesion is not as discrete and contains mixed T1 and T2 signal" nearly touching the brachial artery. The third lesion is seen at the level of the midradial head, in the transverse plane. This lesion is 0.5 cm anterior to the radial nerve. There is a suspected fourth lesion. There are also four small foci of ill-defined enhancement... which may represent additional lesions. The body of the report and the summery don't quite match up... so will have to wait and see what I am eventually told after surgery.
The document is in much more detail most of which I don't understand. It talks of the enhancement and characteristics and ROI measurements all of which means very little to me. The final recommendation in consideration of my prior history of spindle cell sarcoma... "as well as the dense enhancement some of these lesions demonstrate, certainly metastatic disease would have to be considered, and histologic sampling with a view to complete excision of as many of these lesions as is technically feasible or possible is suggested, particularly as they may or may not all represent the same process."
So there you have the diagnosis, I have not imagined the lump, it is real. Is it spindle cell sarcoma again? I don't know and won't know until a biopsy has been performed. I expect to hear from a surgeon in a few days with a date for my surgery.
This morning at 5:00 I had my panic attack and at 6:30 I shed tears.
Now I wait for the first phone call... then the results... then????
My trust is in my Saviour, Jesus Christ; He has never given me more then I can handle.
Thursday, 22 July 2010
Saturday, 17 July 2010
The Trip Home
I know this is a couple of weeks late. We left Grand Marais on the Wednesday morning the weather was nice. Our plan, to drive as far as Duluth and shop at JC Penney's taking advantage of their big June sale. We have usually caught this sale on the last week-end and have always been happy with our purchases. This time it was early in the sale and there were racks of clothes for under $5, I purchased three dress jackets at $5 each and at least 5 skirts for the same price. These items will serve me well at work, added to this were blouses that will complete the outfits. We headed to DSW shoes so I could purchase new runners, we did not get as good a deal as we have in past years so I only purchased one new pair this time. We did not stay in Duluth for the night but turned our noses towards home.
We took highway 2 home and the weather became hotter and hotter. As I have mentioned in earlier posts, our generator would not continue running so we could not run our main A/C and the dash a/c is not very strong so did not keep up. I'm not sure where we parked that night but I know we were tired, grubby and extremely hot.
I took these three pictures while we traveled the sky was absolutely gorgeous. In the 2nd picture you can see the lines of dark clouds it looked as if someone had painted lines across a pink sky, the pictures do not do it justice. The last picture is just before we hit a swarm of bugs that would have made this picture impossible to take through the front windshield.
We parked as usual in a Walmart parking lot. We spent time in the store just to cool down and when I could walk no longer I left Richard to grocery shop, purchasing items that we cannot get in Canada. Having no power meant the fridge did not go to gas power so we tried to open the door as little as possible. In the morning we headed out again hoping the weather would cool off just a little, it did not, if anything it was hotter than the previous day. Our plan was to reach Minot and find the truck stop where we knew they had plug-ins, at least they did have about seven years ago. We made it to Minot, I was over heated and we really needed to cool our motor home down. The truck stop was found and yes they did still have plug-ins but they no longer allowed people to use them. Richard was directed to talk with the manager or owner, I don't remember which, they did concede and said we could plug in for one hour. For those who know how big a 35 ft motor home is you will know that one hour will only take the temperature down a couple of degrees at best. I spent that hour sitting directly under the line of cold air from the unit, I had to get my body temperature down or have heat stroke.
The hour past all to quickly and now we had to decide did we park for that night or head out and try to at least hit the boarder. Our choice, to keep going. We stayed on highway 2 until we could turn north to pick up number 6 in Saskatchewan, heading towards Regina. We reached the boarder and we met our first ever human Canadian Customs Official, we could not have wished to deal with a nicer person. Usually we find Canadian Customs people very officious and they all appear to like to give returning Canadians a rough time when returning home, but this guy was wonderful and made our moods a lot calmer than they had been for a good many miles due to the heat that we were suffering.
It was evening when we crossed over into Canada. A wind began to pick-up and really buffet us about, Richard was struggling to keep our unit on the road. We were watching a phenomenal lightening storm off in the distance but as Regina came closer so did that storm. Over to the NW the clouds seemed to be suspended just above the ground. When the rain hit it hit hard, with winds still pounding us the rain, sheets of water, the wipers could not keep up with the amount of water that was coming down. Richard decided that we would have to pull to the side and sit this storm out. As we were slowing down we saw a side turning and pulled into this, there was a vehicle stopped on this road and Richard wound down his window and asked them what was up ahead as we needed to sit out the storm. We were told it was just a clearing with grain bins and that they too were just parked to watch the storm. We drove a few more yards and saw the clearing turning the motor home around and tucking in behind these bins we waited out the storm. Actually we went to bed and slept for about five hours.
The rest of our trip home was uneventful. The crops were almost none existent the further north we traveled and the amount of standing water in the fields increased. (On Sunday we were told that they had had basically three weeks of rain.) We arrived home, tired, grubby, having had no power in order to use the water, a day earlier than expected. It was only Friday morning. We emptied as much as we needed from the motor home. Plugged her into the house power and went in to the house to relax.
Little did we know that in a few hours we would witness yet another storm as fierce as the one the previous evening which would cause thousands of dollars worth of damage to trees and buildings in East Hill and East Flats of Prince Albert, that afternoon and early evening. I did not think that I would see rain like that two days in a row. The winds were upwards of 90 miles an hour. We only lost one branch of one of our trees and very little water in the basement. Many did not fair as well.
What an end to three wonderful weeks of vacation.
We took highway 2 home and the weather became hotter and hotter. As I have mentioned in earlier posts, our generator would not continue running so we could not run our main A/C and the dash a/c is not very strong so did not keep up. I'm not sure where we parked that night but I know we were tired, grubby and extremely hot.
We parked as usual in a Walmart parking lot. We spent time in the store just to cool down and when I could walk no longer I left Richard to grocery shop, purchasing items that we cannot get in Canada. Having no power meant the fridge did not go to gas power so we tried to open the door as little as possible. In the morning we headed out again hoping the weather would cool off just a little, it did not, if anything it was hotter than the previous day. Our plan was to reach Minot and find the truck stop where we knew they had plug-ins, at least they did have about seven years ago. We made it to Minot, I was over heated and we really needed to cool our motor home down. The truck stop was found and yes they did still have plug-ins but they no longer allowed people to use them. Richard was directed to talk with the manager or owner, I don't remember which, they did concede and said we could plug in for one hour. For those who know how big a 35 ft motor home is you will know that one hour will only take the temperature down a couple of degrees at best. I spent that hour sitting directly under the line of cold air from the unit, I had to get my body temperature down or have heat stroke.
The hour past all to quickly and now we had to decide did we park for that night or head out and try to at least hit the boarder. Our choice, to keep going. We stayed on highway 2 until we could turn north to pick up number 6 in Saskatchewan, heading towards Regina. We reached the boarder and we met our first ever human Canadian Customs Official, we could not have wished to deal with a nicer person. Usually we find Canadian Customs people very officious and they all appear to like to give returning Canadians a rough time when returning home, but this guy was wonderful and made our moods a lot calmer than they had been for a good many miles due to the heat that we were suffering.
It was evening when we crossed over into Canada. A wind began to pick-up and really buffet us about, Richard was struggling to keep our unit on the road. We were watching a phenomenal lightening storm off in the distance but as Regina came closer so did that storm. Over to the NW the clouds seemed to be suspended just above the ground. When the rain hit it hit hard, with winds still pounding us the rain, sheets of water, the wipers could not keep up with the amount of water that was coming down. Richard decided that we would have to pull to the side and sit this storm out. As we were slowing down we saw a side turning and pulled into this, there was a vehicle stopped on this road and Richard wound down his window and asked them what was up ahead as we needed to sit out the storm. We were told it was just a clearing with grain bins and that they too were just parked to watch the storm. We drove a few more yards and saw the clearing turning the motor home around and tucking in behind these bins we waited out the storm. Actually we went to bed and slept for about five hours.
The rest of our trip home was uneventful. The crops were almost none existent the further north we traveled and the amount of standing water in the fields increased. (On Sunday we were told that they had had basically three weeks of rain.) We arrived home, tired, grubby, having had no power in order to use the water, a day earlier than expected. It was only Friday morning. We emptied as much as we needed from the motor home. Plugged her into the house power and went in to the house to relax.
Little did we know that in a few hours we would witness yet another storm as fierce as the one the previous evening which would cause thousands of dollars worth of damage to trees and buildings in East Hill and East Flats of Prince Albert, that afternoon and early evening. I did not think that I would see rain like that two days in a row. The winds were upwards of 90 miles an hour. We only lost one branch of one of our trees and very little water in the basement. Many did not fair as well.
What an end to three wonderful weeks of vacation.
Tuesday, 29 June 2010
The Elusive Plant
I thought I should post a picture of the plant I was looking for this afternoon.
I guess it was August when we took this last time so obviously not the right time of year for me to be hunting for the plant in June. Oh well I did enjoy our trek.
I guess it was August when we took this last time so obviously not the right time of year for me to be hunting for the plant in June. Oh well I did enjoy our trek.
Last Day in Grand Marais
We are now in the evening of our last day here. Richard took the morning to change some electrical parts, the isolator and another unit, we were hoping that one or the other was the reason for not having any coach power when we aren't plugged in to an electrical power.
Here he is busy in the engine. While he was busy with that I was amusing myself with taking pictures of Katie.
Katie spent her day following the sun around in the Motor Home.
In the afternoon I pursued-ed Richard to take me on another hike. I wanted to see if I could find a rare plant that we managed to find in 2008. I did enjoy the trek going up a steep grass hill and searching the edge of the trees for the elusive plant. I did take pictures of other plants so have included some here.
These two pictures show a thistle, I'm afraid it wasn't in bloom yet but had Richard show how tall it had grown.
These two show the flowering grass that is to be found in this area they grow in single stems.
This is wild honeysuckle... at least I think that is what it's called.
Some interesting moss that looked like miniature pine... Hard to see but double white bell flower.
This is really common but such a pretty yellow... and these white flowers are very tiny and just perfect.
I saw this orange showing through the underbrush thinking it was a ball but once uncovered it was a very interesting toadstool.
This is the view above the harbour as you can tell I trekked up quite a slope.
Richard took these of me still climbing up the trail... I didn't want to return via the road so we retraced our steps back down to the camp ground.
My last two pictures one is of horse tail fern (grass) you can see the sectioned spokes and one blooming; the other one is wild raspberry.
Once we were back at the motor home we sat at the picnic table drinking beer, wine cooler's for me, and playing tile rummy. Then Richard put all our chairs away and other items that needed to be placed in the basement areas of the RV, this will save time tomorrow morning when we begin our journey home via Duluth to shop first.
Even though the weather wasn't the best I have really enjoyed my stay here in Grand Marais.
Katie spent her day following the sun around in the Motor Home.
In the afternoon I pursued-ed Richard to take me on another hike. I wanted to see if I could find a rare plant that we managed to find in 2008. I did enjoy the trek going up a steep grass hill and searching the edge of the trees for the elusive plant. I did take pictures of other plants so have included some here.
These two pictures show a thistle, I'm afraid it wasn't in bloom yet but had Richard show how tall it had grown.
These two show the flowering grass that is to be found in this area they grow in single stems.
Once we were back at the motor home we sat at the picnic table drinking beer, wine cooler's for me, and playing tile rummy. Then Richard put all our chairs away and other items that needed to be placed in the basement areas of the RV, this will save time tomorrow morning when we begin our journey home via Duluth to shop first.
Even though the weather wasn't the best I have really enjoyed my stay here in Grand Marais.
Monday, 28 June 2010
Sunday
When we stay in Grand Marais we always ensure we are here for at least one Sunday. We arrange with Pastor Shutte to collect us from the campground so we can join them in worship. This visit was no exception. Dennis had visited us a couple of times already plus we had gone for supper with them on Friday. Sunday morning found us up at 6:00 am so we could shower, have breakfast and be ready when Dennis called for us at 8:20.
This picture was taken before service as Pastor Shutte has to leave very soon after service to head up the Gun Flint Trail to conduct a further service for those members who spend their summers up at their cabins during the summer.
Richard and I both wore our new outfits that we had purchased during our shopping spree at J.C. Penney's in Greenfield. My outfit was very different from what I would normally buy in regards to colour and the design on the skirt.
Bob, on of the parishioners drove us back to our campsite. Later on in the day we had a visit from Harriet. This was a nice visit and gave us chance to catch up with all her news since we saw her last.
Richard and I both wore our new outfits that we had purchased during our shopping spree at J.C. Penney's in Greenfield. My outfit was very different from what I would normally buy in regards to colour and the design on the skirt.
Bob, on of the parishioners drove us back to our campsite. Later on in the day we had a visit from Harriet. This was a nice visit and gave us chance to catch up with all her news since we saw her last.
The Nature Trail
Richard and I have walked this short nature trail in other years but I wanted to have a walk and chose this route. It is located at the end of the campground and actually the easiest of the three walks that are indicated on the board at the head of the trail. As you know from past years I like to take pictures of the flowers that grow in these areas.
This is a flowering raspberry or thimble berry.
The views of Lake Superior are quite wonderful, the waters on Saturday were very calm and very relaxing.
This is one of the spots along the trail that overlook the Lake. This rustic bench and potted geranium have been placed there in memory of and individual. I took the time to sit and adjust my leg before continuing on our leisurely walk.
This was a little of the beaten track and meant I had to negotiate some challenging, for me, rock clambering. Richard left me to find my own footing which worked out a lot better than the last time we traversed this section in 2008 when he suggested where I should place my hiking poles and feet. Once at the clearing Richard found this flower for me (I don't know it's name).
Richard couldn't resist and went further than the outlook where I stopped, there was no way I could clamber over these rocks to the spot where you see him standing.
Here he is working his way back to where I was waiting.
This is one of the area's that I had to negotiate, the rock was about a 2' 6" high step up, but I managed to find notches for my foot and spots to place my poles so I could navigate up and then of course back down on our return to the main trail. Richard was supposed to have taken a short video of me while I managed this feat but I'm not sure what he did but it was not on the card when I downloaded the pictures.
This was a pretty area of bunch berry or dwarf dogwood, there was a lot of this along the trail but I liked the way the spruce branch partially covered the area.
We tried to get a better picture of the bluebells but all the pictures were blurred as was the one of the buttercup.
I was pleased with myself accomplishing the extra side trips that were a bit more of a challenge than just the nature walk which is graveled for ease of walking. I'm no where near in the condition I was in in 2008 when we did quite a bit of hiking in this area.
I enjoyed our walk and the rain kept away for most of the day.
This is a flowering raspberry or thimble berry.
This is one of the spots along the trail that overlook the Lake. This rustic bench and potted geranium have been placed there in memory of and individual. I took the time to sit and adjust my leg before continuing on our leisurely walk.
This was a little of the beaten track and meant I had to negotiate some challenging, for me, rock clambering. Richard left me to find my own footing which worked out a lot better than the last time we traversed this section in 2008 when he suggested where I should place my hiking poles and feet. Once at the clearing Richard found this flower for me (I don't know it's name).
I was pleased with myself accomplishing the extra side trips that were a bit more of a challenge than just the nature walk which is graveled for ease of walking. I'm no where near in the condition I was in in 2008 when we did quite a bit of hiking in this area.
I enjoyed our walk and the rain kept away for most of the day.
Saturday, 26 June 2010
Liquid Sunshine
After leaving Greenfield we turned our noses towards Grand Marais. This has to be our favourite place to spend a relaxing vacation. Monday night we parked at the Superior 24hr Walmart. This Walmart is the one that Richard really likes to shop at. As usual we headed into the store to peruse their wares. I was disappointed there was nothing that said 'try me on'. Richard had far better luck than I did, finding cargo shorts and jeans at clearance prices and a few more t-shirts. I decided I was too tired to wander the shop anymore and headed back to the motor home leaving Richard shopping for groceries and anything else he felt we could not do without.
The following morning we were back on the road traveling the last leg of our journey to Grand Marais. The excitement being when Richard realized we were just about out of gas. We turned into the next town, which just happened to be the same town where we waited to have a tire replaced after blowing one of our back duel tires three or four years ago.
You maybe asking yourself why the title 'Liquid Sunshine' well we hit rain just before Superior since then we have had rain every day. When we arrived at the camp ground we did our usual drive along the front to see if there were any lake front spots open. We were a little disappointed that there were no free sites on that side of the camp ground, we accepted 50W which faces the playground and basketball hoop.
Here we are set up in our spot ready for sunshine. Once we had set up our neighbours asked us if we were hoping for sunshine, we had put all the awnings out. They told us the weather had been awful with rain just about every day, they spend their summers here but live in Arizona in the winter.
Wednesday morning was bright and the sun was shinning, we decided to head out to visit Harriet up at her place of business, Superior RV shop, and also her home. This is quite a walk for me there is a steep incline out of the campgrounds and then a steady rise out of town towards Harriet's place. Richard said it was about a mile.
This picture does not give a true impression on how steep this incline is, this is on the way back from Harriet's she was not home so we had to walk back I must admit I was quite tired after wards.
This is the decent back to the camp grounds. I was beginning to really struggle by this point. Hills and slopes are not my favourite type of walking, having no ankle it is a struggle to maneuver up and down them.
Once back I spent a short while sitting under the awning reading, taking advantage of the sun while it lasted. While sitting there I looked across to the playground and saw three rabbits playing chase and managed to capture this picture of them, the third one is by the ladder to the slide. They kept me amused for quite some time before scurrying off into the long grass at the edge of the grounds.
Tuesday morning we had a visit from Dennis and made arrangements to go out to dinner with him and Sandra. Thursday the day was clear again and we walked into town. I love the harbour and took yet another picture of the tranquil site of the boats slowly bobbing on the water. Dennis also popped by on Thursday morning to arrange for our dinner outing for Friday evening.
We are taking advantage of the sun there has been more rain than anything else since we have been here. Wednesday night Richard had to get up at 3:00 am to put the main awning up as the wind was really blowing the last thing we want is a torn awning.
Last night we went for dinner with Dennis and Sandra, the meal was good the company even better. They told us this is the most relaxed they have ever seen us in all the years we have been coming to Grand Marais which is about six years now. They are really happy for us that Richard now has a congregation that truly appreciates him and fits him so well. Even though I find work frustrating I too am no where near as stressed as I have been in past years.
Today the sun is shinning and I hope to take a walk along the short trail just beyond the camp grounds. Richard is hoping the rain holds off and this afternoon he will take a swim in the harbour out to the light house and back. Our neighbours have asked us to let them know when he plans to do this as they want to watch. Most people do not believe that anyone would choose to swim in Lake Superior because it is so cold.
The following morning we were back on the road traveling the last leg of our journey to Grand Marais. The excitement being when Richard realized we were just about out of gas. We turned into the next town, which just happened to be the same town where we waited to have a tire replaced after blowing one of our back duel tires three or four years ago.
You maybe asking yourself why the title 'Liquid Sunshine' well we hit rain just before Superior since then we have had rain every day. When we arrived at the camp ground we did our usual drive along the front to see if there were any lake front spots open. We were a little disappointed that there were no free sites on that side of the camp ground, we accepted 50W which faces the playground and basketball hoop.
Wednesday morning was bright and the sun was shinning, we decided to head out to visit Harriet up at her place of business, Superior RV shop, and also her home. This is quite a walk for me there is a steep incline out of the campgrounds and then a steady rise out of town towards Harriet's place. Richard said it was about a mile.
This is the decent back to the camp grounds. I was beginning to really struggle by this point. Hills and slopes are not my favourite type of walking, having no ankle it is a struggle to maneuver up and down them.
Once back I spent a short while sitting under the awning reading, taking advantage of the sun while it lasted. While sitting there I looked across to the playground and saw three rabbits playing chase and managed to capture this picture of them, the third one is by the ladder to the slide. They kept me amused for quite some time before scurrying off into the long grass at the edge of the grounds.
We are taking advantage of the sun there has been more rain than anything else since we have been here. Wednesday night Richard had to get up at 3:00 am to put the main awning up as the wind was really blowing the last thing we want is a torn awning.
Last night we went for dinner with Dennis and Sandra, the meal was good the company even better. They told us this is the most relaxed they have ever seen us in all the years we have been coming to Grand Marais which is about six years now. They are really happy for us that Richard now has a congregation that truly appreciates him and fits him so well. Even though I find work frustrating I too am no where near as stressed as I have been in past years.
Today the sun is shinning and I hope to take a walk along the short trail just beyond the camp grounds. Richard is hoping the rain holds off and this afternoon he will take a swim in the harbour out to the light house and back. Our neighbours have asked us to let them know when he plans to do this as they want to watch. Most people do not believe that anyone would choose to swim in Lake Superior because it is so cold.
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