'Twas The Night Before Elections

'Twas the night before elections 
And all through the town 
Tempers were flaring 
Emotions all up and down! 

I, in my bathrobe 
With a cat in my lap 
Had cut off the TV 
Tired of political crap. 

When all of a sudden 
There arose such a noise 
I peered out of my window 
Saw Obama and his boys 

They had come for my wallet 
They wanted my pay 
To give to the others 
Who had not worked a day! 

He snatched up my money 
And quick as a wink 
Jumped back on his bandwagon
And he took my kitchen sink

He then rallied his henchmen 
Who were pulling his cart 
I could tell they were out 
To tear my country apart! 

' On Fannie, on Freddie, 
On Biden and Ayers! 
On Acorn, On Pelosi' 
He screamed at the pairs! 

They took off for his cause 
And as he flew out of sight 
I heard him laugh at the nation 
Who wouldn't stand up and fight! 

So I leave you to think 
On this one final note 
IF YOU DON'T WANT SOCIALISM 
GET OUT AND VOTE!

Today was fun- so is this political cartoon!

We had a fun day.  

Took out the Corvette for about a 100 mile cruise, then stopped for lunch.

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Had to share this cartoon with my buddies!

(This bastard absolutely sickens me.)

It's ROAD TRIP TIME!!!!!!!!

Just hung up the phone with dear friends and former cruise buddies, Diane and Jerry. (pics taken from our visit last December) They're en route to their Winter home in Ft. Myers Beach, Florida.

We told them that we'd race them there! *smiling*

Going to pack up the Corvette and take off this weekend for a leisurely drive through Florida.

In the words of Frank Zappa, "HOTCHA"!

Now.... if I can just fine last year's Trip Tik..... don't need directions, but it makes for good reading material, and the miles seem to fly by.

**Note to self: Do not answer telephone calls from doctors or hospitals until we return home!

Have You VOTED Yet????????????

Dominic and I managed to vote yesterday..........  got a kick out of the above photo from my bro....

VA Stuff

We had an appointment with the local VA gal yesterday.  Cindy Smith.  She's a doll.  Even though she works for the VA, she acts as more of a patient advocate than a Fed.  She's been getting the ball rolling for a possible disability check, set Dom up for VA hospital visits, etc.

Yesterday, she filled out a 2nd form that the VA wanted to verify Agent Orange contamination....when he was "in country", etc.  She said that perhaps by Christmas, we'll be approved.

Unfortunately, this time of year, they're dealing with a skeleton crew.... everyone is trying to use up their vacation time before they lose it on Jan 1st, thus, our claim will probably move slowly.

We just love this gal.  When I thanked her for being so helpful and so wonderful, she knocked us out by answering:  

"It's my privilege to work for Dominic.  If he hadn't fought for our country, I wouldn't be here".

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So, we returned home feeling warm and fuzzy thoughts about the VA.  Sorted our mail.  Found something from those folks.

A bill for almost $200 for medications.

As it turns out, our private insurance is cheaper than the co-pay from the VA!!!

Naive Nanette was under the impression that the VA was sending us all of these meds free of charge.  So much for yesterdays' warm and fuzzies.  

I have spent the last 2 hours counting pills, pricing them online with our health plan, trying to figure out when they can be renewed., what we need new prescriptions for, etc.

It's only a little after 10:30 am, and I already have a bit of a headache.

MY HEAD BE FULL!

To Hell With The Prostate

Dominic and I have decided to blow-off the Prostate Biopsy for awhile.

Dr. Safah is out of town, attending a seminar.  Her nurse, Amy, spoke to doc's partner who said that it would be OK to go off of the Thalidomide and Coumadin for awhile.

We've come to the conclusion that since Prostate Cancer is such a slow-moving disease, we're going to focus all of our energy on the Multiple Myeloma treatment.  Dom doesn't want to stall the treatment for a biopsy.  He wants to finish up this treatment, and then get the transplant over with.

I've left a message for the Urologist's office to call....will explain the situation and cancel Monday's biopsy.

We have an appointment with Dr. Safah in a couple of weeks, when we'll discuss "this prostate business", as Dom refers to it.    *smiling*

But, for now, our attitude is "WHAT PROSTATE TROUBLE???"

(And you know what?  It feels good!)

Feeling Melancholy

Hey, gang-

Feeling a little "blue".  

Christine and Michael blew out of here at 11 am.  Honestly, the entire week I  was thinking , "WOW!  What a happy family!  I don't want you guys to leave!".

But, alas, off they went.

Michael knocked my socks off-  What a FUN reunion!...... after all of these (15?) years.....  articulate, handsome, and WOWIE ZOWIE, he can make his old evil step-mom killer Lattes!  It was an absolute pleasure to have our Michael "home" again.  

(I happily turned him on to exotic martinis, so it's "ALL GOOD".)   

Christine is still my "Party Girl"..... Christ, she's a horrid influence on me!   I can't/won't tell you of "martini fun" that we had---- both at home--- and in the French Quarter....she's an evil woman.... love the kid!

Anyway, they took off today.  We tried desperately to watch our Saints playing in London... the phone rang off the hook, causing us to "pause" our DVR.

Much to our delight, a dear friend called us-

Allow me to introduce to you LEVI BARON-

We had the pleasure of spending the day with the guy a couple of years ago.  He's a tour guide in the beautiful island of Dominica.

Levi knocked our socks off as a tour guide.

He's continued knocking us out by calling Dominic every couple of weeks to check on him.

Have you ever felt an immediate connection to a stranger?

If so, you'll understand that it's a WONDERFUL feeling..... that's how we see this dude....

That's the vibe that we shared with my handsome Levi....  With any luck, his face will appear on this post.

LEVI-  we love you dearly, honey.  Thank you for the phone calls and nice wishes!

Some fun pics from this past week

Had 100 cherrystone clams last Sunday.  (Thanks, Christoph!)  That was some serious scrubbing at the hose!

Later had a hayride.  Great fun was had by all of us!

Prostate Trouble

Went to see Dom's Urologist in Slidell today.  As usual, the guy was way behind with his appointments.

When he finally saw us, over an hour late, he looked at the PSA numbers from Tulane, and said that they were "very elevated" and that he wanted to perform another needle biopsy of the Prostate.

However, Dom is on Coumadin (a blood thinner) to prevent blood clots from the Thalidomide.  So....doc will contact our cancer specialist, Safah, and discuss options.

Too many flippin' doctors!  Unfortunately, all are needed, and all are specialists in their field, but man-  we're only about 5 weeks into this, and have grown sick and tired of office visits.

So, should know something next week.  Biopsy tentatively scheduled for Mon 11/3.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.  We're getting a little sad that Christine and Michael are flying home on Sunday.... how the week has FLOWN BY! 

Body Statistics

*It takes your food seven seconds to get from your mouth to your stomach.
*One human hair can support 3 kg (6 lb).
*The average man's penis is three times the length of his thumb.
*Human thigh-bones are stronger than concrete.
*A woman's heart beats faster than a man's.
*There are about one trillion bacteria on each of your feet.
*Women blink twice as often as men.
*The average person's skin weighs twice as much as the brain.
*Your body uses 300 muscles to balance itself when you are standing still.
*If saliva cannot dissolve something, you cannot taste it.

*Men who read this are probably still busy checking their thumbs!

(Thanks, Joe-  really got a kick out of this one!)

Kids, Clambake and French Quarter

Well, gang-  it's been a fun, fun week!

Christine and Michael blew into town on Saturday.  We had a clambake and hayride on Sunday-  dear friend, Chris brought the clams this year-  picked up 100 luscious Cherrystones.  Polished most of 'em off, too.

Spent the day in Bogalusa on Monday.  Pleasant, pleasant time.  Hung out with Richard McM and his guys at the L & C.  Also caught a Chinese buffet for lunch.

Tuesday was TOO MUCH fun-  booked a couple of rooms at the Prince Conti Hotel.  They checked us in early- prior to noon.  Had a great lunch at the Deja Vu.  Spent the day bar-hopping.  Met up with one of Christine's old college buddies, Liz, and her husband Sef.

Ended up at a bar on Pirates Alley that served Absinthe.  Sef and I were the only ones who indulged.  I really enjoyed the ritualistic aspect of the drink.  The glass was placed on a lighted base. They placed a sugar cube on a slotted spoon, drizzling the absinthe over it.  They then dripped ice water on top of the cube.

Meanwhile, the illuminated concoction swirled in the glass-  looking like little green Fairy Wings.....  Thus the term,  "Chasing the green Fairy".  Was hoping for Wormwood hallucinations, but sadly not.  Yummy, though!

Stopped at a joint for some overpriced "sipping Tequila"..... then, onto the Bombay Club for a couple of martinis.

Yours Truly was poured into the hotel elevator at around 12:30.  Michael returned to his room at around 1am.  Those devil-dancers, Dom and Christine came rolling home close to 3 am.

Great fun was had by all.  *smiling*

FIRST BOOK OF DEMOCRAT

Thanks, Lisa-  great fun! 

FIRST BOOK OF DEMOCRAT

Obama Is My Shepherd, I Shall Not Want.
He Leadeth Me Beside Still Factories,
He Restoreth My Faith In The Republican Party,
He Guideth Me In The Paths Of Unemployment.

Yea, Though I Walk Through The Valley Of The Bread Line, I Shall Not Go Hungry.

Obama Has Anointed My Income With Taxes,
My Expenses Runneth Over My Income,
Surely, Poverty And Hard Living Will Follow Me All The Days Of My Life.

The Democrats And I Will Live Forever In a Rented Room.

But I Am Glad I Am an American,
I Am Glad That I Am Free.
But I Wish I Was A Dog
And Obama A Tree. 

Another TASTELESS joke.....

Hey gang-

The "kids" are in town, and we've been having non-stop fun.  I'll report on all of it later.

Meanwhile, here's a vulgar joke from our Michael:

QUESTION:  What does a 14 year old Alabama girl say after sex?

ANSWER:  Get off of me dad, you're crushing my cigarettes!

Rough Day for My Dominic

Well, it's been Dom's first "bad day".

He woke up at 3:30 am, and hasn't gotten out of bed all day.  Aches, pains, chills, dizzyness-  All of which are possible side effects from yesterday's infusion of Aredia.  

Then, to top things off, Dr. Safah's nurse called to tell him to get to his urologist.  His already high PSA numbers DOUBLED since the VA ran their work a couple of weeks ago.

Man, this is a real drag for him.

On a happier note, his daughter and stepson are flying in tomorrow for a week.  We're hoping that this crappy feeling might possibly be a result of his flu shot yesterday.  

Have a good weekend, gang.  With any luck, Dom will spring out of bed in the morning, ready to have some fun!

Tulane Cancer Center- Thurs, 10-16

TULANE CANCER CENTER- Thursday, October 16, 2008

Left home a little after 8 am.

Met with Dr. Safah at 11:30 am.

I gave her all of the VA Hospital's findings. (Before we left her office, she had

bloodwork done to check his Prostate and his Thyroid). It pleased us that she

was impressed with the VA bloodwork report. She thought that it was quite

thorough.

Unfortunately, the CT SCAN from a couple of weeks ago show a "LYTIC

LESION" (TUMOR) on his Upper Left Back.

The original x-ray showed a problem on the front rib, but nothing showed up on the CT Scan. 

She said that this tumor was to be expected....this is what happens with

Multiple Myeloma..... Plasma Cells multiply and take over bone marrow,

eventually eating-away at the bone.  She wasn't surprised at all, and told us that this is a normal ocurrance with MM.

On a positive note, the "Markers of Myeloma Activity" were good. She was

happy about this.

His blood is a little thin, so we'll be continuing with the Coumadin, but quitting

the nightly aspirin.

She told us that Dom's original Oncologist in Slidell, LA (who referred us to

her) might be miffed that we were coming to her for follow-up visits. We told

her that if she'd have us, we wanted to stick with her. She's the "boss". She

was fine with that.

We also explained that the only reason we were going to the VA Hospital in

Biloxi was for the free medication..... that didn't faze her a bit.....she has alot of patients doing the same thing.  We reallyreally like this Doc.

So, she told us to kill an hour and report to the INFUSION ROOM for some

medication.

Hours later *pouting* they called him in for a Flu Shot, and then eventually

hooked him up to an IV and administered "AREDIA" which should stop the

growth of his tumor. This was a TWO HOUR procedure.

Nanette went out for a few smoke breaks, took a walk, and decided that this

area of New Orleans was pretty creepy. (On the other hand, it's probably a

good thing that Tulane isn't within walking distance of the French Quarter!!!)

Didn't get out of there until almost 5pm, hit rush hour, and was delighted to

get home in time for Survivor!

Supposedly, we won't have to go back to see Dr. Safah and have another

infusion of Aredia until the 13th of November. (Although, I'll bet that she'll be sending us to his

Urologist in our very near future)   This was another LONG, LONG day.

I don't understand why this entry is double-spaced-  have tried to fix this without any luck.  Sorry, my friends and family.    

Back to Biloxi- VA Hospital

We had a 10 am appointment with the VA's Oncologist assigned to Dom.  Nice, nice gal-  Dr. Rogers.  She took her time with us, which was appreciated.  (As did the other VA doctor a couple of weeks ago).

She said that his thyroid is a bit sluggish-  no big deal.

Gave him a 1000 microgram shot of B-12 and a prescription for B-12 to promote Red Blood Cell growth.  This will also prevent permanent nerve damage.

She asked that we have Dr. Safah fax her all bloodwork results in the future.

She gave us a month of Thalidomide..... that would have been $200+ .  Now we just need to call her once per month and she'll mail it to us.  Wants a follow-up appointment the end of January. By then, we should know if the Thalidomide is doing its' thing and hopefully start preparing for a stem cell transplant.

So, it was again another pleasant and productive day.

Stopped for Chinese on the way home.   Didn't get home until 4pm.  It was a full day.

Today's Vulgar and Tasteless Joke-

A guy's having sex with his wife. All of a sudden he looks over, and there in the doorway is his 8 year old son.

The kid looks horrified and runs away.

The guy says to his wife, "Well, I'd better go talk to Timmy".

He puts on his clothes, opens up Timmy's bedroom door, and there's Timmy nailing his grandmother!

The father says, "OH GOD!"

The kid says, "Not so funny when it's your mom, is it?"

A One-In-A-Million Photograph

"GOD'S SENSE OF HUMOR"


Our dear friend/cruise-buddy, Glenda, sent us this.

Things like this cause me to ponder the possibility of God.

Thanks, Glenda.... a little spirituality can't hurt.

You're a doll!

Property Improvement This Weekend

Hi Gang-

Dom hired a local guy to work on the property yesterday. He brought over a bulldozer and a tractor with a real neat cutting blade.

He spent a couple of hours ditching and leveling our driveway. We live 3/4 mile off of the road- back in the woods.


Then, the tractor guy cut around our pond. What an improvement! I've posted "BEFORE" and "AFTER" pictures to show the nice work they've done.

Can't tell you about the driveway, as I've not left the house in a few days!

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On health-related news: The VA Hospital informed Dom that his PSA level was elevated to
8.3. This is nothing new......he's had an enlarged prostate in the past, but the timing sure blows.

VA Nurse wants him to go to an emergency room sometime in the next 24 hours.

FORGET IT. That will get yet ANOTHER doctor involved, not to mention his urologist. It's getting to be overwhelming.

I'm going to leave "URGENT" messages with both Dr. Safah at Tulane Cancer Center and her nurse, Amy. I'd rather that they call the shots. Too many medical personnel are getting involved in this.

So.... once again, we're experiencing a roller coaster ride.

Hope all is well with you, our dear family and friends! Happy Sunday!