Laborious Interlude

On this Labor Day...that happens to be in between Woody's 2nd & 3rd drug study cycles...Woody has stayed very busy...laboring on Labor Day! He got up early and walked about six miles. Then the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon he worked in the yard. At intervals he came in to relax, cool off, and read. I have spent most of the day either sewing or cooking.

This is what the sky looked like on our walk this evening. It was really nice out temperature-wise...rather cool. A storm was brewing as you can see by the clouds, but we walked one to one-and-a-half miles and made it back before the storm got to us. We could see heat lightning and hear thunder in the distance. I was glad to get back without the storm getting any nearer than it was. It is now raining quite hard and I can hear thunder in the distance. It took a while for the storm to get to us, as we have been home almost an hour. We needed the rain. It is good to hear it on the roof.

We head off to Vanderbilt in the morning. I'll report tomorrow evening about our latest Vanderbilt experience.

Day 28, Cycle 2...Cycle 2 COMPLETED!

We both went to Sunday School this morning. Woody taught his 6th grade boys class. This afternoon Woody watched a library DVD and read. Late afternoon/early evening we went for a two to two-and-a-half mile walk. It was rather warm. The neighborhood that we walked in today didn't have many flowers near the road...so I didn't take many pictures. We noticed something today...in the little over an hour that we walked...we hardly saw anyone out in their yards nor did we hear families/children in their backyards...for the longest time we only saw vehicles on the roads or leaving driveways...a little before getting home we did see a family--mom guiding their little girl on a bicycle with training wheels and their little boy riding his bicycle and the dad pulling a wagon...and it looked like they might be heading out for a picnic...that was the only family activity that we saw on our Labor Day Weekend Sunday walk. Now, we know that some were at church and some were at the lake, etc. But we think that a lot were probably inside in front of their TVs. Perhaps our observations are a comment on today's society?

Today brings to a close the second cycle of Woody's chemo drug study. He will start his third cycle on Tuesday. I am sure that my week will be totally messed up in my head...by not going to Vanderbilt on Monday...by Woody being home on Monday...and by us going to Vanderbilt on Tuesday...I doubt that I will know what day is which all this week!

Day 27, Cycle 2

Wow!!!!!! What an end to our evening walk...this is the view we were presented just before we rounded the corner that put our house back in view. We walked about 2 1/2 miles this evening...so you can add that to Woody's twelve-mile jaunt early this morning. Woody went to the library and ran a couple of errands for me this morning. This afternoon he worked out in the yard and also watched a DVD that he got at the library. He has also done some reading. It has been a pretty typical Saturday.

Last night I went out to take some more pictures of the moon, since last night was the night for the full moon...I did get several more...but decided to come in when I saw three raccoons run across the road just a short distance down the street from me. I decided that I didn't know what other little creatures might be running around in the dark (like skunks)!

Moon over...Tullahoma...& News!

Let's see...I guess you would like the news...Woody's Vanderbilt research nurse called just as I came in from grocery shopping this afternoon. And...the word is..."GO" for the third cycle in the chemo drug study! I did ask about the scan. She said that Dr. Sosman would go over it in detail when we come in on Tuesday, but she said that it pretty much showed no progression in the growth of the melanoma areas. Which is a good thing, as each scan prior to this one always showed that the melanoma areas had grown at least by millimeters. She told us to come in earlier than our appointment time on Tuesday...so Woody can get his lab work done...so that the results can be read...so the drugs can be ordered from the pharmacy. Looks like another long day at Vanderbilt. But going early should help get things going. He has to have lab work prior to getting the chemo drugs and then more lab work an hour after he takes the drugs. And, somewhere in there, he has to meet with Dr. Sosman and the research nurses. I was right about the clue that they had made an appointment for October...it sounds so good that we won't be going to Vanderbilt weekly...now it switches to monthly...and it sounds so good that just "maybe" this chemo drug study is helping!

The moon was absolutely phenomenal last night. I guess I stood out in front of our house in the road for about an hour last night taking pictures as the moon rose over our neighborhood. I was glad that the clouds rolled in as they made for more interesting pictures than just a circle in the sky! I hope that this collage proves clickable as these pictures need to be seen larger. The upper right is just as the moon got above the trees across the street so that I could see all of it...it looks like the tree leaves are framing it/holding it up...but it's hard to see in the small picture. The picture on the bottom left is when the moon went completely behind the clouds. I just checked and the collage is clickable and scrollable...so you can see the pictures in more detail.

Woody got up early, went to work, walked at lunch, came home, is working on the lawn, soon we will have supper, and I think that we will probably take a walk this evening after it cools down a bit...rather warm today. Woody is looking forward to the long weekend...and he will have an extra day, as he is won't be going to work on Tuesday due to the early hour of his appointment at Vanderbilt.

Day 25, Cycle 2

Woody has had pretty much a usual day...got up early, went to work, walked at lunch, got a hair cut on the way home from work, came home and relaxed, ate supper, and shortly we plan to take an evening walk together. I thought that I was going to be saying that we hadn't heard from Vanderbilt today...but a few minutes ago the phone rang...and it was Vanderbilt...but not the research nurse...instead our "friendly" automated appointment reminder/confirmation for our appointment on Tuesday. Oh, well, maybe we will hear tomorrow. I did check online to see if his scan results had been posted, but they hadn't yet. Usually the scans take at least a week for us to be able to see the results so I'm really not expecting to see them before we go to Vanderbilt on Tuesday. There is one clue at the online Vanderbilt appointments...they have added an October appointment for Woody that hadn't been made when we were there on Monday...so "maybe" that means he goes on to the next cycle...time will tell!

Day 24, Cycle 2

Woody woke up at 2am and couldn't get back to sleep. He went to work at his normal early hour, walked at lunch, came home, worked on the lawn, ate supper and now we're heading out for an evening walk.

No news yet from Vanderbilt about Woody's scan, but this was the day that the scan was supposed to be reviewed by Dr. Sosman and his research nurses. We may hear from the research nurse tomorrow.

The Highways, Bi-ways, One-ways, & Freeways of Our Life!

Here are pictures of some of the roads that we traverse when we head to Vanderbilt each week. We start out on a back road that has two-way traffic...there is even a one-way bridge pictured at the top. There are times when we get slowed down a bit by getting behind tractors and construction vehicles. We take this road till it gets us to Murfreesboro. Then we are on a four-lane divided highway till we get to the interstate. The interstate picture is of yesterday's rush-hour traffic on I-24 as we were heading home. The last leg of our trip to Nashville (or first leg on the way home) is picturesque 21st Ave which is pictured on the bottom left...a very pretty street...but also quite congested...a street that blends old and modern...college students and professionals.

I'm trying something new tonight. I found software that will let me collage my pictures. I was telling Woody on our trip yesterday that I wished that I could do that so it would be easier to share several pictures at a time...and not have them just lined up. So last night I went searching and found this free software (Picasa) that is associated with Google...it lets me get the pictures ready and then I can send them directly into the blog...so I am trying it tonight. I tested it last night and the pictures were clickable so we will see if they are tonight so you can see more detail of the highways, bi-ways, one-ways, and freeways of our life!

Today is Day 23 of Cycle 2 and as far as I can tell Woody has had a good day. He got up early as he usually does, went to work, walked at lunch, came home did a little yard work, ate supper, and then we went on about a two-mile walk (no camera this time so we could walk a little faster!) I think that he might be helping me with the dishes at the moment...if what I think I'm hearing is correct! All-in-all a very good day on this beautiful low humidity first day of September in Middle TN.