Establishing Routine...at least trying!

What is routine...really? It seems like lately we can never get into a routine...trips change routine...just life changes routine! Today I got up determined to get a little done...that is about all I got done was a little...or so it seemed during the day...but now that I look back at it we were pretty busy! Woody left a little after 6am for about a seven mile walk. Then later in the morning he walked to the fruit market and the pharmacy. He also made tuna salad (reason he walked to the fruit market...he wanted tuna stuffed tomatoes). After lunch he read and napped. I worked on getting things back in order after the trip and also did some cleaning. Then in the afternoon I had school on our front porch since it was such a beautiful day. Esther and I went over some of the sounds that the letters make. Joy and I read some lists of phonetic words. Abigail and Graham read out of their extra reading books. After Graham read, he and I came in to see if Goosey (Woody) needed to be awakened from his afternoon nap. But he was already awake. When I told Woody that I had read with all four, I asked him what he had been doing and he said that he guessed that he fell asleep. Graham helped me with some of my dusting AND he vacuumed the stairs. Great help!

I am blogging late tonight because Woody and I went next door to take care of five little munchkins while Nathan and Kathy went shopping for Abigail and Joy's birthdays. We had a fun and crazy time! When the fun and games ended, Abigail was a big help...she gave Joy and Esther their baths. Graham helped too by helping me get Elijah ready for bed. I put Elijah to bed and then the rest of us gathered downstairs for stories. Graham opted to look at some baseball cards and talk with Woody about them. Then the four headed upstairs for tooth brushing and prayers. Just as I tucked the last one in and said the last prayer, Nathan and Kathy came home.

So that sums up our first day home after the latest trip to NIH. Tonight's picture is of yesterday's sunrise in Virginia. Woody stopped at a rest stop so I could snap a picture of it.

Home again, home again!

Here's our tripometer after yesterday and today's travels...so multiply that by two and you will have our round trip for this time. We had an uneventful day of travel. We left at 6:45am Eastern time and arrived home about 1:30pm central time. So we traveled almost 8 hours today. We found out that it is just about pitch black at almost 7am in Salem, VA at this time of year. We had a time of very light sprinkles which produced a beautiful rainbow. Upon entering our house we heard a voice...it was Nathan. He was over at our house getting some containers...they had made us supper and were going to put it in our containers so we wouldn't have to return theirs. Nathan headed home with the containers and not long after the whole family appeared. Each of the children had helped in making our supper...well, Elijah had mainly sampled the cheese! They stayed and played for a little while. A little after they went home Woody and I went for a walk...around our block and into the next neighborhood and around one of the blocks in that neighborhood. We sat on the front porch for a little while after we got back from our walk.

We did get an email from Dr. Rosati. She said that the total shrinkage of Woody's tumors was 33%. That is going back to the scans before his treatment and comparing them to the scans he had this time. So last month they had shrunk 22% and this time an additional 11%. She said, "Great news!"

It's good to be home!

One Was Wispy!

This has been a day of beautiful clouds. A few of those clouds were wispy...which brings me to the description of one of Woody's tumors. Dr. Rosati came in and told us that Woody's tumors had shrunk some more since the last scan. Woody asked her specifically about the one that he had been able to see and feel on his sternum...which we have observed disappearing these last two months since his treatments. The only thing that we can now see/feel of this tumor is that there is still some bruising on the skin. She said that the CT scan showed that tumor to now be what she described as "wispy." She said that someone new looking at Woody's scan wouldn't pick up on the fact that it is melanoma...she only knew it due to the fact that she knew that melanoma had shown up in that spot on previous scans. She couldn't give us a percentage of shrinkage as she had had surgery last night and hadn't been able to do the measuring on the scans yet. She is supposed to tell us via email how much the tumors have now shrunk. Both doctors that we saw seemed pleased with the way the tumors have continued to shrink.

Before leaving the clinic, we were given appointments for next month. Once we had the appointments in hand, we headed downstairs to get our voucher check for travel and a night of lodging and also went to the pharmacy to get another bottle of antibiotics (he has to take these for another four months at least). Then we headed to the car. We got under way about 2:30pm Eastern time and stopped for the night in Salem, VA just as it was getting dark. I took tonight's blog picture through the windshield of the clouds over the Blue Ridge Mountains. Like I said at the start of the blog...the clouds were absolutely beautiful today...quite a "show in the sky!"

And, as Woody would say..."The good Lord willin' we'll be home tomorrow."

We Made It!

We are now at the hotel...enjoying free appetizers because our room wasn't ready (I had requested feather free). We left our VA lodgings at 7am Eastern time and arrived at NIH at 10:30am to find all patient parking gone...so we went back to the front and let them valet park the car. Woody checked in to have his lab work done at 11am. Then we sat and he did a crossword puzzle and I read a bit and dozed. When I woke up, we went to get me some lunch (Woody couldn't eat till after his CT scans). Then we went to the CT scan waiting room and did just that wait and wait. We were an hour early for his "shake" (contrast that he had to drink). He got that about an hour and fifteen minutes after we got to the waiting room. They called him back for the scan earlier than was planned...but then it was wait and wait some more...him in the back...me still in the waiting room. He was back there for 1 1/2 hours for a test that only took about five minutes when they finally got "to it." I can tell you that everything in the CT waiting room closes down at 4:30pm...if you are later you have to go back to the MRI waiting room! Woody finally resurfaced around 4:45pm. And we headed out to get our car from the valet parking and then pulled around and parked in the patient parking area (not so full at a little before 5pm). We chose to leave the car at NIH due to exorbitant parking charges at the hotel. We got out suitcases out and rolled them back into the main clinic building and headed to find out what time the next shuttle to our hotel would leave...and someone must be praying for us!!!!! The driver was right there "calling" for "Hotel North"...the exact shuttle that we needed to take us to our hotel. So we made it...arrived ahead of time for tests...got free parking...got free appetizers (which are big enough for our supper)...and now we just found out that they upgraded our room to the concierge floor (still at the NIH rate (which we will be paid back 1/2 for)...appetizers and breakfast on this floor)...prayers are definitely being answered...Woody says to keep it up!

Tomorrow we will check out...take the shuttle to NIH...see the research doctors around 1pm...and head on down the road after the doctors are finished talking with us. So I will be blogging some where between Bethesda and Tullahoma tomorrow night.

Delayed Start!

Woody got up early as usual. He woke me up when he thought that it was time to get things into the car. We got the car loaded and then we headed to church. This was a very special day for the Dorrell's. Abigail and Joy were baptized at the early church service by their daddy. Two very sweet moments to start our day. After the church service we went to Sunday School. Woody taught his class. I got out to the car first, but couldn't get in as we only have one key for this car and Woody had it. When Woody got to to the car, he couldn't get the key to unlock either of the doors. This a problem that we have from time to time...but we didn't need it today! The above picture is Nathan, Elijah, Graham, and Abigail coming to our aid. But to no avail...we tried the key in both doors and turned the key both ways in both doors...still "no go!" So Nathan decided to go back to our houses and go into our house and get the key to the trunk and then come back and let Graham go into the car through the trunk. While we were waiting for their return, both Woody and I continued to try to unlock the door. Our deacon came out and I said that maybe he could help us...Woody told him to just pray that we could get in so we could get on our way...and shortly after that the passenger door finally unlocked! Quick answer to prayer! We hopped in the car and were off. I called Nathan and Kathy and told them they could cancel their trip back to the church. So...our start was delayed about ten minutes. We will NOT be locking the car doors the rest of the trip!

We finally found a place to stay the night...a long stretch of highway without places to stay near the road. We're not sure that we will be able to find our way back to Interstate 81 from all the winding around that we did to get to where we are staying. We are in Lexington, VA (we think!). We traveled about 450 miles today. The last 100 miles in the dark...not Woody's favorite time of day to drive.

We need to be at NIH by noon for Woody's lab work. We have 200 miles to travel to get there...so barring any problems along the way we should be able to get there before noon.

So...a drive of 200 miles to NIH (Bethesda, MD) for lab work and CT scans tomorrow. I'll report in from Bethesda tomorrow night...as Woody would say..."The good Lord willing!"

Just about ALL packed!

"Things" are just about ready to be put in the car in the morning. I guess it is getting easier to pack...since we have packed so much lately. I think (I need to go back and check for sure) that this will be our 7th trip to NIH since April 27th of this year.

Woody walked to the library and then on the way home stopped at the pharmacy to pick up a couple of my prescriptions. Woody has been reading from his stacks of books and also watching some football. He finished vacuuming the family room. Graham came over for a while after lunch and he and Goosey (Woody) spent time working on a project. And, I have gotten things into the suitcase.

We will get up and head to church in the morning and then get on the road right after Sunday School. So...tomorrow night I will be blogging from some place between here and Bethesda.

Chocolate and Pink!

Three sisters in their matching chocolate and pink shoes!

We've had a busy day. Woody didn't get up quite as early as he has been...maybe he will sleep longer now that it is cooler and the fact that sometimes he doesn't go to bed quite as early as he was when he was working.

I got up fairly early...but probably not early in my husband's eyes! I got clothes into the washer and started deciding what I will pack. Woody has put some of his clothes on the guest bed in anticipation that they might hop into the suitcase. I had school with the three girls. Abigail decided that she would stay with us while the rest of her family went to check out yard sales in the area. After she finished her school work, she and I headed to the shoe store in the hopes of finding a pair of shoes to match her sisters'. And, as you can see by tonight's picture, we were successful. When the girls came over to have their shoe picture taken, they stayed for a while to play. And, Woody got some more of the 10 hours of slave labor out of Abigail! She helped him make tuna salad...she chopped the celery with a special chopper that we have. It ended up being sort of a "Tom Sawyer job," as she convinced Joy that it was fun to do...so she and Joy took turns pushing the top of the chopper down. Graham also came over for a while to finish up a project that he was making for Joy for her birthday. Elijah was over for a while too. So a busy morning and afternoon!

Woody got underway with vacuuming the family room...but it is still a work in progress. He has read quite a bit today and he also did the grocery shopping...this time concentrating on food to take on our trip. I miss getting to do that part of preparing for a trip. I can't imagine that I won't "have" to make a WalMart trip just "on principle" tomorrow!

Happy October!