Friday January 12, 2007

Well Friday is here and so is the dentist appointment, oh joy! I got there a little early so I could see how screwed up the dental issurance really is!!! And oh boy it is! So they called me back, my first thought when I sat down in the space chair was Neil Armstrong...no not really!...it was, boy I wish I had a couple of Chris' martinis before I came in here!!! My opinion of dentists is not real good but this guy really did a good job for me today!!! I didn't really feel anything, not even the needle to numb me up! He changed things up a little bit and did the left side today and will do the right side and the cavity on Monday.

My jaw is sore from holding it open...it took 2 hours to get all that junk off my teeth. Note to self: don't wait so long next time! He didn't use the old pick and scrap method, it was a vibrating thing that shot water all over the damn place. It did a really good job above and below the gum line. My gums are a bit sore but the teeth are looking good. I have to be really careful when I smile...if I do a normal smile everyone thinks I've been sucking on a big cigar on the right side of my mouth cause those teeth haven't been cleaned...if I try to hide the right side teeth when I smile with my lips I look like I had a stroke...if I cover the right side with my hand I look like a blushing gesiha girl...what to do?!?!?!?!?!

All in all I liked the guy...yes I said it...I liked a dentist. He did good work and caused no pain. Oh and the big one...he didn't nag on me for not going to the dentist since 93...it may be he didn't because I have cancer but it was nice to not hear anything!!!

It seems as the week has gone on we hear more and more about people that our friends know or their family members who have had something similar or the same and are doing just fine for many years now, which is good to hear! The begining of the week we had heard that one of the NASCAR drivers, Bobby Hamilton had died. We went on the website to see what happened and it ends up he died of neck cancer at 49...bad way to start the week. The number of positive and successful stories we have heard grossly out weighs the negatives we have heard.

The weekend is here and I plan on keeping busy. It will help the time pass. I'm ready to see the oncologist and get this party started. Not sure what will be doing yet...some of it depends on the weather. It's rather chilly at 0 degrees here right now...I don't think we'll be getting in the hot tub tonight!

With half of a smile I say good night to all!

Thursday January 11, 2007

Thursday was a busy day at work, I was up and into the office at 5:45am to get things going. By the time the evening rolled around I was pretty dog gone tired! I haven't even started the RT and I am beat and falling asleep early! Lack of good sleep and just a little bit of stress in the personal and business life, hmmmm not sure why I would be tired! Hope to take a couple Advil PM Friday night...they have a little bit of a sleep aid in them and really do help to relax and get a good nights sleep.

Friday is day one of the torture chamber - get the cavity filled (sorry sis! only one!) and the right half cleaned. This should be interesting since they all have tabacoo and coffee stains on them! I guess I'll blind everyone to my right with the shinny smile this weekend. I'm sure my staff will enjoy the boss slobbering all afternoon as well. These dentists have this stuff down...torture you in the chair and then send you off slobbering so everyone else can get a good chuckle!!!

Made to El Tejada for lunch, had a lunch set up with an old friend but it didn't work so I took one of my staff with me. The parking lot was still pretty icy so even if I had taken Grandma I'm not sure if I could have gotten her in there without Jim here to help!!!

Wednesday January 10, 2007

Well I did it...first time since ?1993??? A visit to the torture chamber...the chamber of horrors...the chair from hell... ok, ok it was the dentist. Not my favorite place! Sucked it up and decided to get there early...ended up 45 minutes early! No problem, fill out the paper work and let's get it over with, right? Wrong! An hour later they finally come and get me with a sorry for the delay we had a heck of a time getting the insurance to approve the exam. At this point I'm thinking maybe the insurance company is looking out for me!

Into the space chair...they really haven't changed since the 70's!...and xrays begin. Pictures all taken and I wait for the doc. Doc shows up looks at the xrays pics and takes a look at the mouth. They send me to the private client waiting room while they work up the numbers and the doc will be right in. (is anybody else thinking used car sales????? I was!!!!) About 20 minutes later I'm thinking these guys just really don't have their poop in a group, then I hear one of the gals talking to the doc down the hallway..."the insurance company won't even give me any percentages, they say it will take a week, I ask them what I was suppose to tell the patient and they said to tell him to wait"...well....I'm thinking that at this point it is the insurance! The doc comes in and we go over the results of the exam. Apple a day keeps the doctor away...not seeing the dentist keeps the cavities away? Anyway, 1 cavity!!! wooooohoooo and a bad need for a cleaning. This I expected. I was going to take pleasure in telling them that I wouldn't let them do a root canal, but this works out for me!

So...I have some mouth wash I have to use for a couple of days then on Friday at 11:00 they will fix the cavity and deep clean the right side of the mouth. On Monday at 7:30 they will deep clean the left side of the mouth. By time my oncologist appointment in the afternoon I should have stopped slobbering on myself and have a nice bright smile ;)

A heck of a lot of work happening at the office right now, which is a good thing. To much time on my hands means to much time to think and research on the internet.

Stay tuned to more of our brave knight Sir Steven and his visit to the Torture Dungeon of Doom!

Tuesday January 9,2007

Tuesday was a busy day for me, begining of the year always is at work. I did get some good news - I got a call from Dr. Resnicks office at Rocky Mountain Cancer Center and I have an appointment for 1:20 PM on Monday the 15th! Not as soon as we would have wanted but on the positive side of things the doc has already seen my films and pathology reports so if he is not rushing me in he must not feel it is a major rush for me to be there. It is sometimes difficult to trust these guys after so many doctors over the years with Andrea, but we have to show some faith in them. For the most part they have worked hard to learn their field and do their best to provide quality care. I also have to trust in Dr Furr and Dr Dickey, both guys I do trust in their knowledge and recommendations. So...we wait for Monday. We always joked about it in the Army...hurry up and wait...well, that was not just in the service, it is life!

I got some bad news Tuesday as well. I have a dentist appointment Wednesday at 11:00 am. This one I am not looking forward to and would have enjoyed waiting! But, it has to be done, so I'll be on my way to the torture chamber. It seems that everyone I know goes in and no matter how good their teeth are and how good they take care of them these yahoo's tell them they need a root canal!!! Bring it on! If they tell me that I'll gladly be telling them NO! Since there is a possibility that I could have some teeth die due to the RT, there is no way I would begin to spend $750 (not to mention the pain) to get a root canal done...so...NO!!! It's been about 12 years or so since I've been and we've been talking about it for quite awhile now that I should go...I was looking at going at the one year anniversary of the quit date but I guess it will just be a little early.

We were both tired from a crazy day and spent some time together last night and we hit the hay around 9:00!

Monday January 8, 2007

Well Monday finally made it here, so off to the doc we went. I was getting a little nervous when we overheard them talking about not having the pathology and then that they had talked to the lab and they couldn't find it. That would have really sucked to have had to redo the biopsies! Doctor Dickey is great, he got on the phone and talked to the pathologist to get the info on the biopsies while they waited for the official fax.

So, here is the scoop:

The boys are officially Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC)

Bill is the originating site on the tongue and Earl is a lymphnode. He does feel very strongly that it is the only location, but we won't know for sure until we get the PET scan is done. We're feeling good about it also.

It appeared to him that Bill was actually growing out away from the tongue and not into the tissue.

Treatment for this is probably mostly going to be radiotherapy (RT) with maybe some chemotherapy. He said that it would be a long battle to get through this with a lot of bad days but good ones too. He feels that with my age, my support (the family), and attitude that we'll make it through this very well.

He does want me to go see the dentist. One of potential side effects of the RT is it can kill some of the teeth so he wants my teeth to be as healthy as possible before the start. Oh joy! So I have agreed to go to the torture chamber. If we can figure the insurance thing!

Heck of a time to change insurances and have blizzards so we don't have insurance cards yet!

Sunday January 7,2007

Well the weekend is almost over. I've been really edgy today...cat on a hot tin roof. I think it's because I'm ready for the fight, I know what and where the enemy is but I can't start. It's frustrating having to wait on other things and other people in the whole process. I feel like a knight who is on his steed in the arena, the opponent is at the other end of the arena on his steed with lance at the ready, I am looking around trying to find my squire as he has my lance so this joust can begin. Andrea and I have talked a lot and are ready for the fight and I will win, but damn lets get this dance started.

Have the appointment tomorrow with the ENT and hopefully we'll know more about the enemy, that way I can keep the mind busy with some research. I have found that chain mail is good to help keep me busy in this and relieve some tension. The coif is coming along very nicely...all done except the bishops mantle around the shoulders. That's it for today.