Up and Down

,Some of you may not know that I was in the garment business for many years before big business and the government through the industry in the garbage can like a lot of other small industries.  At any rate, I ran into a colleague of mine back then and I asked how his business was doing whereupon he answered "up and down like a toilet seat".  That would be a good description of how things have gone for me this last week.  First the good stuff......

On Thursday (September 19th) Helen and I went down to Duke (many, many blessings for our dear friend Linda Foulsham who minded the Mercantile) for my CAT scan.  It was a long day driving back and forth to Durham but I was looking forward to finally getting a snapshot of where I stood with my disease.  

The next day, Friday, was a GREAT day.  Our good friends Mike, Sean and Aaron who comprise a fabulous band known as "The Tillers" (www.the-tillers.com) came to town to play at the Mercantile.  It was our first "pay for the band at the door" concert and we did not have a good idea how many people would show up.  During the afternoon, while frantically turning the upstairs gallery into a concert hall, I got a call from Dr. Hanks who was happy to inform me that the scan I had the day before had shown that the tumors in my liver and spleen had been significantly reduced and it appeared that the one in lung was gone.  Needless to say Helen and I as well as our Todd friends were overjoyed with the good news.  The icing on the cake was a full house for the amazing performance of The Tillers and lots of fun at the "after" party at Linda and Phil's house.

The Tillers arrive at the Mercantile 

 

Good Friend Hank Orr opens for the Tillers

The Tillers Rock the Merc

Sue, a Grandfather Mountain and photog
expert, came up for the concert and spent the night with us.  It was a go to sleep late and get up early affair as Helen and I were off to Nashville before dawn so that we would arrive in time for her nephew Bryan and Lauren's wedding.  Along the way we picked up Aunt Mary Jo in Knoxville and proceeded in an absolute deluge all the way to Nashville where the rain went away and bright blue sky arrive just in time for the wedding.

Lauren walks down the aisle with her Mom and Dad

 















The wedding was everything a bride and groom could want with beautiful weather, wonderful ceremony, two great families in a great town.  What fun it was to see all of my in-law family again.  Helen has eight brothers and sisters so the Barnes clan is a big happy group when they gather and it is a joy to count myself as one of them.

So that pretty much covers the up side of things.  The down side started on the way home on Sunday when I suffered from a nasty headache located in the back of my noggin.  It was worse whenever I coughed, stood up quickly or, god forbid, sneeze.  Monday did not see an improvement and it was actually worse so on Tuesday I headed to Urgent Care to find out what was up.  After they examined me they sent me down the road to the Hospital to have an MRI or CAT scan.  The MRI was closed for the night so I had a CAT scan that showed a 2.5 cm tumor in my brain.

That bright spot around 4 o'clock is the uninvited guest in my brain.

 During this process I was in contact with my wonderful oncologist at Duke, Dr. Hanks.  It is such a comfort not only to know that I have such a talented and dedicated caregiver but also that he is so available.  He has answered every email I have ever sent him promptly which says a lot about the man I think.  I have an already scheduled appointment with him tomorrow and will discuss where we go from here.  He mentioned in his last email that since the other tumors are responding well to the Ippy that we may focus on local therapy (whatever that means) for this one.  He ended his email saying "hang in there" and that is exactly what I am doing.

I live on a beautiful road that follows the old Virginia Creeper rail line out of Todd, thus the name Railroad Grade Road.  It follows the New River for eleven miles down to the little town of Fleetwood.  Because the road is technically a right of way and the state does not own it, the care for the road is not great so my ride from home to the Mercantile is a bumpy one.  I never thought that my trip down Melanoma lane was going to be an easy one and, like Railroad Grade Road, it has become a bit bumpy but, like my local road, I have to say that, while bumpy, it travels by some beautiful things like you my wonderful family and friends that have so supportive with their love and support.

J

Time To See What is What

Well it has been almost a month and a half since I last posted.  Rest assured that this is because I have been so busy and not because I am sick.  During that time I had my last treatment of Ippy which had to be postponed because I developed a side effect that kept me within sight and reach of the loo for a couple of weeks.  While Helen and I were disappointed that we were delayed we did have an amazing trip to Durham where we stayed at the Arrowhead Inn compliments of my very generous Sister Nancy and her husband John.  We were in the lap of luxury enjoying every comfort the Inn had to offer and truly amazing food.  You can see just how pampered we were at http://www.arrowheadinn.com .

My treatment was rescheduled for a couple of weeks later and I was able to have my fourth and last infusion of Ippy and then had to wait for about a month before imaging to give the drug a chance to do its thing.  I am now scheduled to have a CAT scan at Duke on Thursday the 19th of September.  It has been a really long time since I was diagnosed in May and I will be glad to finally know where I stand with my cancer.  As I mentioned previously I have a plan for whatever the results reveal and I really hope it is the result that ends up with a BIG party :-)  If the CAT leads me down another path then onward I will go with the help and good wishes of all of you.

So enough about cancer.  This last few weeks have been a wonderful time here in Todd with a full schedule of concerts in the park, busy times at the Mercantile and at Heart of the High Country Realty and visits from friends and family.  The Concert Series grand finale was the Doc Watson Tribute Concert which featured long time friends of Doc Watson Charles Welch with Wayne Henderson and the Kruger Brothers. Over 500 people packed into Tod for an amazing day full of sunshine and truly great music.

Remembering Doc Watson are (left to right) Jens Kruger, Wayne Henderson, Joel Landsberg, Charles Welch, and Uwe Kruger.  You will not find better acoustic musicians on any stage anywhere.
  

 Just the other day Jens went out to his mail box to find a letter from Steve Martin (yes, that Steve Martin) telling him that he had just won Steve Martin's foundation's banjo player of the year award.  Enclosed with the letter was a check for $50,000.  Now that is a great way to start the day.

The Krugers were born and raised in Switzerland.  At a young age they found an album by someone named Doc Watson which led them to pursue Appalachian music.  After struggling to find a foothold in Europe for their sound they moved to the North Carolina mountains and have come to be the premier band in this area.  You can hear them sing a song about it here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8mOfSayM3k

Helen and I were overjoyed to have Sean, Paige, Tanner and our newest grandchild Grayson Lorelei Rielly visit us in Todd.  We had a wonderful time playing with the children, eating amazing food and evenings playing cards and playing grudge matches of Catch Phrase while sipping adult beverages.

Our Grayson comes to Todd

After their mountain visit the kids were off for the beach and kindly invited us to join them in Topsail Island.  So, with the help of our dear friend Linda Foulsham who offered to look after the Mercantile, we dug our bathing suits out of the closet and headed to the beach.  We were only able to stay one night but the weather was glorious with blue skies and warm air and water.  

Three Generations on the Beach

Well I have been trying to finish this posting for two days now and time has run out because Helen and I have to get in the car and head down to the Duke Cancer for some blood work and the all important CAT scan.  Dr. Hanks said that he would call me sometime on Friday with the preliminary results and I will meet with him next week to discus a go forward plan.  Hopefully the planning will include a big celebration at the Mercantile!  Thanks again to all my friends and family for their prayers and support that have done so much to ease my mind as I dance with Miss C.

J