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