Big Week

You would think that getting a new computer would be a great experience. However, the joy of getting a new one to replace the 11-year-old one is over-shadowed by the difficulty of moving files to the new one. I get so disgusted with trying to perform this seemingly easy task. Where are the technologists that helped me with this before I retired? No one ever told me that I would not have a support department to help me!

Everything has been a hassle for the past week, and there is still a lot to be done in getting set up and working at 100%. In this post I have a request for you and then I will close with a brief story.

This week I have three appointments at Winship Cancer Institute at Emory Medical Center in downtown Atlanta. That means that we have to tackle the traffic on Tuesday for my third infusion, on Thursday for scans and an MRI, and on Friday for an echocardiogram. There are some other tests thrown in there, but you would think that they could do the echocardiogram on the same day as the scans. We have a good advocate working with us to coordinate these appointments, but even with her assistance we will still be making three trips.

Would you please pray for family and friends who drive us to these appointment? Cheryl says that retirement for her meant no more driving in Atlanta, so we are thankful for family and friends who chauffeur us to Emory Medical Center.

I fell two times in the last two weeks. One time was onto some cardboard boxes in the garage with no injuries, and the second time was in a parking lot. I bruised my hip and skinned my elbow and my hand, but nothing major for which I am thankful. I have been using a cane and that has helped with the dizziness and lack of balance. I have been having a lot of shortness of breath, and lack of appetite, but there is some good news from the first two infusions. I have reported this and I want to keep remembering this: no more of the major pain in the left side of my face. I have been able to reduce some of the pain medication that I have been taking.

In closing I would like to share a short story. When I was a boy, my granddaddy would take me for walks in the woods. He did not talk much, but as we walked, he would tell me some family history and sometimes he would give me some advice such as how to identify the species of trees.

One time he told me that when I grew up that I should spend the most money on two things—my bed and my shoes. He was waiting for me to ask “Why?” I did as I usually did and said, “Why, Granddaddy?” He replied that for every hour of the day I would be using one or the other!

I have practiced his advice throughout my adult years.