Surviving Three Cancers – Page 2 – Couldausedanotherday

Do You Experience Facial Pain?

The Allergists spreadsheet test on my arms revealed no allergies, so he sent me for a blood draw and another allergy test. With needle in hand and me in the draw chair, the young nurse was considering (PUN WARNING!!) her best shot .

I told her to poke where she would, but – as I pointed to the back of my right hand, I told her they usually end up here.

She politely dismissed my recommendation and began tapping the front of my left elbow, as if choosing a ripe watermelon. The thump felt right to her, so that’s where she sank the needle.

Sometimes I don’t even feel it. Sometimes it stings a little and I flinch just to keep in practice. It hurts the worst when they lift up on the syringe as they pull the needle out of my vein.

Sometimes they back the needle out just a bit and make a right or left turn as they push it back in. That’s what she was doing. She was getting only a dribble of blood, and after what seemed like an extended wait (hoping to vindicate her poor target choice for the draw) there wasn’t enough in the tube to test.

She sighed, removed the needle, apologized for not listening to me, and stuck a new needle in the top of my right hand. That test also pronounced me allergic to nothing.

So, I saw the Ear – Nose – and Throat doctor

Maybe he can discover the cause of my chronic throat clearing. I had seen him previously for a persistent cough and again for a plugged ear.

I told him I was tired of this constant growling, vocal grinding, and throat clearing. I told him it’s been going on a long time, and that I couldn’t remember when it started. He remembered I was doing that when he saw me five years ago.

When I arrived for my appointment, I hadn’t finished the clip-board questionnaire before being escorted to the exam room, so the doctor was reading the list of yes or no questions to me.

Does it ever…..? “I answered, No.” Have you ever…….? “No.” Did you ever…..? “No.” Do you ever… experience sinus or facial pain? “No…… WAIT A MINUTE! Did you just ask me if my face hurts?”

He peered slowly over the top of the clip board, and in a timid voice, as if unsure his words should be audible, he answered with that old punch line, “It’s killing me.”

We both laughed. I told him we said that all the time when I was a kid – and it was funny every time! He said me too!

He explained that he probably reads this questionnaire ten times a day, and each time he comes to this question, he’s tempted to say what we always said (but doesn’t out of concern that it might not be received in the spirit it was offered).

We enjoyed that good laugh, and he actually said, “Thank you.”

*Mt Hood (PUN WARNING STILL IN EFFECT!) looking cool*

Slipping Away

Summer is slipping away, but it has been wonderful.

*Kellen driving my old RC-10T and keeping it mostly on the track*

Both of our sons with their families visited us this summer. We made good memories and I took pictures. This is the second year my grandson, Kellen, has been driving radio control cars. At age three, he’s improved quite a bit. My two year old granddaughter, Sauvie, began her RC driving lessons during her visit this summer.

At Brandon’s request, I sold both of his old Chevrolet’s this summer. His ’62 Corvair was here for about 10 years, and his ’63 Nova for 15.

*The previous line up of collector cars in our shop*

The Corvair sold first, a father and son team bought it. The son is 14, and hopes to be driving it when he gets his license.

He tried on the driver seat and steering wheel as he scanned the dashboard and interior. Spotting the window crank on the open driver’s door, he pointed at it and asked, “What’s that?”

That sale created an empty space in the shop, but like digging a hole in wet sand; it began filling in right away. The Nova sold about a month later, and with two empty bays, it may actually take a few weeks for the shop’s gravitational pull to fill those spaces.

My brother, Loren, rode his new Street Glide to Newberg for our Dressel Family Reunion. I put red lights on the garage floor – not so much as a guide to the landing/parking area, but as a Welcome.

He brought his new electric RC Truck. We were running two lap races on my back yard dirt track Sunday morning before church; I thought I had the home field advantage, but – he beat me five races in a row!

We also got to run our cars on the indoor AstroTurf track in Salem, RC Plus. That was fun, and while there I drove for the first time, my new Losi 3.0 buggy (thanks, Jason). I have two bodies for it, and the one I like best features my granddaughter’s likeness.

When I told her dad how quick that car can get around the track, he indicated that was fitting – quick like Sauvie. He asked if it also jumps a lot. Actually, the car does jump a lot. How did he know that?

I may have taken some of my best pictures this summer. The years of pictures I have taken of my kids and the pictures I am taking of my grandkids will always be my most treasured.

Other than family, my favorite photo opportunity is an event called “I Dragged The Gut in downtown McMinnville,” or “I Dragged The Gut” for short. I love taking pictures there, and I have developed a style I might call Dream Shots (that’s easier to say than low light exposure with slow shutter blurring that makes a still picture indicate motion). Click here to see more.

Also from this year, possibly my best car show pictures, and I was very happy with these fireworks pictures (some in this album taken earlier).

I saw the heart doctor to follow up on the EKG and stress test. He found nothing serious, and suggested I improve my diet, lose weight, get into better shape, and come back later for another look.

I saw a foot doctor. I don’t know why it hurt. I waited weeks for the tendon above my heel to get better, but it got worse, so – doctor – foot doctor – x-rays – MRI – Achilles Tendinitis – special boot and physical therapy. It’s getting better.

I saw the belly doctor. My sticking out belly button was getting worse.

It seemed I was constantly holding or pushing it back in, and sometimes it didn’t want to go back in, and one time after a reluctant push, there appeared red spots near it. So – doctor – belly doctor – Ultrasound – bowel in the button – surgery (scheduled for October)!

The air boot helps if you don’t mind clunking around wearing only one extra large ski boot, and the Lumbar lower back brace support belt frees up the hand that would be pressing the (belly button) hernia.

I saw the Oncologist, three terrific months had passed since my last visit, so – visit friends with needles (who draw blood) – tests – and my favorite test results: no change. I can live with that. I remain daily thankful to God.

It took a long time to become an old man

I don’t remember crossing the line, I’m sure it was a slow accumulation of things beginning with reading glasses and hairs turning gray.

Now I am a grandfather, older and wiser; but the wisdom that comes with age seems to be discounted by occasional forgetfulness. No one really cares about what I have seen, done, or learned, because now I am old.

As a young man, I remember hearing firsthand the observations of old men, observations that sounded like complaints about the growing disrespect and lack of morality displayed by my younger generation.

I thought, come on, it’s not all that! But in my heart I suspected they could be right. Now we all know they were. Not wanting to sound like the crotchety old men I didn’t want to hear, I struggle to wait patiently for the day my son will ask for advice, advice I know he needs badly right now.

I don’t know the proper procedure (I had no dad to advise me), but I’m holding some real pearls of wisdom for him. I don’t want to offer them up unsolicited because that guidance is never welcomed.

I hope when the day comes that he does ask, I can remember these pearls of wisdom, or at least remember where I wrote them down.

The Grudge Race

I took my Radio Controlled car, a Losi Short Course Buggy, when I visited my brother at the coast. He has a Traxxas four wheel drive R/C gas truck. I love the big fat tires on it.

At the beach, I was quickly putting parking lot dirt and debris in the air with the wheels of my little car while my brother was working at getting his gas motor started. When he got it running, we had a lot of fun speeding and skidding out on the sand.

I challenged him to a straight line race from way over here to way over there. It was a clean start, neck and neck as I slowly began pulling ahead, but by the ¾ mark, he caught and passed me. I could feel it in my battery, I should have recharged between the parking lot and the beach.

I suggested a rematch, but he would savor his win for a year. When I got home, I ordered another battery, one with extra punch. Next year I would be ready….. And there would be no burning up half the pack before the race!

With my next annual visit, the grudge race was on. I had a fully charged C100 battery, and I resisted (most of) the temptation to speed up and down the sand until after my impending victory.

My brother had his truck making smoke in his garage before we headed out, and shortly it was running again at the beach. Soon we were back on our imaginary starting line and he yelled Go!

With the kindness and humility of a loving big-brother, I won’t go on about how badly I beat him. We’ll just say that it was my turn to savor the win.

*Before long, I packed some sand against a baseball bat sized piece of driftwood for a jump.*

The race was over and I still had a couple battery packs to burn up, and that wide open sand was enticing. We were Cat & Mouse chasing, drifting, fishtailing, and purely enjoying radio controlled fun.

My brother had to restart his truck several times, and ended up replacing three glow plugs that day. Finally, it would not start, so I invited him to drive my SCB while I took pictures of it flying off the jump.

He liked it enough to consider going electric. I can’t wait for the race next year!

This month I had my follow up appointment with my heart doctor’s associate. Going in, my question and reason for seeing the doctor was, “Why do I get so easily out of breath?” Does it have to do with the cancers, the treatments, or am I just getting old and out of shape?

The diagnosis and official answer: My stress test showed the possibility of a minor abnormality, but before further investigation, they suggest I lose weight, exercise more (get into better shape), and come back in three months for more tests.

I also had my three month appointment with my oncologist. She used my favorite medical term (concerning the protein they test for because it’s a real good indicator of what the cancer is doing), “undetectable.”

I can live with that.