A New Road to Travel

It has almost been a year since we last posted anything on this blog.  Where has the time gone?  What have we been doing? Well.....

We are both still working at Caliente Springs Resort and loving it as much as when we first started.  Summer of 2012 was a busy one....  Paul covered as Assistant Manager for both Sky Valley Resort and Caliente Springs Resort.  I had taken on learning a bit more about the job of Front Office Clerk and Billing Clerk.  We also did a bit of traveling.  A trip to London for a visit with Paul's family. This included his brothers and their wives,  his daughters and grandsons.  It was a wonderful visit.  A lot of time spent reminiscing, sharing stories of where life has taken us all and it gave me a chance to get to know Paul's family a little bit better.  Our trip over the pond included a small side trip to Paris.  I had wanted to experience something I had never done before and Paul is always willing to help me do that!  Monet, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, a boat ride on the River Seine, and seeing so many great sights and tasting delicious foods, made my dream of "something different" come true.

Family visits were also on the agenda for me as we helped my oldest sister celebrate the wonderful experience of turning 70!  Somehow that doesn't seem possible.  Where have the years gone?  Wasn't it only a few years back we celebrated my mom's 70th?  One thing is for sure ... Time waits for no one.

We made a few small trips: a visit to my cousin celebrating her birthday in Las Vegas, spent Thanksgiving in Arizona and had visits from my daughters.

Now our new road ... Paul's and mine.  This journey is turning in a new direction, and I want to use this blog to share that journey.  This blog will become my way of communicating news to our families and friends across the world as we travel the new road that life has laid out before us.    

Here goes ....

In November 2012, what started out as a doctor visit  for me with severe vertigo, leading to the discovery of me having Meniere's disease, has now ended up on February 1, 2013 with Paul being told he has esophageal cancer.

Funny, not the ha-ha funny, how things happen.  While we were in the doctor's office for the follow-up for me, being told that I needed to see an ENT specialist for testing,  I mentioned Paul's indigestion and not feeling well.  The fact that sometimes his food suddenly won't go down and he throws up while eating.  Doctor thought it may be GERD, gives him some medicine and says "Call me in a week" 

From there it seems everything happened so fast and yet sometimes not fast enough. During that week I was able to see the ENT, get tested and given the diagnosis of Meniere's. I was told to limit my sodium (salt) intake to less that 1000 milligrams a day, given instructions that if it becomes severe to call immediately and that the sudden hearing loss that I suffered may be permanent.  The hearing loss did not surprise me, I've been wearing hearing aids for years so being hard of hearing was not something new, but the thought of being deaf frightened me. Do you have any idea how much sodium is in a bowl of cereal?  Too much!   We have changed our eating to freshly prepared meals and try not to eat out if we can help it. I have medication as a stand by for the vertigo and a follow up to be retested in April.

My answers came quickly, Paul's would take a bit more time. 

12/06/12 Follow up.  Medicine given not helping and he was given a referral to see a gastroenterologist. 

12/13/12 Gastroenterology doctor appointment and consultation done.  Endoscopy ordered.

12/28/12  Paul had an endoscopy.  Doctor reported to me "Some blockage, hard to push through, dilated the throat, should be fine now"  Given different medications to help with the problem.

01/08/13 Follow up with Gastroenterology doctor.  Vomiting continues, now feeling that something is stuck in the middle of the chest.  Doctor ordered Barium swallow X-ray videogram to get a better picture of what is going on.

01/11/13 Barium swallow done.  Radiologist jokingly says "Did you swallow lye?"

01/15/13 Follow up with Gastroenterology doctor.  Possible cancer mentioned and he ordered a CT with contrast.

01/15/13 Blood work and CT done.  (Yep, we were lucky, no wait on this one)

01/21/13 Follow up with Gastroenterology doctor.  Blockage is 2-3 cm.  in the middle of the esophagus.  He ordered another endoscopy.

01/23/13 Endoscopy with biopsies taken.  I complained about Paul losing weight and please recommend protein shakes as Paul thinks I'm overly worried for nothing.  17 pounds lost in 2 months which, in my book is a lot for a guy who stands 5'10 and weighed 165 pounds.

02/01/13 Follow up with Gastroenterology doctor.  Pathologist report: Squamous cell carcinoma. CT report: lymph nodes do not look enlarged.  Referred to an Oncologist.

02/11/13 Oncologist ordered a PET scan to be done on 02/15/12, and blood work. Suggest surgery in Los 
Angeles at the University of Southern California (USC) or at Mayo Clinic in Arizona.  There is no doctor in the Palm Springs area who can perform this type of surgery.  

02/19/13 Oncologist office called with PET scan report.  Looks like the cancer is only located in the esophagus lining.  Not outside, not inside.  

We have an appointment with the surgeon at USC for 02/28/13.

I have an appointment on 03/01/13 for a follow-up with my Primary Care Physician (PCP).  I still suffer from vertigo, but have managed to keep it from becoming unbearable by keeping my sodium intake low and knowing when to slow down. I have to sometimes remind myself to move slowly when bending down or turning my head.  I find rapid movements tend to make me feel like I'm in a fishbowl.  Through all this my main concern is Paul and beating this cancer.  

To all our family and friends, I'm doing this is to make it much easier for me to share news.  The 10 to 20  individual communications becomes very draining and tire me out to the point of total exhaustion and that has only been to immediate family members. Please bear with me and soon this blog will once again become a place to share in our travels.  I'm looking at all this as a small detour before we get back on the Interstate highway again :)

Thank you for stopping by.

Jo

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be!