catching up

I am back in the proverbial saddle again!! Having suffered for two days from some funky stomach bug complete with fevers at 102, I slept off and on for 24 hours straight and arose wobbly, a little worse for wear and again grateful for a fully functioning body. Yesterday was a good day full of energy and happiness, with even a couple hours of service and housekeeping accomplished. Life is good.
After meeting with Doug's doctor on Tuesday, we have a renewed sense of purpose and direction.while having made very significant progress in healing from the lymphoma, Doug is at a sensitive stage of treatment where he must deal with the increasingly cumulative effects from the chemotherapy (weakness, fatigue, continued weight loss, suppressed immune system) while soldiering on and receiving more treatment to combat the remaining aggressive tumors that remain. It is crucial to keep hitting the tumors, especially while they still so aggressive, as they are more susceptible to treatment because of their high metabolic activity. So we need to balance the upkeep of his battered immune system while not losing ground in the battle raging to vanquish the cancer. The chem treatments have been backed off to 1 a week again for at least two weeks. We came to the end of Doug's available retirement money this week. The clinic is working with us if an effort to keep up treatment. The insurance company is paying at a 100% for the things that we can charge for, which is about 60% of the treatment costs.While the insurance is about 5 weeks behind in reimbursement, it seems that we may be able to continue treatment for the forseeable future. The stress of not having the money readily available as it has been for the past 2 months is definitely a bummer and something that can make the whole thing almost unbearable, but it is a fact of life right now and that it all there is to it. Hurling anger and fear at the situation only compounds the angst.
So I am going to get busy on my to do list for right now and make appointment for a little birthday pampering for myself. Looking forward to the day, going to do hands on raw Thanksgiving menu today at the center. Nothing I like more than playing with food. Which brings me to another cool bit of news, I have officially lost 53 pounds since beginning my trip to better health 17 months ago. I have released 20% of my starting weight, and am now at a weight that I have experienced for about 20 years. A humbling and exciting milestone for this old broad.