Marching season 2011

Eldon Turkey Festival was today and the Marching Mustangs looked great in their sparkling white uniforms.
I have tried to post a video of the grandkids having a giggling fit...soo cute and contagious but it is not wanting to load.  Oh well..just got home from a "rained out" race at Wheatland.  Tuckered and heading to bed.  Night!

Family Pictures...finally got everyone together and no football gear, pajama pants etc

Thanks to Sis!

FOOTBALL FEVER

Lee is playing JV and Varsity football with the Eldon Mustangs this year.  So far, the teams have been on a rampage!  We did not go to the away game tonight, but the facebook discussion is letting us know that the boys are ahead 21 to 0 after the first quarter!  This is pretty much how all games have been this season.  The only loss for Varsity was Westran, and they were State Champions last year (but our team still gave them a solid run for their money).  The only loss for the JV team so far was North Callaway, which the boys made some mistakes and lost 3 touchdowns to flags.  They would have creamed them if they hadn't had the flags!  Lee has been playing football with all his heart since 5th grade, and even before that if you count flag football.  He has struggled with his long legs and huge feet, slowing his running pace down and now finally he has grown so many inches and is caught up.  He is a force to be reckoned with at 6ft 1inch and 175 pounds.  He is nowhere near done growing either...I just keep feeding him constantly and he can easily drink a gallon of milk in 24 hours if he is home all day.

Last night he layed down on the floor in front of me and growled about how sore he was all over.  Between practices and playing both teams, he spends at least 18 hours a week playing football.

He is a little bruised up and of course, it makes me a little nervous that he could get seriously hurt.  Can't say that it is the sport I would have chosen for him to be safe, but he LOVES it!

Monday is a game at California.  Kim plans to come with the kids and she also hopes to get some good pictures.  If something turns out good, I will post it so you can see how much he has changed in the last few months.

Everything you will ever want to know about....

About my new diagnosis of "Persistant Metastatic Thyroid Cancer".  Here it is in a nutshell.  Both scans yesterday showed no obvious tumors-YEAH.  But my labwork tells the Dr that I definitely have something growing (slowly she thinks) in a lymph node somewhere in my body-BOO.  Lymph nodes are very good at hiding and she feels this one is less than peanut size, probably hiding behind a dense bone or something!  She decided not to do a treatment because of the cummulative side effects of too much radioactive iodine and the fact that they would have no way of knowing, by looking at scans afterward, if the treatment worked or not.  In my lifetime, I can only have so much radioactive iodine and in my Drs opinion, she feels it is in my best interest to spread the treatment courses out as much as possible to give me the longest time of coverage that she can. It was relief and a little sadness at the same time...My new normal!
So Shelby and I picked ourselves up, enjoying the fact that my low iodine diet was done and went to Red Lobster to celebrate today!  Tasted so good and I was very relieved that I did not have to have a treatment right now.  The side effects are very daunting (remember the loss of taste for a couple of months?)
Shelby's brother Benny and girlfriend Erica were at the house when we got home, and the rest of the crew was still hungry, so I rested a little while and then we took the kids out for a late dinner at our neighborhood bar and grill.  The kids were really happy that they did not have to move out of the house for 3 days... 
I am restarting my thyroid medications and the plan is to watch that level even more closely over the next 6 months as it will help the Dr know if things are changing.  She plans to recheck the cancer level for sure in 6 months and redo the PET scan if the lab has changed at all at that time.
Whew!

Day went good, lab results questionable...

Mom and Dad went with me today for a small tracer dose of iodine and a quick scan at the hospital.  Made it work well for them, as they needed to pick up the older camper that they bought to replace the one that burnt a couple of weeks ago. 
I was feeling exceptionally nosey and asked the nuclear medicine students to look up my labs that were drawn on Friday (I was just curious to see how hypothyroid my levels were)  Well, I have good reasons for my tiredness, since my TSH is over 80 again, just like last year.  The disturbing thing was that the "cancer level", and I put this in quotes because it really is not a level but an indicator of thyroid cell growth. But anyway, it goes like this.  This level was checked in April and it was in the 3 range, then rechecked in late August and it had jumped to the mid 6 range.  This worried the Dr. so she ordered these scans for today and tomorrow.  My Friday level was in the upper 9's, like 9.8 or something.  A jump of more than 3 in just 4 weeks....big jump!  So I am pretty sure I will be getting another treatment of some kind.  And hopefully after tomorrows tests, I can have a plan organized by the Drs and get this crazy thyroid cancer stuff under control again. 
Sooo looking forward to another day of nothing after midnight.  I can make it without my coffee, RIGHT?  Think I might get up and have a snack at 1130 tonight  :0)
My amazing supportive family has kicked back into action, Shelby took tomorrow off to hang with me all day. He is brave since I have a sinking feeling it will be a very long day at the hospital waiting for tests, scans and Drs.  Kim is around to pitch in and hang with us also.  Mom is on home watch for the help that comes in really handy after a treatment (like getting my low iodine restricted foods that I don't feel like even getting up to get from the fridge for my hypothyroid, radioactive self.)  Dad is hanging to be available for anything.  ANYTHING!  Uncle Ron is on Savana pick up from school duty.  Aunt Carols (plural) are my calm, reassuring sounding boards.....  Lee is on Savana morning duty.  All my facebook and texting friends have been sending me "keep your chin up" and prayers all day.  Could not ask for any better support group.  AMAZING PEOPLE!

Woke up with that frantic feeling last night.

You know the feeling, like you have a ton of things that you forgot to do...and know that you don't have time to do it.  All of a sudden, I felt overwhelmed with the undone things at work and home, and then I could not sleep anymore.  So I got up and started making lists.  Middle School list (worked hard today and made some big dents in it),  Elementary School list (on my agenda for tomorrow).  Home list is on for the weekend.  Still feel a little out of control because I only had today at the Middle School...I mean this is my last day there before I am off next week for scans and possible treatment.  But I left my very capable new Health Aide with great notes and lists of her own.  I really like her, she just takes everything in stride!  By the way, the water heater and softener are doing their thing.  Shelby is not sure he likes the "flavor" of the softened water but I keep reminding him that we need to let things run a little more to flush out all the lines.  The water was off for a long time yesterday and we had the heater all stirred up. Brought some work home with me tonight and finished it up while watching a movie with the crew.  All in all, a very good day!

Dead Water Heater and Water Softener

Something has jinxed us this week...it has been full of things breaking down etc.  Shelby had a flat, needed all new tires.  Lee's brakes went out on his truck, while he was driving it.  Luckily he was able to get it slowed down without wrecking...Water heater and water softener both not working today.  So new softener and new elements in heater are happening tonight...  sigh.... and I am tired, completely tired even without the added stress of all this...but it's working out I hope.  Shelby is doggedly working on emptying the lime out of the water heater (big nasty job!)  Lee is home from football and helping a lot with the heavy stuff.  I am just trying to keep them from throwing things and breaking my stuff.  Anyone who has ever done home repairs knows that occasionally things get thrown and broken during the repair process.  Right Dad?  Hee Hee, just kidding!  Love my guys for all their work tonight!  And I will really appreciate it when I can take a hot shower in the morning.  I just heard the water turning on. This is getting exciting now!

One night done...Parent-Teen Expo went great!

I am a chair person, committee member of a group called Project Healthy Living.  It is a community coalition group that works on health related issues in the community and we try to provide support where there are gaps.... I know, very vague but really it is a great group.  Mostly it is retired health professionals but a few of us are actively working which gives the whole group a better "pulse" on the communities needs.  So last year, I was supposed to be helping with a big project called the Parent/Teen Expo....but I was sick and did not go to the meetings.  So, this year I was put in charge of the entire event (I was not at the meeting to keep them from voting me in!!!!!)  
Last night was our first event of two.  We had 12 booths set up at a local football game, kids signed up and walked through all the booths and dropped their card in for a drawing.  Gave away a new laptop.  The goal was for each booth to give a short message or make sure each kid or parent knew what their program can do for them.  For example, my asthma booth had an experiment.  Each person took a straw and I had them breath through the straw while I was talking with them.  It simulates what an asthmatic person feels as they are starting to have an asthma attack.  My message is that we, bystanders, need to offer to help someone if they say they are having trouble breathing.  Often, the reason a person dies from asthma is because they cannot get to their medication to stop the attack.  Try it sometime!