Slow and steady wins the race

Progress is measured in small increments.  So I am walking 3-4 times a day, from one long block to five blocks at a time, encouraged by family who have been  here to help me and to celebrate the holidays.

The aggravations are often the least expected.  My right  leg hurts behind my knee when it gets tired.  Solutions: put a bolster support under it when sleeping and, finally, getting a leg massage, relief that does not require a doctor visit or another pill.  I wake up at 4 a.m. sometimes.  Solution:  take a pillow downstairs and doze off sitting up on the couch for an hour or two because rest and sleep are integral to healing. 

Even if I do not institute exercise walks, always agree to go with anyone who offers to go on one.

Embrace and enjoy the distractions of family and friends especially these last two weeks with conversations about wedding plans, concerts, work, good books, and other non-medical topics.

I know I am healing and breathing and sleeping better.  I am healing up so I can go on to the next two chemo treatments in my plan once the doctors okay it.   One step at a time up the hill is realistic, even with the setbacks. As this holiday season continues I hope each of you gets as much joy out of your circle of friends and family as I do from mine.

It Don't Come Easy

The old Beatles song keeps rattling in my head this week.

Lynn's recovery is tough, but so is he. One week out of the hospital and his scars are fading and his mind is clearing. Once the shock of having two surgeries finally got through the systems starting to protest. This past week was one  of checking back in with doctors to recalibrate medications, respond to new  challenges and be reassured that the after effects would subside shortly.

Deborah got to take a 3-day break from healthcare adventures. Lynn's sister Elizabeth and our daughter Dana came down from Seattle to stay at the house. Deborah went to Austin for the VIP opening of  "The Thinkery", Austin's Children's Museum newest iteration.  The museum moved from downtown to a great location near the Children's Hospital with room for outdoor play and lots more tinkering.

It was great to wander around Central Texas, catching up with friends, walking the Town Lake Trail, seeing the Museum's terrific new building with its water play areas, cement pigs, exhibits and climbing ropes, eating as much Tex-Mex as available. Austin as always has terrific art to share - this time "Thirst Tree" caught my eye as it loomed up on Lady Bird Lake near the walking trails, to remind us all of the tree lost to the Texas droughts.






I intended to return to Portland in time to celebrate Elizabeth's birthday Friday, but planes and weather conspired, and I got home at 3:30 am Saturday morning.

Lynn is working on all the recovery elements - deep breathing, short walks, and regaining strength. He is helped by friends bearing good foods and flowers, as well as phone chats. Grandma Joyce arrives Tuesday for a week of Thanksgiving adventures and lively conversation. And then we'll return to see the doctors early December to talk about timing for next step chemo treatments.

Wishing you all a terrific Thanksgiving/Hanukah week ahead!

Back home in my own bed after 11 days...

son Jono and Deborah went to a broadway show while I stayed home Saturday evening with neighbor babysitters watching college football on mute. Then to everyone's amazement, especially mine, I slowly walked up two flights of stairs to my bed. Got up the next morning when I wanted to, with no nurses waking me, to a pancake breakfast with Jono before he took off again for China.

Recovery is one of the toughest things I have ever done. But being home makes the next trip up the hill seem more bearable.

In early December the surgeons will decide when chemo starts again. Meanwhile keep those good wishes coming.

Post Surgery once again!

All went well with the lung surgery Tuesday and Lynn is now hanging out with the nurses in ICU. The radiation and chemo had done good work on shrinking the tumor  - so well that the tissues were a bit difficult to take apart. The surgery itself was longer than expected (I got a few additional chapters reads from my sci-fi book while waiting), but the doctors were very happy with the results. The nurse reported that Lynn's been telling law school stories in ICU and is getting good drugs to stay ahead of pain. Thanks again for your kind thoughts and good wishes!

Hospital time

So Lynn and I are enjoying a quiet moment in his hospital room. Rarely quiet here! Constant interruptions. Doctors, nurses, food deliverers, pt and ot trainers.......and a string of friends who work here or live in our neighborhood and know their way around OHSU. All is going well. It's a sunny day (in a rainy season) and Lynn proudly tracks his progress on the white board in the room by adding stars to demonstrate meeting each of his goals .Goals include walking up and down the hall, sitting in a chair, taking a shower. All pretty mundane you'd think, but actually really important and cumulatively quite exhausting.

Here's a great  painting we see as we make the hall loop, past the main nursing hub.

It's a view of Portland's Union Station/local Amtrak station, with signs to "go by train" and "go by piano". There's a keyboard in the pt room, alongside the treadmills and sports equipment, so it's very fitting.

And here's Lynn (with the scar!) by the fish print he sees on his regular hall walk.

Countdown continues to Tuesday morning's lung surgery. For all of you who have forgotten your high biology factoids, the left lung has two lobes and the right lung has three. Lynn's surgery is focused on the right lung, to take out wherever the tumor invaded - likely the middle lobe and maybe part or all of the top lobe. This could add up to as much as 25% of total lung function removed. It means a new scar where the docs come through the ribs on the right side. And it means a new recovery. Likely another week in the hospital , hopefully home around Nov 18-19.

Lynn appreciates all the support and visits. So do I!

Successful bypass

As of early afternoon, Lynn's heart is way more efficient, using three bypasses thanks to some grafting and the skills of the surgeon and his team. All is well, and Lynn's resting in the Intensive Care Unit....not yet awake, but looking good. Hats off (once again) to Oregon Health Sciences University for great care and some very family-centered support during the operation. Jono and I hung out in the various comfortable (and well designed) waiting rooms inside the complex - first the Surgical Waiting Room which has a "leaderboard" that tracks patient progress from being wheeled in to being wheeled out of surgery with this fancy color system. Then the thoughtful calls from a nurse inside the Operating Room, patched right to my cell phone - letting me know where the team was in the procedure.....and finally, in the ICU, where the most able of ICU nurses gave us the rundown on all Lynn's vitals and calmly explained the recovery process ahead.

Lynn's brother-in-law Gordon sent us the bypass photo above. Marta and Gordon's daughter Adrienne sent us the photo below in a get-well a card Lynn received from her last week. We think this sums up Lynn to a t: a Tough Cookie!

Thanks for all the thoughts and calls and texts and notes.....They've meant alot!

Cleared for Takeoff

Lynn spent lots of time up and down the hill visiting clinics, doctors, labs and friends yesterday.

Lots of double takes and chuckles - since his demeanor was a bit strange (as you can see above). He'd found this headband at the Portland Saturday Market and wore it all day for Halloween - explaining in various ways how doctors had messed with his mind. He brightened up (frightened up?) people in elevators and waiting rooms all over OSHU, and now graces many other cell phones throughout Portland.

His docs were nonplussed and cleared him for his surgeries, noting how well all his blood counts and bun counts and PET scans were, and explaining how the surgeries will go. Starting Tuesday Nov 5 with heart surgery through the front, and then going back in (through a side route this time) on Nov 12th, the following Tuesday,  to take out the lung tumor, which has shrunk to 1/3 its initial size.  Seems like we're in good hands- and the doctors and their entourages have been extremely patient with us (especially me) in explaining procedures, anatomy, and recovery.


We're into distraction this weekend, before we begin the journeys. Here's Jono with his Halloween costume  (a one-eyed green monster - found in China) who entertained us last night.

Dave and Diana Phillips are here for the weekend to add to the fun distractions..And Betsy and Mel Aden will show up Sunday to keep the social whirlwind going.

So here we go,.. Next stop, hospital time!