Okay --- Get Off My Back

 
Several people have made it extremely clear that I've been falling down on the job lately. That I haven't been keeping you all up to date on Robin's situation. Well, I gotta tell you that it's not as easy as when I was unemployed. I know --- excuses-excuses. No sympathy. Oh well, I tried.

I last wrote at the end of April, just before we went on our cruise, and just after getting results from Robin's blood tests saying that there was no evidence of cancer.

Our cruise was a lot of fun. Robin's parents went with us, a couple of goat farmers that we know and love, our neighbors, and lots of friends from Church (St. Luke's and St. Frances). The ship took us to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozamel. Robin's endurance was low, so we didn't get to do any wild adventures when we got off the ship. Come to think of it, about all she had energy for was shopping for jewelry. It amazes me how shopping - especially jewelry shopping, seems to energize some women, especially Robin. Robin's sight was very poor throughout the cruise, but she managed to play piano for Mass on Saturday night before we returned. That was pretty cool!

After the cruise, Robin wanted to get surgery on her left eye because it has been bleeding since September, making her blind for months. We saw the opthamologist and we opted for the use of an off-label colon cancer drug because it offered some reduced chance of complications. So Robin got this shot in her eye and was supposed to have surgery a week later. But Robin developed a had upper respiratory ailment for the next two weeks. She went to the doctor twice and her eye surgery had to be postponed twice because of it. She finally had her vitrectomy (the surgical removal of the vitreous gel from inside of the eye) to remove the blood from her eye. The doctor got lots of laser in the eye, which should keep the blood vessels from growing back (as long as she keeps the blood sugar under control). There was one complication - Robin had a blood vessel growing from the optic nerve area to the side of the eye. The doctor had to cut and remove this, causing bleeding, so he filled the eye with air to permit coagulation. About a week later, the air was gone and she was seeing better (I could tell from her complaining about my driving). She seems to finally be turning the corner now. She is able to read again, but with great difficulty. She goes back to the opthamologist on the 24th of July, and might be able to drive by then after a new prescription for her glasses. She is seeing well enough that she's started playing piano at church again for the last two weeks. The only bad side effect from all the surgery is that she will have cataracts, which are also correctable by surgery.

Robin has an upcoming Cancer test in late July (not scheduled yet). This will be another blood test and meeting with Dr. Hatch, her Radiation Oncologist. We'll try to get out a short update when we have the results.

In general, Robin's starting to feel well enough that she's not taking any shit off of ANYBODY --- even (ESPECIALLY) ME. She has been raising holy hell everywhere. One of her group members at work said "SHE'S BAaaACK!!!" She told me that the last year felt like she was in a fog, and now the fog has lifted. She sees things that she couldn't see (literally or metaphorically) before. Now she is aware of what is going on around her, and it isn't all good. God help her!!! God help us ALL!!!.

John and I are doing pretty well. John just finished a Philosophy course for summer school. He's still working at Walgreen's, although he thinks he could do better as a waiter. I think he plans to get his AA degree from San Jac, then transfer to a four year college. I am doing well at Boeing. I've been there about six months now, and I am feeling like I am contributing. I worked during the launch of STS-121 as a part of the "Day of Launch I-Load Update" (DOLILU, pronounced "Dolly-Lew") team. We were there Saturday, July 1st, Sunday, July 2nd, and on launch day, July 4th. It was the best fireworks of the day for me. The launch is quite different when you are involved at this level - much different from simulation.

Please continue to pray for us. We will continue to pray for all of you, and to pray for all afflicted with cancer.

Love from us all,
Larry, Robin, and John