Home from the Sweetest Place on Earth

(such irony) I am home from the hospital (or should I say hospitals, but that is a longer story). I got home Wednesday (5/27/2009) from Hershey Medical Center with my antibiotics to ensure infection eradication. I promise to tell the longer story when I have more time and am feeling better.

My sister is coming for a visit today, Saturday. Jacob has a baseball game; our neighbor, Kyle, took him and stayed to watch (Kyle is 17 and Jacob's pseudo-sibbling. Keara had a school dance last night. Our cat, Lenny, had a grooming for the first time ever yesterday; his fur was so matted that they had to shave most of his fur down to the skin so he looks like a lion-cat. Cindy is at a church yard sale at Saint Paul's church in Catasauqua to try and sell some of our outdated stuff. She is also working 2nd-shift at Target. She has been taken to the limit in the past 2 weeks. My sincere thanks to all who have offered and helped with our recent challenges.

Recovering from yet another battle in the war against cancer, sincere thanks for your healing thoughts and especially your prayers,

Frank D.

In memory of Anna Marie

We have gotten a few calls and "letters" from loved ones worried that my blog was not updated. Time flies when you're having fun. I received my 3rd chemo infusion on Thurs., May 7th, based on a CT scan that showed enough of a favorable affect from chemo to warrant another 2 infusions then a repeat CT. I had more discomfort after this last infusion than the previous 2. The antibiotic that I was taking for a Staph. throat infection contributed to the GI discomforts. I am much more tired as well and have a low-grade fever. I will get some labwork this coming week to monitor anemia, etc..

Despite the pains of post chemo I had the pleasure of my family visiting and viewing The Music Man show on Sunday afternoon and its last weekend. It was good to see my Aunt Catherine (my mom's sister) and my sister's family (except for Sarah away at college) who always cheer us up. Cindy and I helped out in the dressing rooms but got to see the last show together as members of the audience. I wasn't well enough to help-out during scheduled break-down but we all got to go to the cast part last Friday.

We have had a lot of help in the last 2 weeks. Sincere thanks to our neighbor and friend, Dave Burker, for cutting our grass. Dave is a 4th grade teacher at our son's elementary school. Also thanks to my Mom for coming-up last week to help. She actually drove-up herself this time, which was a bit of a surprise (Tommy was not available to bring her.) I thought we all agreed that interstate travel was too challenging for Mom but apparently she's still got it.

Sad news ended this weekend. My Mom called to tell us that Anna Marie, my cousin Kenny's wife, died Friday evening. It was expected after a long battle with brain cancer but sad nonetheless leaving 2 young children behind. My Mom and Aunt Catherine will be going to the funeral services this Wed. and Thurs..

One of the things that cancer does is take a big chunk of your life and leaves you seemingly somewhere in the future before you expected to be there. For example, the other day I got a mailing from the government; "welcome to Medicare." I didn't expect to deal with Medicare until I retired 15+ plus years from now. Long-term disability leaves you with no ability to work, provides limited income, and out-of-pocket expenses without an adequate "nest-egg". I guess when you are transported to the future you can't put any money aside because you skipped those earning years. I can't even imagine how Kenny must feel. He must be weary enough having gone through the terminal illness of his wife but now the children are still young and need to be raised without Anna Marie.

Please join me in praying for the Carey family, that God will guide them through this period of grieving and help them meet the challenges of life without Anna Marie.

The Show Must Go On

A challenging last couple of days for the Drummer family. The Music Man show opened last Friday night. Saturday nights show had to go on without Jacob. He woke up with a sore throat EARLY Saturday morning and also had trouble breathing. Cindy took him to the Emergency Dept. at Sacred Heart and he was diagnosed with a recurrence of the Strep throat infection that he had already been treated for the previous week.
Fortunately he was OK otherwise and rebounded on a new antibiotic well enough to perform at the Sunday Matinee. I attended the Friday show while Cindy helped-out in the dressing room. My Mom attended the same show even though she had tickets to attend with my brother, Tommy, and my Aunt Catherine on Sunday. Cindy and I both helped-out in the dressing rooms during the matinee. We were all exhausted by Monday. Then on Monday afternoon my Oncology Nurse from St. Luke's called to notify me of a Staph infection detected by the throat culture obtained last Thursday. So I had to start an antibiotic. I also had a scheduled CT scan Monday to see if the Chemotherapy is helping "shrink" my recurrent tumors. Between the antibiotic and the contrast media my stomach is rebelling but as my nurse says "there's a med for that" (like the cell phone commercial).
But the show must go on; the kids have one last rehearsal on Wednesday evening then 2 final shows Friday and Saturday evenings at 7 pm. I hope you can make it; it's like going to Broadway without the pain of travel.
My next challenge is chemo infusion #3 this Thursday. We are hoping the CT scan will show favorable progress. Thanks to all for your healing thoughts and especially your prayers, Frank and family.