Back from vacation

So, I'm 8 weeks out from the skin graft surgery, and everything seems to be getting back to normal.  I got the stomach tube out, I graduated from speech therapy, I went on vacation in the mountains.  It was so beautiful, and the pine trees smelled so good, and wind through the trees was like listening to God.  The lodge provides breakfast and a 4 course dinner every day, plus s'mores at the campfire.  I ate more last week than I've eaten in, well, 4 months.  I had the best grilled salmon I've ever had, lemon merangue(?) pie to die for, and too many other things to post. We went swimming in different mountain lakes (i.e., ice water, literally).  Well, they went swimming.  That was a little difficult to me because of my arm, but I jumped off the rock we've always jumped from, but from the 5 foot point instead of the 15 foot point.  Cody went fishing for the first time, and caught his first trout.  The chef at the lodge cooked it for us and we all had a bite.  Even picky eater Cody was very brave and told the Chef he wanted the fish for dinner, but Chef suggested he have it for an appetizer instead.  Good thinking. 

We went river rafting on the Truckee River, I went on a couple of small hikes, and we didn't meet any bears close up.  Kassy could only go for 4 days, so she came home early.  Our cell phones don't get service up there (the lodge's motto is:  no tv, no phones, no kidding), but if I put my phone facing a certain direction on one of the end tables, I could text.  The night before we left, Kassy tried to call me on my cell late that night, so I knew something was up.  She texted me she was throwing up blood, so I had to run from the cabin to the lodge to use their pay phone.  A bear frequents the lodge grounds to get food out of the trash at night, so I hightailed it.  Luckily, Ken's best friend lives a block away, so I got him out of bed to take Kassy to the ER.  They were there for 3 hours before walking out.  A nurse told Kassy she thought she got food poisoning from some sushi she ate for dinner, and that her esophagus was torn with all the vomiting.  So Kassy went to a friend's house so there would be parents around to watch out for her till we got home the next day.  And then she was fine.  Not a lot of sleep that night.  

Now, I'm back on my chemo meds (Sutent), and already have a little stomach upset, but I have stuff to counter-act it.  My blood chemical markers are higher than ever, so I'm hoping the drugs work as good this time as they did before.  I have to take a lower dose because of the weight loss.  My body wouldn't be able to take the side effects now.  I still look in my throat almost every day.  It's odd to see a light pink patch back there.  I'm just thankful there's nothing shiny.  So now my prayers are focusing on the chemo shrinking the tumors again, and that the others in my family don't show up with any more tumors.  Tarin is recovering nicely in Bakersfield, and Kassy gets her annual testing this month.  

Some vacay pics: