March – Visitors in the Hospital.

Spending a lot of time in the hospital can be rather boring so having visitors is a special occassion. One day seemed like a Roseburg reunion as The Brinkleys and Glovers were there the same day it was a reason to celebrate. You can be sure we had a lot of fun visiting that afternoon. Of course it is always nice to have family stop in as well. My brother Roy and son Brettt check in on us frequently and brother Bruce brought his family by one day. We hope the hospitalization stays are behind us now but on this journey we have been advised to expect bumps in the road which means we are not out of the woods yet.

Treatments continue

After returning from Eugene we had outpatient appointments on Tuesday for a bone marrow test. On Thursday we returned to the hospital to learn the results and with blood counts low and some leukemia cells still present, it was decided to re-admit Ray to the hospital to participate in a trial drug study to seek out the remaining leukemia cells. Many tests were completed and he qualified to start the new treatment on Friday. It has less side effects than earlier chemotherapy and hopefully will bring the leukemia into remission so they can try stem cell replacement which has been very successful in keeping Ray's type of leukemia in remission. The first picture shows Ray and brother Roy enjoying the view of Portland and the Willamette River, the second picture, shows Ray's new look after losing his hair. During the week in the hospital an Ommayo Reservoir surgery was completed, As an outpatient we return for treatments 2 or 3 times a week rather than being confined to the hospital. Of course we love being at home where we can enjoy our view, watch our birds and squirrels and enjoy the comforts of home.

Last visit with Mom

Ray celebrated his birthday in the hospital and the staff did all they could to make it special, even providing a cake. Shortly after, the doctor team pumped him up with antibiotics and platelets so they could release him early so he could travel to Eugene to see his Mom who was now in Hospice care in the hospital. On Saturday, brother Roy and Suzanne arrived with a comfortable van to provide transportation to Eugene. It was wonderful to see my mom, with my three brothers as well as many family members there. Of course we all wished it was under more happy circumstances, but we did have some special moments and a moving final good-bye from Mom to her four boys. We spent the weekend at the house but it was not the same without Mom there. She slept most of Sunday and passed away Monday. and though we miss her we are so glad her suffering is over and cherish the wonderful memories she left us.

Leukemia returns

In December Ray seemed to be fighting a cold or virus, and a few trips to the doctor and some medications did not seem to solve the problem. We started to get that sinking feeling that maybe it was more serious than the flu. Of course we wanted to be healthy before Charles, Kari, Travis and Wren arrived for the Holidays. Our local doctor scheduled complete blood tests as Ray's oncologist suggested. The doctor warned us the lab might call us at home if there was a serious problem. We picked up Charles, Kari, Travis and Wren later in the day and enjoyed having them at our house but Ray was feeling pretty tired. We did not expect the 10 PM call suggesting we go immediately to the emergency room but followed the advice, informing the family where we were headed. We were surprised when Kari and Brett met us at the emergency room but were happy for their support. More tests and Ray was on his way to the Oregon Health and Science University Hospital while the others went home to rest. The emergency room said OHSU was the best place for him. More tests confirmed that darn Leukemia had returned and he was started on Chemotherapy on Dec. 24 to try and bring it into remission. Ray remained in the hospital for over a month. The beginning of the stay is mostly a blur as Ray was taking a very strong chemotherapy treatment. Family visited regularly but the grandchildren could not come to his room so had to use a cell phone and views from common areas into his room. Ray had a wonderful view of Portland’s skyline, with Mount Hood in the background, to entertain guests who came to visit. We called it the million $ view and hoped the bill would not be similar! After a couple of weeks Ray recovered enough to appreciate the view and Brett supplied binoculars and spotting scope. Christmas and New Years was spent in the hospital and Nancy did double duty visiting the hospital as well as keeping up with the family Holiday activities. During this time Ray's mother was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer which at first they thought could be slowed by mild chemotherapy to give her more time than the “weeks” originally estimated. Unfortunately the chemotherapy seemed to bring on complications which put her in the hospital where she rapidly declined and we knew the end was near. The new goal was to get out of the hospital so Ray could travel to Eugene to see his Mom.

Modesto, California

Our plan had been to have Thanksgiving in Eugene and then continue on down to California Saturday morning for a quick visit with Nancy's family. The drive was going as scheduled but as we got closer to the border we were a bit nervous as we were still seeing “chains required” signs. They had heavy snowfall on the pass the day before. The traffic slowed and people were putting on chains, which caused traffic jams galore. We hate to put on chains when the pavement and shoulders are clear and dry, so we pushed on as many others were doing. We passed right over the summit with no problems. We can only imagine how irritating it was to the people who had put them on early and didn't need them!. We continued down the valley to Modesto where we enjoyed a short but relaxing visit. Somehow we did not seem to get many pictures taken while we were there. We will share the happy cat in a bag picture and a nice picture of our niece Tara. We sure enjoyed our time there as well as adding helping hands on a few projects they were working on. We headed north on Monday and had no problems getting over the mountains and on to Eugene. We spent the night there with Mom before heading on home to Ridgefield.

Thanksgiving in Eugene

Shortly after our return from Hawaii we traveled to Eugene so we could enjoy a Thanksgiving feast with Bertha. Greg and Geri were coming from Texas to see Lance and Laura which provided an excuse for a turkey even if it was a day late. The turkey was cooked by Anne and I might add it was very tasty. The next morning with a surplus of pie we all declared it was alright to eat pie for breakfast.

Hawaii adventure – six

Since we were scheduled to fly out early the next morning we decided to spend time locally which would allow us time to pack for our early morning departure to Portland. Our first destination was to a beach not far north of Kona known as a best kept secret. We could see the palm trees in the distance but the road to the area was rather rough, across a lot of lava. The story goes that a small farm was located on the beach and a corporation bought the property intending to build a resort. Locals blocked the construction of the resort and eventually the land was donated to the state for a park. After a drive of about 2 miles over very rough terrain that probably took over half an hour, we arrived at the beautiful beach with hardly any people. It had a nice parking lot and modern toilets which really surprised us after such a slow bumpy ride to the site. We relaxed and enjoyed the area before moving on in search of some native fish ponds which we heard were well-preserved. After some misadventures we finally found the elusive ponds tucked between two resorts. The ponds were low areas along the coast that the native population had worked into a series of ponds that connected to the ocean with a gate that allowed small fish to enter but as they grew they could not get out. We were really impressed with the ingenuity and also the beauty of the area. We snapped a picture of this turtle resting on the beach not far from the fish ponds. It was a perfect afternoon and we then worked our way back to the condo where we learned there was a dance group doing a demonstration of native dances at a small shopping area. We found the area and were pleased to see not only the dances but very informative descriptions and history of the hula dance's origins and how it had been banned by the early missionaries in the islands. By then we were hungry so we ate at a local Hawaiian fast food restaurant so we could then go over to the Hyatt resort to see the manta rays feeding in the evening. They put on very bright lights that apparently attract natural foods that the manta rays feed on. We were a bit late for the biggest feeding scene but enjoyed seeing a few working along the rather rugged coastline to eat their fill. We arrived back at the condo and packed our bags for our early morning departure. A stop at Walmart which had a McDonald’s for breakfast also provided a chance to purchase some last minute souvenirs. We even decided to get a meal to go as we knew we were not going to get a meal on the plane. Back in Portland we found our way home so we could relax and recuperate from our fun week in Hawaii.