Happy Love Day

A dozen gorgeous long-stem roses, and a lovely Mexican dinner rounded out the day for us. Aside from celebrating having found each other to share life with, it is a quiet evening. Lew is working on Income Tax files, the cat is curled up sleeping, and I'm just vegging in front of the computer. I read Gary's two blogs and thought perhaps I should tap out one too.

Lew went off to see the oncologist yesterday. Although the tumor is not cancerous, it is to be treated in much the same way as if it were. There may be surgery, radiation, chemo and physiotherapy. The oncologist explained that this tumor is hidden in a very difficult spot, wrapped into the muscle and nerve endings, so it is very difficult to determine exactly how to approach it until the results of an MRI are seen. A "fibromatosis" is a kind of tumor that must be completely removed. Although it will not metastisize, it will return again and again in the same spot if there is any of it left behind. That is why the treatment must be aggressive.

The MRI is scheduled for March 13. We don't expect there will be a fleury of activity once the results are seen, as nothing seems to move quickly in the health care system. Unless the tumor is growing very rapidly there isn't too big a panic. As it grows, it will develop pressure on the left lung so its best to get it out of there before that happens. The radiation will probably damage the lung a little bit, since the tumor is just beside it. In order to zap all the growth there is a certain amount of healthy tissue that will get burned, too.

The oncologist assured Lew that the pain he is experiencing is very likely connected to the mass, since there are many nerve bundles in the area that are being squeezed by the growth. It would be really nice to get rid of the pain, but there will likely be other forms of discomfort before the dust settle. Surgery and radiation burns, then manipulation during physio. The chemo will be a regimen of Tamoxifen which is simply a cell growth inhibitor and is generally prescribed following things like breast cancer surgery. My mother was on a regime for five years after breast removal. It gave her night sweats, so could be interesting to see which one of us is flinging covers on the floor in the middle of the night!

It has been abnormally cold all of February thus far. When it warms up a tiny bit it snows. Then it gets cold and the wind blows, so it's just darn nice to hunker down inside and roll up the thermostat.

I'm very tired of going to work every day, but the time till retirement will be upon me before I know it. I just hope the economy straightens around and the markets get back on their feet or we won't be retiring in the style which we hope to. Our retirement will be filled with picking cans and bottles for pocket money and making regular trips to the food bank if this nonsense keeps up! Of course Lew spends two or three hours a day watching "Report on Business" and trying to make intelligent guesses as to what might happen.

Otherwise everything is fine. I'm busy getting ready to play "Phyllis" in our annual church Dinner Theatre during the first week of March. Not only have I been memorizing lines, I have become the costume seamstress. Lew, as usual, is being called upon to build some of the props. That's the only time he spends any time at the Church--and the Auditorium is far enough away from the sanctuary that he isn't liable to "catch" anything. I'm not exactly a praying mantis, and I can see my involvement with the Church coming to an end as soon as I extricate myself from all the volunteer posts I've taken on. That's another one of my goals for retirement.

Better go and see what illuminating things might be on T.V. Give your spouse/kids/grandkids a hug and don't just save the "I Love You's" for Valentine's Day.

We love you today and every day,

Lew and Phyllis