by Judy Handley | Sep 9, 2015 | Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 10 |
Day 334, Year 10: Acclimating
Date: Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Weather: Sunny, Temp in the 80’s
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA
Both Mark and I are spinning our wheels acclimating to this new living situation. And the fact that we are driving to Virginia this weekend will probably put us back at Point Zero on Monday when we return. But after a week or so, we will get used to this unique living situation. Neither of us pushed ourselves too hard today. Mark had to get up and on the trolley by 6 am to make it to his 7 am radiation treatment. Although the trolley is convenient, it takes a while to get to Mass General. So he was back at the Hope Lodge about the time I left Windbird to go to the hospital to get a mammogram and a bone density scan. Mark is feeling better, but he still slept most of the day. I went to Heather and Jed’s after leaving the hospital and did some laundry. Then in the afternoon I went to the storage unit. I spent more time sizing things up than I did actually doing anything. But the whole storage thing is just so overwhelming. I’d really like to move into a smaller unit this fall, but Mark thinks we won’t make that goal. We shall see.
I also spent a great deal of the day on the telephone discussing family matters. I found out early this morning that my Aunt Ethel’s 100th birthday will be featured by Willard Scott on the Today Show tomorrow morning sometime between 7 am and 9 am. So I contacted family members that might be able to record the feature so those of us who miss it will be able to see it later. Later in the afternoon I talked with my nephew Tommy’s wife Marilou. Marilou lost her sister this week to cancer and a rare disease called Dermatomyositis. Diane was only 55 years old and no one really expected to lose her this soon. It was the cancer that killed her and they didn’t even know she had cancer until recently. Our hearts go out to the Stout family.
Mark is still not feeling all that great, but he reports being at least 10 per cent better. He is spending most of his time in Boston sleeping. He’s hoping that is going to give him the rest needed to fight the infections—urinary tract and a split on his big toe. I’ll head back to Boston tomorrow evening and hope that Mark is enough better by Friday afternoon to make the car trip to Virginia.
by Judy Handley | Sep 8, 2015 | Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 10 |
Day 333, Year 10: Two Homes
Date: Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Weather: Sunny, Temp in the 80’s
Location: Back Home on Windbird, Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA
I guess you could say that Mark and I now have two homes—here in Quissett Harbor on Windbird and in Boston at the AstraZeneca Hope Lodge. I am back on Windbird and Mark is in Boston. For the next six weeks, we will spend part of each week separated, part together in Boston, and weekends here in Falmouth. On our first morning in Boston, it was early to rise and at Mass General before 7 am. Mark had the “dress rehearsal” for the radiation where they do a simulation to make sure they have everything aligned correctly and then he had the first radiation treatment. Afterwards he met with his radiation oncologist and then we went to sit and read in the Healing Garden. This is a beautiful, peaceful rooftop garden at Mass General that just begs you to come sit and meditate. We enjoyed the views of the Charles River and Boston, read, contemplated, and then went to an 11 am meeting with Mark’s regular oncologist. Mark explained all of the issues he is having and Dr. Kwak methodically wrote everything down. Like us, she is not sure why Mark is feeling so weak and having so much pain in his abdomen. She prescribed meds for every possibility and then suggested he start my just taking TUMS to see if that helps. If not, he will move up to the next level of meds.
I drove home this afternoon and went to see Sam, Jonah, and Ollie after their first day of school. Jonah recovered from his tummy bug and was able to go to school today. Hurray! After school all were in a jolly mood.
I spent some time visiting with Heather and then playing with the kids before returning to Windbird. Tomorrow will be a day in the storage unit. Can’t think of a more exciting activity!
by Judy Handley | Sep 7, 2015 | Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 10 |
Day 332, Year 10: To Boston
Date: Monday, September 7, 2015
Weather: Sunny, Temp in the 70’s
Location: AstraZeneca Hope Lodge, Jamaica Plain Neighborhood, Boston, MA
It was another beautiful day. The weather this summer has been spectacular and it just keeps coming. Love it. We got Mark’s things packed and headed to Heather and Jed’s to say goodbyes to the kids. When we got there we found that Jonah has a stomach virus so not sure we’ll make it for the first day of school tomorrow. Sure hope he makes a quick recovery. Heather and Mark spent some time working on Ollie’s sleeping bag for his first day of school tomorrow. The sleeping bag is reversible. I bought the material and chose a green polka dot pattern for one side and doggies for the other. Ollie insisted that the doggy pattern be on the inside of the bag so he can cuddle them at nap time and he demonstrated just how will cuddle the doggies. Too cute.
I’ll be back in Falmouth tomorrow, but Mark won’t be back for two weeks. The five weeks of radiation treatments at Mass General begin at 7 am tomorrow morning, so we needed to head to Boston today and get him checked into the AstraZeneca Hope Lodge this afternoon. Otherwise, we would have been driving to Boston at 5 am and that didn’t sound like fun at all. After checking in, we went food shopping and then back to his very comfortable suite at the Lodge. He has a bedroom, bathroom, and small living room. All food and drinks must be kept in the first floor kitchen area. There are actually four fully equipped kitchens with a huge open eating area. It is a wonderful facility and using it is free of charge. The trick is matching your treatment time to availability. Mark’s radiation oncologist arranged this for Mark a couple of months ago anticipating the need for radiation this fall. We are most thankful for his forward thinking. I will return home tomorrow and come back here on Thursday evening. On Friday we will leave Boston right after Mark’s treatment and start the drive to Roanoke, Virginia, for my Aunt Ethel’s 100th birthday party. So lots of traveling on the schedule for this week.
by Judy Handley | Sep 6, 2015 | Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 10 |
Day 331, Year 10: Happy Anniversary to Heather and Jed
Date: Sunday, September 6, 2015
Weather: Sunny, Temp in the 70’s, Another Beautiful Day
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA
Twelve years ago today, September 6, 2003, Heather and Jed were married at Spruce Point in Boothbay, Maine. We didn’t even get to see them today to convey wishes in person, but we certainly wish them a very happy anniversary. Heather told us yesterday that she and Jed went out for sushi last Tuesday when the boys were on the boat with us and they declared that their celebration. So no big fanfare today.
Mark’s urinary tract infection is better but he has been completely knocked down by this. He basically slept ALL day! He got up to eat breakfast and again to eat lunch and take the boat into the dock to get water, but otherwise, he was in bed until 5 pm. This required that do almost nothing so I wouldn’t make noise and wake him up, so I caught up on email correspondence and naming photos. It was a lazy day. But the lazy day ended with a beautiful sunset. Just as the sun was setting Rick and Weatherly, the couple who own and manage Quissett Boat Yard, came sailing in. It was a beautiful ending to the day.
by Judy Handley | Sep 5, 2015 | Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 10 |
Day 330, Year 10: A Little Trip to the ER
Date: Saturday, September 5, 2015
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Temp in the 70’s, Beautiful Day
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA
The day started out okay, but Mark just wasn’t feeling up to par. We went into town to return something to Walmart (wrong size) and to exchange parts Mark bought yesterday at West Marine (wrong size). When we arrived at Walmart we saw Sam and Jonah standing out front with other Boy Scout troop members selling popcorn. Girl Scouts sell cookies; Boy Scouts sell popcorn. It was fun to see them being so serious about raising money for the Scouts. Then we went to West Marine to get the correct size fittings for a repair Mark was going to do. When we were out sailing with the boys we discovered that a fitting on the top of one of the bronze thru-hulls installed last summer by Fiddler’s Cove Marina had rusted off completely. The thru-hull lets salt water into the boat and in this case the fitting on the thru-hull connected to a hose going to the forward head—water for flushing. But they had installed a galvanized fitting on the bronze thru-hull. Unlike metals really don’t like each other, and in only one year the galvanized fitting had rusted so badly that it fell off when Mark touched it. Mark bought a bronze replacement yesterday, but it was the wrong size. So we got the right size this morning and I took him back to Quissett. I dropped him off and then I took off for Hyannis to buy some material to make a sleeping bag for Ollie. When he returns to pre-school on Tuesday, he will be spending the full day. In the past he has always been picked up right after lunch, but this year he will stay and will nap there—thus the need for the sleeping bag. Heather really wanted to make him one out of material with little dogs on it as doggies are his most favorite thing. Since there is no place to buy material in Falmouth, I offered to drive to Hyannis to find it. I was successful, dropped off the material, and returned to Quissett to find Mark feeling very much under the weather. He had replaced the bad fitting but had then started feeling really awful. All indications were that he had a urinary tract infection that had gone from 0 to 10 in the just a couple of hours. He called Mass General with his symptoms to make sure it wasn’t something caused by the procedures done on Thursday, but they agreed that it sounded like a urinary tract infection. They recommended getting to an urgent care center as soon as possible to have a urine test, but we found no urgent care center in Falmouth open on this weekend. So we headed to the Falmouth Hospital Emergency Room. I was expecting a long wait, but he was in and out in just 30 minutes. Falmouth Hospital just opened their new ER section and Mark said that it is absolutely top of the line. And yes, he definitely has a urinary tract infection. We went to the drug store to get the antibiotic prescription filled and Mark came home and went right to bed. Just a bit ago, he got up long enough to eat a little and he is now back in bed. His temp is a couple of degrees high and he still feels just terrible. We’re sure hoping things are better by morning.
by Judy Handley | Sep 4, 2015 | Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 10 |
Day 329, Year 10: Last Day of Summer Camp 2015
Date: Friday, September 4, 2015
Weather: Partly Cloudy, 10 degree Drop in Temp, N Wind
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA
Today was the last day of ‘camp’ with the Goldpebbles for the summer of 2015. The kids still call it Camp Oma, but Granddad is with us most of the time these days, so I’m just referring to it as summer camp. It has been a fabulous summer with the most beautiful weather we could have asked for, so today we celebrated. We started the morning pretending to be archaeologists and sifted through sand looking for fossils. This was an activity that Grammy Goldstone supplied and all three boys enjoyed this. Then we took the boys to a Pirate Cove miniature golf course that is about 45 minutes north of here. It was great fun and worth the drive. When we finished the course, each boy was given a pirate hat, flag, and tattoos. This put the boys in a jolly mood and they left the place singing at the top of the lungs, “What Do You Do with a Drunken Sailor?” And they do know all of the words! We then drove back south to their favorite pizza place in North Falmouth and enjoyed pizza outside on a picnic table. After lunch we drove a couple of miles north to the mini golf place where we have played in the past. In addition to mini golf, this place has bumper boats and all three boys wanted to do this. This topped off our celebration and from there we headed home for Ollie’s nap time. The first day of school is on Tuesday, so it is now time to focus on getting ready to go back to school. And I need to switch gears and get ready for Mark’s stay at the Hope House in Boston. I will be there a couple of nights a week, but for the other nights, I’d like to fix and few things to freeze so he will have something to eat if he just doesn’t feel like cooking. And I am so far behind on posting photos and returning emails that I could spend the whole day tomorrow doing nothing but that. So it’s time to go to bed so I can get started again in the morning.
