by Judy Handley | Oct 26, 2013 | Cape Cod USA, Sailing Logs Year 9 |
Day 6, Year 9: Fiddler on the Roof
Date: Saturday, October 26, 2013
Weather: Partly Sunny, Very Windy; Still Chilly with High 50’s F, Low 30’s F
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, North Falmouth, Massachusetts
We have three videos that we keep onboard Windbird—The Lord of the Rings trilogy, South Pacific, and Fiddler on the Roof. I have never given thought to why these are the chosen three, but they have been there for the past ten years. We seldom watch a video, but tonight we needed diversion, so we decided to watch our very favorite, Fiddler on the Roof. “Tradition, tradition” and “. . . but on the other hand” are the themes that stick with us after watching this classic. But Mark and I are total culture illiterates when it comes to movies. If any of you have suggestions for videos to watch during a long winter of cancer treatments, please send those titles along.
We had a mostly do nothing day, but we did go to Jonah’s soccer game this morning and Sam’s this afternoon. We took some things to storage and made a quick trip to Hyannis to Lens Crafters to get Mark’s glasses checked. After losing his glasses overboard in South Carolina last winter, he made a quick trip to Lens Crafters and had new glasses within a few hours. But they have never been really satisfactory. Occasionally he just does not see a letter or two in a word. It is bothersome, but not so much so that we have ever taken time to have it checked out. So we did that today. They put the glasses in some sort of automatic adjustment machine and we will just have to see if it helps over time. We also took time to check out a couple of retirement communities and apartment complexes. That was depressing, but at least we found out what is available here. I cannot imagine not living aboard Windbird, but if the time should come that it is just not viable for health reasons, we have decided to start checking out land-based possibilities. Tomorrow is our 39th wedding anniversary so we will spend part of the day trying to decide what to do to celebrate and the other part of the day doing it!
by Judy Handley | Oct 25, 2013 | Cape Cod USA, Sailing Logs Year 9 |
Day 5, Year 9: The Best of Bad News
Date: Friday, October 25, 2013
Weather: Still Sunny, Windy, and Chilly with High in the 50’s F, Low in the 30’s F
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, North Falmouth, Massachusetts
I just finished writing an email to our children and I have decided to copy it here as today’s log. It might be more information than you care to read through, but it summarizes all that we know about Mark’s cancer at this point. Thanks to all of you have sent emails, texts, and voice mail messages with well wishes. Both Mark and I truly appreciate your thoughtfulness. Now here’s the email sent to our children.
Dear Heather, Jed, Justin, and Jo,
I know your dad talked to Justin and to Heather, but I thought I should send this as follow-up. I’ll include a lot of this in tonight’s log and call it ‘The Best of Bad News’ because that is what we got today. News of reoccurring cancer is never good, but once that is established, you start looking for anything positive to hold on to. The best news we could hope for today was that Tuesday’s PET scan showed no additional cancer in Mark’s body other that the one growth in the abdominal cavity identified by a CT scan last week. And that is what it showed. So this is GOOD. The short story is that Mark will be on chemo for two months starting as soon as possible and then there will be another assessment, possibly surgery, and then more chemo. There is between a 30 to 50 per cent chance at best that his cancer is curable. There is a greater chance that he will be on and off chemo for the rest of his life. We are both trying to come to grips with what this means for us. But we have to wait until January to see the results of this next chemo treatment and hope that it works. So now our job is to work hard to do everything we can to keep Mark healthy while on the chemo and hope against hope that it is effective.
The long story is this. Dr. Kwak, the oncologist, believes that the growth in Mark’s abdominal cavity is a lymph node where cancer cells were not destroyed by the first round of chemo. If she is right, it could mean that those cells survived because they are very aggressive. Therefore, she wants to start Mark on a different combination of drugs for two months and then do another CT scan to see if the growth has shrunk, stayed the same, or is growing. The best case, of course, would be that it has shrunk. That would mean that the combination of drugs is working. The surgeon can then remove what is left of the growth and chemo would continue for a few months just to make sure and lingering cells would be destroyed. If this scenario plays out, then we can say the cancer has a chance of being curable. If the cancer stays the same or grows, the chances of a cure become less and there would be no surgery until a combination of drugs is found that can cause the cancer to shrink. There are only so many choices, so at some point it would become evident that the best we can hope for is keeping the cancer in check as long as possible. Mark’s cancer can only be cured through surgery but there is no reason to remove the growth until drugs are found that are effective against it as the cancer cells would just continue to grow after the surgery. In two weeks the results of the testing being done on the tumor that was removed in 2012 will be available. They are looking to see if that tumor has the K-ras mutation which is present in 80 per cent of colorectal tumors. If Mark’s tumor is in the 20 per cent that do not have it, then there is a drug called Cetuximab (Erbitux) that can be effective and that will be added to his regimen. For the first go around, Mark was given FOLFOX which is oxaliplatin + FU + leucovorin. This time he will be given FOLFIRI which is irinotecan + FU + leucovorin. The oxaliplatin was the drug that was the hard one for Mark (cold sensitivity and neuropathy as side effects), so he is a happy man knowing that he won’t have to have it this time. But the new drug, irinotecan, can cause hair loss, so we might have a bald granddad with no beard!
As I am trying to describe all of this, I just realized that I should have simplified the message by writing “if . . . then” statements. So I’ll summarize with that.
IF the up-coming chemo treatment shrinks the cancer, THEN Mark will have surgery, more chemo, and life will start over where it was at the end of his first chemo treatment and there is a chance that we could go cruising for a season or many.
BUT IF the up-coming chemo treatment is not effective, THEN there will be a continued search for a combination that might work or at least keep the chemo in check for the short-term. In this case, we are probably going nowhere and need to re-evaluate how we want to live out our lives together.
We are hopeful and ready for the battle. And we still refuse to accept that we might not be able to be back out there cruising in a year. But cancer is certainly an elusive little bugger. I feel a bit like we are chasing the Gingerbread Man.
We love all of you so much.
Ma
by Judy Handley | Oct 24, 2013 | Cape Cod USA, Sailing Logs Year 9 |
Day 4, Year 9: Headed to Boston Tomorrow
Date: Thursday, October 24, 2013
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Very Windy, and Chilly (High 53 degrees F)
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, North Falmouth, Massachusetts
Our bodies are trying to adjust to this dip in the temperature. We have had such an incredibly beautiful and warm fall, but now the daytime temps are in the low 50’s and the nighttime temps are in the 30’s. Add the strong winds to that and it feels downright chilly. Tonight is the first frost warning of the season, so today we picked all the green tomatoes in the garden. Ollie and I spent some time indoors this morning while we were waiting for the world to warm up. Ollie helped me sort through the bag of apples that we brought home when we all went apple picking. I wanted to sort out any that had rotten places. Thankfully only a couple were bad, and Ollie had a great time taking them out of the bag and into his little wagon and then back out of the wagon into the bag. Then we went outside and worked in the garden because it was the only sunny place in the backyard. He picked green tomatoes and put them in his little doll carriage and drove them around proudly. While he did that, I cleared one area of the garden and dug it up. When he saw all that lose dirt, he headed to it and literally wallowed in it like a little piglet in the mud. Thankfully there is enough sand in the soil here that it brushes off easily.
Tomorrow Mark and I head to Boston. He has a morning appointment at Mass General to have a port installed. He had one for the last round of chemo, but when it looked like things were all clear, they removed that one. After the port is installed, we will meet with his oncologist, Dr. Kwak, and get the results of Tuesday’s PET scan. We are assuming she will present us with the treatment schedule for this go around. We have no idea how long the chemo treatment will be or whether surgery will come first, last, or not at all. The chemo treatment was 6 months the first time, so we shall see.
by Judy Handley | Oct 23, 2013 | Cape Cod USA, Sailing Logs Year 9 |
Day 3, Year 9: Cool Weather Has Arrived
Date: Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Weather: Mostly Cloudy with Rain Late in the Day, Damp and Chilly
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, North Falmouth, Massachusetts
The local weather report said it was 37 degrees F when we entered here on Monday morning, but it was sunny and surely felt a great deal warmer. Tonight the temperature is supposed to go that low again, but this time I’ll believe it. I was gone all day while Mark stayed here on the boat. When I got home, he was shut inside and had two heaters going. I totally thought he was over-reacting and told him to turn the heaters off. It only took about 15 minutes for me to realize that he was not crazy. It felt incredibly cold. So I guess ‘tis the season to heat! Well, at least when the sun is not shining.
Wednesday is Heather’s day off work, but I have been going in to help her with special projects. Today we switched off taking care of Ollie and while he was napping I needed to go out to do some shopping. Heather needed to make food for the bees and that required a 25 pound bag of sugar—not available at the corner store. The tasks seem endless, but we are making progress. Tomorrow Mark and I will go in to take care of Ollie. Heather has to drive to Boston, so we’ll hold down the fort until Jed gets home from work. And in between times, we’ll work at keeping warm. The high for the next few days is supposed to be in the 50’s, so cooler weather has certainly arrived.
by Judy Handley | Oct 22, 2013 | Cape Cod USA, Sailing Logs Year 9 |
Day 2, Year 9: Mark to Boston for PET Scan
Date: Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Warm, High in the Upper 60’s F
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, North Falmouth, Massachusetts
Life is moving right along here. The weather continues to be mild and beautiful. I spent my day with Ollie. And even though most of the day was sunny, this little guy added sunshine when it was cloudy. He is a delight be with and I just hope he is having half as much fun as I am.
Mark and Heather drove to Boston today. Heather had a meeting at WGBH and Mark had a PET scan at Mass General. PET stands for positron emission tomography and is a nuclear medical imaging technique. It produces a three-dimensional image of the functional processes in the body. In Mark’s case, they are looking for any place in the body where his cancer might have metastasized. We will see the results on Friday and hope the search found nothing.
by Judy Handley | Oct 21, 2013 | Cape Cod USA, Sailing Logs Year 9 |
Day 1, Year 9: Arrival in Fiddler’s Cove Marina
Date: Monday, October 21, 2013
Weather: Absolutely Glorious Day
Latitude: 41 38.82 N
Longitude: 070 38.165 W
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, North Falmouth, Massachusetts
Welcome to the 9th year in the Voyage of Windbird. Now that we are no longer cruising around the world, each new year begins when we leave Eel Pond for our winter home. And that day was today. Windbird had a relaxed sail up Buzzard’s Bay this morning and arrived in Fiddler’s Cove right at the 10 am high tide. We had plenty of time, so we turned a few circles trying to orient the heading sensor for the auto pilot. I’m not sure we finished the job, but we got a start. And we didn’t go aground in the entrance as we did in early November of 2011. BUT we did have another little glitch. Heather came with Jonah and Oliver to catch our dock lines and ended up taking an unexpected dip in the water. Heather called when she arrived to let us know that we could come on in. But she said there was no empty slip waiting for us. We tried to call the marina on the radio, but we got no answer. By this time we had come through the narrow entrance and a young man on the dock recognized us and told us to turn circles for a few minutes as he had to go move a boat so we would have our old slip back. While we were doing this, Heather decided to go get Ollie’s stroller out of the van so she could buckle him in. It’s hard enough to keep up with a four year-old on a dock while catching lines, but an 18 month-old is impossible. She got the stroller, got Ollie in it, and took a step back . . . right into the water. Jonah told us that mommy just totally disappeared! Of course, she had on her brand new watch Jed got her for her birthday and her best leather clogs, neither of which really like salt water. But she was fine. She said the water was really warm, but she was in a bit shock at being in it rather than looking at it. Jonah didn’t panic but he was really glad when momma surfaced and got back up on the dock. It all happened so fast that Ollie really never knew what happened. If the shoes dry out and watch still works tomorrow, we’ll all be very happy. And I think all of our warnings to Jonah about wearing his life-jacket and being careful not fall off the dock will make a lot more sense to him in the future. He now knows what happens if you make just one wrong move on a dock.
Windbird and her crew are happy to be back in Fiddler’s Cove. On the website for the marina it states that the Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina is “tucked away in a well-protected cove – surrounded by sea grass, sandy shores, bayberry, and scented rosa rugosa.” It sounds idyllic and it is a really lovely spot. But the website doesn’t mention that the sea grass is bamboo grass and that it will grow right into your hypalon dinghy if you are stupid enough to leave it on the shore for the winter—a lesson we learned the hard way. And those sandy shores . . . well, they are only visible at low tide. There is bayberry and lots of beach roses as well as other roses that are still in bloom. But the greatest thing about being here is the people. Everyone that works here is just so friendly and helpful. It’s not Culebra in Puerto Rico, and it’s not going to be warm all winter, but today the sky was without a cloud and the sun warmed our souls. So we will just have to settle in and enjoy our time here. We had a great start today with Heather, Jonah, and Ollie here to greet us and then friends Jane and Bruce Woodin came for lunch. We had a wonderful visit with them and had lunch in a very warm and sunny cockpit. It felt like the middle of summer. Then after school Heather returned with all three boys. Sam was devastated that he had to go to school and couldn’t be here for the arrival of Windbird, so Heather promised to bring him out after school. Sam did a little exploring on the docks and then he and Jonah went fishing off the dock with Granddad. We had dinner aboard Windbird and then at dusk the boys went back out on the boardwalk that follows the shoreline to do a little more exploring. Jed was in Boston all day today and then had to return to a meeting in Falmouth tonight. He had the Taurus that we normally drive, so we drove Heather and the three boys home in the van and will then head back to her house early in the morning. I will spend the day with Ollie while Mark and Heather drive to Boston. Mark will have the PET scan tomorrow and Heather will work at WGBH.
So life continues to be busy here, but not so busy that we couldn’t take time out today to enjoy this glorious fall weather today. Some nights near the end of this week are forecast to be in the upper 30’s F. Ouch. But as long as the days are sunny, we are happy.
Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco called us tonight via Skype video. So we got to see them in their new island home as well as talk to them. They are all so tanned and happy. They all love the new location. The only downsides are the mosquitos and the inability to have easy access to good food. The mosquito season is ending, so that problem should go away soon. But the search for the best way to keep a constant supply of fresh, organically grown food is a challenge. I’m sure they’ll figure that out as well. In the meantime, they are all enjoying daily trips to the beach. Yesterday Ziggy and Justin went snorkeling with turtles which was quite special. Justin says four year-old Ziggy still can’t swim without his snorkel on, but with it, he is like a fish in the water. It was so wonderful to talk to them and see how happy they are in their new home.
