Day 243, Year 10: Farewell to the Stuarts, Then Off to Boston
Date: Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Weather: Beautiful and Sunny, Wind Back in the Evening
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA
We said farewell to the Stuarts today and then it was off to Boston for yet another doctor appointment . . . which seems to be the story of our lives these days.
The Handleys and the Stuarts woke up to a beautiful morning here in Quissett Harbor. Love that sunshine. But if all five of us were going to get a shower today, we definitely needed to fill the water tank. That means one of two things. We can either take the boat to the dock or go to the dock with water jugs in the dinghy and transport them back to Windbird. At high tide, taking Windbird to the dock is the easiest. But this morning it was definitely low, low tide, so we opted for the transport method. Garrett loves to drive the dinghy, so he transported the water jerry jugs to shore and back. Linda and I took turns sitting on the dock to hand the hose down to Garrett in the dinghy and to turn the water off and on. Mark and Mike stayed on Windbird to get the jugs in and out of the dinghy and fill the tank. Our water jerry jugs hold 6 gallons of water. A gallon of water weighs about 8.3 pounds, making each jerry jug weigh about 50 pounds. That is more than Mark and I can handle right now with Mark’s shoulder problem, so having the help in filling the tank was VERY much appreciated. Thank you, thank you to Linda, Mike, and Garrett. Mid-way through the morning Mark had to leave to go for a cancer treatment, but the rest of us finished the water chore and then went to shore to walk out to The Knob. The Knob is at the end of path leading from inner Quissett Harbor out to Buzzards Bay. On the way you pass Crescent Beach and we stopped there to ‘play.’ Then it was on to The Knob to enjoy the view. When we got back to Windbird it was time to eat lunch and take off for our treks northward. Linda, Mike, and Garrett took me to meet Mark in North Falmouth and then we parted ways. Their visit was much too short, but we certainly enjoyed the time we had together. The Stuarts were headed back to Concord, NH, where they will pick up their bikes and then start their road trip (in a car) to San Jose, California. Garrett starts work there in August and they are going to enjoy the next six weeks together as a family exploring places from here to there. Once Garrett is settled in an apartment, Mike and Linda will continue their bike tour ‘around the world.’ The next year will be spent in the western part of the US and then on down south of the border to Mexico. You can follow their trip by going to their blog site, Gone 4 a Ride, and scrolling to the bottom of the page for the latest blog:
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=Sh&doc_id=13549&v=Ih
Mark’s oncologist at Mass General, Dr. Kwak, called late last week requesting that we come to Boston this week to discuss the results of Mark’s most recent scan. We didn’t really have an appointment time until Monday and that time was late this afternoon. After saying farewell to Linda, Mike, and Garrett, we drove most of the way to Boston and then took the T in for the last 15 miles. That keeps us from driving through the worst traffic. We arrived just in time for the appointment, took a deep breath, enjoyed the view of the city from the waiting room, and then went in to talk to Dr. Kwak. After thorough review of the scans, she wanted to discuss possible changes in treatment. We discussed the options with her and with Dr. Hong, the radiation oncologist. The decision was to add one drug to the existing treatment. So now will Mark will get an infusion every two weeks that includes two hard to pronounce drugs. Irinotecan (EYE-ri-noe-TEE-can) will be added to the panatumumab (PAN-i-TOOM-ue-mab). There will be another scan the end of August and a decision will be made then as to whether or not Mark will need to have radiation therapy in September. We’re hoping Mark will be able to handle the addition without too many ill –effects. He has had an amazing tolerance to the cancer treatments to date and we hope that trend continues.
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| 150610 Day 243 Cape Cod, USA–Walk to The Knob |
