Welcome 2012!

2010 was a traumatic year due to the work at TFTW imploding.  2011 was disastrous due to Jimmie's health issues.  So, we are really looking forward to 2012 being better.  So far it is.  Jimmie told me yesterday afternoon that 2012 was great because he had perfect church attendance!  Personally, I was even more pleased because 2012 found Jimmie back in the pulpit preaching.  He had missed preaching far too long.  It was wonderful and very inspiring last night to hear him speak on the Providence of God.

Jimmie breezed through this weekend without getting sick from the last chemo or the iron infusion.  What a relief!  The foot swelling came back and the skin rash on his arms spread a bit further, but in comparison those are minor ill effects from the cancer meds.  Still, it would be nice if we could beat those, too.

- Linda

Happy New Year!

I'm closing the year by adding new articles for Jimmie and me both under our respective tabs above.  That sounds so strange.  Jimmie has written numerous articles and tracts over the years that have been published many places, so nothing strange about that for him. I actually ran into this new one online and realized I did not have a copy of it.  But me?  I have been writing stories, journals and poems for most of my life and newsletters for the last 25 years.  I wrote things all the time while at TFTW - but my name was rarely on it for anyone to know.  So a published article for me sounds very strange . . . but I like the sound.

This morning Jimmie wrote on his Facebook wall that he plans to be saving souls from Hell in 2012, then issued a challenge for others to join him.  Sounds like a good way to spend the year to me.

- Linda

Chemo #4

It's been 6 whole weeks since Jimmie had his right kidney removed and he has made tremendous progress, so much progress that his surgeon actually released him earlier this week.  Hmmmm. . . . Does that remove the "No Housework" restriction?  Jimmie has tried to convince me that the doctor meant that one as a life-time taboo, but I don't think so.

Yesterday's chest X-ray showed that Jimmie does have some pneumonia in the bottom of his lungs.  That was a surprise.  His lungs partially collapsed during the surgery in November so he has been puffing on that breathing machine ever since, as instructed.  He has exceeded the target set by the doctor and not had any congestion or other problems so we really thought he had managed to bypass that hazard.  But apparently not.  He goes to the pulmonologist next week for follow-up.

Today's blood work was also disappointing because Jimmie's hemoglobin has dropped once more despite the iron pills he has been faithfully swallowing again for the past 2 weeks.  So today's chemo was followed by an iron infusion. 

But the good news - no mouth sores yet!

- Linda

Christmas - Part 1

Jimmie's reaction to chemo #3 was shortened again - only about 36 hours this time.  Yeah!  Unfortunately, the side effects were delayed and didn't begin until the afternoon of Christmas Eve.  Boo!   There are some who might suspect that Jimmie's intense pain might have been caused more by his attitude toward Christmas than by the chemo.  Afterall, his favorite literary character has always been Ebenezer Scrooge - right up until Scrooge starts dancing on his bed.  Of course, I would never suggest that . . .

Actually, despite Jimmie's skyrocketing pain level we had a lovely Christmas.  The weekend was quiet - a roaring fire in the fireplace, a glass of eggnog and watching one of my favorite holiday movies "White Christmas".  The real festivities won't begin until Cole comes, so Christmas is on hold here until the middle of January.  Just as well . . . I haven't even finished wrapping all of the presents yet, but please, don't tell my sister that.

I had a lovely suprise on Sunday when a sweet friend mentioned that she really liked my article in the newest Christian Woman magazine.  My copy has not arrived yet so I had no idea it was there!  Now I'm anxious for the post office to get to delivering again.

- Linda

Chemo #3

Jimmie's chemo came a day early this week since tomorrow the doctor's office will be closed for Christmas.  Is it really this weekend?!   Oh, my . . . 

We actually had questions today, but did not get much info because Jimmie's doctor had already left for the holiday and the practice partner spent most of the few minutes we had with him trying to figure out how to find Jimmie's lab results.  So, we decided to wait on the questions.  This doctor did warn us, though, that Jimmie can expect mouth sores to begin appearing within the next week.  Something lovely to look forward to.  Jimmie's regular oncologist had been checking for foot swelling - and that arrived this past Sunday night for an indefinite stay.

The chemo treatment room was packed with patients today since all of the typically Friday patients had to be bumped forward.  32 recliners each with an IV stand and a patient fighting for their life.  The lady in the chair beside Jimmie noticed that the IV line was leaking from just below the bag and naturally she reached out her hand to confirm that the line was really wet.  It was an automatic gesture, one I would have taken without a thought.  But it put the nurses into panic mode when they learned she had touched the medicine.  They cleaned her wet fingers and warned her never to do that again before they ever started to fix the leak problem.  I was impressed at how quickly they reacted and took care of everything . . . and then it hit that they were pumping this dangerous liquid into her.  A  sobering thought.

- Linda

Happy Tuesday!

I felt like celebrating today for several reasons:

• I heard a beautiful sound - Jimmie playing the guitar and singing.  It had been much too long since he had felt like picking it up, and longer still since he had enough breathe to sing along with it.  It is truly a blessing to see these signs of strength returning. 
• Chemo #2 only made Jimmie feel lousy for 2 days this time - a definite improvement over the 6 days last time.  By Monday he was bouncing back.  I hope it will get easier on him each time.
• I think I have finally dug out of the mountain of office work that piled up during the week I was at the hospital with Jimmie.  I managed to keep the student assignments current then but everything else just grew quietly.  Now if I could just catch up on housework and Christmas.

- Linda

4 Weeks Post-Op

What do you get when there are 4 Hill boys in the house?  Lots of talking and laughter, of course.  Jimmie's 3 brothers - Bob, Jarrod & Eric - drove down from Tennessee yesterday to take care of some yard repairs for us, which was wonderful.  Jimmie was supposed to just be "supervising" but when I found him up on a ladder in the garage as he searched for something - I almost had a heart attack!  I'm afraid that he and I have different definitions of "taking it easy".  On the other hand, I'm thrilled that he had enough energy and zeal to be there.

Today was his second chemo and it went smoothly again . . . after they located some meds to infuse.  (Somehow his chemo didn't get ordered but they got a rush delivery from the hospital next door.) 

His blood work continues to look good.  Now the only portion that is not yet in the normal range is his hemoglobin.  But the thing that had his doctors smiling broadly again today was the fact that Jimmie had gained some weight.  Over the course of the last year or so Jimmie has lost 95 pounds.  The first half of that was by design, but the last 50 fell off rapidly due to the cancer.  So, Jimmie's reaction to gaining a couple of pounds?  "Uh-oh, I don't want to get fat again!"

- Linda