The day before yesterday, that would be Thursday, Jeri had an appointment with Dr. Litton, while we were waiting to be called into the inner sanctum a couple that looked rather familiar so Lee arose and looked at the name they had written on the paper and it was Ron and Joan Anderson that used to live on Colorado Street just north of Rod Anderson. Joan was there to see Dr. Litton; she had breast cancer a few years ago and it went into remission for five years and has now come back so she was there for more treatment. When we got into the cubical Dr. Litton was talking to Jeri and for some reason he rolled his chair around and happened to look at me and said; "whoa, what happened to your ear?" I told him and he wanted a little info and was then back to Jeri. After a fairly long conversation he suggested that Jeri be admitted to the hospital and received two units of blood and some saline, however that never started until late. They started the saline shortly after she was admitted but the blood was started very late and wasn't finished before 4:00 am.
I arose very early yesterday and fooled around until about seven-thirty. When I arrived Jeri was doing well; that is what having red blood cells in your system will do for you. Some time after noon, Bruce the PA came in and talked to Jeri and told her they were going to release her this afternoon, which caused Jeri to be happy. After an hour or more they had her ready to to home; I took the long way home because she hates being on the Freeway. Jeri had a great afternoon and I believe it was mostly because of the blood but also because of statements that her "numbers" were good.
This morning I arose early and had the water on the strip of grass and soaked it for almost two hours and then I soaked the corner; I think I am doing a really good job with the strip but do need some help on the other lawns. Jeri has done well today but it is almost time for her dose of Thelidomide, which will send her to La la Land for 12 plus hours; it is my hope that she has a good night and and a great day tomorrow. Oh, I called Dave Wewee this evening and talked to his wife for a few minutes; it was good to talk to some friends from East Canyon, she said nothing has changed from last year, which I was expecting. Stay tuned for more of the saga of the Old Warners'.

Today was the day of the removal of the dreaded left ear. I was at the office along with Lee, Maren and Jeri. Maren was there so she could take Jeri home if she needed to leave before I was through, and Lee was there so she could take me home after I was through. Before Dr. Hansen started he said he wasn't sure how much of the ear would be gone when he was through. He had all of my family come in for the the briefing and then he invited them to leave while he did the cutting. He punched my ear with a needle so he could deaden the pain and it almost killed me.:) When he got the tissue cut off that he wanted cut off he and his tech went to do their thing, which would take about an hour and a half but, as I remember it it only took about an hour and he was back saying that he didn't get all of the tumor but was really happy with the things he saw that made him to believe that it wasn't going to be as bad as he thought it might be. So he got rid of the visitors and cut off some more and then spent the next hour or so and then came back and said he was really pleased with the results but still needed more of my ear. He did this two more times and finally had all of the tumor; and then he explained that he thought this tumor was the one that a few people, in the past few years, had tried to get rid of but was not successful. He assured me that all of the tumor was now gone but that the ear would be really tender for a while, and that statement was never clarified and how long. I had some pain when I got home and the injected stuff had worked itself out of my life but a couple of Tylenol pills did the trick of making it so it was bearable. When I go to bed in a few minutes I am going to take two Tylenol 3 pills that I am hoping will take me through the night. I think my night may be a struggle to remember to not lie on my left ear, which is the one I prefer. I am glad that thing is done and hope and pray that I don't have this much trouble with on other part of my head.

Another really warm day; it set a new record today at 101 degrees in SLC, and it was just as hot in Bountiful. Jeri had her usual morning of shaking off the desire to sleep and it finally worked some time around noon; I keep telling her that she needs the sleep so she should sleep. However, she almost always has a good afternoon. Cliff and Lee, along with Chris and Katie Denton, came to see us this afternoon and Cliff went to Lowe's and bought a hand help shower head and put it on our shower; I'm sure that Jeri will really like it, she says she won't need any help now but I am not that sure. She is very diligent in taking her meds when she should and suffers through the fatigue the best she can; I'm sure she will be glad when this early phase is over and the fatigue sorta goes away. I went to Marie Callender's and bought Mike a Cheesecake for his birthday tomorrow, some body told me it is one of his favorites. Just think he will be, he will be 47 years old tomorrow; I'm sure I have socks older than that. The post date at the bottom is just over an hour later than the actual time.

Today is Lee's birthday; she probably doesn't want anyone to know that she is 58. I started the water on the lawns this morning at 7:00 and was going to turn them off at the regulated time of 10:00 but I forgot and turned them off at 11:00. I don't think the water police were out and about this morning. Jeri had her usual late morning sleep-in and arose shortly before noon and it appeared to me that she had a fairly good day, the rest of the day. Barbara Thompson called me on the phone this morning inquiring about Jeri's symptoms so we went over them again. She said that they have a friend in Cedar City that has symptoms just like Jeri's and she asked what I would do if I were the husband of her friend. I said I would put her in my car or an ambulance and get her to IHC in Murray as soon as I could get her there safely and I would take her to the Emergency Room and say "my wife is in distress and is having trouble breathing and someone needs to see her as soon as possible!" I have no idea how this turned out because Barbara has not called but if I don't hear from her tomorrow I shall call her and see what happened.

We, meaning Jeri, Lee and me went to see Dr. Litton and he said Jeri is doing really well; she takes one pill a day and he said she would have to do so for about six months, plus the steroids every Monday. They took another blood draw; I think they will do that every time she goes to see him, and she has another trip next Thursday. I was really relieved when he said Jeri was doing well, and should be doing better as the regimen goes along. That is all for now.

After Jeri woke up, about noon, she ate her lunch and then felt much better and she had a really good afternoon. I also got a call from Cindy from Dr. Litton's office and gave me a report on the results of the tests on Monday; she said I could call her any time I needed information. Jeri felt so good this afternoon that she wanted to go to Kohl's to buy some things they had on sale; she will go to great lengths to use a sale. The weather is really good and the temps are in the mid-eighties. It is really nice to have the wheelchair that Patrice rented for a month; it helps my sweetheart, and it really helps me because it helps her. This post brings me up to date on the affairs of my life.

This post is for Monday, Tuesday and some of Wednesday.
Monday was a day of expectation of the meds that will arrive on Tuesday. Jeri went to IHC for a blood draw on the order of Dr. Litton and we called his office to tell them the deed was done and they acted like they never knew of the order. When I told them it was ordered by Dr. Litton they acted like I was drafted and I never could get them to give me any information. A few minutes went by and then I got a phone call and the female on the other end asked if I remembered that I had called and I answered "of course". It was like she thought I was retarded, and nobody called and told us the results of the tests. Needles to say I was very concerned about the medical care Jeri was getting; this is just the opposite of the care we get from the Out Patient Clinic. However, we did get a call from Jessica telling us that the Thalidomide had been sent from Montana and would be here before noon tomorrow. The rest of the day was used up thinking of Dr. Litton's office and the arrival of the meds.

Tuesday the meds arrived about eleven-thirty and Jeri opened the package and found 28 capsules of Thalidomide and a statement that the cost of $4900.00, which is over $175.00 each, it is a good thing Jessica knew how to get us some help. Jeri read the directions and discovered she was to take the pills an hour and a half after she had eaten a meal and at bed time, which she did; I hope it does it's job. I do know it made Jeri sleepy and she went to sleep shortly after she retired to bed.

Wednesday morning Jeri is very groggy and is having a hard time awaking; It is ten-thirty and she is just know eating her breakfast, and she is doing some exercising as she eats. It is my prayer that this medication does it's job and it starts rather quickly. Jeri is making noises that she wants to go shopping today but we shall see how that works out as the day gets older.

Saturday was a good day but it ended on the down side of good. Jeri was doing really well all day and then we went to the Higbees' for the shrimp boil and we stayed a little too long and I one of us ate too much crab and those who know us knows who does and who doesn't like crab. When we got home we discovered there had been a mix up on who was going to use whose vehicle and vice-versa, however, we had our pickup and others didn't have theirs but it was finally worked out while we were in the house resting.
This morning; Sunday I went to church but Jeri didn't she is still recuperating from yesterday and besides I don't think she is up to sitting in church for an hour just yet. It may be different when she starts the Thalidomide in a day or two. I am anxious to get that started so she can get her strength back. Well, back to church. While we were waiting for the Sacrament Meeting to start I made a comment to Patrice that there was a bunch of Old Guys lined up on the stand ready to do what ever they were going to do. Sacrament Meeting was good, and I went home after this meeting so I could do what Jeri needed to be done; I don't like leaving her along very long at this stage of the game.

Today was a very good day for us. Wednesday as you know if you read the previous blog you know we spent a lot of hours at the doctors' offices and in one of them we were told that Jeri's potassium was elevated so they gave her some meds to take so her heart wouldn't have to work so hard. This afternoon we went to IHC in Bountiful and had a blood draw so 'they' could discover how things were going, well, we got a phone call this evening and 'they' told us the Jeri's potassium was normal so she can stop taking the medicine. Earlier in the day Jeri made a comment that she was feeling better today than the last several days, which is music to my ears, after she got the good news she talked to Patrice to see if that would make it so she felt better and the answer was YES. It was like Christmas for awhile, Jeri and I thanked the Lord for such a blessing, and then we were dancing around the Christmas tree; picture that scene in your mind, . Jessica called this morning and said the Thalidomide has been ordered and should be in Montana Tuesday morning and they well send it out 'over night' by FedEx. I hope and pray that the Thalidomide will work as well as the other did. In any case it was a great day at our place.

Monday and Tuesday were very ordinary, however, Wednesday was a very busy day for Jeri, Lee and myself. We left home about eleven-thirty and picked up Lee and then we were on our way to IHC; Jeri had an appointment at the Out Patient Clinic at 1:15 and we were on time. They did a blood draw and here INR was 2.4 which is just the way she likes it but it showed that she has too much potassium in her blood so they are giving her some meds to get that down. about 3:00 we went to the Cancer Institute to see Dr. Litton; they said it could take two hours. We had a few people Jeri had to see and then about five Dr. Litton came and he gave Jeri an exam and he is the one who ordered the meds for the potassium and gave her another prescription for the 'take 10 pills a day' and he gave her 80 pills and she is to take 10 every Monday for eight weeks, and he ordered a few months worth of Thalidomide; Jessica did some very good work on our behalf; she got us a grant form Hepaa and they will pay what Medicare won't pay for and that is worth many thousands of dollars for us. The Thalidomide will be by Monday is my guess. Dr. Litton is very optimistic this will take care of the problem with the Myeloma. While I was waiting for Jeri and Lee to finish with Dr. Litton I was talking to a woman who had a neighbor who was diagnosed with Myeloma 10 years ago and he is doing really well, which is very up lifting.

Today was a busy day for me, and for Jeri. A few days ago Jason asked me if I would give his new daughter a name and a blessing and of course it was my pleasure. Terry was to pick me up about ten and leave for Jason's about ten-thirty but he started talking to his mom and it was shortly after eleven when we left Bountiful. When we arrived at Jason's there were a lot of people there. We waited for many minutes and finally Jason tried to call the Bishop so we could do the blessing but the Bishop didn't answer so Jason went next door and the man there called the church, and that was when Jason discovered that the bishop had forgotten so he quickly arrived at Jason's; it was only a block or so that he had to travel. Shortly thereafter the ordinance took place and I was the mouth for the naming and blessing of the new babe. It has been over 40 years since I have blessed a new baby, which means Scott was the last one it did. This little girl was given the name of Adyson Joan Warner and then I gave her a blessing. Jason and Rachel seemed pleased with the events and thanked me for my service. When their first girl was born they had Rachel's grandfather to the blessing and he died 9 months later and she thought it was Jason's family's turn and she hopes I don't die in 9 months.lol We stayed and visited for a while and then all of the family from Montana, except Joe and Ryal who are building a house, came to our place to visit Grandma, who was not able to go with me. I will be at the doctor's tomorrow about 3:00 to see about my ear; I'm going to tell him that at the very least he has to save the ear lobe so I can wear the diamond stud that my grand kids are going to buy for me.:) It didn't take nearly as long to write it as it did to do it.

Thursday, August 06: Jeri had an appointment with the doctors at Out Patient Clinic this afternoon; we were with Dr. Casey Owens who made Jeri's day when he told her she didn't have to follow the renal diet, he said she could eat what she wanted and drink water when she wanted. So when we got home she started eating and drinking and it did make her feel better. While we were there they did a prick to get a drop of blood to test her INR and it showed up as 3.9, which wasn't good for Jeri so they did a blood draw and it showed at 2.6, which just the way she likes it. We moseyed back home on the back road because Jeri doesn't like the freeways, and her life was better after she had something to eat.

Friday, August 07: this morning we got a prescription from someones PA giving Jeri a new med so I went to Smiths and got it and come home at saw that it said to take 10 pills at one time for four days and of course there was 40 pills in the bottle. I called the PA and he said it was right and that she needed 40mgs and they don't make that large of a dose so she has to take 10 4mgs for four days. A short time after she had the pills she started feeling better; they are a steroid of some kind and part of her therapy, and they seem to be working.

Saturday, August 08: The same regimen today as yesterday and she is still feeling better, however, she does get tired easy and has to rest a few time during the day. I hope the trend continues. The temperatures have lowered considerable today the high temps were in the low 70s, which is just the way I like it.

Last Wednesday, July 29th, Jeri had an appointment at 8:30 am for a cat scan to see what was going on in her body. While she was on the gurney they took a sample of her kidney stuff and discovered she had a high imsign so they couldn't do the scan so they sent her to the ER for some tests to see what was going on in her body. After and hour-or-two a few doctors came to her room and informed her and all of us that were with her that the xrays showed some dark patches on her bones and then they said that was an indication of possible cancer. We, Lee and Cliff and Mike and Patrice, and myself were rather silent and then Jeri said "that sure sucks all of the air out of the room." And then the doctor said that a lot of other tests had to be made before 'they' would know what was really going on. So the next few days there were many doctors doing tests and reporting to us; that would mean me and anyone else who was there. As the days passed the message was much stronger that they thought she had Mialoma. Dr. Linten, the Oncologist said that if you have cancer this would be the best one to have because it was easy to control with chemotherapy, and that the side effects of the chemo was not as invasive as other types of chemo. After six days of sticking and pocking they were 99% sure that it is Mialoma but won't be sure until tomorrow, which is August the fifth. Jeri is really optimistic and so am I. Today Jeri got a call from the the oncologist's office saying she has an appointment in the middle of next week. While this was going on with Jeri I was making an appointment with Dr. Hansen to have some more of my left ear removed because a another basal cell carcinomas. It seems that the last week has been consumed with being concerned about cancer but this too shall pass.