Back to Seattle...this time from Missoula...

Last week I forgot to do our Blog on Sunday night, but this time I didn't do it Sunday night on purpose. Waited until Monday night, that is. Last Wednesday, Kona and I put the truck on the Alaska Marine Highway System ferry Malaspina and headed south. About seven weeks are scheduled down here, in several states. Four of my every-other-week Avastin infusions will take place during this trip -- the first one happened this morning. And one of the reasons I didn't write the Blog entry last night is that I flew into Seattle; stayed overnight at the Inn at Virginia Mason; got up early this morning for the infusion process; finished it up mid-day; went to Neurology to get the Temodar; and headed back to the airport at 2:00 pm. Whew! Only three more of those from Montana -- and about 18 more from Ketchikan. But things are going very well; my blood tests are coming out well, and I feel better every week.

Now I'm back at my friends' house in Missoula, getting ready to start my fall hunting trip here. Kona has happily renewed her long-term relationship with Luke, their older German Wirehair, and is getting to know Maggie, their five-month-old puppie version. The next few weeks, I hope to be able to spend more time talking about hunting than chemotherapy...

That's the story so far...have a great week...

Dennis & Faith

Can forgetting be good sometimes...?

Like, for example, when you forget to do something that was a daily regimen for a long time? In my case...I forgot to write the blog last night! Wasn't feeling bad; wasn't concerned about what was or was not going on -- just simply forgot that it was time to do something that had, at one point, been a crucial, daily event. I do apologize, if you came to look for it and didn't find it. I will try to do better, though with the next many weeks of hunting trips intermingled with trips to Seattle for Avastin infusions, I can't make any promises.

Wednesday the 16th I get on the Alaska Marine Highway System ferry with Kona and my pickup truck -- headed south for a couple of months. We get out on Friday morning in Bellingham, WA, and head east for Montana, though with a short side trip in Lynnwood to pick up new glasses from Dr. Lugo's office. She has been our opthalmologist for about seven years, and was very helpful in examining my eyes, particularly the left one, after six weeks of high-powered radiation. Thankfully, both eyes are doing well, though I need some minor-level glasses so I can see better. I will arrive in Missoula, MT Friday evening; then turn around Sunday to fly back to Seattle for Avastin. Kona will be staying happily with her long-time dog and human friends in Missoula while I fly back and forth, so that system will work handily.

And then the hunting starts! Wish me well, as I wish you well in whatever activities make you feel good in the autumn...

Dennis & Faith

From three to three million...

At this time last week I was sitting in camp with two of my friends, enjoying the evening after a day of mountain goat hunting. This evening Faith and I are back in the Greater Seattle Area, which surely must have at least three million folks around here. On Monday my friend Pat shot a gloriously large billy, with horns easily placing it into Boone and Crockett records, and he and friend Jim packed it back into camp in the high elevations of the Tongass National Forest. On Monday this week Faith and I will be talking with doctors and nurses about my treatments and I'll have an infusion of Avastin, in the heart of downtown Seattle. So goes my life these days, which seems to shift between the serenity of Alaska and my "normal" life, and the continued pressure of all the treatments and information required from my current medical processes. In many ways, having this contrast and being able to return to Alaska every time is the highest source of sanity for me.

Life is going very well for me, in general. I've very happily been able to stop using Bactrin, as my blood tests show good levels of the significant sections. Oddly enough, the two chemotherapies -- Temodar and Avastin -- seem to be causing me very little discomfort. Some of the other pharmaceuticals, like Bactrin and Lamotrigine, do cause me discomfort. As I continue to improve in health, I (hopefully) will be able to cut them back or stop altogether. At least it has worked with Bactrin so far. I'm also slowly getting adapted to doing all the medical things I have to do, which is a new experience in my life.

Summer has passed into Fall, and the short-term, emphatic acts of surgery and high-level treatments have passed into the long-term effort of Avastin every other Monday and Temodar five days out of every 28, until the middle of next summer. And we are adapting, and adjusting to the inevitable changes in our lifestyles. And, as good Alaskans, being just a hair stubborn to assure that our lifestyle doesn't change too much...!

Here's hoping your entry to Fall is going well for you too...

Dennis & Faith