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

Hunting Goats on the Mountain

Greetings from Alaska where I am reporting that Dennis and hunting buddies flew in to a lake above Ketchikan and are hunting mountain goats. The weather cleared just enough for the plane to get in and I have to assume the next two days of nice weather has allowed the men to get their animals and get out. How do you like the hunting mohawk?

Dennis got some work in for The Nature Conservancy in this week! We traveled by interisland ferry to Prince of Wales Island only to have a rough crossing coming home on Friday. Even Kona was seasick!

The week was a topsy turvy one for us, beginning with great news that his MRI on Monday was even clearer than the one three weeks before and that the area of the surgery was healing nicely. He has a tiny leak of cerebro-spinal fluid into his left eye socket and the sinuses in front of and behind his ear, where there is still some swelling. The doctor says this will clear up in a few weeks; he is due to see his eye surgeon next Tuesday as his eyesight in the left eye is not as good as it used to be.

The month "off" from his oral chemotherapy is now over and he is finishing up his five days of temodar for the month. So far he tolerates it well, sleeps hard on the nights he takes the drug, and appears to have minimal side effects. He will do this every month until July. The drug is a lot stronger than the doses he was taking for the months on radiation.

We received notification that Dennis cannot have his avastin/placebo infusions anywhere but Seattle through the remainder of the clinical trial. This was upsetting as he is trying to live his life and heal by being home. He is now deciding what he will do; movement in and out of Alaska is problematic in winter due to low fog ceilings and visability, so everyone pray for a mild winter.

I want to personally thank all those that were working to allow Dennis to have his infusions at home in Alaska, you know who you are. We love you all and I hope to be posting goat pictures soon. Best from Dennis and Faith

Back to Seattle...

Tonight we're back to Seattle, with my fourth every-other-Monday Avastin injection scheduled for tomorrow. Only 22 to go after it...! I also have an MRI scheduled first thing in the morning, meetings with a couple of doctors, and of course the standard blood and urine tests. All things being equal, we should know more about what is happening and how things are going for me when we fly home tomorrow evening.

This past week has been good, with several common, standard acts feeling very good, for exactly that reason. I remounted the topper on my pickup, as I've done every fall for several years, then took half a dozen rifles to the range to test them before hunting trips. Five out of the six are doing very well and are ready to go. The other one is not, and will have to wait until next year before it gets repaired/readjusted/restocked or whatever it will take to make it work well enough to suit me. I also went fishing again on Saturday, and added more vacuum-sealed salmon packages to the freezer. What a grand feeling that has been! And Saturday night we had dinner with a friend from Montana and his son and daughter-in-law, who live and work here.

We return home Monday night, and Tuesday afternoon we head to Prince of Wales Island -- work for both of us. Faith is doing several activities related to her Forest Service position, and I am back to work on my contract with The Nature Conservancy. And we'll be staying at a couple of different friends' homes, near Craig and in Thorne Bay, which will also be great fun. And, because we're taking my truck, Kona the Wonder Dog gets to go with us! We come back first thing Friday morning on the ferry, just in time to start another weekend.

Well...that's our story. More to come next Sunday...

Dennis & Faith

Home again, and a great weekend here

Our last blog told you about my good visit with my high school classmates of 40 years ago, and our joyous surprise party for my Mom's 85th birthday. This week she called me to thank us again, and asked me to put up her post-birthday statement. So here you go:

"To all my tricky relatives and friends:

Now that I’ve got my breath back, I would like to give my utmost thanks. I was truly surprised. It was great to see all of you, but I’m still waiting to go to the restaurant!"

Betty Neill

It was a grand party, and her note really tops it off for us.

Two days day after the party, we flew to Seattle and stayed overnight for my third Avastin treatment. I also had a couple of pretty thorough interviews with doctors at Virginia Mason on Monday, and am waiting to read copies of their reports. We flew home that evening, and were once again overjoyed to be there with Kona and the cats Maxie and Minnie.

The rest of the week went pretty well, though the weather was pretty typical southeast Alaska events. That is...lots of rain. Saturday and Sunday were nice, though, and I got to go fishing with my friend Dave. We headed out of Knudsen Cove about 7:00 am, right at high tide, and dropped herring just outside the bay, and almost immediately began catching big cohos. I caught two, and Dave caught four during the course of the morning, and happily returned to the dock with half a limit of gorgeous, big salmon. I can't begin to tell you how much fun a simple fishing trip was, after my summer, and how great it is to have fresh fish again! Then today Faith and I went a mile down the road with Kona and spent a couple of hours picking red huckleberries for her jam projects.

It is so good to be able to return to our normal life style. I will continue treatments for another 11 months, and then tests will determine what needs still exist and I will determine which way to go...but for now, life is returning to "normal", and I am feeling and doing much better every week.

We hope life is going well for each of you, and thank you again for your help, support, conversations, comments and care.

Dennis & Faith

HOME at Last...

As things go it was the happiest day of my life to bring Dennis home to Alaska a week ago yesterday. The weather was cool and rainy and wonderful when our friend Lee picked us up at the airport. Leaping out of the car I unlocked the front door to find Kona dog asleep on her dogbed in the kitchen. When she realized Dennis was at the door calling her she wiggled at both ends at once and it was just so heartwarming to see them together. When the cats came out they both couldn't believe we were home, and curled around us asking to be picked up and hugged. It was a glorious homecoming, like no other.

As healing goes, coming home has meant better sleep, darkness, and more appetite for Dennis. Over the next three days we received and unpacked four boxes sent from Seattle, went on numerous dog walks (Dennis), picked huckleberries and salal (Faith) and began to settle into our Alaskan daily routine.

By Thursday we were off again, this time on planes bound for Missouri, and Dennis' 40th high school reunion-and a surprise 85th birthday party for Betty, his mother. Can I say it was a great success, particularly the look on Betty's face when the family greeted her for her party? Thanks to Marian and Chris for helping me organize the party-they are awesome!

Faith went with me to a couple of parties for my 40th year class reunion -- I graduated from Trenton High School in 1969 and the joint reunions are held over Labor Day weekend every year. I went alone in 1989, to my 20th, and brought Faith along to my 30th in 1999. It was fairly questionable whether or not I would be able to make it, but as I grew closer to the end of treatments, I went ahead and bought the tickets. I knew then I could make it, and truly wanted to. The "Class of 1969" event Saturday night was quite enjoyable for me, and my classmates were largely knowledgeable about my situation -- mostly because they heard about and read this blog! They were very kind and supportive, and I really appreciated their many conversations with me.

I also liked the party for Mom a lot -- she told me it was the first time in her life that anyone had pulled off a secret party for her without her knowing about it in advance. Lots of our family relatives showed up, and it was great to see them and visit.

Tomorrow we fly back to Seattle, and on Tuesday I have my third Avastin injection in the morning and a meeting with Dr. "B" early in the afternoon. Then it's back to the airport and flight 69 home to Ketchikan. So once again, after a wonderful trip and visits with classmates and family, we will return to our dog and cats with joy. My condition is improving day by day, and my appetite is improving daily. Every day that I feel a little better, I can do a little more, and that makes me feel even better. Who knows -- perhaps I will be able to venture out on my goat hunt by the end of the month!

We hope you have all had a great holiday weekend as well...

Dennis & Faith