Greetings dear family and friends! Again we hope all is well with you and yours. Fantastic early fall weather here on Edisto ... temps in the low to mid 80s with significantly less humidity and bright Carolina blue sky. A bit dry ... we could use some rain.
A REALLY BIG DAY COMING October 11, 2012 ... As it stands right now Martha and I will become grandparents for the second time in a few days! "Baby MacDonald" is scheduled to arrive (via a C-section procedure) in Charleston on 10-11-12 ... should be an easy birthday to remember! Wow ... grandbaby number 2!
While expectant parents Stefanie and Aaron have chosen not to know the sex of this baby in advance, I'm confident it's a girl ... after all I'm batting a 1000 after correctly guessing the sex of Grandson "Jack"! So we're all praying "Myrtle" MacDonald (my choice of name for granddaughter MacDonald but certainly not Stefanie and Aaron's chosen name) arrives safely and healthy on 10-11-12. My maternal grandmother whom I unfortunately never knew was Myrtle Calhoun ... and besides the Crepe Myrtle trees here in the south are so beautiful and Stefanie and Aaron do own a tree service business!
Special thanks to Meg, Gail and Harriett for hosting Stefanie's baby shower at the Herndon's last Sunday, September 23rd. Food, fun and games were enjoyed by all ... and you should have seen the "special" cake made by "What's Cookin' at Martha's - Southern Edition"! The cake was actually specially requested by Stefanie after seeing it on-line. All I remember is our kitchen was commandeered for a couple days experimenting with this cake including making something called "fondant". The pictures of this cake speak for this work of art! While the girls were enjoying the shower the boys (Johnny, Aaron and yours truly) went out fishin' in Johnny's boat. It was just a picture perfect Carolina day and a great day to be on the water. Using live shrimp as bait we caught ten sea trout, four of which were keepers. A great day was enjoyed by all ...
CHEMO ROUND 25 ... after a week's delay I received my 25th round of chemo in Charleston on Thursday, September 27th. The delay was due to abnormal blood test results indicating my liver was overtaxed and needed some time to recover. While my liver panel test results were again high (abnormal), they were lower than the previous week's test and Dr. Ellison felt I could tolerate another round of chemo. We really don't know what has caused my abnormal test results but that fact the results didn't worsen was "good news". During my 19-month journey we've learned how to read Dr. Ellison's face as he reviews and discusses my progress every 3-weeks ... and he was clearly concerned on Thursday until the liver panel results posted to his laptop and we could just see the relief on his face. So hopefully just another, and minor, "bump in the road" that will resolve itself. I did ask Dr. Ellison if all this chemo could kill me before the cancer does. He paused a bit and said to be honest it's unlikely ... statistically the probability of succumbing as a result of chemotherapy is approximately 1%. Following our meeting we walked down the hall from Dr. Ellison's office to the infusion room, holding hands per usual. We didn't realize Dr. Ellison was a short distance behind us going to the infusion room to check on another patient. When we stopped to check in for infusion, he took a moment to stop us to say "you guys are so cute", having observed us walking down the long hallway to the infusion room once again holding hands. It was good to see this side of our oncologist who is so honest, direct, analytical, intelligent and who absolutely sugarcoats nothing!
Dr. Ellison's a great "quarterback" but we continue to believe God, our "Head Coach", is truly in charge of the ultimate game plan.
IT'S GREAT TO GET OUTDOORS AGAIN ... with our improving weather we've been able to get outdoors again and it feels great! More enjoyable evening walks, relaxing on the beach, bicycle rides, using our outdoor dining
room ... and oh yes time to work in the yard again pulling weeds (ugh!) and trimming up the shrubs. We still enjoy tending to the landscaping, just a bit harder for me to do now. Martha's been doing a great job edging the beds and applying Roundup! Just an hour or so each day in the morning ... it's good therapy. Thankfully our little third of an acre doesn't require the amount of work the Churchville ranch did! The indigenous bamboo on our property spreads and grows like crazy however ... I think we need a Panda!
May the good Lord continue to bless you and yours ...
Dan and Martha
A REALLY BIG DAY COMING October 11, 2012 ... As it stands right now Martha and I will become grandparents for the second time in a few days! "Baby MacDonald" is scheduled to arrive (via a C-section procedure) in Charleston on 10-11-12 ... should be an easy birthday to remember! Wow ... grandbaby number 2!
While expectant parents Stefanie and Aaron have chosen not to know the sex of this baby in advance, I'm confident it's a girl ... after all I'm batting a 1000 after correctly guessing the sex of Grandson "Jack"! So we're all praying "Myrtle" MacDonald (my choice of name for granddaughter MacDonald but certainly not Stefanie and Aaron's chosen name) arrives safely and healthy on 10-11-12. My maternal grandmother whom I unfortunately never knew was Myrtle Calhoun ... and besides the Crepe Myrtle trees here in the south are so beautiful and Stefanie and Aaron do own a tree service business!
Special thanks to Meg, Gail and Harriett for hosting Stefanie's baby shower at the Herndon's last Sunday, September 23rd. Food, fun and games were enjoyed by all ... and you should have seen the "special" cake made by "What's Cookin' at Martha's - Southern Edition"! The cake was actually specially requested by Stefanie after seeing it on-line. All I remember is our kitchen was commandeered for a couple days experimenting with this cake including making something called "fondant". The pictures of this cake speak for this work of art! While the girls were enjoying the shower the boys (Johnny, Aaron and yours truly) went out fishin' in Johnny's boat. It was just a picture perfect Carolina day and a great day to be on the water. Using live shrimp as bait we caught ten sea trout, four of which were keepers. A great day was enjoyed by all ...
CHEMO ROUND 25 ... after a week's delay I received my 25th round of chemo in Charleston on Thursday, September 27th. The delay was due to abnormal blood test results indicating my liver was overtaxed and needed some time to recover. While my liver panel test results were again high (abnormal), they were lower than the previous week's test and Dr. Ellison felt I could tolerate another round of chemo. We really don't know what has caused my abnormal test results but that fact the results didn't worsen was "good news". During my 19-month journey we've learned how to read Dr. Ellison's face as he reviews and discusses my progress every 3-weeks ... and he was clearly concerned on Thursday until the liver panel results posted to his laptop and we could just see the relief on his face. So hopefully just another, and minor, "bump in the road" that will resolve itself. I did ask Dr. Ellison if all this chemo could kill me before the cancer does. He paused a bit and said to be honest it's unlikely ... statistically the probability of succumbing as a result of chemotherapy is approximately 1%. Following our meeting we walked down the hall from Dr. Ellison's office to the infusion room, holding hands per usual. We didn't realize Dr. Ellison was a short distance behind us going to the infusion room to check on another patient. When we stopped to check in for infusion, he took a moment to stop us to say "you guys are so cute", having observed us walking down the long hallway to the infusion room once again holding hands. It was good to see this side of our oncologist who is so honest, direct, analytical, intelligent and who absolutely sugarcoats nothing!
Dr. Ellison's a great "quarterback" but we continue to believe God, our "Head Coach", is truly in charge of the ultimate game plan.
IT'S GREAT TO GET OUTDOORS AGAIN ... with our improving weather we've been able to get outdoors again and it feels great! More enjoyable evening walks, relaxing on the beach, bicycle rides, using our outdoor dining
room ... and oh yes time to work in the yard again pulling weeds (ugh!) and trimming up the shrubs. We still enjoy tending to the landscaping, just a bit harder for me to do now. Martha's been doing a great job edging the beds and applying Roundup! Just an hour or so each day in the morning ... it's good therapy. Thankfully our little third of an acre doesn't require the amount of work the Churchville ranch did! The indigenous bamboo on our property spreads and grows like crazy however ... I think we need a Panda!
May the good Lord continue to bless you and yours ...
Dan and Martha