The last year has been tough as hell for my dear wife and I to say the least. We took in her brother who was terminally ill with Hepatitis C, advanced cirrhosis of the liver, and liver cancer. To add to the complexity of his illness, he had developed hepatic encephalopathy which created different states of dementia from day to day. Hell, sometimes it varied from hour to hour depending on if he was taking his medications as ordered. Friday, February 21st, I took Howard to his final doctors visit where he was advised to receive hospice care. Two days later, he lost his battles.

To add insult to injury in helping Howard battle his diseases, Loraine had went for a mammogram last September and a lump was discovered in her left breast that turned out to be cancerous. Skip ahead to January 6th this year, Loraine underwent a double mastectomy where it was discovered the cancer had also spread to one of her lymph nodes. By February we believed she was healing just fine and dandy when her awful staph infection set in…

Time has gone in slow motion ever since.

Loraine’s radiation treatments were to begin as soon as her incisions from the mastectomy were fully healed. To see a loved one going through this, you want the treatments to begin as soon as humanly possible, but healing has to take place first. If you are not fully healed, the radiation treatments will only serve to interfere with the healing progress. Obviously, we do not want that…

I used the picture above that I took not long ago early one morning while out on the road. It was a beautiful sunrise that morning despite the bug splatters on my windshield. The beautiful sight of the sunrise through the bug splattered windshield illustrates what life is looking like right now. We know that with Loraine now being healed and cleared to begin radiation treatments, we have been through a living hell getting her to this point.

Numerous doctor visits…

Numerous treatment protocols…

Daily wound care at home…

Frustrations and depression as it seemed she would never get healed…

Thousands of dollars in medical bills already…

Dealing with the tragic death of a loved one in the middle of it all…

It seems forever since I last posted an update on Loraine, although it has only been a little over a month. It seems that besides fighting to get her healed, the whole world as we know it has turned upside down as a result of the COVID-19 virus causing chaos all around us. Although we refuse to live in fear over this virus, we know that with her being immunocompromised, we must take precautions with how we live and interact with others. And of course, as luck would have it, now that Loraine has been cleared to begin her radiation treatments, many doctor offices are either closed or greatly limiting the people they see and treat. I get this, but we need for her to begin receiving her treatments as soon as possible. It has been about six months now since her diagnosis. We are waiting now for a return call from the radiation oncologist’s office to set up treatment dates. This oncologist was one of the first people Loraine called on Wednesday after being cleared, we hope to hear something before the end of the week. Once we hear back and get a date and time confirmed, before her first treatment session, Loraine will go through a radiation therapy planning session (simulation), in which her radiation oncologist will carefully map her breast area to target the precise location of her treatments. During the simulation:

• A radiation therapist will assist her into a position best suited to target the affected area and avoid damage to surrounding normal tissue. Sometimes pads or other devices are used to help you hold the position.
• Loraine will have a CT scan so that the radiation oncologist can locate the treatment area and normal tissues to avoid. She will have to try to relax and remain as still as possible to help ensure consistent, accurate treatments.
• A radiation therapist will be marking her body with tiny permanent tattoo dots. These marks will guide the radiation therapist in administering the radiation.
• The dosimetrist, radiation physicist and radiation oncologist will utilize computer software to plan the radiation treatment she will receive. Once the simulation and planning are completed and multiple quality assurance checks are done on her first visit, her radiation treatments will begin over a course of five days per week over a six week period.

For all the thoughtful prayers and positive thoughts lifted up on my dear wife’s behalf, I am truly grateful and humbled.

God bless and thank you.