Larry’s 1st birthday is tomorrow!

Well I finally checked in on Orion and everything is as expected. Quiet. I’m not sure where to put the final exclamation on the end of chemotherapy. I think we will wait until it is over tomorrow and make a big splash. I know the end of chemotherapy brings with it other things and doesn’t necessarily solve all problems, but it is a good start.

It will probably take a few weeks to recover from recovering. So on May 19th 2009 on his grandson’s birthday I declare a new birthday. I know it is short notice, but I’m sending an online birthday card…

Starting right now I would like to collect a bunch of wishes from you guys and I will post them all tomorrow on this blog. Send them to me at joncarroll01@gmail.com and I will put them on the page tomorrow. Mobilize people!!!

Larry update

Chemo #11 – check!

One more treatment to go for dad. My mom called me after she dropped him off, so I’ll assume everything is fine. The doctor is concerned about his weight, which keeps dropping. I can’t imagine gaining weight while being on chemotherapy, but that’s been the mantra. My mom has been going the Whitey’s shake route since that is one of the few things he will eat. Being on prednisone and ending this chemotherapy should help get things going in a few weeks. One more push for prayers, chants, good wishes, and positive thoughts. Thanks everyone.

All the good titles are taken

There isn’t a lot of news today from the Netherlands. My mom has posted a “Larry update” below this one and he is tackling the evil chemotherapy drugs again today. After today he will have one more treatment, on Sam’s birthday, and then hopefully the healing process can begin. I’m looking forward to returning to the States and seeing them both. On the not so good note my mom sounded below, our friends the Farwells are just beginning a similar journey as Ron Sr. starts chemotherapy shortly to tackle a lymphoma. Anyone who is interested in keeping an eye on Ron and his family can find their blog here. POPPY We are pulling for him and his family and hope everything goes well.

We have been getting regular reports and pictures from Land O Lakes from our exchange partners Piet and Lies Stam. They have been navigating the sometimes confusing aspects of our home and especially our pool, but seem to be doing an admirable job. I played a little joke on them the other day and photoshopped myself mowing the field next door and complaining that the yard here was very big. It took a couple of e-mails before they realized what the joke was. I’m just so good at Photoshop I guess. I’ll include the picture below and you can have a laugh yourself. It’s no coin pooping donkey, but funny nonetheless.

The weather here has been a little more harsh than the previous week and we all have colds which is putting a short term damper on our activity. We will recover for our Mother’s day trip to Paris this weekend….hopefully.

Gapinge, Netherlands

Well we made it here. It’s funny that a couple of short hop flights and a two hour drive can take all day, but it did. We made it out of Alesund on time and with no drama, a little hop to Oslo. We then boarded our longer (1.5 hours) flight to Amsterdam. There are a couple of stories to tell there, but it’s for later. We flew over the tulip fields of Holland on our way in and it was amazing. There is a picture of this from another site on Jen’s blog (Click here), you might have to search around a bit. Once we arrived in Amsterdam we were greeted by the owners of the home we are exchanging. They are great. Friendly, nice, down to earth people who we got along with right away. We were happy to meet them and glad that we now have met two great families in a row. It took us a couple of hours to drive to their home in Gapinge, but it was nice to take the drive and see some of the region. We arrived at their home at around 9:00 p.m. The house here is great. The backyard / garden is beautiful and the surroundings look to be fun. There is a windmill right across the street and all sorts of things to explore. Sorry, but I don’t have any pictures to throw your way at this point. I wanted to update everyone on our adventures and let you know we are here safely.

Larry Update!

I arrived to hear a voicemail from dad. He sounded great. My second voicemail was from my mom, she sounded great also…haha. Chemo day was progressing with no drama. The doctor didn’t have much to say, or mom didn’t pass it along. I guess the best message here for this is, no message. Two more treatments to go, get some meat on his bones, and by then I’ll be dropping by Orion to give him the business in person.

Checking in with Larry.

I talked with my mom AND my Aunt Pat the other day on the double secret, Skype, video spy phone. No offense mom, but it was nice to see someone other than you and dad on the video screen.

My mom took Larry to the eye doctor hoping that they might wish to fix the cataract in his eye, but they declined. They are going to wait until July, after the chemo sessions, and for better health. That kinda sucks, but I guess July is closer than it used to be. Chemo session scheduled for Tuesday. It figures that this is a travel day for us, but our travel isn’t very extensive and we will be at our new home by 1:00 pm Orion time. One more down, two more to go!!

I’ll wait for a report from Pat and other interested parties for a “I haven’t seen Larry in a while” update.

Celebrate good times....

Guess what? I forgot to mention the other day that my dad only has 3 chemo treatments left!!! I had lost track over time and worry. So there is one more treatment this month on April 21st.....and then a couple more finishing on or around May 19th. This would be cool enough on its own, but here is a cool bonus. May 19th is Sams birthday. I have no doubt that Samuel Lawrence Carroll will enjoy sharing his birthday with a celebration for his grandpa.

Who is the baseball trivia genius?

Sam was born in 2004 and I was born in 1967. Anyone know the baseball connection? It's pretty cool...c'mon, look it up.

Locander...you look it up. It's regarding something you have never seen in your lifetime.

News

PET scan results are back and there is some encouraging improvement. There is a lot of mumbo jumbo medical speak regarding tracer this and tracer that. What I make of it is that there is some possible issues with the chemo and some impact on his lungs, but it is somewhat undetermined for now. They have held the "B" drug again this round to avoid impacting his lungs further.

Overall...there is improvement noted and his overall health is in the category of "getting better"

More later...on the phone as I type this.

UPDATE: Off the phone now....my mom did make further mention that the doctor is very encouraged by the PET scan. I am excited to know that the chemo is fixing him and I'm exhausted after waiting around an entire Norwegian day worrying about this phone call. If I could afford a beer I would go have one.

Brrrrrrr

Short good morning entry. Hello Belleville.

Since it is chemo day and people are probably going to look here for an update on the tests last week, I'll keep it short until I know something.

Here's a note for dad...I know my mom passes along some of them. You have succesfully passed along the "tough" gene to your grandson. I'm not sure he'll make it to Marine Corp. status but check this out. The other day we were walking along the beach with the wind blowing us around and I asked Sam if he wanted to take a swim. Here are the particulars. Wind - 20 mph. Temperature - around 45. Water temperature? Probably below 60. His answer? YEA!!!!! I start goofing with him taking off his jacket, sweater, shirt....it doesn't faze him. He's going swimming.

Hang in there today Dad.....I'll send this tough guy to help if I have to.

Testing, testing...

Tests for yesterday went fine. No results, but sometimes getting through the tests are the hardest. Mom says she thinks Dad was nervous or worked up about the PET scan, but he won't tell you that. This upcoming Tuesday is chemo again. Funny how things that happen every two weeks have such different feelings. It seems like payday takes forever to get there, but chemo seems like it is always happening. I can't wait until it is over and I'm not even going through it. It's possible that the doctor will have some news from the tests Tuesday. Prayers....start praying.

Not much to see here....

I talked with mom yesterday. Dad is doing ok and is headed to breakfast this morning, she didn't mention with who. There is really no change, just waiting for more chemo, tests and the ever looming PET scan on Thursday. I talked with him briefly about their trip to Alton a day or two before. He seems in good spirits. Soooo....all in all an uneventful update for you. Thanks to everyone for checking in here and thanks also to those of you who are involved in the day to day lives of my mom and dad, helping them out. The only thing making me homesick on this trip is seeing them and wanting to help out. More later.

Post-chemo post

Antoher Larry post...what a lucky guy.

Chemo went well it appears. All the blood tests and tests from the week prior were good. I can't actually speak to all the test results though....most of them are written like a script from "House" or "ER". All mumbo jumbo code for you are either super healthy or need hospitilization. The biggest news out of the whole day was that he is scheduled for a PET scan on April 2nd. I'm calling it big news, but there are all sorts of thoughts that surround it. Of couse everyone wants to see that the chemo is having an effect and dad is headed toward being cured. I'm hoping that even if the results are mixed that the doctor gives the message I would. Something like..."We are only halfway through, don't worry" or "No big deal, we have some work to do. Hang in there". That's the last time I will mention the possibility of anything remotely negative. I think I'll just send the doctor a link to this blog and he can use my best material. Keep up the positive thoughts everyone, and thanks.

One of THOSE days.

I get snippets of information out of Orion lately. The dog ate a stick of butter, going here, going there. I guess there is just nothing to tell. Someone go over there and cause a ruckus.

It's chemo day. I can't wait until I don't have to type that anymore. Everything seems the same on the Larry health front. I'm sure he's psyched about sitting in a chair for a few hours. Sam has offered him his Nintendo DS, but my dad has never been big into video games. In fact I don't think I've ever seen my dad play a video game. Lets hope there is something interesting in the Quad City Times today or even better the Moline Dispatch. I think my friend Mike Locander works over there as a greeter or something.

That's it for now. I'll try to get some post-chemo info. and pass it along. Later.

Let's get rolling.

Here goes with some new information....hopefully enough people get this to find it useful. PLEASE use the comments and my e-mail to let me know what I'm missing and I'll do better.

Dad had a PIC line inserted today for purposes of starting chemo. Pretty sure that is starting next week. Some useful blog huh? The type of chemo he will be undergoing is referred to by its acronym of drug names, ABVD, and as far as chemo goes, it isn't considered super harsh. The link from the acronym best tells about the side effects, but for some reason dad is worried most about losing his hair. I guess he's worried that he might end up looking like Paul. Sorry Paul, it had to be said.

A lot of people have been asking about the stage classification of his condition, but so far the doctor hasn't committed to providing it. This is kind of a pain in the ass, but I guess it really doesn't matter in the overall scheme of things since, as my dad likes to say, "It is what it is." If you look at the staging criteria of Hodgkins disease you can probably get close by just knowing that the lymph nodes in the chest seem to be the affected ones and that there is some suspicion of shady areas of bone....but don't quote me on that. Either way the disease is still very treatable and it beats the hell out of our Castlemans debacle.

That should cover it until I hear from others about what they need to hear and know. Thanks for stopping in.

Jon