Sticks, Stones, and Paper Stew Blog

Last night Dave came home late. Not terribly surprising since things have been a tad hectic at work. He told me about a “hot” meter that has to be sent out today by 2pm and his production floor staff had disassembled it in the process of trying to figure out a problem. Yikes! A comedy of errors! After that story he laid out the news about Goa. Yes, Goa India! Half way around the world from Albany Oregon. The folks at Goa University still want training for their oceanographic meter and the dates are falling into place for the beginning of August for about 10 days.

Now the question of the day is … do I go or do I stay home? My first voice says YES, I certainly WANT to go. Have I been to India? Well, yes, but not to that area. Can the funding be figured out? Yes. Can my passport be renewed in time? Yes… but what about my responsibilities to my family? What about work? What about the critters? ARGH!!!

The biggest thing to get past would be family responsibility. I spend multiple days every week in Eugene with my dad. My sister is in great need of escape from daily care giving and I help fill in where I can. Will my dad be feeling better in 2 weeks time? It’s very possible. Can my brother Mike pick up more hours if needed? Probably. And what about work? August is when things really get going at Fall Festival. I’m also in negotiations for a couple of fill in days at the Arts Center in August, but that can probably be shuffled to Suzanne to cover.

So, what direction should I go?

Today I have off from going to Eugene. Looks like I’ll be running errands and stopping by the post office and pick up a passport renewal form just in case…. it needs to be renewed anyway!

This is just a quick note about yesterday’s successful kyphoplasty. He and I spent the vast majority of the day at Riverbend waiting for his procedure to start. Fortunately we had the opportunity to see many familiar faces in the CATH prep & recovery area. It’s probably a bad thing to start knowing all the staff in the different areas… at least they really get a big kick out of interacting with Lee!

Dr I cemented both T-7 & T-10. For those keeping track, that’s a total of 6 that have been cemented in the past 4 months. We are all hoping the calcium will start taking effect any day now!!!

Off to Eugene yet again today!

Lee is already at the imaging place for his MRI as I write this note. This will determine if another kyphoplasty can be performed on Wednesday.  We are uncertain if his new medications will interfere with the procedure. More to find out later!

Saturday was my Lee day. When I spend the day with him it turns into a house cleaning extravaganza. My sister needs all the extra help she can get.  Tackled some general yard work and loaded up the past year’s worth of bottles waiting for recycling. We received over $10 in returns! The other big thing was dropping off a load of Evelyn’s clothes & shoes with St. Vinnie’s. They have been riding around in the back of my Honda since February when Lee told us to clean out her closets. The remainder is to used for quilts. An excellent idea that my sister is slowly working on.

Lee’s chemo meds, fondly called the “termite medication”, seems to be going well. He is experiencing fatigue, which was expected, and still seems pretty sharp. He has been taking higher doses of pain medication that is effecting his memory. Also not a big surprise.

I’m personally hoping to get into production mode for some small shoji screens. I picked up a small blade and new balsa wood at the hobby store yesterday evening. The new saw is making a difference with the cuts. The panels are only 6″x 12″. Once I feel comfortable with the small size I’m hoping to move onto something bigger. Photos to come… eventually!

Wednesday was spent in Eugene with Lee. His pain was so acute that we spent 5 hrs at the ER only to have them tell us that “yes, you did break another vertebrae and we don’t want you to stay here.” Fortunately they dosed him with some pretty good stuff that made it bearable to go home. Mike has the father watching shift today and I don’t envy him. Lee & I did stop by Oregon Imaging to give them a heads up on his condition and get an MRI in motion. Will they do kyphoplasty at this point with all his meds???

The medication load is certainly causing Lee to loose track of information. Toss in some intense pain and it all heads out the window! Kim isn’t doing terribly well mentally either. Pretty much at a loss on how to handle that one. Seems like each day brings a new obstacle that has to be overcome. It’s hard to believe that back on Sunday he was feeling pretty good, good enough to want to take a drive. Either the act of sitting in the car for 30min or some bump in the road jarred his spine and popped T-7.  Who knows.

Crazy!

Where did all that soothing art energy go?

Yes, I realize that several of you are waiting for images from the Sitka workshop. Have patience little grasshopper! They will come.

There are other things happening this week of a bit more importance. Today I’ll be going down to Eugene to be extra ears for how the chemo will work, and what side effects we should be watching for. It is an oral medication and is supposed to be fairly easy on the body. I had Dave try to call his oncologist friend last night for a chat, but reached answering machines on the other end. Maybe he is on a vacation with his family.

I have to say that removing myself from home for a week was incredible (except learning about the death of an aunt) and the techniques learned were things I needed to move forward with concepts floating in my brain. It was the perfect workshop for what I needed! If you are on Facebook and friends with Sitka there are lots of images posted by Ariel. I’m in several creating a largish organic lamp structure covered in freshly hand made abaca paper.

Carol, pull out your passport! I think we need to do the paper tour in Japan!!!

🙂

Today I’ll be heading coastal to settle in for another great class at Sitka. My art brain has been squished to oblivion due to all the other goings on and the 4 day workshop will be an excellent escape from everything. So, what am I signed up for? More Paper!!! Helen Hieberts 3D paper class. I’m looking forward to seeing how paper works over wire armatures, creating paper, and other great techniques.  I’ll let you know how things go when I return to a working computer.

This week has been filled with almost daily trips to Eugene. Mike was down on Monday for the oncology visit with Lee. I’ve been down the other days to help with lunch and offer side diversion for his time on the couch. Today my  nephew Jeff will be chauffeuring Lee to a noon appointment. Tonight, Kim will get a mini getaway to Yachats and I’ll be spending the night in Eugene. Saturday Tom will be over from Bend for a family party (celebrating fathers day, upcoming chemo, and not being in the hospital!). Hurray!

He did receive promising news from the oncologist. The pharmaceutical company has approved him for the medication. So he should start chemo next week at a  low cost.

On a positive note, Lee has started doing research on vanished towns of Lane county. He is thinking about compiling the information into some sort of book. I think it’s great he’s finding new project to work on while stuck on the couch.

I’m counting down the days to the Sitka workshop…. only 5 days left!