Busy Gus

Black puppies don't show up well in pictures

Gus has continued feeling good. He also has continued getting projects accomplished. Like this picture of reroofing our pump house. Something that has needed to be done for several years. He felt it would take several days, but he finished in only two days.

Gus always battles maintaining his weight. He has dropped a couple of pounds again. He looks and feels good so I'm not concerned. Gus tries to stay no lower than 170 pounds. He saw 166 on the scales a couple of days ago. I feel it is because he is exercising with all these projects and so in turn is burning calories. Who would have thought that the man who battled his weight gain for his entire life would now be battling his weight loss.

This is the last day of his off-week for treatment and you can bet by tonight, he has something else to cross off of his to-do list. Yesterday he cleaned the chicken house. The day before that he finished rolling up the wire in the pasture in front of our house.

I feel that the reason Gus has so much energy right now is to prove to his wife that he feels well enough for a trip to Mexico. What do you think?

CA 19-9

Gus’ CA 19-9 taken 1/5/2010 increased slightly since the last one on 12/15/09. It was 54 with normal being 55 or lower. No one is concerned which is good because there is nothing to do different even if it were a concern.

After chemo last Tuesday, Gus felt great for the days following treatment. On Wednesday, he got up at 5:00 am and kept busy all day. He forced himself to stay up for his 9:00 pm chemo pills. At 9:01 pm, he went to bed and had a great night’s sleep.

Thursday is usually Gus’ worse day of the week, but yesterday was also a good day. We never know how his system will respond to the chemo, but we love the days Gus feels like being outside. These last couple of days, Gus reminded me of a pregnant woman when they start nesting. Very busy!

CT Scan in Dillon

Gus had a routine CT scan yesterday in Dillon. It took three attempts to get the IV started, but then the rest of the test was uneventful. This morning we met in Bozeman with the oncologist to compare the new scan with the last one done in September. Everything looked great and the tumor actually looked smaller in comparison to the one done four months ago. Both Gus and I could actually see a slight change in the size after the doctor mentioned it.

As soon as we got home today from the chemo infusion, Gus went to bed. I have not seen him this sick the day of chemo for quite some time. Usually it is the following two days. He hardly ever sleeps well at night so part of his problem is exhaustion. He has had two days of getting up early, driving on miserable winter roads, dealing with tests, meeting doctors, and finishing with a chemo infusion.

We had the scheduled CA 19-9 blood test done today. We should have the results by Thursday. Gus and I are always anxious to know the results.

Food does not excite Gus anymore, but he still forces himself to eat. His weight is staying steady because he focuses on calorie laden food. This could have been a dream come true if the underlying cause was not so serious. Gus has always lived for his desserts and now he gets all the desserts he can eat with no consequences to his waistline.

Gus took his calendar with him today and informed the oncologist of his trip to Mexico. As always, the doctor lets Gus dictate when we will be in the Cancer Center and when we will not. I can tell the doctor enjoys Gus' spirit. He doesn't want Gus' vacation to be too long, but he loves that Gus dreams outside the box.