More Opportunities

Life for Gus is one opportunity after another. We met with the surgeon last Tuesday that was putting in the portacath and when he found out Gus was on coumadin, he postponed the surgery. Gus had to be off of coumadin for five days before they were comfortable doing surgery.

Then the doctor we met was not available for surgery when Gus was ready, so now it is a surgeon we have never met. This surgeon has had some bad experiences with blood clot patients so he insisted Gus get an ultrasound done before surgery tomorrow. That was done last Wednesday in Dillon. Everything looked good on the ultrasound.

We are to be at the Bozeman hospital tomorrow morning at 8:30. We do not know exactly what time surgery is. We will stay the night in Bozeman and Gus will have his regular scheduled chemo infusion Tuesday morning before we drive home.

Gus always struggles when he goes back on chemo after taking time off. Lack of appetite, weight loss, trouble sleeping, no energy, aching body, and a stomach that never feels good is a fair description of his days right now.

Gus is scheduled for a CT scan Monday, March 29th. It was very important to him that the CT scan not interfere with cooking at our neighbor’s bull sale on March 31st. Gus still has his priorities. Bull sales before tests or . . . more important, life before cancer!

Mexico

This Is As Good As It Gets


Our Resort


The 8 Of Us at Xcaret.
The "Statue" in the back is a live Native Mayan


Gus in His Chariot.
This is how anyone who did not want to walk got to the ruins.
It was motorized by a native pedaling the tricycle.


Gus and Kathleen in the Cenote

We now know what the expression “Words Cannot Describe” means. There truly are no words to express our trip to Akumal, Mexico. It was the perfect trip. We were with three other couples who made the week unforgetable.

We stayed in the Grand Oasis Riveria Maya, an all-inclusive resort. We were even blessed with ocean front rooms.

Gus and I spent hours snorkeling and kayaking in the Caribbean. The eight of us went on two tours. One tour was to Coba which was incredible Maya ruins in the jungle and where we swam in the cenote. We also visited native Maya families.

The second tour was an all day excursion to Xcaret where we viewed native animals, fish, birds, and plants. All of us even swam the entire length of a 2,000 foot long underground river. (Life jackets were mandatory) We ended the evening being entertained by Maya history, an reenactment of the pre-Hispanic ball game and Mexican history.

The resort had several restaurants that we ate at. Our favorite was an international buffet. Gus was the Leader of the Pack when it came to eating. He ate anything and everything and never got sick once. He always went back for seconds. He felt it was mandatory to eat guacamole and chips and at least two kinds of dessert at every meal. He loved the food!

Gus could not believe the scales this morning. He lost a couple of pounds on his trip. I am sure he is the only one of the eight of us that can make that statement.

Gus had his blood checked this morning and his coumadin level was right where the doctor wanted it. It should be between 2 and 3. It was 2.3.

You can only imagine how hard it will be for Gus to take those chemo tablets next Saturday morning in preparation for the infusion next Tuesday.

Gus is to take pictures of our trip with him Tuesday when we see the main oncologist. We cannot wait for the doctor to see and hear about our trip. Gus is definitely a Poster Child.

Oh and did I tell you how much Gus loved the food!