“Test Week Trouble” and the – Post from March and May 2011; “American Cancer Society Relay For Life” and “Birthdays”

This past week I noticed a slight wheeze when Pat is breathing.  I also hear the sound of congestion when she coughs, which although isn’t excessive is noticeable.  Yesterday for the first time in a year plus, Pat had to use her oxygen machine to help her catch her breath after a short walk from the restroom to the bed.  She woke up saying she was feeling a a little tired and decided not to go to church.  (the sermon was on Psalm 103) and when I called her before going home she asked me to pick up some Tylenol as she was feeling like she was starting to get a headache.  That was a definite bad sign for me, so I asked her to drink as much water as she could and I would be home as soon as I could get there.  Fortunately by the time I got home and opened the bottle she said the headache feeling was gone.  However, after eating breakfast she said she was still feeling lethargic even after a long nap.  When Marley and I returned from our walk later, she got up and went to the bathroom and when she came out she seemed to be laboring to catch her breath.  I asked her if she wanted to use the oxygen and she said “yes” right away.  I knew that she must be struggling because even two years ago when she was dealing with pneumonia, she never liked using that machine.  I also noticed she seemed a little “giddy” for lack of a better term and wondered if that could be a sign of oxygen deprivation.  It lasted for an hour or so but after she finished dinner, during which she kept the nebulizer on (also unusual for her), she watched a couple hours of TV without it and then went back to bed.  She began to have difficulty catching her breath again so back to the O2 for  a couple more hours before she removed it.  She seemed to be OK then and I fell asleep about a half-hour or so later, fitfully sleeping through the night, waking to listen to her breathing, searching for signs of struggle.  As of the time this writing she is breathing OK but if I notice any problem I will probably convince her we need to take a trip to the E.R., just to be safe.  We’re due to go down tomorrow anyway but better safe early than sorry late! Her infusion is scheduled for Wednesday, we hope to have a joyful meal with the family Thursday, and then Friday do the MRI and CT scan before returning home.  Please pray for us, she needs them, I need them and we are praying for all of you.  For those of you who will be traveling like us, we pray for God’s traveling Grace.  Be safe and God bless you all.

The following is the last of my original blog posts from Yahoo.  It was originally posted in March of this year. (where has the year gone?!)

• American Cancer Society Relay for Life
• |03/01/2011 03:47 pm

As some of you might have read in my E-mail, our former next door neighbor is going to be participating in the American Cancer Society’s “Relay for Life” April 30th at his high school Jurupa High School in Mira Loma.  He said it is because of what Pat is going through that he decided to do this.  Pat and I are humbled and honored by his decision and his expression of caring for us.  If you would, take a moment and go to his website and donate whatever you can, it would be greatly appreciated.  In these hard economic times every $5.00 helps.  Thank you to those of you who have already done so, Nicky, Pat and I appreciate it, “More Birthdays” is (are?) a noble cause to fight for.

This is what Nick had to say:

My Reason to Relay

I am participating in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life because: A couple of years ago, a family friend, Pat Santa Marina-Banks, was diagnosed with Lung Cancer, and it spread to her brain. It has been tough, because they live in Nevada, but go to the doctors here in California. Luckily she has a wonderful husband, Floyd, who has not once left her side. His love for his wife is truly amazing and I admire him for that. Pat is a true warrior as she continues her fight against cancer. And Floyd a warrior too, he has remained so strong. Pat has had to deal with everything from a coma in which she temporarily lost her memory to complicated blood problems. And still she battles, with Floyd by her side. Both Pat & Floyd are my true heroes. I admire them, and can only hope that I would be able to carry myself the same way if I were in their situation. I know that Pat will get through this. Because she is a fighter, a warrior, my hero. I am so excited that I will be able to walk in honor of both Pat and Floyd at this year’s Relay for Life. And that is my reason to relay this year! I look forward to this event, and genuinely cannot wait. Please donate to my team, I would be extremely grateful.

PLEASE DONATE WHATEVER YOU CAN. I AM EXTREMELY GRATEFUL FOR ANYTHING THAT CAN HELP FIGHT & END CANCER. IF YOU ARE IN THE AREA, JOIN US AT JURUPA VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL ON APRIL 30! THANK YOU- NICK GARCIA

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?px=19382722&pg=personal&fr_id=31870&fl=en_US&et=Ae9pH1bYUEqmzwx8jMAqjQ..&s_tafId=655361

Floyd, Nick, Desi, Mandi and Pat

CURRENTLY (MARCH 2011)
Pat had a relatively easy go this trip and like we suspected the needle they had been using for her blood draw was the wrong size and using the one the infusion nurse gave us to give them was fairly painless according to Pat, if being stuck by needles can be considered painless. She is scheduled to have an MRI and CT scan and then a consult with the oncologist next month to see where she is.  As usual we ask for your prayers that progress has been made.

I haven’t been feeling my best this past week or so, I think I may need a little more sleep, but my main complaint is I seemed to have hurt my back without being able to pinpoint any particular action to have caused it.  The other thing is an onset of slight dizziness that started Saturday evening, Sunday morning.  Again, it could be lack of sleep but I’m not sure.  If you would include me in your prayers I would greatly appreciate it.  I can’t afford to get sick, I just can’t!

A LOOK BACK
At this time last year Pat was at one of her lowest points.  She was coming to the end of her first round of chemo, had lost almost fifty pounds, wasn’t eating at all and Doc Gloom was saying it may be time to “take her home and make her comfortable”.  March 12th will mark the one year anniversary of “Chair Dancing”, the end of Pat’s first round of chemo and to look forward from that day to today shows the power of prayer.  Although we still have “a ways to go” Pat is much stronger and doing far better than the medical staff expected she would be.  GOD IS GOOD!!!  If you haven’t read it, I have included “Chair Dancing”; the blog from Pat James, a fellow chemo patient at the time, as an attachment in the email.  That is what inspired me to start writing my blog.  It tells an incredible story about how Pat is a fighter, and God is definitely on her side.  I am so blessed to have her in my life and I thank God for her every day!

Floyd
P.S  I also included the “Chair Dancing” video attachment from that day.

• Permalink

AC commented 03/03/2011 06:33 pm

People like Nick keeps the boat of life afloat!

• Birthdays
• |05/13/2011 01:02 pm

It’s been a while since my last post.  I have been stressing over lack of sleep and some other things.  I do want to say thank you again to Nick for the  American Cancer Society walk, Celebrating Birthdays as it’s theme.  To that theme, I want to say happy birthday to my lovely wife as she celebrated another one last week on the first.  She got calls (one of the best being a chorus of about 9 people from the Chevaliers’) and cards and was very happy to be treated to dinner by Reggie and Yvonne.  Cynthia I am so so sorry we didn’t call you on your day, no excuse, but I had to take a sick day, I spent your birthday basically in bed most of the day and I simply forgot, forgive me.  My brother in law, Reggie celebrated his on the 11th, Pat’s late grandmother had hers on the 5th, my son Carl’s is on the 20th, Pat’s sister and my son Tavis celebrate theirs on the twenty-sixth, I have a niece that has one this coming week and I’m sure I have forgotten a couple others this month.  To all of you CELEBRATE, Celebrate, celebrate!!!

It will be time to have MRI’s and CT scans soon.  I’m sure Pat is so looking forward to being strapped down in those tubes…NOT!  But she troopers on and does what she has to do.  Again we are praying for miracle news and trusting God and his infinite wisdom.  It is all we can do, He has brought us this far.

We miss you all and wish that we were in a position to hang out but the medical advice is to be careful to stay away from groups as we don’t know what colds and other infectious germs could be lurking out there.

I wish I had more news, but all I can say is Pat is a warrior, she deals with this far better than I probably would and we thank you all for you prayers, keep them coming and call Pat and let her know you’re thinking of her.

Floyd

AC commented  05/14/2011 01:18 am

Once over 40, it’s oh no, not another year older. It should be, Oh YES, another birthday! It’s about perception.

Owner replies  05/14/2011 10:51 am

ABSOLUTELY!

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This is the last posting that was originally done on Yahoo before they discontinued their blog site.  I hope and pray everything is going well in your life.

Thank you for reading and sharing our Journey, see you in the next post!

Floyd