#36 What a difference a year makes...

I haven't posted for a couple months.  Mainly waiting to see test results for LJ and getting settled in our new place.  It's actually been pretty busy.

As for LJ, so far so good!  Since his last PET was clear, he has had the freezing of the spots on his remaining kidney done.  It was a little concerning since the spots had been growing and the freezing could impact his kidney function.  Last thing we want is him on dialysis.  At first they took him in and "seeded" the spots with radiation so they would shrink in size.  Of course my thought is if that shrinks them then won't they go away?  Short answer...uh no.  Well alrighty then.  Probably why I'm not a doctor.

After the "seeding", he went in two weeks later for the freezing.  His kidney function was tested prior to the procedure and his number was very good for a one kidney guy.  55... All the docs and nurses were impressed his numbers are so good with only one kidney.  That's what changing your diet and drinking copious amounts of water will do, apparently.  The procedure itself went well.  He had no complications at all.  He had to take it easy for a few days.  Oh damn.  He had to sit in his chair and watch tv.  I could tell it was taking a toll on him (insert eye roll here).  But really he had no issues at all.  Just a little soreness at the area they worked on.  That was a blessing.  So much could go wrong.

Since then, he has had numerous blood tests done; visits with his urologist and oncologist.  While we haven't been given the new numbers for his kidney function, it was expected it would drop at first then go back up.  Apparently no one is too concerned since he hasn't had to go in to see any doctor or received any uh-oh phone calls.

He gets another full body CT in February.  Fingers crossed that shows no more growths on that left kidney and no sign of cancer anywhere else.  Every day he is more and more normal.  If you didn't know him, you wouldn't know he had just gone through a crap year and cancer treatments.  He's just skinny LJ.  Too skinny if you ask me, but better than heavy LJ.

Since our last posting we celebrated our 40th anniversary.  That was quite the milestone for us, all things considered.  A year ago we were wondering if he was going to make it through 2019 with his three cancers.  But December 2nd arrived and we were able to celebrate that special day.  We didn't get to go out to eat or anything since his procedure was the following day, but just making it there was very special.  Celebrate later.  We've had our ups and downs throughout the years.  What married couple doesn't.  The thing is, though, when you truly think someone is going to die, you learn to appreciate everything and ignore the little things that used to drive you crazy.  You know...those things that make you want to scream but are the things you would miss most of all.  Yea...not such a big deal any more.  You just cherish every moment.  Every day is a gift.  One of these days I'll tell you how we met.  It's one of those meant to be stories.  Maybe we'll celebrate the date we met at a spring training game...why not.

On to the rest of what's been happening..

We finally got moved in.  Everything is finally put away.  Now it's just tweaking the place.  Buy this.  Get rid of that.  Why did I put that there.  You know, the typical moving stuff.  But at least it finally feels like our home.  We spend a lot of afternoons and mornings in the back yard, relaxing.  It's nice here.  The weather is darn near perfect, although it can be a bit nipple-y as LJ says if you aren't in the sun.  Nothing a long sleeve shirt or light jacket won't take care of.  That should last another month or so before it starts heating up.  The way our house sits, even in the heat of the summer, we get a breeze.  It's really nice out in the Cabana with the ceiling fans.  It's in the shade all day.  It's actually a little cool out there this time of year.

We are able to sit out on the patio and watch the jets fly in and out of Luke AFB.  It's a beautiful thing to see.  They fly solo, in pairs and in fours.  When you are outside you hear them, but not in the house.  From a distance you can see the airlines flying into Sky Harbor.  The Goodyear Blimp flew right over us the other day!  I love it.  I need to get some binoculars for the house.  As close as the jets are maybe I can see the pilots, lol.  Another thing we watch is the weather.  Most of the storms seem to hit east of us.  It'll be clear at our place but you can watch the lightening and rain go over Phoenix.  Other than that, just blue skies.   Fascinates me for some reason.

Looking so forward to it getting warm so I can start swimming.  Been thinking about putting solar on the pool.  I'll have to put it on the list along with the other I wants.  LJ can swim this year now that he has that feeding tube out.  We did some remodeling to the pool.  The stacked stone was a mess, along with the overly large plants the builder put in the pillars.  So we had the plants removed and the pillars remodeled.  So much cleaner looking now.  Plus we did tile instead of stone.  The water here is ridiculously hard so it's easy to get that mineral buildup.  By using tile, it can be cleaned and look like new.  It was worth it.  Next stop is one of the pottery places they have nearby to get some decor pots for the pillars.  It's on the list. 😁

The theater room with new carpet

Put new carpet in the carpeted areas of the house.  Something about living with carpet a thousand people have walked on that I just couldn't handle.  Plus it was showing signs of wear and definitely wouldn't come clean.  I love the new stuff.  We had the exact same carpet installed in our Reno house.  It held up beautifully so I wanted the same stuff.  Of course that didn't go smoothly, lol.  I love the company we worked with.  Locally owned and in business for 50 years.  They prepared the house for the carpet and low and behold it was flawed.  Big time flawed.  Look like lines running through the entire roll.  So they threw the new carpet into the master bedroom so we'd have a bedroom and left just the installed pad everywhere else.  Packed it up and sent it back to the manufacturer.  Waited two weeks for the replacement carpet.  It, too, was flawed, but only a true carpet expert could see it.  I can't see it.  Looked fine to me.  They installed it anyway and then contacted the manufacturer for a remedy.  New carpet...again.. or reimbursement.   Ultimately we decided on the reimbursement.  I honestly can't see anything wrong with it, so getting it cheaper was just fine with me.  The company did right by us.  They also installed the tile in my craft room.  Speaking of which....

LJ completed building my sewing/craft room.  I absolutely love it.  He did a wonderful job and it's probably the best one yet.  Plenty of space and it feels like a little sanctuary.  I left the crazy scribble art work that came with the house hanging on the wall...basically because I had nothing else to put there.  I might try and find a quilt hanger or two for my great great grandmothers quilts to be displayed.  Seems wrong for them to just be in a drawer.  I put all my stuffed bears given to me over the years on top of the cabinets.  I came across some bunnies my mom made out of mops years ago while I was unpacking.  I didn't even know I had them.  They must have been in that box for years.  So up on the cabinets they went.  It is a craft room after all.

LJ spent a few days working on his new Can-Am Maverick Side by Side.  It makes him happy.  He'll be happier when his garage has cabinets and can find his tools, lol.  He has a trip planned in February for two weeks.  Normally I'd skip it.  Going to Quartzite and Yuma just doesn't seem that exciting, but he wants me to go.  After this last year I think it will be good for both of us.  Besides, Scooter LOVES atvs riding.   It'll be good for him, too.  I'll get to see Kandi and a few others I haven't seen in a while...a year actually.  Last time I saw Kandi was just before LJ started his treatments.  I'm in need of some bestie time.

Speaking of Scooter, he's a very happy dog.  He's much more active.  He gets to play ball practically every day.  He has his own room that is almost completely decorated in dog stuff.  I just have to figure out what to do for a headboard for his king sized people bed.  At the last house we framed a dog house on the wall.  Debating if that is what I will do here or something else.  Regardless, he loves it.  In his room he can look out the front window and watch the world go by with the occasional bark.  When he gets bored with that, he moves to our room where he watches the birds in the back yard from our bed.  And of course he has a big ol bed by the sliding glass doors for a different back yard perspective.  From here he can see the lizards walk across the patio which immediately caused him to bark and howl hahahaha.  He will even come into my craft room and hang out.  I didn't realize how bored he must have been in the RV while LJ was going through his treatments.  There was literally nothing for him to do.  He's a different dog.  He is the Scooter he used to be.  I guess this move was good for everyone.

Not spoiled

Playing ball with dad

Scooter decor

His painting on the right

The Arizona sun is so hard on vehicles here.  Because we don't have an RV garage (yet) the trailer and LJ's truck have to be parked outside.  He took both over to a special place the RV dealer recommended and had both of them treated with Ceramacoat.  It provides a protectant to the finish and is guaranteed for 7 years on the truck and 5 on the RV.  That will help keep them looking new until we can get that garage built.  Of course in a couple years I'll be ready for a new RV anyway.  Don't need one like we have if we aren't full time!  At least the ceramacoat will keep the graphics on the trailer looking new.

Every once in a while I get a little remorseful about the full time RV thing.  LJ really didn't get to do what he wanted to.  Life got in the way.  Looking at him now we probably could have continued on, but I just think it was better to have a home base under the circumstances.  He's not out of the woods, yet, and it can always come back.  At least we are in the type of neighborhood I feel comfortable leaving for a month or so.  So we'll have to do modified full timing, lol.

Just found out our daughter and family will be here in July!!! Been a couple of years since we have seen them.  I am so excited.  I think she'll be a little shocked when she sees her dad, but once she get over how skinny he looks, she will see he's his old self.  We plan on going over to England to visit them once he has his final all clear and no further tests, etc.   We both want to see that great grandson, so we have to go there!

All in all, life is good.  Things are relatively normal again.  It's funny but when you are in the middle of it you don't think you will ever see life go back to the way it was.  2019 was simply a nightmare.  But all has ended up fine.  New home, new look, new perspective, but pretty much normal life.  The key now is finding a way to live it to the fullest.  And we will.  One day at a time.  At least now we can plan ahead, somewhat.  There seems to be a bright future.

We thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts for the prayers, thoughts and well wishes.  We know that is the force behind his recovery.  Couldn't have done it without you.

Ill write again after the trip.  Gotta have those fun atv camping photos!