A few loose screws

No doubt most folks who know me could agree that sometimes I have a few screws loose. Our family would be included in that comment. Right now, though, there's a good reason. Not only are some screws loose, but we might be coming unglued, too. Sounds like we need a good repairman.

After Phil had a cancerous tumor removed from his tongue in May, all pathology reports came back clean, meaning no more cancer. After a lengthy recovery, but never feeling quite up to par, Phil discovered another spot on his tongue around Thanksgiving. He saw the doctor right away and had a biopsy of it. It is another cancerous tumor.

We saw an oncologist on December 5th, but found out that with a new insurance plan starting on January 1st, this doctor would not be covered. We had to find a doctor who was both on the old plan and the new one. We found Dr. Santiago at the Cancer Care Center. We got to see him on December 18th and a plan was laid out for Phil to have a course of radiation along with a targeted drug called Erbitux. Phil will have radiation 5 days a week for about 6 weeks. Once a week, he will also have an infusion of Erbitux. This means they will give it to him through an IV. The Erbitux is basically a vaccine. It's been found to do wonders with oral cancer as well as colorectal. I guess it's an "all in the family" kind of drug!

Now, you are probably wondering if we saw the doctor in December why I am still using the words "WILL start." Good thing to wonder. He had to see a radiation oncologist to set up the radiation treatment. He did that just before Christmas only to learn he had to see a dentist to be sure his teeth could handle the radiation first. He has since had a crown, been in major pain and then had a root canal. NOW he has to wait for his mouth to heal 2 weeks before they will begin radiation. In the meantime he had a mask made of his face, which is pretty cool.

You can keep up with our journey through cancer at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/philgarrison 

Now, back to those loose screws. A few weeks ago we were at the library and when we went to leave, the car wouldn't start. I had no jumper cables. There "happened" to be men sitting in pick up trucks on either side of the car. Surely one of them could help. Neither of them had jumper cables! One, though, offered to go to his house & get his. He went & came back with brand new cables. He actually bought some when he realized someone had borrowed his. He tried to jump start my car. Nothing. Nada. Nil. He then pulled out a wrench & tightened a screw. That was it. The car started right up! I offered to pay him (though I had no cash, my "rich kids" still had Christmas money on them), and he refused saying God would bless him. What a special blessing for us! 

So, we may have some screws loose. But that's nothing new for us! We'll just keep plugging along seeing what God has in store in this journey!