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Game of Thrones, Yellowstone, lost in week three
It’s amazing the thoughts that come to mind when your life revolves around doctor’s appointments, chemo, radiation, and trying to consume enough calories to quit losing weight. I would NOT recommend this weight loss program to anyone.I quit writing, reading, talking, walking, weaving, sewing, and eating from weeks three through six and months beyond. Claire Continue reading
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There’s always a tomorrow when it comes to birthdays
JUST FYI: the birthday cake on Monday’s post was one that Claire made for someone else. IT WAS Not the strawberry one from the cancer center folks. X-rays, biopsies, doctor appointments, radiation, chemo, immunotherapy, nurses, weigh-ins, and cancer. These are the things that rob your memory. Thank goodness there are iPhones and sons. I mentioned Continue reading
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Week two treatment – Happy Birthday to me
The second week of treatment was pretty much the same as week one. Everyone at the cancer center was so nice. I told someone I knew why people went to the doctor as often as they did because they were treated with such tenderness. It might have felt like love.The staff also knew we were Continue reading
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Happy New Year, but 2023 is not over yet
It took me some time after I told my family and closest friends about my cancer to decide to let my church know what was going on in my life. If I said it once, I would say it again, “When I want to feel loved, I go to church. They accept me for who Continue reading
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The end is near…
The end of the year is near, but the story of 2023 continues. I could not write about the year while living it. I’m not sure why I need to record the events that transpired, one after another, but I think it is imperative to “get 2023 out of my system.” Writing affords me a Continue reading
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Now what do I do?
After the first week of radiation, my notes became scarce. I became scarce. I am relying on the moments that make a permanent impression on my memory to continue my journey. And, there were quite a few. As I sit here and think it was like my life had become a movie called “Ground Hogs Continue reading
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How do you tell someone you have cancer?
(PS: The ND Fighting Sue logo was done by my granddaughter Elle. They were planning a fundraiser Tee Shirt, but instead, the whole family wore their Tees at Easter time. That was my first venture out in the real world since radiation began.) My father died in September 2022. I was relieved I didn’t have Continue reading
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Herbals versus narcotics for pain — April 2023
There’s a pain in my chest, my jaw, and my head all the time. I hate to be a baby about it, but I also don’t like downing drugs like candy. I tried Tramadol. I hate Tramadol. It gave me a migraine so bad I couldn’t do a thing. I gave it a second chance. Continue reading
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March 25, before the second week of treatment
Ed and Alice with Mom and Dad There are a lot of thoughts circling my brain lately. The first one is “I cannot do this.” I can’t go through six more weeks of this as the pain is likely to intensify. I’m so tired and hurt from the treatment and/or the side effects of the Continue reading
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March 19 — the day before treatment began
Entering the Twilight Zone and radiation/chemotherapy for lung cancer. Continue reading
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The unedited daily journal that lasted one week
Day 1: It’s an easy day today. Two 15-minutes appointments. One is for a massage and the the other is Helmet of Salvation day. I aim to do this and not have them take it off because I fear being pinned down on the table. My thought for the day is how people of faith Continue reading
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Side Note: Rule #1 in marketing
NOTE: I couldn’t resist writing a post off the topic of lung cancer. Hope you enjoy this humorous observation. Please comment on how you feel about this product. My granddaughter and I were not too long ago talking about celebrity crushes. I found it humorous because I had not thought about crushing and celebrity in Continue reading
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Welcome to the Borg
Star date 03162023 Forgive me for the long stretch of imagination in this post, but somehow I feel this year I have been inducted into a “collective.” In the year 2023, I became a member of an elite group and wear a foreign access device under my skin. I am connected to people with cancer. People Continue reading
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Two weeks of preparation and contemplation or my soul belongs to Jesus
My radiation/chemo treatment was scheduled to begin two weeks after the first appointment with Dr. Reynolds. I panicked, thinking that the cancer would surely spread in that time. My need to begin attacking these foreign invaders was intense. Dr. Reynolds reassured me that it takes time to schedule and create a plan for my treatment. Continue reading
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The woman in the (not iron) mask
I think I can, I think I can — I can do anything for 15 minutes. Nothing could have prepared me for the hijacking of my body the way cancer did. How long had those mutating cells been slowly taking over my lung? Had I been feeling healthy for a year, or two, or three, Continue reading
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Everything you need to know about lung cancer, but were afraid to ask
Two weeks. That’s 14 days x 24 hours before my next doctor’s appointment. Actually, not with Dr. Rocket, but once again with “Irrational” radiology. In case you haven’t figured it out, the words in quote markets in the middle of a sentence could be something I made up. Just saying. Waiting to see what’s happening Continue reading
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My oh my, why an MRI?
Well, this was it — the beginning of what would be several months of “dis-ease.” It began with that phone call from Dr. Russell. I never met Dr. Russell. He was the doctor that my primary care physician called right after the first suspicious x-ray. He called Feb. 23, and said “there was nothing he Continue reading
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PET Scan day
Another day, entering the unknown. The weather was awful, so we left for Bismarck early. My desire to get these exams over and done outweighed my impatience at sitting in hospital and clinic chairs for hours at a time, staring at the walls, watching solemn faces entering and exiting. Although arriving early to appointments, we Continue reading
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Identifying a tumor
We will soon know what’s inside my chest. My friend Shelley met us at the hospital at 7 a.m. on a bitter below-zero Wednesday, Feb. 22. The sun had not yet met the horizon, and the city was beginning to wake up. The hospital light looked dim in the surrounding dark, one of the only Continue reading
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What would a CT scan reveal before the biopsy and PET?
Without opening my eyes, my first conscious thought was, “I have lung cancer.” Somehow, my life began to blur and my mind moved to going over every detail of the past two months. At this point the word cancer didn’t seem etched in stone, but I knew something was not right. I didn’t have any Continue reading
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The truth comes out in February 2023
The continuing story of my journey to better health. Continue reading
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The Jesus Revolution Movie and me
“That movie wasn’t at all what I thought it was going to be.” “Really, what were you expecting?” “I thought it was going to be funny.” Funny, as in haha, make fun of Christianity funny? I suppose considering our differing opinions about church, religion and spirituality, it wasn’t a surprise. Every night, unhindered by the Continue reading
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January 2023 – a new year
Of all my grandchildren — five from my children and two step-grandchildren, the boys outnumber the girls. However, my two oldest granddaughters are amazing. Another item to note is they were born in within six months of each other in 2011. It was a year of baby showers and furnishing baby bedrooms. I was there Continue reading
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What was that cough?
The year began like every other year. Winter in North Dakota. A few nice days providing a taste of spring. A new found love of exercise, memories of my mom and the upcoming birth of a grand daughter. The end of December became the beginning of an unexpected journey. As with most stories it begins Continue reading
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Backing up to begin the story of 2023
The year I became my mother This post is the beginning of the year 2023 with roots in 2022. Some of you may have read this post as I planned on using it for my Christmas letter. Be warned, it’s rather long. Christmas 2022, I became my mother. It wasn’t planned. I’m not sure it Continue reading
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Where do I begin?
Every story has to begin somewhere. I’m struggling with how to document the year 2023. It has been a year unlike any. And, why not? We are getting older, the world is getting weirder, nothing remains the same, even me. This year has been a year of change for our family in some life-altaring ways. Continue reading
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The Cookie Jar
Cookie jars seem to have gone by the way of my mother’s generation. You don’t see many on kitchen counters beside instapots and airfryers. My Grandma Kaseman had two cookies jars in the mud porch at the back of her house in Wishek. One shaped like an apple, a funny yellow color for an apple Continue reading
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In the year 2023
I’m rededicating myself to this blog. and this post is why. Continue reading
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Look for this book
Look for this book, my children. You will find it in my recipe drawer. You will be proud of me because of my foresight into your future. One day, I decided it would be easier to find my favorite recipes if I just put them into a convenient book. Available right at my finger tips. Continue reading
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Uncle Ed’s Birthday Board
We weren’t expecting any more guests. The room was full, the cake was on the table and yes, my spouse was surprised. But, then a knock at the door. Who? I opened the door and there stood a figure clad in a head-to-toe white suit. Not a polyester suit, but a something more along the Continue reading
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It’s time children
Aunt Alice’s Aunt Katie’s potato bread recipe… YUMMMY. Continue reading
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Chocolate Chip Cookies – my first attempt
Cookies are cookies even with pancake flour. Continue reading
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A season of passing
Children … enjoy every minute of every day. It doesn’t seem like it at this time in your lives, but just like that it will be over and you will wonder where it went. All you will have are memories of the past – make them joyful ones. (Dec. 30, 2015) – It has been Continue reading
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In the beginning…
There was nothing outstanding about the birth of a child in the 1950s. It was the tail end of the baby boomer generation. It was a Good Friday though. In itself, Good Friday was not a good day for birthing or Jesus. However, in the context of the whole story, it was a good day Continue reading
About Me
I love to write. My background is graphic arts and journalism. My roots are German-Russian from McIntosh County, North Dakota.
My time is spent reading, writing, gardening, cooking, blogging, fiber arts – you name it, we try it.
INDYchildrendotme 