Many of you may remember that I ended radiation treatments on April 24th which turned out to be arbor day. I know that many of you planted a tree and Peg and I planted an Oak at the top of the hill on our property. Well for the last seven weeks that Oak tree has looked like it was not going to do anything, no buds just a stick ! We were both disappointed but with everything else with patience things can happen. Well this week the little oak tree started to bud and now there are leaves coming out on it. It looks like it is mirroring my journey, slow and steady but nonetheless the little memorial oak tree is alive and well and that is a very wonderful thing !
It has been a slow steady week, eating is still a job and the right side of my throat still is quite painful but we are plotting on !! Soft foods, lots of eggs, oats, soft muffins, pasta etc. with lots of butter for calories and help to slid down the throat. So with what I’m eating and the Peg tube feeding, I hope to start putting on a few more pounds as the days go by. This week I meet with my dentist. The radiation can be really difficult on your teeth and gums so I was a little nervous. But alas all the brushing, flossing and rinsing has paid off and my teeth and gums are going to be OK. That was great news to hear! This week we will have labs and have a visit with the Chemo oncologist. And next week, June 22nd I’ll have a petscan to see if all the cancer is gone. We’ll keep our fingers crossed and I’ll ask all of you to put out especially powerful vibes that day!
Well yesterday was another first, I played for a wedding at the Aurora inn in Aurora NY. It went really well, both the ceremony and brunch and I felt really good about it. I packed up sound, visited with good friend Tom Hodgson and came home and had a two hour nap !! But overall things are beginning to happen. Peg and I have a few gigs coming up this week and I am looking forward to playing together. One side effect of the chemotherapy has been a tingling or numbing of my thumb and first two fingers on my right hand. I can play just fine with that but would be really happy if eventually it would go back to normal, that is what I am visualizing. It would be great if all you could visualize the numbing going away and my hand returning to normal. I know the power of numbers and positive thinking and have seen it throughout this long process !! Thank you so much for everything, your kind words, notes, and generosity really means more to Peggy and I than you will ever know. Have a great week and I’ll look for you at 7:00!
We're visualizing as hard as we can Dan. That would be some great victory when you test clean of cancer.
ReplyDeleteI just don't know why they have to scan your pets.
I had a cat scan once, but they didn't find any.
Wishing you the very best and keep eating that butter
Dan- Beaming in and focusing hard on that right hand, the fingers loose and fluid. the flat pick nestled just so and the hammer responsive and light as a feather...
ReplyDeleteCathy M seems to have a deep understanding of cats so possibly she'll be able to enlighten on why cat and pet scans when you're the patient. Great news about the oak. The yellowwood tree I had to have transplanted after my stroke is blooming so I appreciate the significance of your tree. Great to hear your diet's expanding. Will join in the visualization. Much love to both of you!
ReplyDeleteAs you know, Dan, oaks are a "slow and steady" species; they teach us to never give up!
ReplyDeleteI am visualizing your right hand (and left, too) mellifluously striking the strings. (just had to use that word "mellifluously" whether or not it is the correct usage!)
Glenda
Dan, that sounds great with the food additions. Taste is a dimension I think a lot of us take for granted. Its like the colors out side, there's so many blends. If the numbness is partially edema related really I believe from my hospital work days, that the pumping action of playing the dulcimer, will probably help by moving those fluids around for reabsorption. As I age with all the ways I overdo it (especailly in the spring) I am constantly amazed at the numbness and pains that come up in my upper extremities. (Probably neck and nerve related) Im equally amazed at how the body deals with it, all in good time, all in good time. I know this will work out for you, that way also. Keep hammerin and will see and hear you soon. Curt O
ReplyDeleteDan, it's so great that you are getting to play more, and I just know that the numbing will go away soon! And that your labs will be good this week, and your scans clean next week.
ReplyDeleteEvery day you inch further and further away from the "cancer" phase of your life. It's the little steps that get you there!
Maria
Dan,
ReplyDeleteMay God bless and heal your fingers, thumb, arm, shoulder, neck, throat, mouth and tongue. May your music making be as beautiful as always.
If you can play a wedding and other gigs, after all you have been through, I should have the courage to play at a few nursing homes over the next month.
As for pet scans, if they scanned my cat, there would probably be no surprises. But if they scanned my dog, they might find a cuckoo nut in her brain. Her "inner puppy" is still very active...
Be well!
Cindy M.
we love you and are thinking of you! keep eating custard! love, stef and val and the gang!
ReplyDeleteFrom bare sticks just a few weeks ago, our oak trees are now filled with buds and leaves, just like yours. What a beautiful sight! We hope that new life is coursing through you, too, filled with healing energy. May your journey to wellness continue and progress. We are here "rooting" for you.
ReplyDeleteOur love,
Cathy and Ron
Dan & Peggy:
ReplyDeleteBravo.
Terry Manion
Dan,
ReplyDeleteWhat numbing? (see how powerful my visualization is?)
My Mom went to Wells, Aurora is beautiful place, and made more beautiful with your music. Glad to hear you are out playing more.
We have the largest oak on the block, maybe the neighborhood. Those leaves hang on all winter long, through the toughest storms and whistling wind. I swear there are still some leaves from last year still hangin' onto the upper branches. I try to rake the downed leaves so they don't litter the neighbors' yards but can never seem to get them all. Now that I've given up, I feel much better. :-)
Yet a tree broader than a man can
embrace is born of a tiny shoot;
A dam greater than a river can
overflow starts with a clod of earth;
A journey of a thousand miles begins at the spot under one's feet.
While we haven't sent a blog for awhile, we read them all and they lift our spirits too!
ReplyDeleteI have been wanting to tell you what a wonderful evening it was at the Blueseed. You have such a great group of friends and supporters. Music truly fills ones heart with joy and the love your friends feel for you and Peg filled the room that evening.
We continue to send positive vibes for your COMPLETE recovery.
Bethyl and Bob Mayer
Dan Berggren, Dan Duggan and Peggy Lynn (Jamcrackers)
ReplyDeleteperform
http://www.ilcsd.org/photos2009/heritage8/index.htm
http://www.ilcsd.org/photos2009/heritage7/index.htm