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  Boy, talk about your world being turned upside down in an instant...............

About three weeks ago on a Monday night our internist called with the first CT scan results and it was like being hid head-on by a semi.  Although neither one of us knows what that feels like, it can't be pleasant. We can't ever recall having to absorb such devastating information.  Cliff just put is head down on the bed and sobbed. His worst fear for the years I've been married to him is CANCER.  Every twitch, each pain or change in his body spelled cancer to him.  It's always been a real fear.  Since that night, things moved along quickly. The shock has been absorbed and with love and support from family and dear friends, we are adjusting day-by-day as new information and more test results come to us.  Cliff is weary, tires easily, and gets frustrated with the new emotional and physical feelings that he deals with each day.  Watching my strong husband lose muscle strength, walk with a fatigued gait, and rest often was very emotional and frightening at first. Roles change.  I avoid chores and tasks that will set me back or tackle them a little at a time so I can be available for him. 

John drove up from Florida last Thursday to drive us into Piedmont Hospital Atlanta for our Friday morning appointment with the oncology surgeon.  Along with adjusting to this recently new diagnosis, we've been collecting new medical people in the team assigned to his personal care.  My mind was a blur with all these titles and people who are to be our support until I finally met them on Friday and I could put faces and names into my memory.  On Friday, Dr. Page diagrammed the stomach and pancreas on his whiteboard to explain the healing plan.  This week when we hear from the oncologist in Blairsville, GA, we should know when and where the chemo will begin.  So as events unfold, our journey continues. John was so supportive and calm these past couple of days.  His sense of humor and support helped us both cope as we received new information and spent time Friday at the hospital then getting a third CT scan on the way home at the Jasper Piedmont Hospital. The procedures are tiring for Cliff and he feels like a pincushion.  By the time he was finished with the scan, we were starved and stopped at the Longhorn Restaurant in Ellijay, Ga.  Cliff and I had our all-time favorite, Flo's 6 oz. fillet 

while John dove into a rack of baby-back ribs.  

He was up early this morning and headed back to Florida around 6:30. 

Cliff is overwhelmed with the number of family and friends, people in our neighborhood, volunteer fire-fighters from both departments he's with who have called to offer love and support at any time that he needs it.  Healing energy.................

 


 



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