Saturday, June 24, 2023
Update # 221
22 and 17
Greetings to all of you. I hope you had a wonderful Spring. We actually had a true Spring with warm and cool temps. We could use more rain but it’s been great not using heat or air conditioning.
Life has been busy so this update is a few days past Jeff’s June 19th StL appointment. I will catch you up on various items.
Jeff returned to work Easter Monday after his surgery. He has done very well. A follow up appointment in Iowa City is scheduled for July 10. The doctor will perform another dye/x-ray test to be certain everything is working properly. I will not send out an update on that unless there would happen to be an issue of concern.
Sunday, June 11th, Jeff and Meridith went to Des Moines for a broadway show. Eating after the show, Jeff broke one of the bridges in his mouth. Fortunately, he had no pain. His dentist saw him Monday at 1:00 pm. Thankfully, she said it was fixable. She immediately began the work for a new bridge. Then the pain started. He returned to the dentist on Wednesday and a small piece of cement was found under the gum. Pain persisted and another visit to the dentist was on Friday. Even though he was already on an antibiotic, Jeff was given a mouth rinse to help with possible bacteria.
Jeff and Meridith were to drive down on that Saturday for his StL appointment. They decided to wait till Sunday to drive down and just meet us at the hospital hotel. Then they planned to return home on Monday immediately following his appointment and tests. When they arrived Sunday evening, Jeff said he had started to feel better on Saturday. They said they’d come to Hillsboro on Monday and return home on Tuesday. Jeff has a high tolerance for pain so when he said he had pain for 5 days, we knew it was bad.
Several weeks ago, Jeff received a call from StL stating that Dr. DiPersio would not be working on Monday June 19th. Did Jeff want to change dates or keep the 19th and see the NP, Stephanie. We’ve seen Steph many times and Jeff said he’d keep the date.
Labs were early at 7:30 followed by a Bone Density Scan at 8:30, then visit with Steph at 9:00 and the final test at 10:00 of Pulmonary Function. All times went well and Jeff was actually finished with everything at 10:01. Steph said blood work looked good. Later she contacted Jeff that bone density and PFT were basically the same. All good news to hear. A couple of new tests will be added next year once Jeff reaches the magic age of 40 the end of this December. These 2 tests can be done at home in Waterloo. Colonoscopy and PSA usually begin at age 50 but Jeff’s history suggests an age 40 start.
Jeff and Meridith slept in on Tuesday and had a safe drive back home.Hopefully next week, Jeff will get his new bridge.
We thank all of you for your continued prayers over these years. Please keep our Iowa friend and IL family member as they still struggle with their cancer journey. They know your prayers are helping them.
We keep all of you in our prayers. Our life is enriched because of you traveling with us. I do not plan on any updates unless we come across something important. Take care of yourselves.
God’s blessing and our love,
Marcia