Indians Game #4

We took people with us to the game and our seats were next to our bullpen. I took a picture of Sipp warming up later in the game. I even got a picture of the bullpen catcher.

Yesterday, the Indians had a day/night double header. I was hoping that Justin Masterson would be pitching in the night game, but no, he pitched in the day game. We had to watch Zach McAllister pitch. I was not too happy to see him. He pitched on July 7 and only lasted 4 innings. He got thrown out in the fourth inning of this game. He did fine in the first two innings, but stunk it up in the third. He gave up five runs in the third. We made two errors last night. Zach should've not been pitching. He can't hack the majors, yet. Hermman came out for relief in the fourth inning. In innings three and four, we gave up 10 runs to the Mariners. The Mariners are in last place and we lost 3 out of 4 games to them in three days.

I am not putting all of the blame for the loss onto Zach. Our offensive was too good either. We loaded up the bases three times. Our batsmen seem to like to strand their teammates out on the bases. Do they want to go to the Playoffs? I sure want them to go.

Last night's game was not as boring as the previous games were. The wrong team was scoring the runs.

Two Tests and a Funeral

This morning I had a CT scan. I noticed that the pillow wasn't at the usual end it is on, where my feet goes into the machine first. My head went in first, because the doctor ordered my neck to be scanned along with my chest, abdomen, and pelvic areas.

The nurse prefers accessing ports while the person is lying down. I work better sitting up. The nurse had a problem with me sitting up, so I lied down and it was working that way either. The nurse asked for another person to come in, but before she was needed, she somehow got blood return. They taped it down that way for it to work.

After my CT scan, I walked over to a different building for a lung function test. This wasn't the complete test, like the one done in May.

I got up to school around 10:30am. Took upstairs to my room things that were in my car. Left school around noon for Dave's funeral.

The funeral was nice. Four people spoke, three pastors, and the Dean of Northern OH from IWU. Then Dave's sister and three brothers spoke. The service lasted an hour. Stories were told about Dave, verses shared. People laughed and cried. We caught up with those we hadn't seen in a long time. There were people there from Real Life when I was part of it in the mid '90's to those who are in Real Life now. It was a very nice service. Dave will be missed. He touched a lot of people here on Earth. He meant different things to different people. We have all been blessed to have had Dave in our lives.

Life is so Short

This afternoon/evening was calling hours for a friend I have known for 15/16 years. Tomorrow is his funeral. He's been gone a week. Back in 1991, I started going to The Chapel, to the college class during the summer and when I was home from college. I moved over to Real Life either in the fall of 1994 (when I was doing my Student Teaching) or in the winter of 1995. That is when I met this friend and his sister. Before I moved to TX, he led our Thursday night time along with another friend. Fun times. We weren't close, but we were friends. After moving back home 4 1/2 years ago, I'd see him periodically. He'd help teach the class on Sunday mornings, come to the Christmas party. In December of '09, I went to the calling hours for his mother. I was back there for his calling hours today. It was hard to see him in that casket.

How we all found out of his death, was a week ago. I was playing on the computer, and was on Facebook, there was a note from a friend announcing his death. It was a real shock to hear of his passing. When he went home that morning, he stood in front of God and heard "Well, done, my good and faithful servant." I know the choices I have made in my life. I know I will spend enternity in Heaven, but I've been thinking about will I hear that from God. God is good. God had his reasons for taking my friend home early Sunday morning, August 14, 2011. Rest in peace, Dave Wright.

Indians Game #3

Last night's game was the first of three for the month of August. For all three, we have four tickets for the game. A couple from my parent's church came with us. Last night started a three game series against the Detroit Tigers.We sat in right field. The seats were okay. Sitting in left center was better.

Justin Masterson was our starting pitcher. He did pretty good the first inning. We scored two runs in the bottom of the first. Justin allowed the Tigers to come back and tie the game in the top of the second. We did nothing in the bottom half of that inning. When I go to a game, I get into the game and can cheer loud. I get into the game at home watching it on tv or listening to it on the radio. Toward the end of the second, a guy from two rows down, turns around and asks me to be quiet. That is the first time that has happened. I didn't say anything back to him. I didn't think there was anything wrong with me cheering as loud as I was for my guys. Neither did my mom, nor who was with us at the game. If you don't want to be around loud cheering, then don't go to a game.

Right after the second inning ended, the grounds crew came out to put the tarp onto the infield. It got dark, with lightening, and thunder. On the jumbo tron, they showed cartoons and the White Sox game. After two hours and one minute, the game resumed. We went back to our seats, and felt a few drops, and thinking it was going to rain again, we went home.

I stayed up watching the game until the 11th inning. I went to bed. That was around 12:30 am. The game went to 14 innings and ended a little before 2 am, with bases loaded and our new guy getting hit by a pitch to walk in the winning run. Justin didn't come back out after the rain delay. The whole bullpen pitched at least one inning last night.

Cleveland Zoo

I went to the Cleveland zoo yesterday with friend from Real Life, part of . We had an enjoyable time at the zoo. Four people paid $4 to ride a camel. Went into the Rain Forest, and the main part of the zoo. We did miss a few of the exhibits, so we didn't see all of then animals. At the Elephant Crossings, spoke with a volunteer about the elephants. She showed us part of a tusk that one of the male elephants lost. It actually, broke off. I learned that the tusks will wear down depending on how much they use them. I never knew that. I took over 200 pictures. I tried to take a picture of the name plate of the animals I took, so that I will have their names for scrapbooking. Here are a few pictures of the different animals we saw.

Cpap Machine

Yesterday afternoon, after my staff development, I had an appointment at a medical supply store about the cpap machine that I need. The therapist showed me the machine and how it worked, how to put it together, and tried a couple of masks on me. The machine is calibrated between 5-20. The lower the better, and mine is at 8. One part is the dehumidifier, and I can only put distilled water in it. The machine is not that big. The jury is still out on whether or not I will take it with me when I travel.

I set it up last night, and it is to be lower than my bed, and it is. I found out, that I have to hit play on my cd player before I can put the mask on. And, I have to do this in the dark. It was uncomfortable laying on my left side (the way I normally sleep). Took me longer to fall asleep. I have to get used to it. My hair needs to be up with the mask on. I woke up this morning, so tired. With using it, I am not supposed to be tired when I get up in the morning. The machine is supposed to be pushing the oxygen down to my lungs, so I would be getting more air at night than I have been getting. It looks like it is put together correctly. If things don't improve, then I will call over to the store next week and talk to them about it.

Balloon Festival and Fireworks

This weekend was the Balloon Festival which kicks off Hall of Fame week at the Football Hall of Fame in Canton. There is no football game this year, due to the strike/close-out between players and owners, that just ended this past week. I went down to Canton last night to see the balloons take off and see a bunch more fly over. Some would get very close to the ground, to throw out something to see if it would hit its mark. I took a bunch of pictures. Some were a variety of colors, and some were different shapes. That ended about 8:30 pm after the parachute jumpers landed. Then I had to wait 90 minutes for the fireworks. I was told that these fireworks are usually very good. I love to watch fireworks. These only lasted 10 minutes and weren't worth the wait. I would be interested in going back down again.

I posted three pictures of hot air balloons and two of fireworks from last night.

Indians Game #2

Yesterday, was my birthday and the second Indians game that Mom and I went to this month. We have at least two more games next month, maybe a third game. We had great seats. We were in left center, five rows from the field. We had a good view of Travis Buck, who was playing right field. Buck made some good catches.

Bottom of the first, we scored one run. Fausto Carmona pitched last night. I had wanted to see Justin Masternson. Carmona did pretty good, better than he did the first half. The Angels starting pitcher had 10 strikeouts, while Carmona, only had 3 strikeouts. After we scored in the first, only zeros were put up on the scoreboard. It became a pitcher's duel. Carmona pitched six innings.

Joe Smith came out in the seventh and did a great job. Pestano came out in the eighth and gave up two runs. The score is now 1-2, in favor of the Angels. Sipp came out in the ninth and didn't allow anybody to score.

Bottom of the ninth, Travis Hafner hit a double and recieved a pinch runner. We tied the game at 2. Two outs and two on, Jack Hannahan came up to bat and was hit by a pitch, which loaded the bases. Jason Kipnis came up to bat. This was only his second major league game, and so far he has had no hits, with a batting average of 0.000. With bases loaded, Jason hit a single, got his first hit and RBI and won the game for us. The team rushed him between first and second base.

That makes both games we were at, where the Indians came from behind to win. Mom said we are batting one thousand (1.000).

Another Sleep Study

Yesterday, I was not allowed to drink any pop or eat any chocolate, because I had another sleep study last night. I slept better last night than I did the first time. I got up twice in the middle of the night, due to sleeping on my back. I went to bed after watching the Indians lose.

I was connected to all of the wires again. In addition, they put a mask over my nose, in order to push more oxygen into my lungs while I slept. It was very uncomfortable to try to sleep on my left side, so I spent most of the night on my back. I think I clenched my teeth more than normal because of the mask over my nose. The mask made it difficult to cough when I had to cough last night. I also thought air was leaking out of the mask quite a bit during the night. I don't think it fit the best.

I was not as tired when they got me up this morning, but after coming up and cleaning up, I went back to bed for another 2 1/2 hours. I will see the lung specialist at the end of September. If I can help it, I do not want to do another sleep study, but if I have to, will not be on a school night.

Greenfield Village

On Wednesday, I went to Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI. I love this place. Henry Ford took the time and money to bring to MI homes and businesses of various inventors: Firestone, Wright Brothers, Edison and from his own life. There are homes from England and other people. I love American History! This is a very cool place.



Firestone's farm house.




The Wright Brother's house in Dayton, OH.

This is just a sampling of things to see at Greenfield Village.

Spiritual Memorials

Last Sunday, July 10, I went to the Akron Campus to hear Pastor Dave Burnham preach. He is a former senior pastor of The Chapel. He preached on Joshua 4:1-7. The title of the sermon was called, "Spiritual Memorials".

After crossing the Jordan River, Joshua was commanded by God to have twelve men go back onto the riverbed and pick up twelve stones to mark as a memorial to remind the people what God had done for them.

There are three principals for having a spiritual memorial:
1. Remember the promises and power of God.
2. Remember faith requires action
3. Remember the Glory of God.

There are four things to remember in building personal spiritual memorials:
1. A story to tell.
2. A scripture to tell.
3. A song to sing (recall).
4. A scene (picture) to explain.

This got me thinking, that my hole could be a spiritual memorial for me. Yes, I am in remission for stage 3a of Melanoma, but I am in remission. The side effects of my year long treatment of Interfon, was not as bad as they could've been. God has been on the throne during the good times and the bad, and He has never let me go. God has plans to prosper me not to harm me. My hole reminds me of the good God has done in my life.

Indians Game #1

Through a BP promotion, I have been able to get tickets to the Indians this summer. The first game we went to was this past Thursday night, July 7. We sat left field side. I thought I had two seats in this corner, before we left I looked and there was only one ticket. I had to go online back into the promotion and get mom's ticket and print it up. Her seat was in the same section, but up about 10 rows. Turns out, my seat was better than mom's, but after the second or third inning, I sat with her. Where we sat, it was difficult to see the batter at home plate.

This was a boring game. Zach McAllister was pitching for the first time in the majors that night for the Indians. He did not do a good job and only lasted 4 innings. He did get 4-6 strikeouts, though. We made an error and had a hard time catching balls. We even loaded the bases in the bottom of the first inning, but left the guys on base. At the bottom of the second, Lonnie Chisenhill came up to bat and was hit in the nose by the ball. He left the game, and Jack Hannahan came into the game in his place. I like him playing third base. I repeat, it was a boring game. Bottom of the 9th, we are up to bat. We are down 0-4. We load the bases and by hits and walks. With a hit, we score a run and keep the bases loaded. Travis Hafner comes up to bat, Blue Jay's change pitchers. Mom says, they should walk Hafner, but they did not, instead they pitched to him. Guess what? On the first pitch, Travis hit the ball and knew instantly, that he had hit a home run. Hafner had hit a grand slam to win the game! Final score, 5-4. We came from behind to win the game!

Before the game, mom and I walked around Heritage Park. I took pictures. Next time, we will walk around the Indians Hall of Fame.

Dallas Arboretum

I went down to TX last weekend to see my good friends and to hear my Dallas pastor preach. I had so much fun! Last Friday, the friend I was staying with and her son, met another friend and her daughters. It has been a few years, since I've been to the Dallas Arboretum. Mom and I went there a couple of times during my spring break, when she would come down to visit me. We didn't walk through it all. This year, for the kids, they had fairytale castles and a page from that book. They were neat.

Lung Specialist Appointment

I saw the lung specialist this afternoon. It has been decided that I do have sarcoid in the lungs and nothing will be done to treat it. I am to continue the inhaler of two puffs twice a day. I do still cough, but not very bad. I have been told that I do have sleep apnea. My legs don't move while I am sleeping. I seem to stop breathing 20+ times an hour while sleeping. But, when I'm dreaming, I stop breathing 60+ times an hour. I will do the sleep study again, but this time with the cpap machine. He wants to do another CT scan, which is already scheduled for Monday, August 22 at 9 am. I am now scheduled for another breathing test (just the puffs, not the whole thing) at 9:40 am that same day. I will see the lung specialist again, on Thursday, September 22.

I need to continue on trying to loose weight and that will help a lot. The scale at Curves says something about 11-12 pounds less than the scale at the doctor's office or cancer center says. so which scale is telling the truth?

Sleep Study

Last night, I had to do a sleep study. I arrived around 8:30 pm. I had to fill out some paperwork, and I got ready for bed. The room was connected to a half bath, and the room had a bed, chair, night stand, a desk and a tv. I wasn't expecting the tv, so I watched the Indians game. Around 10ish, the lady came back in, and started hooking the wires to me. I had wired put on both legs, to my scalp, my face, chest, hooked to two belts that were put around me. When the game was over, I turned off tv and tried to go to sleep. I laid on my left, uncomfortable, laid on my back. Not sure when I fell asleep, but did get up around 1 am. Laid back down. I was awake, when they told me at 5:15 am to get up. I got about 2-3 hours of sleep. Went home, showered and laid back down for a couple of hours. I got up at 8 am, since I had professional development from 9-12. I got between 2-4 hours of sleep total for the night. I did not have my music and having the wires made it difficult to sleep. I will see the lung specialist again on June 28.

I started back at Curves this week.

Pulmonary Function Test

This afternoon, after school, I was scheduled for a pulmonary function test. The appointment was for 4 pm, and I was called back around 4:20. The room we were in for the test, made me have many coughing fits. I coughed a lot! There were two types of tests. The first one, had me take a deep breath and then let it all out and really push the air out. Next, I had to take quick breaths like I was running.

Next, she put a different type of mouth piece onto the machine. Took about 3 minutes to prepare for the test. I took a deep breath, pushed it all the way out and had to do that for about 10 seconds, then take a deep breath and hold it. Did that 2-3 times. Then, I was given a breathing treatment. She took the second mouth piece off and I did the first test again. There was no change from before the breathing treatment to after the treatment. The doctor should have the results by end of next week. I see him again June 28.

Reaction to the Inhaler

I used the inhaler for the first time at the doctor's office Tuesday afternoon and again before bed that night. I woke up in the middle of the night, as usual, and I itched like crazy. I scratched my arms and legs. When I woke up in the morning, I still itched. Was okay during the day, and while I was sitting at hte computer Wednesday evening, I started itching again. Went through the same thing Wednesday night and Thursday night. I meant to the call the doctor's office Thursday at school, but forgot. I called yesterday morning, and hte nurse called me back later in the afternoon. For now, I am to stop using the inhaler, and when teh doctor got back in the office on Monday, she would let him know. The nurse will call me back sometime on Monday to say what the doctor had to say. I still itch at times.

Sarcoid or Melanoma

I saw the lung specialist, Dr. Makkar this afternoon/ He sat in the examining room with his laptop. On the screen, he was looking at both last year's and this year's CT scans. He said I have spots all over my lungs. He also said that my lymph nodes were lit up all through my body this past time. The spots are too small to be seen on the CT or PET/CT scans, completely. They can be seen as spots. For now, I am to use an inhaler twice a day. I will have a breathing test on May 26 after school. I will also be tested for sleep apnea. He will be in touch with my oncologist, and I will see him again on June 28.

The Dr. said that yes there is no melanoma in my lymph nodes, but there are granulomas in my lymph nodes. The spots are either sarcoid or melanoma. I remember being told in the summer of '07 about having sarcoid, but nothing was done. I am showing symptoms of sarcoid, coughing and shortness of breath.

Treatments, can be oral steroids, or even nothing. I have never been told I have asthma. He even asked about snoring. He even talked about possibility of doing a test of sending a tube down my throat into my lungs to look at my broncea. Will know more when I see him again next month.

Blood Work Results

I called my oncologist last Thursday to get the results of the blood work from the previous Friday. My onc was out of the office until today. The nurse for my onc left me a message this morning on my phone. I called back later and we played phone tag. I talked to her and she told me that my blood work came back good and the test my onc wanted run also came back negative. Because I have been coughing for the past months pretty consistently, I will be seeing a lung specialist next Tuesday, in Medina, at 3:15 pm.

I have had a cough basically my whole life. There are long periods of time where I don't cough at all. When I have a cold, I cough a lot. Various times from taking inventory, I coughed a lot. Before March, I hadn't coughed for quite some time. No cancer, no other diseases, so what is going on? That is what my onc wants to know.

Post-Op visits

This afternoon I had my post-op visits with the surgeon and the GYN. When my sub showed up this morning, my kids cheered. My first doctor's appointment was scheduled for 2 pm. The surgeon showed me the test results and told me that what was removed from my neck was a fatty tumor, and the stains they did on the lymph nodes in looking for bacteria and fungus, they were looking for TB. That came back negative.

I was done with the surgeon around 2:30 and went over to the GYN's office. I got there around 3 pm, and my appointment was scheduled for 4:10 pm. They gook me early. I was in and out there with the doctor also. He told me that my onc was worried that my cancer was back. Thankfully, we already know that it is not!

I will get the results for the blood work next Tuesday, when my oncologist is back at the office.

I bought my ticket for TX for next month this evening.