Hi Everyone, Sorry about the 5 day delay. After playing Friday afternoon and Saturday I was wiped Sun, Mon, and Tues.
Friday afternoon my partner and I played in a "horserace". It is elimination golf, the worst go out of the game. We ended up coming in second against as we call them all the flat bellies (young guys). My partner is a senior player and a friend of ours and we had a great time. Saturday we had a good time too. Played pretty decent (I was happy) although we didn't win anything but we had a good time. Very relaxed.
Sunday since I had been playing all week some errands needed to be run so we went to a couple of grocery stores. By the time we got home I was exhausted. I could tell the week had caught up with me.
Monday I had my yearly physical which was interesting because I had never met the doc before. But I fell in love with him. He was hysterical and seemed genuinely interested in me and my health. However, I ended up getting both a flu shot and a pneumonia shot which kind of brought me down on Tuesday. I got up Tuesday and felt like I had no energy whatsoever. I was drained even more than I was on Monday. So I ran a couple of errands, did a little housework and took a long nap.
Today (Wednesday) I decided I would play. I felt better this morning but by the time I had played about 4-5 holes I again could feel the exhaustion coming over me. I went ahead and played all 18 because I was enjoying the company so much. That will be my golf for this week as tomorrow we can't play until afternoon and Friday and Sat I will start getting ready for a trip to Arkansas.
We are going to Fairfield Bay and in the info it says they only have computer hookup in 2 locations on the whole resort. I will take the computer down but don't get worried if I don't post anything. If it is a big inconvience to go somewhere to get computer access we probably won't.
The week after I get back is my appointment with my radiation oncologist. She has said she will release me to my surgeon after that appt. The time now seems to be flying. I don't know if that is good or bad. I guess we will see. KTPC Love to all

home from tournament

Hi Everyone, I got home last night about 7 really exhausted. Went to bed early and I have taken a nap already and may take another one before I have to leave for my next golf outing. I did pretty well but only with the good fortune that I was working with some very nice people. The director of golf at Winghaven in St. Louis was kind enough to give my partner and I a handicap flag for the tournament. The carts had been designated to stay on cart paths only, as they had 3-4 inches of rain right before we came up. The handicap flag allowed us to go out on the fairway if it looked dry enough to support a cart. Without that I would have only been able to play about 1/2 the holes maybe a few more as we played the practice round without one and I had to quit after about 12 holes. So I did get through the tournament though exhausted and of course being so tired started showing the third day of the round but that's ok because I had a great time seeing all my friends and I had a great time with my partner.
I had the most exciting thing happen while I was gone. I discovered that hair has started growing again under my arms. You can imagine the expression on my friends face when I ran excitedly up to her and said, "Guess what guess what?" I've got hair under my arms. At which she replied, " You know Rose, it just doesn't take much to excite you these days." Of course that is an indication the hair on my head is starting to grow again. Yea!!
I will keep you posted on how things go this afternoon and tomorrow (part two of the tournament) and I hope everyone has a great weekend. KTPC My love to all

Perceptions

You never know what you will find out about yourself or others in going through something like this. Some of the things absolutely amaze you. The true friend aspect (who is really there for you and who isn't that you thought would be). It's a very good thing I have other friends that help me put things into perspective as it could be very much of a downer.
Speaking of perspective. I was playing golf in the sunshine Friday (how sweet it is) and happened to get a glance of my shadow. Now I have worn my hair short for a long time (30 years) but I never noticed before how much my ears stuck out. I look like Obama (or Dumbo take your pick). I'm rationalizing to myself that even with short hair on your head going behind the ears it disguises some of how much the ears stick out. Either that or there is a new side effect of chemo and or radiation. Or Melvin married Dumbo . Again take your pick.
So needless to say I am starting to get a little impatient with the lack of hair. Melvin has started calling me curly. I keep thinking maybe I'm noticing it starting to grow but I can't really tell. And it needs to do more than just grow. It better start growing new hair or my hair will be so thin I won't ever be able to go out in the sun again without a hat.
I will be leaving early tomorrow morning for St. Louis for a golf tournament. We will be playing a practice round tomorrow afternoon, a regular round Wed afternoon and the final round Thurs morn. I don't have to drive so I will be able to nap on the way up and back. On Friday afternoon after I get home Thursday night I have 9 hole little tournament and then a continuation of that on Sat with 18 holes. I am praying I will have the strength to get thru it all. All of it is partner golf so that will help. I am also hoping my knee holds out. It has been doing pretty well with the brace but it is sore after 2 rounds. I have a feeling I may be icing it. (For those of you who don't know I was supposed to be having knee replacement this winter but for obvious reasons that will be postponed to next winter). So this will be my last post until Friday or maybe later. KTPC Love to all

Played today with the ladies. Shot an 82. I did reach a par 5 in 3 for the first time. I am starting to find out a little more what I need to hit and actually starting to be able to hit a little less with my shorter irons. I think part of it may be I'm starting to get my timing back after not having played all summer. I plan on playing tomorrow and then resting as I have a tournament in St. Louis on Tues-Thurs. It is a scramble tournament so there won't be as much pressure plus as my partner said we are purely playing for grins and giggles. I will touch base with everyone before I leave for St. Louis. KTPC Love to all

Went to the doc this morning. The big concern was the white blood cell count. She said mine is doing quite good. Low normal is 4700 and mine was 4600. So I should be in the low normal count before very much longer. Everything else checked out fine. I have another appointment with her in 8 weeks for blood work and port flush. In October I have another radiation doc appt at which time I will be handed over to the surgeon. He will then do a analoscopy (something like that) and that will give us the word as to whether the treatment worked. If it done I will need to have checks every 3 months for a while. So for now it is sit and wait. But I plan to stay as busy as possible. Hope everyone had a good weekend. Love to all KTPC

2 days in a row

Played golf on Thursday with the ladies league. It was my first 18 holes all by myself play it as it lies. I shot an 86 with a 41 on the front. The front is shorter so I can still reach the holes in regulation. The back has longer holes and with my lack of strength it takes me an extra stroke to reach some of the holes in regulation. It was great to get out and play with the gals.
So I got really ambitious and played another 18 today. My calves and thighs of my legs are yelping like little puppies. They are asking me what the heck I think I am doing after no exercise at all for 8 weeks. The best news is I shot a 36 on the front side and then doubled several holes on the back which put me at a 82 total. But I saw some minor improvement from Monday to today. Now I am going to rest for 3 days and let my body take care of itself by just doing some walking etc. Tuesday I will play again and then I will see what the rest of the week will bring.
We started choir practice back up and I was so happy to see everyone. I will go to practice but will not sing on Sundays yet. We will start working on Thanksgiving music before long and if things go as I think I should be ready to sing on Sundays about end of October or mid November. Monday I have a doc appointment to check my blood levels and talk to the chemo doc and flush my port out. They will have to do that about every month until they remove the port. I'm thinking removing the port will be my surgeons decision since he was the one who put it in. I'm about ready to rest my legs for awhile. I hope everyone has a great weekend. KTPC Love to all

More golf

On Sunday I went to church for the first time since June. I am a little leary because of being around so many people I still have to be careful as my resisitance is still down. But it was a great sermon and I really enjoyed seeing everyone.
On Monday I pushed Melvin into playing golf with a group of our friends. We played a 4 person scramble which was good for me because it was the first time I was out for 18 holes. I hit all shots except 4 drives on the back nine. I could tell I was getting tired plus the heat was getting to me. You have to realize I have spent 6 weeks in airconditioned environment. But I finished strong by birdieing #17 on my own for the team and hitting a good drive on #18.
This morning I walked Maggie my walk around the neighborhood. It is probably about a 1/2 mile walk with one good size hill to walk up. I didn't know how I would do but I got through it fine of course I wasn't speed walking either. I might try to go again tonight after it cools off. By the way on the walk we saw 10 deer. We have triplet fawns and I got to within 30 feet of them I could have died that I didn't have my phone or camera with me. I also saw a family group of a 6 point buck, doe and 2 fawns. Now you all know why we love our neighborhood. Today I plan to do errands and rest up but I'm signed up to play with the gals tomorrow and I hope I can get through 18 on my own.
I did end up cancelling playing in a tournament next week. It was a 3 day play your own ball tournament and if it is hot I just don't think I am ready for 3 consecutive days of golf without any help. The following week I am going up to St. Louis for a 3 day scramble tournament and I'm excited about that. One of the days we tee off at 8 am so I know the heat won't be too bad that day. I also have a friend driving me up so I won't be worn out from the drive. I'll keep you posted how I do tomorrow. Love to all KTPC

Wednesday I did not get out to play because of rain. I did go to a couple of stores with Melvin and walked through those. I was disappointed about the golf.
Yesterday I had a friend who took me over to the golf course to see all the gals. It was great. We drove around and watched them play. Riding is actually harder than walking because my rear is still sore. So after riding around for about 1 1/2 hours I was ready to go home. I went home and took a nap and went back out to the club to practice putt and I tried to hit some wedge shots. It wasn't pretty but it didn't bother me too much. I then joined the gals for lunch which was a treat.
So that brings us to today. My friend that took me yesterday morning said she wanted to play this morning 9 holes and wanted to know if I wanted to play. I told her I might not last the whole way but I wanted to try. So we went out this morning. When she teed off on #1 I got my driver out. She said are you really going to try to hit? I said yes, I might as well try. Well, to make a long story short I ended up parring 6 out of 9 holes. I figured out very quick my strength was about gone so I adjusted by hitting more club than what I would normally hit. But it worked. I know my strength will eventually come back. 9 holes was all I could do but after I did meet a neighbor for lunch and we went into a couple of shops. Between that and golf I was tired. But I've come a long way. I made a tee time for Mel and I to play with a bunch of couples on Monday. It has been a long time since we played together and I'm looking forward to it. I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend. KTPC Love

BOOHYA

That is what I'm talking about. Today I drove to the video store dropped a video off. Shopped at a s tore nearby for shoes and hats (didn't buy either) then went to another shoe store and found shoes and bought shoes. Then went to lunch at Mickey D's and woofed a cheeseburger and apple slices with a sweet tea. Got home and didn't fall asleep. TOMORROW THE GOLF COURSE. THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT.