Tangboy's Blog

This weekend has been a blissful visit to family and relaxation. Amy and i wondered on down to the Knickerbockers (Steve and Vic) to get some family time in as well as “Get the ribbit outta Dodge!” for a little while. Steve and Vic put us up in class and style in one of their guest bedrooms and let us just take it easy.

Saturday we all went to “The 3rd” (one of the many church services held down there in Chattanooga that we really enjoy thanks to the uplifting music and the Pastor Mike Fulbright with his down to earth sermons) and enjoyed an excellent talk by Mike as well as some great music done by Tag Something. Honestly i fell asleep during the last 15-30 minutes of the sermon because of this stupid cancer, which i admitted to afterward while talking with Mike. he understood the reason for it and has been supporting us with prayers and dealing directly with Steve and Vic.

After church Amy and i played a little pool while we waited for Nana, Bampi and Grannie to come on over to join us for lunch. The lunch was awesome with the wonderful food and interesting discussions that always occur with this crazy Knicks. Afterward we sat on the side porch in the sunlight and talked, laughed, slept, and found out the population of the 4 main cities in TN!

Nana, Bampi and Grannie had to leave so i attempted a snooze but couldn’t find sleep so i tossed and turned dreaming up ways to make money. he its a good past time to do on the Sabbath right? dreams of selling my hair for millions came up quite often so i hatched a plan that i will share a bit more with you later.

Saturday evening found Amy, Nana, Vickie and later Jacquie shopping at the mall and Steve teaching me the benifits and finer parts of the TN and GA lottery I have never really explored the sillyness of the lottery and i had a wonderful time talking with Steve about the different aspects about each different type of lotto. a bit of a fact here for ya, both GA and TN lotteries go for the education systems, so being a good teacher that i am i bought a few of the different types of drawings and enjoyed sitting in a gas station getting excited about ping pong balls falling from Heaven to grace us by NOT falling on the numbers we had chosen in Keno. how bout choosing that 4567 in a row for two games, not getting it, then not playing them for the next few games and then those numbers getting choosen. next time Steve choose 4567 for every game just like you had discussed on the ride down . Later that night we met up with the ladies to have dinner at the American Cafe and enjoyed some very unusual conversation which is always adventurous with this bunch.

Sunday i awoke to Vic walking (sounds like a heard of elephants to you and i [we love ya vic]) and the smell of some delicous food that Steve is so famous for his Sunday breakfast. After having a bit of everything i was quickly filled and just sat basking in the pleasureable chit-chat and enjoying the beautiful day.

Headed home just to unpack and then head to school for the evening. We swung in a pet store to get 30 gold fish for the game i was in charge of for the fall festival my school was putting on to raise money for a new roof. my game was a game where the goldfish were the reward as well as part of the game. the contestant would throw a ping pong ball from a measured distance into a mass of cups filled with goldfish. if the ping pong ball landed in a cup, that contestant got that fish. with some of the pre-k to k students i simply had them walk up to the group and drop the ball straight into the cup for the fish which brough smiles to the parents, or frowns from those parents that didn’t want a fish that would be flushed down the toilet in just 2 days while consoling their child and trying to describe to them the aspects about death. We did well for the night with that game bringing in about $60 profit from our fish.

The highlight for me was the fact that my idea that i had thought up Saturday was put into action with the approval of my principle. Since i will be recieving Chemo on Tuesday, the doc said i would more then likely be loosing my hair in a couple of weeks. so for my last hair cut, i was going to let the highest bidder at the festival design or even cut themselves. So after a quick intro by yours truly discussing why i was allowing this insanity that i would have to put up with for at least the next couple of days the auction comensed. so ya wanna know how much my next hair cut is worth? well someone thought that to them it was worth $160! can you believe that? someone is willing to give me a wacky haircut for $160. the money goes to putting on a new roof on the school.

makes sense, i loose my top so the school gets a new one, yup teachers sure do give up a lot!

Ok, i went to go see my specialtist to get some info on my Hodgkins and this is what he tells me. on the aggresive scale from 1-4 i am a 2 and on the stage scale from 1-4 i am a 2 unless there are some cancer cells in my bone marrow. now if you have ever had a bone marrow test you know how they go, numb your butt, then get a pipe shoved in your back and some jellow sucked out. thats the none detailed version. here is my version. the doc had me drop my pants a bit and then he proceded to roll me over on my side facing the wall with my knees in front of me braced against the wall. he told me he needs the knees pressed against the wall so he can push. push what? isn’t he just gonna take some marrow out. anyway he gave me a few shots to help with the pain, funny, cause pain to save pain? well then he says that i have hard bones, so this could be interesting. I heard him get out the jack hammer and start that up and then he said “this could tingle” lets look at www.dictionary.com definition of tingle = “To cause to tingle” odd i dont see anything about the feeling of having someone push on your bone with a very sharp and large object. the pain was, well on par with having someone with a large and very sharp object jabbing you in your bone!!!! the same i know. that was the small vial he needed. then he said he has to go for a big one, big one. he said the pain will last for about 20 seconds. what is this a bull ride? if i scream do we have to start over. well the big sample was on par with, oh, a guy sitting there with a sledge hammer slamming away on a splitting wedge on my hip. ya “20 seconds” poor amy, i think i borke her hands and her eardrums. i bellowed out something about “gollyjeepersthathurtsmorethenanythingicouldeverthingofinmylifeand – idontwanttohearanythingaboutchildbirthingbecausetherecould – benootherpainworsethenthissopleaseletmesqueezethebone – marrowoutofyourhandsandseeif – youlikethepainbecausethishurtslike – !!!onastickdagnabbitiwantafrostyright – aboutnowjuststickitintheIVidont – careifidonthaveanIVbecauseijustwantafrosty – andforthisguytoquitewackingme – withasledgehammer!” yeah something like that. well i am not feeling well so i am going to take a nap, til tuesday when i have my first chemo treatment. so have a wonderful day and think of me when you think of pain!

Trip to a special bank = $350
Pack of special candy = $4.75
“Money” in the bank = Priceless

Ok if you dont understand any of that, it’s ok! only some of ya know what that refers to and you can thank partly my father and partly joe for that. i just had to put it down. anyway today i head to the doctors to get lectured on Hodgkins and also have some bone marrow test. and by bone marrow test i am thinking GIANT NEEDLE AHHHHHHHHHHH!!! i honestly have no clue but thats just what i think, i mean bone marrow is in the middle of the bone, what are they going to do, drill into my bone with a 1/2 in drill bit and suck some out? *sigh* the life of a needle hater, the fears and things that make you go “bluuueeeehhhhheeee” (taken from blue collar comedy hour) i am here at school to teach one class before i head to the doc. the principle and i agree that we do not want the 9th and 10th graders to fall behind in geometry since no one else really can teach it except me. so maybe i do have job security! HAHHAH they cannot get rid of me yet! well i hope that everyone has a wonderful day and a good laugh. and if you’re luck y maybe i’ll tell ya what the “priceless” thing is all about.

Well everyone, the major update everyone has been waiting for. after waiting through gas sessions, crying on my wifes shoulder sessions, dealing with unspeakable pain, eating my parents delicious food, and trying to dull my senses on hydrochodone and percocet. drum roll please.

I have officially been diagnosed with Hodgkins, a sub type of Lymphoma. So wonderfully i have an amazing date planned with the specialtist on thursday to have a huge need of vanquishing shoved in my back and driven straight into my spine to have some bone marrow tested. at least that is what i have in mind when he said i need a bone marrow exam. he also wants someone close to come in so he can give my wife and i an educational session on the joys and perks of Hodgkins and how it will create a lifestyle of joy and happiness! ok a bit too much maybe, just gotta find the joy and humor in it all. i also have the option of my first chemo therapy which happens every two weeks as well as some other stuff. so hopefully thursday we’ll be able to inform you of some more awesome and exciting news. anyway i’m still kicking and screaming, yall can’t rid of me yet! love yas and keep me informed on whats new with you guys!
-geoff w

Today is Monday and i am still in pain. there is still a fair amount of air trapped in my body (the air used to inflate my belly for the lapascopic surgery) which really causes the most pain. i ran out of my percocet yesterday so today i got some hydrochodone! that stuff is great from what i am finding out. pain is gone and i am pretty happy. but my stomach muscles are the constant pain especially when i do a sit up motion or sneeze or anything using my stomach muscles. i am not sure when i will make it to school to be able to teach. it takes so much energy to go somewhere in the car or entertain guests for a short period of time. i dunno, i guess i am a wuss and i just need to sleep it off. anyway we should find out information tuesday or wednesday so i’ll update as soon as i find out, yeah im sleepy bye.

Thats right folks last surgery (first biopsy and port insurtion) went fine this surgery pfft. on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being good this surgery got a score of -9.5 i swear i couldn’t feel any worse ok i shouldn’t say that since i feel nauseated (sorry bout spelling) and i could be throwing up that would be worse and tip that scale rating to a full blown -10. anyway its midnight and i just got up to take a pain pill and enter into that world of wonderful blissful sleep as long as i dont hit my port again saluting the flag (who dreams of that!?) or doing situps/laughing. i need rest, so think of me as you are comfortably sitting/sleeping/laughing/breathing/running/working/churching/more ing so good night all and i will talk to you when pain permits. nite nite!

Geoff has only one word to say after this latest surgery.

It’s a lot like the NASCAR t-shirt: Go fast, slow down, turn left, repeat 500 times.

Only for Geoff it is the word used in the title, repeated every 30 to 45 seconds. And, with the same feeling.

Every time.

It makes you want to moan.

Uuuuoooogggghhhh! There he goes again.

Uuuoooggghhh – there we go in sympathy.

The strange thing is that Geoff’s surgeon is about 5 years younger than Geoff. Or at least it seemed that way from my (revered male parent) perspective. Add his blonde hair and southern draw and I figured he had one of his cousins General Lee out in the parking lot somewhere. Or maybe in a garage to run in street races.

But, he was nice when he came into the discussion room to talk with Amy, Debbie & me. Said that he had tried to get a couple of nodes that were suspended in the mesentery and easy to access. He sent them to pathology for a quick check, but they found that the lymph nodes were reactive (responding to the problem in other lymph nodes) rather than sources of the problem themselves, so they went back in and took parts of several nodes that were clearly irregular. So, they should be able to do a good diagnosis this time – results Tuesday or Wednesday.

The procedure was laproscopic as that was less invasive than pulling out Sting and whacking a big gaping smile in his stomach. They made a small incision to put this 3/4 piece of copper pipe into, and then they would work thru this piece of pipe. (Actually, it was probably much nicer than what you would find at Home Depot, and probably stainless steel.) Then they punched a couple of sports needles into his stomach and pumped air in, a la inflating a basketball. This gave them room to manover around. Wish I could do that in some of the engine compartments I’ve been forced to play in. Anyway, with their double slicing and dicing for the original lymph nodes and then digging around for some that were clearly irregular, Geoff is definitely in, um, well, discomfort with Perkoset, and making a grown man cry pain without.

A question that Debbie and I have wondered about, and that the doctor answered before we had even asked him, was why not just remove the bad nodes while he’s there whittling away? Answer: Because then lymph, the fluid pumped around by the lymph nodes, would just leak out all over his abdomen. If the lymph contained cancerous cells then Geoff could then have an abdomen full of lots of little lymph cancer farms, all growing to cause big problems later. So, they take a bit of the bad lymph nodes and sew them up for later treatment.

So, to the hospital about 9 am, then in to surgery at 10 or a little later, then into the post-op recovery room about noon (with the visit from Dr. Cooter), and then into the recovery ward from about 1:30 to 3:30 or so, then home so he could moan in the comfort and privacy of his living room.

Where we all promptly abandoned him to run errands: Amy to pick up Taco Bell for us stalwart and faithful supporters and Wendy’s for a couple of smoothies for the illin one; Debbie and me to pick up groceries so we can entice his appetite back. (Hmmm, let’s see: cottage cheese loaf, leek and potato casserole with mushrooms and Gruyere cheese, Elaine’s herb bread. Excuse me while I go grab a snack.)

Oh! Geoff just said some new words! Repeatable, even! Yeah! Perkoset! Yup, time for the next round that wonderful pain-numbing drug. Maybe, with some help, he can lie down and begin that great recovery exercise: sleep!

Amy has work tomorrow, so Debbie and I will help the ailing get up & walk around, fetch and carrey at his slightest whim, and work on creating some mouthwatering odors. Then when Amy gets home we will finally let him try some of the food.

We plan on leaving Sunday, pending the level of his recovery. If he’s still having difficulty navigating we may hang around until Amy gets home from work on Monday.

And with that, I end my reporting on this chapter of Geoffrey, the Whiner.

His loving Dad.

Well howdy folks it’s me again, that annoying guy with that problem. Anyway got back from a teachers convention today. I went down last night in between percocet pops because if i went during a percocet trip i’d think a semi was a giant hotdog and i would try to eat it going 80 mph. talked about… turning kids into disciples last night, this morning talked about our changing from TN healthcare to BCBS (blue cross blue shield) and then after lunch talked about retirement (which tommy was quick to point out that i dont need because i’ll be dead in a few weeks – guess thats what older brothers are for).

It was nice seeing some old friends and college classmates. i was really tired today though after talking to about 100 people so i got a quick nap after lunch (about 3 hours long) and missed part of the retirement conference but i wasn’t worried since tommy said i’d die soon anyway who needs retirement!

I am still in quite a bit of pain from the port in my chest. the incision (did i spell that right Aunt E.?) in my leg doesn’t hurt that much, in fact i can walk without looking like a gimp but its tough when someone runs up to give me a hug and i have to tackle them so they dont push my port into my spine.

I had to duck out early because tomorrow (tuesday) i am supposed to have a dr appointment with the specialist discussing what needs to happen. so on the way home i called some people and found out from amy that my specialist told her that the lymph noid they so unceremoniously yanked outta my leg was inflammed (well you would be too if you were all warm and coazy then got sliced and yanked outta your home) and they needed another sample to see the cancer. So tomorrow i will talk with the surgeon to see what he needs to do and when i need to be in there for him to do some more mining of my innards. at least they wont have to stick me in the arm for the iv this time, they can use this cool nifty port i have in my chest.

on the way home i was talking with my mom and i made the comment that i am blessed to have cancer and that struck me as odd since, well, most people aren’t blessed to have bad things happen to them. i am not sure why i made the statement until i heard what else came out explaining to my mother what i meant. kind of odd when you say stuff you’re not sure what you saying. anyway it made sense to me, im blessed to have this becuase of so many good things that are happening because of this. i know of 3 people that aren’t close to God who are now opening up that important channel called “prayer” as they pray for my family. i am blessed to know that God can start working in their lives now that they have opened up that door. i am blessed to see how well my family is supporting one another, how quick my church is to support and rally each other up in times of need. i am blessed to know that so many people care about me and support my belief that i want Gods Will to be carried out more then my healing. i am blessed with a wonderful network of friends and family that will drive down on the weekends to watch movies and play games, cook choplets for Amy and i, sit out in the waiting room with my wife while i am being worked on, who pray throughout the day and sometimes the night for the strength that i need, for sharing with their students even though they are thousands of miles away. there are so many things that people are doing not just for me but for my family, other friends. i am blessed with cancer if not for the simple fact that i know in my heart… that i am right with God and when the time comes, tomorrow or in 50 years, when i die i’ll see Jesus face.

We all need our reality checks i needed cancer, what do you need?

love you all with all i have.

-geoff w

Well right now i am sitting in my classroom meeting with parents to discuss how awful their children are! Not really but it sounded funny right? Today i leave school at 11:00 so that i can drive home with plenty of time to change into some comfy clothes and have Amy drive me to St. Marys hospital. i have to be there at 1:00 to do paper work, presurgery stuff, and basically sit around til the surgeon is ready to slice and dice me.

This will be my… 5th time under the knife for various things like hernias, appendectomys, tonsilectomys, wisdom removal (teeth that is) and now a biopsy and port implant. biopsy is where they take some of the cancer mass and test it to see what type and in what stage it happens to be in. a port is a cool little device they stick just under your collar bone. they make an incesion and drop the port into a pocket and sutterate in place… then they slide a cathator down a vein into my heart. they can access the port for drawing blood, using for ivs, pushing meds, chemo etc. it will be in there for probably 6 mos- a year so they dont have to stick me in the arms all the time. both of my arms are bruised from the 2 ivs last week and the 2 times they stuck me for drawing blood.

I will update this evening or tomorrow depending on how i am feeling. Tom is coming down tonight to take care of me if i can’t make it to school since Amy has to work. well i have a parent coming in in just about 10 minutes so i need to quick change their childs grades so to all “Fs” to scare them a bit (just kidding!) and make things interesting.

Yup thats right everyone, i dun got myself some foreign substance in my system. i guess i could blame it on my father and his side of the fam, but that isn’tt very nice so it’ll try to be civilized. to sum up all that has happened you can read the professional story at Georgia-Cumberland Conferences web site or it’ll just copy and paste my original family/friend email that is, well, hilarious in a sadistic way with misspellings that drive Amy (my better half) nuts! so here is my email’s

Well life this past week or so has been interesting. some of you have heard my delima so to speak and some of you haven’t so i’ll start at the beginning to shed some light on my predicament. about 3 weeks ago i went bouldering and did some pretty strenous stuff (ya know, climbing holds the size of a rung on a ladder is challenging!) and was pretty sore the next few days and on into the next week.

well i thought it odd that my stomach was still sore and in pain and I noticed some swelling on the left side of my pelvice. i was also having some night sweets. basically i would wake up and the sheets would be soaked thoroughly not just damp. so i would have to move them and sleep on something else or wait for about 45-and hour for them to dry thus loosing sleep.

well last thursday i got fed up with it and went to the doctor to check on a possible hernia and was amazed to find that i didn’t have one (some of you know i already have delt with a hernia when i was about 8 so I thought i was up to par on this idea). the doctor then proceeded to tell me that i had a mass and given my family history wanted me to get it checked.

ok family history time:
- aunt verna (dads aunt) died about 2 christmas seasons ago due to T-cell lymphoma
- granddad (dads dad) has had skin cancer
- grandma (dads mom) died from colon cancer (even though she was a vegetarian!)
- granddads (dads dad again) other sister died of ovarian cancer
- granddads (again, dads dad) father died of some cancer due to his job as a printer – all the guys he worked with got it or something similar

so the doctor scheduled me to have an ultra sound (am i pregnant?) today monday. i went to my appoinment… had that funny jelly stuff splurted onto my belly (which was dang cold!) and then watched with amazment as we searched for the sex of my child (just kidding there is no child!)

the tech showed me the different things in my belly and took some shots of the mass and some other problematic things then went to call my doctor about a possible CT scan (CAT scan basically stick ya in that x-raying coffin thing) because these looked pretty rough. he also had another doc come in and check my belly and see the different things in there and she agreed that i should have the CT scan.

the tech was funny because he knew i hadn’t had anything to eat or drink in about 24 hours so he started chuckling at me when i agreed to the CT scan. he said something along the lines of boy you’ll at least get something to drink that Berium is good tasting stuff then he winked and walked out of the door. now quick flash back for me last time i heard the word berium it was in refernce to a Berium Enema no not the singer the thing they stick in your behind and pump ya full of this white stuff (berium) to provide a contrast for x-rays. so i am freaking out and wondering how this helps my thirst problem.

i go over to the CT scan place (with amy since she just got off work and works at that hospital) and am provided with about a 32-48 oz cup of white stuff. am told to drink that fast and come back in two hours. ever had berry mountain berium? never ask for it… i think i would have prefered the enema!

come back drink some more berium get an iv (first one i haven’t gotten light headed over) and am tossed on this plank that moves through this donut thing while it takes pics. am flooded with this radioactive dye and am tossed around in this donut hole.

get a call from the doc on the way home telling amy that i have a few symptoms hes worried about…
1. enlarged lymph nods in my pelvice
2. enlarged spleen
3. enlarged lymph nodes between my heart and lungs

so amy asks him what he thinks it all is and he says hes not totally sure but there is a high possibilty that its lymphoma. (thats right same thing A. Verna died from 2 years ago. well, hers was t-cell, and she was near 80, so the picture is quite different for me, but then again….)

so amy is a bit upset but we start looking for the bright side of things. its not for sure lymphoma but we check the different types. There are two main types.
1. older then 50 not very curable, basically you’re dead
2. Hodgkins – white males of 25-30 are highly possible to recieve this, highly curable,

treatments may cause sterility (DOH!!! i didn’t want kids so its ok!) etc
also the different symptoms for Hodgkins are
1. increased size in lymph nodes
2. tiredness (which i have been the last few weeks more then ever)
3. night sweets (SEE I TOLD YOU THOSE WERE IMPORTANT)

so our thoughts are that i have Hodgkins (i think its the number one curable of the cancers) and that i will need to see a specialtist and get a PET scan (hoepfully no more berium and IVs) then figure out where to go from there ie treatments, substitute at school, surgeries? etc

the one thing that i am sticking to and thanking God for is His support and pr omise of strength when we need it. i feel i have a positive outlook and am wanting everyone to know that the single thing that i am praying for in this situation is not healing but for Gods will to be done. i have told Amy that i am accepting of anything that He reluctantly allows as long as in the end… His will is carried out and allowed to shine. i hope that you can see what i need here its the prayers that no matter what others see Him through a rough and possibly tragic event. i need your support but i dont need your sadness and tears. crying is saved for sad events and this is not one, so smile, enjoy life and the time that you have to spend with loved ones enjoy your job, enjoy your drive into work, enjoy that special someone and realize that what we have on this earth is not everlasting its who we have on this earth that is everlasting. i appreciate your prayers and i hope that through this you grow closer to God and learn to look for that peace that He is offereing i am finding it and am reveling in it! so come join me and give thanks and praise to our wonderful creator who knows WAY more then we do and has a Master Plan in effect that we are apart of. pray for each other and never forget those that love you! have a wonderful evening and i look forward to growing closer to you all through
this.

Good night all of you that i can call friends and family

geoff w