[Oe List ...] Coyote Fred

[LAURELCG at aol.com]

Dear Ones,

My brother Joe came from Texas this week to take my mother home with him for 
the holidays.  That will be helpful for me, since she is 95 years old, and I 
do her shopping, banking, take her to medical appointments, etc.  She is 
scheduled to return here January 8, but may stay longer in Texas and Arkansas with 
my brothers, depending on Fred's condition.  It was so comforting having my 
"big brother" here for a few days.  Those sibling relationships have nuclear 
power.

Well, the old coyote is still with us, and still playing lots of tricks on 
himself and everyone else.  He has had 2 rounds of chemo, a new drug approved 
just 3 months ago, that really knocked him for a loop.  After the first round, 
he had thrush in his mouth and couldn't eat or swallow.  Lost 6 pounds in 6 
days.  The drug is designed to be given weekly, but it took him 3 weeks to 
recover enough for the second round.

When the doctor asked him if he wanted to go ahead with it, I was thinking, 
"No, no!"  But Fred, with total clarity, said, "Yes."  That time, the drug 
seemed to hit him neurologically.  He became very disoriented, especially 
spatially.  He fell out of bed, landing him in the hospital for 6 days, though not 
seriously injuring him.  (His face looked like the roadrunner had tricked him 
into running over the edge of the cliff one more time, however.)  He is home now, 
improving day by day.  The chemo does seem to have regressed the tumor at the 
base of his neck, and hopefully the ones in his abdomen as well.  He weighs 
around 170 pounds, so for this week and next, our strategy is to maintain his 
strong will to live, help him to recover from the chemo, to re-orient himself, 
and to gain weight.  Then we'll re-evaluate with the doctors how to proceed.  
We have the help of home health care, thankfully.

Our three sons and all our grandchildren are planning to be here for 
Thanksgiving, which should help with the aforementioned strategy.  We've ordered 
turkey and ham dinners from Marie Callendar.  She's probably not quite as good a 
cook as I am, but we'll just have to endure it this year.

We appreciate your thoughts and prayers so much, and would love to have a 
call anytime.  If it's not a good time when you call, I'll let you know, and we 
can try again later.  Our number is (559)562-2009.  

Sharry and Wesley Lachman, friends from Eugene, OR, are coming the week after 
Thanksgiving.  More sweet communion and support.

Love, grace, peace, blessings,
Jann and Fred McGuire<BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> 
See what's new at http://www.aol.com</HTML>