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| Lovely Clematis |
The days have been long. The nights, for us, have been even longer. The month began with the planting of the warm weather starts and string beans.
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| Lettuce looking good |
The early starts were progressing well.
Due to my spinal fracture, Bob helped with much of the planting.
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| Planting sweet potatoes |
My back has continued to heal and feels about 100% now. Marmalade made sure that I rested frequently.
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| Dr Pussy Biscuits |
This is how the garden looks today.
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| Garden on July 1st |
You perhaps noticed that this is only half of the garden. We were stopped cold in our tracks before the other half, the dry beans and corn, were sown.
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| Kitten therapy |
In the last update, you may recall, I mentioned that Bob had not been feeling well.
The NP thought he had GERD. After four weeks of treatment, he was feeling worse and was sent to a gastroenterologist two days later. She too, thought it was GERD, but ordered more tests to make sure his gall bladder wasn't acting up. An ultrasound later that week showed something no one expected. He doesn't have GERD or gall bladder issues. What was revealed was a large mass in his pancreas and "innumerable spots" on his liver. He has pancreatic cancer which has apparently metastasized to his liver.
After this "gut punch" we decided to stop planting anything more in the garden. Other things have become much more important.
Tomorrow morning Bob will have a liver biopsy. This will show exactly what type of pancreatic cancer he has. After this is determined, a treatment plan can be devised. He will see the oncologist again on July 10th. At that visit we hope to get the official diagnosis, prognosis and treatment plan. One of the problems with pancreatic cancer is that by the time symptoms appear, the cancer is generally well advanced. This is true in Bob's case.
Bob was losing weight very quickly, which you all know he can ill afford. He has been on prescription digestive enzymes for about a week now and is eating a little better. His weight has stabilized but is still far too low. He can only eat a little bit at a time, so I encourage grazing throughout the day. His palette is also "off" so I'm tempting him with special things like cherries, pistachio nuts, peanuts and pineapple juice. Even eggs. I try to have him eat tofu and drink protein shakes made with soy milk.
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| Solstice at Taughannock State Park |
Because Bob needs a lot of rest, we had to forego our usual hike on the Solstice. Instead, we sat by Cayuga Lake and had popcorn (he'll eat that).
Another Clematis
In light of the severity of Bob's cancer, we have decided to close this chapter of our lives. Thistledown Gardens has run its course after nearly 15 years.
We began this adventure to live a life by our own design, closer to nature and away from monotonous suburbia. Overall, we have enjoyed the experience.
We will be putting our house and land up for sale, probably within the next month. I cannot even consider continuing here by myself. Our goal now is to relocate to a condo or apartment where someone else is responsible for all maintenance. It needs to be closer to wherever Bob's treatment will be, and where services like transportation, health care facilities ... are readily available.
I would like to have him settled in as soon as possible so that he will be more relaxed and we can concentrate on enjoying what time we have left together.
To prepare for the sale, I have been busy sorting our possessions. It takes a lot of equipment to grow a garden the size of ours, process food for storage and renovate an old house.
We have given quite a bit away to the folks that have shown up to help us. Our thanks go out to them for the lawn and garden work, shrub trimming, shuffling things to resale outlets and egg and grocery deliveries.
I'm using fresh what I need out of the garden. Any extra is going to the local food pantry on Saturdays.
Walkway half done
We're hiring professional help where we need to. The front walkway has been started. We hope they will finish it by the end of the workday tomorrow.
Today we're having the house exterior power washed. A white house begins to look very grubby.
I will be having a moving sale on the 11th & 12th, 9am-5pm. If you are local, please come. If you are local and could help out, please let us know. We have hand and power tools for home improvement and garden work, garden structures and helps, some vintage furniture, kitchen and decorative items, European fermentation crocks, a quality food dehydrator and other food processing equipment.
Stop by, even if only to visit Bob. He's had to step back from all of his volunteer positions due to his fatigue. I'm sure he could use some interaction with friends.
I know some of you will be as surprised by this news as we were. Sometimes life can change in a moment, just as they say. Remember to live each day, not always placing hopes in the future.
I'll try to continue these updates so you can stay informed. Don't forget about us.
Kathleen and Bob
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| Luna moth came to visit 6/30 |
