Tests that were scheduled for today have been cancelled.  The hospital’s imaging equipment is down and in need of repairs.  We’ll reschedule once they are back in business.  It leaves me somewhat mixed feelings.

Sylvia was having computer woes, so I bought her a new unit.  It worked for two days.  After that, it failed to power on.   Now I have to send it to Texas for repair or replacement.    Aargh!

What’s next?

Yesterday, Sylvia and I started this season’s efforts on the vegetable garden.  Yes, there will be flowers in there too.  First we checked on the plants that went in last year.

Giant garlic looking good

The garlic plants are looking strong.  These were a gift from Sylvia’s cousin.  He’s the one that keeps entertained through items sent to me e-mail inbox. 

We have two varieties of asparagus. The Martha Washington seems to be doing better

Perhaps I should mention that after I put the camera down the serious weeding began.  Pay no attention to weeds.  Please.

Rosanne asked about the rhubarb that we got from her and Dale.  It is doing great.  Rhubarb needs a lot of nutrition to flourish so rotted manure is what it needs.  Or llama droppings, and neighbor Meghan will supply us with some from her llama, Grace.

Rhubarb or pie plant makes the best pies IMHO

After the photo op, we pulled weeds and tilled the rest of the garden.  Today I have a very sore back.  But I feel good and am already dreaming of rhubarb pie.

I had expected to take Sylvia out for lunch after church yesterday (Mother’s Day).  Saturday evening, she announced that she had some pork ribs in the freezer and wanted to bake them for Sunday dinner.

That’s what she did.  She even fixed mashed potatoes!  We enjoyed that fine meal together and then spent a few minutes tidying up the house.

Our older son, Bryant, with his wife, Barbara, and daughter, Briana, (aka the 3Bs) dropped in a little later.  In addition to the beautiful handcrafted card for Sylvia, they brought pie and ice cream.  Wow!  How great is that?  We had a great visit, as we always do.  It was good to get caught up on the latest happenings in their lives.

In the evening we drove to the nearby (5 miles) sandwich shop for a light evening meal.  We shared a BLT on whole wheat.  It didn’t take much to top off our tanks.  Then we returned home and watched Sylvia’s movie selection, Salt with Angelina Jolie.  As Sylvia observed, “There’s a lot of action in that one!”

Then, as is our custom of a Sunday evening, we called our younger son, Scott.  We had what for us is a short conversation.  By then it was bed time and Sylvia said goodnight.  I was doing a couple of online chores and would follow shortly after . . . but sleep would elude me until very late.

Yet today is a good day.  The sun is shining.

Yesterday, Sylvia went with me to visit the urologist.  We already knew the outcome of the biopsy.  The doctor had asked us both to come so that he could go over the results and analyze them for us.  He also talked about pros and cons of various treatment options.

It is prostate cancer and it is of an intermediate to aggressive type.  (Not all prostate cancer is slow to develop.)  It wasn’t what I wanted to hear, but considering how fast my numbers had risen, I wasn’t greatly surprised.

Next Friday, I’ll be going in for CT and bone scans.  The purpose is to see if the cancer has spread beyond the edges of the prostate.  The good news is there is an 89% chance that it is limited to the prostate.  I think we caught this one early and that bodes well for a good outcome.

We’ve had a lot of info to process in the last 30 hours.  However, we have a few weeks to think, talk and pray our way to a treatment decision.

Sylvia summarized the situation well when she observed, “Well, this is going to put a crimp in you summer plans.”  She is right, but the survival rate for this is very good.  And we are both optimistic and confident about what lies ahead.