Tuesday, June 10, 2014

It rains It pours.......

Gerry and I were supposed to be at the US Open this week. It's been nine years since I was at the last one, and I was going to help out again. However, plans change in the blink of an eye, as I learned last week.

Ger had a place on his cheek about the size of a quarter. Flat, a little shiny, no idea what it was. He basically ignored it. Just thought it was another sign of aging :)  A few weeks ago I mentioned to him that it looked like it had changed in appearance and he should get it checked, since I had a skin cancer removed just two years ago. Sure enough, it was a basal cell cancer. The earliest they could schedule surgery was, yep, the week of the US Open. Be careful what you wish for.

He covered the Open last time it was here and he nearly had heat stroke. It was scary and I was not looking forward to him going back. I was hoping there was some way it could be avoided, but not hoping for this!

His poor eye is almost swollen shut, he has an incision from his eye to his chin. Looks like he had a rough night in a bar, haha (or he made me mad!). We spent all day yesterday at the doc. He elected to have mohs surgery, which was the best option for this type of cancer. The doctor here in Chapel Hill is apparently one of the best in this field. There were people that had come from all over to see this doc.

Gerry was one of the lucky ones. With Mohs, they take off one layer, test it and if there is still cancer they keep removing layers until they get it all. You go in, get a layer off, sit and wait for an hour, go back in, get your results. They got it all with the first removal, thank God. While I sat there waiting, two other elderly ladies went back for a second and then a third removal. By the time they came out from the third trip, they looked so dejected. I really felt for them when Gerry came out happy with his results. I decided that I definitely chose the wrong career path. Dermatology is a HUGE business. I have never seen such a busy doctor's office. Does everybody in this country have skin cancer? WHY? Ugh, this cancer planet!  Get those suspicious places checked out! I'm still not convinced all of this is from sun exposure though. I believe the foods we are eating and our environment are all becoming more and more harmful to us. But let's just blame it on the sun, since nobody will be affected economically that way!

So another week of looking after someone, and then Friday back to Gerry's mom. Maybe I need to go to the community college and get a nursing certificate :)   I let the deadline pass for Festifall and for the Chatham Artists Studio Tour this year. I just couldn't face filling out applications, trying to figure out where the money for al the show fees was going to come from, and then actually planning what to make for the shows. I think the pottery train has left the station without me this year. I am consumed with more family stuff than I can keep up with and it is pushing pottery making right out of the way. Gerry's dad has made the difficult decision to relocate himself and his wife into some sort of care facility and I see the next few months being difficult ones, there will be no room in my head to think about art unfortunately.

In chick news: they were stalked by a fox yesterday morning at 4am. I was standing out in the rain at 4am trying to scare him off. We think he has a den in our woods right behind the coop, mighty convenient for him, right?  The coop is pretty secure, but I don't want to see that mofo trying to dig in. Later when we got home, I was sitting on the front porch and heard them screeching. I ran to the backyard and there were two hawks siting on top of their coop. The chicks were losing their shit, trying to get out through the chicken wire, proving to me that they aren't going to be very smart, just sweet, haha! One cut her beak a tiny bit, there was a speck of blood. I helped them understand that they could go up in their box for cover, they liked that idea and they stayed up in the box the rest of the day. This morning I let them out, they came down, ate breakfast and went back up in the box. They now have had a reality check and are wary of every sound they hear. They will stick their little heads out of the door, look around and scoot back in. What funny little creatures they are. Well, now they know, everything wants to eat a chicken.


14 comments:

Melissa Rohrer said...

Sometimes, if at all possible, taking a step back is the wise thing. There's been a few times I realized I should have left something off the schedule.

That is very good news about a bad situation- I bet you are very thankful you urged your hubby to see a doctor.

Dennis Allen said...

Glad Gerry got it taken care of.Sounds like you have plenty on your plate without slapping a big ball of clay in the middle of it.I see those chicks in a children's book.

Anna M. Branner said...

So glad Gerry's surgery went well. And good for you for taking a step back from "work" so that you can take care of family without that extra pressure. I lost my Dad the beginning of May. Between still caring for Greg and his healing knee and the worry and little bit of actual care I could help with with my Dad I put a halt to anything creative. (Except for spinning, that's therapy after all.) I'm thinking about Gerry's Mom. She and Gerry are lucky to have someone who has the time and ability to care for them. Imagine if you had a job you couldn't miss? I was thankful for that every day.

smartcat said...

You have to do what is important to you and your family. Your clay and art will always be waiting for you.
Very happy the cancer scare has been dealt with...good for you for insisting on a doc visit.
Dealing with older family members aging and moving away from what they have known is difficult at best.
Remember that your blogging community is here.
I agree with Dennis, those chicks sound like story material!

Michèle Hastings said...

Let's hope you are getting all the bad stuff out of the way in one bunch. Glad that Gerry's surgery went well. My Mom had that procedure done a few years back. It can be time consuming but the good thing is they only remove what they need to.

Lori Buff said...

Ouch! It's so good that they were able to get it all. I hope the healing goes quickly and well.

Tracey Broome said...

Thanks everyone for your kind words, I'll pass on to Gerry! Hope everyone has a cool place to be today,it is soooo hot here!

Vicki said...

I second you on the "cancer planet".
So glad all went well for Gerry. It can be a terribly scary time.

About the chicks - can you add extra chicken wire to reinforce the existing wire fence? One group of my little new born bantam chicks and their mother were all beheaded in the night by a fox who chewed his way through the wire and pushed into the enclosure. His attack was silent too. Not a sound. We had dug corrie iron deep down into the ground so foxes couldn't dig underneath, and thought they'd be safe, but never anticipated one of them actually chewing wire! It happens.
Poor chickens, they really are high on the hit list.

cookingwithgas said...

Good thing you said something.
Give him our best.

Tracey Broome said...

Vicki we are in the process of reinforcing the wire, I read that the foxes could chew through. So sad for your little chicks, our next door neighbor had a chicken beheaded by the fox this week too.
Thanks Meredith, I'll pass it on xo

Unknown said...

I thought it was a stray golf ball for a minute. Turned out to be worse, but i'm glad it got picked up and dealt with now. We guys need a good woman to make us attend to these things! all the best to Gerry and well done to you for handling all this stuff so well.

jffollies said...

You seem to have an overly full plate these days , but such a big heart to handle it. Hoping the best for all involved.
As for he chickens, many of my friends have gone to chain link fencing instead of wire.

Anonymous said...

Tracey, hi. I have followed your blog since the N&O article a few years ago. I thought you would like to see a photo from another blog: John Golden is a very successful Etsy seller from Wilmington. He produces digital prints applied to wood. His blog post from April 16 includes a photograph of his home...a book shelf that includes one of your little barns. He is one of your customers! Take a look: http://johnwgolden.wordpress.com/ Cynthia Lowdermilk, Clarksville, VA

Tracey Broome said...

Hey Scott, no not a golf ball, haha! I'm handling things, don't know how well though....
Hey Jf... yes the plate is full to overflowing these days, but there are many days of laughter and joy, so it's all worth it in the end!
Cynthia, nice to hear from you and thanks so much for the link! It was nice to have a smile first thing this morning, I really appreciate you thinking of me!!!
Thanks to all of you, Gerry is enjoying your comments too!!!
xoxo