"Personal battles are won

in the heart and mind of the person"

 Latest News for the Month of

November 2005

        Hi everyone. Its been a while since I have updated this section of the website. For that I apologize. It's been extremely hectic here as we try and continue to pack, move, entertain, travel, take care of medical issues, etc.

We are still in the process of moving and have to be out of the house by November 13th. While we have till the end of the month, we have set a date for for the 13th to be out to allow the new owners time to get in here and do some work before Christmas. I would have preferred to take this at a slower pace, but we wanted to help them out. We have had some help as Ingrid's family arrived from Australia in mid- October. They have been a huge help to us packing and moving things, but we have tried to keep some of that to a minimum. They are here on vacation not on a work program, but with the time schedule we didn't have much choice. :) We are moving everything into our rental house but just bought a new piece of property in the Mountains in Virginia. Its a raw piece of land ( 5 acres ) situated about 3 miles from the Blue Ridge Parkway.  It is also located about 30 minutes from Lindy & Kim which will make it much better for us to get together with them and to see Ella. Our plans right now are to sit on the property until next summer and then begin to improve it with some clearing, well, septic system and driveway. It is a gorgeous piece of property which rolls downward towards the back to a lovely stream. It is located in the Otter Creek subdivision which is a closed private community. It's mainly made up of retirees who have built some gorgeous log cabins. We are excited and will be selling the rental house next year and move there permanently. We are still wondering what we will do in the winter months and may just do what we are doing this season, heading to warmer climates till the temperature warms back up in Virginia.

On the medical front, things seem to be moving along OK. My latest lab tests show I once again have to much blood volume so I will be going in for a phlebotomy soon. I have had constant cluster headaches so that hasn't been fun in the least but have managed to get by. I just had a very small mass removed from the top of my head which was pretty much a painless procedure. I really didn't feel anything till his scalpel got deeper into the tissue and to the skull. A little more lidocaine and I was good to go. Dr. Brockmyre as always did a great job and he called the procedure " A removal of my horn ". :)

I will try and write more later as I have more photos to upload and want to keep everyone abreast of the news.  I am hoping this finds all of you in great health and spirits as we begin the march towards the holiday season. Amazing huh ? Turkey day is just around the corner and then Christmas. Yikes......

 Hi Gang,

Turkey day is here and currently we are in Lynchburg celebrating Thanksgiving with Lindy, Kim, Ella Lynn, Natalia and Matt. While we had some cold weather with allot of rain, its simply gorgeous this morning with the sun shining and warmer temps. Tomorrow ( Friday ) we are driving the coach to Michigan ( that depends on how bad the roads are). I haven't had a chance to check the latest conditions on our route but rumor has it Cleveland, Ohio got over a foot of snow. Our plans are to drive to Michigan to see family and friends then head back to Bristol with a stop off in Columbus, Ohio to pick up a new enclosed trailer I ordered. If the weather is iffy, we will cancel and head back to Bristol and pay to have the trailer delivered. I am not crazy about risking a $ 200 K plus coach on snowy/icy roads. Some of this route takes us up I-77 through West Virginia and if any of you have traveled that way before know the freeway winds up and down and around the mountains there. It isn't a fun trip even in summer, let alone the winter months.

It's so great to be here with the family and spending time with Ella. She is talking more and is now saying " Bumpa " ( Grandpa ). Its just one of life's greatest treasures to sit back and watch your grandchild grow and mature while melting your heart for you along the way with hugs and kisses.

On the health front I wished I could give some good news but I can't. My recent blood tests indicated a high blood volume again ( HCT ) so I had a unit of blood removed at the Hospital a week ago. When I had my weekly blood tests done on Monday I also had a slide ( smear ) made of my blood. When the tech looked at it under the microscope she had a depressed look on her face and then allowed me to look at it as well. The slide was pitiful looking and I could see by the morphed cells and tear dropped shaped red cells ( which were high in numbers ) that my bone marrow has deteriorated even more in the last two months. Obviously I have staged well into Myeloid Metaplasia. The plan's call for chemo to begin once we are settled at the resort in Casa Grande, AZ. I really have to begin working on getting my marrow turned around before I end up in serious trouble and fighting even more then I currently am for my future. I want to do all I can to avoid a marrow transplant and the chemo seems to be helping. Its time to begin a long course of the nasty drug.

I forgot to update you on our move. For the most part it is over now and we are settled into the house on State St. I still have my workshop machines and motorcycles to get out of the garage but am waiting to get the enclosed trailer so I can move everything into it to be stored for the winter.

The days are clicking off till we take off on our Westward journey. With the cold weather we have been having I simply cannot wait. I seem to not be able to handle the cold weather very well anymore and cannot wait to experience some sun and warm weather.

I am back on the internet now but the connection is miserable which is why I haven't sent many e-mails or uploaded any new pictures. I simply get online now, read the news, my e-mails and then sign back off. I haven't been able to get onto ICQ lately or update this website but am going to begin trying to once we get settled at the resort in AZ. This news page is going to have to suffice for many of you until I can get a better internet connection. ( Good Gawd I miss DSL ). :)

I wanted to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope its a joyous time for you and your families and that all of you get fat and sassy off the loads of food we all seem to eat during these Holidays. Until the next update, enjoy, laugh, smile and be thankful for everything you have in life. I know I am thankful for life as well as all of you, my dear family and friends.

Well, so much for a short trip to Michigan. Mother Nature took care of those plans for us. With over a foot of snow dumped in our pathway along our route in Ohio we decided to cancel. Its Saturday morning and we are heading slowly to Columbus to pick up our new enclosed trailer. Plans are to overnight in Fort Chiswell, VA then head up to Columbus, OH to meet the trailer dealer on Monday morning.

Thanksgiving day was allot of fun as we feasted with the family  till our bellies felt like they would burst. Kim put on a great dinner and had all the trimmings for us to enjoy. Pie's, turkey, ham and side dishes. ( Notice I mentioned the deserts first ). Natalia did a great job baking her first pumpkin pie from scratch and I myself was impressed.

After dinner and a rest we headed to Lindy's garage where we tried to shake off a few lbs. gained at dinner time. How many people have hula hoop contests on Thanksgiving ? I guess it only shows our family is anything but normal and sane. :) ( Click here to view the pictures of the contest ). It's fair to say the Young Un's won. Natalia out did everyone with the hip hula hoop style and Matt blew everyone away ( as well as caused a great deal of laughter for us ) with his hula hoop neck routine. Ingrid and I were not as good and Kim did a fairly good job as well with her neck hula hoop. Barbara ( Matt's Mom ) did an amazing job holding up the oldies attempts.

All in all it was a great day and allot of fun for all of us.

We are in the process of readying the bus to take off to Fort Chiswell. Will write more again later.

My very best to each and everyone of you,

Chris

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