La Dolce Vita - Our Home Away From Home

This is "our" living room. Very comfortable. I am LOVING the Mexican tile. If I ever remodel or build another home, this is a must have! Does NOT show dirt and looks good.

Dining room - thank goodness the swords no longer live here.

Adequate bedroom - nice desk space for working.

See the pool through the window? Wonderful!

The kitchen is small, but fully equipped. The owner must be a gourmet cook.

You pool owners have it made! I had no idea...

These photos are courtesy of the home owner. Her photography skills are much better than mine.

Day 3 at Siesta Key

Oops! I missed Day 2 of blogging. D had an appointment on Tuesday afternoon. The appointment took most of the afternoon. The doctors did some ultrasounds and MRIs and things like that to prepare him for simulation on Wednesday. D is not a complainer, but from what he said, the ultrasound was no fun. I'll just leave it at that...

We went back to the clinic on Wednesday afternoon at 1:00 for the simulation. More ultrasounds, etc. and a foam cast was made to hold D's body in place during the radiation. The simulation is a practice run for the real radiation treatments. The clinic is divided into 2 parts - the diagnostic side and the treatment side. So far, all of D's procedures have been on the diagnostic side of the building.

When D came out from his simulation, he told me that he had new tattoos. The tats are just tiny dots that will assist in lining D up for daily treatment. I had forgotten that patients are given tattoos for radiation. I don't know why, but hearing about the tattoos was a turning point for me. Up until that point, I guess I was just thinking "this is a normal doctor's visit".

We are very pleased with the clinic so far - www.dattoli.com There are educational seminars every Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. that we are required to attend. Whole Foods in Sarasota teaches a cooking class for patients and their families on the 3rd Thursday of each month. D has a big leather binder full of info that he must read and a book that he is encouraged to read about prostate cancer, treatment and life after treatment. They take a "whole body" approach to healing and encourage a healthy diet as well as exercise. The hardest part for D will be drinking all of the water that is required. A LOT of water EVERY DAY!

The doctor prescribed a couple of meds for D yesterday to assist with the treatment. He started them yesterday and feels a little bit under the weather today. I think it is just the meds getting into his system.

No appointments today, but another simulation tomorrow on the treatment side of the clinic. He is scheduled to start the "real" radiation on Monday, 8/3 at 2:40 p.m. (This will be his scheduled time throughout treatment). He is scheduled to end his radiation treatment on Wednesday, 9/9. He will have a 10 - 14 day break and then will have the seeding procedure. More on that later...

Some of you have asked about our condo. I'm adding a separate post for that.

D and I are also reading "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan as a Bible Study while we are here. If you are interested in joining us (or following along), I am setting up a separate blog for it.

Day 1 at Siesta Key

We arrived at Siesta Key yesterday evening around 6:00 p.m. The trip down was smooth. A couple of short rain showers, but traffic was fairly light. The condo is absolutely PERFECT! Coffee grinder, espresso maker ~ we feel like we are at home. It even has the same stove that we have at home. God is so good to us!!!

We got up this morning and walked down to the beach / pier area. It's a couple of minutes down a beautiful trail. I'll post pictures later.

Danny's first appointment is at 2:30 p.m. today. He's scheduled for a 3-D color flow Doppler ultrasound. I'm not sure what that entails, but I think it's supposed to help with the treatment plan.

Thank you so much for your prayers! We can feel the prayers going to our Lord on our behalf. We are at peace and know that God is in control.

This was our devotional for yesterday:

This week's promise: God has wonderful plans for your life

What's in store for you?

"The Lord will guide you continually, watering your life when you are dry and keeping you healthy, too." Isaiah 58:11 NLT

Good News For You by Sylvia Gunter

I receive a weekly devotional email from Sylvia Gunter. The devotional below was in my Inbox this morning. What an encouragement to us all.

Good News For You
With all the negative news in the media, today I want to share with you some good news. God is still God, and he knows the plans that he has for you. That doesn't mean that life will get easier. The famous verse in Jeremiah we like to quote was written to people in captivity for seventy years! But it is still true. Regardless of what today brings, God is still God.

Hear God's Word in Jeremiah 29:11. "I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Precious one, be blessed with the love of Christ for emotional healing. The psalmist said that his body was troubled, and his soul was greatly troubled (Ps. 6:2-3). Be blessed with peace and hope being restored to you. The mind may have witnessed an event it can't cope with. The body may react physically under duress, the soul weeps. It is a total body reaction. Be blessed, spirit, soul, and body, to be healed in the root cause of all disturbance of your peace. Be blessed to reject all lies at the root. Let the power of the Holy Spirit address the lie, and be set free.

Hear the good news: It's not too late. In the defining message of his life in Luke 4:18, Jesus said that he would set the captives free. If you feel captive in any way because of emotional wounding, be blessed with his love, redemption, and power to flood you and release you. Be blessed in your brain, your mind, and your memory, particularly the part that is holding on to any issues. Receive the compassion of Jesus to address any emotional concern. He is mighty to deal with any depression or other aftermath or backlash. Receive the light of his healing grace into everything that is out of God's order.

Jesus opened the minds of the travelers on the way to Emmaus so that they could understand him in the Scriptures. Understand his words to you. Jesus said to Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." And Paul replied, "I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me" (2 Cor. 12:9-12).

Precious one, boast in your wounds by declaring that the power of Jesus is in you to heal them. You have the treasure of your life in a human "jar of clay" to show that he is your all-surpassing power to accomplish his plans for your welfare (2 Cor. 4:7).

Hear Jeremiah 29:12-14. " 'In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me in earnest, you will find me when you seek me. I will be found by you,' says the Lord. 'I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and bring you home again to your own land.' "

God's thoughts toward you are for peace. His plans in you are for healing, not for hurt or negativity or sadness. He promised the all-surpassing power of his love. He will accomplish his hope, his future, and his well-being in you. When you seek him, he hears you. He lets you find him to bring you back from your captivity, whatever it is. His best for you is peace, wholeness, and security.
Be blessed today in the name of the Prince of peace
(Isa. 9:6).

Tuesday, 6 days away from Sarasota

Well, Lord willing, we are 6 days away from going to Sarasota. D has remained very calm throughout this entire ordeal and I'm the one who has been shaken to the core. We received a phone call from the clinic today asking about bloodwork and results of a body scan from last week. All things that should have been sent to the clinic right away. Alas, the nurse said that they had received nothing. After a short time of freaking out and going to a couple of doctor's offices, we received another call from the clinic saying, "Sorry, a mistake was made. We do indeed have the results."

D's biopsy slides were sent to a specialist in Virginia for a second opinion. The doctor has not finished his evaluation. Please pray for good results on those tests and that the clinic will receive the results before next Tuesday (D's first appointment).

I am thinking of that song that says "I will not be moved." Let it be so, Lord!

La Dolce Vita

La Dolce Vita - The Sweet Life. Does that sound like a strange name for a blog about a husband undergoing prostate cancer treatment? Let me explain...

D was diagnosed with prostate cancer back in mid-March. We were in denial for a while, kept busy doing life for several weeks, and then finally got down to researching treatment options. There are many different treatment options for prostate cancer and none of them are perfect. Each man has to select his own route for treatment. D's doctor mentioned a cancer clinic in Sarasota, FL which seems to be a good fit for D, so we are planning to leave for sunny Florida on Monday, July 27th.

Getting things together to leave home for over 2 months has not been an easy task. We're like Santa, checking our list twice. One of our main concerns was finding a place to stay for 2 months while we are in FL. I began searching online a few weeks ago (the clinic provided a listing of potential rental properties, too), and I came across a condo named "La Dolce Vita". Now, this is not the name of the condo complex, but the name of that particular condo. I do not speak or read French, and I was a very poor Latin student, but I remembered that Vita had something to do with living. As I made a L-O-N-G list of "hopeful" places, I made a notation beside this one - "best place yet". I said a prayer and asked the Lord for favor as I called the owner. Long story short - she reduced the monthly rental fee, let us come in early at no extra charge, and the rent is 1/2 what other condos are charging! God is so good to us!

My plans are to post updates on this blog as we go through D's treatment. We really appreciate your prayers during this time. We are believing for "La Dolce Vita" - a sweet life!

“Pleasant words are a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones” (Proverbs 16:24)