Opinions . . .

Hello from “Almost Eden”.
That is my personal name I coined for our little piece of land we are so blessed to live on. It isn’t Eden, but close enough.
Garden Talk:
Was it just me, the patient who cannot handle the heat, or was it really a hot one today? I stepped out to go and get my treatment early this morning and then after that I was in the house until after 5 pm. It was still hot after that! I could not do much of anything as a result, so I headed back inside the house for some A/C.
[Whoever invented air conditioning needs to get a “Lifetime Achievement Award” from all of us Southerners! I guess his Award could include things like a Lifetime supply of Iced tea (with or without lemon), and of course a commercial grade Ice maker to go with the tea. Also, lifetime foot and back massages, as many porch fans as his porch can handle – that is, if he wants to go out onto his porch in the first place, and lastly, a pick-up truck].
So, enough complaining, cause as we all know, okra grows just fine in hot weather!
I have 3 main garden plots - North, East and West (NEW). All are followed with “of Eden” as in “East of Eden”.
We are having a problem over here – too many veggie’s and not enough mouths to eat what is being picked fast enough. (Hint, hint). I will say though, that the immediate family gets the pick of the litter. After that, a visit and some fellowship are required. And after that, it’s whoever gets here next! The 500 pounders are growing well, some pest damage to the vines noted, but I hope they will survive. The family picked one of the most beautiful ‘Black Beauty’ eggplants I think I have ever seen. A picture on the blog will not do it justice. Eggplants, especially the ‘Ichiban’ variety, do very well around here. If any of you have a good eggplant recipe, please send it to us – grwaites@bellsouth.net. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say we are going to be enjoying some healthy eating in the next coming months. Did I tell you my son and my father in law put up a fence around the main garden (East of Almost Eden – that is one of the 3 sections).

Health Talk:
I am doing much better this week than last week. I do, however, have to carefully manage my pain issues or else that can quickly get out of hand. We are now trying the transdermal patch for 2 weeks to see how well it does. It is much more convenient than pills by far, since you only have to change it once every 3 days and you do not have to carry pills around with you or watch the clock, but then you have other issues. It can accidentally be torn off or start to leak around the edges – precautions can be taken to avoid these of course. We shall see. My next challenge is to gain some more weight.

For those of you who did not know, Doc, ‘C’ (constipation) had paid me a visit for almost 2 weeks, for sure the past 7 days with no action at all. I had to drink the ‘Golytely’ cleanse liquid nasty salty stuff all day yesterday to get me out of this crisis – praise God for that nasty stuff! I lost 6 lbs. in one day following that cleanse! Six pounds of what, I shant say. It certainly was not muscle! Wow. I had not eaten much since I was so backed up and it was only causing more pain and worry. I said all that to say that I am down to 144 lbs. That is the lowest I have ever been since this all started in 12/2005. They ‘sicked’ the Nutritionist on my tail Thursday following the treatment to give me a pile of recipe ideas that are for those going through radiation/chemo. Radiation does its own damage to your body, not usually as bad as heavy chemo, but it can affect blood counts dramatically if we are not careful. I am also on the 24/7 - 5FU chemo pump during the week days – off on weekends. So, I will be trying to eat – which never used to be a problem for me – more and drinking supplemental stuff, too.


I can do nothing but express my thanks to God Almighty for the great things He has done, is doing and is going to do. He has used so many of you to bless us and encourage us as a family and me as the patient that if all of these things were written down, the list would go coast to coast. Thanks for your continued prayer support. Sonja Howell, a friend of ours closes some of her comments with "PUSH", which stands for "Pray Until Something Happens". I would like to remind you of these prayer/physical needs:

Dr. Hackler - peace, comfort, healing and the Will of God.
My mother Patsy - she has finished all cancer treatments, but now has 'shingles'.
My dad - Mike, he is trying to lose weight and also deals with chronic pain/breathing issues related to his weight.
My dad's friend Ronny- quick recovery from the explosion.
My brother's friend Danny - recently diagnosed with bilateral lung cancer.
Barbara and Don Gerard - quick recovery from colon surgery. (and also donations to their monetary account at all Capital One branches).
Me - to gain weight, continued healing, no complications from pain meds or other treatments.

And for God to have His way in Baton Rouge - for an open Heaven - where the presence and power of God can freely move, unhindered.

Have a blessed Friday!!!