Gee, it's good to be back home...

monday, 6-11...drove in last nite from central colorado, big o' truck screaming past tourists and trees, hell-bent on parking in our piece of the planet. one unexpected bonus was the low price for fuel thru out the midwest so someone cut the farmers a break, and that's all right with us. Trip from Iowa to Colorado is, how do you say? boring. BORE-ING BORING. i remember now why Doro-athy was glad to see a tornado. henny ways, we ARE glad to be here with our plants, hot tub and later tonite, mad-man-maddox. terry and dano arrrived a littLE earlier than us, bearing food, drink and good vibes. this thing about friends and family is more true than any thought that has ever blinked in Dub-ya's brain. And the notes everyone is posting fill us with laughter and lightness and love. will see the chem-oh dr.s on friday and then begin draining the toxin toward my turmors next week. and i can't wait...or so i say today. i'm learning how directly expericence revises first thoughts. this is a week of catch up on sleep, gardening, and chores around the dusty homestead. will prob. put the tolly back in the lake as well, and pull the camper off the truck. keep the notes and notations coming, and thanks to all who care about us.

hey it's friday-9:00 and we're out-a-here. here being U of I hosptials and friends and family who care for us,Patty, Dix, Steve, Mary, Mike, Wes, Alena who fed us, gave shelter from storms, and made innumberable assists, phones and words of encouragement. Peg's favoirte billy-bob big-ass truck is ready to roll and we hope to sleep in nebraska tonite, (that's a hope?)
Ok, now an update on my body - saw our numero uno surgeon yesterday after a very tender bit of backside testing on wednesday, high tech magnetic coils and mri and crazy electronics, making pix of my all body parts. found some cancer is just outside the bladder, not so cool, and before he operates he wants chemo to shrink the tumor back to bladder borders. so, we/i have a series of three chemos to drink off b-4 the surgery. peg and i will drive back to beautiful downtown big water this weekend and consult with the chemo-chiefs in flagstaff and then in a week or two begin sucking up the fancy cancer-killing-cocktail.it's a three week set, repeated three times. then within a month of finishing we have the operation. Ok. we can handle that.peggy is simply an absolute best bud to have beside me. i love how we both can catch our breath and then move on to the next step available/suggested. Immortality is so complicated, think i'll have to write a book, call it the bible acccording to marcus of big water. i will fill it with platitudes and postitive attitudes and ideas on how to love a life worth living. so far,peg and i have done that. somewhere in the schedule we'll fly back to minn/landofbuzzingbitingbugs/ and enjoy and bask in the love that wes and alena are committing to with their wedding...that's about alllllllllllllll folks.
love and hugs and smiles and deep breaths...all it takes to keep on keeping...

marcus

ps-we have rejoined the electronic age: cell phones me-319-899-2474....peg- 319-899-1637
give ring we'll try to answer...i have mine set to vibrate and may, for reasons of pleasure, allow it to ring a bit longer..........HA

A competition...

Yo Dad!
Hacking in with the password, leaving no fingerprints... Someone has to update this thing! My parents are in Iowa City right now, we'll get some test results back within the next few days and if all goes well, the operation will go on as scheduled in a week and a half. Wes and Alena are back home in the land of 10000000000000 lakes. My parents cruised briefly through the WC and Uncle Mike won the lottery. YEAHHHHHH BABY! Our luck is turning back around. Also, for all interested who can't quite make it to my graduation (so that means basically everyone) I just found out that you can watch it LIVE online. I'll find out more about it and post it on here. Unfortunately the party will not be broadcast live. Also I think we should have a competition... whoever comes up with the funniest line, phrase, etc wins and I will write/draw/paint it on my graduation cap as a shout out to my dad. I know there are a lot of funny people checking in on this blog, so I am setting my expectations high!
Goodnight from Santa Barbara...
Mandy

odyessey-stop one Iowa city

We spent Memorial day at KJ's and reLAXed. good food/friends/family fun. mon nite was memorial-must have been up 22 times to pee...can you spell tired in all caps? tuesday noon, took mandy to aeroporto, and left her(kisses, hugs, sighs) to deal with the storm of the century. of course she handled it. Continued to nebrasKa and chasesd a storm for the next three hundred drizzle miles. Overnite in generic motel, but the hot tub was hot and the chicken was delcious, KFC, 10 years since i've had such fingerlickingfatfood. and best news: I slept like a baby, waking only every two hours for a sip of H2O and back to dreamland.
tues repeat, drive, drizzle and dine out. in Iowa city by 6pm. stayed with most good natured/warm welcoming friends dix and steve.
wed. dah-dun...finally at UofI hosp. met with #1 doc for this body malfunction and went through options, plans and schedules. I am scheduled for table time with the surgeons June 18, its a full day, 8 hours on the table...but he wants another final diagnostic test next wednesday, an MRI with special probe (yikes), to make absolutely sure he can be successful when they open my belly. if any ick or bad stuff shows on the MRI, I have to do chemo first, then surgery, so still in lala land of waiting and waiting for the real show to begin. One thing cancer and the army teach you is to hurry up and wait, aka:patience. Today (friday) we go to Webster city with wes and alena, then tomorrow up to twin cities to get them home in time for leana's sister's grad party. then back to w/c and iowa city by tuesday and pop into the hospital for that mri and then as paul harvey never says: you'll know '"the rest of the stoma' good day". loathe to leave, but leave with lot of love and thanks for all who read our journey notes, and all who leave notes and well wishes...love marcus, somewhere in the heartland

ps: special shout outs to: mandy mae, my loving funnest daughter of laughter, bright eyes and blogging; to wes and aleana for changing their lives/schedules/and sleep patterns to join us on the caravan to carver hosptial; to peggy for whom i would undergo any operation/procedure no matter how uncomfortable to any degree, so i can spend more,more,more days with you...we both know how the night time goes...love to all of you and see you in my wandering day dreams...marcus

dad's blog... HACKED!

We've stuffed Marcus with cheeseburgers, eggs, bacon, and Newcastle.

Don't worry, he's fine, things are completely under our control (wes- PUT DOWN THAT HAMMER AND GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF MAN!!!).

Good posts will be back soon. We swear it. But for now you'll just have to trust us.

Love and kisses from Mt. Vernon IOWA,
Alena and Wes

Between the days

ok, if you've read these posts too many times and are really not enjoying them, go to the web site below, join the chorus, and find relief.HA. with love, from marcus via mary

http://beverlys.net/LJ/BuggingYou.swf

odyssey-outward bound day 5

up early, cool still, kids slow to warm and wake. spent morning lounging and lazing, big kj breakfast, and sit around. cousins getting reacquainted, and funny as ever. then we went to buddha ranch. friend's house and 50 acre fields. two ponds for fishing, kayaking; new house full of exotic treasures from the orient, statuary, rugs, temple door, art work, kitchen table standing on the back of rhino! Krazy and kool. lazed big time, nap on porch, ate, walked orchards and 1/2 acre garden, the most amazing events of the afternoon however were the numerous first experiences for mandy mae and 'lena. they went out in kayaks, with poles, Neeve, hooks and hope? both caught and touched and released real fish...by themselves, no screaming or whining (after the first two or so fish) and then they showed peggy how to hook 'em. she did. so funny. wes spent his time just jetting back and forth giving instructions and "you got one" to all the womens. off the pond and we spent 30 min shooting buddhas. (pix) amazing place, comfort unexpected and totaly pleasant... nothing to do but relax and relax some more, fantastic distant landscape of rockies and snow, and horse farms all around...well if we pass by here on the journey home, we must return to buddha ranch. oooooommmmmmmmmmmmm.
later, another delish din-din at laura's kitchen, talapia with tom and feta cheeze, tasty ceasar's salad and stuff. sleep, soundly