John Henry Nitcy - August 26, 1959 - January 14, 2023

 

Last weekend Dave and I drove to Sandpoint, Idaho to attend the Celebration of Life for John.  Dave and John taught together at Sandpoint High School and continued to be good friends.  John came to Arizona and stayed with us several times as well as staying here in Butte.   We visited them at their home in Idaho.  John and Leana are two of the nicest people I know.  Leana wasn't retired yet so John visited us by himself.  He and Dave golfed, went to the Phoenix Open (Waste Management) and we went to some sporting events.

I felt like I had known John for a long time.  I loved his sense of humor.  At the service, that was brought up many times by the friends who spoke.  

John was a respected educator and had so many friends.  He touched the lives of the students he taught.  Just talking to John, you knew that.

He loved sports but his favorites were fishing and duck hunting.  He had his priorities straight in that he wanted to have time to be able to do what he loved so he didn't do a lot of coaching or after school activities to make time for what he loved.

Dave was really sad about John's death.  He got sick and didn't live for very long.  I remember the day that he told Dave that he didn't have much longer.

Dave spoke at the service about his friendship with John and his visits to Arizona.   Here is what we wrote.

John and I taught and coached together for many years.  We had some great times when we were both single.  I'll save those stories for anyone who wants to come up and ask me later!

John came to visit Sheila and I in Arizona a few years ago.  We had tickets to the Arizona State vs. Arizona basketball game.  Sheila is a die hard ASU fan and informed John that if he wanted to stay at our house, he had to root for the Sun Devils.  Otherwise, there is a Motel 6 down the street where he could stay. 

We went to the game and John got to witness first hand Sheila at an ASU game.  She is always in top form when they play the Wildcats.   I think that John was probably in a little bit of shock, but he rooted for the Devils and didn't have to stay at Motel 6!  Fortunately, ASU beat Arizona or things might have gone down hill after the game!

The next day we took John up to a small mining town named Globe.  They have a very nice Indian casino there where we spent a few hours gambling.  We were having lunch and as happened often with John and I, the talk turned to sports.  My favorite professional football team are the Seahawks and Sheila likes the Cardinals.  However, she doesn't threaten Motel 6 when it comes to any other teams.  Sheila asked John while we were discussing this what his favorite professional football team was.  Without hesitation, John responded very emphatically--my favorite team is the ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS!  Needless to say, Sheila loved John from that day on!

We loved having John visit us in both Arizona and Butte.  He was such a great friend to me.  His fun sense of humor was a huge part of who John was.  I miss our talks, visits, and our friendship.  Thank you, John.  You were truly one of the good guys in this world!

 

Reflections on cancer treatment

Since we have been in Montana and I have felt good, I have also had some time to think about all that has happened in my life since the diagnosis with cancer.   When I say feeling good, I mean having the strength to do things.  And I have done quite a bit over the last week and a half.  We traveled to Butte over three days with our old guy, Seamus, and our young Boston, Griff.   Traveling with pets is a little bit more work.  I also felt good enough to help Dave with the driving, plus I enjoy driving.   We make it a three day trip so that we aren't in the car for too many hours.

When we got here, we  had to unpack and put everything away.  In addition, we had NO groceries.  I normally do order and pickup anymore, but this first time we went to Walmart.  I avoid Walmart most of the time, but it is basically the only choice for pricing. That was exhausting as we had so many things to pick up.  However, it only took me an hour or so to recover which in itself is good.

The last few months when I would get up in the morning, I didn't have the energy to make my coffee, etc. for a little bit after I got up.  Sometimes I would have to sit down for a few minutes before I finished it.  Same with when I tried to fix dinner.  I could do a few things and then had to sit down before I could continue.  Of course, this was very frustrating for me because I was able to do everything.  Just doing the laundry was a huge chore.  As I said in an earlier post, there were days I couldn't  even get out of bed.  Most days I went back to bed for a few hours.  Needless to say, this was very hard for me.

This was also a difficult time because I didn't want to share what was going on with a lot of people because it was such a difficult time.  I wasn't able to go do things with friends.  I was invited to many things but just couldn't make it.  It has been interesting to see how friends have handled this.  Most have been great but there have been other disappointments and hurts.   I guess everyone handles things differently.  I just don't get why you wouldn't be kind to someone who has cancer. 

We had some tickets to both ASU basketball and the Diamondbacks games. I made myself go because I felt it was important to Dave plus I enjoy the games.  However because of the lack of energy, it was very difficult, but I made it.  I paid for it the next day, but I made it.   I tried to never let anyone know how very difficult this was for me.  The last Diamondback game we went to, we had to stand in line and it was extremely hot.  I almost passed out and was so weak that I barely made it to our seats.  Fortunately, Kerri and Cameron were with us.

The night of graduation, I was worried about being able to walk the length of the football field and stand to give out diplomas.  It was very difficult and there were a few times that I was afraid I wasn't going to make it but I pushed myself and was able to get through the entire ceremony without any real problems.  Fortunately, there was a lot of time to sit in between.

And I was always able to go to Board Meetings and participate fully.   i would lay down all afternoon so that I would be able to do this.  

And most important, I still was able to participate with my Tiger Buddy, which was another very important activity to me.

Because I now have strength, it has kind of hit home about how much I couldn't do. I was on the immunotherapy for a little over three months.  People can be on it for a longer time and it depends on side effects and results.  Fortunately my results have been very positive so far.  

I did okay with chemo but radiation about killed me.  Fortunately, we stopped that.  But it did cause my diverticulitis to flare up too many times.  I haven't had an episode of it since last August, which is very good.  Hopefully there won't be anymore.

The fall was okay as I was recovering from everything but then I got hit with gallbladder surgery.  It took me a bit longer to get over that because of everything else I had been through.  But I got over it and was doing well.  It really wasn't until mid March when things started to fall apart.

By the time we stopped the immunotherapy, I had made the decision that the quality of life that I had was not worth it.   It is hard to explain but when you have no energy, can't do much for yourself, and spend a lot of time in bed, that is certainly not a way to live.   We couldn't make any plans or when we did, there was a chance we would have to cancel them.  We did things during this time, but it was difficult at best.

My purpose for writing this is to try to explain what cancer treatment is like.  It is a devastating diagnosis and it causes one to look at life in a different way.   I am feeling so good right now, but I have to be careful not to push myself too much because otherwise I pay for it.  I kind of hit a wall every now and then but it doesn't take me long to bounce back.

I do know that quality of life is extremely important.  I can only hope and pray that my present condition continues and I am feeling very positive about it.  But I want to feel good and I don't want to be a burden on my family and I have been for many months.  In the future if it recurs, I will certainly weigh the side effects and quality of life before I go through treatment again.  However, I am glad that I did the immunotherapy and the lousy few months were worth it to feel so good now.

This morning I am tired from our travels over the weekend to the memorial service for Dave's friend, John.  Two months ago, I wouldn't have been able to do that.  So there is much to be thankful for!

And I can cook dinner without sitting down, do the laundry, straighten up the house and do other chores as needed.   I am trying to walk a little bit everyday but I know that will take some time.  Two years and my age certainly mean that this isn't going to happen over night.  For someone as impatient as me, that could be hard!

 

 

CHEERS!!!

There is a casino close to our house here in Butte that I love.  Casinos in Montana are very different from those on the reservation or in Vegas.  They are much smaller with only about 25 or 30 machines.  You can lose a lot of money if you choose to, but the good part is that you can also spend time there and get entertained without losing a lot.  I have often gone there and spent an hour or more on $20 and ended up either winning or breaking even.  In most of them you get free drinks which is a nice perk!

The one close to us is called Happy Endings. However, I call it Cheers because everyone knows my name!  The great part is I have been going there since the first time we came to Butte.  They employees are the same which says something about the way they are treated.  It isn't often that happens that a "service" place has the same employees for such a long time.

Last night I received a message from Niki asking how I was because they were talking about me because they hadn't seen me.  They were concerned about me which was amazing.  I went in this afternoon for a bit and got hugs and genuine concern from Jen and DJ.  I assured them that I was doing well.  

I am not sure that having people at a casino wondering where I was is something that I should be "proud of" but it truly did make me feel good!  I am certain I won't put this on my resume, etc.

However, I guess that things kind of even out.  I stopped by Our Lady of the Rockies to do a couple of  memorial lightings for some dear people who have passed.  They were glad to see me there and wondered if I would be willing to volunteer.  Last summer I told them that I would volunteer but I am thinking that I won't be able to do it this summer as we didn't get here until later than usual.

While I was at the casino, Dave got my side-by-side started, got gas and brought it to me!  I love driving it.  It is so much fun.

I LOVE BUTTE!  I am glad we don't live here all year because I don't think I could handle the cold.  Having our summers here is the best of both worlds.  It is such a great place and the people are wonderful!

Summer 2023 - Finally getting to Butte

I haven't written much over the past several months about the ongoing battle on cancer.  It is hard for me to talk about it as I don't want anyone feeling sorry for me.  One thing that I have learned over the past almost two years is that I have absolutely no control over this awful disease.  The only thing I can control is how I handle it.  Lately it has been hard to be positive even when I try.

We normally leave for Butte over Memorial Day weekend.  This year, both Dave and I couldn't leave because of health issues.  He has had some problems with his back and had to have it taken care of before we left.  Originally, he was going to have surgery to clean up the area from his previous very invasive surgery.   The doctor decided to try some shots in his back to see if that would work.  It kept getting put off by a week and then another week until all of a sudden it was the end of June.  

He continued to golf which I couldn't believe because of the heat.  He would then come home and go swimming so that was a good thing.

As for me, the past several months have been very difficult.  I had a scan done in January and there was a very small lymph node that was suspicious.   I have learned to be an advocate for my health.  The doctors weren't real concerned about it because it was so small.  I insisted that it be tested and so I went to Banner University hospital for the biopsy as that is the only place that they can do a biopsy on some thing that small.  The results were that it tested positive for cancer.  My cancer was originally Stage 3.   However, once it reoccurs no matter how small it goes to Stage 4, which is scary.  But that doesn't mean that it can't be treated and that the prognosis can still be good.

As a result, Dr. Bhoola put my on an immunotherapy regime that has shown a lot of promise with recurrence of endometrial cancer.  It consisted of daily meds and an infusion every three weeks. This therapy helped my own cells fight the cancer.  I also went through five sessions of targeted radiation. 

As with so many treatments, there are a lot of side effects that can happen.  I normally don't want to know what the side effects might be because I think it is a bit psychological---wrong.  I should have had a clue when I received a blood pressure monitor with the oral meds.   

I did okay at first but as time went on, I think I got every side effect possible.  The biggest problems were very high blood pressure and having my thyroid get completely out of whack!  As a result, I was not hungry and I have lost a significant amount of weight.  The other big problem was a complete lack of energy.  There were days that I had a hard time getting out of bed.  There was a few days where I ended up in the hospital because I was so weak I couldn't even function.

The first part of June, I stopped the treatment because of the side effects.  The radiologist had scheduled a PET Scan for July 5 to see how the radiation had done.  Last Tuesday, I had an appointment with both doctors.   My scan came back completely clear everywhere.  Both doctors were extremely positive about how well the immunotherapy had worked for me despite the side effects.  

I already feel 1000% better.  I can do things without being exhausted immediately.  It is so nice to feel good again.  My blood pressure continues to be on the high side, but I am seeing a cardiologist and monitoring it daily.  Thyroid is still not working great, but it is getting better.  I'm still on a lot of meds and hopefully that will improve as time goes on.

We got to Butte on Friday.  I was so glad to get here and I'm so happy we are able to spend at least the rest of the summer here.  

And it is so nice to feel good and be able to plan on doing things.  From March until the end of May, I did very little and couldn't plan on anything because I didn't know how I would feel.  Fortunately, I was able to continue my Board duties without any problems.  That is still so important to me because it gives me a purpose.  I feel it is an honor to serve our community in this way.

So many things could still happen in the future, but I feel as though I have the best oncologist out there.  I feel positive and now that I feel good, I can live each day in a positive way.  I look forward to a long time of being able to attend sporting events with Dave, travel, have fun and be of service to our community!

Here's to a great summer in Butte and an even greater year when we get back to Gilbert in September!