Bill & Pat Boulch

As you can see by the goof on the posting titled ”Round”, and some
disjointed sentences elsewhere, I have not as yet mastered this system, and believe me,
that is a gross understatement.
SORRY!

Round #2 (Treatment 3) completed on the 27th as scheduled. Oncologist
reported that Bill’s blood work is looking good which is truly a blessing since chemo
lowers the white count and therefore lowers the efficiency of the immune system and the
ability to ward off infections. He has been advised to avoid crowds, so we go out very
little these days.
Think I mentioned that Bill’s hair began falling out last week. On Wednesday, we went out to lunch (he in a new cap from Cabela’s) and suddenly on the way home, he whipped
into the parking lot of a strip mall close to our house and pulled up in front of a Sport
Clips, parked and asked if I wanted to come with him. Long story short, in about 10
minutes I was suddenly married to the Little Elm version of Telly Savalas (Kojack) for
those of you who are either too young to know or can’t remember who that was. All that is missing now is a genuine ”Tootsie Pop”.
Side effects of this current round have been somewhat delayed in starting, but not
eliminated. Bad day yesterday and today, but he’s hanging in there. One more treatment
and he’ll be half-way through and enjoying another ”Bye Week”.
Drop us a line if you have time either to this website (billandpat.com) or to my email at pboulch@msn.com).
Blessings, Pat

Bill’s week off from chemo was a real blessing. He felt pretty good and we
were able to get out of the house a little which helped his state of mind (and mine) a
bunch.

Round #1 (Chemo) over and done! Side effects of last weeks treatment were on a par with the first. Thankfully no upchucking this time (probably more explicit info than you really wanted to hear), but the other symptoms lasted a bit longer (about 5 days) and a new one was added (hair loss). Not unexpected, but still a jolt when it actually begins. Bill’s ”Bye Week” ends on Thursday the 27th when he begins the next cycle of 2 weeks of chemo treatments followed by one week free of treatment. Our prayer is that Bill continues to tolerate the treatments and their side effects well, and that his ”Bye” weeks enable him to regain strength and maintain stamina before the next round begins.
We both want to thank you for your prayers, calls, cards and visits (even to the Oncology Infusion Site); they really do go a long way in brightening up some pretty dreary days. (Philippians 1:3)
A special thanks to members of our Trinity Presbyterian Church small group for all
your kindness and for the prayers you have been offering not only for Bill, but for our
niece Lauren who is also in the midst of chemotherapy for a rare cancer known as
Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma (CTCL).
Blessings,
Bill and Pat

Bill’s first chemotherapy treatment was completed on Thursday September 6th. A long (8:30 am – 4:00 pm), stressful (what will happen as a result of the ”poisons” they’re pumping into me?), but all-in-all an uneventful ”good” day for which we were very grateful. Side affects ”have not been too bad” nor unexpected. Friday and Saturday were unpleasant but Bill said if that was as bad as it is going to get, it wont be too bad. Despite a dose of bedtime pain medication last night, Arthritic-like body aches/pains started during the night (normal side-affect) and general fatigue (also normal) began this morning. Back in bed (recommended) for a morning nap.

Will try not to get into too many details, but family members are using this site to keep
track of Bill’s progress, so we must include some of the details in order to keep them up to date.

Thank you all for your prayers and concern, calls and cards, Bill appreciates them more
than you could know (as do I).

Blessings, Pat

Thusfar, Bill’s recovery has been uneventful with no serious complications.
Biggest problem has been controlling the pain without keeping him totally zonked”, and upsetting his digestive system to the extreme. We had follow-up appointments with the Oncologist, the Pulmonologist and the Surgeon during the past 2 weeks. Next appointment with the Pulmonologist will be in mid-December and Bill got a clean bill of health and final release from the Surgeon – – He pronounced Bill ”a good healer” – – your prayers at work!

He seems to have turned a corner the past few days, and, at Scott’s urging, we had our first big day out on Friday – – took in the latest Bourne movie mid-day (great action film) and then tasted our first Thai food at a late lunch in Frisco. What a lovely, distracting day – – great movie and equally great food. Yesterday, we were finally able to make it back to church for worship and then out to brunch. Another lovely day and then home about 2:00 for a short nap (3 hours!). Our return to near-normalcy has been a real blessing.

Bill will be starting his chemotherapy on September 6th (2 weeks later than originally
scheduled) to enable him to regain his strength and stamina and get a flus shot before he undergoes the sometimes debilitating effects of the chemo treatments. Please keep him in prayer for successful treatments with minimal side effects. If all goes as planned, he should complete the course of treatment in late November.

Finally, another apology to all for being so long between updates – – I had a MAJOR senior moment and could not remember the password I had selected to be able to update this blog. Can I claim ”system overload”?

Blessings, Pat

My apologies for not updating this site sooner for those of you who have been following Bill’s progress following knee replacement surgery. Earlier posts by our
son Scott pretty well cover the chain of events following that surgery which ultimately led
to the discovery of lung cancer and surgical removal of the tumors in Bill’s right lung.
He is now home recovering from the surgery, and with the exception of considerable pain from the surgical sites, is doing well. We will be meeting with an Oncologist on
Thursday and also have follow-up appointments with the Pulmonoligist and Surgeon over
the next 2-3 weeks. We anticipate the chemotherapy will not begin until Bill has
recovered his strength from the surgery (2-3 weeks).

We are so grateful for your prayers and kindness during the past 3 months, and ask that you continue to hold Bill in prayer for an uneventful recovery and for the skill and wisdom of the physicians and surgeons who will be treating him.

Feel free to contact us at this website, at my email address (pboulch@msn.com), or
by phone (469-362-4790).

Blessings, Pat