Happy undecorating!

I decided to take another picture of the picture Jane sent. It’s a little better. It says: “When I see the miracle of a gentle bird I know God and nature must surely touch hands.”

The rest of the pictures on the blog are my ugly toes and fingernails. My fingernails look longer than they are. They are cut right to the quick. My toenails are so ugly, and you can see that I’ve cut the big ones way back. They are so THICK; they were catching on everything, so I cut them as short as I could to keep them from catching on the covers, socks, etc. It’s much more comfortable, now, but they are really creepy looking. I still don’t wear shoes, but I wear a couple of pair of Crocks I bought that don’t have toes (Niles). With socks they work great for winter.

I include these in case anyone reading this blog ever has the chemo journey to take you will be braced for this. Of course there are many different chemo ‘trips’ and everyone’s body reacts differently, but it did help me to see some other experiences posted online. I hope I haven’t grossed your Christmas.

I’m thanking God that these toes and fingers don’t hurt as badly as they did. It’s amazing to me that they felt like they’d been shut in a car door, and they LOOKED like it, but the chemo did this from the inside. They used to hurt (on a scale of 1-10) an 8, but they are down to 3 for my toes and 4 for my fingers. I’m so grateful for that relief!

The really amazing thing is that the chemo has shrunken the tumor so much; 98% at the last measure, and I’ve had 2 chemo treatments since then, and one tomorrow. God gives me lots of hope even through these doctors. Besides that I know He holds me in His hands. This time next year I will have toenails, fingernails and HAIR! Woo Hoo!

This has been a quiet Christmas for us with no family and no friends (many have called and emailed). Usually if we don’t have family coming for Christmas then we get a group together we call the orphans, and we eat dinner and play cards. The orphans are the folks whose kids are seeing the other side of the family, or who have no family left. One of the orphans brought by a sack of goodies yesterday: homemade banana bread, cranberry bread, cinnamon rolls and a cheese ball! Last week one of them gave us a loaf of pumpkin bread when we took a book to her. So, we’ve been blessed with a warm and cozy Christmas with touches of family even though none has BEEN here. We look forward to celebrating big time next week in Branson!

Merry Christmas and happy undecorating to you.