Don and I walked today and spent some time sitting in the sun, so that was good for us. We haven’t had a chance to do either in a while, so it was refreshing.

I talked to a couple of people today about getting my port done this week. There is a chance it can be done on Thursday, and I am so excited if that can really happen! The port is a thing they install in my chest to use for the IV chemo treatments. That will be so much better than using my arm for a pincushion until they can get a vein that will work. Normally it takes a couple of weeks to get scheduled for a port, so if I can get one Thursday, that will be in time for Friday’s treatment and I will be so thrilled! If you want to read more about it go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port-a-Cath

I am not feeling anything more than tired right now, so I’m very pleased to report that! Let’s keep praying that my body will remain strong with these treatments!

I’ve pictured all the other kids on the blog, but I only speak of Mason. He is always on the move, so it’s sometimes hard to catch him still for the camera. Often he is a blur in our pictures. Also, he is fearless, so often he has a big cut on his face or something, so that’s another reason it’s hard to get a good picture of him. He has good looks to spare, though, so his scars will give him character and keep him from being too pretty. I went back and found some, though, so you can see the sweetheart that he is and have face to go with his name.
We thank God for Mason and all our family and friends. Each one is special and we can’t imagine life without any one of our kids or grandkids. It amazes me the capacity God gives us for love; I believe love is what He most expects and wants from us: love of God and love of our fellow man, not just family. Thank you for your love!

Some things never change . . .

Today I’ve been going through pictures and couldn’t believe how much little Raynie looks like Grace! I EXPECTED her to look like Grace, but I didn’t think she did so much until I went back and looked at these pictures. Mason was such a fat little guy that I keep thinking of him when I see Raynie and her little fat cheeks. But, when I look at these pictures I think I might be blind! There’s no doubt she’s one of the family; that’s for sure!

We miss them all so much. This is such a special time, and we sure hate to be missing it.

The pictures on the blog today are for you to compare the sisters. Grace is in the red white and blue outfit and the others are Raynie. See if you don’t see the likeness. Of course Don never changes!

I’m still feeling fine. I have no nausea and am eating with no sore mouth or anything. I still have all my hair! Ha! I guess I expect all the symptoms to hit me at once, but I’m feeling nothing different so far.

It’s wonderful to be with Doris and Jerry. God is good to put us in families, isn’t He? Then on top of that blessing He gives us friends! Wow! God is Great! To Him be the glory!

July 21

We have enjoyed a day with Doris and Jerry. We moved here today from Judy and Aki’s house. It was wonderful at Judy and Aki’s house, but we thought they should have their house back after we had invaded them for the last two weeks. We are PROFUSELY grateful to them for opening their home and their hearts to us. Judy took us everywhere and sat with us for hours on end in the clinic! Word cannot express how much better they made this time for us! They turned what could have been very stressful into a great reunion!

I am feeling fine, only very tired. I say that, but I have to tell you this funny thing. I don’t eat much red meat at all, but Don insists that I start eating it to help to keep my red blood cell count up during this chemotherapy. So, Don’s favorite dinner is hamburgers and mine is pinto beans; of course Doris made that for supper tonight. I was amazed and remarked at how delicious my burger was for dinner. As we were cleaning up the dishes we noticed a burger left on the plate . . . I had skipped putting my burger onto my sandwich. I just had a tomato, onion, pickle and mustard sandwich . . . and LOVED it. Maybe the chemo IS affecting me! They talk of chemo brain around here and I think I must be getting it. If it gets no worse than this, I’m in good shape. I’ll be fine, anyway; I’m sure there will be worse days, but I’m braced for them and have great support.

We took pictures of us in Doris and Jerry’s back yard. We love it out there. They have mockingbirds that are really entertainers, but I couldn’t catch them with the camera, yet. Maybe I’ll get them before our week is done.

Thanks for looking and loving us. God is so great and we thank Him for you and all our rich blessings.

Day one of chemo.

We didn't think to bring the camera to the chemo treatment tonight, so I don't have pictures of that. It wouldn't be a pretty picture, anyway. They haven't got a port or central line in me, yet, so they had to poke around to find a vein. The nurse couldn't find one, so he had to call someone from the 'vein team.' She had to stick me twice before she got one that would work. (The central line means they install a port which becomes a part of me for the duration of all this chemo. Then they stick the port instead of me each time they need to drip something into me. That will be wonderful to have!)


As soon as they started the chemo and I wasn't having a reaction they said I could go to sleep. God gave me the gift of sleep, so I went right to sleep. It was hard to get up and come home.


I don't feel sick or anything; just sleepy. So, I'm going to pick out some pictures for the blog and go to bed.


Tomorrow we will leave Judy and Aki's home and go to Doris and Jerry's. We only have appointments at the clinic on Wednesday and Friday next week, so we can drive in from Doris and Jerry's house and return Judy and Aki's home to them. They have been so hospitable and have made this time so stable for us. It's been really fun to be with them, too. What a blessing! Judy has been terrific to drive us everywhere and even sit with us for hours on end. Tonight we went out to eat and then Judy and Aki dropped us off at the clinic and came back and picked us up after we were done with the treatments. We were supposed to start at 8, but we didn't even get started until 9:15 and then it was a half hour before they ever got the IV going. They have jigsaw puzzles in all the waiting rooms around here. That is right up my alley; I love working on puzzles. I'm amazed that they have those and it's something that I like so much.


The pictures on the blog tonight will give you some insight into the guy that Gabe is. He's amazing. I caught him in the first one, just laying on the sofa gazing at Raynie as she slept on the sofa. He is the 'nanny' of all the kids. They are all loving and love to hold the baby, etc., but he is the caregiver to the max, and has been with each of the babies born after him. It's amazing how sensitive and tender he can be, and still be the macho guy that he is. In the next picture he is down on the floor building with boxes I brought for them to use as building blocks. Nate is helping, but you see that Gabe is down there giving it 100%. Then in the last picture he is proudly showing off the lizards they have. I think they are named Chocolate and Chip. Gabe loves them just like he does his snake and all the frogs he caught at our house. He takes care of everything from creatures to baby sister and Mommy. Notice in all of the pictures he is wearing the pink hat he got in Mexico on the trip he took with his Dad last summer. That hat is nearly a part of him; he left it at our house the last time he was there and was really thrilled when I brought it to him this time. I wanted to wash it for him, but that would have ruined it in his eyes. :) He's one of my heroes. How lucky am I to have 15 heroes!


I'm disappointed that I hardly have any pictures of Nate and nearly none of Mason. Mason is always on the move, so it's hard to catch him in a photo. I'll have to concentrate on getting pictures of him the next time we see them. Gabe, Sadie and Grace don't mind smiling for pictures and stopping for them, so they are easy game for Grammy and the camera!


Thanks for checking in on us. Have a great weekend and count the blessings with me. God is great!

Whew; finally a plan is taking shape.

It seemed like the morning drug on until we finally left and went to have lunch at the hospital and then went for our appointment at 1 p.m. We got all the news, and then started scheduling and everything was happening so fast. I feel like I'm spinning.

The most important thing: all the scans were clean. There seems to be no cancer anywhere else in my body besides the one breast and the nodes under my arm.

Because of the cancer in the nodes under my arm (they tested one and it was positive for cancer; there are up to 9 more which they did not test but look suspicious, much like the one they tested), they feel that there could be other cells circulating around in my body. They want to begin chemotherapy as soon as possible to get any of those cells that could be loose and looking for a place to set up camp.

Also they want to do the chemotherapy before surgery because it may cause the mass in the breast to shrink. Cancer cells grow not only from side to side and top to bottom, but also from front to back. (Understand this is my lay terms that I offer to you from what I understood they told me.) If the chemotherapy can shrink the mass, then they won't have to dig so deeply into my chest cavity when they remove the breast. That struck a familiar note with me, because when my mom had her breast removed I remember they had to scrape the bones to get it all. I honestly believe this is an inherited cancer, so I like the idea of shrinking the cancer before they go in to remove it. Until she explained that to me today, I was very frustrated that they weren't doing surgery first. I get it, now. I'm ready to start the chemo tomorrow!

I will do 3 months of a Chemo called Taxol. Likely I will be nauseated and my hair will fall out. I was motion sick most of my life, so I'm good with a burp bag. About half my hair fell out with the chemo I had in Tijuana, and it came back curly, so I can deal with losing my hair. Maybe it'll come back curly and maybe even with some color this time! Besides, my favorite hair is gone hair, so I'm the best person in the world to lose my hair. I'm okay with it.

Then I'll do 3 months of another Chemotherapy that uses 3 drugs; I think it's FAC. I'll learn more about that when we get closer to that time. (By then it'll be winter and I'll get to wear some of those knit hats!)

With the Taxol they tell me comes steroids which will make me gain weight. Oh, joy. Well, at least I'll know what's doing it to me, and I've been battling the bulge for the last 20 years, so this won't be new, either. At least I have a villain to blame and battling the bulge is way better than being dead. I can deal with it.

After 6 months of chemotherapy I will take a month to build my immune system and then we'll do surgery. After surgery we'll do 6 weeks of radiation; I think one treatment a day 5 days a week. My mom did that, so I can do it. I have only great examples set for me.

We are working to see if we can get an oncologist in Hawaii to do some of my chemotherapy according to instructions my doctor here gives. If we can get the doctors to agree, then we will make it happen. If it doesn't work, then we won't. Our friend in Hawaii is open for us to come or not, so we will if we can. If we can't it won't be the end of the world. God will open the doors if it works for His plan. If it doesn't fit into His plan, then we're good with it.

All that is certain now is what I have told you. Tomorrow we will be working on scheduling to make it all happen. They are pretty amazing here. Today I had to have blood pulled since we're doing chemo tomorrow and the girl was real ugly and snappy to me. Of all the people I've seen since we've been here she was the first who had missed the bedside manner training. Everyone else has been wonderful to me. I felt sorry for her; she must feel so out of place!

The pictures on the blog are Don and I dipping sukiyaki last night and then us at dinner tonight with Jim and Ann Nelson. Jim is another Itazuke alumni and his wife Ann is here having radiation treatments. It was wonderful to get to join them for dinner tonight at the Black Eyed Pea. God is so good to put precious people in our lives when we need them. He is so amazing! Thank you for being some of those precious people who God gives us right now. I thank Him for you and our many blessings!

Hello from Houston! We made it all the way here in good time, today; we were surprised how easy the trip went. Maybe we’re getting good at this trip! Our appointment with the oncologist is tomorrow at 1. I expect to be spending most of the afternoon at the clinic, but that is likely another case of faulty expectations. I hope to be able to give a good report on tomorrow’s blog.

We know that I have cancer and we know that I am likely to lose both breasts. I only have cancer in one breast, but the kind I have has a tendency to recurr in the other breast, so I'm so ready for both of them to be GONE! I don’t consider that a loss. I consider that a fight in the cure. I didn’t have breasts before I was 12 and I can remember those were great times; I’m not afraid to go there, again! We expect to have chemo, we just don’t know if it will be before or after the surgery. We don’t know what particular chemo will be prescribed nor what the time schedule will be; it will depend on the specific kind of cancer I have and what my receptors are. (I don’t even understand what it is I’m saying, so if you’re confused, join the crowd.) I don’t know if they will recommend radiation or not. Whatever they recommend I will do to the best of my ability and give thanks to God for their expertise.

I miss Summer Rayne and all her siblings so much! I think I talked to them two or three times today, and they are doing fine. The good thing about visiting is that it was so awesome, but the bad thing is leaving is so hard!!!

We talked to Davy today and he reported that the guys are doing great at their world series in Memphis. Man, we sure hate to be missing that! It’s good to be able to get the reports from Davy, though. The boys are playing well. They’ve lost one game, so they can’t lose another, but they are a great team and they have the ability to recover from a loss, so we’re very confident. Of course they’ve done well to have come this far, but I’d love to see them go all the way; they are so awesome in my eyes.

Aki and Judy prepared Japanese Sukiaki tonight for our dinner. We even used chopsticks! We took pictures that I will put on the blog tomorrow if I get time to do that. My basket of blessings is so incredibly full and I give thanks! Thank you for keeping up with us! The pictures on the blog tonight are Sadie holding Raynie, Gabe holding Raynie while we play canasta (Nate overseeing) and Grace overseeing as Trish feeds Raynie . . . great memories for Grammy and Poppy!

It's been another way full day of fun with the Oglesby clan. I found out that Mason's job is to take the dirty laundry down to the basement for Nate's management. He has to gather it from the upstairs bathroom and take it down two flights, so that's a big help to Mommy! He does his fair share of catching bugs to feed the lizards, too. I'm sure he's really good at that task!

Raynie is doing beautifully. She is a really good baby. The first picture is of Rob and Trish with her and the next two are just her. She has had some trouble latching onto the breast for breast feeding, so Trish has been faced with the challenge of pumping and filling bottles for her to eat. It's working great and all the rest of us have sure enjoyed feeding her. We never got to do that with any of the other kids because they all readily nursed. This is more work for Trish, but it's a joy for all the rest of us.

We have the clock set to get up at 4:30 in the morning to get us all loaded and out of here before the traffic gets heavy here and arrive in Houston before the traffic gets heavy there (is THAT possible???). It's a longer drive from here than from home, but interstate all the way. It'll be some new area for us to cover, so that'll be kind of interesting. Don will let me sleep right away and then I'll be ready to drive if he gets sleepy along the way. We do good trading the driving . . . since he takes the biggest shifts by far!

We are anxious to get to Houston and get with the program, whatever it is! I'll report to you on this blog as soon as I know any plan. I'm ready to start whatever they want to do yesterday! God is teaching me patience, but I have a lot to learn! I am thankful, though. I know that we are so richly blessed and I give Him thanks! I thank Him for all the distractions to help me since I'm not so good with the patience demand! Thanks for looking and thanks for praying and counting the blessings with us! God bless us all!

Meet Summer Rayne!

This day has been so wonderful for us. It started out a little hairy because we had mail that really needed attention, so we left Hobart about an hour later than we wanted. It was good that we came home and got to that mail, though. (Just tax issues over our business; nothing all that hairy, just details that needed to be addressed and we did it.)

Once we got to OKC, though, and go to the Oglesby house it was so wonderful. We had stopped and brought sandwiches for lunch and they eat anything, so that made it fun. Then getting to hold Raynie was so special. I never can understand how we have the capacity to love yet another child! It's such a lesson to me in God's love. I think that's how He wants us to love everyone, not just our grandkids. I hope I can grow to be that kind of person because it sure feels good.

All the kids are amazing. Sadie cleans the sink and loads the dishwasher. Gabe takes out the trash, Nate clears the dishes and cleans the table and totes the laundry up and down the stairs and manages the laundry downstairs. Grace folds and delivers laundry. Mason . . . I'm not sure what Mason's job is, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't do it until he's been told a million times. Maybe his job is to wash his hands and stay out of trouble because that seems to be the instructions he's getting a lot. He's a case and we'll figure out his job. They all are special. They all love the baby, and they are all good to each other. They are good eaters and they give great hugs and kisses. They never seem to be tired of seeing Grammy and Poppy, so it's always good to be in their presence.

Trish seems to be doing really well, but she's really tired. We had a chance for me to trim her hair tonight. She just needed the dead ends off, so we got that done. Tomorrow we're going early in the morning so that she can get a good soaking bath before we go run some errands. We are staying at a motel nearby because taking me anywhere is like taking a baby there is so much to take. We didn't need to be dragging in more stuff to their house. We're close, so we can go if she needs us, but they've got it all under control.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow. It's good to have all this great activity and love to fill our time waiting for the appointment with the doctors on Thursday. God is so smart! I thank Him for being in control. I thank you for caring enough to read our details and Him for you.

Today was a wonderful day to be at home. The sun was shining and everyone was so kind and gentle and loving. It was great. The basement remains dry. Whew!

I did laundry from last week's travel and got us ready to go again. We're so excited to get to go meet our precious Summer Rayne tomorrow and see all her siblings and mom and dad! We can't be more proud . . . but tomorrow I'll have pictures and THEN I bet I'll even be more proud! It's amazing how good God is to us. We'll get up early in the morning and load the car; go eat breakfast (Dorothy and David are joining us.) and then we'll collect the mail and head for Oklahoma City. Don says we'll bring most of the mail back here and leave it; good idea, but it'll take time, so I'm not liking that part. I'm in such a hurry to get to OKC!

We'll spend Monday and Tuesday in OKC and then we'll be on the road to Houston, again. I remember when we used to travel for the fun of it. Now we have fun in spite of the reason for our travels. Friends and family make it fun even if we're going to see doctors. It was more fun traveling to Branson to see Pierce Arrow. Oh, well. Times change. We do what we have to do. God takes care of us and sends us where we need to go and puts the right people in our lives at the right times. Thank you for being some of those people. God bless. I promise pictures tomorrow.

Praise the Lord! We made it home without a problem. On the way we called home to see if our Canasta buddies wanted to join us at the Mexican restaurant to eat supper since we don’t have any food in the house. Bingo! They had all planned to get together and play cards, so they came into town and joined us for dinner and then we played at our house. We only played 2 games, so we’re about to hit the sack.

After the games I gave Don a haircut, so we got that detail nailed. Now, Don gets a shower and I get a bath. The basement is dry! Bill did a great job vacuuming out about 80 gallons yesterday, and it has been good since then! We thank God, again for wonderful friends and no more rain!

It will be good to go to church at home tomorrow. Then I’ll round up all the things I wished I had in Houston and we’ll be ready to head for OKC. THEN we’ll get lots of pictures of Summer Rayne and her brothers and sisters for the blog.

Today’s blog is Summer Rayne and sweet Grandma Rosie turned up right. Now we can all look at her without looking crooked. I should have done that sooner, but I couldn’t think how to do it. The other pictures are of me drinking the barium junk before my cat scan and then right before they started looking for the veins. I was pretty happy because I had all 3 cups of barium consumed and I didn’t know I was about to be a pincushion. I loved over it. God is good and we’re almost there to see the baby. Oh, happy day! Count the blessings with me!

Yeah, right! Judy was acting like she'd drink my icky stuff (barium) that I had to drink before the cat scan. I got it down. Then they had a hard time getting a vein for the cat scan. Judy was taking a picture of my grimace, but it looks like she got me asking for God's help in the other picture; He got 'er done.

Judy has been so awesome to take us there and stay with us all day! It is really such a comfort to have her with me in those ugly times, like when they can't get a vein. It's also a comfort to know that she's out there in the waiting room with Don when she can't be with me, too.

We don't have a thing planned for here until next Thursday when the appointment is with my oncologist. They didn't have anymore pathology report to give us today and they didn't have any results from any of today's tests. They just kept saying, "Your doctor will go over all this with you in your appointment." So, we're not staying. We're leaving for home in the morning. We'll go re-plan our packing; check out the new water in the basement; go to Tricia's on Monday after we get the mail; stay there until Wednesday morning, and then head back to Judy's house Wednesday night.

Our next door neighbor and preacher, Bill has pumped 80 gallons of water out of the basement today. We fear there might be lots more and really don't want to monopolize his time; everyone in town leans on him and his expertise is much more valuable than to wear him out pumping water out of our basement! We have our taxes waiting for us in the mail, too. We'll get them out of the mail on Monday morning at 9 and then beat it to see that Summer Rayne and her family!

We're in good shape. We are leaning toward doing the chemo here. We'll just have to wait and see what all the doctor has to say on Thursday. The waiting is a bummer, but we'll stay distracted. I'll keep you posted the best I can.

I love you all so much for caring enough to constantly check on us. God is so good. Count the blessings with me.

I read a precious email this morning that included all of the following plus a few things like 'send it within 60 seconds to all your address book.' I never do that stuff, but here is the part I gleaned from it and want to share. Thanks so much to Linda and Tom Rose for sharing it with me. I love them and you and thank God for all of us and the bonds we share.


I AM CLAIMING THIS FOR ME AND YOU

Three things will happen to you this coming week:

(1) You will find favour with someone you don't expect;
(2) You will be too relevant to be ignored;
(3) You will encounter God and you will never remain the same, Amen.

My prayer for you today: The eyes beholding this message shall not behold evil, the hands that will share this message to others shall not labor in vain, the mouth saying Amen to this prayer shall laugh forever. Remain in God's love as you share this prayer. Have a lovely journey of life! Trust in the Lord with all your heart and He will never fail you because He is Awesome!

If you truly need a blessing (I do!), continue reading:

Heavenly Father,most Gracious and Loving God, I pray to you that you abundantly bless my family and me. I know that you recognize, that a family is more than just a mother, father, sister, brother, husband and wife, but all who believe and trust in you. Father, I send up a prayer request for blessings for not only the person who sent this to me, but for me and all who read this. I believe that the power of joined prayer by those who believe and trust in you is more powerful than anything, and I thank you in advance for your blessings. Father God, deliver the person reading this right now from debt and debt burdens. Release your Godly wisdom that I may be a good steward over all that You have given me, Father, for I know how wonderful and mighty you are and how if we obey you and walk In your word and have the faith of amustard seed that you will pour out blessings. I thank you now for the recent blessings I have received and for the blessings yet to come because I know you are not done with me. In Jesus name, I pray, Amen

Share this with others and, you will cause a multitude of people to pray to God for each other. Then watch the power of God work in your life. Remain Blessed!!!Peace and Blessings...

All you Itazuke people should be so jealous because Judy and Aki and Don and I are having such a great reunion! No kidding. It’s really a joy to be here and having this time together.

The pictures on the blog today are Aki and I in one and Don and Judy in the other. We were eating out at a barbeque place last night.

Last night I stayed up until 1 reading and answering emails and writing the blog. I guess I was a little afraid to go to bed, thinking it would hurt. I got so tired that I didn’t feel anymore, so I went to bed and had no problem sleeping. Then this morning they let me sleep until I woke up. (Don thinks that’s the funniest expression, but it means a lot to me. There’s a big difference in sleeping until I wake up and sleeping until he or the alarm wakes me!) Then I got up and had breakfast and took a bath and went back to bed! I couldn’t have a bath yesterday, so I was so glad to get one today. Going back to bed was a joy, too! Then I took a nap even after that. I think Don was catching up on his emails and Judy had some errands she was running. It was just a great lazy day for me.

I kept bleeding through my Band-Aid today, so that I was washing blood out of all my pajamas and gowns all morning. I finally figured out that I needed a bigger Band-Aid and that solved that problem. It was just enough blood to have me doing hand laundry all morning. I am still very sore and tender, but otherwise I’m feeling fine and doing well.

The doctor took me off all my herbs and vitamins in case the Oncologist thinks some of it might interfere with the treatments he plans for me. She didn’t want any delay in my treatment because I have to wait a couple of weeks to get something out of my system. So, those of you who know that I usually take a fist full of herbs and vitamins will know what a joy it is for me to eat with no capsules! Of course I could choose to do that all the time, but I really believe all those pills keep me in pretty good health; they just couldn’t fight the cancer. They may have fought it off for a decade, or they may give me the strength to fight it. I’m thinking the doctor will let me go back to most of them. I’m still drinking the Essiac Tea. Ick, but it is supposed to be good for my immune system and will be important to continue when I start the chemo.

Thanks for checking on me. I count you all as blessings in my life. God bless.

I will do my best to not let this be so long, but I feel overwhelmed today and feel like writing the book that I often threaten! The day started out so wonderfully with the birth of Summer Rayne. Thank you, Trish, for doing the blog entry this morning! Can you all believe this mom of SIX, takes time to make a blog entry when she delivered a baby at home (naturally, with a midwife) less than 12 hours before this entry??? Wow! My breath is taken, again. What a special year this has been to have two precious baby girls born into our family when we thought we were all done with new grandkids. God is so good and He sure knows how to bless abundantly! It all reminds me of the great support we have and how wrapped we are in abundance and love.

I know you all want to know the details of the findings with my tests today. We do, too, but there is still so much that we don’t know. That’s okay. We know some things:

1) I do NOT have inflammatory breast cancer.
2) The node under my arm tested positive for cancer.
3) The biopsy of the mass was worse than a nasty root canal, but it wasn’t anything like natural childbirth, so I survived it, and when we get the details of the analysis of the biopsy we will know specifically what kind of cancer I have and how to best treat it.
4) We are in the right place. I’ve never felt more welcome and comfortable in such a situation.
5) I am married to a saint. What wonderful support Don is.
6) I am so richly blessed to have my best friend from 7th grade here to absolutely hold my hand through this and all of you who are reading this to hold my hand in thought and prayers. Thank you for walking the walk with me.
7) I have scheduled a cat scan and a bone scan for Friday.
8) We don’t know when we’re going home; we’ll let you know as we learn.

Life is a journey and this cancer thing is just a side trip in the journey. We did the alternative experience to the best of our ability. I am throwing myself to the feet of mainstream medicine, now and I offer them the opportunity to throw everything they have at this cancer. I am strong. I have nothing wrong with me except this cancer. Many people my age have many health issues which would complicate healing. I am short and stubby, but that won’t hold me back a bit. I have the support and prayers of so many wonderful people and best of all I am in God’s hand. As the doctor told me today, this is only cancer; it is not my life. I should go ahead and live my life; this cancer can be treated.

I am overwhelmed and speechless at the thought of coming to this point in life and having Judy, a best friend from the age of 12, welcome me into her home, drive me to the clinic and sit with Don and I all day, and then take us out to dinner with her husband! Then I got online to check my email tonight and got an email and picture from the first boyfriend I ever had in life! (We went to kindergarten together and he brought a box of valentine candy to me at my house; can you believe we still keep in touch?) I know some people live in the same town where they lived all their lives and know people they’ve known all their lives, but I was a military kid and it took 14 schools to get me through 12 grades. It’s awesome to me to know anyone for my whole life and these people are such treasures to me. All of you who read this mean so much to me and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support, love and prayers.

Hang tough with me. I’ll keep you informed as we go along this journey. Judy and I have taken pictures and we’ll get them on the blog soon. I thank God for YOU, for all our family and for the hope that we have for beating this cancer. To God be all the glory!

Newsflash!!

Hello everyone! A quick message from the former blogmaster. The baby didn't wait for mom after all Summer Rayne came early this morning amidst thunderstorms weighing 7lbs 4oz. Here she is with her other grandma, who is doing double duty filling in for grammy! Gotta love Grandmas!

Tricia

PS - Sorry it's sideways... can't seem to figure that out....

Last night before the big day at MD Anderson. It's wonderful to be here at Judy and Aki's home. Judy made curry rice for dinner and I was in heaven. It made me miss Ruthie and Jim because they would have loved it. Phil, too; he loves EVERYTHING and he sure recognizes something special like curry rice!

We have had a good visit and we're going to bed early so we can get up early in the morning and be ready to start early at MD Anderson. Judy is going with Don and I, so we have great support. I promise to get on the blog and make a report tomorrow night. Maybe we'll even have some pictures by then, but don't hold your breath about pictures. We're having too much fun to stop and figure out some new process.

I haven't heard from Trish, so I know that means her baby is still growing inside her. She'll let us know as soon as anything new develops.

God's timing is good for all of us. We're working on patience! This will be grandbaby #15 for us; you'd think it would be like an old hat by now, but it's just as special as every one has been before.

Thanks for checking on us. Tomorrow will be news of what the plan of attack is. Thanks for your love and prayers.

We had a safe trip to Houston and give thanks! Both Doris’ boys and their wives came for dinner with their new sons.

Included in the pictures today is one of Don and I with Colter, Gregg’s son. The other picture is Heather, Brett’s wife, with Doris and they are holding both babies. Colter is only a month old, but Luke is 3 months old. They’ll likely both be long, tall guys like their dads; they have long legs already! Luke started out smaller, but they’re about the same size now. They’re so cute!

It was a fun visit after a long drive. I’m ready for bed!
Thanks for checking on us. God took care of us and we arrived with no problems.

I don't have pictures to share today; just no time for pictures! It's amazing how much there is to do at the last minute before we make a trip. I think it's all done and we're ready to go except for my bath.

We are still dry in the basement; we haven't had another drop of rain. Our friend, Joan, has a garage door opener and she'll check the basement for us if it rains. If the basement gets wet, our neighbor will either vac and pump it dry or get someone to do it for us. They are great friends!

We had a fellowship breakfast at church this morning and then our regular Sunday lunch group ate at the Mexican restaurant for lunch. We were busy doing lots of running around and seeing people, but it was a fun day.

Our plan is to leave early in the morning and have breakfast in Lawton. We'll check with Trish then and if she has signs of labor we'll go north to OKC. If she sees no sign of labor, then we'll go south to Houston. She thinks the baby won't come before the 15th, so, likely we'll be going all the way to Houston tomorrow. We'll get to visit some with Doris tomorrow night and Monday morning; then we'll go to Judy's house Monday night. My appointment at MD Anderson starts at 8 a.m. on Monday, but it'll be that night before I know anything to write. I'll keep you posted as I know anything to tell.

Thanks for your love and prayers! God is great! I'll get pictures on the blog as soon as I get a chance to take some.

Okay, the basement is officially pronounced DRY! We put up the hose, vac, and pump and we 'sealed' the escape hatch. We left everything pushed to the high side, so someone can easily manage the water if it comes while we're gone, but we think it's safe down there. Whew! Praise God. He refreshed our ground and taught us that we can live with it.

MD Anderson people called me last night and today to make sure we know the way and know to bring money. Ha! I spent much of the afternoon talking to the insurance company. I got the distinct idea that I needed to be educated. So, I'm laden with policy, highlighter, notes, checkbook and plastic. Besides that God is in my heart, and Don is holding my hand, so I'm braced.

Trish says she thinks the baby is going to wait until we get home. Well, maybe. Anyway, she said they can do it without us right there, and I'm sure that's true. They make childbirth such a fun thing. I just hate to miss anything. God knows how this big picture will look when it's done, so we trust Him.

Today's pictures are so cool. One is of an awesome sunset that Ruthie sent me from Springville, Tennessee; besides that they have AWESOME birds!!! The birds were our favorite thing when we lived there; I probably missed all the great sunsets!

One is of Ruthie and I in our kitchen when she and Phil were here back in the spring. It's a treasure to me to remind me of them being here!

The last one is of our friend, Steve Crawford, who we knew from working together years ago when we lived in Oklahoma City. He does magic shows all over the country for a living and he was doing a session with kids at the library in Hobart today. It was so cool. I was a kid today; I know I enjoyed it as much as the kids did, plus I got to see Steve in his realm! We had lunch with him before the session at the library, and I got to stay and watch while Don mowed the grass. (We could have watched the grass grow this last week if we hadn't been so busy in the basement! That grass loves water!)

Life is good. God is GREAT! Thanks for your prayers and support!

Nearly dry, but lots of rain around us.

God knows what we need and He knows the plan. He sure has us baffled! We had a spell of dry in the basement today, but then it started seeping, again. It continues to barely seep, so we give thanks. Then a huge rain storm came, but we just got the very edge of it. It came from the north, which is so uncommon. It was hard to tell where it was going. It looked like it was coming straight for us, but when it got here we had rain pouring down but sunshine at the same time. I tried to get a picture of the rainbow, but got soaked! Where our trees are beside the driveway, the driveway never got wet even though it was pouring rain. We were just shaking our heads in dismay and giving thanks that it didn't last long. The basement is still seeping. If we can just go a couple more days without rain, maybe it will be dry. Don hasn't even gotten a whole vac full of water today, so we are so grateful. He just came up from the basement and told me that the seeping has stopped and the basement is dry. He shut off the 3 fans for the first time in 3 weeks! Praise God! If we get rain tonight and it starts seeping again tomorrow, we'll resume the fans, vac and pump.

Someone called me from MD Anderson today to confirm my appointment on Tuesday. She said they try to put things together quickly for folks who are from out of state, so maybe they won't send me home before they begin treatment. We'll have to wait and see. I'm packed to stay if they think I should.

The pictures on the blog today are the sunset we had after the storm came through, which is, of course the western sky, and then a shot of the sky to the south of us. I think that's where the rain storm went after it left us. Usually our weather comes from the south and goes northeast from here. When it comes from the north we have no clue what to expect.

Whew! We're relieved and still counting blessings. God is great!

Things might be getting back to normal around here! We are so hoping so! The cows are back up by the fence, so THEY think it's normal! I went out to take their picture and on the way back noticed a mushroom growing on our old knarly tree. It looked like something out of a fairy tale, so I had to snap the picture and share it with you. Notice to the right the robin's nest that fell when we had that big awful rain and wind a couple of weeks ago. I like it to be there. The sedum has been blooming (yellow). It is so thriving with the rain. It does well in our normally dry weather, but it's doing so well with the moisture! Notice the windmill weeds that blew in and got caught in it. We hate those. They blow all over and pile up between the house and the fence on the side of the yard way up over my head! It's so hard to pick them up because they are so light. It's like picking up feathers. We've just ignored them this year with all the water problems. They never stacked up, so I don't know if they blew somewhere else or if they just didn't blow the same as usual. Anyway, when I get back from Houston I'll cut the blooms off the sedum and rake it all up together, I hope. Behind the tree is the path of stones that I put through the flower bed for the postman.

The cookout at the preacher's house went great; no rain! What a blessing!

I had some extra time to cut off a pair of jeans for capris today and even gave myself a haircut. I figure they will throw chemo at me in Houston, so I'll beat the chemo to my hair. Ha! It came back curly, and I really don't know what to do with it, so I keep cutting it. I expect it'll be gone before too long, so it's not a big issue. The last time I didn't lose it all, but I only had about 1/10 the chemo that I'll likely get this time. That reminds me; I'd better go pack my hats! I really don't think they'll give me any treatments in Houston this time; this will just be a diagnostic trip.

This is our 4th day with only a trace of rain one of those days. The basement is still seeping, but Don has only pumped out 2 full vacs and part of another today! If it doesn't rain tonight, I'm dreaming that it might go dry tomorrow! We're ready for DRY! God is good; He will give us what we need in abundance. I love all He gives us and find it all awesome and give Him praise and glory. Thanks for checking on us!

3rd day with nearly no rain!

This is the look of our back flower bed after 20 days of rain and 3 days of some sunshine. The lavender is doing great, as is the ground cover and redbud! I'm pleased with them. I should be harvesting that lavender and cutting the woody parts out, but I haven't had time for that.























This is a shot of my little volunteer crepe myrtle. It gets to stay because it's white. The others, except for the parent of this one are a magenta color. I liked the white, so when this one came up I let it stay long enough to check it's color. Since it was white, it got to stay. Notice behind it is the Japanese Magnolia and it's blooming, again. It thinks it's spring, I guess, with all this rain. If you click on the picture you'll see the pink blooms.



















This is the front flower bed with the daisies blooming and the echinacea in full bloom. I'm wondering if the butterflies got flooded or confused by the rains, too? I'm happy to have the echinacea this long, but I'm surprised.

Today I defrosted our freezer, did laundry and I'm resting. I had a migraine and didn't realize it for the longest; just thought I was falling apart after yesterday. DUH. Migraines do that: disable my ability to reason and think. It wasn't painful and I didn't recognize the aura until the pain hit and then I put together the pieces. I don't get many anymore, so I forget how they work. I'm okay, now; I even felt like going out and getting these pictures.

This is our 3rd day with nearly no rain. Last night we had a little shower after I did the blog, but it didn't even register in our rain gauge. Don only pumped out 5 vacs today, so it's definitely slowing. WHEW! Maybe tomorrow will be down to 3 if it doesn't rain tonight! Tomorrow is the 4th and the preacher invites the church over to his place for a cookout every year. Their yard and our yard join, but he has all the work. It'll be fun; I hope it doesn't rain. Since it's church night, he'll have it from 4 - 6.

Blessings are abundant; I've lost count, but I keep giving thanks!

Busy day; no pictures.

You'll have to pardon me for not taking time to take pictures today. It's been super busy. We've got the car all packed to go when Trish calls to tell us the baby is on the way. I need to get another bag ready in case we have to go to Houston from there, but I have everything ready to go be a grammy.

I wanted to leave the house in good shape, so I changed the sheets on our bed and also Sadie's from when she was here a couple of weeks ago. I hadn't changed it, so I was behind on that. Now it feels better to be caught up. I dusted everywhere and did the hard floors and Don did the vacuuming. Whew! That's a big day. I'll be glad when we get settled in and get someone to do the cleaning. That's on my list of first things to do when we get home for a while. I don't want to hire someone and then leave, but I'm definitely going to get some help.

I also went and got my mammogram films from the mammogram last November. They have to go to Houston with me. I also talked to the insurance company to see what kind of approvals we need from them, etc. So, that detail is behind me.

We went to the Mexican restaurant for dinner with Dorothy and David and our friend Charlene, who was in the wreck last year when we were on our way to Tijunana. She's amazing and it was a fun dinner.

Now, we're going to watch Extreme Makeover. They have a guy on with a prosthesis (leg), and I want to see that. Charlene lost her leg in that accident and she's doing wonderfully well.

Frank is doing well today. Things are falling into place. If we can just have this baby before we go that will be MY plan. I've learned that God's plan is so superior to mine, so I have to be patient and see what date He has in store for this birth.

Today we have had NO RAIN for the second day in a row! We still have water seeping into the basement, but it has slowed tremendously. Don has only gotten 7 or 8 vacs full in the basement today. Whew. Bless his heart; he did that and the upstairs, too. He said the upstairs vac was simple after the basement job he's had! God love him!

Thanks for keeping an eye on our doings. I'm sorry I just didn't have the energy to take pictures today. Maybe soon we'll have baby pictures to share! God is GREAT and we thank Him for richly blessing us. I'm anxious to get into that clean bed!

Oh! I should tell you that I let Jethro free yesterday; he's in the backyard gulping down mosquitos for us, I hope! Also, I learned today that tarantulas cross the road when they are mating, and they are not dangerous to humans.

Such a day!

Oh, man. Today has been so full and so full of thanks to our Father! We played cards last night at Jo Ann and Frank’s house. Then this morning the phone rang as we were eating breakfast and it was Jo Ann. She had just arrived at the ER with Frank having symptoms of a heart attack! Their daughter, Kristy was here for the weekend, and we thanked God for that! Jo Ann is recovering from knee replacement surgery on June 4th, so it was a big deal to play cards last night; today was a little much. Anyway, after some tests they determined that Frank had a problem with one of the stents in his heart, so they sent him by helicopter to Lawton. We followed, as did Dorothy and David. Our preacher came as soon after church as he could and he stayed the whole afternoon. He is the BEST! After cleaning out the 100% blocked stent, they put in a new one for Frank and he was doing great when we left. Jo Ann and Kristy are spending the night. Their other daughter, Staci, met them there with clothes they needed from home. She’ll go back and bring them home on Tuesday. Today’s pictures on the blog are Jo Ann and the girls, (Kristy on the left and Staci on the right) and our all time favorite preacher and neighbor, Bill. Frank is the one in the great gown.

On our way home tonight we saw 14 tarantulas crossing the road! They are pretty hairy looking, but they aren’t supposed to be dangerous. I guess it’s dangerous to get out on the highway and take their picture, but there was NO traffic, so I did. We think they’re cool. They have some saying around here, like if the tarantulas are crossing the road it means a storm is coming. We were talking about that and Don said, it means the tarantulas are crossing the road is all. That reminds me; it hasn’t rained at all today!!! We are sooooo grateful! (Don pumped out 13 vacs full today after 19 yesterday, so the ground saturation is dropping. Whew! That was still over 200 gallons today.)

Today we are thanking God for saving Frank, for good doctors, for helicopters and pilots, for good friends and hospitals, for a break from the rain, safe traveling etc., etc., etc.! We even thank Him for the cool wildlife we got to see today. Besides the tarantulas we saw a snake, a couple of rabbits and 3 turtles! I gave thanks that I got to get a picture of the tarantula! Take a minute and join us in thanks! God is great!