View the pump and nephews

Today has been a great day, but I’ve been really tired. That’s par for the course, I think, with chemo. The treat was that Luke and Colter were here. Luke was here all day and Colter came by for a visit. It was good to get my nephew fix!

The first picture is one of me this morning showing my pump. I have it open so you can see inside it. If you look at the third picture you can see it closed and laying under my elbow.

The second picture is me holding Colter. I was asleep when Colter came, so I probably was as sleepy as I look in the picture. Colter is 4 months old.

The third picture is me holding Luke. Luke is 6 months old. This is the one where you can see the pump below my left elbow.

I’ve continued to feel good today except for being tired. I finish one of my nausea pills tonight at midnight. I sure hope the feeling good holds. I have another prescription of different nausea pills if I need them.

God is so good to take care of us. Tomorrow we go to have the pump disconnected. I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to use the pump because it decreases the chance of nausea and also decreases the chance of damage to the heart. It’s because I have the PICC line that I can use the pump. God is taking care of me and I thank Him for that! I thank Him for the blessing of your support, too. I thank you, too!

All set to continue treatments in Lawton!

Today was such a nice, easy day! My fingers and toes didn’t even hurt as bad. Maybe they’re getting better already? Maybe it’s because I’m not lifting a finger to do anything? Whatever, I’m grateful that the pain is easing!

I did call Lawton today to make arrangements and make sure they can do the treatments with the pump as they are here. I really like this. I’m not crazy about being tied to the pump, but I’m crazy about not being sick and the idea that it is minimizing the chance of damage to my heart. Those are good things!

I thank God that we have these treatment options here and close to home, too. This is wonderful, but home is always the best place to be!

The pictures on the blog look like repeats of yesterday, but these are the pictures that Don took with Judy’s camera. She sent them to me today. You can tell we are having the best time together. I still shake my head in disbelief that we could be together after all these years. She and I were at Itazuke together in 1960 and 61, then she found me in 1989; I didn’t dream any of us would ever get together again, but we have a reunion every 2 years and many of us get together between those reunions. It’s awesome! How wonderful it is for me to have her in my life and in this place at this time in my life!

Thanks for being a part of my support group. I thank God for you and for all the people close in Houston and at home, family and friends all over the world. I thank Him for the computer and the Internet to keep us all connected, too.

Big day at MD Anderson! Results are in!

Today was a big day for sure! We started out with getting my bandage changed and getting my stitch repaired. It was way easier than I thought it would be. So, I’m in good shape as far as the stitch goes. We’re using another bandage in hopes that it won’t eat up my skin, but it’s burning, so I’m afraid it’s not going to do well. We’ll hope to hold on with it until Friday and then figure out what to do about it.

The good news came with the ultrasound. My tumor has shrunk 96%! That’s awesome! I tried to talk them into doing the surgery sooner and skipping this next round of chemo, but they weren’t having that. They said it’s important to take the whole thing to enhance the chances of it not recurring. I’m in favor of that, so we’ll do it all.

The next surprise was that because I have the PICC line they could do part of the chemo at the hospital and send me home with the rest to be given with pump (which I wear) over the next 72 hours. That lets out our going home on Thursday, so we’re staying until Saturday morning. We’ll go home then if I feel like it. The pros to doing it with the pump is that it enhances my ability to not have nausea and it also enhances my ability to not have heart damage caused by the large doses of chemo. I’m in favor of BOTH of those, so we’re doing it.

It’s all new stuff to us, though, so we’re in unfamiliar territory. God knows all about it, though. He’ll take care of the details and us. What do people who don’t believe do???

The pictures on the blog tonight are:

1) Me waiting to get my stitch replaced in the PICC line.
2) Judy and I enjoying a hug after we’d seen the doctor and got her good news.

I am so tired. I’m headed right to bed. I’ve already given this to God. He’ll take care of us and have it His way. He’ll take care of this pump for us; it’s a new thing for us! You turn everything over to Him, too. He’s the best ever; we all know it; don’t forget to tell Him thanks!

All ready to see the doctor tomorrow.

Today has been such a relaxing day! We slept late this morning and I didn’t even dress until it was time to fix lunch! It was fun to have a lazy day. Then after lunch I took a good nap. Between naps and being lazy in general I read my book. It was such a dream of a day.

A good friend of mine who has really bad neuropathy wrote and told me about how she put on some socks that have loose threads inside them and caught her toenail in the threads. Her neuropathy is so bad that she has no feeling in her toes, so she didn’t know her toenail was caught at all. Then she heard a loud pop and looked to find that the threads caught on her toenail had popped off her toenail. I went immediately and got the clippers and cut my toenails and my fingernails! I’d been afraid to cut them because I was afraid the pressure would hurt too much, but her loss sold me! It didn’t hurt too bad at all, and, in fact, it relieved some pressure to have the length gone. It’s amazing how the length makes them catch on so much and run into everything else.

We are all ready to go to see the doctor tomorrow. I can hardly wait to see Judy; she’s going to meet us there. I’ve got fresh batteries in the camera and it packed, so we should surely get good pictures for the blog tomorrow.

The pictures on the blog today are a couple Don took of me this afternoon after I trimmed my nails. You can tell I was relaxed and rested compared to last night’s pictures!

Tomorrow I’ll give you the full report from what we learn tomorrow. I am so grateful that we could come here for treatments; I’m confident that we are getting the best care available. I thank God for our safe travels and for wonderful family and friends to support us here and all over the world. God is great; count our rich blessings with me!

Arrived in Houston.

The trip to Houston went fine today. We got here in time to rest and visit a little before Doris and Jerry’s life group came for Sunday night study at their house. That was a good experience and then several of us went out to east supper together. Now I’m exhausted! I slept nearly all the way to Dallas this morning, so the trip wasn’t too hard on me. Don is the one who had the hard day.

We’ll sleep late tomorrow and get plenty of rest getting braced For Tuesday.

The pictures on the blog tonight are:

1) The one Don took Friday night before we left for canasta. I was so tired when we got home that I forgot we even had that picture!

2) This one Don took just a few minutes ago. You can tell my right eye is a bit ahead of my left eye. Maybe it’s the left eye that’s ahead; it looks like it’s already gone to bed!

Tonight we’re thanking God for a safe trip and a warm welcome here! Judy welcomed us to her house, too, but we opted to stay here this time. We’re so lucky to have two people who are so welcoming to us! It’s great to feel at home even when you aren’t at home!

God bless you and thank you for checking on us!

Ready to head to Houston.

Today has been football day for Don. Thankfully, Oklahoma beat Texas, so it’s been a good day for him. I’ve been packing so that we could leave for Houston tomorrow. I’m exhausted, and so ready for bed. I just picked out the pictures for the blog and then lost them. That’s how tired I am; just really fumbling. I got the pictures chosen, again, so here’s the explanation of them:

1) The first one I found where I didn’t look as tired as I feel tonight. It may have been on before; I didn’t feel like looking back to see if it’s been on here before. Please pardon me if it’s a repeat.
2) This one could be a repeat, too. It’s a favorite of mine because I was in my glory feeding Raynie! She’s getting to be such a big girl these days. I wish I had a more current picture. I have one on my phone, but I don’t know how to get it onto the computer. Ugh!
3) This one is a real treasure! This is Elena with her Daddy, Joe. He’s the president of our bald club and he’s the big pea in the pod that Elena must have come from. Is this a precious picture or what? I love it!

Tomorrow we’ll be on the road to Houston, so I don’t know if I’ll come up with pictures for the blog tomorrow night or not. I’m not making any promises. I’ll surely be able to make a post and there are probably pictures on the laptop that I can use. This reminds me to take the cable to use for the camera and the laptop.

The Sidney report is great! He’s out of the hospital!!! He’s gone to rehab and doing very well except for a headache. He’ll stay a week at rehab and then they’ll evaluate him and see if he needs to stay longer or if he can go home. This is so awesome! God has certainly saved his life, and we thank Him! Sidney has short-term memory loss, but they’re working to correct that and time will help, too.

I am so crashing, so I’m going to go to bed. I thank God for your support and His!

One day past Taxol!

We’ve decided to go on to Houston on Sunday instead of Monday. That will give us Monday to rest from the trip and brace for the onslaught on Tuesday. That will be a hairy drive into MD Anderson in rush hour to get there and start with all the appointments at 8:00 a.m. Judy will meet us there as soon as she finishes her workout, then we’ll have lunch together and she’ll hold our hands through the rest of the day. I started all this with her and I’ve missed her since we’ve come home. I’m ready to see her!

I must tell you this. Another side effect of the chemo is mouth sores. I’ve had only a few so far and they’ve gone away quickly with using a soda mouthwash. However, instead of the mouth sores I’ve had mucousitis in my nose. That means the lining of my nose has felt raw and whenever I blew it there was lots of blood. Also when I blew it I never seemed to be able to get it clean. They recommended I use a saline spray in my nose, which I did, but that didn’t help much. So I tried a Neti pot and the nurse said that was good. I love that Neti pot! I think everyone should use one to prevent sinus and other infections. The nose has to really work hard to filter all the pollution out there. I sleep so much better and start the day with a clear head with this Neti pot. I use it first thing each morning and before going to bed. Check it out here if you are interested. This site will tell you where you can get a Neti pot. This is the kind I have (got it at Wal-Mart):

http://shop.neilmed.com/s.nl;jsessionid=ac112b801f43a9e7ebfa207b4982931db57910726f4f.e3eTaxiPc3mTe34Pa38Ta38Pb3b0?sc=2&category=6

This video will show you how to use the Neti pot:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8sDIbRAXlg

A good information site about the Neti pot is at this location:

http://www.healingdaily.com/exercise/neti-pot.htm

The pictures on tonight’s blog:

1) My favorite of the hats Susan sent yesterday. I’m going to have some fun with this one; it’s kind of dressy, so it’ll be good for church and going out special.
2) I really love this pink one, too. It’s a snug warm one and has the little breast cancer ribbon knitted into it. It’s so soft!
3) Me in the Gina wig! I bought this wig at a yard sale once because it reminded me of Gina. She wore her hair like this wig (not so wild) for lots of years. We’ve had fun with it. All the kids have had their picture made in it and lots of the big people. It’s a fun family thing. Now, I’ve even had my picture made in it. This is the Grace pose that makes Garrett think my face is always itching. How cute is that? Grandkids are the BEST, and I thank God!!!

Taxol is HISTORY for me!

Everything is good today. When I told them my fingers and toes are hurting a lot they said they could delay the Taxol treatment and give the fingers and toes a chance to have a break from it. HA! No way; and give the cancer a chance to take a break from it, too? So I’m not even going to mention it again! I was reading something (don’t even remember where) that the fingers and toes will begin to feel better in about 3 weeks from the last Taxol. I can live with that. I have a lot to distract me for the next 3 weeks. So, that’s a done issue; I’m not going to give it any more energy; please don’t worry about it for me. God doesn’t like worry; He likes us to turn everything over to Him because He’s up all night anyway!

I did just fine with my last treatment and we went to the Mexican Restaurant for supper to celebrate. Dorothy and David joined us, so it was fun.

Sidney is doing better and better. Of course he still has a headache, but with a cracked skull that’s no surprise. We’re all impatient, but he needs some time to heal. Jo Ann and Frank took Sidney’s little brother (he’s in pre-K, so it won’t hurt him to miss a few days) to Oklahoma City to be with his family, today. He’s been staying with friends, but he was starting to wonder what happened to everyone. Three weeks ago his granddad died and is gone forever and now last week his Mom and Dad and big brother disappeared. He needed to see them! So, they took him to the hospital to see everyone and he’ll be staying with their other daughter and his favorite aunt and he can see his family whenever he needs to see them. Things are working for them.

Jo Ann and Frank are having us all out to their house to play cards tomorrow night. They need a distraction! It’ll be good for all of us.

The night after chemo I usually have a hard time sleeping. I got up at 4:30 this morning to go to chemo, so maybe I’ll be tired enough to sleep. I hope so. If not I’ll catch up on some emails.

We came home and checked the snail mail. Those of you from Itazuke will remember Susan Parks (Tarter), class of ’64. She is the last of the big spoilers. She sent a package with 3 winter hats AND some BANGS. No, not a loaded gun, but bangs to wear under my hats. I’ve put the bangs onto the blog tonight. I’ve got a picture of me with the straw hat and no bangs and then one with the bangs. Then there’s a picture of a nice warm hat she sent with the bangs. That's a mug with lady bugs that Susan sent after visiting here and we took her up to see the lady bugs on Mount Scott. I’ll have to work with the bangs to get them to look natural, but I think they’ll be fun to wear sometimes. Susan, said, I know you said not to send hats, but, I never listen. What a hoot! {{{{{SUSAN}}}}} Here are hugs, for you!

God never stops! He’s so good and picks us up when we need it. I know that. At the lowest times in my life (this cancer is probably in the top 10 but it’s at least 4th down on the list) He has never let me down. He’s always there; He takes His time because He knows what He’s doing. I’m so thankful for that and I turn it all over to Him. I thank Him for YOU, and thank you for reading this and loving us.

Toenails turning black. Ulp.

This is the eve of my last Taxol treatment. Yippee! The housekeeping angel came today; Yippee!!! Linda, I so agree with you that hiring her is the best thing I’ve done! It was so nice to just nap in the recliner in the basement and then wake up and sew while she did all the hard work. She is so industrious; she is awesome! She got the step stool and even cleaned the ceiling fans! I didn’t ask her to do that; she just did it. She’s amazing! Thank you, Linda, for encouraging me so strongly!

This morning was hard for me. I was hurting a lot and had a queasy stomach. I think the queasy stomach was from drinking so much water at once. I was trying to get as much water down and deleted before the housekeeper got here, so I wouldn’t be constantly running to the bathroom while she was here. I finally got to sleep right before she got here; then I heard her ring the bell and remembered I needed to get the mop for her. After getting the mop for her I went right back down for a good nap. I felt much better when I woke up and smelled all the cleaning stuff up here. It’s sure the way to clean! I spent the rest of the afternoon making hats and sleeves. It also feels good to get that task done.

This morning I noticed my right big toenail is turning black. That’s a side effect of the chemo. It kind of makes me feel better that at least there is something to look at for all the pain. I keep looking and see NOTHING and think I must be crazy; then this morning there it was: a darkening toenail. That’s the first picture on the blog. The left one is darkening, too, but not so much. I also took a picture of my left hand. The nails are darkening, but I hadn’t noticed it until I noticed the toenail. You can see how they are whiter toward the cuticles; that’s the new nail growing. Interesting. These are not beautiful pictures for the blog, but it’s how it looks here, today.

It sure could be worse, so I am so thanking God! I am SO grateful for the housekeeping angel; her name is Angela; how appropriate! Don was so impressed that she moved the loveseat out and vacuumed under it! He said, “I sure never did that when I vacuumed!” Neither did I! Once a year I may have pulled it out, but surely never more than that (I don’t even think that often!). I am grateful for the Taxol that is doing its work to kill this cancer. I’m grateful for the doctors who know to use it. I’m grateful for a husband, family and friends who support me through this. Thank you for being one of those! I thank God for all of it.

By the way, Sidney is in his own room, now! He got to take a shower and he’s doing really well. We’ll know in time about how much damage was done to his brain. Please keep praying; I’ll keep you posted. For now, he can walk with help and he recognizes everyone he should recognize. God is so great and awesome!

Backwards hats even for a grammy!

Ha! Today I learned that I could wear my baseball caps backwards, too! I had tried them backwards before, but it didn’t feel right; made me tilt my head down toward my knees. It just didn’t work. You’ve heard that necessity is the mother of invention? Yep! I was wearing my ball cap and the back of my head and neck were freezing. I was busy doing something and flipped it around. WALA! Warm head and neck! What a trip! I learned how to set it just right so that it keeps me warm. Yep, I look goofy, but it sure works. That’s the first picture. I was on the cell phone, too; typical!

The next picture is with my hat turned right. I thought I’d have too much pride to put the backwards hat picture on the blog, but, you know how my pride has been slipping lately. I think God likes me better with less pride.

He’d be more pleased with me if I didn’t pitch tantrums, too, so I’m working on that. I failed a test today, though. I watch very little TV. I don’t even know how to work our TV’s. It usually doesn’t matter to me. Normally, I think I don’t want to watch anything bad enough to learn how to work it. Well, today I asked Don what’s on TV tonight? I thought if it was anything I wanted to see, then I’d work my chores around to have some free time for TV tonight. He spouted off about 8 shows, which means he’s going to watch three channels at once. That means right when the important part of the show is happening, he’ll flip over to some other channel and I’ll swear off of TV, again. He asked if there was something I wanted to see and I said, “No.” He reminded me that I could watch whatever I wanted to watch in the bedroom, so I thought about that and decided I’d go get that TV set onto the channel I want to watch at 8. I started at about 6 because I figured it would take me that long to get it going. Sure enough; I was right. I couldn’t get it to work. I had a great channel of snow and static going. I came in and asked him what channel it was supposed to be set on for the satellite to make it work and he said, ’73.’ HA! It was on ‘4.’ It would have taken me forever to get up to 73 because I’d keep flipping back and forth thinking surely this is not right! Plus, my fingers are ouching today!!! So I went back to our bedroom and slammed the door as I went. I don’t even remember when I slammed my last door, but it sure felt good. He came right back and fixed the TV for me, too! It’s really tempting to think, “Hmmmm; I might do that again!” I remember about crying wolf, though . . . so I won’t be slamming anymore doors anytime soon. I’m working on this attitude. The devil made it feel so good, but he’s a rascal. What a nice guy Don is to set up my TV for me, and he never even mentioned about me acting like a baby!

Ha! Just the night I’m all set up for TV we have storms coming. The Lord says that vengeance is His. I wasn’t supposed to slam that door! He’s so good; He taught me about wearing my cap backwards today! He gives me you all to support me and read my silly stories and still love me. Thanks to Him and to all of you! To God be all the glory!

More windmill weeds!

I was wrong; I can have 3 ‘ouch’ days in a row. Maybe this means that my fingers and toes are going to feel like this until the Taxol starts to diminish in my system. Okay; I can deal with it. Tomorrow is Tuesday and I’ll do laundry and change our sheets in preparation for the cleaning angel to come on Wednesday. That’ll keep my mind off of ills tomorrow. Then Wednesday the angel will be here and Thursday is the last Taxol day. I can do this! I’m sure my pain is nothing compared to Sidney’s so I need to grow up.

Sidney is doing much better, by the way! Thank you so much for your prayers in his behalf. They took all the restraints off him today and he even walked up the hall with them! He’s resting peacefully, still in ICU. He has a headache, but he’s talking and walking and recognizing family and friends, so he’s doing great!

Today was bandage-changing day, so I got to walk with Don. It was a beautiful day, so it was great to get to go with him. Then we had gobs of windmill weeds all over, so we spent about an hour getting the big areas of them bagged. It felt good to be outside and getting something done.

I’ve been sewing on more hats and sleeves for my PICC line. I’ve got to be ready for clothes that open in the front for after surgery. I don’t think I’ll be able to raise my arms for a while to negotiate t-shirts and sweaters.

I didn’t think to get more pictures today, so the picture on the blog is one from the other day with the windmill weeds. The gloves I’m holding are some OLD elbow length gloves of my Mom’s; they work great for yard work!

God is great and helps to keep everything into perspective if we pay attention. Thank you for keep in up with us. God bless!

Today was another ‘Ouch’ day. That’s okay. We got Subway sandwiches so I didn’t have to tear up salad greens or fork any food. Sandwiches work! Tomorrow will be a better day because I’ve never had more than two ‘Ouch’ days in a row. This week is going to be a great week. The housekeeper comes, so the house will be smiling, again! I’m packing to go to Houston. This week will be the last week of this Taxol round and next Tuesday will be the beginning of the FAC round. Onward we march!

Sidney continues to do better and better. Bless his heart; these days are so tough on his family, but, thankfully, he won’t remember anything about these days. His family will never forget them, though. Hopefully, they will use what they’re learning to help someone else get through days like this. Those of you who have been through a brain injury with a loved one have a clue what I mean. There is not a good way to describe it; you just have to be there. It’s better if you never have to go there, but that’s not real life. It’s like a life with no cancer; you will always know someone with cancer. Let’s brace to support each other in whatever comes that we have to face. It sure makes life better when there are loved ones there to support us through the tough times.

Thank you all for being there to support me. This doesn’t seem so tough, yet, but the tough days are coming. I sure appreciate your support and love!

On the blog today:

1) A picture of my Panioli outfit. Ha! Panioli is a Hawaiian cowboy. That’s a dress I bought in Hawaii and my cowboy hat. My toes were no way wearing shoes, so I had on the Hawaii flip-flops. What a garb! If Bob Dwyer sees this he’ll be embarrassed; pardon me, Bob! In the background is the Mike Buchanan wall (That means something to my Itazuke buddies; that’s all either work of Mike’s or else a memoir from our trip to visit him.)
2) Another picture of me in the Panioli garb. (Tom and Linda, your rose is in the vase with the pink rose. It’s still your rose, it’s just waiting on it’s trip to your house.)

God bless you all. I love you and count you among my most rich of blessings.

A wonderful visit from Jane!

I don’t think I’ve done a thing that was constructive today. I woke up saying, “Ouch.” It’s funny how this neuropathy works. Some days are much easier than others. Today was an “Ouch” day. It’s good I didn’t have any plans or anything that had to be done. It feels strange to be deciding what to wear by whether there are buttons or not. It’s a good lesson to me about folks who have arthritis issues! I’m starting to like Velcro better and better!

I’ve done lots of research on the Internet today, so that was good. I guess I needed to take the time to do that. I learned that the reconstruction I was considering (TRAM-flap) couldn’t be done at the same time as my mastectomies because I have to have radiation. That’s okay. It’s simply another clue. I’m not bent out of shape about having reconstruction. I’m okay with being flat chested; I was flat chested until I was 13 and it was a good life. There are lots of things we want to do with our lives next spring, summer and fall besides reconstruction. I figure if I go through all we want to do without boobs, then why would I ever need to have any later? We’ll just see how it all works, but it was good for me to have the time for research today. Maybe after doing the things we want to do flat chested I’ll know that I really want to go through the reconstruction! I trust God to give me the signals I need to determine what I should do. So far I’ve had good signals that I need chemo, surgery and radiation, so I’m happy to do those.

I must tell you: Sidney continues to do better and better! PTL! Thanks for your prayers!

On the blog tonight:

1) Don showing his disgust at the windmill weeds.
2) The windmill weeds gathered by our dumpster in the alley.
3) Our wonderful guest, Jane, David Rule’s sister. David had a gob of company at his house this weekend, so we were honored to have Jane stay with us. It was their high school reunion weekend and David’s son was also visiting. What an honor for us to have Jane stay with us! (She’s a breast cancer survivor, so I love comparing notes with her, but mostly she’s so much like David that it thrills us to get to know her better!)

Our lives are so rich with blessings. Count and give thanks with us! God bless!

Whew! Long day, but Sidney is better!

We got up and went to OKC early this morning. We went first to see Jo Ann and Frank at the hospital with Sidney. Of course we saw Jeff and Staci, too, but they were so wiped out from nearly no sleep since Wednesday night. It’s getting really hard for them. Sidney is really doing much better, but he’s at a stage that is hard to witness. If you aren’t familiar with brain injuries, it’s a really tough thing to see. My brother, Jim, had a motorcycle wreck about 20 years ago, so I’ve seen this before. It’s hard. The good thing is that Sidney is past the touch and go stage. He will live. They’ve taken him off the respirator and taken the tubes out of his nose. They are letting him come out of the coma and he’s reeling in the bed, wanting OUT! He recognizes everyone and knows who he is, but doesn’t know where he is or why. He wants all those restraints taken off and he wants out of there! Bless his heart. His brain is healing and he’s got to be in there, but he can’t understand that. He looks around and sees all the monitors and sees the bands on his arms and feet and thinks he’s tangled up in TV cords and begs you to get the TV off of him! It’s just hard to watch. He’s a strong kid and all the prayers for him will work. Thank you for your love and concern for someone we love.

The pictures on the blog today are of me, yesterday with the windmill weeds. It was really kind of fun to ‘play’ with them. Don did the really hard work of picking them up. I held the plastic bags for him. He picks up all he can with a big wide arm grasp and then wads it around itself until it sort of makes a ball. Then he crams it into the bag. Then I sit on the bag to mash it down and we go through the process again and again. We’re getting pretty good at it. Those things are unreal to capture and bag, but we got a bunch of them. They really are a nuisance, if you don’t have a partner to help you get them or if you’re really sick. Fortunately, we were in pretty good shape yesterday. The thing that made it really work was that we worked until we were tired and then quit instead of working until we were done, which is our usual mode of operation. We’re learning!

We visited Trish after we went to the hospital today, so we got there in time to see Grace, Mason and Sadie as well and Raynie. The big boys, Nate, and Gabe were visiting somewhere, so we missed them. Raynie was laughing out loud, her new trick, so we loved that! I forgot my camera, so I didn’t get pictures today. Ugh! I did get some pictures with the new cell phone, but I don’t know how to get them out of the phone, so we may never see them. HA! God is good; He’s still working with me!

We thank Him for bringing Sidney around and for healing him. We thank Him for giving patience and strength to Jeff and Staci and Jo Ann and Frank. We thank Him for our safe trip and for our healthy, baby and big kids who can laugh out loud just because Grammy remembers Patty Cake! PTL!

Sidney report; windmill weeds and chemo 11 down!

Today went well. We completed chemo #11 today! Only one more Taxol! Then we go to Houston on the 8th and I’ll have appointments all day the 9th beginning my first of the last 4 ‘hairy’ chemo treatments. I think I’ll do fine with them. I may not feel so good, but that’s okay. I’ll be counting my blessings and bringing you all with me to give me great support. I’m excited and looking forward to the reunion and getting through this next stage. After the 12 weeks it will take to do the final round of chemo I’ll have a month off to rebuild my immune system and then the surgery. That’ll be the Christmas and New Year’s holidays and I expect it to be fun! I expect the surgery and radiation to be the worst parts of this adventure. The surgery will be major and I’ll be way sore and have to lie around. I’m not so good at lying around, but I know you all are coming with me (in my mind), so that’ll be the fun part. I’ll know that my mom and my grandmother went through it, so I’ll be proud to follow in their footsteps and do as well as they did. I was there when it was my mom’s turn and I don’t remember her ever complaining, so I’m not going to complain, either.

Reporting on Sidney: He has been on a ventilator and in a drug induced coma, but they are weaning him from the ventilator and expect to be able to let him out of the coma soon. Both his lungs are bruised. He has a cracked skull and a blood clot in the brain and another outside the brain. (How does that work? He aunt reported that to me, and we’re all lay people; we’re just reporting it as we get it.) Those are very serious things, but lots of prayers are being said on his behalf. They eased him from his coma a bit today to see if they could determine how much damage has been done and to see if he could handle it. They asked him his name and he answered correctly. They asked him his girl friend’s name and he answered correctly! They asked him if he knew what happened and he didn’t. That’s so common for brain-injured people to block out the offending event. It’s a gift from God, because don’t you know it would hurt all over again to recall it! He began to get agitated, though, as he found 3 IV’s in his body, and he was trying to pull it all out and they had to put him back into the coma.

We’re going tomorrow to OKC to see them. If I don’t sleep tonight, I can sleep in the car tomorrow. We’ll also run by and see Trish , Raynie and Grace. We’ll go in the morning, so we’ll miss the other kids this time, I guess.

We got home this afternoon and found windmill weeds blown up from the nearby farms. God is good to us. He knew we needed the chance to stretch our legs and count our blessings of being able to walk and bend and get them. I got to run the risk of sweating because we’re changing my bandage tonight. It was fun and I thank God for the windmill weeds and the ability to get some of them into bags. I also thank Him for my precious husband who helped and was willing to stop before we picked up every last one!!! What a breakthrough for him and for me. Used to we would have worked until every last one was gone before we quit. We quit today when we could use the doors. Count blessings with me! PTL!

Pictures tonight are me in my hat that I bought in Hawaii and Don in his Hawaii shirt; on our way to Chemo 11! The last picture is the windmill weeds.

Please ray for Sidney and his family.

We just got a call about our friend’s Jo Ann and Frank’s grandson, Sidney. Sidney had a four-wheeler accident and had to be flown to Oklahoma City, unconscious. We don’t know how serious it is, but it’s pretty serious or they would have taken him to a local hospital.

Sidney is 16 and is very experienced and capable on the four-wheeler. The first picture on the blog tonight was taken back in April when we were out at Jo Ann and Frank’s house celebrating Sidney’s little brother, Joe’s, birthday. I took a picture of the family that day. From left to right are Jeff (Sidney’s dad), holding Joe, Staci (Sidney’s mom and Jo Ann and Frank’s daughter), Kristy (Jo Ann and Frank’s other daughter), Frank, Sidney, and Jo Ann. They are an awesome family. Kristy’s son, Jacob, is one of my heroes that I wear a red shirt for on Friday’s. He’s in Iraq and we pray for him always. Kristy is the one who called me. They are all headed to Oklahoma City to be with Sidney. We’re praying for all of them and hope that you will also.

The other picture on the blog is one from a few weeks ago; it’s a sample of one of my 3 hat ensembles. Ha! It’s how I keep my head warm these days.

We’ve got an electrical storm coming, so I’ve got to rush to get this online and shut the computer down. Thank God for helicopters to fly us country people to the city and for the care Sidney is getting. Thank Him for safe travels for his family to get there to be with him. I’ll keep you posted on tomorrow’s blog.

God bless.

Rebloomers!

Today was a bad day for fingers and toes. Good thing I didn’t have to get anything done except work on time with the timeshares. I spent most of the day working out our holiday plans. I’ve got a tentative plan made for one week. Ha! I’ll have to see how I do with the next round of chemo before I see if we can use some other weeks. I’m sure hoping that my chemo can go without delays and then we can get right on with the surgery and get home in time for spring break. Next year I have a reunion and Don has two reunions to make. Besides that we love to do our family reunion, plus we wanted to do a cruise to Alaska. I don’t know if we can do all that or not, but we’re going to aim for it all.

I don’t know why some days are worse or better than others with the fingers and toes. Yesterday was a pretty good day. Today was tough. They did give me pain medication, but I don’t want to take that until the pain gets to where I can’t take it. I call that a 10. Today it was about 9, so I’m close. Medications usually hit me pretty hard, so I imagine the painkiller will wipe me out and I don’t want to go there. So, I’m doing my best to hang tough with the hurting fingers and toes. I’m going to take the gabapentin (medication for the neuropathy) and go to bed early. That gets me out of my misery. J

The picture on the blog tonight is today’s cutting of reblooming irises with a second picture of Elena. Those blue eyes are grabbers, aren’t they? They grab me when I’m standing at the kitchen sink admiring her.

I was supposed to figure out how to use the cell phone today. I did figure some of it, but I can see it’s going to take me a while to get it down. I know how to dial and I’ve saved a few numbers. I’m sure glad I don’t have to do this every week! At least I memorized Don’s number, so I can call him!

God blesses us so much. I am so grateful for the rebloomers. Actually, Elena and Raynie are like rebloomers because we sure didn’t expect more babies, but they thrilled us this year! 15 grandkids! 13 were blessings galore, but we’ve been over-blessed with two more who dropped out of heaven when we thought we had all the kids we would have. God has a way of teaching us not to THINK that we know how to THINK! I’m so glad that He’s in control of counting the hairs on our heads (He even counts my stubble!) as well as all the grandkids. I know He’s responsible for letting the chemo take the hair off my legs, too! I’m amazed that I still have eyebrows and hairs on my arms, but He knew I didn’t have to shave those and a nick from a razor could be catastrophic! Count the blessings with me; I know He’s working in your life, too!

Thanks for what we have; nobody cares what's missing!

The picture on today’s blog is only another from yesterday’s photo shoot. We didn’t get around to any more pictures today.

I don’t even know where today went. It was one of those days. Don came in around 3 and asked if I’d gotten my nap today and I told him I hadn’t even thought of it! I guess I wasn’t too tired, huh? Well, I’m pooped, NOW!

It was a beautiful day here, though! Don went to breakfast with a guy who is visiting his sister-in-law here. He and his wife come every year to visit a dear friend of ours and he and Don always go catch a breakfast or two while they’re here. I caught up on emails while he was gone. When he came back in he said, “Since we’re changing your bandage today, do you want to go walk with me?” I was so thrilled! The day was gorgeous and the breeze was great. I didn’t sweat a bit. That went so well that I went out this afternoon and hoed some weeds! I’m hoeing all the weeds that jump up and go, “Na-na-na-na-na,” each day that I can. I’m so proud. I’m out there going, “Na-na-na-na-na!” Actually, someone sent me an email today that said something like, ‘So often we think about the things we are missing instead of the things we have.’ That went CLUNK with me! I go out there and mentally growl at the weeds as I hoe; today I went out and gave thanks for the irises and crepe myrtles blooming as well as all the other flowers that bloom in the spring. It made it lots more fun to do! That same email had a song with it, and while I couldn’t understand some of the words, the main, recurring phrase was, “I’m ALIVE!” I loved it! It came without a link; it’s a power point kind of thing that I just opened and there it was. If you are interested in it, email me and I’ll forward it to you. If you have dial up, I think it will be a very lengthy download, but it was sure good.

Also we had company today. We love company. She didn’t stay long, but it was a nice visit. Also David and Dorothy brought our new phones, so we’re in cell business, again. We don’t know how to work the phones, but we know how to answer. We’ll figure out how to use them tomorrow. I’m so glad that Don has one this time! Now if we get separated at MD Anderson we can call each other!

We changed the bandage a while ago. That is always so stressful. We have to keep everything sterile for that procedure, so of course my nose itches. Too bad; no scratching; no touching. Ugh. When we took off the old bandage there was a blister about the size of my little fingernail from the tape. I’m lucky it hadn’t burst, so the skin wasn’t raw under it. Each week I have to figure out a new direction to make the bandage go so that the tape eats up a new piece of skin. I’m so running out of good skin. I’ll be so glad to get to Houston and get on with the next phase of this chemo. I don’t think it will make any difference with these bandages, though. I’ll have to keep bandaging as long as I have the port and that’ll be a long time. Maybe MDA will have another bandage we can use that will work better. This was the best one of all we used, but I think there is one other one we haven’t used. We’ll see.

God is good; there are so many things for which to give thanks! Forget what we’re missing; let’s count all we have!!!

No weeds; clean house!

I’m going to do the blog today before I start taking my gabapentin for the neuropathy. I’m counting down the days until I’m done taking Taxol, now! 11 days from now is my last Taxol treatment. Then, I’m hoping this neuropathy thing will begin to diminish. The FAC (next kind of chemo) might aggravate it, but I hope not. I chatted with a girl online the other night who told me it would begin to get better as soon as I quit taking Taxol. I’m ready for it to get better!

Today we went to a play in town because our neighbor, Sonia was in it. She did a great job, but I missed my nap; well I got a 10-minute nap. We came home from the play and I jumped into bed, but just as I got to sleep the doorbell rang. It was our neighbor returning a table and chairs we had given them and they never used. I got up to fix a place to put it, so I’ll go to bed early tonight. That’ll work because I’m going to start taking the gabapentin and it will make me really sleepy. God works everything out for the best for all who love Him, so it’ll work.

The pictures on the blog are all me, today. You can see I’m still smiling. Two weeks from tomorrow and we’ll be headed for Houston, so that’s a thing about which to smile! We’re approaching the next step in this whole adventure. I’ll be glad to see if I can handle the FAC well enough to go to Branson between treatments! I really want to do that, so I hope I can do it.

Trish does our cell phone plans and she got our new plan for the next two years today. We’re going with T-mobile, so our contract with Cingular is over. I didn’t do that much talking with Cingular people, but we’ll have to do as much talking after 9 and on weekends as possible, but we can still talk whenever necessary. Dorothy and David are in OKC today, so they picked up our phones from Trish and will bring them to us tomorrow. I’ll spend Tuesday figuring out the new phones, I guess. I may not have phone service until Tuesday, so if you need to call me, you might call the house if the cell phone doesn’t work.

God is great to work things out for us. I’m so pleased with a yard that looks great (notice no weeds in the picture, thanks to Joan) and a house that is clean, thanks to a wonderful housekeeper. I’m so pleased to be able to find good people to help us when we can’t help ourselves. I’m so grateful for Trish to figure out the cell phone service and share a family plan with us. My number will remain the same, by the way, and we’re getting a phone for Don this time, too. We are so blessed! You be blessed, too! I love you all.

Updated Elena and a reblooming iris.

Picture on the blog today: It’s Elena with a reblooming iris from our yard. I’m so proud of Elena and the rebloomer! Elena is growing beautifully even without us around to help do the spoiling. She has a big brother and a mom and dad who love her gobs and we miss her gobs. They send us lots of pictures and keep us up to date on her growth, but we still miss being there for this time when she is growing so much. The rebloomers are so inspirational at this time of year. It’s fun in the spring when the irises bloom, but when they bloom at this time of year it’s so refreshing! It looks like spring when it’s 90 degrees outside! If we don’t get a freeze they’ll bloom until after Thanksgiving, and that’s so fun! Even when it’s cool outside, I’ve got fresh irises in the house. I love it!

I had so much pain with the neuropathy last night; Don suggested that I spread the medication out during the day as long as I’m not driving. A side effect of the pills is that they make one sleepy and dizzy. Well, they have me taking all three pills at bedtime, and I suspect it’s so the sleepiness and dizziness won’t bother me. The pain is always so much worse in the evening, like it’s time for the dose, so we thought if we spread it out over the day then it might not be so painful. We were right; taking it during the day does help the pain to not be so acute. However, I was also right in that they had me taking it all at bedtime because of the sleepiness and dizziness. I’m not dizzy, but I am SO sleepy. As soon as I finish this blog, I’m going to take a bath and go to bed. I’ll have to be very careful about spreading the dosage over the day. If I’ve got anything to do I won’t be worth anything, but it’s nice to have the pain eased.

An interesting thing I’m finding is that the scrappy hair that I shaved off my head is growing. I really have to shave my head every week because that scrappy hair is still growing and it feels prickly when I rub my head or pull my sleep caps on and off my head. They must be some really tough hair follicles to be standing up to this chemo! I find that so interesting. I’m glad I didn’t wait for all my hair to fall out before I finally shaved it. I would have been scrappy looking this whole time. Bald is great, but scrappy was depressing!

Today, I sat out at the garage sale with Olya for a couple of hours, so I actually got down to one hat! We quit at noon or I would have probably gone to no hat! It was nice out there, but I was getting warm. I got rid of some stuff that needed to go and some folks went home with some new treasures. It was fun!

God is great! He is so taking care of us and we thank Him! Thank you for keeping up with us!

Meet Dorothy and David!

I slept until 4:45 this morning, so that was really good for the night after chemo; usually I lay awake most of the night. This morning I got up and came in and worked on the computer until Don got up and came in for breakfast. I worked all morning on stuff for a garage sale. My neighbor is having a sale and I took a bunch of stuff over there. I sure hope it sells; I’ll be glad to be rid of some stuff and collect some coins!

I got a nap this afternoon, so I had a pretty good day. I also got beans cooked for the next week. That doesn’t seem like a big undertaking, but it is for me. Clean the beans, cook them, and then put them into containers for the freeze. For once I didn’t even let them boil out of the pan!

I even went outside to see the work Joan had done in the gardens. She has them looking great. Of course when you look at someone else’s work, you see what they missed, so I hoed a few weeds; just enough for fun; not enough to sweat! She’d done most of it, anyway. It looked perfect until I came in the house. Then I’m sure the weeds yelled, “She’s in the house; let’s jump up!”

The pictures on the blog today are Dorothy and David. They are two of our very best friends. We play card with them and hang out with them as much as possible because they are such a delight. They are so inspiring to us. David never lets there be a dull moment. He knows so much about everything and he has such a tremendous sense of humor. His classic kind of thing to say is this: My adopted baby sister, Terri, when she first met him asked if he’d lived all his life in Hobart. He replied, “Not, yet.” He keeps us in stitches with dry humor like that. Dorothy is such a delight. She goes around humming, no particular tune; just humming. It makes you feel like she’s in a constant communion with God. Dorothy is the president of the board of directors of our local hospital, so she’s quite the community minded person. She and David know everybody and who owns what farm all over the county. It’s amazing to hang out with them. David has COPD and Dorothy has macular degeneration, but they go right on and keep up with the rest of us as if they don’t have a problem at all. We admire them to no end and thank God every day for their influence and love in our lives. They don’t have a computer, so they’ll never see this, but I’m proud to tell you more about them since I mention them so often. David is my favorite cowboy; you’ve seen them both before, but this is their highlight.

Today is red shirt day; a day to recognize our support of our troops. I thank God for them and for all our friends and family. Thank you for keeping up with us as we go through this treatment and recovery process. God is great and so are you in our lives.

Introducing Linda and Tom Rose.

This was chemo #10 day in Lawton. My numbers were just about like last week, so there were no snags! Nobody seems to be the least bit worried about my disconnected stitch on the PICC line, so I won’t be worried, either. We just changed the bandage when we got home and made sure the other two are right. We’ll keep the bandage in good shape, so the PICC line really can’t go anywhere. When we get back to Houston we’ll let them fix it if they want to do that. I thank God that I’m doing so well with all this!

I don’t have current pictures to share, so I will introduce Linda and Tom Rose. Linda is a frequent poster on the blog, so I want you to know who they are.

Linda and Tom were both in my graduating class at Franklin County High School. I moved to school in the middle of our sophomore year. Linda was always a sweetheart, but she was kind of shy, and she lived in a nearby town, so we weren’t thrown together much. (You know kids didn’t have their own cars then; we did good to borrow the family car from time to time!) She was voted Most Neat in our class and she was physically and personally, too. Tom had done his freshman year at a private school up on Sewanee Mountain, so he was kind of a newcomer to FCHS, too. Most of the kids knew him, but he wasn’t attached to a girl. He was kind enough to ask me for a date, and we became best friends. I had never known a nicer guy. Neither of us dated anyone else and we graduated thinking we would get married. We went to college together, but then went our separate ways and never stayed in touch. (Snail mail has always been a pit and long distance was impossible back then. We found each other on the Internet about 10 years ago and kept in touch. When I told them we were going to Hawaii to house sit last winter, Linda told me they’d love to house sit if ever we couldn’t do it and reminded me that she is neat. Ha! I wrote and said they should come join us, so they DID. It was the best reunion! Having Tom in the house was like having someone from the family there because he knew my brother and sister from the time we dated. He’d fixed my Dad’s boat trailer on a boating trip once. He’d been there when my Mom had breast cancer. We’d been through a lot together. Anyway it was wonderful to have them join us for a great time in Hawaii. More treasured memories! Linda has been such an inspiration; we love them both like family.

Pictures on the blog:
1. Linda and Tom and Don on the lanai eating biscuits, gravy and that wonderful juice that Linda helped me to juice.
2. Linda and Tom after we’d nearly killed ourselves hiking to the green sand beach. Don’s Tours (Don; Linda gave him that nickname.) took us on to the black sand beach and we were barely standing. The best way to stand was leaning on the best person in life.
3. Linda and Tom on the ‘storybook hike.’ It was an easy and beautiful hike right beside the ocean.

Thank you, God for great friends, family, and the memories that go with them. Thank you for keeping us all safe, healthy and happy. God bless you all for sharing our lives with us.

Today the housekeeper came and she blessed our house! I’m so pleased to have had her come and do such a thorough job with the house. Our house is smiling tonight; it’s almost acting smug! Thank you, Linda, for encouraging me to do this!

I’ve had trouble accessing the blog today, so I hope I can get in tonight to get this entry posted. I need to look to see what pictures have already been posted. Okay; I couldn’t get in last night, so I had to post this morning; sorry if anyone came and couldn’t find us.

I’ve talked to Ruthie today (I talk to her every day and twice so far today.) and she was really ready to go home today. Bless her heart, she’s not happy with the drugs they’re giving her; I know how she feels. I sure hate that she has to go through this. It’s so hard to rest in the hospital and then the doctor gave her the same steroid that I’m getting that makes me lay awake after chemo! She was awake all last night and she was fuming today. Bless her heart. Let’s pray for her to get better really soon!

I’m ready to take my neuropathy medication tonight. I’ll be really glad when this round of Taxol is over, so can get past the neuropathy thing. It’s not anything I can’t take, but I do not like this part. I remind myself that Jesus’ feet and hands hurt so much more than this and I don’t see anywhere in the scripture that he said “I do not like this part.” Shame on me!

The pictures on the blog tonight are:

1) Raynie with another smile for Dorothy.
2) Me last Friday celebrating Jacob Sells promotion in Iraq.

God bless all our troops and all the civilians, too. PTL!