Bandage-changing day!

This is bandage-changing day. Doctor Don was up to the task, so we got pictures of that. Meanwhile Ruthie and Phil were working on a puzzle. Phil, not to be outdone, would get this puzzle done even if it means taking some scissors to a piece or two. (Remember that maneuver, Tom? Precious memories!)

We are having a fun time together. Today we went to lunch with Bob and Diana Clark; we should have been on the ball and taken pictures, but we forgot the camera. We had a fun time, anyway! I’m so glad Ruthie and Phil are here! We laugh and laugh and laughter is so good!

Tomorrow we’re going to OKC to make a quick visit with Trish and the kids. We’re all in need of grandkid fixes! I’ve still got enough hair that maybe they won’t be too shocked. I’m surprised every time I shampoo that there is enough left to even comb. The silver is falling out, now. I’m sure it’s just a matter of time.

God is so good to us; we give thanks for so many blessings! It is so wonderful to have Ruthie and Phil here!!!

They're HERE!

Ruthie and Phil got here about 9:15! They had a good trip and it’s so wonderful to have them. We visited a bit and then I went in and brushed out my hair, and there’s still a lot LEFT! I can’t believe it! It’s still so thin and my head is shining through, but it’s not gone by any means. We’ll just watch it the next few days and see what happens. We were all kind of disappointed that the ‘show’ wasn’t a bigger deal. Don flushed my PICC and they were impressed that he seemed to know what he was doing. Wait until tomorrow when they see him change the bandage! That’s pretty impressive. Maybe one of them will take a picture of that to put on tomorrow’s blog.

Today’s visit with the doctor in Lawton went very well. We liked the doctor really well and everyone in his office is so nice. That makes a big difference to me. I hate to go to a doctor’s office and be treated like just another one of the ‘cattle.’ They are very nice in his office, so I’m happy! The doctor was impressed with my progress with the chemo. He says the tumor is smaller than it is reported on all the reports he has from Houston. I asked him if I’m not having any bad side effects because I haven’t had enough of the chemo, yet, and he said that 50% of his patients don’t have any bad side effects, so this is not irregular. I’m counting the blessings! He agreed with the approach we are taking and everything is all set to continue the chemo on Thursday. He also wants me to do an MRI on my head on Thursday. They had not done one in Houston and he feels that it’s important to do that. Breast cancer tends to go to lungs, bone and brain. They had done a bone scan and chest X-rays in Houston, but they had not done the MRI on the head and he wants that done. Obviously he’s very thorough.

We are having way too much fun, already. I talked to Ruthie and Phil all day as they progressed along the way. They sounded like a couple of 17 year olds eloping; they were having so much fun. We’ve continued in that style since they got here. We’re like a couple of couples on a double date, laughing and being silly. It’ll be like that the whole time they’re here.

Since we didn’t get a big show with the hair falling out, Don just took a picture of Ruthie and Phil and I in the kitchen for the blog tonight. You can tell we’re having fun! We’re counting the blessings! Thanks for your prayers for their safe trip and for our doctor visit!

Thin, thin, thin . . .

One more day with some hair; maybe I’ll be able to keep some until Ruthie and Phil get here. They had meant to come on Tuesday, but decided they could make it tomorrow! Then Ruthie bent over to put something in her suitcase and pulled something in her back!!! Maybe God doesn’t want her to ‘snatch me baldheaded.’ HA! Trust me; it won’t take any snatching. I think if I wash it, it’ll go down the drain if I don’t catch it. Every time I comb it (little as possible) another handful falls.

Just pray with me that Ruthie and Phil can come and that they’ll travel safely. The hair doesn’t matter a bit.

Tomorrow afternoon Don and I will go to Lawton and meet with the oncologist who will oversee my treatments in Lawton. We’ve got a lot of things to do around her in the morning, so it’ll be a busy day.

We took the pictures I promised, so you can see how thin the hair is. You can also see how much thinner it is since just Tuesday when I was ready to shave it and Don talked me out of it. (That's the picture with the white hair in last night's blog.) It’s not a big deal; just interesting. I'm amazed at how much I was able to keep this long. They say it'll be gone in 21 days and this is day 23, so my curly gray hair is hanging tough!

I hope none of you ever have to go through this, but if you do, I pray that losing hair will be as difficult as it gets. I feel blessed to have no other side effects so far. I think when the hair is all gone it will actually be better. Then I won’t have hair everywhere and I can rub my head! There will be no bad hair days. One of my friends here said yesterday, “I think hair is highly over-rated, anyway.” I love it and so agree with her! Thanks, Delores! I imagine after these treatments are all over and my hair grows back, I may have a new respect for hair, though. I’m thinking winter with no hair might be fun, getting to snuggle up to hats all the time. I used to like hats in the winter, except it made my hair so electric; I’m looking forward to wearing hats this winter.

Thanks for keeping up with my hair saga. It would be more interesting if I had more to report than loss of hair, but anything else would be bad, so I’m giving thanks that I feel so good. I’m giving thanks that my sister and brother-in-law want to come to see us, and I’m praying that Ruthie will get relief for her back so that they can do it!

graying to very gray and curly; the hair saga

Very little happened today. We got up and went to the fellowship breakfast at church, so that was a great way to start the day. We picked up the mail (what a BUNCH of mail that will take days to read, but we’re in no hurry). Then I went back to bed and got a good nap. I got up and washed the veggies from our grocery shopping, so we’re ready to eat around here. I changed our sheets and did a load of laundry and got it done in time to make it to play cards tonight. We feel like we’re really home, now!

I don’t have any new pictures so I’m dragging up old pictures to let you see the difference in my hair. The pictures today were taken on May 13th and August 10th. I’m amazed at the difference in my hair in that 3-month period of time. In the May 13th picture you can see lots of dark hair, still and very little curl. I guess that was before the hair I lost in Hawaii had come back in. In the August 10th picture you can see that all the dark has fallen out and all that is left is the curly gray that came back after I lost that bunch in Hawaii. Anyway, it’s nearly all gone, now. I’ll have Don take more pictures tomorrow; then we’ll take more when Ruthie gets here. She and Phil are coming on Tuesday, so I’m not doing any major brushing or washing until they get here. I want them to have some of the fun of watching the great falling out. I’m so excited that they are coming!!! More blessings to count!!! Count with me and join me in giving thanks!

Home, safe and exhausted!

We made it home safely, but we are exhausted. We didn’t get away from MD Anderson until a little after 2 and we had traffic all the way until we got to Denton, Texas (north of Dallas), so it was a long drive for Don. He did a great job, though and we made it fine. We stopped and got groceries in Lawton, so we can eat good stuff.

The picture on the blog tonight is to show you what a dear friend we have. Joan always watches the house for us when we’re gone, and she came over today and turned on the air for us, so it would be cool when we got here. She also left these flowers and tomatoes from her yard and peaches that she bought for us. When we lived across the street from her (when we first moved to Hobart) she was such a tremendous neighbor. If I went out in the yard with a shovel, I’d soon find her beside me with her shovel. If I went out with the ladder to trim a tree, she’d come and hold the ladder for me and offer to bring her own. If I was trimming the hedge, she helped. She befriended our cats, to the point that when we moved up here, one of our cats went back to her house at least twice and maybe three times before she decided to stay with us. She’s such a wonderful friend! I haven’t even touched the edge of all she and I have done together, but there’s not enough space her to cover it!

I’ve got a picture of her that I’ll put on, too. Joan is the one on the left in the striped shirt. In the middle is Dorothy, who I mention a lot, and Hazel is the one on the right who lives across the street from us, now. This picture was taken a couple of months ago when we got back from somewhere and we were playing cards at our house. Hazel, another magnificent neighbor brought those cookies that night. Another neighbor is our preacher, who cuts our grass when we’re gone and pumps water out of the basement for us when we’re gone. Man, could anyone have better neighbors??? Well, I’ve put this picture of Bill on before, but I love it and him, too, so the handsome guy in the suit is the same guy who mows and pumps for us; he’s even fixed our gate and our attic door. I could go on and on about him, too, but then I’d have to get into his awesome wife and daughters and that’s just another page!

God has blessed us so much. I’ve got to sign off with this. Ruthie sent me this address tonight and I absolutely love this song.

Click on this link: http://www.andiesisle.com/icanonlyimagine.html

The group, Pierce Arrow, does it so well in Branson, but this was such a wonderful welcome home tonight. It’s another blessing to count on top of a safe trip, and wonderful friends and a dry basement and house all in shape. Look around and count your blessings with me.

looking to home . . .

We are all packed and ready to load up to leave in the morning. We’ll go do the chemo treatment and then we’re headed for Hobart, America! It’s been a wonderful stay here, but we are really ready to go enjoy home for a few weeks. We’ll come back here on October 8th for a visit with the doctor, an ultra sound, etc. She wants to be better able to monitor how I am doing. At that point I will have finished the 12 weeks of chemo that I am doing right now and we’ll start the next kind here. Then we’ll go home until the middle of November, when we’ll come back for another ultra sound and a visit with the surgeon and the radiologist. The plot will be getting really thick, then. We’ll be well down the road to recovery. By then, I know we’ll be glad to see all the folks here who have been so good to us; we’re really going to miss this home away from home! We’ve gotten so hooked on Doris and Jerry’s grandson’s we’ll be way ready for another fix with them!

Pictures on the blog today are related to the continuing hair saga. Today not too much fell out, relative to how it has been falling out. Still, all that is falling out is the dark hair. I have this theory. I remember that the hair I lost in Hawaii was all gray because I couldn’t tell if it was me or Iki, the cat, shedding (unless it was on my back or in my bath, and then I knew it was me!). Now, all I have left is gray hair and it’s curly. I had a bend in my hair sometimes, but I never had curly hair until this hair came back in after I lost it in Hawaii. I didn’t notice it being SO curly until all the straight hair fell out and this was all that was left. I’m thinking that the new hair must have stronger follicles, so it will be the last to go. I really thought I’d be bald by Sunday, and I’ve made it to Thursday, so I’m really baffled. Don took pictures of me when I was outside brushing it out yesterday, so you’ll see the white head of hair from yesterday, and then I’ve put on a picture that was taken on March 13, after we got home from Hawaii on March 1. That picture is of me holding Blake, another prize great nephew and his older brother, Phil, who has been like our grandson since his birth. We used to live close and we got our grandbaby fixes from Phil years ago when we didn’t live close to any of our own. When you get through looking at the boys check out how much dark hair I had and how much straighter it was, then. That was when I’d lost a lot of hair in Hawaii and none of the curly stuff had come back. Then check out the white curls I’m wearing today. Is this fun, or what??? I think it’s so cool. God has a great sense of humor. I’m glad I didn’t get reckless and buzz it yesterday; Don was right, again. Maybe I can keep this hair until Ruthie can make it to Hobart in time to help me figure out the best way to face baldness. She says I have more hair now than she does; I know that’s true. It’s skimpy compared to what I normally have, but it’s a blessing to have plenty, still. So, I’m giving thanks and looking forward to going home tomorrow.

The blog will be very late tomorrow night; I’ll do it when I get home, or maybe have to wait until Saturday morning. Hang tough with me and know that we are traveling. God is great and will take care of us traveling, I know; I thank Him for that, too!

Plans falling into place.

Things are falling into place for our treatments in Lawton. Whew! My chemo is scheduled for Friday at 10:30, so we should get away from the hospital around 1. The chemo drip only lasts for an hour, but they have to weigh me and then drip in other meds (to dilute the chemo and prevent reactions) first, so it takes a while to get it all done. It’s all an easy process, though. We’re going to pack up the car and be ready to head for home right after the chemo. If we can leave by 1, we think we can be home by 10 or 11, depending on how much we have to stop. It’ll be so good to be home. That will give us all day Saturday to acclimate to being home, get the house cooled down, etc. It’s our style: push.

I know Don is really eager to be at home and so am I, so if he’s up to the drive, I’m up for the ride. We can always stop on the way and spend the night if we get too tired, but I think we’ll make it fine.

I tried to brush out all my hair today and there is really a lot that still wants to stay. Now, I’m looking like my granddaddy! All gray, curly hair; never in my life did I ever expect to remind myself of Granddaddy. It’s another honor to me, though. If I could have some of his personality and character qualities, I’d be so pleased. Actually, his hair was beautiful, too, so I thank God for even reminding me of him. It’s pretty shocking on me, but this is a fun trip I’m taking with this hair transition. I thought sure I’d be bald by today, but I may make it to church Sunday without a hat. HA; we’ll just see.

The blog pictures today are the ones of Judy and I at MD Anderson yesterday. You can see that we thoroughly enjoy every moment together. Again, I thank God to get to share this time with her. My wildest dreams would have never put me here to share such a great time with her. We’ve dreamed of doing a spa trip together sometime; I guess this is a version of that? Well, it’s as close as we’ll get for a while, so we’ll enjoy it for all it’s worth! Counting the blessings! Our God is so awesome!

PS: Today 3 of our grandsons considered shaving their heads to support me, but as much as they love me, they decided that was too far to go. J The consideration was an honor to me, but I don’t want anyone to go there! (Except Bob Clark and Joe DeSantis; I love their support because they shave their heads all the time and I love being in their club!) If for some reason you choose to wear your hair gone, or it happens for you like it has me, then I think you should enjoy it all the way. That’s what I’m doing my best to do. The only support I need is for you to love me with or without hair; that’s awesome support for me. Aren’t grandsons GREAT!!!

Doctor visit report is good.

Today’s appointment with the doctor went really well. She liked all my numbers from the blood work and she is convinced that the chemo is doing its job in that the tumor is shrinking noticeably. All the arrangements appear to be made for the treatments in Lawton, so it’s a go for us to go home on Saturday. Yippee!

We made plans for the rest of the treatments. We’ll have to come back to Houston for a visit with this doctor after this 12 weeks of Taxol is over. Then we’ll do the first treatment of FAC here, while we are here. At that time we’ll also do an ultrasound so that they can see how the chemo is working. We’ll go home for the rest of the treatments, but we’ll come back in the middle of November to see the surgeon and radiology oncologist. I think that’s how it goes. If all the treatments go well and I don’t have any delays we will be set to do surgery in mid January. Then 3 weeks after the surgery the radiation will begin. We’ll stay in Houston for the surgery and radiation. We’re on a list for an apartment at that time because we’ll need to be close to MDA and go for daily radiation 5 days a week for 6 weeks.

So, there is the plan. It feels good to be more solid on the plan.

I made it through the day without having to wear the hat, but I don’t think I’ll make it through another shampoo. I’m not going to shampoo tonight, so maybe I’ll make it one more day. It is so thin!

Judy came and met us at MDA today and we took pictures with her camera, but my batteries were dead. She’ll send me those pictures and I’ll get them on the blog as soon as possible. For tonight I’m putting on a picture that looks like me in the tub. The other picture is the gob of hair that I got out of the tub last night. I took that one because I know many of you are thinking, “There’s always hair in the tub when I finish; what’s the big deal?” This is the hair that was in the tub, it’s like that every night and it looks like a pretty big deal to me.

I thank God for the gift of lots of hair. This is an experience that isn’t so bad because I’ve always had plenty, plus I had the preview when it got really thin before and then came back curly. I’d like to let it fall out; if I buzz it, then the little pieces will still have to fall out and they’ll be harder to capture, plus they’ll itch! Anyway, look for more pictures tomorrow. I imagine the pictures after tomorrow will be bald ones. I think this will be a treat. I’m going to be in great company! Our son-in-law is the baldest person I know, so we can talk! He shaves his head, so I figure it must be a great thing. Right now I’m in the comb over club, which also has a great list of folks. I’m thinking how lucky I am to get to enjoy this much of the cancer treatment. I’ve made it this far and it’s not a bad thing, so I thank God for more blessings! Soon there will be no bad hair days. How cool is that? God is GREAT! Look around and see what blessings you can count; I believe we are all abundantly blessed. I know I am because you are reading this; I love you, too!

Momasan look alike . . .

Today has been another day to celebrate. It’s my Dad’s birthday and I give thanks for him as my father. I miss him and think of him so often. He was the first ‘doctor’ and hero in my life; he took care of all our ills. (He would have been 89 if he had lived this long.) He wasn’t a perfect guy, but my Mom taught us that he was, so we believed it. I give thanks for her, too. She was the first angel in my life!

Today Doris’ friend, Wanda, took us to a tearoom for our birthday lunch celebration. They even had sugar free peach cobbler, so I got to fully celebrate! (Sugar is not on my diet.) I have enough hair to still cover my head today, so that is worthy of celebration, too.

Yesterday I looked in the mirror and saw my MOM! There’s no doubt that I’ve always favored my mom, but, now I think I look so much like her! I think the darker hairs are the ones falling out and that leaves me with white hair, which is what she had. Also, she always had a perm and her hair was thin. I have this curly hair that came in after the last chemo dropping, and it’s thin and just looks like hers to me. There is really nobody I’d rather resemble than Mom, so I have that to celebrate, too. Look at the ‘corners’ of my head and you’ll see where the hair is very thin and I’m using the old comb over technique. It reminds me so of Mom, because when I used to cut her hair, she’d say, “Just be sure you keep my little pink head covered.” Bless her heart!

I had Don take Mamason pictures today for the blog. Those of you who knew my Mom will see the likeness, I know. The last picture on the blog is me having a Hawaii moment in Doris’ kitchen. She has this wonderful trumpet vine in the back yard and she brought one of the blooms inside; it reminds me so much of Hawaii because they have those everywhere. I’m lounging around in my Hawaii shirt, so I’m having a Hawaii day and celebrating those memories.

I’m thanking God for wonderful memories to celebrate for the last 59 years and asking Him to give me another 30. I figure that’s plenty greedy to be. That’ll be 2 years for each grandchild and the youngest ones will be 30. Reckon I can make it through all those teens? Don comes from a long line of ancient people, so he’ll live another 30 years and I owe it to him to look after him since he’s taking such good care of me. So, if my head stops being sore, we’re going to put 30 into the hair design for a picture. Right now it’s too sore to touch any extra, so that plan might fail, but I’m still asking for the 30 years. God is so great; He’ll know if it’s a good plan or not and He’ll give me exactly what He wants me to have. I’m good with that and grateful for every day and all of you!

Sweet Rayne and siblings pictures

Today’s pictures are the new ones I’ve been promising that Trish sent the other day. I needed to see them so much! It’s so hard to be clear down here when we have a new baby so close to home! The Edmonds duo have been so precious, and they’ve kept us going, but we sure miss our babies.

We live far away from most of our family, but we’re within 2 hours of Trish and Davy, so we usually hold ourselves together by getting to see them a lot. This year we missed so many of Bruce’s baseball games, and we usually make nearly all of them. This year we even missed his world series. Trish has delivered 6 babies at home and we got to be at the first 5, but we missed Raynie’s birth. We got to go home and spend two days with them, but we’re so greedy; we sure wanted more. These are near and dear things that we didn’t expect to miss, but we did.

This year we missed Elena’s birth, and she’s growing like a weed and we miss it. Gretta sent pictures, but I had her send them to the house because I thought we were leaving yesterday. Gretta and Gina and Jeff live so far away, we know that all we can do is chase after them as much as we can, but we count on seeing lots of Trish and Davy and their families; this year we’ve learned that we’re supposed to be counting on God to hold us together. Duh. He is so good to bless us so richly with family and health and happiness. I thank Him for all of our children and their children and for the times that we do get to spend with them.

So, enjoy these pictures with me. This is Sadie, who is 10 holding Summer Rayne. The next one is Sadie and Mason holding Raynie. Mace will be 7 next month. The last picture is Raynie in all her 8 pounds of glory; she’ll be a month old this week. Besides these three, Trish and Rob have 3 more precious kids. How blessed are they! Next week we’ll go home and then the following week I hope we can go to see all these kids and collect some hugs we’ve been missing.

Minor report: I had enough hair to get me through church today because the wind doesn’t blow here to reveal the bald spots. I’m not even sure if there are bald spots, but it is really thin, and I don’t touch it if it’s not necessary. My scalp is so sore. I never expected this sore scalp! If this is the worst side effect I get, I won’t complain. I fully expect this to be the last week of hair; it can’t continue to come out at this rate and keep covering my head. As soon as there are obvious bald spots I’m buzzing it off. I think it’s too sore to play with designs; we’ll just buzz it. It’s an interesting process.

I see the doctor on Tuesday and I’m eager to hear what she says. We have lots of questions to ask her. I really think she won’t have many answers at this point, though. Likely she will be seeing me to make sure I’m not in trouble with the treatments. I’m doing just fine unless something bad happens between now and Tuesday. I feel lots better than I did the last time she saw me because I was battered from the tests at that time. All my biopsies and port insertions have healed, so I’ve only got a sore head, now. I think we just have to give the chemotherapy time to do its job. We’re so thankful to have had great places to stay here in Houston, but it’ll be good to get home and complete the chemo. Home is sweet! God is great and takes care of us wherever we go. PTL!

59 today!

Today we celebrated Doris’ birthday and mine. Mine was today and hers is next Saturday, but she will be gone to Colorado, so we celebrated both tonight over at Brett and Heather’s house. It was a sweet celebration. Stephanie and Colter joined us; Gregg left for a week of work in Scotland today, so we missed him. Pictures on the blog tonight are Doris and Heather with the boys. It’s going to be so much fun for these guys to grow up together!

I am really tired today because for some reason I didn’t sleep last night from 12:30 – 6:30. I’ve never had that problem. I slept from 10 until 12:30 and then from 6:30 to 9:30, and I rested when I was awake, so it wasn’t so bad, but I’m zonked tonight! I feel fine. My hair is still coming out by the fistful and my scalp is really sore. If the soreness is any indication of how fast the hair will go, it’ll be gone soon. I think I’ll have bald spots by Monday. Whenever I can’t cover my head, I’ll buzz it off. It’s getting to be a real hassle to take a bath because I can’t get the hairs rinsed off me and I don’t want to stop up the plumbing, either. I’m ready to be done with it.

Tomorrow I’ll give you pictures that Trish sent last night, but these pictures tonight are the birthday celebration pictures. Heather and Brett’s son, Luke, is on her right knee. Colter is on her other knee. In the picture where Doris is holding them (in their matching onesies that say Born in 2007) Colter is on her right knee and Luke is on her left knee. How much fun we’ve had with these little guys! God is so good to put into our lives the folks we need when we need them; even down to little guys! Counting, counting!

That reminds me; Don says I’ve got God working overtime keeping up with the hair on my head these days. He keeps me laughing! God keeps me counting and giving Him praise.

hair is going, going . . .

What a great day! We made it to town in only 45 minutes, so that got us off to a good start with time to spare when we got there. Everything went smoothly today! Even Don did his demonstration in front of the nurse at changing my bandage. That didn’t hurt hardly at all; he did a fantastic job. The nurse even noticed how gentle he is and thanked him for cleaning up stuff she was supposed to do. We’re using a different bandage and hope that it won’t itch like the last one or burn like the first one. We’ll be here next week to see which ones work best, so I guess that’s good that we had to stay a little longer.

Today is one of the days the Luke came for the day. Then before he left Colter’s mommy and daddy met here and left him with us while they went out for dinner. So, we got a double baby fix for a bit, again. They are really good boys, so we had a really fun time.

Trish sent new pictures of Rayne today, so we got another big fix! I’ll share those pictures with you soon. Tonight’s blog pictures are an update of the hair loss saga. I’m amazed at how much hair I have even after it comes out in gobs.

After my day at MDA (holding my head as still as possible so as not to shed much) I came home and had a hair pulling in the back yard to get rid of all that was just lying there on my head. In Oklahoma or Hawaii it would blow out, but it’s pretty still here. I pulled what I could out and Doris loves to help. If you ever wanted to ‘snatch me bald headed,’ you need to make a trip to Houston and join in the fun. The lady in the barber shop/salon at MDA told me today that it take about 3 weeks to all fall. I should have asked if she meant 3 weeks from when it starts falling or 3 weeks from the initial chemo. I have a feeling it won’t take too long for me to know the answer to that. As long as it looks like I have hair, I’ll keep it. When it starts to have bald spots I’ll buzz it off. Maybe I should do a Mohawk just for a picture? I really should do something creative. Doris is really creative; maybe I’ll put her to work on idea. One picture is Doris holding a clump she pulled from my head; one is me holding the gob that brushed out of my head and one shot is me sitting up getting the chemo treatment.

People have asked how the chemo is given. They put me in a little private room with a chair and a TV for Don and a bed for me. I read a bit and then go to sleep. It’s a pretty simple procedure now that I have the PICC and they don’t have to dig for veins. I’m feeling absolutely fin. God is great. Who needs hair; I’m feeling good; the babies are all doing well; the big kids and old folks, too! I have no complaints, only thanks and praise! Count with me!

Baby fix times two!

Today was baby fix day! Thursdays and Fridays Doris and Jerry keep Luke, so we were expecting him. Then around noon Stephanie called to ask if she could bring Colter over to play while she took a nap. What fun we had. The boys are nearly the same size and we had a ball with them. Jerry was outside cutting the grass, Doris was fixing lunch, and so Don and I got to have a baby each. Since we have to do this cancer treatment we are getting short changed on time with our new babies, so it was good for us to get this time with Luke and Colter.

The blog pictures today are Don with Luke and me with Colter and then one of Colter and Luke playing together on Luke’s jungle mat. Don’t you know these boys are going to be a mighty pair over the years! God is great! We are THRILLED to get to have some time with these little guys!

It’s a good thing I got the hair pictures on the blog last night because tonight is when my hair started letting loose of my head. I don’t notice it falling off my arms and I still have peach fuzz on my face, (not to mention I had to pull a pesky WHISKER out of my chin tonight!), but it is coming out of my head in clumps. When I washed my hair I noticed hair all in the bath water. Then when I dried my head there was GOBS of hair on my towel. I was shocked when I looked in the mirror and still had hair. I went out to the car and got two of Don’s baseball caps, so I’ve got a choice of hats to wear tomorrow when I go for treatment. Maybe I’ll have enough hair left to go hatless, but I’m thinking I’d better have a hat because if there is any left in the morning, it may be all gone or hanging in shreds by the time we come home. This is really pretty fun. I’ve never experienced anything this bizarre and yet painless. I can reach up and pull it out in gobs, so I know it’s very loose. I’m thinking I will fit right in at MD Anderson tomorrow. I’ve always been shorter than anyone; often didn’t even speak the language of the folks around me spoke; and nearly always ‘wasn’t from around here,’ but for the next couple of treatments I’m going to FIT RIGHT IN! It’ll be a new feeling for me.

I’m going to bed tonight with hair and thanking God for the fun it has been to have curls. I also thank Him for 3 weeks of treatments that have left me painless and feeling fine. I thank Him for the hope of treatments that get the job done. I remember when my mom had her mastectomy she was upset about losing a breast and I said to her, “Mom, let them have an arm if we can just keep you!” (She lived 19 years and died of pneumonia.) I feel that way about me, too. I’m happy to give up my hair and I’m so willing to give up both breasts. The hair will even come back and they can give me cool breasts if we decide to go that route. All I can say is, “Isn’t God Great!” I’m counting a million blessings and running out of paper for the list.

curly hair

Nothing is in concrete. Just when we think we have a plan it falls to pieces. Today the Lawton plan fell to pieces, BUT we got it put back together, I THINK. It’s a long story, but the bottom line is that we’ll have to stay here and do the chemo treatment on the 10th and then go home on the 11th. I’ll have an appointment with the oncologist in Lawton on the 13th and then we’ll do treatments every Thursday after that. Whew. That’s what we’ll do for 8 weeks, then we’ll go into a 12 week program of a different chemo which we’ll do only one treatment every 3 weeks.

That sounds like we have it all planned, but I’ve figured out that they subscribe to a thing I read not long ago: “If there is bad news, it’s best to give it in small pieces.” Just when I think I have the plan straight, they tell me another detail that kinks the whole plan. They aren’t big into seeing that I have no stress; that’s for sure! I’m sure there will be kinks along the way, but I’m committed to going with the flow and I refuse to let it get me down. Big talk, huh?

My head is itching and when I go there to scratch I find little sores. That’s what happened before I lost it the last time, so I really believe this is the last few days of hair for me. I’m putting pictures of hair on the blog tonight because I may wake up with it all on my pillow any day. I hope it goes that quickly. Ha! Maybe a picture on the blog soon will be Don buzzing my last wisps. These pictures are cool because notice how curly my hair is. It used to be mostly straight, maybe a few waves, but certainly not curly. I think God is cool to give me a shot at curly hair at this stage in life. Think about it; He doesn’t even have to give hair back at all, but I got curly, even! My friend, Judy says I should use lipstick with some color and she’s probably right, so that’ll be a new adventure for me. Watch for the new me. :)

Thank God for cell phones, oncologists, caring nurses and staff, and wonderful family and friends who support us in so many ways. Thank you for being one of those. I love you.

beautiful places

Today was a day to catch up on some chores. I changed our sheets, did our laundry and gave Don a haircut. Then I napped. I still have hair, so I asked Don to take some pictures of me around some of the really pretty spots here. Doris has lots more pretty spots, but these are just a few.

I feel really good and have no complaints. I could complain about this bandage, because it is really itching, but I’m just counting down the days until we get it changed. (3 more days) In the mean time, I have other things to distract me. Luke (Doris and Jerry’s 3 month old grandson) will come Thursday for the day. That’ll make that day so fun! Tomorrow night is a night that they have a visiting preacher at church, so that’ll be interesting. There you go! Church tomorrow and Luke Thursday and then bandage change on Friday.

I think Friday might be the day I lose my hair, too. (My chemo book says 7-21 days and the wig lady says people report 14 days to her. Friday is day 14 for me.) I’m just ready for that to happen, so I can figure out how I will cope with that. I think it will be with hats. I have 3 with me, so I’m ready. The last time I lost my hair it came back curly; that’s been interesting. I never lost all of it because I had so little chemotherapy, but I expect to lose it all this time. I hope it comes back curly, again. That’s kind of a treat. Color would be really nice, too, but I think anything I get will be what God wants me to have, so it’ll be good for me.

God is great: I thank Him for the hope of treatment, for family, friends and beauty to enjoy all around me. Thank you for being part of that!

Today was a great photo opportunity day, but we let it slip! We went shopping for wigs and it would have been a great time to take pictures, but we just didn’t think to do it. I had the camera in my pocket, but our brains must have been taking the day off. I didn’t buy a wig; it just looked so silly. I imagine that’s because I have hair and when I go in bald, the wig will look really good! We’ll see. She did tell me that her customers tell her that hair falls out on the 14th day. That’ll be this Friday for me. So, maybe on Saturday (or Friday!) I’ll go back in and buy that wig. I have 3 hats with me, so maybe I’ll just be happy with a hat. We’ll see.

Anyway, the pictures on the blog today are Grace with Raynie and Garrett reading a book to Elena. How wonderful it is to have older siblings and new babies! We sure miss the kids and are so grateful for nephews here to share their babies with us!

Today I’ve felt fine. God is so good! I did a better job of managing my meals and rest, so I’m sure that helps. My arm is beginning to itch and burn under the bandage on my PICC, so I’m thinking they may have to go to yet another kind this week when they change it. I’m thinking the alcohol is going to be another trauma, too, but I’ll be braced for it this time. After tonight it’ll only be three more days until I get it changed. Even if I’m allergic to this tape, at least the bruising will be some better, so it won’t be quite as sore. Also, this week Dr. Don will be changing my bandage and I will know that he is doing his very best to be gentle with me. I’ll have to behave because I don’t want to freak him out! This bandage changing session is important; he has to pass it by doing it right so that we can go home and do it. No pressure on him at all; ha! God will give us the strength; He always has. Besides I have lots of people holding my hand through all this. I feel so blessed that we’ve made it through two chemo treatments and are doing so well. We’ll get through this next one and then after 4 days we’ll see the doctor. Then we hope she’ll send us home for the rest. It’s wonderful here, but home will be so sweet!

I still am in awe that Judy and Aki and Doris and Jerry have just opened their homes and let us homestead with them. What a blessing to not have to be in a hotel through all this! Each time I think of it I find myself in another moment where my breath is taken away. God has such a plan! Doris is Don’s sister, but Judy is my friend from 7th grade in Japan. How many kids get to go to Japan, let alone keep friends from that many years ago??? All I know is that God is so good to me! Look at the notes on my blog; if they write to Mary Jo, then they are folks from years I spent in Japan and you’ll see lots of support coming from those people. That so blows me away. All the support is awesome and means so much to me. I thank God and I thank you!

The real July 29

This is really the July 29 entry. I don’t know why yesterday’s showed up as the 29th; no doubt I did something wrong, and I don’t know how to correct it, except to say that this is the real 29th.

Last night I woke up at 1:30 feeling nauseated! I thought, ‘Uh oh, it’s here.’ I went and got a bowl to keep by the bed and went back to bed. Every couple of hours I woke up nauseated, but never vomited. I was scared to go to church, thinking any moment I’d lose my cookies, as my mom used to say. Everyone else went to church and I slept until 11. I’ve been fine all day, with only a threatening headache. Maybe that nausea was the nausea part of a migraine? Maybe it was nausea due to the chemo? I don’t know, but it wasn’t anything I can’t stand. It was enough that we were both glad that we weren’t packing to leave for a flight to Hawaii, though!

I took it easy all day. I didn’t eat until around noon and then kept it light all day. Ruthie called me at a little after noon and the cell phone was in the bedroom and I was in the living room. I ran to catch it before I missed her call, and it was really good for me to see that I could move quickly, plus talk. Everyone had been gone all morning, and I was thinking I was sick. Her phone call brought me out of it and I got progressively better all day. Amazing what a phone call can do, huh?

I read in my chemo book that about 1/3 of all nausea during chemo is caused by anticipation of the nausea. I think that’s what I’ve had. I think I did too much yesterday and was exhausted; then I was too ready to have it. I’m hoping that tomorrow will be a regular day; I’m going to be sure I get enough rest and eat small meals during the day. Yesterday I didn’t eat right and ate a big meal in the evening. I’ll do better from now on.

Today I didn’t take any pictures, so there is nothing new to share. So, I've put on a picture of my precious PICC and then of the wrap I have for it. It needs to be wrapped enough to keep it from getting caught on things, but not enough to make me feel bound. God is good! The PICC works and I've found a way to live with it. I thank Him for it and for the wrap!

Dr. Don

Today was supposed to be restful, but it went awry! We did sleep late, and that was nice. Then we went to the IHOP for brunch and that was nice. After that we intended to go to Wal-Mart and get heparin for my heparin flushes for my picc line. Wrong. They don’t have it. NOBODY has it! We looked all over at the Walgreens, CVS, and Krogers and nobody carries it. They could all ORDER it, but we had to have it today. You have to flush these deals every 24 hours. They made sure to tell us THAT, but they didn’t tell us we had to get them at the MD Anderson pharmacy. So, off we drove back to MD Anderson instead of taking a nap. Ugh. It takes an hour to get there no matter when you go, it seems. Anyway, we got the heparin and Don flushed my picc for the first time tonight.

We went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant tonight on our way to the Texas Opry Jamboree in Magnolia. It was a taste of small town Texas, sort of right on the edge of Houston. It was fun, but I was exhausted. We had great seats; right in the middle of the 3rd row from the front. A couple of Doris and Jerry’s friends have those seats regularly, but they were out of town this week, so we got to go get their seats. Way cool!

Two of the pictures on the blog tonight are of Dr. Don flushing my picc line. The picc line is doing just fine and Don makes a great doctor. I would really call it nursing, but he called himself the doctor and I’m not about to argue with him or demote him! He’s the best of whatever he is. God is good to give him to me! All of you, too! Thanks for being in my corner!

The other picture is my picc line all wrapped and ready for last night’s bath. I wrap it first in a plastic sleeve, which I tape around the edges. Then Jerry came in last night with an extra plastic bag and a couple of rubber bands suggesting that I make a second wrap just to give extra protection from water. If the bandage gets wet I have to go to the hospital to have them change it until Don gets cleared to do it. We couldn’t get that clearing scheduled until next Friday, so it’s imperative that I keep it dry. Jerry was my hero last night; what a great idea that was and it worked beautifully. God is so good to surround me with all this support! There was a lady in class with us the other day and she said she has to do all her own stuff because her husband can’t stand to look at anything medical or even her port. Man, sometimes you just don’t have choices and you make the best of situations, but you don’t leave your spouse just hanging out there alone! I felt so sorry for her and was reminded again how lucky I am to have Dr. Don! (I’m sure he’s not enjoying any of this, either, but he wouldn’t abandon me for a minute!)

Only one, fat, tired, real happy picture . . .

Man! I am SO tired, but happy and pleased with the day. The day started out with Donna writing to tell me that I was more like Kailan (her granddaughter who was diagnosed with leukemia at 4 and has battled it beautifully for over a year) because she had a picc. She said she hoped I didn’t cry every time they changed the bandage. Kailan hated it more than any of her treatments. It was the only time she cried, and she cried every time and Grandma and Granddad had to hold her down while they did it. LITTLE DID I KNOW! It was such a blessing that Donna wrote that to me!

I had suspected I was allergic to the tape from the bandage because it felt like I had a grease burn the whole time. Sure enough when they took it off it was all red. Part of the cleaning process is to rub three alcohol swabs around the whole area that was bandaged, starting with where the line enters and then in the three areas where it is stitched to my arm. Poor precious Kailan! Those holes would have been enough to make me cry, but when they went over and over all that area was irritated from the tape, I bent another bed rail AND cried. I didn’t sob and they didn’t have to hold me down; Don was standing behind me, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t cry, too. He said, “You know what Donna meant about crying, now.” After we got past the alcohol it still was no picnic because she kept rubbing on iodine and then blotting and rubbing it dry. That’s a very sensitive spot!!! But it was way better when she put a DIFFERENT kind of bandage on that isn’t bothering me at all. If the worst thing I do is do anything like Kailan, then I’ll be proud. Jesus said to become as little children, so I’m going to call it good and thank Kailan for setting an example I could live up to! (I know that’s not what Jesus meant, but I’m going to grab for whatever I can to be pleased and still thank Kailan and God for her, her recovery, and her grandma and granddad!)

We went to two classes to learn how to take care of the picc line and we feel more confident about it. I did my chemo and the picc worked like a charm. It was so nice to just hook up and drip! I feel fine; exhausted but fine. One day the side effects will set in, but they haven’t yet. Tonight I’ve got a bandage that doesn’t hurt and a plastic wrap for it so I can take a real bath. Birdbaths are for the birds and people in a push. Now it’s time for a real bath (can’t get the bandage wet or we’ll have to change it; heaven forbid!!!) If I can make it until next week when we go back for chemo they’ll change it and I only have to squeeze the rail while they alcohol the place where the line enters and where the stitches are. I can squeeze the rail and get through that because God and Kailan will be holding my hand. I thank God for Kailan and all the others who have paved this road for me and who go along with me holding my hand like my Mom did when I went to kindergarten. God is so good.

We have decided to stay here until the 8th. We were going home tomorrow, but that was to pack to go to Hawaii. We aren’t going to Hawaii, so we’ll stay here until my doctor’s appointment on the 7th and then head for home on the 8th. That’s assuming all goes as expected, so cut me some slack here. If there are changes I’ll report them.

The bottom line is that I survived today with the help of Kailan and our Father. The picture is how it really is; photographers would be kind and get rid of the double chin and have me sit up straight; there were none here! Doris did the best she could with what she had to work with!

Thanks and Amen.

Baby fix!

Today has be a day of planning and unplanning! Yesterday we really thought we were going to Hawaii to house sit and do my chemotherapy. We even got the doctor part scheduled, but when I started reworking my airline tickets, the whole thing fell apart. It’s amazing the difference in the cost of tickets when the dates change. It got too complicated for me. The thing I’m supposed to be doing is de-stressing and suddenly it became a huge stress. That’s when I knew what we needed to do is go home. I had to undo all the plans we’d made for Hawaii and then start all over with plans to do my chemotherapy at home. I hope I can get all that done tomorrow.

I hesitate to say we will or won’t do anything because it seems like anything can change at any moment. I did talk to a doctor’s office in Lawton today that really impressed me with their compassion, so I hope we can schedule to work with them. Lawton is only an hour for us to drive and we only have 14 or so tarantulas to meet on the way instead of 14 million other cars like there are here! The drive to Lawton and home will be peaceful. It’s ALWAYS good to be home, too. I know people think we don’t like home since we travel so much, but we love home. It’s just that we love traveling, too. Right now, home will be a blessing.

It’s been such a blessing to have Doris and Jerry and Judy and Aki who opened their homes and made us feel so at home here in Houston! I don’t even have the vocabulary to adequately thank them. I’m really a poor guest because I’m either on the computer or asleep, so I’m not much company. They have been so good to just let me be and understand my comings and goings and time on the computer and napping. Besides that they take care of Don and FEED us wonderfully! Doris and Jerry have even shared their new grandsons so that we get our baby fixes. We miss all our kids so much. We hated missing the end of Bruce’s ball season. We’re missing a lot, but we got to see a lot before the season ended, too, so I aim to count the blessings instead of whine about what we’ve missed.

Pictures on the blog today are of Doris with their boys. Brett’s son, Luke was here today and napped on Doris’s lap and then later played in the floor in his own little ‘jungle.’ He’s such a sweet baby! The day before yesterday we went over to Stephanie and Gregg’s and caught Colter before he napped, but before I got smart and got the camera ready, he crashed on Doris’ shoulder. He’s a precious little guy, too. These little guys may be keeping me going. It’s sure hard to be here when we’ve only got to spend two days with our newest one! And Elena is growing up without us in Kentucky. That’s life and it’s sweet. We’re so proud of all of them and love these boys, too! God has so abundantly blessed us with family and friends. Thank you for being among our blessings.