Thanksgiving

We were able to have a very nice Thanksgiving, completely prepared by our kids. They did a great job and made sure that I was able to have all of my favorites. I didn't lift a finger and I was able to eat most everything. Bless their hearts!
I came in this morning to have my blood draw and now I am at the hospital to get platelets. I'm not surprised since I feel so lousy. Dissapointed, but not surprised. I hope I feel better after the transfusion. Right now, I just want to sleep, sleep, sleep.
Tony, Mercedes and Hunter are going to the tree farm to get their tree and to have pictures with Santa. I can't wait to see them. Hunter is such a little ham. I hope Santa isn't scary to him. When Tony was little, he all but climbed over Santa's body to get away. We knew the Santa and had hoped he would be more comfortable. Even so, it is one of my favorite pictures. Great memories.
Rob did the 5:00 a.m. Wal-Mart run for me this morning. He went to ElDorado, so it probably wasn't as bad as it could have been, but to hear him tell about it is just a hoot. Would have loved to have seen him in action. I sent him for one thing and he brought back four wonderful presents. Score!
We have so many blessings to be thankful for. I can't even begin to list them all. Of those blessings, of course, is your gift of friendship. Thank you for your love, support and prayers. Keep them coming. Hugs!

Almost done!

We are just finishing up our final morning chemo treatment, which means there is only one more to go late this evening. It has been a long, hard week with such an intense schedule. We come back in the morning for a strong booster shot to help get my counts going, again. So far, I am doing okay with the treatments with just some loss of appetite and change in taste buds. Hopefully, next week won't be so bad as I hit bottom and begin to rebuild my blood. I still feel healthier than I did with my other two chemo's, so I am hoping for the best.
It is so hard to believe that Thanksgiving is almost here. We certainly have many, many things to be thankful for this year. I am craving my mom's wonderful pies and cherry dessert. They are the best!!! She makes a raisin pie that is out of this world and we all fight over it. I just might use the "sick card" this year to my advantage. Hee, hee.
If I don't get back on the blog, Thanksgiving blessings and best wishes to all of you. I hope you get to enjoy your families and all of the blessings that you have been given. Our assignment from Sunday church was to focus on gratitude and it has been so good to really see all that God has done for our family during this journey. Just amazing. Hugs to all!

Third time around

I am at the office receiving my third round of chemo. This is the week of the crazy schedule. M, W, and F I go for a four hour treatment at 8:30 a.m. at the office and then again on the same day at 8:30 p.m. back on the seventh floor of the hospital. We have Tuesday and Thurday off, thank heavens. Then, we come back in to the other Cancer Center on Saturday for a booster shot to help me start building the blood cells, again. After this, I have two more rounds of chemo, about a month apart. After all that, the doctor says"We'll talk." Hmmmmmm. What in the world does that mean?
I had a wonderful weekend. Felt super good, so I was able to attend the Larksfield Place 20th
Anniversary Dinner. It was wonderful to see all of our plans come to life and to see what a fabulous job the PR committee did with the festivities of the week. I am so proud of them! Valerie, my boss, kept my "visit" a secret and it was wonderful fun. I needed that so much and it was great to see everyone. I have never felt so loved.
Then, I got to go to church services on Sunday morning and again, my heart was filled with love. Knowing I won't be able to do any of that for probably the next three months, I really filled up. It was such a wonderful blessing. You just don't know how much you are loved until something like this happens. The Sunday service was on gratitude and hit the spot over and over. Trevor, our youth minister did a great job. I was even able to go out to lunch with our friends. It was fabulous to feel "normal"again.
Of course, I went home and took a two hour nap, which is not normal for me. After eating really well over the weekend, I finally was able to gain a little weight. For the first time in my life, that is a good thing.
Keep those prayers coming. They work!!! Hugs!

Praise God!

After an excrutiating two-hour wait, we found out that I am in REMISSION!!! I had the shakes for a couple of hours afterwards. Didn't realize that I had been so tense. Duh!
He also cleared me to be able to go to church on Sunday. I can hardly wait. I still can't be touched, so that will be a challenge, but to be with everyone and worship our God will be so wonderful.
We start my chemo on Monday with a crazy schedule. I go on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. Each treatment takes about 4 hours. They are increasing the dose and we don't know how I will respond. Our goal is to stay out of the hospital and to try and do it all from home base. It is so wonderful to be home and surrounded by my family.
We found out today that two more series of treatments will follow this one. That was a surprise. I had no idea it would be such a long haul. Keep those prayers going. A special thanks to the HCC staff. They all held hands and prayed for me at 9:50 this morning, when my results were expected. I can't tell you how much strength and support I felt just knowing that I was in their thoughts and prayers. Prayer is amazing!!!
Hugs to all!!!

Yippee!!!

We went back to the doctor on Monday and all of my counts were up. He was so very pleased and of course, so are we. I feel really good and am eating almost "normal." We are even going to try taco salad tonight. I am craving Mexican, so wish us luck.
We go back to the doctor on Wednesday and he will do another bone marrow biopsy WITH morphine this time. The first time was with nothing and it was unbearable. The second was with morphine and so much better. By Friday we will know the results. I start chemo again on Monday. We don't know if I will be able to do it at home or have to go back in the hospital. I am hoping that since I am feeling so well, it won't be so bad.
Keep those prayers going. God has been so good! Hugs!

Doing well!

The weekend has been wonderful. I am gaining back some of the weight and getting stronger all of the time. We go to the doctor in the morning and I am anxious to see how high my counts have gone. It feels so good to feel good, again. I know I have another chemo treatment to go through, but hopefully with me doing so well, it won't be so bad. Unitl then, I am going to enjoy every minute of "freedom" and being at home. It is such a blessing. Please keep us all in your prayers. We love you. Hugs!

Home Alone

We, Rob and I, spent our first day home alone. Terra and Mike were gone most of the day, so it gave us a real opportunity to see how we would do. I am happy to report, it was great! I ate all three meals and am walking around quite a bit. It feels so good! The best part was sleeping in my own bed and taking a shower in my own shower. I love being home and thank God for this "vacation" in my treatment. We go back to the doctor Monday morning and I am anxious to see how high my counts have gone. I feel really good, in comparison to anything in the last five weeks. I want more of the same!!!
I am reading my e-mails, but still don't have the stamina to respond. I do appreciate receiving them. As always, thank you for your prayers. God is working miracles. Hugs!

Homeward Bound

After 5 weeks in the hospital I finally get to go home! My doctor called me this afternoon with the exciting news that my cells have finally started to cooperate and are on the rise. So, I am able to go home. What else can I say!

For the next ten days, my job is to eat, eat, eat and get stronger. I will then begin another round of chemo, the third and hopefully final. Though going home is extremely exciting it does come with a few restrictions. I am not allowed any visitors as my infection fighters have yet to recover.

Please continue to keep me in your prayers as this journey is far from over.

Big Girl

I am finally having to ween myself from Terra and be a big girl on my own. Mike arrived from Japan last night so she will take the next week loving and enjoying her sweetheart. He is here for just under a week but we are so grateful that he was able to come home. My kids are the best and their spouses are a natural fit to our family. I have really grown to depend on Terra for everything. She can tell by just a "look" what I need. I am truly spoiled. But, this is the perfect opportunity for me to see how independent I can be, that is what I keep telling myself anyway.

More later, Hugs!

Good Days

I have been very blessed with several good days in a row. We truly thank all of you for your wonderful visits and the continued cards and prayers. I am able to walk a bit more and my appetite seems to be slowly returning. Sadly enough for Terra, I still do not like chocolate and sadly enough for me, I still have not regained my love for coffee. I haven't had or wanted a cup in 6 weeks, I can't even be tempted with my favorite Starbuck's frappucinno. That is so wrong!

I am still getting my daily booster shots but they have yet to kick my cells into turbo mode. Once I am reproducing platelets, red and white blood cells we should be able to do the next bone marrow biopsy. Hopefully this will be sometime within the next 8 days. I am receiving two units of blood today, so we are not there yet.

Other news, Hunter is CRAWLING. I haven't got to see it yet but I hear that he can get anywhere including to Leo's tail. Watch out world, here he comes. That is all for now.

Again I can't thank you enough for your continued cards and prayers. HUGS!

ATTENTION ALL VISITORS!!!

Mom's NEW room number is 7016. Her room has changed and the new tenant is a Hays, oh the irony!

And...

We are back. After a brief stint in ICU, mom is back to the 7th floor and feeling much better, comparatively speaking.

Thursday was quite possibly one of the scariest days we have had so far...and yes, I realize I am saying we...but WE are in this together! I get to be the bossy one and she gets to be the one that rolls her eyes at me...so we have a slight role reversal here, but life is good. Anyway, Thursday, after hours of massive blood loss, mom was finally rushed to ICU where they gave her 3 bags of platelets and two pints of blood before conducting an emergency colonoscopy where they found the culprits causing the days festivities. The doctor only had to go 40 cm which is incredibly good news considering the fact that mom has no infection fighters at this point. So, as one of her cards stated, she is on enough medication to "drop a horse" and all is well again.

Today is a good day again, so if you want to visit, please do so! We would love to see you!

- Terra