October 19, 2007

There's nothing earth-shattering going on health-wise which is always a good thing. Last Friday Mike and I went to visit the nurses at St. Vincent's Hospital who so lovingly took care of me last year. It has been nearly a year since I left their care. Mike took a couple of pictures. Some of the nurses were not on shift that day. My physical therapist at the hospital, Sister Julie is also shown. Thank you, Burn Unit nurses, for the excellent care I received while I was your patient! Thank you, Sister Julie, for encourgaing me to do my therapy even on the days I didn't want to...which were many. You are part of the reason I am walking so well today. I miss you guys...but I don't want to come back as a patient! Someone else can have my room!

My next CT scan is scheduled for 2 weeks from today (November 2nd). To those who continue to keep me in your prayers, please pray that this time nothing will show up on the scan and my physical healing will be complete! While I've handled chemo relatively well I'm getting tired of poisoning my body. I know the victory is coming...I just don't know when. Only God knows the timing and what is best for me. Thank you for your continued prayer support. It's why I feel so good!

October 7, 2007

It's a very warm day today. Where did fall go? This is a happy day. I just got finished making reservations to fly to Las Vegas in November for my newphew's wedding. It will be a mini vacation, as well. We will spend 3 nights at a hotel in Henderson (where my nephew's wedding will take place). Then, Mike and i will head downtown to Fremont St. for 2 nights. If you haven't seen the light show on Fremont St. in Las Vegas, you're missing it! Millions of laser lights in a canopy about 5 blocks long with music. The show varies and is shown on the hour (I think); each show is different. There are also artists on the sidewalks, live music for entertainment and just people watching (yikes!) -- some of the folks are strange indeed. The weather in Las Vegas should be wonderful in early November! It will be my first trip since I got sick and will be a dry run for my trip to Alaska in the spring. The picture with this entry was taken at Lake Mead when my nephew and I went sight-seeing there a couple of years ago.

I have no new medical news today; however, my leg is loosening up more each day. I can walk normally now (without a limp) unless I am exceptionally tired. God has given me more time (I pray a LOT more time). It's amazing how much joy a person can find in the small things. My sister said she read an article once and a question was posed in the article: "Would we live our lives differently if we were within walking distance of a graveyard?" My answer is an unequivocable YES!

October 2, 2007

This past weekend was a good weekend. On Friday evening Mike and I attended our local high school football game for homecoming (Go Generals!). We won, and it was a fantastic, cool evening to be outside. The moon was full and beautiful. However, after the game was over we made the decision that I would try to walk to the car (which was about 100 miles away!) as we felt that with all of the people at the game Mike would never be able to find me in the crowd. Actually, it was about 1/2 mile or so away...I walked the entire distance. I commented to Mike that the muscles in my leg would surely be sore the next morning, but they were not! Who would have thought 1 year ago that I would EVER be able to walk this distance!

Please...never take the fact that you can walk for granted! I thought back to last year at around Thanksgiving time. My kids and grandkids were here for dinner. I tried my best, but Mike and Jeff did most of the dinner preparation (I had only been home from the nursing home for about 2-1/2 weeks at the time.) My cousin, Jon, and his wife stopped out and had dinner with us. After dinner I was demonstrating my ability to take about two steps without using my walker. My cousin Jon was a bit nervous about it but there was cheering all around when I was able to accomplish this feat! Praise God...what a difference a year makes!

Our youngest grandson, Robert, spent the day and the night with Mike and I on Saturday night. I got to spend some real quality time with him. He is getting big too fast. He started kindergarten this year and was showing off his handwriting and mat abilities. Wouldn't it be nice if time could stand still when our grandchildren are so young and so free of inhibitions? We had a fantastic time!

Yesterday morning bright and early (8:15 a.m.) I had my routine visit with my oncologist. He continues to feel that I am doing extremely well. My blood counts are up; I feel stronger every week. My spirits remain high, though he did give me some news that made me a little discouraged. He was in contact with my surgeon regarding a possible liver resection at my request. My surgeon does not think a liver resection would be a good idea in view of the infection I had in my leg last year. He feels that it would be too risky. I'm not too sure why he feels this way, but I am going to make an appointment to talk with him about it. While I have implicit trust in my surgeon (after all, he was the only one who thought I "deserved a chance at life" last year), a second opinion by a liver specialist may be in order. Of course, since we serve a Mighty God surgery might not even be necessary!

I start on my next round of Xeloda (chemo pills) this Friday. I go back to the oncologist's office in 3 weeks just to have blood counts taken. In about 5 weeks I am scheduled for a CT scan to make sure the Xeloda is doing what the oncologist thinks it is doing (his words). Please pray for me that this scan would be clean! While I am tolerating this chemo medicine quite well, it is still poison. It be wonderful if I could cease any form of chemotherapy. That is the miracle my family and I are praying for.

I continue to have neuropathy in my hands and feet, but I think it is getting slightly better with time.

Although I was a little bit discouraged yesterday after hearing the news regarding the liver resection, I'm pretty much back to myself today. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my journal.

WE SERVE A GOD OF MIRACLES!