Pain Control is Better, Praise God!

It seems the new meds are doing better at controlling Nancy's pain. This was the most difficult week of my life. The caregiving part is something that comes naturally, but seeing my beloved sister in so much unrelenting pain was tough to say the least. Hospice has been wonderful. One of the "angels" came on Friday, changed the bed linens, and gave Nancy a pedicure. Also on Friday, my DH Larry brought one of our comfortable Queen Anne chairs up to have in Nancy's bedroom for visitors or for Mom or me to sit in while reading to Nancy or just visiting. What a gift of love!

I'm home now. Our eldest son, Jeff, brought my mom up to Nancy's to stay with her for a while, and I came home for some much needed rest. There were some funny things that happened last week. I was putting away dishes in Nancy's kitchen and the cupboard door came off at the hinge on one of the upper cabinets. I was holding it up in one hand, reaching out for a screwdriver I had just used to tighten the toilet seat, then using my foot to get a step stool close enough to stand on. I was able to get that door down safely. The next morning the cupboard door next to the first one came loose from the hinges. Nancy asked me if I'd been hanging on the doors - ha ha. When the handyman for her apartment building came by to re-attach the doors, he asked me the same thing. Uh, no.

My sister is my hero and such an inspiration. Through all this pain, she remains hopeful. She had an appointment with her oncologist on Thursday, which was the first day in a week she'd been up and dressed. For the first time in many visits he had some good news - her brain CT was clear - no metastatic disease there. We are grateful. She had a visit from some of the wonderful folks in her prayer group. Betsy brought a homemade blackberry pie. The visit lifted both our spirits. Another close friend from work came by with a gift. By the time they all lelft, Nancy was pretty exhausted.

Thursday night was rough. Her doctor changed her pain med regimen (hoping for more relief), but the dosage was too small. The hospice nurse came on Friday and got that straightened out and she rested much better Friday and Saturday.

I haven't done much training lately, and missed Expo for the 3 Day yesterday (Mike & Jennie went and did the 10 mile training walk). I plan to take a nice walk after church this morning, and get back into a routine of walking until I go back up to Nancy's.

We covet your prayers and are so grateful for them.

Staying at Nancy's this Week

Today is Wednesday already. Mom stayed with Nancy last week and the three of us decided together that while Nancy is feeling so punk, that we don't want her to be alone. I took Mom home on Sunday and came to be with her on Monday. We've had a busy week. Seeing the hospice nurse and social worker, a couple of co-workers have stopped by. Mike had a job up this way so he stopped by for a short visit. Nancy is feeling really blessed by her many friendships and loving family.

We are having a challenge controlling her pain and the hospice nurse is working with us to try different meds. Please pray for comfort for Nancy.

Most of the paperwork for disability and dshs is completed and those details are smoothing out. She has watched a couple of movies, but mostly remains in bed as sleep, when it comes, is the only time she escapes the pain.

I'm heading out to her grocery store and hopefully will find some things that taste good. The problem with these strong chemo treatments is that often your tastebuds are altered and your old favorites (i.e. toasted cheese sandwich) no longer taste good.

I'll try to keep everyone posted. Thanks for all the prayers!

THE SALE WAS A HUGE SUCCESS!!

Thank you for your support! Last weekend, May 30 & 31st we had a huge family/team bake sale and garage sale and raised over $3,000 for the 3 Day and for my sister's care. This first picture is of our team (Jennie, Mike, Lori & Gayle) as we were setting up the sale on Friday. We are wearing our KMPS Aloha Red Shirt Friday tee-shirts. 94.1 KMPS is a major sponsor of the 3 Day here in Seattle and also a great country music station! The sale offically opened at 9:00 a.m. - but per usual we had several early birds, and we welcomed them.
We had a steady stream of customers and everyone was so generous. They bought lots of baked goodies and jewelry. Here's a picture of Jennie and Lori with Grandma (Gayle & Nancy's Mom). She sold antique and collectible jewelry to help Nancy with expenses. By the end of the day on Friday we were all very tired, but so excited as the money was flowing in! We relaxed Friday night after covering all the items for sale (as it was somewhat damp at night). We were up again on Saturday to greet our first customers. We also had a raffle of a huge picnic basket full of goodies. We sold over 150 tickets. Another popular item was our Ducks for the Cure - cute pink ducks with the breast cancer ribbon. They were adopted to loving familes and provided alot of fun for our grandkids during the sale!

We were all touched by the number of people who are affected by cancer. We talked to many surviovors and family members. Many people just donated to the cause if they didn't find an item to buy. We handed out cupcakes as thank-yous. We raised over $3,000 to support our fundraising efforts for the 3 Day and for my sister's expenses. THANK YOU ALL! We are very grateful.

Huge Garage & Bake Sale This Friday & Saturday!!

Wow - we are really pumped. Our team is having a huge garage/bake sale this Friday & Saturday at our house here on Whidbey Island. We have a notice in the South Whidbey Record in Community Events (since the sale will benefit the 3 Day) - and word of mouth advertising.

The really cool thing - is our neighborhood saves up donations for a year for an annual sale and they are having theirs on Saturday - so our signs and advertisements will benefit both sales! Just to whet your appetite -here's a picture of some Norwegian Rye Bread that I baked for the sale:

This has been a difficult week. We learned from Nancy's oncologist that her PET scan showed multiple areas of metastatic disease. We have her signed up for Open Access Hospice - she can still get the treatments and have the cushion of care and needs met from this group of nurses and other caregivers. She told her doctor on Thursday - "I'm going to beat this!" She is still upbeat and working hard on staying positive -- Please continue to pray - we need all the help we can get.

We are also having a training walk on Sunday (6.5 miles). I know we will all be fatigued - but what better way to train for the 3 Day!!

Thanks to everyone for positive e-mail and feedback. EVERYONE DESERVES A LIFETIME!

16 Weeks Until the Walk!!

Got an e-mail from my "virtual personal trainer" and realized it's just 16 weeks until the 3 Day Walk. Training is going well. I walked 5 miles on Sunday, 6.5 on Monday and 3 today. My total miles logged is 160 so far. Monday Larry dropped me off at the Post Office in Freeland and I walked home. There is a great view at the start of this walk that shows Baby Island in the distance - wow did it look far. It took me 2 hours and 20 minutes. I sure love the camel backpack Mike & Jennie got me for Mother's Day. Not stopping to take a drink of water really helps.
Nancy had her PET scan last Wednesday and we see the oncologist tomorrow for results. Keep those prayers coming.
Our garage sale/bake sale is just a little over a week away. We'll take lots of pictures to post here . The fundraising is going well. I'm over 50% to my goal of $3,000 and our team is at 32% of our goal of $15,000. Thanks to everyone who has donated and to those of you who will. We are hoping to take a big chunk out of the goals at the garage/bake sale!

May 5th - Walked to Freeland Today! 6.5 Miles!

What a way to spend Cinco De Mayo! It was a beautiful day, perfect weather for a nice long training walk. A couple of my neighbors honked, waved, said "way to go, Gayle!" - it was great! At about 6 miles, my legs were feeling the effort, but I'm happy to report that my feet felt great.


Once again, having the right shoes is so important!

This beautiful horse always greets me on the route. I sure he wondered why I didn't come back - as this time my sweet husband picked me up for a ride home. When we do a 13 mile training walk - I'll see him both ways!

Today is Thursday and I'm headed up north to see Nancy to work on some paperwork and some other errands. Her PET scan is scheduled for next Wednesday. More later!

Inconclusive CT Scan - PET Scan is next.......

Yesterday was a full day. I got to Nancy's about 12:30 and we spent some time filling out her long term disability paperwork. She made some really pretty earrings to give the nurses at the Cancer Center as a thank you. I did a few chores. We didn't get in to see the oncologist until after 5:00 (He had a full day too).



We were able to get a formerly "ridiculously expensive" (that would be $700.00 for 30 tablets) anti-nausea drug - for a resonable price as the company has just come out with a generic. The copays for all this medical stuff is so high that it is difficult to keep up. Just hoping it really helps with the unrelenting nausea Nancy has experienced since her last round of chemo ended the first of March.



The oncologist told us that the quality of the CT scan was not good technical quality and he didn't trust the results. The original lesion on her liver is still there and unchanged (he and we think this is good news, because if it was a cancerous lesion - the chemo would have impacted it). The new study also showed two addition potential problems in the liver - but again - the doctor doesn't believe they are real- maybe artifacts or shadows. So in the next week or so, we will go for a PET scan.

I got home a little before 8 - the drive was gorgeous as always. I was able to walk 3 miles before I left in the morning. This weekend I want to walk 6 miles either Saturday or Sunday. I think we get to stay home so it should not be a problem. Thanks for all the calls and prayers - they are working!