Chemo 3 and Some Good Lab Results!

Beautiful Sunset tonight over mount Baker - and we have a full moon (with no eclipse) so what a gorgeous night. I've been here since Monday - can't believe the week has gone by so quickly. Nancy had her third round of this new miracle chemo yesterday. We had some great news about her lab tests. Not only has her white cell count begun climbing again, but some of her liver function studies have improved as well. If she had felt like it - we both could have done a happy dance yesterday!!
Today we were both up early and cleaned out one of her dressers. She went to sleep about 8:30 this morning and asked me to be sure to wake her by 3:00 for an appointment at the cancer center for her neulasta shot. Not sure on the spelling of that and I'm too lazy tonight to look it up. She slept until I woke her at 2:45! Wow. That was the best sleep she's had since before this round of chemo started several weeks ago. She felt good enough after the shot to take a little drive to a beach and one of our favorite lookouts. An all together beautiful day. She's sleeping now and I should be.
Tomorrow some of the kids and grandkids may stop by to say hi if she's feeling like it. They are staying at my house on Whidbey with my dear husband and keeping him out of trouble. I had a great e-mail from my second oldest granddaughter, Morgan, this morning letting me know that she found a very rare piece of yellow sea glass at our beach this morning while her daddy put the crab pots out to soak. She is a super star soccer player and now a super star sea glass seeker! Way to go Morgan!
Time for some sleep. Thanks again for all the prayers and good wishes. Sweet dreams.....

WALKIN' & JAMMIN'

This picture sums up my activities over the past couple of days - walkin' and jammin!"

My pink high top Chucks have been beautifully embellished by my good friend Mallory! Aren't they the bees knees?? I don't do my distance training walks in these beauties, but I do wear them whenever possible! Thanks Mal for a great job. Her blog is http://leingangcrew.blogspot.com/

Mal is quite the photographer and has a beautiful family, check out her blog. The shoes are sitting in front of my last batch of raspberry jam. I made strawberry on Sunday and the raspberry yesterday. My kitchen smelled dreamy. I did have a little mishap on the final jar. As I was filling it (I use a funnel to avoid spills, etc), I reached way over to grab a particular spoon, the kettle's weight was too heavy on the funnel and the jar flipped up spattering hot jam all over me and the floor. The good news is the jar didn't break. The bad news, I got a little burn under my chin - just put a couple ice cubes and then aloe vera to soothe it and it's all better now. I reminded myself of the 3 Stooges and there is only one of me!

We've had some gorgeous weather and I've been able to hang clothes outside on the line and do a little weeding. These normal, routine tasks are ones I enjoy immensely that relax and renew me for my next time with Nancy.

Our youngest grandchild Garrett will turn two on Saturday. We are going to their home on Hood Canal for the celebration. On Sunday, Lorianne (Garrett's mommy) will drive up here to our house and spend the night. She and I will head up to Nancy's home on Monday and Lorianne has volunteered to take Grandma home. Lori will also do a pedicure for Nancy. I am blessed with the best family in the world. All the kids are so generous with their time, talent and financial resources. Each of them makes me feel so blessed.

I talked to Nancy and Mom on the phone last night. They have had a pretty restful couple of days, then yesterday Nancy decided to get the pantry in order, so Mom sounded a little tired but happy to get that task accomplished. Nancy is really "getting her house in order" - she is a supreme organizer and I know it feels good to her to enjoy that sense of order.

Today I'm going to walk a new route that rack up about 10 miles with a couple of significant hills. The 3 Day Walk is only 10 weeks away! Going to head out early as the temps are supposed to be in the 80s today.

Happy 4th of July! A True Independence Day

Independence Day, 2008 is dawning with pinks and blues this morning. We have had almost two days of rolling thunder storms, some humidity, rain and today is calm and somewhat cloudy. The sun has appeared almost every day this past week, and without extreme temperatures.

I am happy to report that Nancy is on the downhill side of the very difficult side effects from this chemo. This week has been infinitely better than the week after her first round of this new medicine. We owe much to Hospice, as they are the experts on pain control. She has been able to rest some, eat a little and we have had some laughs.

She was feeling good enough to sit up out here in the living room on Tuesday and we did get her head shaved. It is remarkable to me how much easier it was to do this task than it was the first time a couple of years ago. There was a whole bunch of emotion and tears (on my part) the first time and this time, we just got it done, laughed a little but no tears.

I am really feeling the multitude of prayer being offered on her behalf and for our whole family. I am calmer and more able to do what needs to be done without upsetting Nancy. My sleep patterns are a little altered, but I'm feeling very rested.

On Wednesday we tackled a big project. Nancy wanted to clear out her clothes closet, donating many of her beautiful things to me and Lorianne. Now that she is retired, she doesn't need the dress up clothes. She has always had an incredible flare for fashion. We reduced the size of the bedroom closet by more than half. Today we may do the hall closet where she has more clothes.

She had asked me last Sunday to try to find a heating pad, as the bone pain in her arms and shoulders is eased with heat. I love Anacortes. Everything is easy to get to and I found her local Walgreens without a hitch. The variety of heating pads was amazing and purchased this great, plush, soft pad with auto off control and she just loves it! It's extra long and lays across her shoulders without having to move it from side to side. Score! I also picked up a beautiful rose plant, April in Paris, and planted it outside the living room window. It looks very happy and healthy in its new location.

She had a check-up with the oncologist yesterday, labs were done and revealed her white count to be very low, so she got a shot of Neupogen which will boost white cell production. We go again today for a follow-up shot. Since it's a holiday the cancer center is closed, so we will go to the hospital nursing station for today's shot. That's all we have to do today.

Larry is heading into the mainland today to celebrate the 4th with Mike and Jennie and other family members. He will spend the night with them and pick Mom up tomorrow to bring her up here for the next week. Our trading off for a week to 10 days is working well for both of us, and Nancy is so appreciative. Mom and I each feel grateful we are able to help in this way.

Please keep praying and while your at it, be grateful for our freedom in this country. Happy 4th of July!

A Summer Update on Nancy

Today is Saturday, June 27th. I'm in Anacortes for the next week or so. I got up early this a.m. and did a 5 mile training walk here. As I walked I heard some music and right there alongside the road was the Anacortes Relay for Life, with tons of tents and booths and people walking for the Cure! Wow - I can't tell you how much that lifted my spirits.

Nancy had the second in a series of four rounds of chemotherapy on Thursday. She did very well and slept fairly well on Thursday evening. Yesterday, the pain returned (caused by the chemo) - but this time we have a great arsenal of pain meds to keep her comfortable. She has been able to eat little bits of food and we're working hard to keep the nutrition up. We decided this medicine (just approved by the Feds in December) is a Miracle Drug. The cancer cells are putting up a fight as they are being obliterated, thus the pain. Nancy continues to amaze me with her grace and upbeat attitude.

If she's feeling up to it today, I will shave her head, as the little bit of growth is now starting to fall out, and heck - it's warm here - supposed to be in the mid to upper 80's! Our goal is to keep her comfy and cool. As always your prayers are appreciated.

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.