Scans Today

Hi everybody:

Today is (Oh Boy-Can't Wait) scan day again. I'll begin drinking my Barium Smoothie at about 10 am, report to the Brain MRI arena for an hour of brain hammering thrills, then go to radiology for a follow-up with the guys to scan the torso for signs of spread, stability or regression of the cancer in the liver, chest wall, spine, etc. This is a little unnerving, as the last scan indicated I needed the Gamma Knife treatment again. As kind and skilled as those folks are up there, I'd really prefer that trip to Hawaii we've been talking about!! Results from today's tests should be available this next Monday when I go up for chemo. It has been a really busy couple of months with the Gamma Knife (then recovery), next the ovaries out (and recovery), followed with chemo every two weeks. So far it's going ok-much better than months ago when I was reacting harshly to it.

We have switched our medical oncology team to OHSU (Oregon Health Science University) in Portland, and have been pleased so far. The communication between people is very good, and it's nice to have a fresh start. Dr. Chui, the oncologist, is supportive of trying things to optimize my chances at a longer life span and is looking at things along that thought pattern. He has someone going through her 12th chemo and doing very well, which is (believe it or not) encouraging. When there are mets in the brain and liver, the options can seem a little narrow. So every day, we just put one foot in front of the other, and like a little kid, wait for God to direct our path. Sometimes we do the little kid dance, and try to run ahead or lag behind, but He has been there to pick up pieces when we mess up, so we have to focus on that and not beat ourselves up.

Pat went to Virginia to be with his siblings and parents for an extended weekend, and had a great time. The kids and I went to Foster Lake on Saturday with the inflatable kayak (we really need a hard body one to get up some speed) and it was a blast. Not too crowded, wonderful weather, and it was so nice to be with all of the kids-nobody at work, recitals, etc. We came home and just hung out all weekend and took it easy. Very nourishing.

Sarah bought herself a couple of new lenses (!) for her Nikon D80 that she got through the Make-A-Wish foundation. One is a nice zoom lens, so as she does photography for Robert's baseball team, she should be able to get some closer shots. She is still very infatuated with photography as a whole, and loves this camera. She is also due for scans, and we're just waiting for the heads up from the doc. to set up her app't. with radiology. It should be within the next week.

A family from church came out and put up a beautiful shed in the back yard so we can get a bit more space options around here-they did a fantastic job, and only have a bit left to finish up. The quality of it makes me wonder if we should just move some people out there, instead of "stuff". Thanks, guys-we appreciate it a LOT!!!

Everybody else is hanging in there, doing the regular stuff-work, play, Special O. track for Dan is finishing up, Baseball for Robert is coming to an end soon...then comes summer which we need to organize for a bit.

Love you all, thanks for praying and for your support.

Jeanne