This month's calendar                         Archives                            Our Google Calendar                   

IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!

After several months of sabbatical, I decided that one of my New Year's Resolutions was to put back some normalcy in my life and start writing my journal again. Not that my life is that interesting or exciting but mainly because the webmaster (Dave) felt like he could handle all the technical stuff that it takes to get this posted and I can't. So here I am.

As I'm sure everyone is well aware by now, our lives were literally turned upside down in October when Dave was diagnosed with Stage 4 Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (more specifically Burkett's Lymphoma) and the tumor in his lower adnominal was growing fast. It was already in his bone marrow so the doctors wasted no time and started him on a 5-day Chemo drip every three weeks. So between trips to Oregon Health & Science University in Portland for those treatments and then twice a week for blood tests (which sometimes turned out to be an all day experience if Dave needed to get a transfusion), our lives really didn't belong to us. We couldn't commit to anything for fear that it will have to be cancelled because of a medical change. That is what has been happening in our lives. I have learned a lot about blood these past few months and distributing the many pills each day. Just before Christmas, Dave was given a PET and CT scan to see if the Chemo treatments were effective and the doctor gladly informed us that the tumor has shrunk and that his cancer is now in remission. He just finished treatment No. 4 and has two more to go before the doctor will take another PET and CT scan, so we are not quite out of the woods. That good news made this the best Christmas present ever and we are so thankful for so many things. I have tried to keep everyone informed on the CaringBridge.org site. We want to thank are friends, family and community who have rallied around us to give us all their support. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

So other than that, what have I been up to? While Dave is having his treatments, I stay in West Linn with my daughter and get reacquainted with my granddaughters. We still maintain the apartment in their basement so it has been an easy commute to OHSU to visit Dave each day. I was having stress problems and was breaking out with hives all over my body when all of this was going on. I finally went to the Dermatologist who gave me an ointment, but that didn't help. So I decided to take matters into my own hands and thought to myself, "Hummm...what can I do to distract my subconscious so I can quit itching"? Everyone who knows me there is nothing quite like grabbing a paint brush, so I decided to take on a paint project. I managed to paint the living room, bathroom and bedroom and guess what? The hives went away!! I wanted the place to be nice and fresh and clean when Dave came back from his treatments. The paint jobs turned out great and it really lifted my spirits to see the new colors Tom Sawyer's Fence (living room) Summer Mist (bathroom) and Merritt Apple (bedroom). Who thinks of the names for these colors anyway?

Just before Christmas, my sister Jeanne and her husband Bob came to stay with us for a few days while they were taking a break from their ministerial duties in Exeter, England. They love it over there but really miss their kids, especially their grandchildren. They spent the rest of the holidays visiting with their two sons in Phoenix and their other son who lives in Colorado. They will be heading back over the pond in a couple of weeks so it will be another year before we see them again.

Now that the New Year has started it was time to take down the Christmas decorations. I hate that job as everything looks so festive before and then after it is boring. It sort of reminds me of the dull winter. We didn't do anything special for the big event and in fact were in bed by 10:00 p.m. We are not party animals and besides Dave had just gotten home from his fourth treatment and I know he wasn't up to it anyway.