March 17th Happy St. Patrick's Day - Second Chemo

First I want to say thank you to Beth Burris's mom and her church for the beautiful prayer shawl I am wearing. What an incredible ministry they have. This round of chemo seems to be going so much better. I feel GREAT. When I saw the doctor on Tuesday before chemo he asked me "is that all your hair?" I said "yes, it's not thinning at all"and I said "no". I asked him if that meant I might not lose my hair and he said "oh no, you're going to lose it, I'm just surprised you still have some". I guess that goes to show that even my hair is stubborn. I felt pretty good about having my hair at that point as we were planning a head shaving party on Sunday afternoon. But guess what, Wednesday morning I hopped in the shower and was washing my hair and it started coming out by the hand fulls. I jumped out of the shower and announced that the hair shaving party has just been moved to tonight. I pasted my hair in place with a lot of mousse and skipped the blow dryer (whats left I don't really want to carpet my bathroom walls and floor with). I have to say shaving my head was more fun than I thought possible, with lots of great friends and family surrounding me we had a great evening. As you can see by the pictures the boys and I had a lot of fun. God has been so good to me and I have been so blessed to have each and everyone of you in my life. I can't thank you enough for all your prayers, cards and words of comfort. I thank God every night for all of you.

March 3rd, first chemo treatment. To be honest I don't think I knew what to expect, but then who does. Accessing the chemo port had to be the most difficult part, I don't know if the tech was inexperienced or I was nervous, but lets just say it was not pleasant. The drugs made me a little sleepy so I slept about half of the time. Slight headache, and just a little off, that's about the best way I can describe it. Day 2, not too bad, a little queasy, but the drugs are working well. Today I had to go in for IV fluids and a white cell booster shot. Much easier to access port (yea). Day 3, a little worse but still the nausea drugs are working well. Day 4, a little worse but still the meds are working to keep me on top of the nausea. Today I feel a lot better. Not taking meds today, a little shaky. I know that each treatment builds on the other, but so far nothing I can't handle. Thank you for all your prayers, cards and flowers. God has truly blessed my life.

The last week of February Tom and I decided to take a trip to Disney, as Tom said to fill up my "Happy Place" before chemo. It was amazing, not too crowded, and just the right temperature. We took our time, walked everywhere, slept in, ate amazing food, and met an incredible lady name Tina. God really does have a path for each of us and this trip was no exception. On our way in from the airport we drove by a McCormick's restaurant (one of our favorites) and we decided we just had to have dinner there that night. Our server told us we came at just the right time, because they were booked for the night. She was so fun and we started talking and guess what - she was from Beaverton, in fact she and Tom both graduated from Sunset High School. She had just moved to CA in August for the opening of the new McCormick's and worked at the one here in Beaverton for 9 years. She had also just finished her training at Disney, and will be working in the Wine Country area of California Adventure. She invited us to go with her on a tour of Disney on Thursday to see some of the things not everyone gets to see and enjoy. What a great day it was, while waiting in line for Space Mountain she and I started talking about what promoted our vacation and I told her about my cancer, then she tells me that she moved to LA in August to recover and heal from non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Small world. What an incredible experience, Tina is an incredible lady, she has overcome so many things in her life and we both know that God put us together for a reason. From that point she made it her mission to make sure I did and saw everything, in fact when she found out that I had never been to Hollywood, she insisted we go. So off we went with Tina as our guide. We went to Rodeo drive, Grumman's Theater abd the Walk of Stars. Tina had a sparkle and personality that just made you want to know her. We went to the McCormick's on Rodeo Drive and before we left I felt that we had made friends with most of the staff. Tina,

you're an amazing lady and I thank God everyday for you and the friendship we shared.

Tina, Tom and I riding the California Screamin'. >>>>

February 9th

It's been a very LONG weekend. Friday I was in the doctors office very early. You see when they sent me home my only restrictions were "no lefting over 10 lbs" for those of you who know me I have a very hard time sitting around doing nothing. So..... of course I over did it. So I am not to use my left arm for 5 days, and hope that the fluid that has built up under my arm goes away so they don't have to go in and drain it. But on the up side I have read 3 books. This week I have two more appointments and more tests. Oh joy!!! God is good.

January 30th - Doctor Day
I call it that because every Friday for the last 4 weeks we have been in doctors offices ALL day. My first appointment was with the surgeon to che my incision. Everything looked great, so they were able to take out the drains, yay. Aside from the fact that I am breaking out in hives from medication. Than off to the oncologist. Final pathology reports are in, and great news the cancer was not in any of the lymph nods or surrounding tissue. The tumor was larger than expected (3.5 cm), this does not change treatment or out come at this point. I have decided to take part in a clinical study so I have several more scans and a lot more blood draws. Chemo is scheduled to start on March 3rd. Thanks for caring, and praying for me, God bless you all.

Five days since surgery and I feel great. If only the rest of this journey could be so easy. Surgery went well and I had very little pain. My thanks to everyone for all there prayers, phone calls and meals. My family and I are very blessed and very loved. God bless you all.

January 23rd

Today is surgery day, I feel like I am embarking on a journey. A journey I did not choose, but none the less I must travel. I am a very visional person and in my mind I picture God at the wheel of a great sailing ship, he is dressed in all white and his robes and hair are flowing in the wind. I am at peace, resting behind him on a cushioned bench. I feel his love surround me, I feel the soft breeze on my face, I smell the salt air and I know that he is leading me. I have never felt Gods love so strong and so powerful in my life.