Cancer Sucks - & - Strength

Wish I could look as good in tube top as this gal (that'll never happen!) but I love this video. Also thinking I need some 'cancer' apparel.

p.s. Yes, I'm still being lazy and on blogcation.

Haven't Laughed So Hard in a LONG Time!

Still in hiatus from my Cancer Blog...but while reading another blog called "Rural Revolution" this post, and it's punch line, made my day! Only takes a minute or two, DON'T jump to the end or you'll spoil the fun and an informative journey on the way.

Enjoy!



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yup

Like you haven't figured this out by now!

A World Without Blood Cancers

It will be a great day when (not 'if'--be positive!) this* finally happens.
(*the cure...not the conference)

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Life Goes On -

Yes, it does!

Grateful for so many blessings.

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Life Goes On - April Fool's Day

Remember the commercial from years ago with the famous line: 

"It's not nice to fool Mother Nature"

So...what about when Mother Nature fools us?

especially considering today's date!

You can't tell from this picture, but it's snowing very hard!

Could be worse...

snow sticking to the pavement, or

3 feet of the flaky stuff instead of 3 inches, or

east winds causing it to drift, or

super cold temperatures causing icy roads, or

---oh my gosh---

just saw a very large (pregnant?) robin hopping though the melty snow on the patio outside the door...brrr, but she found and gulped down a worm, so it's not worse for her! (and my camera not handy, dang.)

Okay, lesson learned -- it could be better too...

this water is easing our drought, or

needed 'free' moisture as irrigation water delayed until April 15, or

______________________ (you fill in the blank)

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No News Is Good News

The post with details is still in 'draft' mode.  Stay tuned.

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Yippy Skippy!!

As compared to my previous 2-day chemotherapy infusions this new 'maintenance' 1-day 1-drug version is G-R-R-e-a-t (think Tony the Tiger for sound effect). In fact, tonight it took some heavy thinking to realize it was only 5 days ago I'd been sitting in 'the chair' gazing at the steady drip of the IV. Five days?! And I also feel GRRReat!!

NO side effects!!

NO fatigue/tiredness.
NO constipation.
NO odd tastes.

So far so good.

Ahhhh. YES.

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Anticipation

No, not the Carly Simon song.

Nor the Heinz ketchup ad from 1979 that used her song.

Nonetheless...

...to find out results of last week's PET scan at my C-Dr appointment tomorrow. I should get a written report comparing the two PET scans and am also looking forward to seeing the computerized scan results to see for myself how the two compare.

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Choked Up & Misty Eyed

My sister lives across the street from me and our mailboxes are on the same post at the end of her driveway (stupid USPS rules--don't get me started) and on her way over here this afternoon (regular Friday night scrapbooking session that got delayed a day) she picked up my mail. Among the items was a large padded envelope, from my/our niece who lives out of state, and that envelope was taped very securely, which is a good thing because of what I discovered inside.

Once I finally got the envelope open I saw a beautiful pattern of leaves and then some handles that gave a clue to this being a large tote bag. It was gorgeous. This niece of mine is a quilter and I realized very quickly this had been made by her very own hands. She does wonderful work so I felt extremely honored to be a recipient of one of her creations.

Inside was sewn a piece that made two pockets.

And then, to get a better look at everything I turned the tote over to look at the opposite side. When I saw what was there I could barely speak and had to blink hard to prevent tears from spilling out.
Do you know why?

There, on the flip side were four gorgeous quilt squares, each with a pieced Cancer Awareness Ribbon...in lime green...the color that represents Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. I tell you, it took my breath away. I was overcome. The caring and extraordinary thoughtfulness behind this tote bag still gets me misty eyed. This time the cancer-related tears shed were happy ones. I don't think my niece will mind, so I'd also like to share with all of you the note that came with the bag. 

see what I mean?!

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PET scan #2

Yesterday (Feb 13th) was my PET scan re-scan. This time around I know what to expect so am more relaxed than I was back in June when I had the first one. That's a good thing.

However...

I woke up to a "chirp" from the smoke alarm on the main floor at the top of the basement stairs. Dang. I did not set my wake-up alarms with enough extra time to change a battery and especially not extra time to haul in the cheap (and heavy) knock-off Little Giant ladder from the garage to get that annoying chirping stopped. This particular smoke alarm is on a 10-foot high ceiling so battery swap outs are done only when needed, and fortunately this is the only one at that height! This task will have to wait until I return.

Look! No Snow!!
Once again there was plenty of parking in this section, so I did...

Because I Am One.

Is it a bad thing that a procedure you've only gone through once before feels routinely 'normal' as it's being done for just the second time? That's the sense I felt during this repeat experience: kind of a "no big deal" but also knowing it IS a big deal. It was just a weird feeling I had during the whole process. I certainly don't want to get used to all these procedures, BUT I also know that they will be a way of life now: the New Normal of my life as a cancer patient.

Here's the original PET scan post from last June. It was deja-vu, without the nerves. (Except this time there is no upcoming bone marrow biopsy, for which I'm extremely grateful!) After checking in at 9:10am by the time everything was completed I was back in my car before 11:00am.

I'll get the results of this PET scan next week at my regular C-Dr/infusion appointment on Thursday. My wish is a 'negative' on active cancer cells, however my gut instinct feels there will still be some hanging around. One more week to wait for the outcome of Wish vs Gut cancer match.

On my return home I picked up the heavy ladder and sprinted (NOT) up the garage stairs with it into the house. That effort accomplished, it was left leaning against a wall so I could hunt up the newest package of replacement battery. Interesting. Something was different now. This morning's chirping alarm was now totally and completely silent. And stayed that way the rest of the night. I think this why:

p.s. Well, the non-chirping quiet and blissful silence lasted until Saturday morning. Ladder climbed. Battery replaced. Heavy ladder returned to garage. And, no, I don't change all (9!) of my smoke alarm batteries every 6 months. Do you?



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19 Years Ago Today...

...my father passed away.

Never thought I'd say it, but time flies!

This picture is one of the rare professional photo's we have of Dad.

In the years since 7 more of his grand-children got married and 27 additional great-grandchildren have been added giving him a total (so far) of 29 great-grandchildren.

Here are some of my favorite pic's of Dad -- through the years.

As a young boy with his older sister and older brother.

(don'tcha love the knickers?!)

Several years later with his older sister & brother and younger brother.

(not hard to match who's who between the two photos)

On his honeymoon, dinner and show at a Las Vegas nightclub.

(what a handsome dude!)

Raised a family of four children.

(and cat Tinkerbell here)

Dad held a full-time civil service job AND for over 30 years served as Clerk/Recorder and later Administrator for the small town he was born and raised in. For most of those years our home was the city office and Dad is seen here keeping up with the ledgers and accounting work.

AND

As an orchardist grew cherries, apricots and peaches on 7 acres of land.

(in his "spare" time!)

Enjoyed his grandchildren, from the first...

...to all those that followed:

He would read them stories (even though as he told me once: "it makes me sleepy--just like when I read the newspaper").

And gladly transported them, and/or their bikes, when needed.

He loved Jello and preferred it to cake for his birthday.

He liked to fish.

At a stream in the mountains...

...or with friends at a lake in the Tetons (Dad standing on boat).

And speaking of boats...

He very much loved boating (shown here with his younger brother and sister-in-law) either behind the wheel of his ski boat at local reservoirs or Bear Lake or captaining a houseboat plying the waters of Lake Powell.

He liked to travel, whether accommodations were...

rented trailers, or...

crowded motel rooms, or...

family owned trailer, or...

an old rented Army tent on our first boating trip to Lake Powell, or...

his beloved camper, or...

the little class-C motor home.

He was a good sport about driving the 'little blue roads' my mother liked to travel on, and even on US highways or interstate freeways...

...when weather conditions made driving miserable (such as here when pulling a boat was near impossible) he was the best 'white knuckle' driver I've ever known.

Dad had an artist's eye and brought photos to life or just told a story.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison (Colorado)

Dad loved cars and my guess is while on a trip with friends to Las Vegas this parking lot of "fins" was a photo-op too good to pass up. 

Our 'fins' are the yellow station wagon, fourth from the left.

Other 'photo-ops' were ready-made.

Mr. Fix-It

Here he recruited a grandson to help with truck repairs.

(anytime I called and asked for "Mr. Goodwrench" -- he knew.)

An easy task was assembling this garden bench for his mother-in-law.

(my grandmother, of course)

But he was always willing to help whenever he could.

He loved cats...

...and Spooki loved back (as only a cat can). 

These two were nearly inseparable.

See what I mean?

As for this photo? I just love it.

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