The Good News...

I will not keep you in suspense any longer, although I do have a story to tell (have you ever known me not to tell stories?)  but I am going to cut to the chase with the news that you all are waiting for:  NO OTHER DISEASE DETECTED IN MY BODY!   Good news, right?  So we are all celebrating that news.

Now for my story:  I was taken to a back room and placed in a comfy chair with my feet up.  The the technician put in a little IV for me as I was getting a die and a little more radioactive medicine to help with the scanning...low lights, quiet...no phone, no texting, just relaxing.  So I close my eyes for the 45 minutes of quiet and begin saying the rosary...a very nice way to pass the time and reflect...sometimes I admit to my mind wandering, but it is all good!

Finally the 45 minutes is up and I am taken into the scanning room.  I lay on a narrow bed of sorts and I must keep my arms above my head, except this time, there was a foam pillow that had sides and it pressed my arms into the side of my head (no wiggle room, if you know what I mean)...now I am NOT claustrophobic, so I knew I would not have a problem with that, besides, I just keep my eyes closed anyway and decided to say another rosary.  Is it my 62 year old body or what, but with my arms above my head I get a lot of pain in my shoulders...Oh, Lordy, I was thinking to myself that I would have to call out to the technician for a break, I really didn't want to...but my shoulders were killing me  and I could feel the tension in my neck and was so afraid of getting a tension headache.  So of course my mind immediately went to the Lord...What did He do for me?  How did He suffer?  Yes...NAILED to the cross...arms outstretched...OMG, can it be any worse for Him?  Yes, he suffered the most and all for me.  So I offer up my pain to Him and asked Him to give me strength to finish this session (now, according to my calculation...I was on the fourth decade of the rosary, so that should have put me at about 20 minutes or so into my scanning and it was suppose to last 30 minutes).  HELP me Lord to be strong...I give this pain to you...and just when I think I can no longer handle it, the technician comes up to the side and says, "Okay we are all done!"  Oh THANK YOU, Lord!!  YES!!

The technician had to slowly lower each arm from above my head down to my side.  BUT I survived and He was with me through it all and He helped me when I called out to Him!

And that is my story...do you ever offer up your pain to God?  Try it sometime...it really does help.  I do it at times when I have the flu and just ache so bad...all of a sudden it is not so bad...I take a deep breathe and offer up my pain and suffering to the Lord, remembering all that He went through for me.  And all of a sudden a calmness and peacefulness radiates from me and I do feel better...it may only last a few seconds or moments...but it is Him responding to my call.

Dina had a pretty good week I would say...some nausea moments...but she has pills for that and once they kick in, she feels better.  She is off the 100 mg. of prednisone now, so she is sleeping a little better and not feeling like she is coming out of her skin.  She is learning to pace herself and not do too much because it does tire her out.  Her two best friends from Seattle, Emily and Jenni came down for the weekend to spend some time with her...on Saturday Jenni went with Dina to Ellie and Lily's volleyball games.  I took Jalen to his soccer game.  Then we all met up at Wells Wigs in Tigard to try on some wig, Lacey joined us too....Dina is not sure about the whole wig thing, but we will see how she feels when her hair actually falls out.  All the girls got into the act and put on synthetic wigs...except they went totally out of their normal color and style...I will post some pictures when Jenni sends them to me...All in all, she had a great weekend and of course feels so blessed to have such tremendous friends who make a point to come down and spend time with her and laugh with her...She is truly blessed!

The next news will be on Wednesday when I see the thoracic surgeon and we can get on his surgery schedule...and I will know more about the location of this tumor in relation to other body parts and how easy or hard it is going to be to get to it to remove it.  Dina's next infusion is November 2...the doctor thought she would be losing her hair by that time or within the next week...we will see if she is going to be a miracle chemo girl and NOT lose her hair...so until later...thanks for all your support and prayers.  They are truly lifting us up and filling us with your love and the love of Our Lord.  God bless you all!

Before I go...I thought I would post a picture from Thursday, October 18....that was my Dad's 91st birthday and he came over to my house for lunch.  I made roasted Tomato Basil Soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.  We did not have the whole family, most of the kiddos were in school, but whoever was around, we gathered and sang to him and shared a birthday meal.  What a blessing to have him still be with us and doing so well.  He is very concerned about Dina and me...he makes us oatmeal and muffins and other goodies that he thinks is healthy for us...He is great!  And do you see the T-shirt he is wearing?  It is the Team Dina shirt...It says:  Fight Like a Girl and team Dina is on the ribbon.  If you would like to get a Team Dina  T-shirt or sweatshirt, you can go HERE to Home Town Sports, click on "Spirit Wear" and scroll down to the near bottom where it says Team Dina and the password is "believe"...Her friends are planning a BIG GROUP Picture on Monday, Oct. 29 at Stafford Grade School, 5 pm on the playground (and the covered area if it is raining), so please join us if you have a Team Dina shirt or just a purple shirt to support Dina's battle with cancer!