So.. I'm sleeping ALOT!!  If you didn't get the marvelous humor involved, it was Scott posting yesterday's blog.  One thing about ICU is that they wake you up every hour to make sure you haven't died!  With all the monitors I'm hooked up to, you'd think they'd know how I'm doing. Although I had no trouble dropping back to sleep, it was still a long, long night.
I want to thank all of you for your prayers and good wishes.  It means a lot to me.
I'm in a regular room now.  Hopefully, I can get the drainage tubes out in a couple of days and then the pain should be more manageable.  I'm thinking I can come home maybe on Friday if all goes well.

 

If it was really me, I'd say "Ohhhhhhh". I am out of surgery and everything went fine.  The tumor is gone and there is no sign of cancer in any of the bronchial margins. (Now you know it isn't me!) I mean they didn't find any cancer anywhere else in the lung area.

I'm pretty groggy on morphine because my shoulder hurts - 9 out of 10 on the pain scale!

Scott was here, but he fell asleep in his chair and when I woke up he was gone to lunch.  I have a feeling he'll be back in about 45 minutes to check on me.  I told him to email about a thousand people, so he's probably working on that.  (insert ghostwriter's wink`)

Anyway, I'll update you all later when I'm conscious.

Hello people...the SURFACE is now mine

He did it!!  I am now the proud owner of the new Microsoft Surface!  It will be  a learning curve for me, but I am actually sitting in the Home Depot parking lot on Black Friday while Scott ran in to get some special light bulbs.  We pulled in to the lot and he said, "WHAT is GOING ON?"  I replied, "It is Black Friday!"  OMG...

So I thought I would take the time to get aquainted with this new toy!  And since I plan to post some news while I am in the hospital, I just thought I would give it a try right now.  I managed to call it up and get it working...So first HIGH five for me!!

I also managed to download the bible here!  Second HIGH five for me!

And also a Daily devotional...okay I am on a roll!!

Now I have to figure out how to download some books to read!  I downloaded the kindle on here...now I have to find a place for FREE books and get it working!

When Scott gets back in the car we are on our way to St. Vincents for my pre-admission testing...xray, blood work etc.  Then I will be all set for Monday morning. 

Okay..funny story.  Scott just got in the car, drenched...he has been out in the parking  lot looking for "his" car and we drove "my car"...ha ha..

Okay so now we are off in this pouring down rain to the hospital...so I will sign off and check in later...


Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Blessings,  Col

News Flash...Fantastic News!!

Dina's oncologist left a voice mail on her phone this morning with a report concerning her PET and CT scan from last Friday.  It was ABSOLUTELY THE BEST NEWS EVER!  He said that ALL infected areas on her body were dramatically reduced in size...and he even went on to say:  you are not in remisssion (WHAT?  He is actually speaking the "remission" word after only two treatments??  Holy Moly!!) but he is so impressed with the results and they are right on target and will continue the treatments.  He will show her the PET scan tomorrow when she sees him...

WE ARE OVER THE MOON EXCITED about this report.  Wow!  Our/Your prayers are being answered BIG TIME!  Thank you Lord.  Our God is an AWESOME God!

Again, we couldn't make this journey without our Lord and without the support and love from all of your - your prayers have kept us lifted up to give Him praise and glory.  You have shown us Christ through your actions and love for Dina.  God bless you all!

Just wanted to add a picture here...Ellie chose not to cut her hair, but she wanted some purple streaks to show her support...so after she had her hair done, Dina donned her purple wig and we gathered the other two and took a picture...I know, Jalen is kind of goofy, but then he is a goofy boy!

A Thanksgiving to Remember

So many things for which to be grateful...our family...our friends...our community...our church community...our health.

That might seem strange to say "our health"...but truly, this road that we are traveling...the "C"ancer road has brought so much into our lives I am not sure we would have wanted to miss this journey.  Now I really need to speak more from a "mom's" perspective...not one who also has cancer.  To see the love and support of friends and some that were not friends but just acquaintances before and surely are now friends, is truly a Gift from God.  All of these friends have been brought into our lives for a reason and we feel that our lives have been enriched by this whole experience.  No other way to explain it other than Dina has so many angels in her life and I know she is overwhelmed with the love and support shown to her and truly amazed by the generosity of these friends.  This experience is one that will change all of our lives...and it can only be for the better.  We can now look forward to "paying it forward" ...and with clearer eyes of what this really means.  We now know what it means to give from the heart and to keep giving and giving...with a new spirit of gratefulness, love and compassion.

We celebrated our Thanksgiving this last Sunday, the 18th...most of you know that we always celebrate it on a day other than the Thursday holiday.  For us, it is a time to gather together...not just about the day.  We are of course thankful and grateful for all the blessings in our life.  And a tremendous blessing is still having my own father here to celebrate the day with us...91 years old! 

I always say I am going to get a picture as soon as everyone gets to the house, and somehow, I always forget...and then after dinner and dessert and story time ends, everyone is ready to leave...OH NO!  We have to get a group shot first...well, I didn't get everyone in the picture...Ellie took the picture, Caleb was in the shower because Jamie gave him a haircut and I don't know where Jalen was, but he was MIA!  So here is everyone else for our Thanksgiving group picture...

November 2 and the Second Chemo Treatment

The second chemo has come and gone and Dina is holding up really well.  She had a pretty "yucky" (her words) weekend...just feeling nauseous all day and very tired.  But good news, before the chemo began the doctor examined her and he could NOT feel her spleen!  We feel so optimistic with that report...we feel the lymphoma must be shrinking!!  We will know more on November 16 when she will have another PET Scan...and we are praying for a lot more "gray" areas (that is how "normal" should look) because every thing was BLACK on her first PET Scan!

Monday morning she was back in the doctor's office for her trial drug infusion..that just takes a couple of hours versus the 5 for the regular chemo.  She mentioned feeling very nauseous, so they added a different kind of anti nausea to her IV and it worked like a charm.  So now she has a new anti nauseous pill to take that seems to be working better for her.  On Tuesday she had to go back in again for a white cell booster shot.  Her blood count was low on Friday when she had her chemo and they wanted to boost her white count.  She was told to take some Claratin the day before and the day of and also the day after the shot...for some reason that allergy medicine helps with the side effect of the booster shot, which is sore bones for 24 - 48 hours.  Today the girls and I went to the Olive Garden for a lite lunch and Dina was feeling good, but her bones were sensitive to touch...they didn't really ache like she imagined they would (similar to aches when one has the flu) but when Jalen went to give her a hug and put his arms around her, it hurt.  However...it only lasts up to 48 hours, so I think she will be feeling better soon.

Some friends offered their beach condo to them, so Jamie and Dina are taking off tomorrow for the beach for two days.  The beach has always been Dina's favorite place to go (not so much for Jamie...but he is willing to do anything for his wife...even go to the beach!...I have to add that during this time of the year there is probably NOT much chance of getting sand every where...they will be lucky if they can walk on the beach, but even watching the waves and hearing the sound of the surf can be quite soothing).  Friends are keeping the girls over night and help get them to school and their various activities.  I am going to have the J-man!  He asked if he was going to be sleeping with me and Papa and I told him, "no, I think you and I will sleep in the guest room".  And he replied, "why don't we kick Papa out and make him go to the guest room."  That boy is too quick!  And yeah, that is NOT going to happen!!  I am glad that Dina and Jamie can get away for a few days without the children...they have been great, but let's admit they are kids and they can still be little stinkers and NOT the best listeners...so a few days of peace and quiet to rejuvenate their bodies, souls and minds will be just what they need!  Then they can come back to the chaos!  ha ha

Just added this picture from the beach sent to me from their phone

So this is the report for now...pretty good I would say!  And the doctor thought that Dina would continue to feel this same way, but get a lot more fatigued as the weeks progress.  He thinks she will not be feeling any more sick to her stomach than she does now, but just get more and more tired.  We can live with tired, right?

Her next Chemo is on Friday, November 23...I will be going to St. Vincents for my pre-op "stuff"...blood work, xrays etc. I have to be back at St. Vincents on Monday morning bright and early at 5:30 am and right now I am the first on the schedule for a 7:30 surgery although I was told I could be bumped...So I will write up something after that chemo.  We decided to have our Thanksgiving on the 18th before all the procedures take place.  We usually celebrate our family Thanksgiving on the Sunday after the holiday (that gives my girls a chance to go every year to their spouses side of the family) and we get to have our parents...which now is only my dad, but he can come every year because we celebrate it on a different day!

Dina and I want to thank all of you who are sending cards and prayers our way...with the good news from the doctor about the spleen reduction in size, we feel God is listening and answering our and YOUR prayers!  Thank you all for your continued and persistent prayers for us!  We love and cherish all of you and everything you are doing for us!  God bless you all!