The latest news...

I will start with Dina...some of you may have read the latest post on the Caring Bridge from Ellie, but if not, then I will share it here.  Dina had a CT scan last Friday and was told on Monday, New Year's Eve, that the scan showed the cancer 'stable'...now that is not the words we were praying for...we were hoping more of what we heard after her second chemo and PET scan...dramatically reduced.  However stable is good...it means no more growth, it just might mean no more decrease either.  Although to be fair, a CT scan is different than a PET scan...the PET scan will show ALL the activity, a CT kind of measures the disease.  On the "hopeful" side, the doctor was really positive about the results and said she is very close to remission.  Now that word we definitely like to hear!  She had her FIFTH chemo Friday, Jan. 4 and all went well.  She was chastised a bit by the doctor for not getting the blood transfusion, so he made sure she took the shot for the red cell booster (it is called something else...but I am a dummy when it comes to medical jargon!) also...hopefully this will alleviate the bone pain she experienced the last time.  She will have the trial drug infusion on Monday, the white cell booster shot on Tuesday and then wait until the 25th for her final chemo.  She will need to wait 30 - 40 days after her last chemo to take the PET scans and get the results...so that puts it around the beginning of March!  Keep the prayers coming her way!

Okay, now for news about me.  I am doing so much better in terms of the lungs and being able to move around.  However, I did get a urinary tract infection and went through three different kinds of drugs to clear it up.  The second set of drugs caused a lot of nausea and stomach cramping...all on Christmas Eve and Christmas day...I was in my PJ's until 4 PM on the Eve and I think I stayed in them all day on Christmas...Scott and I just watched movies from the Hallmark channel all day...Christmas movies that he had recorded.  Scott was feeling a bit under the weather those two days also...he caught a cold..sore throat running a low grade fever and generally achey all over.

And Bless his Heart, he shared it with me!  Yes, so now I am coughing, I am just glad that I have it NOW and not two weeks ago.   But there is light at the end of the tunnel...I can cough today without a lot of pain...yes still coughing...but I can tell it is better.

We did manage to go out and celebrate a BIG birthday on December 29...11 Years Clean and Sober for Lacey and 3 years for Aaron...Yahoo...such a blessing. 

the birthday couple!  What an achievement!  so proud of them.

And our sweet 'chemo girl' and husband!

 Thanks for taking a look...Dina is laying low this weekend, although she did go to Ellie's volleyball tournament and that was exhausting for her...so today, Sunday she was very tired and did just what she needs to do...NOTHING!