More updates!

First a picture from Thursday night...Lily had a concert at school, she is in the 4th grade choir...it is an after school activity.

Oops...Lily wasn't looking at the camera!  Dina is finally hat/scarf FREE!  And now she looks even more adorable.  I tell you, that girls does NOT need hair to be beautiful!  (I know...a mother is prejudiced!)

Okay, the latest scoop:  The culture came back virile...and the doctor already had her on a drug for that, he increased her dosage for the antibiotic and he also felt he did not need to do a bone marrow biopsy because he feels it is not cancer related at all.  Her white cell count was still extremely low...the same number 220, so the plan is to have three days of white cell booster shots (remember those from her chemo days?  she had them about the 4th day after each chemo treatment...the side effect is achy bones).  She had one shot yesterday, today she will go downtown to the Compass Campus and get another shot, and yet a third one on Monday.  She will also see the doctor on Monday and get more blood work on Thursday.  Already her mouth sores are clearing up and she is able to eat softer foods now.  Her sores in the lower membrane area are still quite large and not clearing up yet...we are hopeful with increased dosages she will start to get some relief.  She does have a big grin on her face all the time now, because the fact that she is cancer FREE is amazing, a miracle and so uplifting!  She is on cloud 9!

Thank you EVERYONE for your continued prayers and support...YOU all are amazing!

Update on Dina

Okay Folks, we have the word...DINA HAS NO CANCER IN HER BODY!!  NONE to be seen, even the spleen was clean!!  Yeah!!  Are we jumping for joy or what?

Now I have to back up and fill you in on what has been going on for a while and she is not fixed yet...

Earlier in March she felt she had a yeast infection...she has had them before, knows the symptoms and the feelings, so she bought over the counter drugs that she has used before.  They didn't work (twice).  After Easter she had her yearly Pap and Mam, so she saw the doctor and talked to her about the yeast infection.  HOWEVER, the doctor did not do a culture (we are not sure why, now that we look back on it and sure wished she had).  She did give Dina a prescription for the yeast infection.  Then last week she had her teeth cleaned on a Tuesday, after that she had a sore throat for several days and then by Thursday night and all day Friday she was running a fever.  Saturday she was just okay...Ellie had a VB tourney in Corvallis and of course Dina wanted to go so Scott and I went with them so she wouldn't have to drive by herself.  She was just feeling "okay" because she was taking tylenol to help with the fever.  But by the time we were driving home (9 PM at night) she was so cold and chattering, she couldn't get warm.  Her fever spiked to 102 during the night..  She spent Sunday in bed.  After the weekend she went back to the dentist because all of a sudden she had white sores in her mouth...her dentist did not think it looked like a yeast infection,  but he prescribed a strong antibiotic for her.  She felt she should see the ob/gyn before taking the pills and that doctor also prescribed the same drug as the dentist.  It didn't get better and her fever was still hanging around.  And what she thought was the yeast infection was getting worse, making it difficult to sit and of course with the sores in her mouth she was not eating.

She saw her oncologist (actually the PA) and she did not think it was yeast either, but they took a culture and now we are waiting for the results.  In the meantime her oncologist prescribed another antibiotic and then another for a virile infection...just to cover all their bases...they also gave her pain meds.  When they drew blood her white cell count was extremely low and that had them concerned.  They are calling what she has Neutropenia...basically low white count.  Most often this is seen during the chemo infusion, so what has them concerned is that it is showing up so far out from her last chemo treatment.  They moved her PET scan and she had it yesterday morning, so that they could good a handle on what is going on with her body.  This  morning she is going to have another blood draw and after the doctor reads her numbers he will decide whether he will do another bone marrow biopsy.

For now her fever is gone and other than a sore mouth and very sore in the lower region she is feeling good.  And of course we are extremely joyous about NO cancer in her body...neutropenia can be dangerous also, so now we are anxious to get this issue resolved...

As Our Mother Mary says, Pray, pray, pray...

Thank you!

CANCER FREE - NO cancer in the bone marrow!!

It was just a routine follow up oncologist appointment for me today, Monday, March 18.  The plan is to have a CT scan every 6 months for two years, then go once a year for five years just to make sure nothing shows up.  The doctor is very optomistic, but best to be proactive with cancer in the body.  I told the Doctor that Dina cleaned out her garage last Thursday...I told him that because I felt that was a really good sign...her energy is back, and if she can clean out a garage she must be feeling good, which is a really good indication of maybe NO cancer!  After going to scheduling for my next appointment, the doctor caught us before we left and said that he called the radiologist to get a preliminary report on the bone biopsy from last Friday for Dina...It came back CLEAN!!  NO sign of cancer at all!  YEAH, Thank you God!  You answered our prayers!  He asked us to tell her!  And of course Scott is thinking of a way to surprise her with the news.  so we call and ask if we can take the family to Red Robin for dinner...I told her that Scott had a surprise for them...I also called Lacey's family and invited them.  And I called Jamie's mom and invited her and Jack to join us.  I did NOT tell anyone the news.

Scott talked to the manager of the Wilsonville Red Robin store and told him we wanted to surprise Dina with a 'group song' but instead of their normal "Happy, Happy Birthday" song, we wanted it to be a "Today You Are Cancer Free".  We brought a dozen roses with us and Scott presented the roses by telling her he ran into his good "friend" Ian (that would be Dr. Schnadig!!) and her eyes got big (she didn't remember that I was seeing him today) and he then proceeded to tell her what Dr. Schnadig told us about her bone marrow biopsy...SHE IS CANCER FREE!!  NO CANCER IN HER BONE MARROW!!  We all cried!  OMG, the best news EVER!  And the employees brought a big bouquet of balloons and sang the cancer free song (made it up on the fly!).  And the sweet manager gave us a couple of appetizers for FREE!

Can you see how happy she is, such a relief!  We can now go to AZ without worrying about the results!  We can have fun and be carefree!  We are missing a couple of "littles"...they went next door to the "Critter Cabana" (an animal store) so we are missing Addie, Tristan and Jalen in the picture,, but they were there for the meal!  (we do have an extra "little" in the picture...a neighbor girl, Lily's best friend...they have a choir concert to go to after dinner.

Friends and family, I want to thank you all for going on this tumultuous journey with us...every step of the way we felt your prayers and were so very thankful for them.  Even in the darkest moments, the painful ones, the ones filled with fatigue and worry, we were always "lifted" by the power of your prayers.  I cannot speak for Dina, but for me, the pain and suffering, the worrying about the unknown, only brought me closer to the Lord...taught me in sometimes painful ways to Trust in Him...to keep the Faith and to know that He will be with us every step of  the way...He will not abandon us.  He loves us and He asks for our love in return.

Dina will have another PET and CT scan in a couple of months, she still has a slight spot on her spleen, which we are hoping will be totally gone when she has her next testing.  The fact that it is NOT in her bones is HUGE...we are ready for whatever is to come!  We can handle it with the help from Our Lord!  God bless you all!

Dina's Bone Marrow Biopsy and Birthday celebrations!!

I know you all are anxious to know the outcome of the bone marrow biopsy...just as we are, but the results will not be in until Friday the 22nd.  We are leaving on the 21st with Dina's family and heading down to Arizona for some sun!  She is to call the doctor on Friday and get the results.  I will post as soon as I know!

A good sign...Dina was inspired to clean out her garage...pretty much all by herself!  Pulled things out onto the driveway, threw things away into the truck, organized and made piles for a garage sale, so I would say that is all a GREAT SIGN.   And today she actually helped Lacey coach Lily's VB team down in the gym...another sign that things are looking good for her!

Last Friday and Saturday after having the biopsy, she was pretty sore and laid in bed...they took the marrow from the bone in her sacrum where the lymphoma was quite packed back in September...but Sunday she was feeling pretty good.

We had a gathering for all of our Feb/March birthdays in the family.  Dina starts us out on Feb 19, Scott follows on the 23rd, mine is the 5th of March, Jamie's is the 8th and Aaron is the 17th!  We just pick ONE day and do a big grown-up celebration.  And of course we were celebrating Dina's good news too! 

 

First, I must show you the picture of how Scott has been getting around the last couple of days.  He was doing absolutely NOTHING (maybe that is the problem!  tee hee) and he hurt his back!  He couldn't stand and could barely walk...I remembered we had the walker out in the garage, so here he is heading home from Dina's house after eating some dinner with us.  I knew I needed this picture for the blog...after all, he is only 63 NOT 93!!

And here is a group shot of all of us who could make the dinner.  Marty and Kim had Winterhawk tickets, so they were unable to come and Bernie and Diane had already made plans with friends...Do you see the birthday boy all decked out in green and wearing the leprechaun hat?  He was 40 on this day!  Kyle is the tall dude with glasses and right in front of him is his fiance, Elisa...Dina is wearing the BIG smile with the BIG O sweatshirt and Jamie and Jalen are hangin on her!  And doesn't my dad look great on the couch with the kiddos?  Scott's brother John is sitting on the edge of the couch and his wife Robin is standing to his side.  Caleb is between me and Robin...and Lacey is next to me.  Well, that is it...we had a great meal, good conversation and so happy to share the day with family!

 

The NEWS everyone has been waiting for....

....she is really really close to remission (and still may be) but the doctor could NOT confirm total remission at this time because there is ONE warm spot (NOT HOT) on her spleen.  He went on to say that normally they would wait at least another month if not two to do a PET Scan, but the trial drug she has been taking required that she have the scan within 30 - 45 days of the last chemo.  So what we read into that is the chemo is still working in her body and in another  two or three months when another PET scan is done, it may show NOTHING.    What the scan did show was NO active disease.

When we were shown the original scan at the time of diagnosis, her spleen was HUGE and ALL WHITE (the worst color you want it to be...showing that it was filled with the lymphoma cancer)  This latest scan showed a normal color spleen with just one slightly warm spot...now he also said they rate these spots and anything under "2" they don't consider suspicious...hers was rated at 2.6...so you can see that is just slightly higher.  So we are going with the hope that in two or three months when she has another PET scan it will show nothing!

And to add to the positive thoughts about this whole affair...Dina is feeling REALLY good...NO pain, her appetite is back! She has no other symptoms of this disease.  The doctor said if she still had active disease, she would NOT be feeling good, no energy etc...so he took that as a positive sign.

I guess what that means for us is we wait at least two months and possibly three for a PET scan to determine if it is totally gone or not.  The doctor said at that time it will be VERY clear whether she has it or not because lymphoma is a very fast growing cancer.

I saw the urologist today and he did a bladder scan and I have good news/bad news...good news there was no evidence of infection or redness or anything foreign in the bladder...bad news?  Why the continued infection?  He has a plan and I am on it now...a few more different kind of drugs "holisitic" he called it...I will do this for 2 months and hope nothing occurs within that time and certainly hope that after two months NOTHING occurs....which should mean I have managed to get the bacteria out of me...

When I had a few quiet moments to myself, I did take time to thank the Lord for Dina's news.  I feel it is really good and I thank Him for that.  Now we just need to pray a little longer to be sure that it is totally gone at the next PET scan!

A Belated Birthday lunch

We went to the Lavendar Bleu Tea House for a belated birthday celebration for Dina.  Joan (Dina's MIL) arranged the date...her twin sister on the far right (Janice) and her younger sister (Joy) next to her, then Addie and Lacey.  Amber (Jamie's sister) is in front, then Dina and next to her is Joan.  We had a wonderful time chatting and eating a delicious quiche, salad and some dessert treats.  We all had some tea...specialty teas...I chose a pomegranate tea, Dina loves the vanilla almond tea and Addie thought that was really good too!  The three sisters shared a big pot of mango tea, Lacey had a kiwi and Amber had a peach ginger...lots  of varieties to choose from.  This store is in downtown Willamette and they carry a very nice selection of gift items aslo.  Great food, great conversation and fabulous people to share the afternoon!  Oh, and isn't Lacey's hair the cutest ever?  She is just a little cute pixie I think!

Dina is looking good and feeling good...see her cute smile?  She has good color too!  And her hair is growing...very short, but it is there!  So we are thinking next Thursday will be a good report day!

And for me?  Guess what is B  - A -  C -  K?  Yup, the UTI.  I knew it...felt it, was not good on Wednesday...so I went in to give another urine sample.  The doctor called me today.  I think he is perplexed why it comes back.  So the plan now is to take a stronger oral antibiotic for 5 days then go in for a bladder scope...I will keep you posted!  Other than that, I am feeling good...the cough is way better and I am back to exercising.  Now if I can just get this UTI cleared up!  And yes, I am taking the cranberry capsules that several of you suggested and the doctors office also recommended them...I guess this is a tougher bug to kill!

Tomorrow morning we watch Jalen's BB game and then go to Lily's BB game, after that we are dropping off Lily for a birthday party and the rest of us are heading up to St. Helen's to watch Ellie in a VB tournament.  So a busy day watching the grandkids tomorrow...!

I will let you all know the results as soon as possible.  I know you all are on pins and needles and hoping and praying that everything comes out the way we want.  Think positive!  Every night before falling asleep, I picture Our Lord standing by Dina's bed and he is holding his hands over her body...all up and down, from the head to the toes and He is performing the miracle we all want...He is pulling that cancer out of her body.  You know it doesn't take much for Our Lord!  Remember the lady who simply touched His cloak?  He knew it immediately, He felt it, He knew she pulled from Him what she needed to be cured.  I think that is what He has been doing for Dina...she needed this journey though and now He is ready to give her back her life to her family!

Have a great weekend.  And if I can just leave you with one little bit of wisdom I read in The Little Black Book (six-minute meditations on the Sunday Gospels of Lent): 

  "Jesus never did anything for just display.  He was asked to several times.  It was part of the temptation of the desert.  But Jesus didn't do things that way.  He would feed 5,000 people, raise a little dead girl back to life, cure lepers, blind people and paralytics - but never for display.

It was always to change people's hearts."

What do you think about that?  ...to change people's hearts."  I quite like that comment.  And if it worked for just one person, then what Dina has gone through will have been worth it!

 

The time is near...

Are you thinking, "NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS?"  Well, I think you would be correct!

Dina is feeling good and in my humble opinion, looking good too!  Three weeks after her last chemo she took off for a four day week-end over the President's Day holiday to San Francisco with her older daughter, Ellie, for a Volleyball tournament.  She survived, had fun, enjoyed the trip and the excursions they took in the city (Ghiradelli was definitely on the list!)  Although she was disappointed to see hair on her towel after showering...it was starting to grow back, little baby fuzz...oh well, it will grow again!

After she came back, she had a birthday...36 years!  Seriously?  How did that happen?  We had dinner with her and the kids, along with Lacey and her kiddos...the husbands were working the Pizza bus!  The next day we took Dina to lunch and shopping.  We bought her a new scarf to wear on her head...something a little lighter weight for our upcoming trip to Arizona!  She didn't think all the knit hats would be the thing to wear while in AZ around the pool!  (we are sure hoping we can be at the pool!!)

And to top off her birthday week (yes, around these parts, we celebrate the WEEK!) Jamie took her to LA for a one night trip to watch the Trailblazers play the Lakers!  Up on the BIG screen he managed to have written:  Love you, Dina!  And she wore her RED wig and black hat for the game!

To keep you all in the loop:  Dina has some tests this Thursday...EKG is one of them.  HOWEVER, the BIG test occurs on MONDAY, March 4...the PET and CT scan!  Pray, pray, pray.  She sees the doctor on Thursday the 7th to get the results!  She knows that she will need another bone biopsy...the last one hurt a lot but that was because the cancer was packed in pretty tight, the doctor really had to struggle to get the needle in...we are thinking because it is gone (!!!) it won't be as painful!  How is that for positive thinking??

I am feeling better too!  About time, wouldn't you say?  The cough is so much better...still lingering, but it is good.  I go in this week for another urine test to be sure the UTI is all cleared up!  YEAH!!

The rest of the family is doing well.  My dad came to Jalen's BB game yesterday morning and from there we went to Lily's BB game...he loves watching the kids...and of course watching 5 year old boys play basketball is really a hoot...they could be on America's Funniest Videos!

I will post the Good News as soon as I know it!  Thank you all again for continued prayers.

13 days post 6th chemo

I mentioned in the previous post that Dina was running a fever.  She went into the oncologist office Wednesday so they could draw blood and check her white count, it looked good.  She had a chest x-ray and her lungs also looked good.  She was definitely not feeling good, stuffy nose, sore throat, but I think her fever broke.  She spent the day in bed...just where she needs to be.  Jalen started coughing again this morning too...I think this is just a tough time of year, lots of flu and cold bugs going around...and Dina has those three children...one being a kindergartener who keeps catching things and bringing them home.  Not good for someone who has gone through chemo and the immunity system is compromised.

I woke up this morning, two days after completing my last antibiotics and knew immediately the UTI was not cleared up.  I called the doctor and they in turn called the Urologist to see if he could see me ASAP (my appointment was for next Monday and no way could I last that long without some intervention).  My urologist saw me in the afternoon.  I have a bacteria that in 5% of people, it takes the BIG guns to clear it up.  Apparently it is a nasty one that really likes to latch onto the bladder walls and doesn't easily let go.  So I got a SHOT in my TUSHIE today and will get another one tomorrow and Friday also.  I will go back in a week for another urine culture to make sure it is all cleared up.  YEAH!  I am hoping this will do the trick and I will feel better.

Of course I still have the cough...the nasty dreaded cough, but I feel it is getting better, too. 

I am sure Dina and I are both hoping by the weekend we are feeling better.

Did you read the Caring Bridge Post that Ellie made Wednesday night?  You can go HERE to read Ellie's story.  

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I put my hope.  Psalm 130:5

That was the quote at the end of Ellie's post.  I like that  and wanted to repeat it here.  He gives us HOPE and we trust in His hope and live for it...!

Thank you for your continued prayers for healing and for complete remission of this disease.

A Community of Love and Support

Sunday, February 3, yes it was Super Bowl Sunday, but it was also a Super day for Dina.  Our church sold Team Dina gear for three weekends and everyone wore them on Sunday at the 11 Mass...or they wore purple in honor of Dina.  It was pretty awesome to see the church filled with a sea of purple to support Dina.  My 91 year old dad came proudly wearing his Fight Like a Girl T-shirt!

At the end of Mass, after Father gave his final blessing for us to go out and be Jesus to the world, he and the deacon took off their vestments and laid them on the chairs, they each wore their own Team Dina T-shirts!  It was a very touching and emotional moment to see that support and love from our pastor and deacon.  Then Father Bill took the holy anointing oil and stood in front of the alter.  Dina was sitting on the side, but she walked up to Father and he anointed her with the oil  by making the sign of the cross on her forehead and on both of her palms saying a prayer.  Dina cried, she hugged Father and walked back to her pew.  The church clapped.  Not many dry eyes in the church.  It was a very touching, moving and emotional moment.

I wanted to copy from an exerpt what the anointing oil signifies to us in the Catholic Church.  This was the fourth time that Father anointed Dina during her illness.

"The anointing of the sick conveys several graces and imparts gifts of strengthening in the Holy Spirit against anxiety, discouragement, and temptation, and conveys peace and fortitude (CCC 1520). These graces flow from the atoning death of Jesus Christ, for "this was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, ‘He took our infirmities and bore our diseases’" (Matt. 8:17).
Mark refers to the sacrament when he recounts how Jesus sent out the twelve disciples to preach, and "they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them" (Mark 6:13). In his epistle, James says, "Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven" (Jas. 5:14–15)."

We BELIEVE.  We have FAITH.  We TRUST in the Lord.  We pray for His will to know what is best for us.  We pray for Dina to be healed.

Friends, family, church members, even two sisters from a nearby parish who read about this event in the Catholic Sentinel came to be there on Sunday to show their support.  They told Dina this...she did not know them.  She was given a bouquet of flowers from a special lady, she was given hugs and words of encouragement.  She is loved and admired.

What a beautiful and glorious day.  People are glorifying Our Lord through their actions...through their love and support for Dina.  We must remember this moment always.  We must remember to always give to the least of those among us.  We must remember even though we may personally not know someone who is going through difficulties, it is important to reach out and touch them...to be "Jesus" to them.  I know this journey with Dina and even myself has opened my eyes to be more aware and to be more open and giving with anyone and everyone.

~ Dina news:  she started running a fever last night.  Are we surprised?  There is so much 'stuff' going around, her son who was running a fever and had a horrible cough on the day of her last chemo, is back to coughing and having a runny nose.  She is having a chest x-ray done today, she is having more blood drawn today, even though she had it done yesterday...they keep a close eye on anyone who has a fever and going through chemo.  Pray that she can get through this little set back and bounce back on her feet.

~ Lacey's family has seen this also, her little guy has had the fever twice in the last two weeks and vomiting.  Now her husband and older son have the diarrhea and fevers.  Even Lacey had it last week.  Addie has the cough, but so far no fever.

~ My cough changed last Friday...I could feel it and it was deep.  I saw the doctor on Monday and it is bronchitis.  Thankful it was not pneumonia!  The doctor was concerned about giving me more antibiotics for the bronchitis, he feared my immune system is compromised from the last 7 weeks of being on antibiotics because of the UTI.  I finished the last round of antibiotics on Sunday night, and are you surprised to learn that it is back now on Wednesday?  OMG!  I had an appointment with a urologist as my family doctor was concerned about the 7 weeks of trying different drugs to knock this thing out and it is fine while I am on the drugs but within two days it is back.  Thankfully I was able to move my appointment up to TODAY with the urologist...hoping he has some tricks up his sleeve that will kill this bacteria once and for all. You know what they say about hospitals and bacteria.  My doctor is sure it came from my lung surgery and having a catheter.

As Dina's favorite bible verse says and what is written on the back of all the Team Dina gear:  "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean NOT on your own understanding.  Proverbs 3:5"  this is our mantra....this is what we believe.

Thank you all for your prayers.  Did I tell you March 7 is the PET and CT scan day?  Hopefully we will get the results the very next day...which happens to be Jamie's birthday...wouldn't that be the BEST present ever?

Dina ~ Post 6th Chemo

It has not been good friends...Dina in bed all weekend, just not feeling good.  And then to top it off, our littlest buddy gets sick...coughing coughing coughing...constantly!  (kind of like me, very annoying...although, now that I type this, I am NOT coughing very much this morning at all!!).  Jamie was being a GREAT daddy and doing his best to keep Jalen out of Dina's room...and you know he is a Mommy's boy and loves to snuggle and give hugs and a million kisses...so this is hard on him, but he actually understands the importance of why he can't be near her when he is sick.

Friday morning when Dina left for her chemo, Scott headed over to stay with Jalen (I was still in bed!)  When I went over there at 10 am, Jalen was coughing and it did not sound good.  I knew that we could NOT send him to school.  Nana was coming to the house to do her weekly cleaning, washing, etc of Dina's house, so he stayed with Nana (after they went out and bought 25 balloons to celebrate the end of this round of chemo)  When Jamie came home about 3, he immediately took Jalen up to the theater room and stayed up there all night, even convinced Jalen that a "camp-out" would be fun up there!  But then after a bit, Jamie could NOT stay on the hard floor any longer, so he tried to sneak away.  It didn't take long for Jalen to realize his daddy was gone, so he gets up and goes to their bedroom...hacking and coughing...so Jamie gets up and takes him into Ellie's bed (who is NOT home, she was having a sleepover with a friend) and Jamie and Jalen sleep (or NOT) in the double bed...Dina could hear Jalen coughing all night long...no sleep for anyone!

Saturday, Jamie and Ellie had a couple of basketball games scheduled and Dina was still in bed not feeling well, so we thought we would take Jalen to lunch and go see Ellie's game.  Well, that little guy was coughing so much we decided it would not be a good idea to go to the game, but we did take him to his favorite place to eat:  Panda Express!!  He gets orange chicken and rice!  As he was eating I asked him what he would like to do after lunch (knowing we needed to keep him out of the house so Dina could rest and also so that I would NOT have to spend hours playing Xbox or Wii with him!! ha ha!) and you will not believe his answer!  He said, "Maybe go to a store and look at clothes!"  OMG, He is is Father's son!!!  Yes, we took him to "Dick's Sporting Goods" because he informed us that he had to give Tristan his very favorite basketball shorts, so Papa thought maybe we could find a new favorite short at that store!  And guess what?  We did!!

After 2 1/2 hours we brought him home and when we walked into Mommy's bed room, guess what we saw?

Mommy and Lacey hanging out together in the bed...they were watching a movie and looking for new hats on the Ipad...the Snooks are planning a trip to Arizona...Dina is thinking maybe knit hats will be a bit too hot for the Arizona sun!!

Even not feeling well, white as a ghost, our Dina still puts on a smiley face for us!  She is so strong and amazing, I am really proud of her.  I know that Friday was an emotional day for her...she made it to the last chemo....is it the last?  She is afraid, but as we talked she told me from the very beginning she was trusting, but it is the waiting that is the hardest and gives her too much time to think and worry...did it work?  what comes next?

Well, Monday came and she called the doctor's office early, they rescheduled her velcade infusion so she went in earlier than normal...she had the velcade and the blood draw and again her red count was very low, so they sent her to the outpatient in the hospital and she had a blood transfusion.  She was gone 6 hours!  She has been worried about the blood transfusion and not wanting to do it, but this is important.  She still felt yucky in the evening, but was hopeful that Tuesday will bring a better day!  We are hoping that it is a turning point for her also...but I think she is scheduled for a white cell booster shot and sometimes with the combination of white and red cell shots her bones ache and throb!  Maybe with the transfusion, it will be minimized!

We really want her to be well for Sunday as our church has been selling Team Dina gear at all the Masses for the last three weeks...I think they have sold A LOT!  And everyone is going to wear their Team Dina gear (or any purple clothing) to the 11 am Mass on this Sunday, Feb 3 to show support for Dina...it is just amazing how many people are embracing her and sending up prayers for healing.  She is truly blessed and we are blessed to be living in such a loving and giving community.  Father Bill is going to do a special blessing of the sick...for everyone and anyone!  All are welcome!  If you can join us, please do so...it is Resurrection Catholic Church on the corner of Ek and Stafford Rd.  Mass starts at 11 am!

Thank you so much for your continued prayers and love that you are showing the family!

Lacey update:  doing good...just a few twinges of pain periodically, but she says she is back to normal...no more pain pills and she will have the stent removed on Wednesday!

Me:  the UTI is back!!!  I finished my antibiotics on Friday...had a good weekend, feeling like I beat this thing finally (only lasted 6 weeks!), but woke up Monday morning and knew immediately it was back with a vengeance!  The plan now is to see my urologist!

Psalm 29:11  The Lord gives His people strength, the Lord blesses them with peace.

We are in good hands!!

Friday, January 25 Dina took her 6th CHEMO

She did it!  We were not sure, with the fever she was running we were not positive that she could do her last scheduled chemo, but her temperature was down and they hooked her up.  Her red cell count was extremely low...from being sick, they suspect she may have to have a transfusion next week.  She goes in on Monday for a blood draw and also for her trial infusion.  They will let her know then if it would be best to get a blood transfusion.  They did give her a red cell booster shot today before starting her chemo treatment.  Lacey picked her up at 8 am and brought her to the Compass Oncology site.  Scott and I came about noon with lunch for the two of them and then Jamie came for the last hour.  She was done at 2 PM.  You can tell she does not feel well, she definitely has NO color in her cheeks today...very pale.  We hope that will improve as time goes and she starts to feel better.

She was sitting in the middle of this long narrow room.  Chairs are lined up all along the window, in the middle like where she is sitting and also a few on the other side.  The nurses station is to the right of where Dina is sitting.  When we first arrived the room was fairly full, then it cleared out.  Some can get in and out in only a few hours...Dina takes 5 different drugs, so they take it slower.

The doctor came out and talked to us...now it is a waiting a game...30 - 40 days to make sure the drugs are in her body and killing off all those cancer cells.  Then they will do the PET and CT scans to see where things are...we are praying for complete remission.  If not, then another biopsy will required and then possibly a bone marrow transplant...we will cross that bridge when we get to it.  Our HOPES and prayers are for complete remission!

Jamie's mom, sister and Jalen (who was home sick with a bad cough) went to the store and bought a couple dozen purple and lime green ballons and tied them at the top of their driveway, coming down the drive and all around the front porch and also several clusters inside the house.  A group of her friends came by with a lovely poster on the front door wishing her good luck and congrats on completing the 6th chemo.  Unfortunately she is feeling sick today.  Usually she is a little tired, but not sick after the chemo...today is different...I am sure running a fever the last couple of days has really taken a lot out of her...let's hope she can bounce back quickly.

ps...a Lacey update...she is doing good, maybe a little uncomfortable with the stent in her, but no more pain.  She will get the stent out next Wednesday, then she will feel really good!

pps...the oncologist asked how I was feeling and I told him, I still have pain, still can't sleep for long on my left side, still can't wear a bra (I am not complaining about that!!  good thing it is sweatshirt time!!  ha ha), and that the breast feels swollen and tender...he says, "I know, they tell you a month or two...well, it is actually longer than that and could even be a year!!  (are you kidding me?)...there are a LOT of nerves in the area where they had to probe and go in and cut out the lobe...so some nerves may never come back.  Of course it doesn't help that I still have this blasted cough.  Scott tells me that I am not coughing much during the night now, so that is good!

Can I just share my fear with you?  Scott asked the doctor why they wait so long to do the PET scan (30 - 40 days) because it seems like you would want to keep doing something if 6 didn't work.  His answer was that there is NO evidence that doing more than 6 chemo actually helps...in fact if it is not gone by 4, then chances are even if you did 8 or more, it still would not kill it off...something about your body building up resistance to those drugs.  And if you have to do a bone marrow transplant, then doing a couple more chemo treatments is actually detrimental to the effectiveness of the bone marrow...Do you understand what I am saying?  She still had some lymphoma after the 3rd chemo...did the FOURTH chem really kill off the remaining?  He was somewhat hopeful that is the case with Dina, but then again, he said if it wasn't all gone by the 4th treatment, then it probably wouldn't be gone...Prayers, friends, that is what we need!

"A mother who walks with God knows He only asks her to take care of the possible and to trust Him with the impossible."  We are trusting in Our Lord and God to heal Dina.

And a quote I read from a book called:  The Seed:  "...the worst event in your life prepares you for the greatest assignment of your life..."  God has a purpose for Dina and we are praying that her survival will be a testament to His love for her and hers for Him...she can go out and share her story and bring Jesus to others...please keep praying for her friends...Thank you.

This Journey Our Family is taking...

Sunday night Lacey was feeling some pressure in her bladder area...then through the night it came in the form of pain on her left flank...all while Tristan (her 3.5 year old) was in bed with her throwing up!) by the morning it was pretty intense as she curled on the kitchen floor in pain.  Aaron took her to the ER immediately as they suspected a kidney stone.  She was given some dilaudid for the pain and it was not lasting long enough.  She ended up with three doses of dilaudid and it did not give her much relief.  Finally the doctor thought a CT scan would be appropriate (they were super busy in the ER and had a code blue...so we were not top priority, but the nurse kept on top of Lacey's situation).  the Ct scan did indeed show a stone about 3mm, and because the dilaudid was not helping he switched to fentanyl...a powerful drug and that did indeed take away the pain.  So after 6 hours in the ER, Lacey thought she could go home...however, you cannot go home with fentanyl, so they prescribed percoset.  She was not home very long when it became evident that she could not handle the pain, so back to the ER she went so she could get an IV with the fentanyl.  She was admitted into the hospital (room 327...I will tell you a story about that room and why it is significant a little later) she saw the surgeon and they removed the stone about 9 pm that night.

We were back in the hospital with her in the morning and after eating something and walking with me, she was able to go home, about 11 am.  Once Lacey was dressed and given her discharge orders and a prescription, we were standing in the doorway with her nurse.  I turned to the nurse and said:  "My husbands father died in this room back in March".  The nurse looked at me and said, " What was his name?"  I told her "Bill Foelker".  She said, "Oh My gosh, I was the charge nurse for him!  I was doing a "Grey's Anatomy" run through the hospital with him.  Never before have I ever had to run with a hospital bed to get someone to the ICU."  I hugged her...brought tears to our eyes.  Bill was in good hands in the final moments and they were doing everything they could for him.

We brought Lacey home to her family...all the kids are home because they have ringworm!  Yes, even Lacey and Aaron had a spot or two.  Addie has the worst of it and they have been treating it for nearly a week.  We walk into the house and both the little ones are naked!  I tell Lacey they should wear clothes because I am sure they are just spreading the fungus.  Lacey had been washing the sheets and clothing every day trying to get rid of this ring worm...let's see if keeping clothes on will help!

Morning after kidney stone removal

 We had planned to take all the kids to lunch up at Oregon in order to use our quarterly dining dollars.  We decided to still go with Jamie and Dina and we will take Lacey's family one day next week.  We were doing it this week, because Dina is feeling really good and she has chemo this Friday and we know she will not be feeling so well after that, and we have to use up a certain amount of dollars in the dining hall before the end of the month.  We had lunch, but Dina did not eat very much at all and said she wasn't feeling very good, kind of getting "achy".  She was suppose to run a few more errands with Jamie delivering fruit to the yogurt stores (they had already been to Costco and to two of the four stores), but she asked if we would bring her home and Jamie would go by himself.  She crawled into her bed with the heating blanket because she was chilled.  Well, she started running a fever...at first just 99...then it went up to 101...then it spiked to 102.8.  She knows that fevers and chemo treatments are to be treated in haste...so she called her oncologist office and they told her to go to the ER as their lab was gone for the day.  This is just before 5 pm...

So Scott and I headed back to the ER and we saw the same doctor who treated Lacey and tell him now we are here with our other daughter.  They took blood from her port and then later took blood from her hand...it is good to draw from two sources in cases like this.  And then as you know, we wait and wait and wait.  They did an x-ray and that finally came back negative.  YEAH!  The blood work showed a great white cell count...so the doctor wondered how she could be sick!  They then did a "flu swab"...they put this long metal stick up into her nose...Dina asked,  "How far up do you stick it?"  The nurse replies, "Until you go 'ggllllkkk' like you are choking!!"  Yeah, that did not feel good at all, but they only had to do one nostril!  And the results came back negative for the flu...although in the culture 24 hours later (sometime tonight) it could show up positive.  So after 4.5 hours in the ER, they sent her home.  Her fever had come down was finally in the two digits, but then she started to get chills again and we put a 'warm blanket' on her and then she asked for my coat and her coat and she asked for me to cover up her head.  By the time we left the hospital, her fever was back up to 101.  The nurse gave her more Tylenol and told her to take it every six hours to keep the fever and aches at a minimum.  She had a restless night...hot, cold, chills, sweating etc.  And even now she is not feeling that great.  We just pray that this will break before Thursday so she can have her final chemo treatment on Friday!

 

 

Dina under the blankets and coats...she actually fell asleep!

A group of Dina's friends had planned a gathering this morning to say a "rosary" for Dina...just before her final chemo treatment.  Dina had to cancel on that, but we continue to ask for prayers for complete healing and remission of this cancer.

I would also like to ask for prayers for a couple of others in our parish..., a 71 year old very loving and spiritual person was just diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and only given a year to live.  She will take chemo treatments to try to prolong her life, I ask for prayers for a miracle.  Also a very young parishioner, I am not sure of her exact age, but maybe 6 or 7 has been diagnosed with something called HLH you a can google HLH (it is heartreaking) HERE to read just a little bit about it...and there are other sites from parents who are pleading for bone marrow donations.  When I read those stories, I am feeling really blessed by the journey we are taking...I know this is hard, and of course I surely pray that Dina will come out of this in complete remission and lead a normal life raising her three children.  I have written it before, it is not always easy to Trust in the Lord when it concerns your own children, but it is times like this that we are drawn closer to our Lord...we are given the opportunity to develop a deeper relationship with Him and that, my friends is what He wants from us.  He wants our Love and our Trust in His will.  Please join me in praying for ALL people who are going through difficult and life threatening events.  Please pray for them to NEVER lose faith in Our Lord...keep Him tucked into the deepest part of our soul and rely on His mercy and Love to sustain us through our struggles.  It is through these struggles that we manifest ourselves to others the Love, Faith and Trust we have in Our GOD!

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!

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!

Caring and Supporting Sister

There are not many sisters or friends who would be willing to shave their hair so their loved one would not be walking this journey alone.  I am so proud of Lacey for doing this for her sister.  She had told Dina from the very beginning: "when you lose your hair, I will lose mine too!"  We all thought:  "Gosh, Lace then everyone is going to think you have cancer!"  It didn't matter to Lacey, she just wanted to show her support and love...and gosh darn, I think they are so beautiful with hair, without hair...inside and outside.  And even Lacey's husband and her son, Caleb (13) shaved their heads!  And when Caleb was at school the next day and someone asked why he did that, he told them it was because his aunt has cancer and is losing her hair...!  I think I have the best family ever!  (I must interject here, that little Addie (5 yrs) was very ADAMANT about NOT cutting her hair!  And Tristan cried, "NO Mommy").

So the girls and I went "hat shopping" and we found some cute ones, warm ones and soft ones...you know without hair, some hats can get pretty itchy on the head!  And Dina even decided to get some eye shadow in colors to match her very colorful wigs...she again said, "Well, when I lose my eyebrows and eyelashes, I may as well have color on my face...why not purple eye shadow!!"  So she bought four colors!  Now she will most likely NOT be wearing the red, purple, or pink wig to church, but you may see her around town...and definitely on Halloween.  Oh and if you are around Meridian Park Hospital on Friday, she is wearing the pink one for her chemo treatment...yeah she is going to surprise the doctor for sure!

We are so happy that she is losing her hair...I know that is a strange comment, but like I wrote earlier, it means the drugs are working and that is a very good thing... and it is just Hair....it grows back...now I wonder if I should even put this in writing:  do you think it will come back in her normal color?  do you think it may come back curly?  I have read some different things about returning hair...she might have kinky white...oh that would really throw her for a loop!!

I just want to thank everyone again for all the love, support, prayers and Masses that are being offered for both Dina and me.  We feel so incredibly blessed to be living in a community that is there for someone in crisis.  We love you all.  God bless you!

For with God all things are possible...!!  AMEN!

Wigs, Wigs and More wigs!!

Lacey, donning the purple wig!

Dina decided to have fun since she needs some wigs...so she went with purple, red and pink!!  A friend had given her a natural color wig...it is one that is meant to be worn with a hat...it is short...just below her ears, but looks really cute on...

Lily knew from the beginning she was going to shave her hair when "Mommy lost hers"...no question about it!

Dina wearing a very cute knit hat that Linda P sent to her!

 We had a shaving head festivity on Monday night...Lacey, Aaron, Caleb, and Lily all joined her mommy with shaved heads (Jamie and Jalen already have the shaved heads!)  More pictures to come of the others, but wanted to get these posted right away!.

Step 2 of the Chemo Hair loss...

I wrote on Saturday night that her hair was starting to fall out.  Last night, Sunday, she knew it would be bad when she needed to take a shower and wash her hair...and it was...as soon as the water came down on her head, the hair just fell away...

So the whole family "helped" with the remaining hair...first they cut it short, then they all took turns shaving it...She has a few nicks from our little buddy...but all is good...even at this length, if she runs her hand over her head, the little snippets that are left fall out too. 

But Glory Be...doesn't that girl look BEAUTIFUL?  Yes, she still has that stunning smile and how can one go wrong with a positive attitude like that?  She did not want to be in the picture by herself, so she insisted Jamie be with her...what a cute couple!!  They are strong, but together they are unstoppable...I have no doubt that the Lord has great plans for them...and it is for Dina to make a difference in many people's lives!

Today we are going to look at the wig again and see how she feels about it now that the hair is gone...

Maybe my next post will be with the wig!!

The Chemo Drugs are working....

9:22 PM October 27 I receive a text from Dina...actually it was a picture with a sad face...

So I will insert my own sad face here too..Seeing the evidence here is heartbreaking,  but as sad as this makes us, knowing the drug is working brings hope and joy to us.  I immediately called her...she said she was just brushing her hair before bed and it was easily just coming out...she could run her fingers through her hair and it would be in her hands.  She had to stop herself from raking her fingers through her hair.  We talked about what her pillow will look like in the morning.  She said you can't really tell that she lost the hair, no bald spots...just kind of all over...we will see what the morning will bring.

The reality is hitting us and this is only the first wave...her first treatment of chemo did bring nausea and lots of sleepless nights along with tiredness...But during the first 17 days she did not have any vomiting only nausea and being tired...her sacrum is not even hurting her as much, although she paces herself so she is not standing or walking a lot to make it ache.  Now we have the beginning of the hair loss.  In six days she will have her second treatment of chemo.  The doctor said that as the treatments progress the fatigue will be stronger and there will be less "good" days between the treatments...one down, five to go!  We CAN DO THIS!  (Do you like how I say "we"....I know, we are all supporting her and feeling her pain...we cry right along with her...but these tears are tears of joy for the end result of wiping out the cancer!)

But we have to remember that this hair loss is a GOOD sign...it means that the drugs are working...it is killing off all those bad cells and obviously it has to get some of the good ones too...but we can sacrifice a few good cells (like hair cells...is that what they are?)  for eliminating all the bad ones.  That is our goal, right?  And hair just grows back, right?  So we are staying positive and looking at the end results here!

I suppose my next picture will be one with NO hair...and maybe a wig...???  maybe a hat? ... maybe a scarf?..whatever she wants!

Thank you for your continued prayers, we appreciate everyone imploring our Lord to heal Dina.  And to give her strength to conquer this battle.

I just discovered that November is Carcinoid Cancer awareness month...now how ironic is that?  And September was Lymphoma awareness month...the month she was first diagnosed.  Oh, and the colors for carcinoid cancer?  Zebra color!  Yes, we ordered some zebra print wristbands that say:  No one fights alone!  Were you even aware there is a color for every kind of cancer?  Pretty amazing...I think we all just know the PINK so well for the breast cancer...but all cancers have a color...pretty cool!

Pictures

Cards that have been sent to Dina...so far!!

Lunch at La Provence in Lake Oswego

Oct. 7 boat ride on Oswego Lake

Pre-haircut pics of the two beauties

Dina and friend Kari who cut her hair

Dina with Prayer Shawl I knit for her...she takes it with her for tests and soon chemo!

Day 2 of the Pre-Treatment for Lymphoma

Today was the scheduled Bone Marrow procedure.  Although the actual needle insertion for the marrow lasted only 20 - 30 seconds, she said the pain was very intense.  The bone marrow was taken from her lower back and that made it uncomfortable to sit or even lay, she was rearranging herself all afternoon as it hurt.  And the tape covering her port pulls on her skin and that makes it uncomfortable to even sleep or turn during the night...She will be able to take a shower on Friday and take off the tape. She can hardly wait.

The doctor is guessing that she may be able to start her chemo next week...there are some issues with insurance.  One major hurdle that has been resolved is from the company who makes this drug for the clinical trial Dina has agreed to be a part of.  The company has agreed to sponsor Dina so there will be no cost for her...that was major! Her insurance tends to lump all treatments as one...not separate even though the drug for the clinical trial is given 4 days after the primary chemo and they can and will reject the cost if it is all lumped together...so having the company sponsor Dina is really huge for them.

Two days later... 

After writing the above post at 7:30 PM on Wednesday night I received a call from our family doctor.  If you had read an earlier post from August, I think it was, I mentioned having a kidney stone and a CT scan while in Idaho on vacation.  During that scan a small mass was shown on the lower quadrant of my lung and I was told to get it checked out further.  So I did...and had another chest CT scan and it did indeed show a "nodule" about 1/2 inch and it didn't appear to be calcified...which I mention because the doctor said most calcified nodules are benign...I then had a needle biopsy done this last Monday Oct. 1 and the doctor was calling to give me the report.  

It is cancer.  Now hang in there with me and let me tell you the whole story...I am "home alone" when the doctor calls, so I am kind of numb and shaking and feel like my heart will just pound out of my skin.  But you know I love the Lord and I trust Him and yes I was scared, but I wasn't thinking anything really serious...like this can be fixed, right?  I'll just get chemo with Dina and be fine.  When Scott gets home I tell him what the doctor says...and sometimes being smart and remembering things can be a detriment!  Ha!  that is not my problem..being smart and remembering...At any right, what he immediately thought was this was something that has already metastasized and the prognosis would NOT look good.  (because the doctor had told me it was NOT lung cancer and it looked like it came from somewhere else)  So the night and yesterday was very stressful for him.  I was kept busy with Jalen because Dina had echo cardiograms and EKG done yesterday...so I watched him in the morning and took him to school AND yesterday was the Pumpkin Patch Field Trip day and YES, I got to ride the school bus with him and go to the pumpkin patch!  Fun day with my little guy Jalen...and before going to school we had to play with his 'nerf'' gun...he has two or three...and I get the one with 6 'bullets'...he gets the long distance one with 20 bullets...we run and hide and duck behind and under everything...and we laugh and laugh and have so much fun...but it is wearing on this old body after and hour!  He of course wants to keep going!  Then because he slept in his own bed (he is over 5) well, almost the whole night (minus 4 hours in the middle) I treated him to orange chicken at Panda Express..his favorite place to eat...that was before school at 11 am...

I just realized that I really just ramble, don't I?  I guess my point was that I didn't really have time to ponder or think about this 'cancer' that is inside me...too busy playing and having fun...So, I tell Dina that she needs to make an appointment for me with her oncologist right away...we are all kind of 'numb' feeling and saying, you are NOT serious, right?  How can both of us have cancer...this is unbelievable...Dina did make the appointment and I will see him next Wednesday, Oct 10.  In the meantime, Scott is nearly beside himself thinking the absolute worst, so he personally calls the doctor and because Dina had made the appointment and talked to the doctor about me, he was already reading my reports and scans etc.  So he calls Scott back during the second set of the varsity Volleyball game and talks to him.  He tells him that it looks like something that could be surgically removed...it looks like it is contained, and he will want to do a few more tests before seeing me next Wednesday.  So Scott slept a lot better last night and is feeling more hopeful.

Now back to Dina's schedule...

Today is a free day and the good news is she will start her chemo next Friday!  We are all planning to attend the Women of Faith Conference this weekend...we go with a group of friends...It is tonight from 7 - 10 and Saturday 9 - 5.  We are all looking forward to this wonderful time to be filled with the words of the Lord, to remember there is HOPE and joy in trusting in Him and we sing worship songs that is a beautiful way to pray.  And we get to hear testimonials from many people...men and women alike...we have been going for about 6 years now and we really look forward to this weekend.

Dina has received a couple of packages in the mail from our beautiful relatives.  One cousin, Linda, sent an awesome knitted hat with the most beautiful flower on it...the colors are all gorgeous...thank you Linda.  and my sweet almost 90 year old Aunt (my mom's sister, Lorraine) made three felt hats with flowers, if you have been to the  Caring Bridge site HERE Ellie posted a picture of Dina and her best friend Emily wearing these hats.  And you really must go read the journals that Ellie is writing about her Mommy and this journey they are all on together...She has a unique writing skill and she is just awesome...Love that girl!

So that is all for now...I will keep everyone posted about both of us now...Prayers are gladly accepted and cherished.  We truly feel so blessed by the outpouring of love and prayers from everyone.  God bless you and thank you from the bottom of our hearts!