That was a long Break!

Of course, that's an understatement. The surgery was almost a nightmare. They could not find the kidney stone and really didn't do any surgery. However, I had a terrible time recovering from the medication. My cancer grew and then we tried another chemo and it shrunk some again. As of today I am still considered stable. Never thought anyone would say that about me!


Life is still great and loving it.


Stay tuned.

What A Difference A Day Makes

Well, I guess all the laughter, tears, prayers and good wishes are working for now. The good news is that the tumors have shrunk to about 50% of their original size. The Duke and I are happy about it in different ways.
His comes from the fact that I will be around longer, mine is from the fact that I now get to remodel the kitchen because I'll be cooking in it for a while longer. Some times you just have to negotiate for the right things. You see, I am truly ready whenever the Good Lord thinks it's my time. No worries there. In the mean time, I have some things to do that are important to me and probably me alone. One of the most important is trying to mend a relationship with my oldest daughter. I'm not sure I will ever see that happen, but let's face it, prayer works.
Another is to travel. When the Duke and I were honeymooning in Yellowstone we bought one of the Passbooks to the National Parks. I'm looking to fill it up if we can. Anyone have a great motor home they are looking to see go somewhere else? That's the next plan after the holidays.
This is the second time I have learned that I really do get to live my life one day at a time, and I really am blessed that I get it. Plan the plan and not the results they say.
Well, the Duke is doing dinner tonight. What a great life, I have 2 men cooking for me. How lucky can one lady get.
Keep Laughing....

Round Tw0 & 2 Days till Round Three....

This is what chemo can do for you too! Someone said recently that they would like to blog about some of the funnier things that are happening in their life, but were afraid they might offend. Who in the right or left mind could be offended by this reworked photo. I wonder if Cheryl Burchell recognizes the real me. After all, she sold us our wedding rings also. I was even seen lunching at the Red Lobster on the day of offical hair loss with a sweet silver haired old lady. What fun I had and I hope the man I bought the coffee for knows how much I appreciated his reactions. It was like watching a movie on someone's face for about 20 minutes. Thank you for the laughter you brought to my friend and I.
Seriously though... I would rather have a 100 stares of "what the He__!" than the stares I get when folks realize that you don't have hair and they rightfully assume you have cancer. Bet most of them guess breast cancer....Wrong...it's adenocarcinoma....stage 4. And there is no stage 5 as they say. Tomorrow we find out if the chemo is helping or not and I won't lie and say I'm not nervous. I am. But for one of the few times in my life I am not afraid. The Good Lord has been watching over me all this time and what will be, will be. In the mean time I am going to live my life like I love it and encourage all of my friends (including the ones I haven't met yet) to do the same.
I watched with envy the other day at the marvalous people on "Oprah" the other day that seem to look at it like I do. Enjoy and celebrate what we have. Not what we think we deserve. Life is good.

Round One

Oh, Happy Days...I just got through my first round of chemo and celebrated the next day with that huge birthday...the Three O. Now MamaJD did call and made mention of it being another year, but since she was out of town at a resort, I told her to go take a hike. A girl can only handle so much truth in a 24 hour period. Don' t you agree?

The chemo went well even though it was 6 hours, but snooze time was allowed and that passed quickly. The Duke amused himself with 'Ladies Home Journals'. He says now he knows every thing there is to know about waxing. Wait till the shock of chemo hits and no waxing will be necessary! I strongly suggested that he bring something else to read or at least go out for lunch. What a trooper he is. God has really blessed me.

This past couple of weeks we have found that there are some truly wonderful people in our community and we know a lot of them. The are the flower bringers, the handy man who cooks wonderful meals, the teddy bear senders and the house cleaners and last but not least the wood cutter. And to think that they are all friends. Our puppies were taken care of while we were in Pendleton for the Round-up on Tues. and Wed. Chewy went with the cook and 'Bear' and Chico stayed with his cousin Casey at my daughters. The cats stayed home and I think so did the skunk. We haven't seen much of Flower since she was house sitting that night, but there are telltale signs that she is still in the area. I have the seen Rocky Racoon a couple of times. Back to the Round-Up for a moment, if you haven't been down there, it is something to see. We attended the VFW's Cowboy breakfast on Wed. and they had the best pancakes. I am not too fond of them as general rule, but I ate 3 of them that day. They separate the eggs, whip the whites and fold them back in, add a touch of beer and my oh, my....the best. They say on a windy day they have trouble keeping them on the plate as they like to take flight. I was glad we were there on a calm morning.

Till next post..Ciao