Well, here I am again, way over due for a post. Man makes his plans but God orders his steps. It is July 1st. We are back in Indiana. Have been for 2 months. To spare you all the details leading up to this time, the cancer has recurred. Surprise!!!! We knew it would return sometime, but we thought I would be in remission for 7-9 years. So did the oncologist. He said I am his first patient who had chop R chemo that wasn't in remission for the long time. I will have to have treatments for 4 weeks, once every 6 months, for 2 years. I won't be taking chemo, but Rituxan, a monoclonal treatment that works to strenghten your own immune system. I had the first treatment in May. Will have a PT/CT in July to see if it's working. The first time I had this cancer, it was in my midsection. This time it was on the right side of my neck. I have a lump on my left side neck now that I haven't told the oncologist about yet. So I am concerned that the treatments aren't working. By the way, the oncologist did tell us that it will keep coming back. It was much harder emotionally this time than the first time. I guess because my family doc said it would probably never return and so we have our expectations and when they aren't met, it is disappointing.
I feel good. Was tired for about 3 days really strongly right after the treatment ended, but I was thinking today how much energy I now have. I actually am doing a lot. Maybe I'm trying to get all the living in that I can before it's over.
God has been by my side all along. I'm not afraid to die. Just the dying process. And I could live a long time. Only God knows the appointed day. But I had a couple of hard days this week and cried alot. You just never know when it will hit.
We will be living in Indy for the next two years. Gary's sister and brother-in-law have been so good to us. We will be staying with them during this time. And we are back with our church family and it has been good.
We will be celebrating our 25th anniversary this summer and so we will try to travel to Michigan and enjoy the water and see some lighthouses. Looking forward to a little time on the road.
Gary was hired back to drive a school bus again where he worked before we went on the road and we are so thankful to God since the economy is so shaky and so many are loosing jobs. The medical bills will be high the next two years and this will help a lot.
Our middle daughter is getting married in Nov and I have got to spend some time helping her with that. She does live 2 hours away and so I don't get to help her as much as I would like to or see her as often. She wants me to make the veil and pillow and garter and I am looking for ward to that. I made our oldest daughters accessories and hope to make our youngest daughters some day also. The youngest daughter lives close by where we are staying and it has been good to spend time with her this summer.
We had 2 of our 3 grandkids a few weeks ago for 2 weeks. We took the RV and them to Indiana Beach for 3 days and did the rides for one day. Then we found an old drive-in theater and took them to see a double feature. It was great. But we didn't get home until 2am and were tired the next day. Then we took them back to their home in Ky and stayed there another week to watch them and their brother so their mom and dad could get away for 4 days!! The 2 year never cried for mom and dad and that made us grandparents feel really good that they are secure with us. We love them so much and it was a great time. We did however, in two weeks time eat hot dogs and smores 3 times and that was enough for awhile!!!
Well thanks for reading my ramblings and I will try to post more often. God bless each and everyone of you and remember, we are just passing through........