June 21, 2010

It has been a few days but Mom checks all your comments everyday. thank you so much for leaving them and for taking the time to do that. It truly does mean so much.

It has been a rough week. Mom is not able to eat much food. The smells of food make her a little edgy and her taste buds are making everything taste like metal. There is not much motivation to eat when it tastes and feels like you are chewing on tin foil. We are thanking God that her doctor had the hindsite and wisdom to have the PEG tube (feeding tube) put in right away. We are up to 2 tube feedings a day now. She can still tolerate oatmeal and has that twice a day.

This week begins another round of chemo. We are still going 5 days a week to radiation but now we have the chemo on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to deal with. We are anticipating a tiring week and weekend coming up. It's nice to know kind of what to expect at this point although cancer treatment always has a few surprises and tricks up its' sleeve when you least expect it.

We had a nice Father's Day with my sister Terri and her daughter Crystal stopping by. She also had her boyfriend, Ryan with her. He is a very nice guy and dad enjoys talking with him a lot. From Left to Right that's Mom, Dad, Terri, Ryan and Crystal. Here's a great one of Grandpa Bruce and Crystal.

Mom has been enjoying weekly phone calls from her brother, Uncle Bob, in Florida. He calls every weekend to check up on his little sister.

It is truly interesting how people come in to our lives. Some people stay for a short period of time while others linger and then a very few will remain throughout the autumn seasons of life. We have met some really great people who are traveling a very similar road through chemo and radiation. It was such a blessing to meet Cheryl and her husband, Terry (I hope I spelled those right!) in radiation. She is about at the halfway point of treatment which involves more surgery for her. Her smile and personality are amazing. she also has some GREAT tips for dealing with things like the burn from radiation. She brought her daughter and her daughter's best friend in the other day but my apologies to them for not remembering their names. I think I was to busy looking at the fish in the fish tank that morning.

So we're off and running tomorrow. We have our "luggage" all prepared for the week. We bring an assortment of things to make the long treatments a little bit more comfortable. And tonight is Dad's job of making sandwiches for lunches. I'll be bringing the equipment to give mom some of the food feeding. Here's a picture of the food I give her. Luckily she can't taste it. If it smells anything like it tastes there's no way ANYone would willingly drink this stuff. But it's full of great proteins and calories and nutrition to keep her healthy.

We also bring along two important friends with us. Fluffy and Jamaica. Fluffy is a gift from the grandkids, Stephen, Nicole, Crystal, Ryan and Kayla. Jamaica is a gift from the hospital.
We think the two are now dating but we don't mention much. For some reason every time we ask them they don't say a word about it. Maybe they are shy.

Again a HUGE thank you to everyone for your comments. PLEASE know they are being read by Mom and by Dad. There are up days and there are down days and this week during her down days it was nice to know that people are praying, and thinking, and reaching out. It is greatly appreciated and is not going un-noticed at all.

I have often said, and will probably make reference to it again and again, that every one we come in to contact with becomes an important thread in the fabric of who we are. Whether for a fleeting moment or a lifetime - we are who we are today, at this moment, due in part to the people and experiences that have been added to the quilt of our individual life. We are truly blessed.