Would you rather...?

Good morning!
I'm still at MD Anderson. I'm waiting for a call from the doctor's office to determine what today's schedule will be. I was looking forward to sleeping in this morning, but was wide awake by 7.30. Oh, well. I suppose that's good for me, right?

So, let's get to the good stuff: today's "Would you rather...?" question.

Would you rather be trapped in an elevator with wet dogs or with three fat men with bad breath?

Hmmm... I think I'll have to go with the wet dogs. While they might really stink, they will eventually dry. Oh, but the question doesn't address whether they're cute dogs or friendly dogs or hyper dogs. Ummm... maybe it's been too long since I've smelled a wet dog. Oh, and they also do that shaking thing when their wet that sprays the water all over. I think I'll change my answer. I'm going to go with the 3 fat men. I usually have some good strong cinnamon gum in my purse. I'd just insist that everyone have a piece.

Of course, maybe their weight is the reason we're stuck to begin with ...

Have I ever told you about the time that the kids and I were stuck for a few minutes in an elevator?

We all jumped. Do you know how fun it is to jump in an elevator when it's going down? It's a weird sensation. You jump up as it's still moving down. So your down is further than your up. It's fun! So, I was the responsible (read fun) Mom riding the elevator with all my kids and we all jumped. When we landed, the elevator just stopped mid floors. We stood there for a few minutes looking at each other. Thankfully, it started moving about 2 minutes later. But, 2 minutes is a long time to be mid-floors in an elevator with 5 kids.

If you want to try an elevator jump, I'd recommend: (1) Give yourself at least 2 floors to go down. Like if you're on Floor 3 go to Floor 1, but in a pinch, you can do it across just one floor. (2) Remember you jump up when the elevator is moving down. It's not much fun the other way. (3) don't try it with other adults on the elevator. But, if you do, let me know how they respond. =D

PET Scan is Done

I arrived at 2.50 for my 3 pm PET scan. I had to go for 6 hours without eating. Since I had an appointment at 8 this morning, my last meal of eggs only was at 7.30 am. (You have to skip all sugars and carbohydrates prior to a PET scan. They said I could have any kind of eggs and some bacon. I just had eggs.)

I knew the appointment would take several hours. They break down the appointments here so that at 3 pm was my "PET Prep"; 3.30 was my "PET Injection & Localization" and 5 pm was my "PET Scan." Also, the prep literature had explained that they would give me an injection of radioactive sugar and then I would need to lie still for 60-90 minutes. I also knew the scan would take about 30 minutes. So, I figured I would be done by 6.

Unfortunately, they were running almost 2 hours behind schedule. I didn't finish until about 8 pm and I felt pretty lousy by the time we finished. The test was easy. I was just hungry and tired. And, today I took the shuttle so I had to wait an additional 25 minutes for a ride back to the hotel.

But, really the ride was one of the best parts of my day. The driver was so nice. He introduced himself to each of us as we got in the van and then called us by name the rest of the time. I was the 2nd person picked up and we picked up another 7 people. Somehow that driver made all of us feel so comfortable that we were chatting with each other. One of the women was being dropped off at the hospital to see her husband who is in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Another from Tennessee has a rare form of cancer in his lower abdomen. They are hoping to shrink his tumor so that they can do surgery. He's on his 5th round of chemo and had just received his new dosage. A lady from Arizona was being treated for breast cancer. A man from Alabama was there with his mother. She's been fighting colon cancer for 5 years. The drs in Alabama wanted to send her to hospice. The drs here have given her hope for another few years.

So what do a van full of cancer patients & their support people talk about? Food. We discussed all the various options for food. We laughed and talked as if we had been friends for years.

That's one of the amazing things here. The place is full of people who are going through tough times, but you know I haven't seen even one person act grumpy or impatient or rude. Everyone is really polite and friendly. I wish all these people were not going through tough times, but I love that they are, as one nurse said, "the strongest of the strong." They give me courage and strength.

I'm off to get some sleep now. I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow.

Oh, and no, I do not have any results yet. I should hear from the doctor tomorrow as to whether they want to do the biopsy of the lymph node on my neck. He is also still trying to get me a Hepatologist consult for this week. I'll keep you posted.

I'm back from the neck ultrasound. The lump on the back of my neck is an enlarged lymph node. They also found several other enlarged lymph nodes. (I was surprised by that since no one has felt any others.) After taking lots of pictures, the u/s tech paged the doctor when she was done. He wants the PET scan done before we do the biopsy.

So, I have a little of down time till my PET scan. I'm going to work on the employment resource surveys we recently did at church. I volunteered to do the data entry on all of them. I enjoy typing. I find it very relaxing. I think I'll finish them all today and it'll be nice to have all those network contacts available.

I also may do some reading, and take a nap. Hope you all are doing well!

Would you rather...?

One of my amazing friends, Sarah, created a super fun bag for me the last week when I came to Houston. She included a list of "Would you rather..." questions. So, in honor of my list, I thought I'd share them with you. Just one each day for a while.

So today's question...

Would you rather drink 1 gallon of ketchup or 1 gallon of mustard?

Hmmm.... this one is easy. Definitely mustard. I love mustard, plain old fashioned French's yellow mustard. I don't really like it on stuff. Just plain. I'm not sure I'd love an entire gallon. I usually only eat a couple of drops.

What about you? I can't wait to hear what you'd rather do.

Back to MD Anderson

Tomorrow morning I have appointments at MD Anderson again. I'll be having an ultrasound guided biopsy of a lump that is on my neck. Ouch. And, then I'll also be having a PET scan. The insurance company finally approved it. I suspect it will be a long day tomorrow.

I drove down by myself today. I listened to John Bytheway for most of the trip. He is a really funny speaker. I tried to find a link where you could listen to some of him. I think you might like this one. It's a little bit more serious than some of his talks, but it's still a really good talk.

In one of the talks, he likened our life here on earth to a movie. That caught my attention for a couple of reasons. John said he's often thought that the "judgment" to take place after this earth life would be that we will all watch each other's movies.

So, here you are on earth, making your movie. Everything you do is included in the movie. Now, if you're like me, you might have a few thoughts of "oh, crud, I don't want everyone to see every thing that I've ever done in my life." I've had a few stupid moments.

But, here's the great part... the movie can be edited.

Just like all movies, we can cut out any scenes we don't want others to see. How? Repentance. Isn't that a great way to think of repentance? It's just editing your movie.

Here's the best part in my opinion ... it can happen on a moment by moment basis. I don't have to wait till I finish my movie to edit it. I can edit out clips from today or from a year ago. Or even 20.

Isn't it great to know that we can be completely clean all the time. We simply don't have to wait. I'm really thankful for repentance. I make mistakes every day. I'm so glad I can be forgiven from them.

PET Scan Postponed

The insurance company has still not approved the PET scan. They haven't denied it. They just haven't approved it. So, it looks like I'm done with testing until next Tuesday. I'm looking forward to seeing my kids tonight. I have never been away from Ryan. I miss them all!

Today's Testing Fun

This morning I went in for an echocardiogram. No big deal at all.

Then it was time for the dreaded bilateral bone marrow biopsy. Thankfully, I had scheduled it with sedation. The lady who set up my IV, Patti, was so amazing. She told me the coolest story of lots of good people who supported a man diagnosed with Leukemia. I love meeting these people and hearing their stories. It's a little overwhelming though at times to think that every person on the MD Anderson campus (which is huge) has a story. Maybe they have cancer. Maybe they're a cancer survivor. Maybe they are working there. Maybe they have lost someone to cancer. But they all have a story. If you want to meet courageous people, this seems to be the place. If you want to meet, caring people, this seems to be the place.

I'd love to hear more of their stories. But, I've digressed.

Patti set up my IV and assured me that they were going to give me the "good stuff." She promised I wouldn't feel anything and I wouldn't remember anything. WHEWHOO!

Patti was right. I didn't feel the test, but now that I'm sitting on a very firm mattress, I am feeling far too much! Ouch.

I'm not sure how I'm going to sleep tonight. Both back sides are bruised and hurting and I have a catheter hanging off my chest. (It's in my medi-port so that I won't have to get stuck again tomorrow for the PET scan.) Hopefully, I'll be able to get a little sleep.

Yikes.

Today is a bilateral bone marrow biopsy. Yuck. Not just one. Two. Both sides. This is not going to be fun.

Today was a day off from testing and all cancer related things.


Michelle and I went to the Houston Temple, which is beautiful, of course. If you're not familiar with the Temple, you can click here and watch a short video that tells why Mormons build temples. Unfortunately, the video doesn't share the best part of the Temple with you. The best part is just the peace one feels when they attend the Temple. They are the most beautiful places and very quiet. I feel closer to God there than any other place on earth. If you haven't been to a LDS temple before and you're ever in an area where they are doing an "open house" at the Temple, please go. I think you'll enjoy it.

Michelle and I are staying at her sister-in-law's house. Isn't that nice? She doesn't even know me and yet she offered to let us stay there. The best part of the story though is really about Michelle's husband, Suresh. He voluntarily took the week off work so that he could be with their kids ... so that Michelle could be with me. Isn't that amazing?

I really am very blessed.

More Tests

I had more tests today. Yesterday they took 12 vials of blood, did an EKG and a chest x ray. Today they did a Mammogram, a CT scan with contrast. Contrast everywhere. Not pleasant. 2 big bottles of barium. Berry flavored barium. But, that wasn't the worst part of the barium. They also did a barium enema. And, the funny little man who had the privilege of doing it, kept snapping his gloves as I was lying down on the scanners bed. Nice. Since he was snapping his gloves, I gave him a hard time about what he must have done to get stuck with that job. I'm sure not all patients are as pleasant as me. haha.

Jana left today to go home. It was so nice of her to drive me down here and to stay with me. She is a neat lady and I really felt privileged to spend so much time with her. Hopefully, you have (at least) one of those friends who just by their example reminds you of all the good things in life, all the really worthwhile things in life. I'm lucky that I have several of those friends. I really am very blessed to have so many amazing people in my life.

Another one of my kind, amazing friends came down from San Antonio to be with me. Michelle went with me for the CT scan. I volunteered to let her go in for the barium enema. I can't believe she didn't take me up on the offer. ;)

Oh, and regarding the mammogram. One word: pancake.

MD Anderson

On Sunday, my friend Jana and I came to Houston. This morning I had an appointment with a Lymphoma Specialist at MD Anderson. If you're not familiar with MD Anderson, I'll just summarize it by telling you they are ranked #1 in treating cancer. The have an amazing reputation, and I can tell you that it is well deserved.

Today I first met with a lady for registration. Then a volunteer came over to explain just what would happen. He was really knowledgeable and kind. I then reviewed my history with a nurse. She found it unbelievable that I had not had a PET scan or at least a follow up CT scan. She was really pretty and she reminded me of one of the young women that was in my class when I lived in Plano, Texas.

When the nurse left the room, she told me that the research assistant would come and then I could wait in the waiting room for the Dr to be ready. However, about 1 minute later, the doctor came in. He had reviewed all my records and made notes on them. (Isn't that amazing?)

He was also surprised that I had not had a PET scan or a follow up CT scan. He was able to feel the lump on my neck and also saw a couple of other spots on my back that may be new "lesions." He said he would agree with the diagnosis of marginal lymphoma and would originally have put it at stage 4.

He ordered all new scans and some new tests as well. We discussed the "what if's." If it's not the Lymphoma that is causing the symptoms, it could be autoimmune related. If it is the Lymphoma, it could be in "partial remission", meaning that it is essentially just waking up, or it could be active. It could also be another type of cancer.

To determine what's going on, he's ordered a bunch of tests. Blood work, EKG, Echocardiogram, Chest Xrays, CT scans, mammogram, neck biopsy, bone marrow biopsy, and PET Scan. He'd also like a dermatology, hepatalogy, and gastroenterology consult.

We discussed briefly that he will tolerate 1, maybe 2 relapses before he refers me for a stem cell transplant. Also, they have a clinical trial that is opening in November that is specifically for recurring marginal lymphoma.

Obviously, it doesn't make sense to spend a lot of time dealing with the what if's. It's much better to just get the information we need. So, let the testing begin!

It's In The Valleys I Grow

My Dad shared this poem with me. I think it's beautiful!

Sometimes life seems hard to bear,
Full of sorrow, trouble and woe
It's then I have to remember
That it's in the valleys I grow.

If I always stayed on the mountain top
And never experienced pain,
I would never appreciate God's love
And would be living in vain.

I have so much to learn
And my growth is very slow,
Sometimes I need the mountain tops,
But it's in the valleys I grow.

I do not always understand
Why things happen as they do,
But I am very sure of one thing,
My Lord will see me through.

My little valleys are nothing
When I picture Christ on the cross
He went through the valley of death;
His victory was Satan's loss.

Forgive me Lord, for complaining
When I'm feeling so very low.
Just give me a gentle reminder
That it's in the valleys I grow.

Continue to strengthen me, Lord
And use my life each day
To share your love with others
And help them find their way.

Thank you for valleys, Lord
For this one thing I know
The mountain tops are glorious
But it's in the valleys I grow!

Best Invention Ever!

Truly, the Best. Invention. EVER!! It even extends to 21" AND has a pocket clip. I can take it everywhere. No more searching for a sharp corner or a willing back scratcher. Thanks, Tami!!

I found this note written on an envelope in my room. I'm sure I made it from a talk that I heard, but I don't remember who the speaker was or when it was made. I think it's wise counsel and don't want to forget it.

"Pray for the ability to see your children's needs before they become big problems. Ask for specific insight on each child's concerns. Ask for ways to guide them in the paths of truth and righteousness. Ask for methods to help your children fulfill their destiny and He will show the way."

In honor of...

National Taco Day!

Did you know that today is National Taco Day? It is.

To honor this special occasion we had tacos for dinner, of course. What else would you have on National Taco Day?

David also wrote this very special little poem, and repeated it dozens and dozens of times during dinner.

There once was a boy named Paco,
And for each and every meal
He ate a taco.
'Til one day,
He went crazy,
He went home to be lazy,
And that was
The last of poor Paco.

Please tell me why.

I don't always agree with everything or see the necessity for things, but I can usually see why others might think it's a good idea. But, I went shopping for a homecoming dress with Jessica the other day. While I was waiting, I saw this pretty black dress. I don't usually shop at that particular store, but I thought, "Oh, I'll try it on."

After selecting my size, I went into the dressing room and slipped the dress on. It was a very pretty dress ... but ... wait ... what? what is this? What???


Can someone PLEASE explain to me WHAT this is? It was almost like a pocket, but it went all the way through. It laid flat, unless I took a step and then it did this weir puckering thing where you could see through to the other side. Is it a hand warmer?

I know I'm not a fasionista, but seriously, what's up with this?

The Perfect Fall Day

Today was it! The perfect fall day. The air was cool and crisp; yet, the sun was shining brightly. It was perfect! David, Deborah, Johnathon & I took advantage of the day by going to the playground. Actually 2 playgrounds. :)

The Promised Update

The air conditioner was fixed just in time for me to shower and leave for my Oncologist appointment. So, the promised update...

The Cancer is once again behaving itself poorly and I'm symptomatic. The good news is that Friday's scheduled maintenance treatment has been put on hold. Instead I am headed to MD Anderson in Houston in just a couple of weeks to meet with a Doctor who specializes in my specific type of Lymphoma. It seems they will re-biopsy and re-scan me from head to toe. I don't really have much more information to share with you.

There have been several neat experiences that have led to this event of scheduling the appointment at MD Anderson. Although I have seen the Lord's hand in my life so many, many times, I still stand in awe each and every time. I amazed at the symphony of events that have recently taken place and at the faithfulness of each person who has played their part so beautifully, responding to quiet whispers with perfect timing. I thank you for your prayers and for your faithfulness! Keep the faith!

An update is past due. I know. I will get to one soon. I'm on my way to the Oncologist and will give you a report when I get home. I'm really not ignoring the blog. It's just an unusually busy week. In addition to the usual craziness, I'm also in the process of working my way through two 8-inch stacks of paper work, trying to ignore another 4-inch stack of paper work, and preparing a talk for Sunday's church meeting. I have a bunch of pictures that I want to share with you, a ton of thoughts, a few questions, one movie moment, a humbling moment, and a few sweet experiences that I'd love to share with you.

And, all very soon. First, let me get my kids and myself dressed for the day (3 down only 4 to go), the air conditioner fixed, and home from my Oncologist appointment. It won't be long.

Today is Deborah's 4th birthday.
I said, "How old are you?"
She said, "Almost 5!"