FINAL CHEMO TREATMENT

Well, I finished my final chemotherapy treatment about an hour ago. Overall, it went pretty well. My friend, Carole Ann, came over about 11:00 am to drive me. John went over to a neighbor's house because there was no one home to watch him. The IV needle went in on the first try! But I was very anxious about the procedure because I knew how sick it would make me later. I did end up getting sick during administration of the first drug and was given another drug, ativan, to help with the nausea and anxiety. It did help and I was even able to doze off a little. Carole Ann and I watched Home and Garden Television and that helped take my mind off it too. So this ended up being one of the better rounds of chemotherapy. Thank you for your prayers. Please keep praying over the next three days, as I expect to be quite sick. (Pray that I’m NOT sick!) Also, I developed mouth sores and other unseen sores in my digestive tract last time. Would you pray that those don't happen this time either?

Now that chemo is over, the next step will be surgery. I will have a mammogram and a breast MRI and then meet with Dr. David Rose, the breast surgeon, to make a plan. Then I'll meet again with Dr. Schnall, the oncologist, to determine if I can indeed stop chemotherapy at this time. There is a possibility I could have more treatment.

This will be quite a busy week. Randy will be working in Arlington, VA and not be here to anchor the household. The kids, my main cooks and housekeepers, are in a homeschool drama seminar every day this week. I won't be in a position to do much of anything for the next few days. What a blessing our friends and neighbors have been! Different people will be bringing us dinner for the entire week! What a treat! Our neighbor, Mary, has been watching John when needed and treating him like a spoiled grandson. Our neighbors, Bob and Sandy, have done so much. Bob came over and raked the leaves in our yard for us. He also drives Paul to Chinese class on Saturday mornings. They even brought us some Chinese soup one day. A friend, Laura, is providing transportation to and from the drama seminar this week for my kids. I could go on and on! My thanks to all whom have so graciously pitched in.

One last thing. We got a car! Our friend, John, a used car dealer, found us a very sporty looking bright red 2002 Pontiac Grand Am. The kids love it! Randy says he'll pretend like he's having a mid-life crisis when he drives it.