It's still hard to believe...

It was a year ago today that we lost Jim.

I think we're just now coming to terms with it all.  Jim died suddenly and we then had to immediately focus our attention on getting Reid well.  It's only now that things are starting to settle down a little and we have time to reflect.  Things are semi-normal now...I think.  I'm not even sure what normal is any more.

So, today we try and remember the good times.

He was so proud of his sons.

I have so many great pictures, but unfortunately they're all slides.  I do have a slide scanner, but I've never quite gotten the hang of it.  A couple of the above pictures were slides that Troy scanned for Jim's funeral.  I really need to get more scanned so we can look back and remember.

One of our favorite places in Texas is Brazos Bend State Park.  Over the years we went for many hikes at Brazos Bend and saw lots of alligators!  A couple of weeks before Jim died we went to Brazos Bend and had a little picnic.  Neither Jim or Reid felt up to hiking that day, but we still had a good time.

It was a restful day.

We did take a quick look at some alligators.

I'm glad that one of our last outings was to a place we really enjoyed.

Today is a day of reflection.  I'm thankful for the years we shared together.  He was such a good man.  I thought he would always be here, but I was wrong.

Another Update...

I want to thank everyone for their warm thoughts and prayers.  I just don't have time right now to reply to everyone personally, but hope to catch up eventually.  Reid and I spent a good chunk of time yesterday coordinating flight plans, booking flights, reserving a car, and finding a hotel in New Jersey.  I've also made arrangements for someone to stay at the house while we're gone.

The funeral on Saturday went well and we all came away from the experience feeling good knowing how well loved and respected Jim was among friends and colleagues.  It really helped us immensely.

Reid had his core needle biopsy on Friday and had an appointment scheduled to see his doctor yesterday, but they called and said the results weren't back yet.  He's been rescheduled to see his doctor tomorrow instead.  We've had any potential surgery postponed for now.

Most of our early pictures are slides, but Troy scanned a few for the funeral.  I thought I'd share some here.  We've had a lot of fun going through the old pictures.

This is Jim picking lemons in Sicily circa 1970.  He looks like a kid!

This one was taken when we visited Capri.

This photo was taken shortly after I came back from Naples after giving birth to Troy.

We've always had so many fond memories of our Navy days in Sicily.  It was a great time in our lives. and something we spoke of often.

This photo was taken in 1976 in Virginia Beach, VA.  By then Reid had joined the family.

I'll be out of contact for a while.  There's just so much to do right now.  Jim was an accountant and he always paid the bills.  I'm wading through everything and trying to pay what's due now.  The first bill I ever paid was the funeral bill, but I think things will work out OK.  It will just take time.  Eventually, I'll be back.  Thanks again...

Thank you for your prayers...

Things are moving along, plans have been made, and the funeral will be tomorrow.

My sister arrived yesterday from North Carolina.  We still don't know when we'll be able to go to New Jersey for the burial.  Reid's core needle biopsy is today down at MD Anderson.  Based on those results he may or may not need surgery tentatively scheduled for next week.  He's trying to see if they can change the tentative surgery date to the following week so we can all go to New Jersey together.

The kids and I worked on Jim's obituary and were pleased with the final result.  You can read it here.  Meanwhile we've been going through old photographs for the funeral.  The early years were all on slides, but yesterday Troy scanned some slides so we'll have those too.  We've had fun looking at the old photos, sharing stories, and having some good times recalling the past.

Thank you for your prayers and support.

Family Update

Early this morning my husband died.  Jim had entered the hospital through the Emergency Room late Sunday afternoon.  Yesterday he was moved to Intensive Care and we had hoped the crisis would pass, but it was not to be.  It was totally unexpected. His kidneys shut down and that led to other complications.

He had worked all last week and I had even gone to Keith's in Austin for a few days.  When I returned on Sunday he was complaining about being exhausted and I thought he might be anemic from the chemo.  He also had shortness of breath, so I took him to the ER and he was admitted.

I'm thankful that he went quickly and didn't suffer.  The kids are all here now and we're going to be making funeral plans tomorrow.  He will be buried in New Jersey.  We're all kind of in shock right now.

I haven't been reading E-mails and probably will end up going in and deleting in order to catch up.  Reid will be having a core needle biopsy this Friday and possibly surgery the following week. There's a lot going on.

I'll post updates here.  Things are pretty hectic right now.

Family Update...

It's time for another family update.

Jim had his appointment with his oncologist on Thursday. We all felt the cancer had spread because of his symptoms and unfortunately we were correct. Some of the original spots had increased in size and there were also some new ones.

Since Jim hadn't responded to the hormone therapy he began chemo the same day. The doctor said that the chemo he would be receiving wouldn't be anything like Reid's chemo. In fact, Jim didn't even need a chemo port since this chemo can be given directly into a vein. (Reid joked that his wasn't at all fair.)

The doctor asked if Jim would consider having a bone marrow aspiration done for research purposes. It would have to be done before the chemo began. Reid had gone along with us for the appointment and he has had many of those done, so he encouraged Jim to agree. Reid has said in the past that although it's not pleasant it's definitely tolerable. So, Jim had that done before the chemo began.

Needless to say, it was another long day for us down at MD Anderson. We were talking recently and wondering how many hours we've actually spent down there, how many miles we've put on the vehicles, and how much we've spent for parking. We couldn't even begin to figure it out. In the last two and a half years it's been many!

We all get so tired. It's an hour each way and then we spend a lot of time waiting between appointments. They have plenty of comfortable areas to sit with couches, recliners, etc., but it does get boring. Many times we've been gone from home 10-12 hours. The next day is always a wasted day. It's like we need a day to recover. Reid joked one time that they must put something in the A/C to calm and relax everyone and that's why we get so tired. Personally, I think the stress has a lot to do with it. It just never seems to end.

Anyway, Jim is actually feeling a little better than he had been, but the doctor said that the Prednisone he would receive before the chemo would probably give him extra energy for a couple of days and then he'd feel fatigued. This is totally different from what Reid experienced...thank goodness! Jim is able to eat and hasn't had any nausea. He'll go back again in three weeks for another infusion.  Hopefully, this is the way it will always be.

Meanwhile, Reid goes on April 9th for all his scans. His first appointment that day is 6:45 and the last one is at 3:00 which actually means he probably won't be done until 5:00 or 6:00, so it will be another very long day. Hopefully, that one lymph node they've been watching will have shrunk and he won't need another biopsy.

I kind of thought by now we'd be able to resume a somewhat normal life, but it doesn't look like that will happen anytime soon.  I guess this is our "new normal" now.  Isn't that what they call it?

I  started walking again some weeks back, but it didn't last. I used to walk at least three miles a day, but that all came to a screeching halt when I got busy with my Dad and then Reid. I know I feel so much better when I exercise, but there's so much to do around here now after letting so many things go while we were busy with my Dad and Reid. I'm hoping I can get back to painting the dining room that we started before Christmas. It's about five or six different colors because I kept trying out paint colors on the woodwork. I bought more paint, so at least that's a start. With a little luck I might get some done this week.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to keep up with at least a weekly Alphabe-Thursday post. I don't spend much time online. Often I'm just too tired to get online in the evening and too busy during the day, but it's been that way for some time now.  The blog sure makes it easier for me to communicate.

Thank you so much for your support and prayers.

Busy days...

I've been MIA again while I get some things done around here.  The last few years we've kind of let the yard go while we were busy with my Dad and Reid.  Now it's catching up with us and I decided I'd better get to work.

They told us heavy rains would be moving in this week and I decided to try and get the beds all outlined with a small ditch so I could better keep the St. Augustine grass from creeping in among the Monkey Grass and shrubs.  Right now it's not too hot and the ground is soft.  In another couple of months the ground will be as hard as concrete.

 The bushes had gotten bigger and the Monkey Grass was growing under them, so I enlarged the beds and plugged in some more Monkey Grass along the edges.  Last week I trimmed the bushes way back.  They love the heat and humidity here and grow very quickly.  In fact, some of them already need to be trimmed again.  They'll keep growing like this until it gets real hot and then they'll slow down a little.

Reid dug the edge along the side of the house.  I really didn't want him helping because he gets out of breath with physical work, but he wanted to help me with Jim not feeling well.  I plugged some Monkey Grass along there too.

I also dug the edge around the Pecan tree and mailbox.  It will make edging when I mow a lot easier.  I plan to do the mowing until the weather gets hot and then I'll hire someone.

 We were hurrying to get done because they kept saying we would get heavy rain and although the sky looked pretty dark it didn't rain until the next day.  You can see what I mean in this picture.  The Pecan tree is always the last tree to get leaves.

The lawn is full of weeds because we never got any weed and feed down.  I'll try and get that done by the weekend.

Yesterday was a long day down at MD Anderson for Jim.  The weather was horrible in the morning, so Reid drove us down in the truck in case there was high water.  We all believe Jim's cancer is spreading since he's having more and more problems with bone pain.  His PSA had gone way up and the doctor wanted to get another CT scan and bone scan.  They managed to get him a CT appointment for early evening, so we came home to let the dog out, and then Jim and I went back down.  They were running way behind and we didn't get home until almost 10:30 last night.  This morning he had to be back at 7:00 for the bone scan, so he's home now and sleeping.  He'll see his oncologist again next week.  We discussed the possibility of a clinical trial and his doctor was going to see what is available.

Meanwhile, Reid received his next appointments in the mail.  He'll be having all his scans on April 9th.  I was looking forward to him not being scanned again for a while, but the clinical trial he was in requires scans at certain intervals and so he'll be back down there again all day for those appointments.  I'll try and go along and keep him company if I can.

All of our lives have certainly changed over the last several years.  When things are going well you tend to take it for granted until the "you know what" hits the fan.  A wise person once said, "Cancer is something that happens to the other guy until it happens to you."  Who was that wise person?  Reid.

Busy days and update...

I've been trying to get some yard work done. With all the rain lately the weeds have grown like crazy. I spent a good chunk of today mowing, edging and cleaning up the yard a little. I really need to get some bushes trimmed, and I'd love to add some mulch, but we'll see how that goes. I'm really running out of steam here.

Reid had his appointment down at MD Anderson on Monday. He first saw the Physician's Assistant and she was asking him if his shortness of breath had gotten worse, but he said it was the same. Then she mentioned that the latest scan showed scar tissue on his lungs from the radiation and that's why she was asking.  She also confirmed that the biopsy showed no malignancy which was good news.

The stem cell doctor said that they will continue to watch that lymph node and if it increases in size on the next scan they will do another biopsy and take a larger chunk. They've already scheduled him for a CT scan and a PET scan on May 29th. This will be the longest he'll have gone between scans since being diagnosed with Hodgkin's in 2009, so we're thinking that's a positive.

Meanwhile, Jim is noticing some changes and we all decided he should send an E-mail to his oncologist since his next appointment isn't for a while. We'll see what he says.

No time for Alphabe-Thursday this week. Between the yard work and trying to get my genealogy files organized I just haven't had the time. (We won't even talk about the house being a mess!)  And I made some mistakes with the Family Tree Maker program when I entered my information and I have no idea how to fix them. That's one of those things that will probably take me hours to figure out...if ever!  I'm starting to think I liked my old manila folder system from the 1980's better.  That's what I get for trying to bring my genealogy information into the modern age.

Things that are going on...

Reid came home from his trip last Sunday morning. He had a great time on the cruise and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. However, he developed a cold during the week and by Sunday evening had a fever.

He E-mailed the Physician's Assistant at MD Anderson on Tuesday since he was scheduled for a CT scan and the clinical trial on Thursday. She told him to come to the Emergency Center to be evaluated. It was determined that he had some pneumonia in his one lung and he was given an antibiotic. They also did a flu test and the following day that came back positive. So, now he's taking Tamiflu too. He did have a flu shot last October, but I guess this is a strain that the shot didn't cover. However, the fever is gone and he doesn't feel all that bad. The CT scan and clinical trial have now been re-scheduled for next week.

Meanwhile, Jim was also down at MD Anderson on Tuesday for his regularly scheduled appointment. His PSA has gone up again, but he was given a new injection and hopefully this will bring it down. He's feeling well and did a bunch of running around today on his day off.  He even went grocery shopping with me this afternoon.  Tomorrow I'm going to make some Chicken Noodle Soup just like a Jewish Grandmother!  If you remember my Secret Santa gave me the Cooking Like A Jewish Grandmother Cookbook in the swap and this family could use a little Jewish Penicillin right now!

Some months back I bought myself Family Tree Maker 2011 and I've been entering all my documented genealogy information into the program. (I did some research back in the late 1980's and early 1990's before we all had personal computers.) With Family Tree Maker I received 6 free months of Ancestry.com but I've been waiting for things to calm down a little around here before I activated it. I'm starting to think that there's no time like the present, so I'll activate the Ancestry.com subscription this weekend. Last night I decided to set up a second blog just for genealogy. (What was I thinking??? I don't even have time to post on one blog very often and now I'll have two!)  All the catchy little names were taken like "In Search Of My Roots" or "Climbing My Tree."  Oh well, I tried.  I settled for "My Trip Back In Time."  It will probably be dormant for a while, but it's there for when I get a little ambitious.

Oh yes, and after this summer's drought our house now needs some more interior piers. That will mean ripping up carpet and my beautiful brick kitchen floor, bringing in jackhammers and drilling through the concrete, digging out the dirt, and putting in the piers. Yes, it will be a big mess. We're thinking about what we're going to do right now, but there really isn't anything to think about. It has to be done at some point. I just dread the whole thing.  We watered around the slab with soaker hoses all summer long, but we do have some nice big trees in our yard and they soak up a lot of water.  Such is life in Texas.

Note: This is not our home.  Our home really doesn't look crooked to the naked eye.  I'm just exaggerating a little here.

 Did I tell you that I'm old and tired? That's my usual punch line these days.

 Tomorrow I'm going to start taking down the Christmas decorations. It's time and I really want it all down before Easter. I brought most of the boxes and containers over from the storage place yesterday. The one cat keeps climbing the tree. You can only tempt them for so long.

After Christmas Update...

Things have been a little crazy around here the last few weeks. It seemed to take me forever to get all the Christmas stuff put up which is why I have no intention of taking it down for a while. I normally leave my decorations up until the Epiphany in January, but this year I'm leaving things up even longer.

Although our winters aren't cold here...they are a little gloomy. I like to come out in the morning and light up the tree. It makes winter seem a little less gloomy to me.

Right before Christmas Reid had a PET scan and a doctor's appointment at MD Anderson. His one lymph node lit up slightly on the scan. If it was you or me they'd probably ignore it, but because of his history of Hodgkin's they have to keep an eye on it. The doctor has told us before that even a scratch on his arm could cause that to happen. It's not unusual. If he had to put odds on it he'd say there's an 80% chance it is not Hodgkin's. He'll have a CT scan this month and we'll see what that shows. He went down last week for the clinical trial IV. He likes to joke that cancer doesn't take holidays off.

Jim also had an appointment before Christmas and in spite of the injections he's been receiving his PSA went up. He's been put on an oral medication and will begin receiving a different injection this month. He's been feeling fine, so I suspect the oral medication is helping. Meanwhile, he's looking forward to the Houston Texans playoff game on Saturday! (I'm looking forward to it too!) We'll try and get down to the stadium early and beat the crowd.

On Christmas Day we went down to the Hotel Galvez in Galveston for their Christmas buffet. I meant to bring my camera but forgot! That's OK...it probably would have been a series of blurry pictures anyway. The food was delicious and we ate like pigs. It was nice to see Reid eating well this Christmas since he spent the last two Christmases feeling yucky from chemo.

We came home and opened packages. Troy was "Christmas Boy" again this year. It's a family tradition that one member of the family is chosen (AKA stuck, coerced) to bare this title and hand out the gifts. Of course, he had to wear the official Christmas Boy hat.

Can't you see the joy on his face?


Of course, Zoom was excited and couldn't wait, so she began before the rest of us.



We didn't forget the cats. They received a sock monkey bed which went perfectly with my sock monkey collection that I placed beneath the tree this year. Ashley is actually sleeping in the bed, but it's kind of hard to see him in the picture.



Jim had a Houston Texans Christmas this year. He now has a very large Houston Texans wardrobe including a new hat, shirts, Snuggie, etc. He got just about everything except Houston Texans underwear.


This is the only picture of Reid and Keith that didn't turn out blurry. They were actually happy on Christmas Day, but you'd never know it by this picture.



While we were in the other room Ashley was busy. I came into the kitchen and found a bump under the tablecloth.



I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season.

Happy New Year!

GO TEXANS!! (We're all fans around here.)

Lazy Weekend

Early Saturday morning we were all relaxing and taking it easy...

...when there was a knock at the backdoor. It was Keith! He decided to surprise us by driving over from Austin for the day. It's a 3 1/2 hour drive each way, so we were surprised.

I think he really wanted to see for himself how Jim was doing. Since he's been feeling a whole lot better lately we took Keith to our favorite German restaurant for lunch. (I wish I had remembered my camera.)

He left around 3:30 for the drive home. I managed to get Jim, Reid, and Keith to pose for a picture.

And then he was off!

Updates...

I know I've been absent lately, but things have happened and I haven't been able to post on my semi-regular basis. More about that later.

Around six or seven years ago, I found an old childhood friend's E-mail address on our high school's alumni site. Brigid and I had known each other a long time. We were in Brownies together and I believe we actually met for the first time in Kindergarten. That would make it around 60 years that I've known her. We even played Ginny dolls together. In fact, Brigid wanted a Ginny doll so badly and went snooping around the house before Christmas one year and found the Ginny doll her mother had bought. She would play with it in secret and then wrap it back up before her mother got home from work. On Christmas morning she acted surprised when she opened the package.

This is Brigid probably around the time we met. She's on the left...


Since Junior High she has called me Durg and I've called her Boh. For some reason we called each other by the first few letters of our last names. I can no longer recall how that happened, but when we reconnected we picked up right where we had left off. I was Durg and she was Boh.

Brigid was the class clown all through school. She had a very quick wit and I can remember laughing so hard my sides would hurt. We fooled around way too much and neither of us were very good students. However, whenever the teacher would try to catch us by asking a relevant question about what we were supposed to be studying Brigid would always know the answer. The teacher could never catch her. She was so smart. Sometimes we would have to stop her in mid conversation to have her tell us what a particular word meant. She had quite a vocabulary. To say she was an under achiever is putting it mildly.

At the end of our Junior year Brigid announced that she wanted to go to college. She went to the guidance counselor and asked to be allowed to repeat her Junior year. We all thought she was crazy. "Come on Brigid, stay with us and graduate next year." No, Brigid had made up her mind. She always thought everything through and she knew this was what she wanted. So, she ended up graduating in 1965 instead of 1964.

I know I posted this picture not too long ago. This was one of our many excursions to the Jersey Shore and Brigid is the one in the middle. Poor Boh...she had red hair and very white skin. If she wasn't covered up she'd burn to a crisp.



After high school we stayed in touch and for a while she and I both worked part time at a local grocery store. She was a full time student and I had a full time office job, but she was saving for college and I was buying a Mustang. Then in 1968 she sailed for Europe as part of her studies and a few days later I got married. Eventually, we lost touch with one another. Then maybe six or seven years ago I found Brigid's E-mail address on our high school's alumni page. I quickly wrote and she quickly replied. She still lived in New Jersey and I now lived in Texas, but we did manage to see each other a couple of times over the years.

Brigid had finished college, worked for a while, and then went on to law school. She told me one time that her mother had read in the Ladies Home Journal that law was a good career for a woman in the early 1970's. While I had kids and raised a family, Brigid had practiced law.

She had also battled breast cancer and received a stem cell transplant as part of her treatment. Needless to say, she was a wonderful support system for me the last two years as Reid battled cancer and also had a stem cell transplant.

Brigid retired almost ten years ago. She was a lawyer for the Federal Government working in the vicinity of the World Trade Center. She was working from home on 9/11 and shortly thereafter decided to retire early. I think cancer and terrorism factored into her decision.

I always enjoyed her E-mails. She was the voice of reason when I expressed my fears about Reid's treatment. She stood by my side. She never let much time go by without writing and asking how Reid was doing. Her caring E-mails and loyalty meant so much to me. I can't even begin to express how much I appreciated her support. She was there when I needed her the most. That's a very, very special friend.

All of a sudden I didn't hear from her. I wrote and never heard back. I knew she and Brian often took off on trips or cruises, so at first I wasn't too concerned. On occasion a couple of weeks might go by without any word from her, but then she'd write and say they had gone to Florida, Las Vegas, or on a cruise. When the hurricane was headed up the east coast in August I wrote again and asked if she was ready for the storm. I never heard back. I was starting to get a little concerned, so I E-mailed her last week and told her I was worried. Still no word.

Last night something told me to google her name. I did and pulled up her obituary. She had died on August 15th of a heart attack at home. The obituary said she died peacefully. For that I'm grateful, but I'm heartbroken too. I miss her. I'm glad we were able to reconnect for a while. I just wish it could have been longer. I no longer have anyone in NJ that would have seen the obituary and recognized that she was my friend, so I didn't know. Today I found Brian's business E-mail address online and wrote to him to let him know how sorry I am right now. He's certainly in my thoughts and prayers.

This is a picture of Boh taken in 2004. She's meeting my travel doll, GinnyFaith.


Good bye Boh. I'll miss you more than you'll ever know. Thank you for being such a special friend.





Now on to a couple of updates. Reid had his latest scans a couple of weeks ago and this time he lit up on the PET scan in a lymph node under his right arm. However, it was very slight and the doctor told us that it can happen to anyone with a cold, sore throat, cough, or even a scratch on the arm. Normally, it wouldn't mean much but because of his history of Hodgkin's they will keep an eye on it and he'll be rescanned in three months. He continues with the clinical trial, but we're fairly certain he's getting the placebo right now.

The same week Reid got his scan results my husband had a biopsy. He's been diagnosed with prostate cancer. On Monday we meet with his Urologist out here to see what he recommends and on Tuesday he'll be seen at MD Anderson for their take on the situation. We really need to get some kind of treatment started soon as he hasn't been feeling well at all lately.

This week we had a new floor put down in the dining room and entryway. I had ordered this floor a year ago and then my Dad died and Reid relapsed and the company was so nice about waiting. We're enjoying the new floor, and I'm glad to have it down before Jim starts any treatment.

I think I'll probably be hit and miss around here for a while. I'm hoping to catch up on some blog reading this weekend if time allows.

Happy Birthday Troy...and what a week it's been!

Our middle son Troy turned 40 on Wednesday, but we celebrated his birthday last Saturday while Keith was here from Austin.   This post is a little late, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY TROY!

It was a simple celebration at home.  Reid has been in considerable pain and we couldn't go out to a restaurant, so we cooked hamburgers out on the grill and had some cake afterwards.  When our three sons get together there's a lot of teasing and joking and this day was no different from any other.  It was a great diversion.

Troy blew out the candles on his cake (and  hammed it up a little bit for the camera).  Reid asked him if he had made a wish.  He said he had and Reid replied, "If I get better we'll know your wish came true."  They both laughed and then Troy said, "But tonight is lottery night."  We all laughed.  I know the humor sounds a little bizarre, but the important thing is that we were all able to laugh together.

They indulged me and posed for a picture together.  L-R: Reid, Keith, and Troy.

Keith and Jim observing the festivities.  Be sure and enlarge the picture.  Jim's shirt says, "My Wife Rocks."  We joke that the shirt is a chick magnet because he always gets comments from other women on his shirt.  It was a gift from me. :)

Keith was only supposed to be in Houston for work until Wednesday, but he extended his stay until Friday with a couple of vacation days.  It was really nice for Reid to have Keith here as a diversion.  The pain had become so bad that I finally contacted the Physician's Assistant and she was able to get his appointment at the pain clinic moved up to Thursday.  It's made a considerable difference.  Although he's far from pain free the additional medication (long acting pain killer, nerve relaxer, and more Hydromorphane) has made the pain more tolerable.  He's lost 20 pounds in the last month because the pain seemed to take away his appetite.  He's eating a little more now.  His left arm has gotten very weak and he can no longer type on the computer.  He pretty much holds it in one position most of the time. 

On Friday he was seen in the brain and spine clinic.  The doctor that saw him first said that they thought the cancer was around the nerve and not in the nerve.  With regular Lymphoma the cancer can get in the nerve, but he said he had never heard of that happening with Hodgkin's.  They also think the mass is outside the spinal canal and pushing in.  At least that was our understanding. That was the case last year too.  His one pupil is larger than the other and the eye lid is a little droopy.  We hadn't noticed and no other doctor had either, but this doctor caught it and said it's also from the mass on a nerve.

The strange thing about the whole appointment was that they didn't know why Reid's Oncologist had sent him to them for an evaluation.  It was our understanding that it was to see if he could benefit from some radiation now and I'm assuming that's for pain relief.  That was not conveyed to this clinic.  They also didn't know what the treatment plan was and we told them a stem cell transplant.  We were told they would speak with Reid's Oncologist and he'd let him know something.

This coming Friday he has his biopsy and then on November 5th he'll see the Oncologist again.  All these appointments are so spread out and it's taking time to get everything done so treatment can begin.  It would not be so bad if it wasn't for the pain.  I guess in a way the pain is our friend because without it we would not have known anything was wrong until sometime in November when he had his next scheduled scan.

I know last year when he went numb from the arm pits down they were very concerned.   It was considered a medical emergency and he was put in intensive care.  That does not appear to be the case this time, so I console myself with that knowledge.

I went out to Joanne's and bought some fabric.  I've decided I need to find something to work on to keep my mind occupied so I don't find myself worrying.  I'm hoping to get some doll sewing done for Ann Estelle.  I'm going to sew together some felt jackets and then take them along to the hospital and start the embroidery on them this week.

Thank you for your interest and concern.