"Q" as in QUICK for Alphabe-Thursday

It's time again for Alphabe-Thursday sponsored by Ms. Jenny at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent." 

This week we are studying the letter "Q" as in QUICK...

...get an Alphabe-Thursday post up!!! 

This is it!

Now head over to Ms. Jenny's blog for a list of this week's participants. 

Thank you for visiting.

"P" as in PAPER art for Alphabe-Thursday

After a bit of an absence I'm jumping in again for Ms. Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday.

This week we are studying the letter "P" as in PAPER art.

Take a look at this guy!   He's made out of paper.  This is Okoa The Wave Rider.  We stumbled upon him while down at MD Anderson Cancer Center for one of Reid's appointments recently.

I'm sorry that the picture of the sign isn't very clear.  He was an art project by the patients, families and staff at MD Anderson's Cancer Center.  The project was made possible by the Arts In Medicine Program.  The sign tells the story behind Okoa, but all of these pictures were taken with our cell phones and I know the writing isn't very clear.

However, you can read the entire story behind Okoa The Wave Rider here.

Now please head over to Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent" for a list of this week's participants.  Thanks Jenny for sponsoring this event.

Life goes on...

I've been wanting to post an update for a while, but I was waiting for some results.

Reid had been having spots in his field of vision and was sent to a Neuro-Opthamologist.  (I didn't even know such a specialty existed.)  Anyway, this doctor suspected the spots were caused by Reid's original cancer pressing against a nerve in his neck.  He wanted him to have a PET scan just to rule out a recurrence of the Hodgkin's in his neck.

There was no Hodgkin's in his neck, but the PET scan did light up in his check area.  That kind of caught us by surprise since all the scans since his last stem cell transplant had been negative.  A needle biopsy was ordered and that came back negative.  However, they thought there might be suspicious cells and suggested a surgical biopsy so they could get a bigger piece.  The needle biopsy only gets a very small amount.  So, two weeks ago Reid had the surgical biopsy where they went in with a scope and got a larger piece.  This one also came back negative for Hodgkin's.  However, now his doctor says they still might not have gotten enough, so they will follow up with another PET scan in two or three months.  The spot that lit up will either be gone or will grow.

Although we're grateful that the biopsies came back negative, we're still concerned.  It's been a stressful month.

Then on Saturday morning Reid told me that he now has double vision when he looks to the right.  He hasn't had the spots though since early July.  We have no idea what's going on, but he left a message with the Neuro-Opthamologist's answering service and they called back and scheduled an appointment for September 8th.  Hopefully, he'll get some answers then.

Meanwhile, he took an online class this summer and is currently enrolled in another one this semester.  He is able to read and type without any trouble, so hopefully he'll be able to keep up with this class.  He hasn't been driving and won't until he sees the doctor on the 8th.

With all of this going on I fell behind with Alphabe-Thursday.  To be honest, I just wasn't in the mood.  Stress will do that to a person, but I'm joining in again this week.  I enjoy doing Ms. Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday and it keeps me blogging at least once a week (most of the time).

Meanwhile, I thought I'd share a few pictures that I took from the 24th floor at MD Anderson Cancer Center.  This floor is the observation floor.  There's nothing else.  It's just a place to relax.

These pictures were taken through a glass window with my cell phone.  The building in the middle is MD Anderson's Mays Clinic.  In the background (from left to right) is The Astrodome, NRG Stadium (where the Houston Texans play), and the Houston Texans Practice Bubble.

In this picture the building to the right is where Reid was an inpatient for both of his stem cell transplants.  One time his room overlooked this helicopter pad and I would watch the helicopters land (while Reid mostly slept).

And here's how Reid entertains himself between appointments.  This was also taken on the 24th floor.  It's pretty quiet up there.  I don't think a lot of people even realize the observation floor is there.  Too bad because they're missing out on quite a view.

Now I'm off to get my Alphabe-Thursday post up!