Good morning bloggers! I hope everyone had a nice Easter and had the opportunity to visit with friends and family, and reflect on the gift that Christ gave us through his death. Eternal life with Him. I am very grateful and bless for that. I hope you are too. After Easter Sunday, we went to LA to visit family and enjoy the beach. We celebrated Brigitte's 18th B-day, went prom dress shopping, and just enjoyed looking at the beautiful ocean waves. Then last week I had my 7th chemo cycle. I have one more to go!!! Everything went OK. My blood counts are still holding up, so I feel very fortunate. I did manage to get a cold when I got back, but I seem to be fighting it so far. After my last cycle next week, I will have a Ct scan with non-ionic contrast with meds at UCSF on May 16th. Non-ionic because I am allergic to the regular contrast. The meds are benedrill, Zantack and cortisone to help with reaction. The scan is to check the liver and make sure it's OK and to get a baseline for future scans. Then the following week I will have a pelvic X-ray with contrast to make sure all is healed inside before surgery. Then June 20Th I am scheduled for the "take down" which means I will have my iliostomy and port removed....YEA! The surgery should take about 1-2 hours and the average stay is 2 days. Hopefully I'll be good to go by Bonnie's wedding in July. Thank goodness I have great sisters and friends to help with the last minute details.
Last week was very special. I had the elders of my church lay their hands on my and pray for healing. What a wonderful and loving experience. I truly felt the Lords peace and comfort surround me. I have been so blessed through my cancer experience. I can't imaging going through this without Him.
James 5:14 Is an one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.

Good morning! I hope everyone had a wonderful, loving and happy Easter. I know our family did. We celebrated by going to church in the morning and then having friends over for a nice Easter dinner in the evening. Today Casey and I, with Brigitte and her friend Morgan, are going to LA for the week to visit Casey's parents. We plan to spend a little time on the beach inbetween shopping for prom dresses for the girls and celebrating Brigitte's 18th B-day.
As for me, I am doing well with the treatments. I have two more cycles left. YEA! I usually don't feel so well a few days after treatment but do manage to continue to walk most days. It seems like some cycles are easier than others on my body. I have been very fortunate that my white cells, red cells and platlets are holding up so I don't have to be delayed in treatment, which is common. I try to drink Odwalla Blueberry juice most days and on some days carrot juice (yuck!) as well. I do feel that eating healthy, drinking lots of juices, taking a Flinstone multi vitamin every day and exercise has helped. My nutritionist said Flinstone vitamins are very good since it has everything in the right amount. The neuropathy in the hands continue to be uncomfortable but manageable. I just try to keep extra warm and wear gloves when reaching in the freezer. The picture is of my new hobby I started while I'm having treatment. I was inspired by the beautiful prayer shawl my sister-in-law, Leslie, made for me. I want to learn to knit or crochet so I bought a learning loom that makes it very easy to make scarves. It takes a long time to make a scarf so I can't imagine how many hours went into my shawl!
I have my appointment with UCSF for my first CT scan after treatment for a baseline. I'm in the process of scheduling my "take down" surgery, (close the iliostomy) for sometime in the early summer I hope. It will be hard to schedule inbetween the weddings, family reunions, bridal showers and graduations all this summer. How blessed we are to have so many happy occasions to get together with friends and family. God has been so good to me and to our family. He continues to give us peace and encouragement through all our trials. We are never alone. This Easter I hope and pray that everyone one of you get to know Him deeper, and accept His beautiful gift of eternal life with him through his son Jesus.
John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through Him.
Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement. I feel so blessed by all of you who continue to pray and encourage me. Thank you for sharing your love with me and my family.