To Bed!

3:22 a.m.
Just got home from the oncologist's office.
(There were still people after me.)

Stopped by an open McDonald's drive-through for egg sandwich (they're serving breakfast, of course). :)

Everything looks fine, by the way.
I have another blood draw, another CT scan, and see him again in six months!

Thankfully...
and no longer hungry...
off to sleep for another day.

Greetings from Dr. Malviya's Office

1:00 a.m.
I am in the waiting room of Dr. Malviya's office. My appointment was at 4:20 (p.m.), and I think there are only a few people before me now. John has been working on his computer, but I just borrowed it to write a note. It seems there is now internet access here!

The Way To a Sister's House Is Not Long

I have been wanting to visit my sister Bonnie in Erie, PA since she had surgery two weeks ago. Watching the weather reports, I decided to leave Monday of this week, and return on Tuesday. A quick one-night trip. But perfect timing. The weather was fine both ways, and changed to winter almost as soon as I returned home.

We have never taken that exact route, and I have never driven that long by myself before (5 hours). So now I have!

Bonnie is recovering very well, and looks terrific. She moves slowly and with caution, of course. But she is healing and going on with her life!

After much careful thought, considering both her own issues and our family history (since we have had two cousins with the same rare cell-type of cancer as I mine, there seems to be a connection), Bonnie decided it was time to just say good-bye to those offending organs. A courageous decision, it seems to me.

Once her decision to have a hysterectomy was made, she asked for the first available date, which turned out to be two days before Thanksgiving. That meant she and Charlie were not able to join our family Thanksgiving gathering, and we missed them. But, amazingly, she came home from the hospital that day, and we talked by phone.

Good news: the doctor reported that there were no surprises. He did not expect to find cancer, and he did not. The post-surgery cell-tests also were clear!

CT Scan and Blood Test Results

Friday afternoon, I received an envelope in the mail from my oncologist, the results from recent blood work. So I called Gail, Dr. Malviya's nurse, with questions about some "high" readings and about some comments I did not understand. She explained and said not to worry. She also offered the results of Monday's CT scan:

it is fine!
(...which must be sung, not merely spoken)

(She said the CT scan report did did not say the hernia is any bigger. So far, so good with that!)


When people had recently asked how my test went, I had told them I did know yet, but I was just going to ACT healthy!

(More singing!)

Praise the Lord.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his surpassing greatness.
Praise him with the sound of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
praise him with tambourine and dancing,
praise him with strings and flute (image: Theresa and Jeffrey!)
praise him with resounding cymbals.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Psalm 150

PS Thanks, James, for taking care of the RSS (technical aspect)! (per previous post)

rss testing.

We've made a couple changes to the rss feed from the site. If anyone has an email subscription to the site they may need to re-subscribe. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Loving October

Win-Some Women - Mom's Retreat
On October 18, my sister Bonnie drove from Erie, PA to pick me up and continue on the adventure to our parents'. (In the meantime, my mom also celebrated her birthday! Happy 83rd!) We "girls" traveled on to Mackinaw City, then took the ferry (one of my favorite parts! I love fresh air and the wind in my face!) over to Mackinac Island for the Win-Some Women Retreat, where we enjoyed speakers Jennifer O'Neil and Don and Eva Piper, and singer Kathy Troccoli. The music and lessons and good times have remained in my heart.

More Music
I am glad to have joined choir this year, of course, to meet the people there, and for the discipline of continual praise. My prayers can be so full of need. Thankfulness may come with consciousness of goodness. But I need to be more intentional and take time to purely praise God.


Putting the Garden to Bed
John and I found a piece of a sunny crisp October day to put our lovely little garden to bed. John did most of the work (mowing and vacuuming leaves, etc.), as usual. But I sprinkled and dug in a last layer of Organica-3, Cow manure compost, and Shrimp and seafood compost before he covered it with grass clippings and dried leaves for the winter. It looks peaceful. When we recently saw George, our garden mentor at English Gardens, we said "So long for a while."

MRI Results - OK !

Appreciating the lovely day and the opportunity for exercise,
I walked the three miles home after today's women's meeting at church.
I picked up the mail on my way in.
Ah, an envelope from my oncologist.
I opened it to find the results of my MRI.

Results:
No cancer, just "ordinary" pain, called "Trochanteric bursitis".
It is mostly in my left hip, and somewhat in my right.

"There is no occult fracture or dislocation."
"There is no avasular necrosis or metastatic disease."
"No suspicious pelvic visceral abnormality is identified."

I am glad for this news.
I am glad for what it is not.
I will figure out what it is and how to live with (or heal?) it.

Again and again, I am thankful for your care and prayers.

"Oh, Lord....
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well."
Psalm 139:14 (New International Version)