Live Strong and Thank You Lori

Special Thank you to Lori.  It was so wonderful of you to reach out and talk to me.  It was so great of you to connect me with a local cancer support group.   It was so lovely of you to give us some food -- It was so super delicious -- we had the Taco Lasagna for Christmas Day lunch.  Thank you So Much!

Heaps of Love, C.

It's A Wonderful Life

Christmas Eve at Mi-Ra-Dyl's  --- Lots of snow in the front yard -- and two snow people standing sentry and pretty little fairy lights trimming the house.  Inside, warm and sheltered, we had (most) of our family.  What joy to spend some time with my favorite people.!!

My birthday, today, went out walking my favorite trail with my favorite guy.  I have been really quite lazy lately, and I was surprised that I was walking pretty much the same as before.

Over all, this first treatment was rough the first 4 days....starting the 5th day, improvement every day.  I cannot expect it to be the same for the next treatments as it is supposed to get harder each time... I really feel that I can weather this and I really have positive thoughts right now.

Thanks to my friend Esther, for a Happy Birthday phone call... E. is a great BFF (best friend forever)

Thanks to my sister Colette, for another Happy Birthday call... Co. is going to have some beautiful handmade silk scarves for me and others --- she's painting them like mad down at her beach 'studio'.  She's going to get an Etsy site up and running as soon as she can.... I will let everyone know about that later....

You know what else happened today?  Fort Clatsop had reenactors and they stayed in character when we talked to them  (in other word, you could not ask them to pose because they did not know what a camera was).  They were so 'hungry' that they wanted to 'barter for our dog'! (For the stew pot)  They had a little cook area set up where they were roasting a bit of meat.... 

Did the snow make you think of the movie "It's a Wonderful Life"?  That's what I thought!

Love to All,

C.

Too Cold Shoot Ball

      Hey, Dyl, what do you think of your old hoops?  Love, Grandma

the WEATHER!!

It was so great to talk to JoAnn and Clyde -- thanks you guys, you are great!  We found out that Portland is still in a freeze, but their family can still go places with their 4-wheel drive.  Jo and Clyde were curious about the beach and snow -- is it a record snowfall?? Maybe!   Sister is at Arch Cape, where it is NOT snowy.  Further North along the coast, the more snow and ice... the railings have shown about 4 - 5 inches of snow -- quite impressive!

Here is a snap of the kids at the skatepark and the red branches of our Japanese Maple -- 

MERRY WHITE CHRISTMAS!!   Love, C.

Tiny Snow People Visiting American Inn

Here are some of the cutest creations, greeting us on December 16th at C's place......  Can you imagine a NICER SISTER???   WOW!!  What a lifesaver, literally, what generosity.  I can not thank you enough.  Hope you will read this post, my sweet sister, because you have been so kind and it was so very needed, I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Love and Happiness to All,

C.

Also, thanks to Josie for the lovely sweet hugs!!  We must get these cousins together!

Quick Run Through of Last 5 Days

OK.... My first appointment was Dec 16th for my 'medicine', instead we had to travel to Portland on Saturday the 13th, arriving at my sister's condo, settling in and then looking at the clock -- about 7:00pm.

Sunday it seemed we watched the weather on TV all day!  Monday pretty much the same,  the TV on the weather reports and me working on hat projects-- for the first time in 30 years the unit where I was to go on Tuesday at OHSU closed on that Monday!

OHSU opened on Tuesday, I took my 'medicine', and then we rushed back to my sister's, packed and straightened a little, went back to OHSU pharmacy to pick up more meds and drove home along Hwy 30.  It was dark, but the roads were decent --- we had 4 studded tires which worked on the ice... ('whew).

Had to go to Columbia Memorial Hospital for a follow-up shot on Wednesday.

My next post will be all about my wonderful sister and how she is so generous and kind-- if I can think of a SAGA to write she would be the main character and all the good things would happen to her to pay her back for the lending of her 'lifesaving' house.

Talk to you all later.....

Much Much Much 

Love,

C.

At HOME while it STORMS Outside

Today the weather gave us hail, rain, wind and at times, sun.  The tide was super high -- the bay waves were breaking at the tops of the dikes -- can't remember that happening in recent times.  There was a time, many many years ago where the dikes were breached and there was extensive flooding.  I guess the tides are so high because the moon is supposed to be full and closer to Earth??

Grabbed some shots of R and Dyllie and later of my sister, Colette, when she came by to visit and pick up some batteries (emergency preparations).  Colette was nice and got some photos of D and me.  So here they are:  3 photos from tonight.

Take Care Everyone,

Love You!

C.

Lucky 4 Us

There is a real 4 leaf clover here in the photo.  Isn't that amazing?  It's quite a large clover, too, and it is now being pressed in the 'Pray for a Cure' Bible that Linda gave me.... Hope you all will look at the clover patches near you.......you never know!

Love, C.

How Things Change

Two photos of the same scene, December 9 and earlier, on October 19....2008

Dave and I went to a cancer support group tonight.  My gosh it was great.  Thank you to everyone who was there, I feel so grateful to you for sharing and encouraging.

OHSU tomorrow for my last test before chemo....

Love,

C.

House Bound

Sat, Sun and now Monday have been stay at home days.  Last Friday, I got a flu shot and a pneumonia shot, and then it just seemed to zap my energy and make all the surgery stuff ache again.

Steve of Steve&Sherry visited and was so nice!  Thanks Steve-- AND especially Thanks to Sherry for the gift bag.  Even though I am not very social, I promise that I like/love everyone!  (Sherry!)  Steve, you were very kind to sit and talk... thank you so very much.

Mentally I am gearing up for a very aggressive treatment, and I have to be super super careful about catching any type of bug.  (That's why I can not even be close to Dyllie -- for at least the next 4 months)

My Doc is very very anxious to start my chemo-- he wanted to start on the 9th (tomorrow), but they needed one more test.  Chemo now starts on the 16th of December.

Christmas is going to be shifted over to others this year --- it's a pity, but I am sure that the Good Lord will understand.

My idea is that Dave and I have enough to do  with getting up to Portland every 2 weeks, in the winter....etc....  

Please check my blog for updates----- AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I am looking forward to the Spring and the Summer!  Chemo will last at least till the end of March....

Love, 

C.

Squirrel Day

Out on our walk, we saw some otters again; we saw mallard ducks and a lone heron..... but what was really amazing were the three different squirrels we saw.  Each was so obsessed with eating douglas fir pinecones that they just stayed put while I photographed them.  So here they are, the darlings.....

C.

OHSU Mountains and Tram

             

Thursday, yesterday, we arrived early and parked on the Hill.  The weather was clear -- cold and nippy -- and blue-sky sunny.  I thought, hey why not snap some photos while we ride the tram down to the appointment.

{These photos went into blogger in reverse order.... hope that's OK??}

The Mountains:  Mt St Helens, Mt Hood and the tip of Mt Rainier...  WOW

My appointment was in the 'Health and Wellness Building' at the waterfront  -- 

In the tram photo you can see where the cables lead, and that is the building, on the 7th floor, where I will begin chemotherapy on December 16th.  

OHSU kept us busy for quite a while, we ate in the cafeteria there and got home at around 9:00pm.

Everyone is so kind and professional, I could not ask for a better situation.

Thanks again to my dear family and friends,  LOVE YOU!

C.

Otter Believe It

O My Gosh,  my eagle eyed walking buddy spotted  A PAIR OF RIVER OTTERS!!  

We walked 3 m at Ft Clatsop at midday, and you just gotta trust me, that this photo is of two river otters.  We even saw them eating fish!!

Colette came by to visit and we had green & ginger tea, golden raisins, freshly roasted chestnuts and some papaya nectar.....we were going to go out, but it was really nice to just talk and munch on the healthy tidbits.

Dyl came over for Gpa to watch for about an hour tonight, and we saw M and R, too.  Thanks for the encouragement, you guys!

Yesterday was a 'Dr Day' and Tomorrow will be, too.

D got a stack of cute movies for us to watch... it's going to be 'Mary Poppins' for me.....   --Bet you did not know I like Mary Poppins!!!  Chim Chim Cherrie!!

It takes a spoonful of sugar for the medicine to go down!  You know what that is for me? The medicine is the chemo and the 'sugar' is = the kindness of my family and so many others + spending time with the best guy I know. 

Onward,

LOVE, C.

Rain Yesterday, Overcast Today

We walked out at the Airport Dike yesterday and thank goodness we had tough raincoats-- fisherman raincoats, yellow and orange, because it was blowing and raining and our pants got soaked.  I found it easier to take good breaths in the rain, so that was good....  D said I needed windshield wipers for my glasses...!

In a couple of days, my Docs will let me know the plans, but I am enjoying my 'freedom' .  

On Monday night, H and her Dad were on the radio together, reading "Bed Time Stories" on KMUN.  R had little Dyl in the bathtub at the time, and he recognized Grandpa's voice over the radio-- he was chuckling and saying 'Grandpa!'.  He knew Heather's voice, too. 

They did their show with a baseball theme, and H read 'Casey At The Bat', and H and D read a cute little story about a baseball game played by various animals (the weasels were the bad guys, of course...).  Grandpa read the low voices of the weasels....  AND he saved the reading on a CD!   A very SPECIAL time!!   It was so exciting, I wonder if the kids listening wanted to go to bed afterward?

Thanks for the prayers and good wishes from everyone,

I am sending many prayers and good wishes back to all of you!

Love, C.