Tuesday November 27 2007

A cloudy morning. We're supposed to get snow today, not sure how much. And pretty cold. It's been between 0 and 10 or so in the mornings lately. We did get an afternoon snow squall. It didn't amount to much and had half cleared up by night.

Laurie did arrive by 8:30 with boxes and in about 30 minutes she had the rest of the books packed and ready to go to the museum. I still have more books than I seem to want, but its not more than I can manage to do something with later. Joe kept back a few he wants to look at.

I planned to get my hair washed, but too many phone calls before, and through the day, and the painting group arrived soon after 10 a.m. We had a great visit, first with coffee and cookies, then into the studio to begin a little artwork. We needed to carry chairs back and forth from the kitchen to the studio and back, but there were enough desks and tables for everyone to work o.k. They brought lunch of potato soup, and peach cobbler both made by Kay, and Melita had gotten up before 6 to make out of this world fresh rolls and cookies. We had a good afternoon painting session, and ended the visit in a special prayer blessing. I was so appreciative for that amazing friendship and support. They also all promised any kind of help. Kay helped me by hauling away a bunch of stuff for the second hand store. Debbie packed my car with more that I will take soon.

Special thanks for the nice and enjoyable day to you all.

I have had such an outpouring of offers for help in any way, driving me to Jackson for chemo, and good wishes and very many suggestions for different kinds of cures, it's almost more than I can absorb. I will also say here I'm so grateful for all the cards and phone calls and for being the subject of so many prayer lists, in four temples and a mass, and everyone praying. It is unbelievable and very appreciated.

Ruth made us two yummy pizzas, and we had the small one for dinner with a salad and put the second one in the freezer for later. It was then I realized had kept her pizza pan so must make sure I return that later. So that was easy. Thank you dear Ruth.

Monday November 26 2007

Debbie left early this morning to go home,and called this evening to say she had gotten there about 6 p.m. They were going out to dinner. This will be the first day that we're back to being on our own without Debbie's help. Before she went, we got the sheets from her and my bed washed and later Joe helped me put mine back together, and then just went in the blue bedroom and made the other one by himself. He is really being helpful and considerate.

Had a sort of busy phone day. Laurie said they would be here at 8:30 tomorrow morning to pack up the rest of the books. Kay called to confirm that five of the artists will be coming out tomorrow and bringing lunch. Sandra called and I always enjoy visiting with her. I had left the laptop connected to the Internet when the phone rang, and when I came back it was locked up. I had to read the book and found how to get it to turn off thank goodness. I don't think I could face another broken thing.

All day I was on the verge of getting into the shower but here it is 10 p.m. and I still haven't gotten there. I fixed us some lunch and my inspiration Nancy came over for a quick visit and brought a care package. We had a good visit. She is such a caring person,

Today I did get some more painting done, and the one I'm working on is nearly all blocked in with the second layer. I can work on it more tomorrow.

About 5 p.m. Howie drove up into the yard to load up their bags and boxes of items Debbie had packed for them. Joe asked him if he'd like to have a sandwich with us and he did stay. I made Rueben's with fries and salad. After dinner I thought I'd lay down for a while to rest and had the nicest most relaxing nap. I did about 10 minutes of walking laps around the kitchen/hall/living room. Raven walked with me for a while then decided she'd wait for me at the kitchen door since I didn't seem to be going anywhere much. Maybe I'll go now and get that shower.

Sunday November 25 2007

A cold morning, about 0 degrees. I never even went outside today. But it was mostly sunny and very little wind. Tonight another full moon is shining brightly.

Joe was up at his usual pre-dawn time. Debbie and I got up at almost 8. We had some breakfast and then our main project was to finish getting all the Thomas' nieces and nephews heirloom stuff packed up. We did a lot yesterday and the rest before lunch. There has been stuff in nearly every room and every closet so it was a challenge to dig it all out. Debbie climbed up to all the top shelves. I sat at the table and wrapped up all the dishes and she packed them into boxes. And then the job was done. Debbie took all the bags and boxes out to the garage to store on the shelves until they could come and get it.

Even though he had said last spring that it was o.k to do this, Joe had a hard time with seeing things going out of the house that had been here since his childhood, That was a little hard to overcome, but I think he's pretty o.k. with it when he realized its the right thing to do, and also to think about what might happen realistically in the future if it wasn't taken care of.

Yesterday Debbie called the realtor in Maui who is in charge of the condo that Jan offered to us for a week in January and explained to her that we wouldn't be coming there. It might be a really stupid thing to pass up such a great opportunity, but I just can seem to face making that kind of trip. Also I likely will be in the midst of treatments once a week. It is a major undertaking to travel and fly out of here when I'm well, let alone being sick and in the middle of January. So.... We're not doing that after all.

Debbie cleaned up the house and other housework. In the morning she'll change the sheets. Then she is going to start home. I will really be sorry to see her go. Have so much appreciated her care and help. I have also enjoyed being with her for over a month.

Today I put out new paint on the palette and began to work on a painting - a commission - I want to finish.

Charm and Betty called today and we visited for a while. I called Phyllis and thanked her for having Joe to dinner and sending us over care plates. I forgot to mention that my grandson Justin called us yesterday, so it was good to hear from him.

Then this evening Joslyn called and said Howie and Jacques would be here tomorrow afternoon to haul away all the boxes Debbie packed up. It will be nice that they don't have to do that packing.

I didn't feel as good today as yesterday, and maybe I did a little too much yesterday or maybe I'll just have ups and downs for a while until the healing is complete. The Dr. said it would take two or three months to be back to feeling normal.

Saturday November 24 2007

Today was pretty busy. And the good thing was that I felt fairly good, and although Debbie was doing the heavier work, I was able to be up helping all day without getting tired. She did all the heavy lifting. Hope I'm not going to have to crash tomorrow, but it doesn't feel like that now. Debbie is the one who must be very tired.

Debbie and I first started boxing and bagging up the things for Joe's nieces and nephews that was their grandparents and have been here in the house all these years. We're not quite done with that and will finish it tomorrow. There's quite a bit of it. At last it will finally be off the shelves and out of the cupboards.

When Debbie went into the metal shed to get some boxes, Raven got locked in there all morning. We started missing her about noon, so Joe went searching. That is as long as that has ever happened to her and she was sure glad to get out. I think she ate all the cat food though. She never made a peep or cried so we would know where she was.

Ruth and Gary Shriver brought their horse trailer and took all the frames away this morning. Don't know how many I had but a lot of different sizes, and we trashed some more that were really junk. Probably some that they took will also be junkers, but I sure do appreciate them hauling them off. If I need something back, as in finish some painting(s), I will be able to go get a frame at their place. They brought the last of my new pieces that had been being framed. I didn't tell them, but after they left and I looked I sure liked the frames they put on the artwork, especially the bighorn ewe and lamb. Ruth brought me a present of goat's milk soap, she said its like bathing in cream. I can't wait to try it. They had coffee and rolls with us before they left and we got to visit a while.

Betty and Beverly called today. Beverly called from work and was having to make up time for missing four days when she came to SLC by working on the weekend. Betty said another of our high school friends, Linda, was coming up to Mesquite from Overton to have lunch together. Betty has gotten a new dog who is up for adoption and it looks like a chocolate lab and Rottweiler mix. He is really pretty and his name is Cody - 89 pounds. She is "fostering" him, to see how they get along. She and her helper Martin are really getting a lot of renovation and remodeling completed. Lois also called later.

Next we went out to the garage and started cleaning out the shelves after Gary and Ruth took the frames. A whole LOT of stuff was taken out of there, and we rearranged the boxes of my packed up artwork into better order. There are now about 5 or 6 empty shelves. At some point I also have to (or want to) dispose of the art supplies, lots of canvases etc. etc. etc. that are stored there in the garage, but in the meantime I plan to continue painting.

We heard the dogs bark and I went out and Helena and Jonita had stopped by while they were out working on Helena's homestead project. They had been finding the locations in our area again. We talked for a while and Helena took a photo of our outhouse that is the only remaining original building on this place and she took a GPS reading on it. When I came in I found that they left us some candy and a jar of cleansing cream which I'm anxious to try. Thanks, dear friends.

Debbie burned all the trash and cardboard we cleaned out of the garage and that took her quite a while too.

Kay called and said that our Tuesday painting group wanted to come over next week and bring a pot luck and visit, maybe paint if we decided to. I thought that sounded like a pretty good plan.

I'm watching White Christmas and realize I've never seen it before. And me, the movie buff.

Today was clear and cold, with the wind coming up in the afternoon as usual. We've had some beautiful sunsets lately and the full moon rising about the same time. Well I think I'm ready to lay down for the night

Friday November 23 2007

Joe went into town for a hair cut and his blood tests and had lunch in there. He had to get a letter notarized and get in the safety deposit box.

Well, a fairly boring day, and have been up all day too. I'm feeling better than yesterday. Am only taking the medicines twice a day now, at first it was four times a day. So that's progress. Same old trouble sleeping, but when that is happening and I sit and go through papers, throwing a lot out, and watch TV. Talked to several friends on the phone, Edis called today and Marilyn last night. So great to hear from everyone. I also made some calls.

Curtis helped me download the last batch of photos I've taken into the laptop down in SLC so we looked at them all on "slide show" this morning. Maybe soon I'll slowly be able to add them to the blog in the right order. Today Debbie helped me a lot again. We cleaned out my closet and dresser drawers, pared down to what they should have been on my simplifying campaign long ago. Before I couldn't part with stuff that was still pretty good, but its easy now. I also went through my jewelery and that's at a much more sensible and meaningful level. We kept at it most of the day.

Debbie loaded the paintings I'm sending for Curtis' Rotary auction into her car. I'm sending some of the family photos home with her to be shared so nothing will happen to them. If I want them back I can always get them.

Debbie made us a good salmon dinner tonight. We're doing fine.

Thursday November 22 2007

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

I'm so thankful for my family and all my friends. You have been so wonderful and supportive and I'm grateful for each person. Thank you for all you've done and for being a friend. I'm thankful for our country and for our soldiers who are so far from home on this special family day. I'm thankful for the special place where we live, and our community.

And thanks very much for all the prayers, so many prayers from all over, the many cards and messages.

We are awake in our room pretty early today, so Beverly is showering and getting ready to go. I'm just going to dress and go the way I am. We won't leave until 8 or so probably. I'll sure be sorry to see the others go home, but so glad we were able to spend a few days together. So thought I'd sit and get the blog for today started. I went to the lobby and got Beverly some hot chocolate and me some tea. It was pretty quiet down there, the front desk people having some cereal and watching TV. It should be a nice enough day to drive home, just cold. I'm glad Joe will be going to the Mayo's for Thanksgiving dinner. But now I'm also thinking that we will be back in time to go too. Not sure that Debbie and I will just stay home though and not surprise Phyllis with guests she wasn't expecting.

We ate breakfast at the hotel and then said goodbye to Beverly, Clayton and Tayler. They got back to Vegas just at the same time as we got to the ranch. We stopped at the Walmart in Evanston again to get fresh vegetables, milk and such. It was still early there, but by the time we got to Kemmerer we began to look for a place to have a little lunch. The whole way everything was closed, ....or as is usual all along...non-existent. We checked out each town with no luck and finally ended up at the last mini-mart before home where they had a subway and got a sandwich.

By then I was pretty hungry having eaten about a dozen frosted mini wheats hours earlier. Debbie pulled into a small picnic area on the New Fork River to eat, then on to home. Joe was just leaving for Phyllis and Bill's, so Debbie got the car unloaded and I got most of the groceries put away. That involved cleaning out the fridge. I found some scary stuff in there. Then we both took a rest for an hour or so. Joe came home and Phyllis had sent us each a plate of her turkey dinner, which was so nice of her. The dogs were sure glad to see us. I gave Joe the details of the doctor appointments as clearly as possible. We need to decide what to do next. I'm sure he's worried about me getting too sick for him to take care of me here. Tomorrow I'll try to call Deanne for a visit. We did get the medical reports and I'll make copies for our different doctors. Then will decide a plan. Debbie might go home tomorrow or Saturday.

Wednesday November 21 2007

Today the appointment with the oncologist was at 10:40. We had a little of the hotel's continental breakfast, and all went over to the Institute again. This time we got into an exam room right away, but the the oncologist was behind and we waited for a while. A young man who introduced himself a social worker came in and talked to us for some time. I think he must be a psychologist, and he was pretty nice as well as helpful. All the different people there each have a different job, and all say the same thing. If we need anything in their expertise or need information we should call them.

Dr. Jones was VERY good to spend about 2 hours with us explaining all the options of chemotherapy, very thoroughly and so we could understand everything. She had a new pathology report, apparently since we spoke with the surgeon yesterday, on the tumors and had a much more grim prognosis - three months without chemo and 6 months with. It involves driving to chemo once a week for 7 weeks and then a week off, after that chemo once a week for 3 weeks and a week off from now on. She says the kind they use (I'll tell you the name later) doesn't usually make you sick, until you start getting sick from the cancer itself. The cancer is stage 4 which means it has metastasized from the original tumor to another organ. I won't be "cured". The head oncologist Dr. came in for a bit to explain more, He was also very helpful with the information. I didn't notice it but Beverly says he got very emotional telling me the prognosis. I know he looked away several times, but she said he had tears.

The choices of where to have the chemo done are: to drive to for the chemo there at the Huntsman Institute (more than 5 hours one way - would have to stay over night), or to Jackson (about 2 hours - no overnight), and I will be looking in to possibly being able to do something closer to home. Or another option is to stay home and not do anything. I don't want to drive to Salt Lake that much during the winter. Of course actually I don't want to do it at all. Joe and I need to talk. I never got him called today because we got back to the hotel late and I decided just to wait to talk to him at home.

We were done at the Institute about 2:30 or 3 and went to Chilis for some lunch, then back to the sporting goods store - Dicks - to buy that coat for Tayler. It is in a very new design type of mall, it was awesome. I think the name of it was Gateway. There is a big parking garage and condominiums are towering above the multiple outdoor levels of walkways. I'm glad I got to see it. It's way downtown. Then back to our hotel. Since it was so late when we ate our late lunch we decided not to go out to dinner, but I did bring my leftovers home and had another 1/2 a fajita this evening with my medicine - need to take it with food.

A little later I went to the lobby to get a cup of tea and saw Linda again. I had just been thinking of sending her and Greg an email or something, but didn't want to disturb them at their room. She said Greg was pretty tired and was having some reactions to the radiation/chemo, but doing o.k. Tonight he was able to eat a little, but lately had lost quite a bit of weight. They had four days off because of the holiday weekend, so he will be able to rest.

Curtis came and showed me how to download the photos out of my camera into the laptop and we fooled around with that for a while. The photo card slides right in to the side of the laptop, or I could use the camera cord.

We will leave for home in the morning, Curtis, Tayler and Beverly back to Vegas and Debbie and I to the ranch. It has certainly been a special time for them to be here with me during a difficult time. And very very much appreciated.