VERY Belated Update - Monday, April 6, 2009

Greetings! Well, a lot more time has gone by since I last wrote than I expected. The principal reason for that is my extended stay in Ottawa with my sister. I travelled there by train Monday, March 16 and was only there a couple of days when I realized that I needed to stay longer than I had planned. Broken ribs cannot be stabilized with bandaging or casts and almost every time she changed position, something shifted and hurt. Add to that a left shoulder needing a sling and a left wrist in a support/half cast and you are down to one working arm. So I was able to be chauffeur, sometime cook and general handy person for her for 2 weeks. I could have stayed longer, but I had my own medical appointments to keep back here. She is improving but it will still be several weeks before she has the use of her left arm and those ribs heal.

We were able to get in some visits with cousins and I still have a good friend from high school that I was also able to see, so we had some fun times, too.

I returned home by train Sunday, March 29 and had my last (I think) MUGA scan for my heart Monday and my delayed Avastin treatment in Windsor on Tuesday. Neither of these causes me any physical distress and I am now just generally recovering from the whole treatment procedure. I find that I do not need my afternoon rests as much - just every couple of days now, depending on what else I am doing, instead of every day. Also, my hair has grown back in enough that I have stopped wearing my wig and go out 'au naturel' now. It's quite grey/silvery and still quite short, so I look very different from what people are used to but it is a relief to be bare-headed again without the constriction of the wig. I practised in Ottawa to get used to it and am now letting the 'home folks' recognize the new me.

It is David who is keeping us from getting bored these days - he has had to have a second eye surgery for his detaching retina. He had a follow-up appointment Tuesday, March 24 for the first surgery - the second week that I was in Ottawa. Fortunately, our daughter was able to go with him to that appointment and when the doctor decided that a second surgery was necessary, she was able to stay and go with her dad to that, too. We certainly appreciated her help, both with her dad and for making it possible for me to stay in Ottawa with my sister. His second surgery was Friday, March 27 and he is still having some discomfort and other issues with it. After my Avastin treatment last Tuesday, I drove with him to Sarnia for his Board of Education meeting, so that I could drive home and those of you who know him will realize what a concession that is! Between the darkness and the forecasted rain, he did not feel that he could see well enough to drive home alone. He has a follow-up appointment next week and we will see what comes from that.

So - there you have it ! We are keeping on keeping on ! Thank you so much for your prayers and your ongoing interest and concern. We certainly appreciate them. I hope you have a blessed Easter, however you celebrate it and have time to remember and be thankful for the tremendous gift God gave through Christ's death and resurrection. Without it, we would have no reason to pray or to hope; I would have had no one to turn to these last few months for strength or hope as I faced this disease. But because of it and because I have chosen to place my trust in Him, I have been able to face it in confidence that my life is safe in His care and with faith that He is guiding and protecting me through this time. As the scriptures say, "Whoever will, may come" - it is a gift open to any who will choose it.