LAST WEEK OF 2010

It was so fun to have the Summers girls and Clarissa come over for a visit. They are fun to be around and
I enjoyed catching up on all their news.

We got about 6 inches of snow yesterday. Does this stop Don from working out? NO! After a long hard
day at work he still feels the need to keep fit. Don is an inspiration to me and I want to be just like him when
I grow up. No wonder he can still work at 70 years old.

We are celebrating New Years Eve tonight with our special little companion dog. We hope and pray that
this next year will be a great year for all of us. We are looking forward to all the new year has to offer.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!

CHRISTMAS TRADITION

Jeff and Tami began a wonderful Christmas tradition last year. They take us to the Double Tree Hotel Buffet for
Christmas dinner. It's so nice to not have to worry about a meal or clean up afterwards on Christmas day. We eat
all we want and then go home and take a nap!

Can you tell I have my appetite back?

A last picture before leaving. What a lovely tradition and we all really looked forward to it. We hope
that your Christmas season was great too.

CHRISTMAS EVE

Tami's Magic Cookie Bars are our favorite treat for Christmas Eve. Making 2 pans is more than we need
since we don't have as many people around. I plan to make some plates of goodies up this week for people
because I can't resist these bars.

I sent all our daughters a special gift to show my love and appreciation for each of them this year. They have
all been so wonderful and caring. Tami just opened her necklace I titled LOVE FOR ETERNITY , and read
the poem out loud. We were both crying. Don took this picture of the two of us.

Teresa was with us on Christmas Eve and enjoyed opening gifts too.

It was a fun evening for all of us!

THANKSGIVING-2010

I haven't been able to blog for the past month and finally I can. I decided to catch you up with the Cleveland
news before getting into the Christmas seasaon. This was Thanksgiving when Tami, Jeff and Teresa were
able to join in our Thanksgiving dinner. We all had a great feast!

Teresa wanted to give Tami and I an early Christmas gift by taking Tami and I to the movie Tangled. It was
such a fun and cute movie. We loved the "girl's night out" event and decided we need to do this again.

We enjoyed eating popcorn, laughing and being together. I was feeling so much better and it felt good to
get out and enjoy each other company.

We are also trying to get together with Clarissa and Kelly at least once a month. We always have a good time
and this is a picture at Dos Hombres.

I'm getting my energy back and have enjoyed the Christmas season. I was able to decorate, buy and mail
packages, participate in special holiday dinners, etc. It's good to get back to normal again. The only thing that
bothers me is the tingling in my fingers and my hair is so different. It has no body and is thinner. Hopefully
these things will go away in time. I have to keep reminding myself that at least I still have hair!!

I hope to keep up with my blogging. Who knows how long this will work until I can't use it any more. I wish
I knew more about computers but at I'm still learning. Have a great Christmas Season.....only 3 more days
before it's here.

FANNIE PACK IS OFF!

Until my chemo fannie pack was off I wasn't done with my last treatment. This morning it was taken off and I feel like IT'S OVER!!
I know that the next few days will be hard but then I can begin to get my strength and appetite back. I feel like a new woman already just knowing that there's no more chemo going into my body. I'm so grateful that I live in this day and age with all the miracle drugs that are available, but needless to say, I'm so relieved that there is an end to it.

When I first began chemo it was hot outside. It was fun to have the fireplace going this morning because there was a cold nip in the air when we arrived at the Cancer Center. What a lovely facility we have here in Grand Junction and it's only 5 minutes from our home.

Teresa was able to go with me this morning. She has been so helpful and loving durng all this. She often bopped in every morning to check up on how I was feeling during my treatments. This was comforting for me.

Here I am taking my Fannie Pack off for the last time. YIPPEE!!

Teresa took this last picture of me before leaving the facility. I did feel like a FREE WOMAN AT LAST. This will be my last picture in my documentation scrapbook that I have been keeping about my cancer experience. It's a great way to end my books.

Thank you all for your love and prayers. I have truly felt the powers of heaven help me through this experience. Life is great and I'm ready to go on with it. May the Lord bless you all!

MY LAST CHEMO TREATMENT!

There were many prayers in my behave these last couple of weeks. Yesterday couldn't have gone smoother. They were able to get blood out of my port and when they got my port ready, it didn't even hurt. Last week it was painful so I wasn't looking forware to this. My platlets were better and so the chemo was on schedule. I was so excited that we didn't have to wait a week.

Don had taken the day off to be with me on the last chemo treatment. It was great having him with me. I had Charleen again and she is such a good sport about having pictures taken. She thinks it's great that I have documented all my cancer experiences throughout the last six monthns.

The only problem with Don is he made me nervous when he was playing around with my cocktail. I told him that he wasn't to be Dr. Quack during this time. Don was very interested in all that I went through during my treatments.

Needless to say, I was very glad that this chemo treaztment was over. After I get through the bad days, I can then GET ON WITH MY LIFE!! What a great thought!

I love you all and thank you for your love and support. This has helped me get through this time of my life.

When I get my chemo pack off on Thursday, we will really celebrate. Until then.................Love you!

HALLOWEEN-2010

Halloween began on Friday afternoon when Teresa came over to borrow my BEE costume. I let her use my blond wig and put make up on her. She was now ready for her works Halloween Party. Of course Muffin was ready too. We thought Teresa was a BLONDBEE!

For Sunday I decided to wear a costume that Tami bought a few years ago. I tried it on and IT FIT ME! I figure I was the wicked step mother of SNOW WHITE that changed into a witch at the end of the story.

Don had a great time passing out candy all night. He didn't want me to wear out getting up and down. Of course Shadow kept us informed when ever anyone was coming to the door. We had a lot of trick or treaters and it was fun for all of us!

MY 7TH CHEMOTHERAPY TREATMENT!

My nurse was Charleen and she was great. Everything went smoothly today.....not like yesterdays blood draw. Yes, they couldn't get blood out of my port and so they had to draw blood from my arm. They put some stuff in my port to disolve the fibers that were preventing the blood from coming out. Today they were able to draw the blood so my chemo began.

It was nice having my sister Clarissa with me today. We had a good visit while she was working on her aphgan and I caught up on my chemotherapy documentation. Teresa came about 11:15 a.m. and we had one of the nurses take our picture. My chemo was done and the pump is now on for the next 46 hours. Another one down and one more to go! I can feel and end to this.

Ileen Sparks insisted that she would bring over dinner tonight at 5:00. What a dear friend she is. Don and I enjoyed the meal and it was so nice to not have to worry about making a meal. I am surrounded by loving family and friends and this is such a blessing in my life. I never take this for granted!!

The doctor did tell me yesterday that my platlets were down. If they are down for my next treatment I will have to wait for a week before they can do my chemotherapy. Please pray that my platlets will stay the same. I'm really hoping and praying that my last treatment will be Nov. 2. If not, I can handle delaying it for a week. you posted.

We do have HALLOWEEN before my next treatment so that is something to look forward to. Everyone have a great TRICK OR TREAT NIGHT!!!

MY DEAR FRIEND JANET

Janet Forsgren and I have been good friends for over 30 years. When we first moved to Grand Junction, Janet was Primary President and I was put into Primary right away. Janet and I had daughters that were close in age. They grew up together in the Gospel.

Janet and I were pool buddies. We enjoyed the exercises and classes at St. Mary's Life Center pool every day. It was always fun to have Janet in my classes and we could catch up on all the news.

One day at Church, Janet and I got a kick out of dressing the same. We had no idea that we had bought the same skirt and top at Christopher and Banks. I had my camera with me so Don took these pictures because we thought it was so funny. We decided that we also had the same taste in clothes too.

I was so sad when I learned a month ago that Janet had Colon Cancer. She called me and asked me if I thought this was catching. I told her that I'm sure it wasn't. She had surgery in Sept. and found out that the cancer cells were in the nymph nodes so that meant that she would have 12 treatments in the next 6 months.

I felt so bad that she had to go through this too. Today was her second chemotherapy treatment so I went to see how she was doing. She looked great and she knows that I'm there for her all the way!!

CHEMOTHERAPPY #6

Tami took off work this morning to be with me during my treatment. It was great having her there. Time flew my for both of us and it was over before we knew it.

It was a beautiful Fall day and we decided to get some air outside.

My nurse was a good sport with the pictures. She knew I was documenting my cancer experience. Here I am getting my pump ready for the next 46 hours. It will be interesting to see if I have as good a two weeks as last time.

Lori Dillon brought over a wonderful meal from her and Connie Clever's daughter. It was a delicious home made chicken noodle soup, some wonderful rolls, a salad with dressing and crystal light drink. These are from my great Visiting Teachers that I love so much. It is so nice to have a meal after chemo since I'm pretty drained and the last thing I want to do is fix a meal. I do have some awsome friends and they are there for me just like my family is. I feel so blessed!!

SIX DOWN AND TWO TO GO........I FEEL LIKE THERE'S AN END TO THIS AND I'M EXCITED. KEEP YOU ALL POSTED.