Memorial Day weekend

Sunday I met all my family for a belated Mother's Day celebration together at Mike Linnings. I even walked down to the river! We got ice cream on the way home.
Monday all the girls came to the house. We went to the Jefferson Memorial Forest and I hiked a 1.5 mile path! I am thinking that if I can do this, I can surely do our vacation. We went to I-Hop, came home and watched an old Indiana Jones movie - The Last Crusade - and played a board game. It was lots of fun.
Today and tomorrow the focus is on graduation, and then I am leaving!
Thanks for your prayers and emails.
Jan

Prayer for Dad/Health Update for me

I'd like to ask for prayer for my dad. He has pneumonia once again, and has been hospitalized. They will run some tests on Sunday, and he has no idea when he will get to come home. This is his third bout with pneumonia this year. Please pray for healing and for comfort - he is very frustrated with his health situation.

The lump on my neck is the result of some small loose black hairs in my ear canal. I don't know how they got there - I do pull on chemo caps at home all the time because my head is cold, and I pull them way down over my ears - go figure! I am glad it is such a simple thing - I have been given ear drops to solve the problem.

Now for the exciting news - I got a haircut!!! My hair is only about an inch long, but my stylist, Terri, was able to shape it up for me so I can begin to go out without caps or my wig. It was growing haywire like baby hair, and it is the same texture. She made it look much better, and showed me how to use gel on it to give it more volume, etc. It was so fun to be back in a beauty shop, that I went today and had a pedicure with Sarah and Katie. Now that helps me to feel like a real person again!

We went to church this evening, had dinner, and went to see my dad. The weather was gorgeous, and I found myself in an attitude of gratitude for just being alive.

Grace Academy is Closed!

Today Katie finished all her work, and so our homeschool, Grace Academy, is officially closed after seventeen years of operation.
I won't put everything away for awhile. I would like to feel better, and then take my time in the fall after the wedding to sort through seventeen years of books, microscopes, etc. and the girls' binders that store work samples and photos of activities through the years. I would like to scrapbook these binders for the girls to look at when they are home. I plan to keep them here for me.:>)

I have an appointment with my oncologist tomorrow for swelling in my neck on the right side - the same size as the lymphedema. It feels like there is a goose egg in there! I am praying that this can be resolved with an antibiotic or something else that is simple, so that I can continue graduation and trip preparations.

Update and Endings

I am beginning to gain some energy, although mornings are still a struggle, and praying that I will have adequate energy for Katie's graduation and our trip to England and Scotland. If I have to rest over there, at least I am resting in a new environment, more interesting than my own couch at home.
I am also learning to deal with my arm - compression, exercises, massage, skin care -in a more day-to-day manner - it is becoming a routine part of my life for now.
My surgery is June 24th to repair my TRAM donor site (abdomen). It will take 6-8 weeks to recover, so I should be good for Katie's move to college and Sarah's wedding.
News of the girls:
Sarah continues to plan her wedding.
Emily returned safely from Greece. She had a nice surprise after she returned - she and Hunter had lunch with Brett Favre the day after her return. The girl leads a charmed life!!!
Katie had her final dance recitals this past weekend, and she danced beautifully. She plans to continue with her dancing, as Anderson has a dance minor and a dance team.
I am going through a lot of "lasts" as my body is permanently altered, and as Katie graduates, and we prepare for the empty nest this fall when Katie moves away and Sarah gets married. Emily already lives away from home. I found a quote from Dave Dravecky, a pitcher who lost his arm to cancer, that means alot to me right now.

"We can't go back, no matter how much we ache to do so. All we can do is give thanks for what once was, for the good that was there, for the happy times that were had, for the laughter, for the love, for the memories that were shared. Then, saying goodbye to those times and to those loved ones, we can put our hand in the hand of Him who gave orbit to the sun and the moon and the stars, and trust that he has a course for our lives as well."

Lookin' Good!

I went to my therapist yesterday for the first of three massages this week to reduce the swelling in my hand. It appears that the night time compression is really helping my hand and my arm. She measured me in several places, and said that my hand and arm are the smallest they have been! I also have less fibrosis - some around my elbow and a small amount on my inner forearm, but a lot of it has disappeared. I have really tried to be faithful to my massage at home, exercises, and compression. She still thinks I will wear this for life, but I continue to ask God differently, while working as if I will.
Last night, Katie had her final piano recital. She has played for ten years. She played Song of India by Rimsky Korsakov, and it was beautiful.
I will always associate this song with this year, along with Vivaldi's Spring and Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. I don't know how many hours I've been on the couch while Katie's playing soothed my spirits as I rested. All the girls have played, and for years we have had piano music in the afternoons at our house. I will miss that next year - I'll have to pop in some classical CDs.
My mom and dad and Sarah came to the recital, along with Bryan and I, and afterwards we got dessert. It was a pleasant evening. At home Sarah and Katie spent some time together - it is always nice to hear them "hanging out". I treasure these next few months we have together before Katie leaves for college and Sarah gets married.
Emily e-mailed, and she is having a great time in Greece! I can't wait to see her pictures and hear her stories.
The plastic surgeon's office called today, and it looks like I will have my repair surgery the week of June 23rd. I am SO ready to get this taken care of. I think I will feel like a different person afterward.
Thanks so much for all your continued acts of thoughtfulness towards me, and always for those prayers!
Jan