Road Trip!

Today I drove up to San Juan Capistrano to meet an old friend for lunch.  Derek was worried about me driving all that way by myself.  I reassured him that I would be just fine and promised to call him when I arrived.  I was so excited about meeting up with Nancy.  She is a "horse" friend of mine from N. Calif.  We had lost touch and I hadn't seen her in the 3 years since we had moved down south.  She didn't know that I had been diagnosed a second time with cancer. When I told her my tale of the last 9 months, she broke down and cried.  She hugged me close and said it made it even more special that we were able to rekindle our friendship.   We assume our friends will always be with us.  We spent a leisurely lunch catching up on each others lives spending a lot of time talking about our respective horses.   She is one of the few people who didn't bat an eye when I told her I went to Mexico and bought a three year old stallion.   She understood completely that we horse women occasionally loose our minds. She then recounted her story of buying her present horse sight unseen over the Internet.  He arrived from Florida as bag of bones and lame to boot.... Plus her trainer hated him and said he would never amount to anything.  Now two years later (and a different trainer) he is winning high point at all the local shows.  I am glad her horse story has a happy ending.    She has invited me to go with her to the CA Dressage Society annual show in Los Angeles in mid Oct.   I can't Wait!!!!

Happy Birthday Dearest Richard!!!

Today is my little boy's 26th birthday.   Even though he is 6' 2"and 190 pounds, he will always be my little boy.  I have pictures of me and my very pregnant belly the day before he was born.   I knew I was going into labor so I asked Larry (my first husband) to take a picture of  my belly because it was so amazingly HUGE.  The labor was long and hard (Unfortunately without any drugs).   I was sure I was delivering an elephant....,but out came a beautiful baby boy who weighed almost 9 pounds.   He came into the world at 12:00 AM.   That means that when I signed the birth certificate I could choose either the 24th or the 25th for his birth date.   I choose the 25th so he could be one day younger.   

 I am so lucky to be blessed with a child of each sex.  Raising a boy is so much different than a girl.  I don't think it is better or worse just different.  Richard has taught me so much about boys and men.  I have enjoyed the funny, loving, rough and tumble ways of boys.   The things boys do and try to do, I would never even dream of doing as a girl.  Richard has a great sense of humor which I noticed even as a pre-schooler.  Do you remember the song "Billy don't loose that number" that was popular in the early 80s?  At 4 years old, Richard would put on my sun glasses and imitate  Phil Colins in his video.   Amy and I would laugh hysterically which of course would encourage him even more.  I have so many great memories of raising Rich.   I am so glad that I get to be his Mother.

Love You Rich.....signed "YO MAMMA"

My Dad is still sick

My Dad was released from the hospital yesterday and was feeling much better.  Today I called him and his temp was once again 102 degrees and he could barely walk across the room.  He sounded very sick on the phone.  Barbara is going to take him to the Doctors at 2:00 this afternoon.  He has had an infectious disease doctor look at him as well as his regular doctors and they chalked it off to a virus.  Dad said it could be an autoimmune "issue".  He has polymyalgia rheumatica (sp???) which he has been taking pregnasone for a couple of years.   His regular doctor said he had seen symptoms like this with a patient years ago that turned out to be typhoid.  I can't believe my father could have picked up typhoid....but who knows???   It is much harder going through any illness when you are in your 80s.

As my Dad often says....."Old age is not for sissies!"   I am very worried about him.

More worries....

 My Dad had us all worried because he got worse when he got home from our visit last week.  Even though he had been on antibiotics for over a week,  his temp was fluctuating between 101 to 103, he had muscle aches and extreme fatigue.  His voice sounded so weak on the phone.  They did a CT scan and blood tests and could find nothing conclusive so they admitted him to the hospital yesterday.  I talked to him today and he sounded much better (like his old self).   He says they think it may have been a virus he picked on a flight back from the Bay Area.   They are going to keep him in the hospital until his temp is normal.    My brother and I were talking yesterday and he said...."Man it would be nice to have a bit of a break from family health crisis!!!"  I agreed whole heatedly.   This has been a tough year for our family.   I am  hoping for a few years of uninterrupted health and happiness for the Ballards, the Watkins and the Stonichs.

Family just left

My family has been here since last Friday and the last person just left this morning. It was great to see everyone. My Dad wasn't feeling too well the entire time so I am hoping he will get a chance to recover once he gets home. The young folks (Amy Rich and Ally) were a lot of fun and we were able to do quite a bit. We went out to dinner at Jakes and saw a couple of movies. They all went swimming in the pool while I rested. It was great to be able to cook for everyone and have them all enjoy my food. I am sad that they have left and I am not sure when we will all be able to get together again. I am fairly exhausted and am looking forward to resting for a few days. I have posted a bunch of picture taken during our time together.

Multiple Doctors opinions on my latest PET/CT scan

I have had three doctors look at my PET/CT Scan in addition to my oncologist. I wanted their opinion on the spot on my lung. My oncologist had made a big deal about it and had really scared me. All three said they think the spot on my lung is nothing to worry about. They think it is an artifact of the scan or a small scar on my lung. In addition, the doctors thought I should think about hooking my small bowel back up to my large bowel so that I can eliminate normally and not have to wear a bag for the rest of my life. The surgery would require 4 days in the hospital and three weeks recovery time. My radiation oncologist said I should wait until a full year after radiation to have the surgery to give my "lower Parts" plenty of time to heal.
I thank God multiple times every day for the healing that I have experienced. It is more than I can hope for to have all my parts whole and working again. Considering where I started back in Nov of last year this is truly a miracle! I know all of your prayers and healing thoughts have helped and are helping me to regain my health......Thank you all!!!

Every thing is Good

I am done with my worrying, fretting and freaking out regarding my PET results.  "It is what it is"...and I will deal with it.   I am going back to living in the present and not thinking too much about the future (other than Grand Children...which I can't wait for).  That is how I got through the first 9 months and how I will continue to live.  

My Dad and Step Mom are coming into town on Friday to celebrate my birthday.   Amy gets back from Italy this Thu and will fly down to see me next Monday.  My Son Rich and his girlfriend Ally will also fly down to see me next Mon.  The only folks missing from the celebration will be my Brother Richard and my Sister in Law Bonnie as well as Amy's Boyfriend Ray.   I am really looking forward to the visit and can't wait to see everyone.  We will have a house full of people so I am hoping it won't be too hot and humid as we don't have air conditioning.