Wednesday morning flowers

Thank You

We honor our veterans.

Misty morning.

Tiny grapes!

How cute is this?

7 AM Sunday morning

Saturday night fishing

I brought home 3 new river rocks . . .

Nothing, yet.

"Daddy, I need help with the worm."

Are we having fun, yet?

Yeah, it's kinda fun.

It's getting dark.

Bobby caught a bun.

Can't see as well as he used to!

Berry Promises on a May Saturday Morning

Firstgiving named me "Fundraiser of the Week"!

They sent me a t-shirt and a nice note. Cool.

Mindy's No Hair Day HONOR ROLL of DONORS

DONORS--I thank you, and I am humbled by your generosity:

Klingensmith's Drugstore $1000
Quality Life Services $1000
(Sugar Creek Rest $400
Chicora Medical Center $400
Quality Pharmacy $200)
Jason Galbraith & Various donors $400
Dian King & Various Donors $333
Misc. Cash $300
Candy Decock MCU $250
Josh & Various Donors $205
Keith & Sally Buck $200
Mantini Funeral Home $200
Blaine & Maryanne Galonski $120
Donna Blose $100
Mac's Health Club $100
Dave & Cathy Questiaux $100
Bill & Betty Knappenberger $100
Jim & Sandy Hoover $100
Bradigan Employees $75
Hallman Agency $70
Judie Donaldson $50
Kay Mull $50
Sue Bauer $50
Pam Windon $50
JacK & Kris Steiner $50
Gail Seifert $50
Ronni Williard $50
Tammy Hozak $50
Dawn Zellefrow $50
Amy Berry/Berry Family $50
Connie Mateer $35
Pamela Rupp/Rupp Family $30
Janene Lynn Mohney $25
Susan Boggs $25
Donald Bowers $25
Connie Choncek $25
Patty Kirkpatrick $25
Amanda Powell $25
Dina Blake $25
Dawn Kocher-Taylor $25
Susan Crooks $25
Lorrie Greiner $25
Roni Caruso $25
Brian McCullough $25
Paul Treacy $20
Stacy Hartman $20
Angelo Recupero $20
KellyLee Lucas $20
Patricia Forringer $10
Joyce Snyder $10
Betsy Smith $10
Paula Rummel $10

If anyone has donated and you are missing from the list, please let me know!

Feeling Better, Thank You

Thank you for prayer--I had a rougher first day of chemo this round than last, but the subsequent days have actually been a little bit better.

Photos from my yard this evening:

Comforting Scripture

Here's a chair for you, Karen Hughes!
(She's an excellent photographer, and likes chairs.)

More Lily of the Valley--I love them.

God bless you all!

Today's Flower Pics

Yellow Iris

Bumble Bee on Rhodedendron

One of the names of Jesus--Lily of the Valley

Blue Clematis (my purple one has lots of buds . . . )

Chemo Report

Chemo day worse than last time; they say the effects are cumulative, and each one will be a little worse than the one before. I was sick, and spent a lot of floor time yesterday evening (why is it you feel better on the floor than on the couch on in a bed when your really nauseous?) Anyway, I took another anti-nausea drug and fell asleep on the living room floor about 10 pm and woke up at 11 feeling some-what better.

Don't feel too bad today (at least not yet; it's 7 am)--not great, but not bad. Took my anti-nausea drug and my steriods. Please keep praying; this worries my family. Morgan isn't scheduled at either of her two summer jobs today, so she is available to help me. I'll keep you posted.

Three treatments down and three different ones to go . . . hallelujah!

A shiny hummingbird

MedEvac

The MedEvac helicopter was just revving up when I came out of rehab today. Pretty cool.

Chemo Day Changed

My chemo day was changed until tomorrow (Tuesday) because of a hospital golf outing (!) It's a bad idea, apparently, to be giving people chemotherapy drugs when the doctors are golfing . . . . This is my third round with these 3 drugs, so I'm an old hand by now. (The final 3 treatments, however, are with a different drug--taxotere--so we don't know what to expect on June 11th.)

I will feel pretty bad for the next week, so I appreciate extra prayer. I'm having lymphedema rehab today instead, chemo tomorrow, a Neulasta shot, fluids, and rehab on Wednesday (if I'm up to it), and hopefully, rehab on Friday (again, if I'm up to it).

I continue to be awed and humbled by all the people who tell me that they pray for me. God is good, and so are His people! THANK YOU.

My husband feeds hummingbirds

Lymphedema Therapy

My arm is bandaged 22 hours/day to try to get the fluid out of it. I have been going to physical therapy 3 X week for lymphedema massage and bandaging at Armstrong County Memorial Hospital. The ideal is daily therapy and wrapping, but lymphedema therapists are only available Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. My own wrapping attempts in between are not very successful, so I have no improvement so far--I couldn't get it to wrap correctly at all this morning (it was more like a tourniquet), so I went all day with no wrap at all. (The new body pillow I'm hugging makes everything better, though--thanks, Patti! So this is what was in the big box; I'm lovin' it!)

Happy Mother's Day!

Friday Fotos

My Bleeding Heart made a come-back after being frozen in April. It's one of my favorite perennials.


And--YAY!--I saw a bear. My husband didn't believe me (he figured it was the combination of a big black dog and my imagination), but I have a witness--Morgan saw it, too. (Too bad you can't see it all that well . . . !)

May Apple blooming today

I am so blessed. Every day, God reveals another person who cares about me, who is thinking about me, praying for me, and encouraging me. I was able to share with my good Christian friend Tammy today that I truly feel that God ordained this cancer for me, and that it is a privilege to travel this road with Him. And Robin came and took me to the most lovely lunch--we laughed and cried and talked about the Lord and the things we want to do for Him. I have a family that I adore, a home that is a little piece of heaven on earth (today the May Apples are starting to bloom), a job I love, and wonderful friends.

Yes, I am in cancer treatment, and yes, it is very hard. BUT--I know and trust the Lord, I have wonderful caregivers, my treatments and medical care are excellent and convenient, I have insurance--I could go on and on.

Love and appreciate your life, no matter what. Remember that the Lord will give us beauty for ashes!

Round Two, Day Seven

I was able to get out and enjoy God's beautiful creation today--what wonderful weather.



Thank you, everyone, for your concern and prayers. Biggest complaints all week: fatigue, dizziness, heartburn--but no nausea! Yay! We'll see what my white counts are tomorrow . . .

Round Two, Day Three

Went to work today, and probably did too much, but I still don't feel horrible . . . Nausea under much better control, just need to force myself to rest more (hard for me.) Thank you for prayer!

Round Two, Day Two

Thank you so much for your prayers! So far, this chemo treatment is going so much better than the last one. I can't say I felt good last night, but it was a vast improvement over three weeks ago, and I don't feel bad this morning, either. Tuesday night and Wednesday were my worst nausea days, so please continue to pray. I have different drugs that are working better, and we know that PRAYER WORKS!

Please also keep the weekend and the beginning of next week in prayer, as that is when my white count drops--last time it went below one (they tell me normal is 5--9)! It was pretty bad, and I was really sick again.

Thank you, thank you. May God rain blessings upon you for your faithfulness. I love you all.