ONE MORE DAY

Today's picture is from a high school friend that I probably haven't seen since about..... oh, high school.  :)  She sent a care package with silverware for the family condo and all of the things that helped with Valerie's nausea - peppermint, croutons, and pasta.  Thanks Anissa!!!

Yesterday, Valerie slept a lot.  She remembered that the day before, she did not use her walker at all that day.  She has been routinely using her walker for stability when walking around the house, and anywhere for that matter.  On Tuesday, she walked around a lot and didn't use it at all.  Since she's lost so much weight, it takes a lot of energy for her just to carry her own weight around without the support.  She still ate and took her supplements, she just needed the rest.

One of Valerie's nieces, Melissa, arrived yesterday.  She has already been finishing the paint job in the main bathroom.  And she's spent some time just talking to her Aunt Val and letting her know how much she loves her.  Tonight, at about 8:30pm, Valerie really wanted some melon.  Melissa jumped on a bike and found her way to our grocery and got some melon!

Valerie's brother, Jon, continues to finish up on some of our remodeling that has been left by the wayside.  He has now put on a new screen door, installed the toilet in the front bathroom, put in the vanity and hooked up the faucet for the vanity, repaired some defective drawers, installed new door knobs, door stops, and MANY other things that slip my mind at 11:30pm.  :)

Valerie's mom has been making sure Valerie has all of her medication throughout the day and has something to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  It helps knowing that everyone is pitching in and trying to make things smoother and easier.

Valerie started taking hormone blockers yesterday.  The doctor in Mexico said that it could make her feel and act like menopause on steroids.  oh fun.  :)  We've all been waiting for the side effects - we'll keep you posted.

We've also scheduled an MRI of her brain for next Tuesday.  The oncologist wants to cover all of the bases re: the nausea.  Apparently the only thing left (besides psychology) is something in her brain.  So, when that is ruled out, we'll know for sure that it's the stress of everything going on that's causing the nausea.

Continued thank yous to everyone for their support and love.  And special thank yous to Aunt Vicki (for always having an encouraging word), Uncle Dwight (for daily positive messages), Alexi (for just being there), and Keyvan (for organizing and just being you).  Thanks to all of you, I hope and plan to have more and more good news to report as the days go on.