CHANGING OF THE GUARD / THANKSGIVING / AND MORE FUN ADVENTURES

Mary, Jon and Mom P.

These blogs are getting harder to write... but that's a good thing.  Because now I just feel like I'm basically writing about normal life.  I'll hit the high points - medical news and who is currently here visiting and what they are doing.

Valerie's brother, Jon, and his daughter, Mary flew home on Tuesday the 15th.  Valerie's mom, Colette, left on Saturday the 19th before dawn and my mom and dad, Bill & Dianne, flew in about 14 hours later.  They will be here until December 17th.

Everyone has continued to pitch in and help with as much as they are able... whether it be taking out the trash, painting rooms, or hanging new doors in our bathroom.

While Jon was here, the biggest and most difficult project he did was get 2 bi-fold doors to fit and hang in the space to close in our washer/dryer.  He thought the project would take him a couple of hours, but it wasn't until 6-8 hours later they were up.... and PERFECT!  The time delay was not his fault.  He expected to tweak things here and there to get them up, but NOTHING in our house is square, level or otherwise as you'd expect.  He beat... well, sanded.... those doors into submission!  We can't be happier to be that much closer to having those finished.

Jon working on some frustrating closet doors

My mom and dad have been cleaning, painting the bathroom, and other odds and ends -- although we gave them time off for the 4 day holiday weekend.  :)  It's amazing how much there is to do in one little condo.  (pics of them to come later)

A dear friend of ours, Debbie, had offered to bring food to the house.  That offer turned into her and her husband, Bob, treating Valerie, me, and my mom and dad to brunch in Long Beach.  We had a great time!  Thanks Deb and Bob - it really was a treat!!

Thanksgiving was a relaxed, low-key affair.  We went to Whole Foods in the morning and packed up what we each wanted from their prepared food section then went back home to eat and watch football all day.  YUM!

As for medical news.... We had a phone consult last week with Dr. Ceceña at The Oasis of Hope.  He did our initial phone consult before our first visit and to prepare for this call, he had reviewed Valerie's most recent CT scan.  

Some play time at the beach - Mary & Jon.

If you remember, on our first visit there, we were told that their standard treatment would include 3 separate trips to The Oasis separated by 4 weeks at home in between each trip.  Well, we've done 2 trips there and we've now been home 7 weeks since the last week..... so we were kind of expecting him to say "pack up and get here."  Well, what he said was, after they reviewed Valerie's case in their weekly treatment team meeting, they recommend that she return for a one week "booster" session at our convenience.  They feel like she is doing so well that she can benefit from continued treatment, but there is no sense of urgency or fear.  YEA!!  So, we will make plans to return for a week sometime after the first of the year and Valerie will continue to adhere to the daily supplement regimen they prescribe.

the brunch crew - Bob, Deb, Tracie, Valerie, Dianne & Bill

Immediate future plans include: getting our place in some type of order to host 10-40 people at our annual HOA meeting this Sunday; continue to work on our place and make it a complete, healing, peaceful place; Valerie will continue her monthly IV treatments at her oncologist's office of Zometa; and we are determined to have some relaxing, fun time in the near future too!!

oh - this last picture probably needs some explaining... I grew up in TN until junior high, then we moved to KY.  Well, TN and KY played football last Saturday and my mom and dad brought me this TN jacket.  I love orange and TN sports.  After beating KY for 26 years in a row, we decided to let them have one this year.... so next time. :)

Love to you all!