Back Home Again in Indiana

I'll start with a salute to a beautiful day. The sun is shining, the temperature is near perfect, and best of all for me is that I suffered no nausea from last Thursday's chemotherapy treatment. I'm feeling quite well except for being tired, so I just take lots of naps and feel very fortunate that I can.

We had a fine and restful trip to Wisconsin. I can sum it up briefly by saying that Karl caught lots of fish and I lost lots of hair. Having had my hair cut quite short just before going to the cabin in the woods, I thought that was a great place to have it fall out. I had taken my wig and several baseball caps and there was no one there that I knew to see me. However Karl reminded me that I should vacuum well or we might be fined for violating the "No Pets Allowed" policy. Humor helps.

We had a very easy drive back home on Tuesday, and I have nearly caught up with laundry.

Marcia accompanied me to therapy on Thursday. It is so good to have fun company for the six hour session. And the best news came from the doctor's visit where I learned that my CA-125 (tumor marker) number that had been 364.4 prior to my first treatment was 29.8 before the second. The goal is to have it below 10, and that should certainly happen before I finish the series of eight treatments.

As we experienced the variable weather at Lake Owen in north central Wisconsin, I couldn't help but start having unhappy thoughts about the cold, gray days that we have in our not too distant future. But I was saved by a quote in a news story about the changing seasons. This comes from 19th century poet Celia Thaxter and she writes, "There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart." I hope you all know by now how grateful I am for your thoughts and prayers and for staying with me as this drags on. You all are just the best of family and friends, and my grateful heart will work at staying sunny with your continued help.

Love you all!