Answered prayers or...Better living through chemistry

We received great news on Monday, the 23rd of July. It appears that the chemo is working and the PET scan showed significant improvement. Click on the link if you want to know about more about what a PET scan is. Dr. Robin was very optimistic and seemed pleased with the results. He also recommended to continue with the next two treatments. So, Mary did receive another shot of COP on Monday which will put her through the three-week cycle she has been in since April. The cycle??? Well, it's about an hour and a half treatment and then a week of little meals to stave off nausea. Then a little hair loss and then some mild disorientation and then we go on a short trip. In May, Mary was able to participate in her retirement activities. In June we went to see Carole and Daniel. In July we went to see Grandma Bette, Mary's Mum. And in August we are going to California to see Debbie and the boys and Ellen and Emily for just a week. It's sad that Mary has had to plan these trips around the three-week chemo schedule, but with Nora home, it seems like we're only gone for a short time. The bad thing is that on the Monday Mary returns, she has had chemo to greet her. Well, it's working. And for that we are thankful.

We just got back from a short trip to see Bette Ruth. I have frequently called Pennsylvania the land where the sun never shines and the stories never change. Well, it was a little different this time. Bette kind of has a new life since Roy's passing and the stories actually do change and it only rained one day. Our visit was short and pleasant. I played golf at the DuBois Country Club three times. $24.00 with a cart!!! What a bargain. We toured all the significant graveyards. We saw Londons, Scholls, McNaughtons and such. Daisy got stung by a bee at the Catholic cemetery in Reynoldsville. I also took a picture of Daisy by her namesake's grave stone. I'll post later. We saw Sam and Nancy and Paul and Judd and Abby. And we took a five minute trip out into the country to see Lorraine, a single woman hair dresser who lives on what looks like a plantation. And of course we visited with Sue, Bette's next door neighbor who thinks Daisy is "her dog". All in all it was a fine trip. Bette is doing well and we are thankful for that.
Driving to PA takes about eight and a half hours. What did we do? Well, we listened to music shared with us by Nora and by our friend (actually Mary and Penney's friend) and poet, Jordan. Nora had a great mix of country, pop and rock. She even added a little Dylan for her old parents. Jordan has been sharing his music with Mary all summer and we worked through his eclectic selections on the iPod. Mary created a play list of his music and we were able to breeze through some songs and really listen hard to others. "Ricky Ticky Boom Boom" was one of my personal fave raves. I need to work on learning how to post music here to share with you. On the way home we listened to Nora's CD again and then went into a Robin Cook mystery we have been working on for a couple of months. We still have four CDs to go.

Our house is currently Harry Potter oriented. I've got him on my iPod and Nora is three quarters the way through. My sister has already blasted through the book much in the same way as she did all the others. Actually I think when she "discovered" HP she actually read several of the books back to back non stop...lucky Daniel. When Nora's done, Mary will take over and then she can listen with me. I'm a bit of a slow reader. I'm an even a slower listener.

I played golf at Lost Marsh with Dwayne today. It's a very challenging course build right on the old steel mill slag heaps. I lost a lot of balls and had a terrible score, but I really love playing golf even when I really don't score well. I may be in search of a sports psychologist. I can hit them well and then I can't, all in the same round. I don't know what it is. The good thing is that even though its frustrating, it never seems to wreck my attitude about playing. I like the guys I play with and I even like playing by myself. I just can't seem to get the kind of consistency I want. I know it's in my head, not in my clubs.

All right, that's it for now we will be around for the next few weeks so give us a call if you would like. But regardless, keep the prayers and good thoughts coming. They work.

Peace to you and to those you love.
Rob