Merry Christmas Every One!

Hi there, I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful Christmas with family and friends. Careful with those cookies and egg nog! May you revel in silly joys of the season, like the kids playing in th e boxes rather than the toys and the fruit cake that you got from you aunt. Actually I got awesome bottles of wine from my aunt (who is clearly a really cool aunt!). From my husband though along with a number of very nice things I got the funniest calendar of goats in trees. Who would have thought that anyone would have enough photos of goats in trees to make a 12 month calendar!! I laugh everytime I see the calendar or even think "goats in trees"! Anyway I hope you are having fun and enjoying Jesus' birthday!

Radiation done and chemo started

Hi everyone, I got to "ring out" of radiation this morning and after some delay got stared with the chemotherapy. All is going fine now that it is started and I should be finished in a few minutes. Then I can get on with the Christmas festivities! Just wanted to let you know that all is well with me. I hope each of you has a wonderful and special Christmas filled with fun, those you love and the Joy of the Birth of our Savior, Lord Jesus. Merry Christmas! Wendy

Tuesday is Doctor Day!

So today I saw Dr. Buckholz the radiation oncologist who said everything with the treatments was going well. I also saw Dr. Constantino the medical oncologist. She had the biopsy results which indicate that the cancer cells in my bones are receptive to the same hormones that they were previously. That is good news as it gives the doctors more tools to use in treating me. So I start a new medication immediately and begin chemo soon also. This type of chemo I have had before and tolerated very well and it isn't the kind that makes your hair fall out. Although that really isn't mission critical here, but it is nice to keep the ponytail! I am very grateful for these results and praise The Lord that now we can really get to kicking cancer's butt! So I give thanks for the good news today. Love, Wendy

Isn't he a cutie!!

Today my friend Holly brought her therapy dogs to MD Anderson and stopped by radiation while I was there. Here is a photo of me with her dog Banner. If you followed my carepage back in 2008 you will have already seen him looking just as adorable as he did today. And Banner is an accomplished model as you can tell by how he looked directly at the camera.

Am I glowing yet?

Okay that is some lame radiation humor. Today was 8 of 15 treatments for the hips and 1 of 5 for my rib. The technology is amazing, the radiation for my rib is aimed tangentially to treat the rib but also to bounce the electrons off the chest wall to keep it away from internal organs. Amazing right? Or was that too much information? The marking for the rib is quite a bit of bright blue ink. From the back I look like an extra from Braveheart! As the marking took a while I did have to ask the tech to promise he wasn't drawing smiley faces or writing "kick me". Actually I cannot say enough about how great Dr. Buckholz and the radiation team at MD Anderson have been. Brittany, Jared and Stephanie have been particularly wonderful. I can assure you all that I am in good hands. Just wanted to update you.

What a fun weekend!

Michael and I joined our friends Chris and Gayle and Stan and Beth on Pine Island for a weekend with the club PERFAKT, that would be the Pineland Eating, Relaxing (or Reading), Fishing and Kayaking Team! We ate a ton of great food prepared by Gayle, Stan, Michael and Chris. I was lazy except for the three hour kayaking expedition to the south end of the island and back. Michael caught a beautiful Spanish Mackerel which he then cooked up for dinner that night. We just had a wonderful time it puts a smile on my face just remembering. There was lot's of laughing, some tears and a very special time of prayer. I am very blessed to have such lovely people in my life. I know that you all are on my team and it humbles me and encourages me. Thank you. Today it was back to treatment and work. All is well there too. Just wanted to keep everyone in the loop. Wendy

Recent news

Hi friends, If you are checking this blog you have likely heard the recent news regarding my health. The cancer is back (actually I guess it never left just went into hiding). It has presented in bone tissue only which is really good news. All my organs are clear and functioning perfectly. Started radiation on my pelvis this past Tuesday and will complete it on Christmas Eve. Last time every doctor or nurse in three counties saw my stuff from the waist up and now they are seeing from the waist down. So much for modesty! But I did get a few more tattoos although I couldn't convince the tech to do butterflies instead of dots! I am still working as there is no reason not to. Hopefully that will convince you all that I am much better than it sounds. This blog will obviously shift from travel for a little while in order to keep everyone up to date. Thank you for your prayers. God has shown me much Grace through this situation and I am humbled and thankful. Love you all. Wendy