Merry Christmas

To all our Family and Friends...
We wish you a Blessed Christmas. Thank you for supporting us during our fight and for all your love and Prayers. God Bless Each and Every One of You!


Vicki & Joe

At home update

Thanks to all who have commented on the blog and/or sent emails. It is gratifying to know people care enough to visit our blog.
The weather has cooperated and we've gotten most of the things done we needed/wanted to do this week. I got the trailer winterized and covered Tuesday afternoon while Vicki put up some Christmas decorations out front. I may have been paying for that strenuous activity as I have suffered from fatigue yesterday and today. I guess my body can only take so much recovery from radiation and using energy for physical activity.
Tomorrow I start back to work. I will have to work for a couple weeks before getting more time off for Christmas.

Home for Christmas

We made it home yesterday afternoon. It has taken me this long to finally get around to setting up my computer. The trip home was basically uneventful except we lost the door/cover off the outside of the water heater and one of the chrome plastic wheel covers on the trailer. We spent our last night in Texas in Powderly, just south of the Red River. The weather was cold enough to get us ready for home. I am thankful the weather here was sunny, mid 40s and no wind when we got home.

We brought a Christmas tree home with us from Houston, so getting that set up is something to get done today. I got the water system in the trailer winterized last evening, but there are still several things I want/need to do to the trailer such as bringing in the rest of our stuff, cleaning, and getting the cover over it. I hope I have the stamina and daylight.

My next appointment at MD Anderson, for a CT scan, is January 10. I am not taking any chemo or really doing anything to stop or slow any cancer growth until then, so I am going to be a little nervous about what is happening inside me. We just have to pray that the radiation killed the cancer it hit, and that was the only active cancer.

Joe

Prayer- The Heart of God

So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. Heb 10:35-38

Do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Time to head home

It's hard to believe, but it is almost time to head home. Only 2 more days here, then we'll head north. We will have to prepare for cold weather; I see the forecast is for highs in the 30s when we get home Monday. When we left it was fall, but we're coming home to winter.
Treatments have gone well, and side effects have not been too bad. I have some fatigue and mild nausea. Fighting the fatigue and getting all the sleep I want is a challenge.
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. Ben & Sally flew in Thursday morning and we had a big Thanksgiving dinner. It was warm enough that we decided to drive to Galveston to do some sight-seeing. It was strange to see the tourist areas with almost no one around. We even walked on the beach a little.
On Friday we hit a few stores, then we visited the Saint Arnold Brewery. We were not expecting the kind of crowd that showed up for the "tour"! It was much more like a huge beer party than a tour. Ben and I enjoyed tasting their beers.
Saturday we visited the Battleship Texas, which has belonged to the State of Texas since 1948. It was launched in 1912. It's a self-guided tour so we spent quite a bit of time wandering around the ship. Afterward we went to IKEA. That was a long enough day for me.
Since the kids left on Sunday, the rest of our week has been treatments for me, doctor visits, and a little Christmas shopping.

Joe