A Little Setback

I'm feeling a little discouraged today. It seems like everytime I start feeling really good and begin to do "normal" things again, something weird happens. Okay, so I've been having some pain in my left leg. Nothing I couldn't just ignore and keep going. But by Sunday it really hurt and I had trouble walking. In the back of my mind I knew it was a blood clot but I didn't want to believe it. When I went for chemo yesterday I told my nurse about it and she was so efficient and amazing...I was having an ultra sound within a half hour. It confirmed a blood clot on the outside of my left thigh. Is this too much information? My doctor prescribed yet another anti-coagulant in a higher than normal dosage. So I'm a Coumadin failure and now an Arixtra failure. The drug I'll be using now is Framin. Please pray that my body will respond to this one. The choices after this aren't very cool. But my blood levels were great yesterday! That's one good thing!

It was fun to get away this weekend. Yes, we were in Coeur d' Alene, but we do live in a place where other people come to vacation! We had a room that overlooked the lake so it was so peaceful and pretty!

Dan and Julie Powell came over Sunday night with their beautiful 7th grade daughter, Bailey. Bailey sang some songs for me that she composed herself. She is very talented and plays several instruments in addition to being a composer at age 12. It was a real treat to have a little concert in my living room.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers. I don't feel alone in this battle--I really feel your support and I know God is listening to our prayers. You're the best blog readers!
Love, Julie

Far Too Serious

I have been far too serious. Julie was determined to not be defined by cancer
and I talk about it too much. So, I'm going to make a more concerted effort to
focus on the other things going on in our lives. 

We got away for the weekend and we stayed at the Coeur d'Alene Resort.
I know it's not exactly adventurous to go to a hotel in our home town, but it's a
5-star humdinger of a place and we got a winter cut rate deal. So, I'm a
romantic tight-wad home-boy. (But the lake view was beautiful & the
accommodations were great). 

I've planned a workshop for senior high school kids and their parents tonight.
I teaming up with our youth pastor and young adults pastor to help those kids get
connected to ministries in the college's & military bases they plan to attend.

I remember going off to a college where I didn't know anyone and struggled with
home sickness and tried to act like everything was okay. I was on a floor with a
bunch of out-of-state athletes who all seemed to handle the transition just
fine. It wasn't until Christmas break that we started to open up and found out
that we all felt the same way. I was both relieved and mad that we hadn't opened
up sooner. 

When we sent our kids off, we said our good-byes, we cried, they left, we
started to rediscover ourselves again and were enjoy it, then those crazy kids
boomeranged back into our lives, home and wallets. We gradually had
going-and-staying-away parties for each of them. Now we'll start the count
down for our grand kids.

Anyway, our goal is to help Christian seniors at each of schools in our area to
get hooked up with ministries & Christian roommates so they can have both
support and accountability to maintain their faith walk. We lose too many of our
kids if we aren't more intentional about passing them off after graduation.

There, that was more uplifting for me to write and probable for you to read.
I'll try to keep it up.
Greg

Fuzzy head

I am enjoying having hair on my head! It seems like I have sort of two different kinds; normal-feeling and looking hair that is still very short and dark, and a few longer hairs scattered throughout that are fuzzy and gray. I think I'll keep wearing hats. I may lose it again with this new chemo anyway.

I'm feeling good this week. The new blood gave me more energy! I went out for coffee with my friend, Debbie, yesterday. And last night Greg and I went grocery shopping. Two outings in one day!

I sure love reading your comments to my blog. They always encourage me and help me stay positive. I loved your comment, Rachel. Hope you're having a good school year.

Greg and I appreciate your support and prayers. What would we do without such a great family and such wonderful friends? We love you. Love, Julie

Unexpectedly long day...

Monday is my chemo day and Greg and I went to the Cancer Center at 9:30 this morning. The first thing that always happens is they draw blood from my port and it goes to the lab and the lab does several tests. I've never really understood the significance of those tests until today. Because today I flunked the tests. Now I know that all my blood levels need to be at a certain level in order for me to receive chemo. Sometimes chemo is so hard on our bodies that it makes those levels go down. Anyway, this morning my hemoglobin, red blood cells, white blood cells, and my platelets were less than half the level they are supposed to be. So no chemo today. The nurse told me I was a quart low on blood. I still don't understand where that blood went but instead of chemo, I had to have a blood transfusion. They gave me two units of blood and each unit takes more than two hours. You can watch the precious stuff drip by drip going through a long tube. It wasn't really bad. It was just like chemo except what was going into me was blood instead of the chemo drugs. I am so grateful to people who give blood! Thank you! I also have to get some shots that will help with my white blood cells. We didn't get home till almost 6:00 p.m. A very long day of sitting in the same chair. (Not one of the cool chairs, I might add). I was the very last patient on the entire floor. My nurse was wonderful. She was very kind and she explained everything so well. She said that it was a good sign that the chemo was so hard on my good cells because that means it's really doing a number on the dumb cancer cells. I'll probably find out tomorrow when my chemo will be rescheduled. What an adventure.

This morning before we left I was reading some verses in Lamentations that I can't read without singing. These verses really got me through the day:

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning, great is Your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

We had a great time at Matthew's party yesterday afternoon. But Emily just called me tonight and told me Matthew is sick and she feels just terrible about how weakened my system was and she is so worried that I might get sick. I told her all we can do is pray. I hope you will pray about this. Thank you so much for caring for Greg and me. Love, Julie

Russell kids being weird

Hannah & Grandpa rippin' it up on Guitar Hero

Matthew's 3rd B-Day!

Jake wishing Matthew "Happy Birthday"

Great weekend

Wow! What a wonderful weekend with Jerry! He arrived Friday afternoon and first we listened to the CD he made for me of some of his original music. Cool. Then he took me out to Applebee's and on the way home I said "Hmmm...Let's go to Costco!" So I got to ride one of the little cart-things again and it was so much fun! I actually got a little carried away and ran into a checker. But it was really more like a bump. She didn't get hurt. When Greg got home from church at about 8:30 p.m. we watched Anne of Green Gables.

Saturday Greg and Jerry went to get a hamburger at Hudson's, Jerry got new strings for my guitar, and they went shopping. Jerry got the ingredients to make Mandarin Chicken and he made it for our dinner. Mmmmmmmmm. It was delicious! What a special treat! That night we watched Les Miserables. A little different than Anne...but such a wonderful story.

Alas, Jerry went home this morning and it's quiet in our house. I loved having Liz, then Carolyn, then Jerry. I'm lucky to have such a great family.

Thank you for your prayers. Love, Julie

Jerry is not cancelled!

Actually Greg is, at this very moment, on his way to pick up my brother at the airport! Yipee! Carolyn left about a half hour ago. It would be amazing if they happened to run into each other at the airport. It's very quiet here right now, but I know Jerry will make sure to fix that! Love, Julie

Carolyn Stuck in Idaho

Carolyn was planning to fly out of Spokane early this morning and return to Billings. But her flight was cancelled because of fog at the airport in Spokane. I know it has made her family, especially Rob, do some juggling with schedules and I know her family really misses her...but it was wonderful to have her here today! Yesterday I felt sick and very very tired so I wasn't much fun. But today I was fun! We went to Costco! Oh my goodness, I hadn't been to Costco since before Thanksgiving so it was a real treat. And I got to sit down and drive one of those little carts around. I didn't run over too many people. Being able to do those normal things like going to Costco really lifts my spirits. And we found a pair of jeans that are not "mom jeans" at Costco and I tried them on when I got home and they fit!!! We had a great day.

I just found out that Jerry's flight is cancelled tomorrow morning because of fog. So I'm bummed. Last time he planned to come, his flight was cancelled because of snow.

Teri Burch brought over a quiche, some bread, and some delicious fresh berries and yogart from my dear friends at Fernan. I appreciate them so much.

I am thankful that you care about us and I hope you will continue to pray for Greg and me. He's such a good caregiver and I sure am thankful for him. Love, Julie

Breathing is good!

Today I felt like I could breathe! It really seems like the powerful chemo drugs are already kicking in! Yipee! Carolyn and I are having a great time. I appreciate your love and prayers. Love, Julie

Happy Monday

Last Monday was the pits. Today was pretty good! Carolyn and Liz went with me to chemo and I'm sure they had a lovely time. It was so fun having them there, introducing them to my favorite nurses and having them share the experience with me. I always get a little droopy and sleepy during chemo so I suggested that once the chemo got into full swing, they should go and have coffee and go shopping. I finally talked them into it!

Liz left for Pasco at about 3:30 and Carolyn will fly home to Billings early Thursday morning.

I think I'm noticing a slight decrease in the wheezing, coughing and running out of breath. That's the latest health report.

I hope you like our picture! Carolyn got a little cut out but we were showing off our hats and our Silpada jewelry! Thank you for your prayers. I appreciate all of you so much. Love, Julie

Don't worry, I'm all right!

Last night I got a little crazy and philosophical. I read what I wrote last night and realized it may have sounded a little weird. I'm okay. No weirder than I used to be!

I'm so excited that Liz is coming this weekend! She's so sweet and compassionate and she's a nurse! I love that she can explain medical things to me. Then Sunday night Carolyn will be coming from Billings! How lucky can I be! Two sisters to look forward to! I'm hoping Carolyn will help me find some jeans that fit. All my jeans are "mom jeans" and they are all too big. Carolyn always lifts my spirits--she's so thoughtful and energetic. And she loves a challenge...Then the day after Carolyn goes home, my fun, talented, wonderful cook brother, Jerry is coming! He promised to play some of his new music for me. I am so thankful for all my brothers and sisters.

Hope your're having a great Thursday. Thanks for your prayers. Love, Julie

Melting Icicles

Finally the huge icicles on our house are melting. Monday my heart was cold and disappointed and now it is melting too. I hate cancer! But I have a mighty God who made me and He has a plan for my life and He loves me more than I love my own children.

Monday we left our house at about 8:00 a.m. and headed to the Cancer Center. When Dr. T showed us the cat scan results we were both in shock. Yes, I've been noticing the old symptoms coming back...but I was hoping I just had a bad cold or pneumonia. But it was that darn old tumor that was growing again. Obviously the maintenance didn't work. Dr. Tezcan asked if I'd like to start chemo that day and I said "Yes, definitely!" He explained that the new chemo drugs would be very aggressive and possibly harder for me to tolerate. I said "Okay."

Then we waited. It was so weird to be sitting right beside Greg in the waiting room and both of us were totally silent. We were both just so lost in our thoughts. Finally I got to go to a chemo chair and the nurse couldn't access my port. So I had to go to Radiology so they could figure out what was going on. Then it was Back to Chemo and finally everything got figured out and my port worked just fine but it was 1:30 and my chemo was 4 hours. We drove into our garage a little after 6:00 p.m. Except for 2 1/2 hours when I was having chemo Greg was right there with me. And during that little "break" he was actually shoveling snow off our roof. What a guy.

The Russells came over to celebrate my birthday and we had take out Chinese Food and Em made a wonderful chocolate cake. Unfortunately I could barely keep my eyes open so I was the life of the party.

Today I was much more alert and my good friends Debbie and Annette came over for Bible Study this morning. This afternoon I had lots of visitors! It was wonderful. Teri and Linda came. Carol Quiring came and gave me a manicure. I feel so special! Em popped over for a minute. Sherma came for a little while. So good to see friends.

Abbie, thank you so very much for making my blog look and sound so amazing. You are so appreciated! Hope you're feeling well. Thank you, everyone, for your continued prayers. Greg and I are so humbled by your love. Love, Julie

Plan -B

Julie & I met with her doctor today to get the results of her latest CT scan. I hope it's okay to use another analogy to explain what we found out. Not only is Julie in a marathon in her journey with cancer, but it's also much like a steeple chase, in that there are several obstacles along the way. Well, the chemo therapy had driven the cancer into remission, but the medications that are designed to maintain it there have not worked and the tumors have grown back a bit. So, her doctor got her right back on chemo treatments again today and she'll continue those weekly for the next couple of months. Her doctor will then check her progress and determine what "Plan-B" will be. One of the nurses, who goes to our church, reassured us by telling us that Julie's doctor is the head of the cancer research team from this area and he's up on all the latest cutting-edge treatments. So, we feel like she's in capable hands.

Of course, we were taken back by the news, but Julie pulled a prayer card out of her purse that read: (You can trust God - "Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water." Jeremiah 17:7,8) That helped snap us out of freaking out and got us to settle back down to trust that God is still in control.

So, we are going to celebrate Julie's 57 Birthday tomorrow with some cake, games and a few gifts to spoil her a little bit.

Thank you for your caring concern and your prayers mean so much to both of us.
Love, Greg