Relief

We are so blessed. I feel humbled.
Hubby's test results from his CAT scan are just fine.
His surgeon thanked him for being such a success!
If he stays cancer free for 2 yrs, his Dr told us that chances are the Cancer will not return.
If we had the money, there would be a HUGE celebration!


I will be starting another blog. I won't delete this one, because I want to be able to look back, and see the incredible journey my family has followed this past year. But I need to look forward, a fresh start.

I will put the new blog addy in, when I start it.

Thank you, dear friends, for all your support, prayers, and wonderful words of encouragement!!

I am also deleting a lot of the blogs on my blogroll that I follow. Not the followers I have now (hopefully you will follow me on my new blog) but I really feel that following should be reciprocal, and I want to clean up my list.
Take care,
Maire

CAT scan for hubby's lung

Hubby received a phone call from his surgeon's office. His Dr is NOT happy with what they saw in his lung on the PET scan, and although they don't think it's Cancer, they want to double check it.
They had previously said it may be from the Pneumonia he had; or else stuff he's aspirated eating/drinking. His primary Dr said that it may show up for years, and as long as he doesn't have a fever, or is tired, out of breath etc, he probably has nothing to worry about.
But.
Hubby is now saying that his lung hurts where the PET scan picked up the whatever it is.
And I'm worried. I can't help it. Would fate be so cruel as to grant us the short period of estactic happiness we've had, and then hit us with another whammy????
Oh please no.
And on top of everything, the breast I had the lumpectomy in, is bothering me. Really hurting in fact. I'm just starting to get my anxiety under control, so I can deal with that issue. I've had so much anxiety, (and I'm sure exhaustion/stress has a lot to do with it) Hubby is making the necessary phone calls to my Drs for me, because I just cannot do it. Just cant deal with anymore medical issues right now.
We have another situation to deal with this week. My SIL broke her leg (she's 72) and had to have surgery, and is now in a rehab center. Her husband was admitted to the hospital around the same time, I know he was on Oxygen, but really don't know what his health issues were. Well, he died. And the memorial service is Friday night.
One of my best friends is coming tommorrow, she was supposed to spend 2 days, but is only staying one night, because of the Memorial service.
No, I'm not close to my SIL, and especially not her hubby, but I feel terrible for my nephew, he's stuck paying for the funeral.
I'm praying hard that this is just a minor issue for Hubby; and we can continue to plan for our wonderful future together

Can You Say S-U-C-K-E-R?

After telling me a million times that he did not in any way, shape or form want any more crapping/peeing cats in the house, Hubby called me Saturday night from the mountain house, and told me that a young, small cat had been crying outside. He and his buddy brought her in and fed her, and well, she didn't want to leave. He then called me later, and had me listen to her purring in his lap.
You do know how this story ends, right?






The little hooligans...dying for a peek



Mommy, can you stop her from gnawing on me??



Introducing Inka



I'm still so stinking cute

My Big Weekend Alone.

Can I whine some more about my lost PSP program? But, its all good....they have it for $40 off, so I'm going to get it tommorrow. I have loads of photos to edit and FX.
I missed the peak for autumn colors in the Catskills. I usually get some of my best photographs this time of the year. Instead I'll be heading up to Jenny Jump in Northern NJ next weekend. Since Hubby went up to the mountains with his buddy to do some long needed repairs, I thought it was going to be a very relaxed, quiet weekend, alas not so. Between the big blowup I had with my daughter, the little hooligan pack of dogs I have, who were tearing around the house all weekend, and the neverending howling dogs next door, I might have well have done away myself.
Oh, and Hubby was adopted by an abandoned cat; this is the man who has declared that he will never again have another cat in the house. He melted like butter, lol. It seems to be an indoor cat, hasn't and won't leave the house, since Hubby found her outside crying. They've already bought the cat carrier, litter box, and food. Guess we have another furry addition to the family!

My newish diet was in the toilet this weekend. I ate nothing but junk food. Oh well. I'm usually really good. That thin crust pizza with extra cheese, sausage & peppers was delish. I did only eat 2 slices though, jeez I'm not a glutton! Guess I'm taking extra walks with the little hooligans this week.

And Hubby borrowed MY truck, yeah, you know, the Barbie truck. His diesel died, hahaha AGAIN. I have a Chevy Avalance, North Face Edition; he says its a woman's truck, because it has a vanity mirror on the driver's side. Guess its good enough when he has no other truck to drive. I better not find any crumbs or sunflower seeds in it. I just cleaned his Impala, from top to bottom, cleaned the leather seats, and just saw a whole mess of nuts & crumbs in it the other day. I literally had to get Q-tips into all the crevices. Did I say he laughs at me when I get pissy about it?

Off to watch Mad Men. Have a good week!

Nobel Peace Prize

At the risk of getting into a huge political debate on whether President Obama deserved to win the Nobel Peace Prize, I'd instead like to put in a few links, that explain it's origins, and what the criteria is for being selected.
I'd like to also say, that I'm on the fence about the selection; even though I support, and voted for Obama, there are other's that I would say may have qualified more so then he. But, in any case, here are the links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Peace_Prize
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/articles/sejersted/index.html
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/shortfacts.html

Cancer Free!!

We just received the news this morning...
HUBBY IS CANCER FREE!!!
No malignancies found ANYWHERE!!!
There is some junk in his chest, they want him to go on antibiotics to avoid another pneumonia hospital stay, but he feels fantastic; the man ate 7 plates of food at the local German restaurant buffet last Sunday, and another 5 plates at the Country Buffet on Tuesday. He still aspirates a little, but if he takes some oxycodone before he eats, it relaxes the throat muscles, and he barely coughs, which is mainly liquids, and small food items like rice. He is going to go back to his swallowing therapist.

We are over the moon. We've been waiting to make some decisions about our life in the near future; and now we can proceed. I feel like I can finally relax and breathe; I really haven't slept well in over 7 months. Hubby will need to go for PET scans every 3 months for the next year, then every 6 months, then it decreases, until he hits the 5 yr mark.

We are so grateful for all the prayers and support we've received; and I know I will continue to give thanks, so that I will have my man around for many, many years.

We will be going hiking at one of our favorite places weekend after next, and will go to a romantic little inn to celebrate afterwards.

Now, I hope hes not upset, because I fell asleep this afternoon, and forgot to go to the produce stand and get the veggies for the chicken soup, haha.

Hubby's PET scan

Hubby had his 3 month, post treatment PET scan yesterday at Penn. They scheduled his followup appt for the end of Oct. My fault, they called me a couple of months ago to schedule both, I should have told them that we did not want to wait for 3 weeks after the PET to find out the results. I called yesterday afternoon when we got home, and they promised to call within a couple of days with the results. If we don't here anything by Friday morning, then I'll be on the phone again, as the radiology tech told Hubby that the Dr gets the results the same day.

We are on pins and needles.

I just have to believe that the Cancer is in remission. Hubby had a PET scan when he was Diagnosed, it showed that the cancer had not spread to his lungs or bones. And he just had a chest xray, which didnt show anything. So, I have to be positive. But there are never any guarantees with Cancer, and I haven't been able to sleep.

There are so many "ifs"

What if it is not in remission? It will be so hard to see Hubby go through more; Pyriform sinus cancer is such a difficult cancer to begin with, and if it spreads, its hard to manage or cure. I'm praying. I'm praying that we are blessed with remission, and I'm praying harder for the strength to cope and accept whatever else comes our way.

I won't be able to concentrate on anything else until we know.