Just a Quick Update....

We continue to be blessed with good health. My latest scans (2-1/2 years post transplant) were once again - "unremarkable". Such a nice word. Before my appointment I managed to get worked up and I was convinced (as usual) that there could be problems. But my fears were unfounded, and life goes on without cancer. Yeah!

Some Very Happy Anniversaries

This past week we celebrated 2 years since the date of my stem cell transplant. I also just completed CAT scans and there still remains no signs of my cancer - Yeah!! I think my chances for relapse are like less than 5% now. I will continue to be scanned (less frequently) until the 5 year mark and that is when they use the wonderful "C" word - CURED!!

Despite all the good news I still find it a little hard to embrace being "cancer-free". There are nagging thoughts that it is somewhere lurking in my system. Plus, just making claims to have "beaten cancer" seems like an invitation for it to come back and prove me wrong. But I have found that I am not as fearful about cancer, and it no longer dominates our lives and the plans that we make. So at least mentally I feel like I have beaten cancer.

It has been a busy Spring. We celebrated my parent's 50th anniversary at the end of March. We had a nice group of relatives and friends here to celebrate. Both of my brothers came from Australia, and it was special for them to have all four kids present. My parents are the 3rd golden anniversary in a row for our family - Brant and I just have 35 more years to go to keep the streak going! The picture above includes the extended family at the party (Brant and Katie had just left for a baseball game and aren't in the picture).

It's Fabulous to be Forty

Hello to the three people who may be still checking in on this blog. I turned forty yesterday and am SOOOO HAPPY to be here! Literally!! I relapsed just before I turned thirty-eight and before we had even told the kids, Katie shared a scary dream with me that she saw me die when I was thirty-nine. The details of her dream really spooked me and I prayed to please let me live to see 40 so our daughter would not have to suffer the pain she felt in her dream. So I can check off yet another prayer that was answered.

We are doing very well these days. My part-time job has slowed down and I have had more time to help out at the kids' school, join a morning bible study, work out at the gym and get some projects done around the house. Brant's job has been stable (but busy) during these troubling financial times. I find myself asking "Who am I that I should be so blessed"?? I even worry whether there is some "huge shoe" out there that is getting ready to drop. Surely there will be many more challenges ahead for us, so I am trying to savor this peaceful time we are experiencing right now. Isn't it weird that sometimes it is easier to fight through the difficult times in life than be content during the quiet times??

The picture above is from our mini-vacation that we took to Florida over the holidays. We put some serious miles on the minivan as we visited cousins (and their FIVE chihuahuas) in Jacksonville, swam with dolphins at Discovery Cove in Orlando to celebrate Chris' tenth birthday, got our toes sandy on Fort Lauderdale beach to ring in the new year, and saw the Hokies win at the Orange Bowl. I hope you all have a wonderful 2009!!