Is It December???

Wow, the month of November just flew by. We certainly had a lot to be thankful for as we celebrated Thanksgiving last month. My parents had us over for dinner along with Brant's mom and some of their friends who were down from Maine. It was a really nice time in their newly renovated house on the creek. It was a gorgeous day with weather in the 70's and the kids playing outside on the swing.

After the meal Brant surprised me by saying we were headed to the Beach....really! He had arranged for my parents to keep the kids and for us to spend a night in Nags Head to celebrate our 14th anniversary. Everyone knew the plan except me - it was very funny. He had the bag packed in the van and everything! We arrived just after sunset and enjoyed a nice walk down to the ocean (to walk off that turkey) where I enjoyed getting my toes wet and listening to the surf. It was quite a nice present.

We are now preparing for the holidays with lots of fun and excitement. The kids are pushing hard for a new pet but I don't think we are ready for that commitment just yet although a little one is tempting. Especially since my sister just rescued an awesome 4 month old cat and my dad is getting a puppy next week. I am really enjoying being at home and having time to enjoy life. I no longer feel like a constantly rushed person although I do stay busy!!

I am fighting the mental battle of cancer right now as it has been over 3 months since my last scans and I wonder what is going on in there. I have occasional pangs that worry me. And it doesn't help that it was in December of last year that we found out I had relapsed. I even tried to convince Dr. M up in NY that I should have some scans now but he said we should just wait for my scheduled ones in February. I did have a baseline chest x-ray done while getting set up with a new primary care doctor. I had my first real cold in November and realized with insurance changes and dealing with oncologists the last two years I no longer had a regular doctor to call when I **gasp** had a non-cancer illness!! The xray was normal so that was some consolation. But we are ready to get those scans done and have more concrete proof that I am still in remission.

Please enjoy your holiday season and remember the real reason we celebrate. We are so thankful for all God has blessed us with over the last year. We have received so much love and support from our family and friends. And we have grown and strengthened as a family over this period as well. It is very much like James said in James1:3-4: "For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything".

Merry Christmas and I look forward to setting and keeping some great new goals for 2008!

Some pics from a busy October

I can't believe it is November! We had a lot of fun in October. Brant and I went to Las Vegas with friends. It is a very fun city with lots to see. Here is the view from our balcony at the luxurious Imperial Palace (ha!).

Although the mountains were pretty, a stage (with a band that played until 3am) was right below us so we moved rooms after one night. The casinos are amazing - here is a view of Paris from across the street and one of the Conservatory inside the Bellagio which was just amazing.

We went with several other couples and one afternoon the ladies had a fun time at Magaritaville.

Later in the month we headed up to Virginia Tech to watch them play Boston College in a monsoon. It really seemed like it was going to be an awesome night for us despite the weather.....but then there were the last four minutes of the ball game and we wound up as a bunch of drenched losers.....

The month ended with some Halloween fun. We waited until late to get the costumes done because no one could make a decision on what to be. The kids finally made some good choices as Supergirl and R2D2 (yes, it is a trash can and yes, now we need a new one in the upstairs room!). Cousin Cyrus should be impressed with Katie's duds since he loves to live in super hero clothes. We are still coming down from the sugar high from way too much candy.

There is not much to report on the cancer side of things. I am very healthy and only occasionally have a pain in my chest area. I will stop taking my antibiotic and antiviral drugs later this month and I am curious to see if my own immune system can keep me as healthy....especially as we enter cold and flu season.

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the fall (maybe we will get some cooler weather???) as we get ready for a fabulous holiday season.

SHE DID IT!!!!

Ruth completed the Nike Women's Marathon last Sunday in San Francisco. Her time was 7 hours and 15 minutes which is AWESOME!!!! That is a whole lot of fast walking without any stopping. And there were hills.......but awesome views......and blisters.....but many fun people.

CONGRATULATIONS RUTH on this fantastic accomplishment. And she raised over $5000 to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, too. Thank you for making a difference!

Here are two pictures from Ruth's send off party held by TNT. At the party a few days before leaving town she was given her race singlet along with lots of well wishes, advice, and encouragement.

This is Ruth with her coach Anita and another friend/supporter Esther:

Raffle Winners

Hi there! Almost a whole month has passed since my last post, but there is nothing much new to report. Isn't that just fabulous??!!! It is wonderful being healthy and having a "normal" life these days.

Ruth will be walking her marathon in less than three weeks - wow!! We had a fundraiser raffle for a scrapbooking basket and a Tupperware basket. Juanita from my mother's neighborhood won the scrapbooking basket and Louise from ACT won the Tupperware basket. We raised almost $300 from the raffle so thanks to all of you that helped by buying a ticket!!

Ruth did her 20 mile walk last week which is the highest she will go prior to the event. Please pray for nice weather out in San Francisco on Oct. 21st and that she will have lots of energy for the race day. I will be sure to post some pictures from her event. She may not hit her $6800 goal for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, but she will probably get close to $5000 which is just awesome for one person to do.

Back to School

It is that wonderful time when the kids get back on the school bus for another year of learning!! Katie was a little more excited than Chris, but they were both ready to go, and they both had a fun first week.





















My first week of school was great, too!! The house was quiet and I had some time to get caught up. Another 20 -30 weeks of this and I might get a few things done on the "to-do" list. This week I will go to the school and volunteer in the library and check in with the kids' teachers. It is a whole new world being home during the day.

Last week I also had a check up with my local doctor and my blood work is all in the normal range. I am still on the low end of the scale, but overall I am very healthy and doing well. My hair is starting to curl and I am taking on the appearance of a Chia pet that needs a little grooming. But I am not complaining, it is so nice to have hair!!

Keep on Walking, Walking, Walking......

Hi there! I thought I would post an update on the progress of my sister, Ruth, who is walking a marathon this October to raise funds for the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society (LLS). She is walking four days each week and I get to be her "Thursday Trainer" (she says that I tend to be a "mean" trainer). We walk together at the YMCA, and this past week I did 5 miles with her at a 15 min/mile pace. I was quite impressed with myself, but Ruth is doing much better than that. Her Saturday walk is the LONG one each week and she did 15 miles this morning (in the heat!!). She has a real coach working with her thru LLS's Team in Training program and she is well on her way to being ready for the marathon. Walking around New York all day gave me an appreciation for how tough it will be to walk for about 8 hours straight!!!

She is approaching 50% on her goal of $6800 which is just an awesome amount for one individual to raise for cancer research and support. Thanks to so many of you that have already donated, and for others who are interested, please visit her website at http://www.active.com/donate/tntva/rnrgrrls where you can donate online. I have updated my blog format a little and her links are now right under my picture. Go Ruth!!

3 month scans - ALL CLEAR!!!

I just got in from New York and had to post the great news - no signs of cancer on my CAT scans 3 months after the transplant!!! I am officially dubbed the title of "in remission" at this point! Well, it is 12:30 am - our flight was delayed 2-1/2 hours before boarding and then 2 hours on the runway. I am exhausted and am headed to bed, but will edit this post with more details of my NY trip later today (Friday) after I get a some sleep!

Update:

It was hard to get out of bed today and get the kids off to camp. I came back home and crashed for a few hours. I feel so bad for Brant having to be at work. It is just awful trying to get out of New York by plane in the afternoon - even without bad weather there are always delays!! I was in NY for three days and so excited to finally have enough energy to be a "tourist". Below is a rather lengthy recap of my trip, which may be of no interest to many of you, but, hey, it is my blog and I get to post what I want!! :)

My "New York Minute" of a Trip:

I flew up to NY on my own on Tuesday to get my scans done and have a consult with an oncology gyn. It was time for my normal annual check-up but with all my treatments I wanted to meet with a doctor very in tune with the oncology side of things. It was a good visit and I was able to talk frankly with the doctor about how the chemo has affected me. I won't get into the details, but lets just say I am so thankful that I have two beautiful children already since cancer has sorta taken that away from me now. This is a disease that affects so many young people, and many lose their chance to have children as a result, so I have no place complaining about my side affects. From there I headed off for my CAT scan that went fine. I scheduled my visit with Dr. Moskowitz on Thursday to make sure the radiology folks had a day to read the scans. Brant flew up on Thursday to be with me for that visit.

So now it was Tuesday evening and I had already walked all over the Upper East Side for my appointments that were not at the main hospital. I headed back to the apartment we had stayed in so many times before. I had tried to book a hotel, but rates in Manhattan in August are $300 - $500 a night. My adventurous side wanted to try a hostel, but I figured the backpackers might call me "grandma". I found a "dive" with a shared bath on the Upper West Side for around $120/night, but in the end I chickened out and asked if the apartment was available. - THANKS MIKE! After a bite for dinner at the corner deli I went to a bookstore to buy a "Guide to NY" book. I stayed up past 11pm reading it and plotting my big tourist day on Wednesday.

Then I awoke Wednesday to rain storms around 6am and heat advisories for later in the day of over 100 degrees. No big deal I thought. Well, apparently the New York subways can not handle 3 inches of rainfall in one hour and the whole system shut down. There was even an F2 tornado that touched down in Brooklyn. The whole city was in gridlock and millions of people could not get to where they were going. So I chucked my carefully made sightseeing plans out the window and took off walking towards midtown. Using the west side of 5th Ave, the street was lined with Central Park trees and the "commute" into town was shady and pleasant. You get a glimpse (and whiff) of the Central Park Zoo along the way. I strolled past bus after bus packed with people and sitting still in traffic that wasn't moving. Not a pretty sight.....

I sat and rested at the Grand Army Plaza, but it was too hot so I checked out the jewelry and air conditioning at Tiffany's and then looked in at the Trump Tower (yes, John, this is the building that you let me run into when we drove thru New York in '90). Then I headed over to the TKTS booth at Times Square figuring a matinee Broadway show at 50% off would be a cool way to spend the heat of the day. There is so much to see as you walk along, the buildings and churches are amazing. I stood in the cash only TKTS line for about 30 minutes and then learned that 50% off is more than I thought it was and couldn't buy a ticket. No big deal since I really wanted to see Lion King and that show is so sold out that it isn't available at TKTS. So I went over to the Lion King box office - premium seats were available at $250, ha! But they had a cancellation line and if seats came available they were sold at face value. So I sat down, met a new friend Stacy and her daughter that were locals, and took a gamble on getting a seat. The two hours in COLD air conditioning and off of my feet flew by as I chatted with Stacy. I got a seat with them in the 8th row in the center section near the aisle. The show was phenomenal and when the characters sang in the aisle, they were right next to us!!! It was such a great experience.

After the show it was about 5pm and the subways were up and limping along. So I finally got to use my "All Day Unlimited Rides" subway pass that I had bought. Not exactly the best day to maximize that card! I headed over to the World Trade Center site in the financial district. Since construction has now started on the site it is hard to get a sweeping view of the hole, but the few glimpses I did have were mind boggling in terms of the shear size and depth of Ground Zero site. I stopped at St. Paul's Chapel where they have a good display about 9/11 and the role that church played in helping the rescue workers in the aftermath. I recommend visiting this site to see what good comes out in people during tragedies. I was sad as I walked past Fire Station #10 on Liberty St. right across from the WTC site and thought how hard it must have been that day for the fire fighters.

From there I checked out Wall St., the NYSE building, and sat on the steps of the Federal Hall National Memorial near the Statue of George Washington. This is where the first Congress first met, our Bill of Rights was written, and our first president was inaugurated when New York acted as the capital of the country. Very cool stuff to read about. New York does a great job with signage - both getting around and historical markers. It was easy to take in a lot as I wandered around. On my way to the Bowling Green subway to head back uptown, I posed with the Wall St. Bull and marvelled at another beautiful pint size park that they have all over the City:

Tired and hungry, I got off at the 77th St subway and had a great dinner at a little Vietnamese place, Vermicelli, that my new friend Stacy had recommended while we waited for Lion King tickets. I fell asleep early after all the walking and had no time to worry about what the results of my scans would be the next day.

But Thursday morning I woke at 5:30 am and couldn't fall back asleep as I worried about my results. So I left the apartment around 7:30 and headed out to walk the Brooklyn Bridge. This was part of my plan for Wednesday that I couldn't do because of the subway shutdown. But things happen for a reason, and Thursday morning was more than 10 degrees cooler, lower humidity, and better visibility. It was a much better day for being on the bridge. I grabbed some morning coffee and headed for the subway, commuting in at rush hour with many others. Despite the crowds, I am amazed at how orderly and polite New Yorkers always seem to be. I like that you are expected to be decisive and assertive around here and it isn't considered rude. Since I had to make a transfer, I chose Grand Central Station, and went up into the terminal to look around. They sure didn't skimp on buildings in New York - the place was so ornate and huge!!!

I made it to Brooklyn and grabbed a bagel at a deli before going on the bridge. I sat on a bench and had breakfast and watched the many commuters and joggers go by. The view was amazing and I could see the incredible Manhattan skyline, the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, tugs and barges heading into the port, and the New York municipal buildings as you exit the bridge at City Hall plaza. It was still a little early for tourists, so I stood out with my camera!

The bridge amazed me (of course, as an engineer), that it was built so long ago (opened in 1883 I think) before semi trucks were around, yet the thing is so solid. There is lots of great info along the walkway about how the bridge was built and what New York and Brooklyn were like during that time. It was also interesting that the average age of the engineers that worked on the bridge was only 31. Just about the time I got across the bridge and back into Manhattan, Brant called to say he had arrived and I headed to the subway to get uptown to meet him at the hospital.

After our GREAT visit with Dr. Moskowitz, we had a little time to kill and we headed back to the subways - did I tell you that NY subways are very nifty ways to get around??!! We went to Midtown and Grand Central, then did a little walking tour past the NY library (a tad larger than the Churchland branch will be!!), Times Square, Rockefeller Center, and then rode back up to the Upper East Side for a late lunch before heading to the airport. We were both so happy and relieved to be heading home with healthy reports.

While at the Sloan Kettering I recognized a lady who has been battling Hodgkin's since the early 90s. She has a website, http://www.hodgkinsfoundation.org/, that helped me when I was searching for info. She started a foundation that raises money just for lymphoma research at Sloan Kettering and I was always impressed with how much she has done. It was great to meet her along with another lady who is getting ready to start the transplant process soon. Cancer is a terrible disease, but it does bring people and experiences into your life that you would never have otherwise. It helps people connect and be kinder to one another - just like what I saw Wednesday at the St. Paul's Chapel during 9/11. I don't understand why it takes bad things in life to help people be good, but I guess that is the way it is........ Maybe it is so we can better endure the tragedies in life.

Well, if you made it to the end of this post - congrats! I will try to post once or twice a month on the blog now, but there isn't as much going on these days, thankfully!! Feel free to drop me a line at bnrcox@yahoo.com. Take Care!