Boring...............

Absolutely, nothing exciting to write about. And I don't have any pictures to post.

Denny and I ate out on Thanksgiving since both kids were with their in-laws. We had a nice dinner at Shari's. They served us so much food that we had left overs for the following day. Plus, you got to choose any piece of pie we wanted. Can't beat coconut cream!

We have stayed home every day since Thanksgiving. I am going crazy....gotta get out of here. Actually, we are going to Newberg tomorrow and might go to a movie with the grandkids. Plus, Denny is going to go to Kyle's basketball practices tomorrow and Tuesday. So we will probably stay all night at Scott and Julie's tomorrow night.

What I have been doing lately, is playing on Facebook. It is a website for people to keep in touch with each other. Julie and Jan kept telling me that I should join it but warned me that it is addicting. Well, I have been playing with it for several days. It is still confusing to me. I need a teenager around to explain all this computer/electronic stuff to me. I made a HUGE mistake today with Facebook. I accidentally invited EVERYONE in my address book to join Facebook. It wasn't even an up to date list, it was an older one that I some how brought up. I thought I would have to make a check mark all the names of the people I wanted to invite to join, but I didn't notice that ALL the names were already checked, and before I caught my mistake, I had clicked on send. Oops! The cool thing is that I received several responses from people that wanted to join. That was good. So I decided that I better send out another email explaining to everyone that had received their "invite" that I had made a boo-boo. But that was when I noticed they were not exactly the same names in my current address book. So I had to print the list of people I sent the invite to, and cross check them with my current address book list. To top it off, the list was not in alphabetical order! Do you know how long that took me?! Get this..................I sent a copy to a travel agent, realtor, some of Denny's boat racing buddies (he doesn't know this yet....hope he doesn't read this blog!), the facilitator of my support group, etc. The list goes on and on. It was well over a hundred people. So, I have to learn more about how to use Facebook! But, I really am pleased that some of my address book contacts joined! If some of you want to join it, you should. It is tons of fun. Just don't screw up like I did!

Hope all of you have a great week.

Love to you all,

JO

Biopsy Results

Sorry I haven't been keeping up on my blogging. I emailed most of you to let you know that my bone marrow biopsy was NORMAL. My appointment was at 8:00 on Monday morning and my oncologist emailed me on Sunday night to let me know that she did not have my results yet so she cancelled my appointment and said she would let me know when she heard something. Well, she called at 8:35 am and said she had just received them. She said there were no abnormal cells that would indicate leukemia, lymphoma or myelodysplasia. My chromosomes were also normal. I had my blood tested the day I had my biopsy and she said my white blood cell counts and platelets are still very low. She doesn't know why they are low but said that sometimes a person's blood doesn't recover after having had chemo (and I have had chemo treatments twice). When I had my port flushed, I mentioned to the nurse about my low counts and she said that it sounds like my body is adapting to my low counts. With such low counts, I should not have the energy that I have (my red blood cell counts are also low) and I should be catching colds, flu, etc. from people that I am around that are sick. But I am not. I went to Disneyland and was among all those kids (and germs!) and only had 10 hours sleep in three days, and still didn't get sick. I will have my blood tested every two months and will have a CT scan and meet with my oncologist every three months. She said I might have to have another bone marrow biopsy at some time. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it! So I will have my blood tested in January and my CT scan and meet with her in February AFTER our cruise to the Western Caribbean!

Now on to better things..............I went shopping with Amy and Carolyn last Thursday. We went to Marshall's and it is hard not to buy something since the prices are so good. Well, I bought another coat. I tried it on and liked it but decided I didn't need another coat. So I put it back and forgot about it. But I walked by it later and Amy was with me and I showed it to her. She said it was a great looking coat and I should try it on so she could see it. That's all it took! She loved it and said we should find Carolyn to get her opinion. As Carolyn saw me, she said, "Oh my gosh, that coat is perfect for you." So.............I had to buy it. They made me! Denny liked it but said he is signing me up for "coats aholics!" The best part is that it was a $200 coat and I bought it for $29!

I went to my support group meeting today and run into one of my favorite vice principals, Rick. We got to visit for a while before I had to go to my meeting. He and his wife, Annette, just got back from Hawaii. It was so nice to see him. I loved working with him.

Hope all of you have a wonder Thanksgiving. Eat lots. You can always diet next week!

Love to you all,

JO

Bone Marrow Biopsy & CALIFORNIA

I had my bone marrow biopsy yesterday and it went well. We had to be there by 8:00 am and we got right in, since I think I was her first patient. I didn't have any pre meds because my oncologist said they really don't help much with the pain but might help someone that is all "keyed" up with anxiety. She gave me a shot to deaden the skin and she went to work! It hurt but really not as bad as I had expected. I squeezed Denny's hand real often. He said he is NEVER having a bone marrow biopsy since he has now seen one! I will get the results when I see her on Monday or she might call me if she gets them sooner. I am feeling so good that I am going to be surprised and disappointed if the results are not good.

Now on to the fun stuff........my trip with Jan to San Diego. Lindsay, her daughter, lives there so we were able to stay at her place, which is about 5 blocks from the beach and a couple of blocks from the stores and restaurants. Her friend, Kristin, owns the townhouse and it is fantastic.

Jan drove me around and showed my lots of fun places to visit, like the Hotel Del Coronado. What a super and expensive place.

We went to Mission Beach and had a two hour bike ride along the water front. It was awesome. What a wonderful way to see everything while also getting some exercise. Lindsay had to work but met us for coffee before our "bike tour." Here is a picture of Kristin, Lindsay, Jan and myself. Isn't it hard to pick out the two hot babes from San Diego?!

Jan said that she had a surprise for me. I thought maybe it was that we were going on a "brunch cruise" but it was far better than that. We were going to DISNEYLAND!

Jan's daughter-in-law had a conference in Anaheim and decided at the last minute to have her husband and 4 year old son go along. Since we were going to be near there, Jan decided it would be fun for us to join them. Of course, Jan's husband, couldn't miss out on their grandson's first visit to Disneyland, so he also went. Here is a picture of their family. It has been over 32 years since I have been to Disneyland so it was pretty over whelming to see all the new things. California Adventures is also awesome. We spent the entire day going between those two places. In fact, I had almost 30,000 steps on my pedometer! There are just as many rides for adults as there are for kids. I can't wait to go back with my grandkids and kids. Actually, Julie had a trip planned for all of us a couple of years ago, but I wasn't doing real well with my cancer at that time, so we cancelled our plans. I like to set goals for myself, and my goal now is to go there again with my family.

I am so lucky to have such a special friend, Jan, that shares her family and their fun times with me. They always make me feel so welcome and I love them all.

The day we got home, I went to the Carrie Underwood concert with Denny, Scott and Julie. It was fantastic. She sang for two hours straight. She is so beautiful and acts like such a normal person. Thanks, Julie, for getting the tickets so many months ago.

Today I went to my support group meeting and it was so nice to see three of the gals there that hadn't been there for a long time. Of course, it is always such a treat to sit by Shauna. She bought me a pink tee shirt while she was in Seattle and on the front of it is written,"Fight Like A Girl," and it has the breast cancer insignia on it. I love it. Thanks, Shauna.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our son-in-law, Scott. Love you!

Hope all of you are having a great week. Bet none of you have had as much fun as I have the past few days (San Diego, Disneyland, Carrie Underwood concert). But then, I bet none of you have had a bone marrow biopsy, either! I WIN!

Love to you all,

JO

San Diego, Here I Come

I am flying to San Diego in the morning with my special friend, Jan. Her daughter, Lindsay, lives there so we will be staying at her place. Not sure what all we will be doing but I am really looking forward to it. Denny and I have only been to San Diego to board the cruise ship for our Mexican cruise. So we have only spent a partial day there. It will be fun to be there with Jan and Lindsay, since they know what to see and do. I will let you know how I liked it and what we did. My body certainly isn't ready for warm/hot weather. My legs are white and I have put on a few pounds. Thank goodness I don't have to wear a bathing suit!

I went to my support group meeting on Wednesday. One of the "original gals" isn't doing too well. Her cancer has spread to her brain and to top it off, she just found out her husband has melanoma in his eye. I feel so sorry for them but they have a great support system. It is always a treat to see Shauna, my good bud, there. That is one of the main reasons I go, is to see her. Love ya, Shauna.

I will be home Monday morning and Denny, Scott, Julie and I are going to the Carrie Underwood concert that night. Did you see the Country Music Awards last night? Carrie is so gorgeous. She looked so good in all 7-8 clothing changes!

On Tuesday morning, we are off for my bone marrow biopsy. I will let you know how fun that is! But I won't get the results until the following week. And then it will be Thanksgiving. The holidays are fast approaching.

Hope all of you have a great weekend.....................like I plan on having.

Love to you all,

JO

Nothin' Goin' On This Weekend

On Thursday, Jan, Lynne and I went to IKEA near the airport. I just bought a couple of small items. It is always fun to look around that store. It is so huge. Then we met Susan, a friend that Jan and I worked with at Hilhi and Century. She has started a photography business. She retired from the school district and then went to work for the Southwest Washington Medical Center in Vancouver. Her husband has worked there for years. She just retired from her job there so she can spend more time on her photography business. She has pictures displayed in a couple of shops in Vancouver. She does awesome work. You should check out her website at: http://www.susyphotoart.net/.


On Friday, we had to take our dog, Sara, to the vet because her mouth was bothering her. She has already had three surgeries on her lower jaw. Many months ago, she had a cyst growing near her gum line, so we took her in and the vet cut it out. It was not malignant. We don't think that he cut out enough, so we took her back in and he cut away some more of her gum line. But it grew back again, so we took her back and the vet really cut deep into her jaw-right to the bone. Well, it has grown back again. Now the plan is to keep cutting it out as it grows back each time. At first the vet said that he couldn't cut anymore away from her jaw bone and we would have to take her to a specialist, but apparently, he changed his mind and he will cut on it as often as we want him to. We can't let it grow too large because it can cut off Sara's air passage. It doesn't seem to bother her too much each time she has it cut away. So we will take her in on Monday for her 4th surgery.


I like playing on Facebook, the website I joined a few weeks ago. I love it when someone new is added as a friend to my page. Special friends of ours from Forest Grove, Brad and Widdy, have a daughter that has now graduated from college and is a speech pathologist at the Sunnyside Kaiser Hospital. I am so proud of her. I remember when she was born. She is gorgeous and the nicest young lady you could ever meet. We plan on looking her up next time we go to Sunnyside, unless we are there for an emergency, which seems to be the only reason we go there! Anyway, she just added me as her friend on Facebook. It was so much fun to see the pictures she has posted on her site since we know a lot of her family and haven't seen some of them in years.


I am continuing to walk/run on our treadmill every day. I just have this vision of walking into my oncologist's office on the 18th for my bone marrow biopsy and when she asks how I am feeling I can tell her that I have run/walked everyday on the treadmill. She then will say, "Well, if you have that much energy and feel that good, I must be wrong and you must not have cancer!" Yeah, right!! But you have to admit, it is a nice vision!


Hope all of you are having a great weekend. Ours is very relaxing since we don't have anything going on. Wish the weather was nicer, though.

Love to you all,

JO


PS: I went to school with a guy whose wife just had a double mastectomy. Please say a little prayer for Cathy. Thanks.

Welcome to November

The weather is crummy today, so it is a good day to catch up on my blog. On Sunday, we met our friends, Gary and Diana, for brunch at the Red Lion. It was great. They are friends from Denny's teaching and coaching days at Lake Oswego High School. It was so nice to get "caught up" with news about our families and mutual friends. We don't see them often but sure do think of them a lot. They are life long friends that we love and hope to see more often.

Yesterday, I went to see the movie, "The Secret Lives of Bees," with Jan. It was really good. It is great to go to a Regal theater on a Tuesday because you get free buttered popcorn when you show your Regal card. Hey, that's a $5 freebie! Can you believe popcorn costs that much? I always sneak pop in since it is costs about the same as popcorn!

Today I went to my support group meeting. I told the gals about my bone marrow biopsy that I will be having on the 18th. They are always so helpful with sharing information and giving encouragement.

I just joined Facebook. Julie and Justin both are on it and Julie and my friend, Jan, kept telling me that I should join. So, I did. It is very addictive. I love it. For some of you who don't know what Facebook is, it is a website where you can keep in contact with people. I have a lot to learn on how it works, but so far, it has been great fun. Just what I need........I hardly have time to blog!

I have decided to fly to San Diego with Jan, on Friday, Nov. 15. We will come home on Monday. She had asked me last week to go, but I wasn't sure if it was a good idea with so much going on right now. But then I decided, GO FOR IT! Her daughter, Lindsay, lives there so it will be fun to see her. I have only been to San Diego a couple of times and it was just overnight while we were waiting for our cruise to begin. So, it will be nice to see more of it and discover fun places to visit. It is always nice to go somewhere with people that know their way around.

We'll be home Monday morning and that night, Denny, Julie, Scott and I are going to the Carrie Underwood concert. 'Looking forward to that. The next day, I have my biopsy. So, I am going to be so busy between now and then, I don't even have time to worry about it!

We talked to Justin and he is starting to coach basketball at Echo. He will be the JV and assistant varsity coach. Echo is a little town about 15 minutes from Hermiston. We are hoping we can go to a couple of the games that are played in the Hood River area. He is also going to help coach Dakota's basketball team, so he will be busy.

Hope all of you are having a great week. Sure don't like this rain but guess it is necessary since we have been spoiled with such nice weather.

Love to you all,

JO

The End Of October

We met with my oncologist on Thursday and got the results of my CAT scan. It was good. However, she is concerned about my recent blood tests. I have had my blood checked monthly for the last three months and my white & red blood cell counts and platelets are continuing to drop. There isn't any reason why they should be going down since I am not currently having any treatments. She suggested I have a bone marrow biopsy, so I will have it on the 18th to see if they can figure out what is going on. She described the procedure to us and it sounds like a heck of a lot of fun! She will stick this humongous needle into my teeny tiny hip! Ah, you all know my hips are not petite! She said I will just need to have a hand to squeeze. Denny's going to find out just how hard I can squeeze! I will get the results back when I meet with her on the 24th.

She is surprised that I feel so good and have so much energy. Some of the symptoms of someone with a blood disorder, low blood cell counts, someone requiring a biopsy, are: fatigue, loss of appetite, weight loss, sweating, swollen lymph nodes. I don't have any of these, especially the loss of appetite or weight loss! And I am going to walk/run on our treadmill everyday until my biopsy, just to prove that I still have energy.

So, we will just have to wait and see. I hate waiting!!!!!!! In fact, she said we could wait a month or two before doing the biopsy and just keep checking my blood, and I said I wanted it done a.s.a.p. I hate the unknown. I say, "Get 'er done!" Find out what the problem is and tackle it.

Now, on to a brighter subject. We went to Tori's last soccer game today. She made their team's first goal.

Julie is one of her coaches and does an awesome job. Here is a picture of Kyle in his Halloween costume. Isn't he a great looking kid?

Here is Tori in hers. And isn't she just the cutest cheetah you ever saw?!We had quite a few trick or treaters last night. Good thing I hadn't eaten all the candy! Hope all of you had a happy Halloween.

Love to you all,

JO

Catch Up Blog - Lynne & Bill's Wedding

Before I type my entry about what has been happening the last couple of days, I need to write about Lynne and Bill's wedding that we went to on Oct. 18th. Lynne is one of the gals I go to Reno with each year. It was at the Sheraton Hotel at the airport. It was a beautiful and fun wedding. This is Jan, my special friend, another gal I go to Reno with. We worked together for over 20 years and she and Dick live by us. She and Lynne are cousins. Here she is with her husband, son, daughter-in-law and grandson. Aren't they a nice looking family?!

And of course, here are Denny and I at the reception. We sure enjoyed the music and we danced a lot. Here is a picture of Tera and her family. She also went to Reno with us. Another great looking family.........can you tell the girls are twins? I guess I forgot to blog about the wedding because I took off the next day for my slumber party at the beach. Just wanted all of you to see and hear about Lynne and Bill's wedding. What fun it was! We wish them much happiness.

Love to you all,

JO