Cougars Team Up Against Cancer

Another busy week. I went to Eleanor's "celebration of life"on Saturday and then to Kyle's basketball tournament, which was also on Sunday. They didn't win but had fun.

On Monday, I went to Mary Etta's, in Newberg, to help plan our 45th class reunion. It will be on September 12th at Sandy and Merlin's house outside of Newberg. It is a humongous house and the yard and patios make it a super place for a large gathering.

On Tuesday, the day we had snow, we decided at the last minute to drive to Echo to watch Justin's basketball teams play. Instead of taking the usual 3 1/2 hours, it took us 4 1/2 because the gorge had snow and ice. The trip home was fine because it had warmed up. Justin's JV team won and the Varsity lost by about 10. That team had beat them bad previously so they did a great job of staying so close. They were even tied at half time. It was so fun to watch Justin coach. He does such a good job and you can tell that the kids like him.

Justin and Denny are looking over the stats.
This picture is a little blurry but I like it because it shows how Justin likes talking to the opposing coach.
This week is Cancer Week at Echo and they are selling pink shirts that say, "Cougars Team Up Against Cancer." I was wondering why Justin was wearing the pretty pink tee shirt when we walked into the gym! He bought me one so we both wore them during the games. Tonight at their game, there will be lots of people wearing their pink cancer tee shirts. Thanks, Justin, for my shirt and for wearing yours! That really means a lot to me. It was fun to see Dakota and DJ. We hope to go to one of Dakota's basketball tournaments and another one of Justin's games when we get back from our trip.
On Wednesday I went to my support group meeting and there were 25 women there! I think that is the most that have ever been there since I have been going. Two new gals were there and one has two children under the age of two. Makes me so mad that cancer has to happen to such young people.

Yesterday I had my CT scan and I won't get the results until my oncology appointment on the 10th. I planned it that way because we are going on a Western Caribbean cruise on Saturday. I don't want the results until we get back. We are going on the cruise with Jan, Dick, Lynne and Bill. We have never been on an Norwegian Cruise Ship so I hope we like it. It is a newer ship and they have open seating for dining. And they do not have a formal night. I packed a little different for this cruise than I have previously for other cruises we have been on. I will let you all know how we liked it.

The bad thing is that I started coming down with a cold. Don't like the thought of flying on an airplane with a cold. But, it could be worse. I feel lucky just to be going on this trip. We are flying first class and using air miles. We have never flown first class before but people seem to like it.

I hope all of you have a great weekend and a great week. Will blog more after we return from our cruise.

Love to you all,

JO

CCR and Justin's Now A Varsity Basketball Coach

On Thursday morning I met Amy and Carolyn at 9:30 for our monthly shopping trip. Then we met Eileen and Julie for our monthly luncheon. We ate at The Venetian in Hillsboro. It was great. It used to be an old movie theater and now it is a very nice restaurant and bar plus a newly remodeled movie theater and performance center. Then at 4:00 I met the Lunch Bunch gals at The Roadhouse. We usually get together a couple of times a year. It was so nice to see everyone and especially Karen, who looks fantastic. So that was a fun day.

On Friday we dropped Sara (our dog) off at Scott and Julie's because they were nice enough to take care of her while we went to the beach to see Creedence Clearwater Survival. They were great but we didn't like the smoke in the casino. Guess that is the only place now days where smoking is allowed so smokers love to hang out there. After the performance (9:30 PM) we ate at the seafood buffet.......................I said we ate a buffet at 9:30 at night! Can you believe it?! I hate eating late and especially eating lots. OMG......................never again.

We got up on Saturday and went for a walk on the beach. It was nice, with no wind or rain. We then drove to Canby for Kyle's basketball tournament. We missed the first game since it was at 9:30 AM. Unfortunately, they lost both games. They will play two more tomorrow.

Justin is now the JV AND Varsity basketball coach at Echo. The head coach was "let go" so they asked Justin if he would take over. They only have 8 more games. The JV's won their games yesterday and today. I think they have only lost one game this season. The Varsity lost yesterday and WON today. They played their rival, Ione, at home. Ione has won their last 7 games so everyone was really excited Echo won. Congratulations to Justin for winning his first game as a Varsity coach. He said he was so proud of his boys because they played so hard.

Tomorrow I am going to a Celebration of Life ceremony for Eleanor. She passed away from cancer, just before Christmas. She was a super lady that will missed by so many. Then I will go to Kyle's basketball tournament in Canby.

We have another busy week ahead. Will write about it later. Hope all of you are having a great week. ( I know Shauna is..................she is in San Francisco!)

Love to you all,

JO

Another Busy Week

It's been a week and I know I have been neglecting my Blog. Just seem to spend most of my computer time on Facebook. If you haven't joined it yet, you should give it a try.


We have had another busy week. My support group meeting was great. Pam, my friend who has recently diagnosed with cancer, went for the second week in a row with me. She will miss this week because she is having chemo on Wednesday. But Shauna and Fern were there and I love seeing them both, not to mention all the other gals.

Denny went skiing with our friend, Gary, and had a blast. They drove to Hermiston and visited with Justin and then headed to Baker to stay all night. They got up the next morning and skied at Anthony Lakes. We had skied there many years ago with Gary and his family. It is such a neat place to ski and too bad it takes about 5 hours to drive there. Denny's knee did not bother him one bit and he skied like he was a pro. Apparently, it is like riding a bike...........once you learn how to do it, you don't forget. He loved it so much that he bought himself a new pair of skis, boots and poles. Kay and Rod: He just might be calling you two to go skiing with him!

On Friday we went to Newberg for Kyle's basketball practice. We stayed all night since they had a tournament in Molalla on Saturday and Sunday. They lost two and won two. The boys are playing so well and Denny is pleased with the way they are executing the plays.

Justin's JV boys won their game on Friday night but don't know about Saturday night's game. Since Dakota didn't have school today, I am sure the two of them are out duck hunting.

Today I cleaned my house. Boy, did it need it. The windows look pretty dirty, though. With the beautiful sunshine, they really are looking bad.

We will head to Newberg tomorrow for practice. I will go to my support group meeting on Wednesday. I am meeting with girlfriends for shopping and lunch on Thursday and then we are headed to the beach on Friday to see Creedence Clearwater Revival. And I am taking Jan and Dick to the airport Friday morning at 4:00 AM! Haven't been up that early since, I don't remember when! Kyle has a basketball tournament in Canby this weekend. Plus, I am going to a celebration of life, on Sunday, for a friend that passed away. Then another week starts and looking at my calendar, I have something every day! I hope my cancer is aware that I don't have time for it and it will just lay low for a long time. ( I have my CT scan on the 29th.)

Hope all of you are having a nice week and enjoying the sunshine.

Love to you all,

JO

PS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, tomorrow, to Shauna!

Basketball, Basketball, Basketball

We went to Kyle's basketball tournament in Wilsonville last weekend. They won two games and lost two. It is so much fun to see the progress the boys are making. They are all in the 5th grade and just beginning to learn "plays." Denny is really enjoying helping to coach the team. It was fun to run into Ron, Linda and Doug, our friends from Forest Grove. Doug's son, Ronnie, is in the 5th grade and plays on the Forest Grove team. We will have a tournament there in a few weeks. After the game on Saturday night, we went to eat at Juan's, my favorite Mexican restaurant. On Sunday night, we went to eat at Red Robin. Scott and Julie's neighbors and their three girls also went because they were at the game. So the weekend wasn't the best "eating" weekend for me as far as calories but it was sure a fun "eating" weekend! They will have a tournament this weekend in Molalla.


Denny and Kyle had basketball practice on Monday so we went to Newberg and stayed all night since they also had practice today (Tuesday). We will go home tonight because I am going to my support group meeting tomorrow and Denny is going skiing at Anthony Lakes with Gary. Denny hasn't skied for over 20 years so it will be interesting. Sure hope he doesn't hurt his knee that he has had surgery on. They are going to stop and see Justin on their way there.


Today I went to the Woodburn Outlet Stores. I hadn't been there for a long time. It was fun to walk through the stores. There are more stores there than I was aware of. I bought a pair of Nike running shoes and some cheap Converse tennis shoes. Now I have to get rid of a couple of pair of shoes in my closet so I have room for my new ones!


I am looking forward to meeting my friend, Kay, tomorrow after my support group meeting. We try to get together at least once a month. We were neighbors in Tigard over 30 years ago.



Haven't heard yet if Justin's JV's won their game last night. They are 7-0.


Hope all of you are having a great week.


Love to you all,


JO

Medical Update

'Just returned from seeing my doctor because I have an infection in my left index finger. Since I have lymphedema in my left arm and my white blood cell counts are low, I figured the smart thing was to see what my primary doctor thought. He gave me an antibiotic that I will take 4 times a day for 10 day. They are big honkin' pills.

I also asked if he would look up my results of my blood test from this morning. Not good. My white blood cell count is now 1.7 and it was 2.0 two months ago when I had it tested. It continues to go down. It should be between 4.0 - 10.0. My platelets are 113 and they should be between 140-375. They also dropped from two months ago. My neutrophils are 0.62 and should be between 1.80-8.30. Again, they are lower than they were two months ago. IF I was having chemo treatments, they would not give them to me because of my low counts. But, what's a girl to do?! Guess I will just to to Kyle's basketball game tonight and forget about it! I am feeling great so I'm not going to let low blood counts "cramp my style!"

Love to you all,

JO

Justin's JV's Win Big

I went to my support group meeting on Wednesday. It was so nice to see all the gals because most of us had not been to "group" for three weeks because of the snow, Christmas and New Years. I always look forward to going so I can see Shauna. We keep saying that we are going to get together sometime other than at our meetings but we are both busy. We keep in touch often through email and Facebook. Fern is again coming to our meetings. The meetings are so much better when she is there because she is a nurse and brings so much knowledge, wisdom and humor. She is doing well with her chemo and is feeling great. I am so glad. I took a friend of mine to the class. Pam was recently diagnosed with lung and liver cancer. There are several gals in our group that also have lung and liver cancer, so I think Pam really enjoyed the meeting. I hope she will continue to go because there is always good information that can help you with concerns that come up during your cancer journey. There have been several times when a new gal will come to our meetings and will not return. I think sometimes it is a little depressing and scary for a new person. But in the long run, the meetings are so helpful and really enjoyable. I love all the women and feel privileged to be able to go to the free support group.

Today I had my blood tested. I have it checked every two months because of my low white blood cell counts and low platelets count. I haven't received the results yet (they will be posted on my Kaiser website) but they won't post abnormal results so I know I will have to call to get them. I don't anticipate my counts going up anyway. I think my low counts are what is normal for me and my body has adjusted to them. However, I am going to my primary doctor in about an hour because my index finger on my left hand is swollen and probably infected. It started bothering me two days after I had my nails done. But I didn't have any hang nails or scratches from any the instruments they used. So I don't know if it even has anything to do with that. But because I have lymphedema in that arm and my white blood cell counts are low, I think I should have it checked out.....especially since the weekend is almost here and it is hard to get in to see a doctor on the weekend.

We went to watch Justin coach his Echo JV basketball team this week. It was so much fun to see him as a coach instead of a player. I was very impressed with the Echo team and coaches. The kids looked very nice on the court. They all wore warm ups to the game and during the game, they all had their shirts tucked in. They were polite and courteous. The coaches had coaching shirts on with dark slacks. They also wore warm ups to the game, like the kid's. The other team looked sloppy with their shirts sometimes hanging out and their coaches wore jeans and you couldn't even tell who the coaches were. They looked like some of the parents. I think if a team looks professional and nice, they get more respect on and off the court. Justin's team won big time. The varsity lost by about 10 points. It was such a pleasure to watch and I was so proud of Justin and his boys.

We are headed to Wilsonville tonight for Kyle's basketball tournament. Denny is helping coach. They will also play tomorrow and Sunday.

Hope all of you are having a great week.

Love to you all,

JO

Back To Normal...............

It is nice to get back to normal and not have any snow.

We went to Newberg on Friday because Denny had basketball practice. He is helping coach Kyle's team. We both had class reunion meetings. There were 15-20 people at mine and we talked about our upcoming 45th reunion. It was decided it will be at Sandy and Merlin's house. They have a new huge house outside of Newberg. Plus their yard is perfect for parties, weddings, etc. Mary Etta and Judy "stepped up to the plate" and said they would co-chair the committee. Midge and I said we would help. I know there will be others that will also want to be involved. I have always enjoyed planning our reunions but decided I shouldn't take on chairing the committee since I'm not sure how I will be feeling by Sept. 12th, when we have our reunion. I love seeing the people I went to school with...............some of them since 3rd grade. To me, they are like an extended family, since I grew up with them.

On Saturday, Denny went with Scott to look at new pickups. Scott ended up buying a new 350 Ford diesel pickup. It is really nice. He traded in the 150 pickup he has had for 12 years. They needed a bigger rig for hauling their trailer house, 4-wheelers, etc. It will be perfect for them for camping and hunting.

Today I bought some much needed groceries and had my port flushed. I have to have that done once a month. The nurse takes a needle that looks like a GIANT stick pin and jabs it into the port site. I usually say that it doesn't hurt but it actually does. But it has to be done so......grin and bear it!

Happy Birthday today to my special friend, Arlene. Looking forward to seeing you soon.

Hope all of you are having a great week.

Love to you all,

JO