Good evening one and all,
The authors of this blog realize that it has been about two months since the last writing. Karen had her monthly Xgeva shot, port cleaning and blood tests conducted on the last Friday of December and January. Karen's blood results were well within the acceptable limits and she is improving each day. Although Karen had asked the nurse for her cancer marker readings for November and December, the nurse seemed pre-occupied with other pending issues in the infusion center that the information was not provided. Karen is not worry about these readings but will try to acquire them in February.
As written in some of the previous blogs, one of the nurses retired at the end of December. Karen surprised the nurse (Kathy) on her last day of work in December by giving her a handcrafted Heart Wreath (made from walnut), a bouquet of Origami flowers and big Thank You card. Contrary to popular belief, Karen made the wreath, some holiday hangings for the wreath and the Origami flowers even though Karen is still battling with the neuropathy in her hands. Kathy was truly surprised and very thankful for the gifts. Some of the other nurses have asked Karen to make them a Heart Wreath. Karen is thinking about it.
As stated above Karen is making milestones each day. She has been doing some little woodworking projects, yardwork with her Mom and oh yes, she even got up on the rooftop in the month of December. While Karen was working on the woodworking project (Heart Wreath) in December, she noticed a leak in the ceiling in the garage. Being the trained investigator, she immediately notified her Mom to verify if that was indeed a leak in the ceiling. After a few minutes of discussion it was determined to be a leak. Karen and her Mom decided to pull the ladders out to check the rain gutters. Needless to say, it wasn't the rain gutters so Karen ventured onto the rooftop to discover that the valleys and flashing on the rooftop were clogged by leaves and dirt. Karen spent, according to her Mom, at least 3 to 4 hours cleaning the roof of the clumps of leaves and dirt. Of course, the day was cold and Karen's Mom stood down below on the front lawn looking up at the roof and at times could not see Karen. Karen's Mom could only imagine what the neighbors thought of her while she stood there looking up at the roof. To say the least, Karen and her Mom became the talk of the neighborhood. Karen ended up with four bags of trash from the roof. The funny or sad part about this story is their property has no trees on it. The leaves are constantly blowing in from their neighbors' homes. And yes, the cleaning on the rooftop did in fact stop the leak from expanding.
Anyhow, thank you for keeping Karen and all of her family in your prayers and thoughts. Karen and her Mom want to wish all of you a very Happy and Peaceful New Year.
Tip of the Blog: What Cancer Cannot Do.
Cancer is so limited. It cannot cripple Love. It cannot shatter Hope. It cannot corrode Faith. It cannot destroy Peace. It cannot kill Friendship. It cannot suppress Memories. It cannot silence Courage. It cannot invade the Soul. It cannot steal eternal Life. It cannot conquer the Spirit.
Author Unknown
