Time for the HAPPY DANCE!!

Hi, as promised, I heard from my Dr's office and I said I would fill you in on the results. My CA-125 cancer antigen test came back at 57!!!! My last count was 92.4   It was originally 1003.  Normal is 35 or below. I am very happy and I thank you all for your many prayers. The Lord is listening to our requests.  What a beautiful sunny day here in Holland. I am sorry for those you are shoveling snow (Ross). It has not hit us yet.......

Some pics

Chemo #12 with some future info

Hi, Deb here. I had my big day of chemo today, having all three chemo drugs. I was there for 5 1/2 hrs. With the oral Benadryl and the cold medicine I took, it really knocked me out and I slept more today. My WBC, Hgb and platlets all went up a bit so my week off really helped my body shape up a bit. My Hgb is 9, so I am still tired. My CA-125 test results will come in tomorrow, so stay tuned for those results, I will post them when I get the call. Please pray they continue to go down. It was 92.4 last time, my radio station .

I don't know what happened to my Dr. today, but he actually told me what might happen. Something he before, was not big on doing. He told me that there is a high probability that I would have more surgery in March. It would all depend on what the CT scan shows is January. The reason I could not have the surgery sooner, is I need to be off the Avastin chemo drug for a couple of months. It decreases the blood supply to the tumor areas to decrease their growth and it would therefore not be good for wound healing after surgery. That made sense to me, and I appreciated him giving me his thoughts. March would be good timing with Mieke's wedding being June 1, I would have time to heal and get ready to put on my dancing shoes for the big event. He also said that there is a good chance I would continue having chemo through March. All depends on the CA-125 results.

Kind of mixed emotions when it comes to having that big surgery again. First, I now know what to expect, and therefore will not have the anxiety that comes along with fear of the unknown. Second, hopefully they will be able to remove some stuff this time, (hopefully about 20 lbs worth). That would really make me happy before the wedding. I would "rock" (as Mieke would say) in my new purple dress.
Third, by hopefully removing some of the tumors this time it would make the recovery a bit easier to take because at least something good would come out of it. This time, I felt what a lot of effort for nothing. When the Dr. said, I never would have done the surgery had the CT shown all the involvement in the upper abdomen. I would have just started you on chemo. It did make me a little "soured".

Can you tell I feel pretty good after my big chemo day with the Decadron steroid they give me?? It definitely makes me a bit hyper and takes my abd. pain away. I am not usually this wordy.

I need to thank Laurie again for taking me to chemo today. Mieke is lucky to have you for a future mother-in-law. Thanks to my sister Kris for wrapping a bunch of Christmas gifts for me and doing lots of other needed projects around here. I love you too Kris!!, have a safe trip home to Tulsa.
Thanks to my niece Libby who gave me my little Willow Tree Demdaco Angel entitled "Good Health". I love her and she is on my angel table with all my Christmas Angels. Libby is a cancer survivor this past year and knows we all need angels and miracles to surround us.
So fun to come home today to a bag of Christmas chocolate bark from Lori R. You are too kind, it's soooo good.  For all you guys who text, facebook, call with well wishes on chemo day, thanks. It helps so much knowing you are all thinking and with me on those days.

Pictures will be coming of our weekend. Need Mieke's help (I told you I am not too tech savey).

I am excited about all the fun events I have on the calendar this month. I LOVE CHRISTMAS!! I can't go to enough Christmas concerts, parties, lunches etc. Bring 'em on baby.
I have decided I am definitely going into the wig shop and see what they can do to make my wig more comfortable. I am sick of looking sick. At least that is how I feel tonight, I may feel totally indifferent tomorrow...............

I love the comments on the blog. Dianne, I will listen to my body and rest occasionally. Linda, I had to laugh about your Griswald Christmas Tree. We will definitely come see it. Dave, I love your style!!

p.s. If you have meal dishes here, please stop by and sort out which are yours. I would return them, but I did not do a good job of remembering whose is whose. I was just totally enjoying the good food in them. Thanks so much!! Deb

Green Bay and a Good Day

Stan here:  

Well, we went to the pro game on Thanksgiving. I do not think anybody really expected the Lions to win and they did not.  For a little while it looked like they might be even but after a while you could tell who was the better team, so I think the Lions need to wait a little while before  it's their day. It was fun though.  Deb's brother Jim and his wife Nancy really worked hard to get all the tickets and put on a really fun day.  I think in all 28 of us went to the game and getting that many tickets must have been a lot of work.  Then I think we had 43 of us at the Thanksgiving turkey dinner.  And for Nancy and others that was a bunch of work. So it was hard not to have a good time regardless of the score of the game.It's was so exciting when our niece Alissa and her boyfriend Ramundo surprised everyone by flying in from Chile. It was so fun to spend time with them.

Deb had some trouble with her energy level all weekend but she did manage to make it to the game and then through the rest of the day. She had a sty in her one eye and I'm sure this is from her poor immune system.  As reported earlier some of her counts are down and she has had some tougher days in row.  But through all this she has made it to some big events which included a large dinner on Saturday at Alden and Mary's house with the Hoksbergen side of the family and then a nice birthday celebration for Ross (for his 30th) at our house. His birthday is actually the 28th but we celebrated a day earlier to accommodate work plans etc.  It all worked out to be a busy weekend.  Now today I think Deb is paying a bit of price as someplace along the line she has picked up a cold.  She resumes Chemo on Tuesday so we hope to get back on target with normal plans and start feeling better soon after that. 

Thanks to Jane for the wonderful dinner on Sunday night.

Hi, this is from Deb. My sister came last night to spend the day with me before she heads back to Tulsa. She went with me to have my blood drawn today at the hospital. Then the best part was she and Mieke helped make my house ready for Christmas. All the decorations are up and it feels so good to have that done already so I can enjoy it for the whole month. Aaron's mom Laurie is going to take me to chemo tomorrow, we can talk "wedding". It is kind of crazy to think it was 30 yrs. ago that we had Ross. I remember being on "cloud 9" for about a year after he was born. After going home empty handed with the two previous pregnancies, it took a while for it to sink in that we really had a healthy son. We love you Ross.

Day off from Chemo (should have been #12)

Hi All, thanks Stan for doing the update last night. A few days ago, I wrote that I thought they forgot to put the chemo drugs in my last batch, well, guess what, it has caught up with me. I can hardly get up off the couch. I am really dragging, and I don't like it. My brain wants to go, but my body says no. My White blood count is down to 2.4, my Hemaglobin is down to 8.5 and my platelets are 72,000. The platelets did go up a little. I will have my big chemo day next week. I asked her if that means I will go longer into Jan. with my treatments. Amber (the chemo nurse) says that they will check my CA-125 on Dec. 20. If I am not in the normal range at that time, I will have 3 more treatments.   If I am in the normal range, they will do a CT scan the first week of Jan. and see what I look like inside.

So at least I know the plan now. I am really kind of glad to have today off. I really need to regain a little strength so I can walk into that Lions Game on Thursday. There are over 20 of us going to the game, and then I think we will have 41 for dinner back at my brother and sister-in-laws house in Plymouth. I am so excited to see everyone. People are coming in from all over the country, OK, VA, KY, WI, MI,IL...

I am having some new chemo side effects. My tongue is VERY sensitive and has some blisters on it. I cannot eat vinaigrette dressing any more. It feels like it is eating away at my tongue. Also, certain spices really burn. I realized that when I was eating with some friends. I was dying and sucking on ice, and I asked if anyone else thought the pizza was really spicy. They said no, so then the light bulb went off...It's my tongue, a "rapidly replicating cell" type area that the chemo is attacking. I also, really can't taste anything. Pretty much everything tastes like cardboard or metal. I certainly won't be enjoying the TASTE of the turkey this year, but I will be enjoying the company.

Thanks Sandy for dinner last night. I know Stan wrote it last night, but I want to also tell everyone that I am so thankful for all your expressions of love and support since this whole journey began. I do appreciate and read every email, facebook message and comments on the blog. I am blown away by the cards I still seem to get most days. I feel loved and I know that prayers are going up on my behalf, and being answered. I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!!

Living for Thanksgiving

Stan Here:
It has been a while since I have had the chance to write.   Deb asked me to post tonight so I hope I have all the facts right.  We always try to post the good stuff but most times when I do the writing it means that we had a little tougher day.  Many of you know that Tuesday around here is Chemo day and for the first time since this all started some of the blood counts were too low to get the chemo treatment on Tuesday.  We are told that this is not all that unusual but still with the low counts comes some "tired all the time" problems.  She did go out with some friends tonight but I think she had to force herself out the door.  They go out once a month on Monday and I do not think she wanted to miss it. It falls in the category of doing all you can do every day.

I was North this weekend sitting in the woods. I no longer call it deer hunting as it has been some years since the deer have been threatened.  I had some other stuff to do up there to close the place for the winter so I did not sit out there very long.  While I was gone some nice stuff took place on Sunday.  Ross and Rumy played again at our church.  I think they are scheduled three more times before the end of year.  Our friends Ken and Joan came to see them. Mieke leads a kids singing group and they also sang at this service.  I heard it all went well and now I am sorry I missed it.  Then in the afternoon Ross had a performance with the GRS at Central Reformed in GR.  Ross played his Piccolo trumpet for this and Deb attended this as well.  I think it has been about as long as I can remember that Deb missed a concert and that has remained true in all the recent times.

Thanks also to Gary and Deb who brought over a nice taco bar yesterday and then three nice ice cream selections tonight. 

Shortly after Deb was diagnosed this summer she thought of some things she would really like to do in the event this disease did not allow her to enjoy things for a long period of time. One of those ideas was to attend a pro football game on Thanksgiving day.  So she and many of our family bought tickets to the Lions-Packers game.  This was before anybody even knew that the Lions were better this year than usual. Now I do not think you could even buy a ticket, but we have them and we are going and then afterwords having the traditional dinner at Jim and Nancy's.  Look for us at the game.  If the Lion's could pull out a victory that would be something.  It still should be a fun day no matter what the outcome.

Thanksgiving for me has always been my favorite Holiday.  It is kind of different this year.  We have plenty of worries and uncertainty while at the same time lots to give thanks for.  Thanks for all of your prayers, gifts and support.  They have made a big difference in our lives.  I gotta tell you that there was a time after the surgery that I gave some thought to the possibility that Deb would never make it to the game on Thanksgiving and now it looks like it is going to happen.  Lots to give thanks for around here.

Having a great week so far

I wanted to let everyone know that I am feeling so good this week, I think they forgot to put any chemo drugs in the bag on Tues. What do you think?? Is that possible?? I have been able to get out and do lots of fun things. My Mom, Jackie and I did some Thrift store shopping on Wed. Love those 1/2 off deals on senior citizen day on Wed. We took her to lunch at Cafe 58 at the City on a Hill (the old Zeeland Hospital). We love the chicken fajita wraps there.

Thanks Jill for the dinner on Wed., loved it. Also, thanks for the candle from Spring Sweet- love that store!!

Thurs. Mieke and I did a little wedding stuff, went to the Grandville Mall. We had a tasting with a caterer. At night my co-worker Nikki was kind enough to pick me up to attend a 31 Party at another nurse friends new house in Jenison. Emily, your place is wonderful, and so was your cheesecake. I wish you the best with your wedding next month! Got a start on some Christmas shopping at the party. I had never been to one of these home parties, but it has nice stuff, bags, purses, etc. It was so fun to see so many of my co-workers there who I have not seen in a while.

Today, I ventured out with my "long" wig. One of the free ones I got from the Heights Salon. They "loaned" me two wigs through a program with the Cancer Society. All they asked is that you return them when you are finished with them. This one was brand new, it still had the tags on it. It is more comfortable than my "normal" looking one, so I wore it to coffee with friends at Good Earth, than lunch at City View, and than a Christmas Open House at Dorie's.  I have not had a wig on that long EVER. Mieke said, You had better tell people how good you are feeling on the blog, so that is what I am doing. I think all the prayers are so helping me keep going, living my life and enjoying every day to the fullest!  Tonight I am attending the Holland Christian play Bye, Bye Birdie. My "former" hairdresser Kim brought over dinner this am, plus she was kind enough to bring her little Yorkie Macy over for a visit too. Kim's first Yorkie is the reason we got Spencer. I said, I could handle a little cute dog like that. Thanks Kim for your kindness, since I have not had a reason to get my hair cut for quit some time now, we were missing catching up on "life". Kim's daughter is in the pit orchestra tonight. I am looking so forward to it.

My dear friend Joan stopped over for tea this afternoon with a Christmas goodie basket of wonderful chocolates. So good to talk with you!! They are going to come to church Sunday to hear Ross and Rumy.

Stan headed back up north to hunt more "antlers". Wish him luck.

Sara S., good night, hope you had a great day at work. It was good to see you the other night. I will now picture you reading this before you go to bed. :)   Deb

Chemo Day # 11 Deer Hunter Widows

Hi, Deb writing tonight. Stan is up north hunting antlers. He saw lots of deer, no antlers. He said they are having a great time.

Chemo went well today, just about didn't get it again, because my platelets are down to 65. They want me to get my blood drawn next Monday in Holland to check what my platelet count is, because if it does not go up they will cancel my chemo next week and give my body a week to build them up a bit. I really would not mind a week off so I can feel better for Thanksgiving and the Lions Packers game!

My hemaglobin count is down to 8.9 which is why I am feeling so tired. Thanks to my friend Deb who took me to chemo. My Mom came from Plymouth toward the end of chemo and we all went out to lunch with my Aunt Margie too. My Mom and I have husbands up north so we had a nice afternoon doing a little shopping in downtown Holland. I just sat down and rested whenever I saw a chair. The weather was so beautiful and mild today!

I need to thank Jan and Phil for dinner on Sunday, it was great! David brought over his famous homemade pizza for Monday, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Naomi thanks for the muffins, need that recipe. Good catching up.

I thank everyone for the nice comments about Mieke's speech. We are so proud of her.

Special Moments

Stan Here:

One of the things that gets lost a bit with all the medical appointments, the up days and the down days of this cancer world, is the fact that with it comes some new experiences that show how people can be at their best.  We had one of those moments last night. Mieke was asked to give a speech at Hope related to their Relay for Life night.  The night had to do with fund-raising and walking in memory and support for cancer patients, survivors and victims.  She was a little nervous about it as there were quite a few people there and the content of what she had to say had an emotional  impact on her.  But she stood in front of the crowd and  delivered these words that I want to put in print for you.  With a sometimes trembling voice she spoke these words from the perspective of a caregiver.  The room was silent as she offered this speech.

Hello everyone, my name is Mieke Hoksbergen, a senior here at Hope College. 3 months ago, I knew very little about cancer and never thought I would be up here at Relay, speaking as a caregiver. This past August my mom went into the Dr. after 2 weeks of a slight stomach ache to see what was up. She came out with a diagnosis of cancer. Stage 3, Fallopian Tube cancer. I remember I was home when she got the call. The Dr. said, “Debbie, you have cancer, it’s really bad. You’re going to need big surgery. Get everyone you know to pray.” Her life, my life, and my entire families lives were forever changed. Since that day I have been beside my mom in every way that I know how. I have learned so many things about life, things that you sort of hope you will never have to learn, but also make you a better person because you know them.  One of the medical people told us that we had joined a club of which nobody would want to be a member.

            The day we found out, I started a blog for my mom, Deb’s Diary. This simple online diary connects everyone that knows and loves her to what is going on in her journey with cancer. For so many people, the blog has been an incredible way to keep informed, and keep everyone praying. My mom is a nurse, a great nurse at that, and worked every connection to get in quick to see Doctors and surgeons. She canceled her upcoming trip to Bulgaria to be at my brother’s wedding and a week later, we were sitting in a waiting room, anxious and hopeful to hear how surgery went. The surgeon came in the room staring at the floor. I remember him saying things like, “It’s a lot worse than we thought.” “It is spread to most of her organs and abdomen,” “We couldn’t take anything out, it is just too involved. Coating her organs like icing.” I couldn’t breathe and felt such a rush as thoughts came to my head about losing my mom to this awful disease. I went in to see her in the recovery room and I held her hand and cried. Cried that she has to go through so much pain, cried that I could lose my best friend, cried that she might not get to meet my kids or live life to the fullest, like she always has. Her incision went all the way down her stomach, over 18"  long.  She could hardly walk, or sit up. I couldn’t leave her side as she spent the week in the hospital. We spent a great deal of time holding hands and weeping. My brother actually had to make me leave after spending 3 sleepless nights in a row with her, providing every type of care that I possibly could. I didn’t want to go home, because it made me think about home without mom, and that really isn’t home at all. As a caregiver for someone with cancer, you have to learn to be humble, and do anything that they need. Yes, it will seem like everything they need is on the opposite side of the room that you are sitting, but good caregivers don’t question what their loved ones need. I made sure that her chap-stick was there beside her and ice chips were within reach at all times. These small things are what caregivers are needed for. The patient deals with the pain of a disease like cancer, and we do whatever we can to help them get through it while battling new emotions that are always changing, every day.

            There were so many decisions that had to be made in that next week. No offense to my dad, but he doesn’t do laundry, and really can’t cook. I needed to be there for my mom through this whole thing, and that meant not going back to live on campus for my senior year. I decided to cut down my class load, and live at home with my parents. I can be there for anything she needs at any time of the day or night. And, we can talk about wedding plans even more! I am there to help with house “stuff” and moral support for my mom and dad. It is hard to miss things like living with your friends, and it also hard to shave your mom’s hair. Basically, it is hard to watch someone you love fight to live their life. But God has been with us, lifting us up and guiding us through this journey.

I’m happy to say that treatment has gone better than we expected. My mom is here tonight, looking absolutely beautiful, rocking her adorable hat. She has chemo every Tuesday, we go together and stop on the way home for Wendy’s chili. When she was first diagnosed, her cancer count was 1,003. Last week, that same test was done; her count is down to 92.4!! Her treatments are working! She is being healed. Through everything, there are so many others who have helped too. Things like, visits, meals, cards, quilts, gifts, facebook messages, house cleanings, convertible rides and thousands and thousands of prayers. Hope College has been beyond flexible to allow me to take care of myself while caring for my mom. Everyone here can care for someone who is sick. A Hope student even brought us homemade porkchops on her day off. My mom often says, “People are just TOO nice.” There are countless ways for us all to take care of people who are battling cancer.

In my very first blog post I wrote, “She is my role model, best friend, and I can't do life without her. God will work in her and heal her.” I still believe this today. With help from the medical world, this disease CAN go away. With causes like Relay for Life, and research devoted to curing cancer, this disease HAS a better chance to go away. With caregivers who love their patients so much, this disease SHOULD go away. There are so many who deal with cancer, and it isn’t fair, because life shouldn’t be this hard. My mom is a strong woman. And I pray, this disease WILL go away. Thank you.

It was touching to see Mieke deliver this speech.  She turns 21 on Sunday and her dad is proud of her.   She has been a huge help in this entire event.

Say Yes to the Dress

So sorry about the video not working today. Mieke will try and get it to work when she has a minute. Right now she is busy writing a speech she has to present tomorrow night at Hope College's Relay for Life. She was asked to speak on behalf of "care givers". She was honored to be asked, and it fits right in with her life right now. She will be speaking at 9pm at the Dow Center for anyone wanting to come hear her.

We are excited to report that she ordered her wedding dress today. It is beautiful, and she looked stunning in it! It is a big relief to have that decision made. It all worked out so well, because we ended up getting the dress from a store in Grand Rapids, called Bridal Gallery. The owner Judy, is an old friend of mine from the First Christian Reformed Church in Grosse Pointe Park. She was so helpful and it is a comforting feeling knowing you are going to be well taken care of.

So far this week, I have felt OK, just the usual tiredness and queasy stomach. I did not sleep well last night, and had a pain in my "gut" but I am getting pretty used to some kind of a pain or another.

I want to report that my EGD yesterday morning went well, and my ulcers are all healed up! This means that I only have to take Prilosec once a day instead of twice. ( I forgot to take them with supper most days anyways).  No further follow up is needed with my GI doc for now. Thanks Zeeland staff for taking such good care of me, I miss you guys.

Thanks Laurel, my co-worker from the BBC for the wonderful dinner last night. It really hit the spot, sorry you had to come out on such a blustery night. I am glad  you guys had fun making the pillow case dresses for Haiti. I want to try that some time. I love the soap making idea, and I hope to come to Beth's house for that.

I got the cutest card today in the mail, it had a guy with long hair playing the guitar, and three other girls from the 70s looking sad and singing. Inside it says, Deb, Singing the blues since you left! Miss you From Some of my Night Crew friends at Holland Hospital. Thanks so much, of course it made me cry to read all your comments. I miss you guys so much. Maybe Mieke and I can stop by the floor tomorrow night after the Relay for Life.

Rumy playing, "Change My Heart Oh God"

We loved listening to Rumy play this this past Sunday. Played with passion and feeling. We hope you enjoy as well.

Love to all. Mieke

Double Digit Delight...... Chemo Day #10

Dear Friends and Family,

Some of you have already heard on Facebook and I thank you for all the wonderful comments, etc. My CA-125 test went down again from 110 to 92.4   As my friend Deb B. said, from 1003 to a radio station! Another good thing is that the Dr. did not feel the tumors behind my uterus on exam, as he had before, so these are both good signs that the chemo is doing what it is supposed to do, and prayers are being answered. I just about didn't get to have my chemo today because my platelets where down to 91, but the dr. said let's go ahead. I was afraid he would say come back another day. It is normal with weekly chemo to have low platelets, because your bone marrow just doesn't have a chance to rejuvenate.

I found out a few other things which people have asked me about. They will continue to do the Cancer Antigen blood test every 3 wks. It will never get down to 0, but they plan that it will get in the normal range which is below 35.  I will not have a CT scan until Jan. after my 18 wks of chemo is finished. I will also have a chest X-ray to make sure there is no spread to the lungs. At that time, depending on what it shows. If it looks like the cancer has shrunk and they can do more surgery to "debulk" the tumors. They will do it. My Dr. will not say one way or another, the nurse said she thinks there may be a good chance I will have more surgery.  I think mentally I will do better to plan on more surgery, rather than be shocked and disappointed when they tell me it's time to "go in" again.

The plan is then to continue doing the CA-125 test and when it starts going up, that is when they try more chemo drugs. I may have to be on the Avastin drug every 3 wks for the rest of my life. It decreases the blood supply to the tumors. So I feel better now at least knowing a kind of "plan".

Thanks Helen for driving me today, it was a yucky nasty day for driving. Thanks Aunt Margie for coming to visit me there also. Good to catch up.

I have a repeat EGD tomorrow at Zeeland Hospital. I have to be there at 6:45am. They need to recheck my ulcers to make sure they are healed. I didn't really think I needed to have this done, but when I asked my Dr. if he thought it really necessary, he said,"If you want to continue to receive chemo, you will." OK, enough said.

To catch up since I last blogged, I need to thank my wonderful sister-in-laws, Lisseth and Miriam, who came last Sat. and helped clean and worked in my basement, a project that was not getting done on it's own. It was so kind of you to come on your day off!! Thanks for the fall hand towel too Miriam, so cute.

Stan and Mieke have worked hard raking and blowing the leaves to the street. It kills me not to be out there working with them, but I am just too tired and weak. I tried to do the blower for a couple minutes, and it felt like a TON. So I watch from inside and take pictures of them.

Thanks Barb for bringing over the delicious Apple Butter Bread from Crane's Orchard, it is wonderful!! Stan and I are loving the book too.

We had a great day Sunday, enjoyed having Ross and Rumy play at church. Mieke is going to try and download an mp3 recording of some of their playing for those of you in other states or countries and may be curious to hear them. They assure me that things are all set for them to walk at the MSU graduation ceremony on Dec. 9. Can't wait, Two Dr. Hoksbergens.........
We were so happy that Stan's parents were able to attend the service to hear the kids. Shirley got a wheelchair ride from the car and into the service. I know it is not the easiest thing to humble yourself to ride in a wheelchair, but she was a real trooper and knew it best, not to tire herself out walking all the way.

We were blessed to be delivered a wonderful brunch meal by Anne and Ted, so we were able to have everyone over for a great meal after church. Thank you so much, it was so good!! Since I don't have to expend the energy with meals, I took a Vicodin for some abd pain, and we were able to attend the GR Symphony performance that Ross played in at 3pm. It was Disney movies tunes, with 4 singers from Broadway who sang and danced across the stage. Very fun and enjoyable!

Had blood work done on Monday, and then got to have a fun lunch with old grade school friends in Hastings. I did not feel my best that day, but sure was better being with friends then sitting home feeling yucky.

Terri brought a great Chicken Articoke casserole over. I am so glad you included that recipe and article from the magazine. I know that woman on the picture and Pam Molenhouse whose house was featured in the magazine is a friend. I LOVE that dish. I hope you don't mind, I am saving it for a family get together. It is soooo good, thank you so much.

Well, I need to take my Ambien for sleep, I am kind of hyper from the Decadron, . Good night all!!

geriatric confessions

Stan Here:   

It is not always a good sign when I write these things.  Deb has me do some of the writing when she is not feeling all that well but fortunately that is not the case today.  She wanted me to write something about turning 60 yesterday. Two troubling things about 60, one self imposed.  Turns out for some reason I have always thought of 60 as the turning point between young and old.  I am not sure why I had thought of it this way and I am not sure even now that I feel all that different, but anyway the day has come and gone and I feel about the same.  Do you get anything when you are 60? Well, I did have a nice party with my kids at Alden's house. They gave me some nice cards and some really great gifts and mostly we just had a great time.  Thanks Alden and Mary for hosting the nice party.

I get my hair cut at a little place in Zeeland and those guys have been at the trade for a long time.  Every once in a while they have some good insights about life so I asked them what it felt like for them to be past 60.  The one guy said he had never thought about it, but all he knew is that at around 60 hair stops growing on top of your head and it starts coming out your ears and nose.  On the way home I did check the rear view mirror pretty often to see if I could notice anything in these areas.  But, that is the other part of the problem.  I am not sure the eyesight is sharp enough to see even if they were there.  I did get some nice balloons with my name on them, a nice card and a nice personalized cake from our friend Karen and this did make me feel a little better.   Plus a bunch of nice facebook well wishers but that brings up another problem.  When you are 60 you don't always know how to use  facebook so I had the kids help me read and find all the stuff.  I am really not sure what it means when you are supposed to put down that you "liked this" but I can tell you now that I did.   I do know more than when I was 59.  Thanks for all your well wishes and gifts. They meant a lot to me.

Deb here:
I don't mind being married to an "old man". He is the same Stan the Man to me, pretty nice to me. He puts up with a lot from me. I have felt better the past couple of days. I think it's because I made plans to get out of the house. Sitting around only makes me feel sorry for myself and think about the future, which I have no control over. So, I think I do better when I get out of the house, no matter how I feel.

I need to thank my friend Molly who gave us a generous gift certificate to a local restaurant. We were surprised to run into each other at the same wedding reception venue this week, both making plans for our kids upcoming weddings! Happy planning!

I ask you to pray for my sister-in-law Nancy who after many months of tests and seeing different specialists was finally diagnosed with Q-fever, a cousin to Lyme's Disease. She had to have a Pic line put in, needs IV antibiotics for few months and then oral ones for a year. Never heard of that one before. We love you Nancy and we wish you the best.

My co-worker Mary wanted to help me do something around the house, so I said if she was up to it, I would love help organizing my closet. She not only did that, she helped me get my house ready to have all the carpets cleaned. Mary, you are the best! I really appreciate all the help. When the energy level is low, sometimes just having someone there keeping you going at the tasks at hand is great.

Praying for our good friend Dan who had a hip replacement in GR. We wish you the best Dan, and pray for an uneventful recovery. You have a great nurse there in Deb.

Need to thank lots of friends who have stocked our frig and freezer this week. Jeanne, Corrine, Sara, Bonnie and Nancy you guys are too much. I can't thank you enough for thinking of us.

We are looking forward to Ross and Rumy coming again tomorrow evening. We hope to attend the GRS on Sunday afternoon. They are performing a Disney concert.

The fire in going in the fireplace, we are going to rent Water for Elephants on U-Verse. Now we just hope we can both stay awake for the whole movie. Deb

A tough Day

Stan here:
Seems like I always get to write these on days when Deb is not feeling all that well.  Today was one of those days. It was Chemo day #9. Deb did not have a good night of sleep last night and it seems like every other night she has some problems with headaches which kept her awake for a good part of the night.  Mieke took her into her treatments today and I think they had some things planned for afterwords. They got to see Via Design the place were Mary works and they said it is a very cool place. They then had a bowl of soup at some place downtown GR near Mary's work.

This past weekend we attended the funeral for Aaron's grandmother. She died at the age of 90 and they had a nice service in Wayland for her.  She was a very caring person and that came out real nicely in the service.  Even in her declining days she always asked Mieke to tell her all about what was going on with her rather than worry about her problems.  After that Deb and I spent a night up north at our place there.  We do not get to go there as much with all this going on but it was good to spend one night there. Alden joined us for the night and we had a good visit.


Speaking of Mieke we do have one big change to announce.  She decided to make the wedding June 1 rather than the earlier plans for October.  She was worried about friends in school and from long distances being able to come in October.  Originally I think she kind of pictured a wedding in the fall colors but as we explored that thought we figured it would be to iffy with the weather.  So June 1 it will be. Plans are being made.

 We do have some people to thank.  Tracy invited our family to a restaurant called The Biscuit which she owns, for a meal on her.  We are looking forward to that.  Monday Deb's friend Ellen brought over a nice meal and they had a nice visit.  Thanks to nurse Karen who made a home visit in her cowgirl costume, complete with the horse to deliver a Halloween treat.  Last night we had one of the larger Halloween crowds that I have ever seen. Kind of fun though. It seemed like we had a bunch of really cute small kids and even though Deb was not feeling all that well she could make it to the door to see all the action of the neat costumes. 

Deb's friend Vickie came over to check on her today and offer any support she needed. Thanks Vickie for you concern.

Kind of wish I had some good new on how Deb feels but that is not the case today.  Until next time thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.