Results In.....

My CA-125 yesterday was 51. That is down from 65, 3 wks ago. Normal is below 35.

Mieke did a Skype interview for a teaching job in Garden City, Kansas. They just offered her a job there teaching 1st grade. They will give them $300 towards traveling there and put them up for 2 nights. I told her to check it out, but not commit until all possibilities closer to home are exhausted. Anyone know anything about Garden City Kansas?  It is 16 1/2 hrs. from Holland, that is a bit too far for me.......... We'll see what happens.

Watching the Game - Nothing the Same

I am sitting here watching the Tigers and they just got 5 runs in the first innings. Wow, that doesn't happen often. But, it is lots of fun. My sister-in-law Nancy met me at chemo today in GR. Well, my platelets were too low to have it. So instead we went to Roses for lunch and then did a little shopping after picking up many new prescriptions.

I saw the Dr. and told him about my very sore incision. He ordered a CT-scan for that. It will be scheduled soon. He put me on antibiotics. He said that I will have 3-6 sessions of chemo ( a session being once every three weeks or once a week for three weeks). It all depends on what my CA-125 does. So now I am planning on chemo all summer and maybe into the fall. I will start having it once every three weeks. I need to have my platelets rechecked on Friday. The nurses doubt it will be high enough to have chemo on Monday, plus I was planning on being up north for the whole week with Rumy's parents and I want to feel good. They said people take a week off for vacation all the time, so that is probably what I will do.

Stan and I had a good weekend up north. My parents were up at their place too. We went into Cadillac for church and then they took me out (and Stan) to brunch for my birthday. We went to a great little place called Lakeside Charlies. They had the best brunch for $11.95. We will definitely go back there. We went back to Cadillac at night for a free bluegrass concert on Lake Cadillac that evening. It was a perfect night to listen and sing along to lots of old hymns and songs.

Rumy's parents made it on Friday night into Chicago. They were worried, because they first got the 
word that they would be stuck in Wash D.C. because of mechanical problems and not make it in until the next morning. Well, they must have found them a plane because they arrived about three hrs. late. They had a wonderful weekend in Chicago, walking around, her Dad didn't stop snapping pictures. They were amazed that there was no trash on the freeways. They saw a concert in Millineum Park, went to the Art Museum, top of the Hancock building and lots more. Ross said that they just love everything and are very easy to entertain. They are in Lansing for a few days at Ross and Rumy's house and we are looking forward to meeting and having them stay here with us starting on Thurs. night. What are people's suggestions to show a couple from Bulgaria in Holland and Michigan??

Until they figure out what is going on with my abdomen, I will take my pain med and then I can function. Thanks for everyone's kind words of encouragement during these past couple of weeks.
The Tigers are now winning 6-0, yeh!!

Still Not Feeling the Greatest

Got my two units of blood yesterday, and I am still waiting for a big boost of energy. Mieke did not get the position she interviewed for. They decided to hire someone with lots of experience. She said the interview went well. We are bumbed for her.

It's now Thurs. afternoon. All day yesterday I had the chills and sat wrapped up in a fleece blanket, no AC on and it was 92 outside. I needed to feel better to go to Mieke's and help her fill up the china cabinet that Jackie gave her and we painted it black and put new pewter hardware on it. It looks so good, right out of Restoration Hardware. She loves it and thought Jackie and I should have the fun of putting crystal and dishes in it. I took a couple of pain pills to makes me want to get out of my chair, so I felt OK when I was there. She made me dinner on her new grill,(first time she lite it by herself) and didn't blow herself up. She has a nice pool at her apt complex, so the three of us went down there and enjoyed the nice hot evening.

When I got home, my meds were wearing off and I started to chill again. I took my temp and it was 100.1. I dug out the instructions from the Dr. office, at what point do I have to call them again?? It is with a temp of 100.4. So the next time I took it, it was 100.8.  Talked to Dr. Downey, he said to take some Tylenol to help sleep, if still elevated in am to call the office. Well it was still up today, so they sent me to Holland Hospital for blood cultures, urinalysis, and CBC with diff. I was so hoping they could do this in ambulatory care rather than going to the Emergency Dept.  Well, they did, but it took awhile to call and have them refax the orders. I always wonder, where do those orders end up?? They insist they sent them and now one on this ends has seen them. hum.........  Well, thanks to my friend Karen for taking me in. I did have to teach her how to thrift store shop on the way home, went in a couple.  So, I imagine everything will come back negative, maybe a delayed reaction to the blood. Sometimes that happens. But, I am glad they are better safe than sorry and hop on things right away.

I talked to Amber the nurse in the oncology office and told her, I am still in pain a lot of the time, and what is going on? She said the Vicodin is a narcotic and it will always make me feel better, so try and only take a half a tab. She said it's not that I am getting addicted, but it is habitual.... Sounds like the same thing to me. So I am now toughing it out.........only over the counter stuff.   Will let you know if there are any interesting developments.

Chemo Round 2 - #3

I did receive my chemo today, but because my Hgb is 8.5   (normal is 11-18) I need two units of blood tomorrow at Holland Hospital. I have been very tired lately so I should feel better after the blood. Thanks to my friend Lori who took me to GR today for chemo. Her mother-in-law is also fighting ovarian cancer. She has had it for 3 years. I wish her the best!

We had a lovely wedding to attend on Friday night. They delayed it an hour for the rain storm to pass through. After that is cooled down about 10 degrees the sun came out, they dried off the chairs and it was just perfect outside. Linsey and Rob make a great couple and we wish them all the happiness in the world.

For Father's Day we got together with Stan's family at his brother Roland's house. It was just lovely sitting outside on their deck under the big umbrella. Then we had a wonderful supper at Mieke's in-laws. Thanks Laurie and Conrad for including us!!

We are looking forward to the arrival of Rumy's parents from Bulgaria on Friday. Please pray for their traveling safety, and that they make it to Chicago OK. They are spending the first couple of days in Chi Town with Ross and Rumy, then they will go see their place in Lansing and then next week end they will come here for a few days, see Holland, hear the kids perform outside at Beechwood Church (they have never heard them perform before) and then we will take them up north to the Homestead and use that as a homebase to see other sites in northern Michigan. They are here until July 10. We are so excited for their arrival. After chemo next Monday, I think I will have two weeks off and go to a every 3 week rotation. Yeh!!

The Light Bulb went ON

OK, so I am lying in bed last night, not sleeping well as usual and I started thinking about last week when I felt so awful. I now realize why. It was not the chemo at all that caused all the nausea and other symptoms, I was having severe withdrawal from the Methadone pain med I was on. I decided to take it through the weekend of Mieke's wedding, but on Monday when I started chemo I thought, I will stop taking it.  Now when I look it up and read about how you are suppose to stop SLOWLY or you will suffer, I realize how dumb on my part. No one told me this, they did not say anything at Freedom Inn on my discharge from there. My oncologist/surgeon and his nurse knew I was on it and they never mentioned how I should gradually decrease taking it.....So, I am mad at myself for not reading better the papers you get when you get a new prescription?? I just threw them away. I did remember my friend Karen saying once briefly, aren't you supposed to decrease that slowly? I should have listened to her better. I am glad to realize that I am not going to be sick all summer with the chemo, and why the drugs I was taking for all the nausea was just not doing anything.

Enough about that mistake, I rode my bike to a friends this am and we did some garage sales. That was fun. Got my house cleaned today, this is the last of many cleanings from my dear neighbor girlfriends as a gift. Thank you , thank you, so very much appreciated!!

Much better week so far

Hi, many have been asking me how I am doing this week. I am pleased to report that I have felt much better than last week. I did have some slight nausea on Tues and Wed. but it was manageable. I have been having abd. discomfort though for a few weeks and I finally took two Vicodin and wow, what a difference. I think that I have been so uncomfortable for weeks, that I forgot how good it feels not to hurt. So, I am no longer going to be skimpy on the drugs. I will take two when needed and hope this incisional seroma or whatever I have going on will eventually clear up.

I am making progress in cleaning up the wedding stuff in this house. Mieke is so busy nannying  that she has not been able to help much. Her apt. is getting full, so I don't think she wants much more stuff over there. I have been asking people this question?? When do your married kids get all their stuff out of your house? The answer I have received from most people is this: never. Just box it up and put it in the basement. That way, if there is a time they need or want something, they can retrieve it. So, I am no longer going to think about it, just put it in the basement.

We did received some exciting news today. Mieke has a job interview at Lincoln Elementary School (were she was a student teacher) for a Kindergarten position.  Please say a little prayer for her on Tues am at 10am. That would be such an answer to prayer if she could get that position.

Tigers won today Yeh!! We are excited for the wedding we are attending Sat. Mieke and Aaron are both in it, and we are friends with both the bride and groom's families. Have a Happy Father's Day on Sunday. We are going to be with Stan's family for lunch and then we are invited to join Aaron's family for dinner. I think I am going to like this new in-law arrangement!

Chemo Round 2 - #2

I had chemo today. It was a short day, only received the one chemo drug. I got to have my Benadryl orally which is so much better. Thanks to my friend Nancy who took me today. I sat next to my friend Tammie in the recliners. She has been fighting this for 10 years. She is such an inspiration to me and gives me also lots of good suggestions and advice. She is also a nurse. They kid that we are the "naughty" nurses. She said I should try sea bands, the pressure bands one wears on the wrists, for sea sickness, etc. It is like acupressure . She also said to take Ginger Root capsules 2 times a day. That can help settle the stomach.  The chemo nurses suggested I drink Propel Zero, it is a powder that you mix into water, it has Vitamins in it, so much better than water. Nancy's husband Dave suggested I try Bonine which they use for motion sickness on the boat. I also bought some bottles of Boost, so I am armed and ready for the week!! Come on nausea, try and get me now.

I did finally find our my CA-125 from last Monday, they never called me. I figured that it had probably gone up and they were not excited to tell me that over the phone. It was 65. My last one was 22 and normal is under 35. They said that the inflammation and surgery has a lot to do with the count going up. I have not had chemo since last Feb. So, I am not so worried about that number.

Friday I did attend my niece Kristen's wedding. It was beautiful. I was not feeling the best, but I did not want to miss it. Congrats to Nick and Kristen, they make a great couple and they are honeymooning in Cancun this week. How fun. By the way I felt on Friday night, it just reinforced how glad I was that I did not start chemo before the wedding. I could not have enjoyed myself near as much as I did.

Sat. afternoon, friends brought over their pressure washer for Stan to use. He had so much fun doing it, he wanted to use it up north and power wash the deck and put a new coat of sealant on it. He talked me into going along. It looks much better. It was a beautiful couple of days up there. Even though it was 90 degrees, somehow there on the water, the breeze always keeps it comfortable. I was not a lot of help, but I did manage to do a little.

We have another wedding to go to this Sat. Rob and Lindsey our friends kids and Mieke and Aaron's good friends, they are both in this wedding.

I'm so sick.......

This is the first time in all my chemo treatments that I have gotten so sick. I started feeling nauseated last evening. It got worse during the night with dry heaves. I have been taking my Zofran and Compazine as prescribed. I did call the oncologist office to see what they gave me? I thought maybe they really hit me hard with a large dose of something. She said, no, it wasn't as strong as I had gotten before. Oh well, I guess I have gotten weak. My friends have taken good care of me, bringing over Coke, chicken soup, Italian Ice, gelato. Thanks Helen and Karen. I hope this goes away by tomorrow. I have my nieces wedding to go to this Friday night in Ferrysburg. Grandpa H. is going to marry another grandchild.

Stan feels bad being away at his conference and not here to take care of me. He offered to come home, and I said no, stay for the big banquet tonight and come home tomorrow. He is enjoying it. They have been treating them very well.

I wanted to let you know a few special details about the wedding. The veil Mieke is wearing is part of the one I wore 37 years ago. My sister made it for me then and she remade the part that Mieke wore. Thanks Kris, that is the something old.  The ring bearer pillow was made by a friend Carolyn, it is so cute and the satin that was used is from the flower girl dress that Mieke wore when she was a little girl. She had a new dress, and wore a pinkie ring with a blue stone from a friend. I think she covered all the bases.

Have gotten a few text messages from the honeymooners. They are loving the UP. They took a pictured rock boat tour and went to the falls today. Aaron is lovin' all the Packer stuff up there. He had his first pastie and loved it. Can't wait to see them again. We have a wonderful video of the wedding that they took for us at the church, I know they will love watching it and reliving the night.....

Chemo Round Two - #1

Hi, It's Monday morning and I am sitting in the chemo chair. I found out that I am going to have chemo weekly for this first cycle, every Monday at 9am for the next 2 wks. They stated they wanted to "hit it hard" at first and then go to an every 3 wk regime. I see the Dr. again in 3 wks. I received Taxal and Carboplatin along with the "chemo camouflage" drugs. My parents took me to the appt. today and then returned home to Plymouth. Jackie picked me up. Stan will be out of town until Thurs. I also Dr. Harrison to show him my incision. It swelled up again Sat. was very red around it and then started to drain again. It was very tender and sore yesterday. It looked much better today (of course). He said there is not much more they can do now besides the antibiotics I am already taking. The next step would be to open it up and then pack the "pocket" that is infected and draining. I am not too excited about that option, so please pray that it heals up on its own.

I thought Stan did a great job of describing the wedding. I think Mieke stated it best, when she sent us a text message the next day, and thanked us for making her dreams come true and it was the best day of her whole life. I guess a parent couldn't ask for anything more than that.

They were treated to a suite at City Vue Hotel the first night, and then invited the parents over to their apt. the next day to open gifts. They were very excited about everything the received. Thank you all for your generosity. They had first planned to take off that day to the UP, but they realized that they were very tired, (not much sleep after partying) with friends in their suite. So instead they stayed home, got some sleep, bought a TV with some wedding gift money and left Sun. She said it was so hard to leave their home with all their new "toys" they received. The got a new Weber grill, so they put that together, and had burgers and brats on that with friends Sat. night. They also are having fun making their own pop with a soda maker........So  you can see it might make it very easy to come home Friday for her cousin's wedding and all the fun new stuff to "play" with.

I received so many messages from people who told me to thoroughly enjoy the wedding day, because it is such a special day and it goes so fast. Well, I want you to know I totally did what I was told, and I did enjoy it to the fullest. I danced all night!! I think Adrenaline must have helped, because I don't think could do that today. I was very tired on Sat., but with help from my parents and friends we did get the church picked up and brought more boxes of stuff home.  Those boxes are not going anywhere real fast, but I have lots of time on my hands when I feel up to it.

I know people would like to see more pictures of the wedding, but my camera disappeared that day, so I didn't have it to take pictures. (Someone else was using it). I promise as soon as the photographer posts them, I will pass on the web site.

I am going to take a nap now............

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue

Stan Here: I have never been quite sure how the the title of this post got started. I am not sure I understand all that much about weddings, but I want to use it as a springboard to talk a little about the wedding that took place this weekend for our daughter Mieke and her new husband Aaron. Let me start this way. For those of you that have followed these postings you know that the outcome of Deb's medical progress had something to do with the energy and plans that revolve around any event that takes place in our family. In this case many people had come forward and offered to assist us in the things needed to carry out the event of the wedding of our only daughter. I think the tendency of many of us is to refuse the help, we are OK, we can do this etc. In our case Deb and Mieke decided to enlist the assistance of many who had offered and what took place was a fine wedding event that involved friends, family, pastors, musicians, kids, teachers, fathers, sons, in laws, grandparents and  about anything else that you can think of to make for a fine event.

 In this case everything kind of came together and the result was a fine evening that gave strong meaning to us. Allow me to offer a few highlights. I am writing this at 4 in the morning preceding a business trip so the risk is leaving something out. Forgive if this happens. I would be remiss if I did not tell you the the financial burdens of our recent medical situation had impacted our ability to provide the wedding of every girls dreams. It sometimes takes a village and in this case the village came around us and from what I have heard it did turn out to be a night that could be in dreams. I list the highlights and the thank yous in no order and I must leave out names.

 Again blogger profile warns that listing names could impact security. I hope though for the participants you know who you are. We thank those who offered to assist in the set up of the reception area. The decorating and the work our friends provided to make this a very unique set up. Let me say that the workers in that hall had never seen a set up quite like it and and the compliments that were directed to the work and flavor of the event were really fun for us to hear. Also, we were responsible for taking it all down after it was over and many friends, and relatives offered to help us with this. People that stay till midnight on Friday to clean the deal up are good friends. Thank you. We had a friend who worked many hours and provided the cakes for the events. She did an amazing job and worked endless hours to provide a very interesting variety of unique cakes. She did this as a gift to the kids. One of the finer and unique gifts that can be given. It was well done and truly appreciated.

 The teacher who mentored Mieke this past year offered to have the 4th grade class she worked in come and sing at the wedding. He played the piano and the kids sang during the ceremony "He has made me glad". It was very well done and very unique. The parents of those kids came and some of them even brought a gift. Mieke cried as she opened them the next day. It was very touching to see this and I think it is the first time I have seen children perform at a wedding like this. It was cool the way it was done.

 A friend provided a ride from the wedding to the reception for Mieke and Aaron in a vintage car. He dressed in a chauffeur outfit. It was raining and I am not sure this car had been wet before. The people made a line from the church to the car with sparklers. It all helped the day seem kind of fun and unique. The car was a 55 or 57 convertible Chevy (I am not a car expert but it was neat). Thank you.

 Several of the pastors we have encountered in our lives gave strong contributions to some of the ideas for the ceremony. One suggestion was to have 4 people give a short reflection during the ceremony and as it turned out this seemed to me to be a strong part of event. Mieke chose carefully who she wanted to do this and they did it well. This pastors husband also sang at the wedding and we are still receiving comments on how well this was done. She also did a strong series of per-marital counseling for Mieke and Aaron. Many hours spent and much good leadership. Thank you.

We had a former pastor pray at the opening of the reception. He used the song the kids sang at the service as a theme for his prayer and it just seemed to get the whole thing going good.

 I also must thank my children. Alden an Mary acted as MC's and provided many things for the reception. They really helped the event and worked very hard. I think Alden underestimated the amount of beer a bunch like this could drink so he did have to make an emergency trip to the store to supplement the supply. Never underestimate what a bunch of religious people can do. Thank you Alden and Mary. Nice job!!!!

Mieke and Aaron did a dance that was kind of special. They had kept this a secret but somehow I might try to post it next time. It kind of made the place rock a little. Not sure it will go "viral" but you never know. For me it was special.

 Ross and Rumy worked hard on the music and it seemed to me that for their sister they turned it up a little. Rumy kind of sits in the background on this stuff but I watched her during the ceremony and she really has to be on her toes and had to play a lot. Many have commented on the music. It is a rich privilege to have this available within our family. We are very proud of them and all they have done and accomplished.

 At one point during the reception the people gave Deb a standing ovation for her accomplishment of just being there. This was a special moment that I think touched all. I am kind of worried that this whole post might kind of sound wrong. Yes it is true that I am both glad and proud of the event. But I trust that you all get the message that it would not have possible without the help of many. For this I am truly thankful. I am hoping Deb can add some to this and cover a few things that I have left out. She did this update last week and the whole thing got lost somehow. I have to leave now on the trip.

Thank you all for your continued interest. Not sure we had something blue, but we had plenty of things borrowed, somethings old, and somethings new. Talk to you next time. Thanks Stan (no time to edit so forgive mistakes)