Hi, Stan wrote a Christmas letter and we sent it to some via email. Thought some of you would enjoy it. I thought I would add a little medical info for those who might be interested. I am having chemo once a month and they tell me it will be that way forever. Two days after chemo I go into the GR office for a shot, part of the clinical trial. My CA-125 count is hanging around 88, and they wish it would go down into the normal range. When I have CT scans they say the tumors are not growing, but staying the same for me is good, so we stay the course. The Ct scans and chest x-rays are every two months, and boy do they seem to come around fast. I still struggle with the ileostomy. It is not fun and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. I am thankful to be able to work "on-call" on the birth center and teach childbirth classes once a month. I love watching Ainsley on Weds. and she is getting to know her Grandma. Thanks everyone who continues to remember us in prayer.

Christmas 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

It only took one person to say “remember when you used to do those Christmas letters? I used to read them and sort of remember a few of them”. Plus we received a number of nice letters this year from friends and relatives so I asked Deb this morning if it would seem cheap to do something online. I sort of worry that it sends the message that we are not willing to invest the 45 cent stamp and the time to send out something. Most of you know, however, that energy levels here are not always what they used to be so trust us that this greeting has none of those thoughts. Instead the desire to communicate a Christmas greeting and some update on what is going on in our family.

It would be hard to put some of this stuff in order. Some of it goes together. Some of it has to do with survival. Some with hope. Some with joy and all the rest. The best way I can explain this is in the fact that we were blessed with our first Grandchild “ Ainsley Grace” born to Alden and Mary this past June. She is sort of the “star of the show” when she does show up around here and I must say we have all been having some fun with this. All she has to do is sit in the middle of the floor and make some sort of noise or crack some sort of smile and it is like the Lions win the Super Bowl. I really do not think Deb ever thought she would make it to see this day and it is this element that adds a special part of joy and to this whole deal. Deb takes care of her one day a week. Our other children have also responded to the joy of this event in a fine way. Most importantly though, our family has been blessed with things to look forward to, some trips, grandchildren, some new jobs and a few other things to help us concentrate more on the task at hand rather than the very tough elements of dealing with our main issue of Deb’s cancer.

Speaking of that let me give an update. At one time I wrote that we figured out that this type of cancer is never really conquered, it can only be endured. So yes there are some issues with all sorts of things. Last year at this time Deb was in the hospital for 49 days. But since that time she has returned to work on a part-time basis. Who would have ever thought it? Still some problems but a heap better than a year ago and in this we strike new meaning to the word “rejoice”.

Mieke received a new full time teaching position this year in the 4th grade in Hudsonville. She has a deep love for her students and it is my guess that if you have a kid in the 4th grade you have yourself a good deal if you have her for a teacher. When she received the position she chose the theme “traveling through the 4th grade” and her dad “me” offered to write a story about a guy in the 4th grade who chooses to travel the country on foot. The kids seem to like it so far and it is one little thing I can do for her. His name is Blarry and his dogs name is Browser. I like writing so it has filled a need for me as well. Mieke loves her job and that has meant all the checks made out to Hope College seem worth it.

Ross just took a new position of going on tour with a group called Axiom Brass. They perform around the country and from what I have been able to find on line this should be a good gig for him. He and Rumy seem to be doing well but they are thinking that a move to a larger venue such as Chicago might be in the cards. They seem to really care for each other and they enjoy being married. From what I have been able to figure out it was somewhat providential that they are together. The type of life and work a professional musician must do could only be totally understood by someone in the same field.

I take a special pride in my son- in-law Aaron. He works now in the same field as I but just for a different company and he seems to thrive in this field. Plus he is the nicest human being on planet earth. Mary, Alden’s wife is very relaxed with that grandbaby of mine. She works at Via Design and she is just fun to be around. Rumy is a very hard working woman and plays the piano in a blur of fingers and teaches many young children. I had a friend tell me this summer “Stan you are a lucky guy”. And on these fronts I agree.

At the risk of making this long I have a few more things. We have what I think may be getting to be a special thing in our family. All four of our parents are living and still able to enjoy life. My mother and father moved to Freedom Village this past year and Deb’s parents are not running marathons but they are still doing good. I enjoy doing some outdoor stuff with Deb’s dad. They have some snowmobiles that he and I still use. My dad gave me his whole library and I enjoy reading and learning from some of his things. My mom seems to thrive at Freedom Village and they still have us for dinner at what I call the 5 star Freedom Village gourmet restaurant. Deb's mom seems to be in the best shape of them all. We enjoyed a trip with them to the U.P. this year.

It is December 24 and I am not sure global warming has reached us all that hard this year, been very cold here. Lots of snow as well. But as they say the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful. And that is what I really want to say. There is still a fire over here. It burns in the most interesting way. Living parents, new grandchildren, survival, new jobs. All in all it is going to be pretty nice Christmas this year.

From the Stan and Deb and Gang.

Stan Here:

I just looked and it has been about 4 months since anything new has been on the blog. On that last posting we said we would not put much up unless conditions changed and you know they have not changed all that much. The counts all seem to be pretty good. Deb is still having chemo and it seems in between some test the results come in and they look OK. Even the rash that resulted from the chemo is not as pronounced as it was at one time but it is still there. Perhaps the largest problem right now is some pretty strong problems around the ankles and back of feet that prevent wearing shoes with any thing around the heels. Now from a mans perspective I cannot imagine wearing shoes that had no back to them but I guess if this is the price it is not so large. We do have this collection of shoes around the house with fronts and no backs but they look pretty good, in my opinion. Not really the kind you wear shoveling snow but the kind you wear when you need to tell you husband that you cannot help with the snow.

It seems that what we have found is that it is rare with the type of cancer Deb has to ever reach the day that it can be said that the “cancer is behind me”. But the fact remains that somehow this cancer can be endured and that is what Deb is doing. She is working again and once that has been possible the calls are coming in pretty good and it seems that she gets all the work she can handle. Her work has been very good for her and to her. Plus the extra money here is pretty nice with everything that is going on.

Deb does take care of our granddaughter Ainsley one day each week and it seems that they have bonded. It is hard to resist posting a picture of the “star of the show”. We had a great thanksgiving with the whole family up north. We spent some time sitting in the living room with a blanket in the middle and observing Ainsley playing with stuff and doing new stuff. Somehow I kind of forgot how much fun it is to observe the progress of infants but I thought about selling tickets to everyone as they commented “look what she is doing now”. I think many of you have been through this but for us right now it seems pretty special.

Pictures of Ainsley: