December 2017

     Apparently, I really suck at this blogging thing! I will try to do better! Brian continues to go without treatment. He had to have a broncoscopy in November due to the Nivolumab making his lungs all inflamed. He had a couple of biopsies done and also had a Lavage of his lungs. That means they washed his lungs! Weird. It appears that his cancer is gone except for one spot in his lower left lung! He will have another CT scan in February, along with a pulmonary function test. Hopefully, there won't be any more cancer at all. The Nivolumab continues to work even after stopping it. The trick is to keep it from making him sicker than the cancer does. 

     We have been traveling...of course! We went to Port St. Joe, Florida along the "Forgotten Coast". We decided they call it that because they forgot to put restaurants and stuff there! We had a good time anyway. We found the world's smallest police station! We also found several cool lighthouses!

     In late October, we met Wayne and Pam in Treasure Island. We stayed at the Cherie Lynn. Beach and sightseeing! They had never been to the gulf coast and they loved it! When they went home Dad and Carol flew in for our second week of beach and sightseeing. Brian was starting to get sick during that time. He tried real hard to be a good sport. 

     We got a new puppy! Another German Shepherd! Her name is Tesla and she is beautiful! So very smart, too! Greta loves all puppies but she's getting older and doesn't put up with her antics much.

     We celebrated our fourth anniversary in November! I am soooooo spoiled! Four dozen roses! Beautiful topaz and diamond earrings! Beautiful Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow necklace! Sigh!

April Update

     So the CT scan wasn't as great as we had hoped for.  One spot was bigger and there is one new spot. On his lung. LDH was over 200...not good. Had a treatment anyway. Very heartbreaking. Two weeks later LDH was 414! Highest it's been since we started. Dr. let him have a treatment but cautioned us that we would have to make a new plan. We left the next day for Florida. Confused, scared, and so very sad. Tired to have a good time in Florida. Stayed at the Satellite with Dad and Carol. Met some new friends. While we were there Mom was taken to ER and transported to Vanderbilt with a golf ball size anyuerism at the top of her left carotid artery! We were all ready to fly home but neurosurgeon said he would operate in two weeks and we'd be home by then. We talked to her repeatedly and she insisted she was fine...and siblings all agreed. We stayed in Florida and talked to her 2 - 3 times a day. We got home on Tuesday April 11th. Mom's angiogram to map her blood vessels was Wednesday morning. Brian's Dr. appt. was Wednesday afternoon. We weren't sure what we would hear from the oncologist. Mom's angiogram went great and they admitted her for the procedure the next morning and we headed over to the cancer clinic at the same hospital...convenient. Brian and Dr. Wyman were discussing treatment options and I was monitoring blood test results. His LDH was down to 186!!!! Dr. Wyman was floored! They decided to continue Nivolumab until June when the next CT is due. If LDH goes up high again they will be able to re-start Ipilimumab...but no one has ever done that before. That's kind of scary to me. That's what made Brian so sick and put him in the hospital repeatedly and trashed his pituitary gland. We shall see! Fingers crossed, prayers constantly!

Safety Harbour Music Frstival

Rock collecting

Cool name!

Sand initials on the beach

Still Crafting After All These Years!

     I am still loving to craft on a regular basis! I have branched out from strictly papercrafting and scrapbooking into vinyl and HTV. My craft room is even more crowded with the addition of two new die cutting machines. I have the Cricut Explore Air and the Cricut Explore Air 2! Believe it or not, I am actually able to use them both at the same time by opening two windows in Design Space on my laptop! I still use my older machines quite often as well. I will never stop scrapbooking and I have been able to incorporate the newer machines for cutting scrapbook page templates. I really need a bigger craft room, but I am already in the biggest extra bedroom! Maybe I need one of those big sheds out back!!

Birthday card for Brian

Canvas using vinyl stencil

Birthday card for granddaughter

Birthday card for grandson

Happy Birthday, Brian!

     Today is my sweet husband's 59th birthday! We spent a quiet day together celebrating. Had pizza for lunch and then took cake and ice cream out to Mom's. Brother Chris was there,too. Now he is checking out one of his new toys. He got a distortion pedal for his Fender Stratocaster. He also got three new guitar straps and a new PRS guitar. Spoiled much?
     We are quite nervous about the CT scan on Tuesday. We get results on Wednesday that will determine the course of action for further treatment. The Dr. is leaning toward no more treatments for now. As good as that sounds ...we don't want the cancer to have a chance to grow. We'll see. Prayers would help!
   

Birthday Boy!

You got this,honey!

Yummy cake

New guitar

Card I made for him

Happy Spring!

     It's really only February - but it's 75 degrees outside! We got home from NY last night and the grass needs to be mowed! All the flowers and trees think that it's April!
     We took my sister, Susan, up to the hometown. She found her birth sister and birth mother so we went to meet them! Her birth mother has dementia so it was a good visit but without any answered questions. We were moral support. Plus we got to have a semi family reunion.
     Brian has one more infusion and a CT scan to see where we are. If his cancer is still stable they are gonna let him have a break from treatments. We are torn about that. We have been going every two weeks for a year now and we realize that the immunotherapy is working. We don't want to stop but we know that it is hard on his body and a break would be smart. We will continue to trust the doctor and know that he has our best interest at heart. Prayers about that are very welcome!
     With that said, we can soon travel for more extended periods of time! Watch out world - here we come! After our Gatlinburg trip in late October, we drove to Madeira Beach, Florida and spent two weeks with my Dad and step-mom! We got home just in time for Thanksgiving! We then took my Mom to NY in mid December to see family and friends. That was her Christmas present. We spent most of January remodeling the garage to have a workshop and storage area, as well as, a stage for a band! Did I mention that we are probably too old to be hanging drywall and building walls?! Jeesh! What a job. We are not finished yet but it is looking good! February was the trip to NY to meet birth family. Next is Hot Springs for a bit of crystal mining! Then we are spending two weeks in Treasure Island, Florida! That brings us up to early April!! Our next already scheduled trip is for Brian's 40th class reunion in August!
     I am sooooo glad I retired when I did! I don't have time to work!

 

 building a wall...lol

first sheet of drywall

my sweet boy when I lost him

one of his Valentine gifts

Vermosa....champagne and cider

Green Mts, Vermont