It is the last month of the year, a time of joy and happiness as we prepare for the Christmas Season in earnest.
Let me begin first with an update on Sandy's status. She continues to exhibit what for her has become her new normal for good health. Prior to each every two week infusion she has lab work done to confirm that she is capable of receiving the infusion. This week, the doctor stated that the lab report showed normal functioning liver and kidneys and that her red blood count was up to 11.4 (it was 10.2 a month ago). She did have some type of short term bug Tuesday evening until Thursday evening. We drove to St Louis to attend the temple on Friday, spending the night there. She did not sleep well and spent part of the morning sleeping in the car while I was at the temple. Then she slept part way home. This morning she woke up with a fever, and a leaking bag. She called her doctor who prescribed an antibiotic for the fever; after reading the warnings I have to wonder which is worse, the disease or the treatment. "WARNING: this drug may cause very bad side effects." By the time I returned home from church, she was feeling much better. Because the lab report sounds so positive, we assume this recent illness is not related to the cancer.
It was a busy week for us. I spent a couple of mornings working at the rent house (still). On Tuesday we joined the sister missionaries in teaching a part member family and then attended a family history event honoring our Hispanic heritage. We even had several tasty dishes to enjoy. Wednesday morning Sandy had her visit with the wound healing center; the wound continues to heal and appears healthy. That afternoon I had my appointment with my doctor for an annual physical. It is difficult to find a lot of joy in knowing that I am one of his healthier patients when Sandy struggles with her health issues.
Thursday morning, Sandy had her Chinese healer appointment followed by seeing the oncologist and receiving her immunotherapy infusion. The sisters joined us that evening for a dinner of breakfast burritos.
Then on Friday we drove to the temple with a single sister that just moved into the ward. She had previously lived in Arizona where she had served a mission in Louisiana as an employment specialist and also worked at the temple. We enjoyed chatting up and back. We spent the night, attended the temple in the morning and drove home, arriving about 6 pm.
Today during our third hour of meetings, the bishop had a great slide show showing the new 2 hour block meeting schedule that starts in January. It was helpful in clarifying how it will actually work and resolved a lot of people's concerns. I hope that we can follow the spirit of this inspired change.
The wind has been very active this week and the trees are bare of leaves. I worked on raking them onto a tarp and throwing them on the burn pile, but I can't seem to get caught up. This week I will attack them with greater enthusiasm and aggressiveness. The three roosters that hatched last June have come of age. The poor hens are not accustomed to such attention and I fear it is time to eliminate the three trouble makers.
Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving at Jonathan's:
Hope that all of you have a great week and have time to focus on what is of greater worth.
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