I Will Fess Up...

Here it is!

The famous FBC Cocklebur!

It has been safe and secure in a hidden area of my house.

Although now I am seriously considering putting it

in the safety deposit box.

As I read Margie's post, a new surge of power came over me!

Hopefully, the mere pictures will energize you all.

Love,

Laura

Coumadin

Update:

Laura spoke with the people at the Coumadin clinic this morning and it turns out she is actually supposed to be on the Coumadin for at least a month.

That's not sitting well with her.

Next round of chemo is Friday.

Please pray that she won't have to be on the Coumadin forever.
Please pray that doctors will give her some good information and help her make choices that are good for her mental and physical health.
Please pray for those of us who love her -- that we'll be helpful.

If you can, make her laugh. That's supposed to be good medicine.

GOFIGHTWIN!!

Clif, Emily and Lisa were all at home for Christmas and the whole family enjoyed just being together.

Laura finished her shots yesterday and begins the Coumadin today. Tomorrow she goes to the Coumadin clinic and will find out what the next steps are.

The treatment of this cancer is getting old and she's ready to eat food and taste it and to eat whatever she wants to. With the Coumadin, her diet has new restrictions. It's not just the food, though, she's just tired of all the side effects from the treatment.

Don't get me wrong. I think she's still able to enjoy some of everyday. In fact, the other night, I had a great conversation with her and we laughed a lot.

Please pray for Laura this week...

• that the blood thinners she's been on will have taken care of the clot.


• that she'll have something in every day that makes her smile -- or even better, laugh.


• that she'll have something fun to eat that actually tastes good to her.

She's a sport. She's a fighter... and she'll get through this. Seems like she needs a break, though, from the rough effects of the treatment. That's what I'm hopin' for this week.

Here's to a year ahead with lots of good news!

Ain't nothin' simple...

Today Laura went back to the doctor be checked out and here's the news:

• She has a cold and so they put her on an antibotic.
• Also, she now has a blood clot located near her life port. She was suspicious something was wrong because her left arm was kind of tight and swollen. It's her weakest arm so she knew it shouldn't be bigger than her right arm.
• She had a Doppler Study which determined that she has a blood clot called DVT (deep vein thrombosis). It is not common but it is not unusual for chemo patients to get blood clots.
• They have started her on a blood thinner which results in her having to give herself shots for the next four days. The drug is Lovenox.
• After those four days she'll start Coumadin. She'll go to the Coumadin Clinic next Tuesday and they will check the clot and determine how much longer she'll have to take the thinners.

On a more pleasant note: all of her family is with her and they've spent lots and lots of time (at her request) taking pictures in front of the tree. Hopefully, I'll be able to post one or two before too long.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!

Mystery Solved...

Thanks, Rosa!!

Love,
Laura and Carrie

Lance Armstrong Foundation

Some of you may have noticed that one of the comments left on the last post was left by "The Lance Armstrong Foundation."

Laura and I would like to know if any of you know how they found out about the blog.

If you know, please leave me a comment.

Thanks.

Laura's Day

Laura's finally feeling some good effects from the 1 liter bag of sugar water she got today. When she walked out of the hospital she didn't feel good.
This morning the inside of her mouth felt like she had chewed the sides up. They were raw. The roof of her mouth was solid white from the rash and her throat cracked every time she opened it. Her face was getting redder and the bottoms of her feet were blistered. Nothing tasted like anything and she had lost more weight. She was also cold and Albany, GA was reaching record breaking temperatures.

Anyway, they gave her the fluids and now she's feeling a little better.

Sylvia Vann made lasagna for their supper and she was able to taste it. Luckily, she made so much that Laura was able to freeze part of it and will have it again when the sores in her mouth are gone.

Steve has had a relapse of his sinus infection. He took an unusual before-dinner nap and felt much better after Sylvia's delicious supper.

Laura's hoping to be walking or riding her bike by tomorrow afternoon.

Please keep praying that the sores will go away. Our family enjoys food and it's so much more fun when you can taste it. :-)

Quick update:

Laura goes to the doctor tomorrow for a check-up -- every week after chemo she goes so they can check on her progress or check on any problems she may be having.

And, she is having a few problems... The blisters in her mouth have continued and now she has blisters on her face, hands and the bottoms of her feet. She's gone to the 'Y' everyday and walked a mile which she believes has helped her bones, but it causes lots of pain in her feet.

She's remaining as positive as she can, but the symptoms of the chemo are interfering with things she'd like to do. As I've mentioned before, and as many of you know, she doesn't really like to sit still.

Please pray that the blisters will go away. Not fun.

Have a good rest of your week.

Kemo

A friend of Laura's shared this with her the other night. Thought you might like to read it.

******************************************

“And the God of all grace….after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you….

I Peter 5:10 (NIV)

My family planned a dinner to celebrate the end of my year of chemotherapy treatments. But my two daughters were a bit mysterious about their part of the celebration.
“We’ll pick you up at five o’clock and meet the rest of the group later,” they told me. So off we drove into the winter’s early darkness. Soon we pulled into a long driveway with a sign out front that said KENNEL and entered a home with a pen full of golden retriever puppies in the living room.
“You’ve always said you want another golden retriever, so you get to pick one!” my daughters told me.
I cried and laughed as I got down on the floor and began playing with the roly-poly, facelicking, tailwagging puppies.
A half hour later, a bit of my sanity returned. I have to talk to Dad about all this,” I said, knowing that my husband needed to be a part in this decision. So we reluctantly said good-bye and went off to meet the others for dinner, where we talked about the pros(and no cons) of getting a new puppy right now.
“A puppy is the perfect way to celebrate this new post-chemo season in your life.”
“You’re home more now, so you could train him.” “What are you going to call him?” This last question came from my husband Lynn, which told me he was already on board.
At once I knew the answer.”I’ll call him Kemo,” because in the beginning of this journey, I had to understand that chemotherapy was my friend. Besides, Kemosabe means “faithful friend.”
A couple of weeks later, we brought Kemo home, and I have a new dream in my heart. Maybe we could go to chemo centers together and let other people know that “Kemo is your friend”

Prayer: Thank you, Father, for new dreams in new seasons of life. By Carol Kuykendall
Guidepost Dec. 09,08

Today Laura had the injection of Nulastin for her white blood cell count. We thought they were going to decrease the dosage, but it turns out they didn't. The chemo robs her of some of those cells so they didn't feel like they could afford to cut back. (I think I have the facts straight.)

Laura says that today she's feeling pretty nauseous, her hands are peeling and Steve is suffering from a severe sinus infection that includes a fever... She doesn't feel good, but she knows that the medicine that is making her feel so bad is also making her better.

Thanks for your notes... They're fun to read and an encouragement to her, too.

Please pray that the unpleasant side-effects will pass quickly.

A quick update from Laura...

The day went as usual. Today we had an All My Children group and General Hospital bunch. I didn't really pay lots of attention to those but was glad to see Luke was still on General Hospital. I was busy teaching people about my Kindle and reading it myself. So far no serious effects from the chemo.
I have a little rash on my face but I'm not convinced what it is from. I know it wasn't the wine and honey bath but maybe one of the new makeups.
Love,
LK

Buzzin' for Laura

Clif buzzed his hair to show his support for Laura.

He's a good kid!

Lookin' Good!!!

A few shots of Laura's day on Wednesday.

That's our cousin, Phyllis, in the pink hat! Mary Celeste and Laura's friend, Judy, went along, too!

Lookin' Good Feelin' Better

Today Laura and my cousin, Phyllis (who is also fighting breast cancer), attended a workshop called Look Good Feel Better. In that class they learned a lot of tricks to apply make-up and make themselves feel better during the whole chemo process.

I don't have all the details, but Laura called me on her way back to Leesburg and I got this tid-bit... One of the things that chemo patients can do to relax and feel better is to take pampering baths. Laura loves to soak in the tub, so that was good to hear, but what she really appreciated was the recipe that the instructor gave for a good bath soak.

3 glasses of red wine

1/4 c. honey

Pour two glasses of red wine and 1/4 c. honey into running water.
Pour one glass of red wine to enjoy while soaking in the tub.

:-)

I'll give more information and post pictures as soon as I get them.

Round 2 of chemo starts tomorrow.

Go Fight Win, Laura and Phyllis!

Go Fight Win!

Laura's students decorated the door

to her classroom.

Isn't it lovely?!

(The pink ribbons have the names of each student in her classes.)

A sampling of photos from the past week or so...

Start Practicing the Cheer

Good News!

I'm at the doctor's office with Laura today. It's a follow-up visit after her first round of chemo... She met with the research doctor, Dr. Tongol.

Her counts were way up so they're going to decrease the amount of the Nulastin (which is a shot she gets the day after chemo -- and which causes the pain she experienced in her legs.). This should help either decrease or eliminate the pain she felt.

They gave her new prescriptions to help with the mouth sores, her throat, pain/numbness in her fingers, the redness in her skin. At this moment, she's receiving fluids which will help increase her energy and generally make her feel better.

The most exciting news of the day is that they are already seeing significant shrinkage in the size of the tumor. This is due to the combination of the Avastin (the research drug) and the chemo. The tumor wasn't exactly symetrical, but in one direction it has decreased by half!

That's my Laura… Goin'! Fightin'! Winnin'!!

Thanksgiving!

People started arriving in Atlanta on the Friday before Thanksgiving. The activity began gradually and increased as more and more people arrived. There were 29(!) people gathered at Mama’s and Papa’s on Thanksgiving Day. The weather was good enough to sit on the porch and we were able to relax and just enjoy being together. Though some members of our family are no longer with us, they weren’t far from our thoughts.

During the week Laura’s energy went from almost non-existent to being able to move around. She still tires easily and is battling mouth sores and the lack of an appetite. The tough thing is feeling hungry, but not having food taste very good. If any of you have any tricks or ideas of ways to make the food taste better or things she could try to eat that would give her some more energy, please leave a comment on the comments page.

Friday night Laura felt good enough to attend the play “The Santaland Diaries” and to go to our friend, Jean’s house afterwards for dessert. It was good to see her laugh and relax a little bit.

Finally, for those of you who are part of the Kindle surprise, Laura says a HUGE “thank you.” Not only will she receive a Kindle very soon, she’ll also have plenty left over for lots and lots of Kindle books. Judy won’t give us any names, but you know who you are and Laura really is thankful. (It should be in her hands by December 11th or so.)

Laura thinks she has the best friends --and family :-) -- in the world. Thank you for all you’ve done.

It’s going to be a tough road ahead, but she’s gonna make it – with flying colors, too!

GoFightWin!