They'll be Home for Christmas

Last week during Thanksgiving our family had much to be thankful for... Mom completed her cancer treatment at MD Anderson!!! Last wednesday was her last radiation and her final physical therapy session. There are really no words to express our true feelings of relief and peace at the closing of her treatment. She will still have to travel back and forth to Houston for her check-ups, but the treatment phase is over. Mom and Dad are starting to head back to FL next Wednesday. They've hired a big moving truck and Dad is driving Mom and the pooches.

The week before Thanksgiving Mom and Dad took a weekend get-away over to Austin. They visited the State Museum of Texas, walked around the University of Texas at Austin, and visited the original Whole Foods. They also drove down to Lockhart, Texas to try a place called "Smitty's BBQ", where Dad stuffed his face with ribs and brisket! They walked around the SOCO district, which Mom described as full of hippies and antiques stores. On the day they were checking out of their hotel, they noticed that a winter Wonderland CandyLand display had been set up in the lobby! 

For Thanksgiving they flew to Tampa to visit Mom's relatives. We enjoyed a pizza party with Grandma for lunch one day, and of course some Black Friday shopping! Dad had his Black Friday jammed packed with activity with his brother-in-laws: in the AM a round of golf and in the PM a round of shooting! Him and Russ also enjoyed watching the UF-FSU game at a nearby pub on Saturday. 

Now Mom and Dad are busy packing things up for the move and Dad is putting his "Master-Packer" skills to work. Mom is excited because now that everything's packed up she doesn't have to cook anything else until they leave!

Our family would like to extend our sincerest thanks to everyone who has been praying for us this year. Life's journey can change so quickly and it is such a comfort to have such close friends and family by our side. Every phone call, note, email, visit, and prayer made all the difference in Mom's recovery and our sanity. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

A Day in the Mountains is Worth a Week in Town

Mom is still in her recovery time from the surgery until next Wednesday, when she will begin her radiation treatment. She has preliminary appointments this coming Friday as well as a couple early next week before they begin. Unfortunately one of her drains from the surgery had to stay in longer than expected, however she was able to get it out last week so her and Dad could have a last minute Farm Vacay!

They flew up to the Farm last Wednesday and are flying back to Houston tomorrow. While they were there, Kristen & Pat and Tom & I were able to come over for the weekend to visit. Dad has decided that he is up to his elbows in goats and that it is time to try and sell a few of them. He went down to the radio station in town and put out an add on the local AM station to see if anyone wants a goat. He was warned that it may be a little more difficult to get rid of these goats, however, because the type of goats he has (Pygmy) are not good for eating. Soooo, if anyone wants a pet goat, he's charging $50 and will ship anywhere in the US! I can promise you that they are really super cute, but I can't promise that they won't have a few fleas! 

Over the weekend we went over to Little Switzerland for lunch, where they were having some sort of antique British car show. The weather was absolutely amazing, so we made our way over to the gem mine for some gold panning. Dad of course was yelling out "GOLD!!!" at the top of his lungs whenever someone happened upon a piece of pyrite! The girl scouts who were next to us were getting a huge kick out of this! The weekend would not have been complete without a couple trips to the Garden Deli, daily mountain walks down to the lake, and a s'more roast over the fire. 

Overall Mom's recovery has been slow but steady. She had no major complications from the surgery and overall she is healing nicely. She still has a good amount of pain from the surgery and continues to take pain meds and rest. When she begins her radiation next week, it will be five days a week but hopefully won't take more than an hour a day...Mom was excited because they have valet parking! That is tentatively for the next 6 weeks, however Mom is already talking about when they can come home and how she is going to get all of their things back to Ft. Lauderdale! She had her first (BIG) glass of wine last week, and is also allowed to eat raw fruits and vegetables at restaurants again :) 

Road to Recovery

Mom has been home from the hospital for a few days now. She is not allowed to move her right arm at all and is only allowed to move her left arm very little for the next several weeks. Kristen's nursing skills are in full swing, while the rest of us are pitching in everywhere else! Mom cannot yet go out anywhere; however, there have been a few online shopping purchases :) She had a visit from one of her chemo friends today named Shelley, along with her husband. They brought over some delicious chicken tortilla soup, and Mom and Shelley were able to swap surgery stories. The four of us Minions have been taking turns escaping the house for various errands, and today we all sat on the couch and watched the "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" movie from redbox.

Tomorrow morning Dad will make his famous cinnamon toast for breakfast before mass. Also this is big news...Dad became a Eucharistic minister this summer, so he can bring the Eucharist to Mom on the days she doesn't feel well enough to go to mass :)

Thank you for continuing to pray for Mom's speedy recovery so she can begin the next leg of her treatment in a few weeks...radiation!

~~Headbands of Solidarity Unite~~

Mom is now in recovery! After several hours of surgery, her wonderful surgeon came out to the waiting room to inform us that everything had gone according to plan and that there were no complications! Mom has woken up and Dad has been able to go in and see her. Us kids hope to be able to go in and see her soon! Kristen is going to stay overnight in the hospital with her tonight and tomorrow she should be discharged. This is such a HUGE relief to us all and we cannot thank you enough for your prayers and support.

Speaking of support... I have received several photos from family and friends in their headbands of solidarity! Please continue to send them throughout the week, as Mom is getting a huge kick out of this :) She has been so excited to see all your smiling faces! I'll add them to this blog page as I get them!