Bathrooms Progressing!!

I am so grateful for my Amazing Girls who are willing to help my Rob with the construction!!
We are ready for concrete! Amy helped tamp sand down most of today!! Yeaaaaa Rob!

Amazing Girls!!

Wow! The Girls hired Katy King Hersey, a great photographer (http://www.picturemefoto.wordpress.com/)
They totally surprised me Christmas morning with a great slide show of these photos! Oh how this Mamma wept!

A lovely Bouquet

Our Wonderful 'Charlie Brown' Christmas Tree! It was so fun going to get it... and now we have it up!
I love the beauty of lights and decorations... and then, a special bouquet arriving from my Dear Friend next door. Our Table Set for Christmas Eve Dinner...
So lovely to gather with family on this special day. The Girls reminded me that I was so sick last Christmas Eve, we had pancakes... There was no making of wieswurst sausage, sauerkraut and mashed potoatoes. But we were back to our Christmas Eve Traditions this year. Much to be grateful for! We had such a good evening. May your Christmas day be rich with joy and with those you love! Merry Christmas ~ Lorna

Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas!
What a rich lovely day yesterday. Amy brought me into VGH and I have photos of two of my favorite nurses! They are both Lovely. I have been so blessed by an incredible caring medical community! What a rich gift they have been to me! What a day of celebration! (Even if my counts are going down when they come up on Tuesday... it is still all good! I just need to be very careful not to be around groups! No Christmas Eve Service, but I had a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner with my family and we are ready for Christmas day... now if I could just sleep! It is almost 5 am and I have been awake since 2 am!

paths in the mighty waters...

A note from my journal...
"Thy way was in the sea, and Thy paths in the mighty waters, and Thy footprints may not be known." Psalm 77:19

'O Lord, Your ways are not our ways. How could we know Your footprints... yet Lord, lead us, call us, direct us in the way You would have us go.'

I came home so happy on Tuesday... my blood counts are on the way back up! I am that much closer to being DONE!
Such a good thing, being led on this journey by the One whose footsteps may not be known! May you be led, though you do not see His footsteps, into places of abundance and joy this year! Lorna

Infection

I have picked up a throat infection! But I go into VGH today and will start on antibiotics, once the Doctor sees me. Otherwise, there is great Joy in my heart!

May your Christmas be lovely! We are all so blessed to have each other! The Leukemia Mamma...

Christmas Numbers

Hello to so many Dear Ones! Thank you for 'keeping up' with my blog!

Yes, my numbers are coming down! My White blood count is at 2.1, Neutraphils are at .8, Hemoglobin is 89 and Platelets are 39... it is good that I stayed home from church today! They give blood transfusions when the hemoglobin is at 80, so Tuesday may be a long day.

And these are the names of the two chemo drugs that I will be on for two years: Methotrexate and Mercaptopurine. I start them once my counts come back up again. I will have to be on an antibiotic for those two years, to protect me from pneumonia, as well. One that I have not reacted well to. So, they will start me slowly on that antibiotic and hope my body can handle it.

Otherwise, all is well! Our Christmas tree goes up today and it is so delightful to be able to enjoy Christmas! Blessings to each of you this wonderful season. Savor those times with those you love.

Lorna

Purdy's Icecream

I was home on friday and asked Angela if she wanted to bring me to the Mall to pick up a Christmas Gift from Purdy's...
so, we had an icecream together after and watched the people walk by! So nice to be getting ready for Christmas! May you have as much JOY in your home as we have in ours!! So happy to be "better" !!

Renovation Update

Rob had More Jack hammering to do, But it is now ready for the Plumber!
Rob and DJ put in the frame for the sliding door! It is coming!
Very Exciting!
We will enjoy having a bathroom downstairs for us and for those who come to the Gallery!

Christmas tree Hunting

Well, what a delight!
We were so happy to be Christmas Tree hunting all together. Last year, with H1N1, I stayed home.
We picked a 'charlie brown' tree that is slender, to fit into our living room with our new 'on loan' Jelsma leather couches! And it rained After we were all done! We have had such a good day altogether. Starting with a pancake breakfast and Starbucks on the way home. So So good to be with all our Girls! I am feeling stronger.

My white blood count is dropping as it should be right now. But good news: I will be home Christmas Day! I go into VGH Tomorrow, maybe the 21st, the 23 and 26th, and then every three days till they release me mid January! Happy to be home for Christmas!

Great Wig!!

This was taken after Christmas Dessert Theater, Saturday, December 11. It was lovely to be able to go and see this years production written by the amazing Barbara Warwick!! GREAT Play!

Feeling Better!

Hello Loved Ones!!
Hey ~ The nausea is GONE!!
It is great to be feeling better and getting stronger.
I need to wait for my white blood count to be 'killed off' one last time and then come back...
But my numbers are still fairly high so I was able to go to church this morning and to our Christmas Dessert Theater last night! It was wonderful! So good to see people!
We are celebrating the beginning of the end.
Tomorrow I head in for the bi-weekly dose of Pentamidine... Apparently it is to stop pneumonia, so it really is a good thing. I am in every 3 days till my counts drop.
These buildings were taken in Quebec QB 2009. Looking forward to the opportunity to "capture beauty" again! Soon!

Woooohoooooo!!

The Last chemo dose of the Last round.... IS DONE!

Wow, so excited to be done the ugliest part!!!And what a gift God gave me.... while I was getting my chemo... Cathy showed up!! My room-mate from T15! Oh pray!! She was down from Prince George because she is having "graft vs. host" issues with her Bone Marrow Transplant. Please heal my Cathy friend, Lord!!

Wonderful Day!!
YOU have blessed us so much as you have walked with us!!
Lorna ~ the Leukemia Mamma!
This photo is from a 'few' years ago!

One more day of chemo

Well ~ I started chemo on monday... on schedule!! All has gone well. I have one more day, tomorrow and then the chemo is DONE!! I went in Monday celebrating! There has been nausea but it is controlled by gravol! So, after tomorrow... I will go in every few days while the Doctors monitor my counts going down and then coming back up again. I should be done by early January. My 'PIC' line will come out (this is what it looks like!) and I will be on an oral chemo tablet for two years. We are almost there! Thank you so much for standing with us! God is good!

Very Last Round!!

Thank you ~ for keeping up with this blog and for your encouragement along the way!!

This Monday!!! I start my LAST round of chemo!!
I have a sniffle... so I am trying to be really careful not to catch anything more! I do not want this last round compromised! Very glad to be near the end!
AND happy to be well enough to 'enjoy' Christmas coming! It will soon be a year since I contracted H1N1 ~ last December 16th!! I am Better than I was last year!! Praise God!