Treatment Tuesday #3 and Small Miracles

Hello to all friends and family.  Do you all remember the famous game of Pac-Man?  Ohhh my gosh I think it was my favorite game at the arcade.  Yes all you young readers that never have to go to the arcade because you all have a PSP, Playstation, Xbox and now the Wii.  Well back in my day you had to go to the arcade.  Anyway, I was thinking about Pac-Man today and it reminds me of going through all of this treatment.  Pac-Man is the chemo and the little dots is the cancer.  So the plan is for Pac-Man to eat every single dot.  Yikes don't ask me where that random thought came from. 

Well here we are again. It seems like we just did this. Funny how time flies when you have treatments every other week. Well if you are wondering if Fred has even moved from last time the answer is no not really. He likes a certain spot at the center so I guess you will see the same surroundings each time. During the treatment this time he took a good one hour nap.  I didn't take any photos during the nap because I didn't want to risk waking him up.  Sleep is something we value very much. When he woke up he said he felt as if he had slept for 3-4 hours.  AHHHHH don't you love that feeling.

During the treatment we met with Dr. Whisenant.  We had a very nice little chat and Dr Whisenant thinks that things are going really well.  One thing I noticed during treatment is Fred turns a little yellow for about a day.  No worries because that is pretty normal and he pinks back up around day three.  I guess that's what happens when chemicals (Pac-Man of which have you noticed is yellow) are taking over.

Well my job during treatment is to keep him eating and well hydrated.  I did a much better job this time because he didn't lose any weight.  Good thing because when he loses it I find it.  Hahah.  No he doesn't turn yellow because of the bananas.  I feed him all colors of the rainbow.

Now for the small miracle.  Yes I have learned to look for the small little miracles and blessings we receive each and every day.  We do blood work before each treatment.  All of Fred's blood work has come back within normal range.  So that means he body is doing a great job replenishing.  We also did a CEA level.  A CEA is a blood test.  CEA (carcinoembryonic antigen) is a protein molecule that is released in the blood from the tumors.  So before we started treatment the CEA level was 393.  After two treatments the CEA level was 202.  YIPPPEEEE that's great news today because that means the chemo treatments are working. 

Ohh goodness I am so happy right now I think I need to go find a Pac-Man game to play.  Thanks for stopping by and we want to thank all of you for your prayers, thoughts, friendship and the many acts of kindness.  There have been so many acts of kindness I don't dare list them but just know we have appreciated everything.  I truly believe that your prayers are helping more than anything so keep up the great work.  You are the best and we love you all.

Recipe Box for a Wedding or Shower

I can tell that summer is in full swing by the wedding and shower announcements we are getting.  Ohhh goodness it's so exciting to see young love.  I would love for the bride to open my gift and say "ohh my gosh that is an awesome gift"  So as I have been on the hunt for the perfect bridal shower gift I think I have found it.  Why not give the bride a recipe box.  Even better give her a few of your favorite recipes as well.  So I have made a couple recipe boxes and they are so easy.  All you have to do is order the recipe box and then decorate it any way you choose.  You can completely customize it for each bride or use her wedding colors.  WOW the possibilities are endless.

For this box I used the following supplies (click on each supply link for more details):

Recipe/Photo Box

Cherry-O Level 2 paper pack

Cherry-O Stickease

Tulip Mini-Medleys

Lots of Dots Color Ready Alphabets

Big Pinks

Sugar and Spice recipe cards (not pictured)

I used the following cutting dimensions for the box:
6 1/4 X 4 1/4- Back and front of box
3 1/2 X 4 1/2-Sides of box (cut 2)
6 1/4 X 3 1/2- Bottom, top of box and inside lid
Contact me for template of flap

Thanks so much for stopping by.  If you have a great recipe that would be awesome to include in the box let me know.

Thank You Card and Treatment Tuesday

Just wanted to take a minute and thank all of you for the many acts of kindness, service, thoughts and prayers you have all showed us. They have been appreciated so much and we are deeply touched.   So I made you all this quick thank you card.  So instead of getting it in your mailbox you get it here instead.  hahah. 

We are doing great.  Today we had our second treatment.  Fred tolerated it very well.  In fact he was multi-tasking and he tried to get some work done while receiving treatment.  I kept busy watching the chemo drip in and I worked on a applique quilt.  After all we don't believe in wasting time.  Perhaps by the time we are finished with the chemo I will complete the quilt (don't hold your breath)

Alyssa stopped by after getting off work to see how we were doing.  She always does a great job in cheering anyone up with her happiness.

We discovered last time that the fatigue was the biggest side effect.  Therefore we are trying different things this time with nutrition and taking lots of walks to get the chemicals circulated and out as soon as possible.  Therefore I have a little message for all those cancer cells.  Just give up and die cause you will not win this battle so just give up NOW.

Thanks for stopping by.  We are getting into a routine but want to thank all of you so much.  See ya soon.