Happy New Year

Some of you may have wondered just where the heck have I been since my last post was the end of July. A lot has been going on in my little corner of the world - some good, some bad.  I just haven't had the wherewithall to post anything.  Not to say I haven't been perusing blog land.

On a good note, this past year our son got a new job, a new house and got married to a wonderful woman that we all love. He had been staying with us and since he moved he took the pugs with him.  I admit I cried.  However, our Scotties are so relieved that they don't have to deal with those pesky pugs!  Even Mollie, our rescue Scottie, has come out of her shell.  I didn't realize how much more work they were making for me and how much they were taking over the house.  Dogs have a "pecking order" and it has been restored here with Maggie in her place of head Scottie and mistress of the house.   I can go visit the grand-pugs anytime I want as they are only 20 minutes down the road.

Our daughter and two grandsons came to visit us for Christmas from California. It was so good to see them and see how tall the boys are now - taller than me!  They are such quiet, respectful young men.  I'm so proud of them and the job their parents have done raising them.  We didn't do a lot of site seeing as we had one of the coldest Decembers I can remember in a long time.  They plan on coming out this spring or summer so we can do more then.

Now the bad part.  One of reasons our daughter and the boys came to visit was primarily to see their dad.  I'm not sure if many of you know but he had a stroke in 2005, and along with his diabetes, has not had the easiest past ten years.  But we managed and made do.  He was ill in September and was put in the hospital so he could be administered IV antibiotics for an infection.  When he got home he got pneumonia which they attributed to his hospital stay - lots of germs there you know.  So September through now has been doctor visits, hospital stays, rehab stays, physical therapy, tests and all manner of medical involvement.  I think for November through December he was only home at the most two days.

Then we got the diagnosis that we never saw coming.  Lung cancer.  It was right out of left field and has turned our world upside down.  Our oncologist is staging it between three and four non-operatable terminal Adenocarcinoma.  He has had as much radiation as his body can tolerate because of the location of the tumor.  His latest pet scan has shown that the tumor has shrunk 30-40% which is amazing.  Because of that, the oncologist wants to hold off on chemotherapy for at least two months while he gains more strength and the residual affects of the radiation keep working.

Now, I did say the doctor says it is terminal and that the chemo is only for comfort, not a cure.  However, I have a secret weapon that is not so secret.  I have a God who heals, a God who knows way more than our doctors, a God who knows how many days we have a lot more than we do and a God of MIRACLES.  With that, I 'd appreciate all of your prayers as we go through this journey.  We have had so many people praying for us and I have seen the results.  God has sent so many angels in the form of medical personnel that is humbling to us because it is so very obvious where they are from.

I will try to keep you posted on how his is doing in the months ahead.  I'm not, however, going to turn this blog into a cancer blog.  Cancer is a part of our life, but I don't want to make it to be all of our life.  It's a bump in the road - not the entire highway.

Thank you in advance for your prayers.
Miss Jean