11/7/10 Update

Hi everybody - Thought I'd give an update as to Miss Connie's health as it's been a long while. She completed her radiation (10/18) about 3 weeks ago. She continued to feel the aching for a good couple of weeks afterward, coupled with a few waves of nausea. In the past week she has, I believe, began to feel better daily. Her stamina has greatly improved. When she is tired at the end of the day it is mostly because she still has problems staying asleep all night long. Occasionaly life is good and she'll get a day or two of a full nights sleep in.

Her hair is growing back and as we suspected, it's not the same color it was when we got married. Of course, neither is mine. We were told that there was the possibility of it coming in curly, or a different color, etc. That didn't happen. Just this morning I told her she should start considering taking the wig off, coloring her hair and moving forward. She just told me that she's "thinking" about a reveal after the first of the year. I think she should start with purple hair...that would be fun!

She's got more appointments coming up before the end of the year. One is with the plastic surgeon, who wants to check how the radiation affected the area that will be worked on in the spring. Another is with the radiologist. He wants to make sure the bright red irradeated area has lost some of it's glow. Then there will be a bone scan appointment at 7:30 am...hope she gets up in time! This is because, she thinks, that there is a drug she'll have to take every few months and it may cause bone loss. They need a bone density base line. The last one is with the chemo doctor again...he's the one that will administer this last drug via an IV drip.

The journey is not over, but she's been doing great. Yesterday was our 23rd wedding anniversary and we started the day with a free breakfast at our ward building that was made from food storage items...it was "preparedness fair" that was very thought provoking. While we were there we were offered tickets for the BYU football game (BYU 55, UNLV 7) that started at noon, so we grabbed some Mickey Dees on the way and headed to Provo. We hit a few of stores afterwards and headed home for the evening. She has taken up crocheting again and was busy making some hats that are being donated for people who have cancer. We took a break and got some ice cream and then I finally had to hit the sack. She got to bed at 3am (or would that really be 2am w/daylight saving?) after making 2 hats. Like I said...lots more stamina!