Ms. Rosie Visits Preschool

 Reading scary stories to her class yesterday.  Here she is singing, "Have you seen the ghost of John?"  One of her favorites.

They were so excited to see her!

 Getting hugs from Ms. Wanda's class.

The banner they made.

 With her co-teacher, Ms. Annie.

 Ready to release balloons for Brok.  See below for a video of the release.

 Ms. Rosie and Colleen Burdette.

(below) The baseball head!  Some of the kids wanted to see her staples, so she showed them.  They were interested.  We counted the other day: 48 total!

Savoring

Mom has had a great weekend.  All the daughters are now home: Allie arrived Thursday, and Natalie flew in with Lola on Friday.  Harlan came in on Saturday, so we had a full house!  We also had many wonderful visits, including a surprise (to her) visit from Jerry and Bobbi, who drove in from Florida.  So the house was full to the brim with love and good spirits.  Mom is leading the way.  She is strong and getting stronger.  She has been playing Sorry with Sonny, reading to Lola, sorting laundry, doing dishes, taking walks, playing in the leaves with Esphyr.  She loves to joke about her baseball head. 

Her next oncology appointment is Wednesday, but there is little anxiety over it.  Our focus has shifted from the medical side of things to life and the living of it.  And she is doing that with style and grace and sweetness.

Much love to all,
jk

Home Tonight!

Just wanted to do a quick post to report that mom was able to come home tonight.  I met them as they pulled up and was able to tuck mom into bed.  We had the most wonderful talk.  She is doing amazingly well.  I couldn't help but notice a quote she had taped to the wall (long before any of this started):  "The heart that gives, gathers."  She is certainly proving the truth of those words now.  Ah.  She is such a blessing to so many, but especially to me, today, on my birthday.  She told me happy birthday again as I was leaving and thanked me for being her daughter. 

"It's a hard job, isn't it?" she said.

"Absolutely not," I said back.  "You did all the work."

Lots of love,
jk

Not the News We Wanted

Well, mom is okay and stable, but the surgery did not go according to plan.  When they looked at her brain, they were able to see quite a bit of microscopic tumor.  So much so that they decided that surgery was not the cure we thought it would be.  Now it's a whole different game.  Basically, they want her to try chemo again.  That's really her only option at this point.  We're all very disappointed.  Dad said the surgeons were so disappointed too.

It's not the best news, of course, but it's not the worst.  Please keep mom in your thoughts today.  She needs to heal from this as quickly and as well as possible so they can start chemo.  She will probably be in the hospital the rest of the week and perhaps the weekend.  Then they estimated two weeks to recover and back on the chemo regimen.  They may try different drugs that are designed especially for the brain.  There are a lot of unknowns again.  As always, I'll keep you posted.

Pre-Op Today

Today mom meets with the anesthesiologist and gets a CT to map the area where they will do surgery.  She'll stay overnight and be at the hospital tomorrow at 5:30am.  So if you want to be thinking of her, that's what she'll be doing.  :)  The CT is today around noon. 

Happy day, everyone,
jk

It Went Great!

The PET scan was clear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   That means no spreading of the tumor.  Surgery is scheduled for next Tuesday, which in the medical world is right away.  More details soon...

PET a Success!

Mom was awesome today.  She was calm and focused for the whole PET scan procedure.  She did not move at all while in the scanner.  I got to hold her hands for most of the time.  After she was done, she said, "I'm so proud of me!"  We all were!  Luckily we had a big team to help celebrate: Tom, Melinda, and mom's sister Jane were part of the entourage as well.

I asked her if she was ready to do it again tomorrow, and she said yes.  "I feel good."

Hooray!  Mission accomplished.  Stay tuned for tomorrow's episode: Pre-Op with Dr. Zimmer.

Try, Try Again

Last week was a bit of a doozie.  So we're hoping for smooth sailing this week.  PET scan Tuesday, meeting with Dr. Zimmer, the surgeon, Wednesday.  Mom has had a good couple of days.  She even said she was "looking forward" to these next appointments.  So keep those rays coming.

We'll be sure to post once we know something.

Thanks for the love,
jk