I AM A 2 YEAR CANCER SURVIVOR!!!!!!!!!!

Can you believe that it has been 2 years? I remember Aug.8th, 2008 very vividly in my mind(well parts of it anyhow) I remember my friends faces as they watched me being wheeled down the hallway to surgery. Ginger's eyes were big! Of course, I especially remember my kids and precious Ronnie walking beside my bed until they took me through those doors to surgery. I was anxious! It seemed like the next 6 months took about 3 years to take place! I thought I would never make it till January and chemo would be finished. But look at me now - 2 years have gone by! Wow!

I went to see Dr. Redrow , the oncologist, a couple of weeks ago and he said that the ct scan that was done about a month ago showed no new signs of cancer! What a relief. I was so anxious as I waited for him to come into the room. I guess he could tell because the first words he said to me after hello was "the scans all looked good". He said it was normal for me to be apprehensive and afraid that something was growing and I didn't know it. He said that maybe by this time next year I wouldn't be so anxious. I hope so!

I will go back and have another ct done the last part of Nov. and see him the first week of Dec. I think he has me on a 4 month schedule now.

We have had a lot of out of town time since May. We went with Jerry and Ginger to the hill country and stayed in a condo outside of Bandera. Kenneth and Gwen got to go with us for 4 days. We all wished they could have stayed longer. I did my first kayaking adventure down the river there! I wasn't so sure I would be okay but the fastness of the river was perfect! I only dumped over once but I said that I rolled in the 20 foot deep water for about 20 minutes!(It was actually only 4 feet and maybe 30 seconds!) I didn't have my life jacket on but after that happened I strapped that sucker on! Anyhow, it was so fun!

On the way home we decided to do the touristy tour of the LBJ Ranch. We really enjoyed it and especially like the working farm that the State Parks have at the site. It was very informative. If you haven't tried it, you might.

Then, we have been camping in our 5th wheel travel trailer that we bought from Ronnie's brother-Steve. We love it! It has a slide out on it which gives us so much more room than our old camper! We have been one weekend to Benbrook with the Foxes,Gearys,Rollmanns and Nortons. It is always fun to go with lots of people - never boring!

Then we went a couple of different weekends with Amy and Brad and their newly acquired trailer and Starla and Aaron with the camper they got last year. Brandon and Michelle usually drive out to wherever we are and join us for the day.

Then we have been gone the last 2 WEEKS at Ray Roberts camping with Donna and Steve,Amy and Brad and Starla and Aaron. Fun,fun, fun and a lot of sun,sun,sun! I came back a lot browner than when I went.

Gracie decided that she was going to learn to ride her bike without training wheels while we were camping! And she did! Way to go , Grace!

Lily became a better and faster bike rider but was not able to loose the training wheels yet! She is finally going to get to start Kindergarten in a few weeks. She has been waiting a long time to be 5 so she can go to real school instead of day care!

In case you haven't heard, Amy is the new principal of Eagle Heights Elementary!!!!Way to go,Amy! My mother would be so proud - that is the school that she worked at for 25 years! I used to take Amy there when she was little and eat lunch with Mother in the lunch room!

Starla is busy, busy taking care of her 3 boys. She has also lost a lot of weight doing Slim for Life.Way to be dedicated, Starla!

The grandkids are growing up! Toby is 9 months old and so cute! He, like the rest of them, loves Pawpaw sooooo much! He cut his first tooth yesterday. He'll be walking before we know it.

Dakota is almost 5. He has decided within the last week that he doesn't need his floaties on in the pool anymore! He does pretty good , but it scares me that he will get out in the middle and not be able to make it to the edge, but he is not worried one bit!

Riley will be 7 next week. He has been swimming like a fish for a couple of years. I am a little jealous! He'll be going into the 2nd grade this year.

I pray that this post finds everyone feeling as blessed as I do!

Never forget that God does know each and every one of us personally and loves us more than we can even imagine!

Blessings to you all!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Wow, the last 4 months have flown by!
I have been feeling good and enjoying life. God has truly blessed me in so many ways. I pray that every day I look around to see blessings and not anxieties.
I went to my 3 month check-up with Dr. Redrow and he said that I am doing great. He didn't order a scan before I went in for my appt. so I told him that he was making me a little anxious! I told him that the fear of the unknown going on in my body was a little scary to me. He said that was completely normal considering all that I have gone through in the last 2 or 3 years. He sent me in for a Ct scan of the chest and the reports came in this week. All is clear and nothing abnormal! Yea, Yea! If only now I could figure out how to not be anxious! Isn't there a scripture about that?
Talk about blessings! Starla had a sweet baby boy on Nov. 7. He weighed 7 lb. 8 oz. and is just perfect. His name is Toby Miles Norton. Amy and I like to say that we delivered him since Dr. Howell didn't make it to her room in time - but actually we helped Tonya the nurse in every way possible! Tonya had a cast on her left arm where she had broken her wrist the week before. She told Starla to keep from pushing when she felt she needed to so Dr. Howell could be there for delivery, but Toby could not wait! Starla did and EXCELLENT job of natural childbirth and Amy, Aaron and I were intent on making everything easier for Tonya to do her job.
Christmas was great this year. We always do our gift-opening on Christmas Eve. The kids got there around 2:00 - right when the snow was starting to come down pretty heavy. It was sooo beautiful. The kids got to go out and play in the snow and get all wet and cold. What fun!
Thank you again all of you who have kept up with me and my journey and encouraged me on. I'll never forget it.