lots. . .locks for love

Last summer seems a like lifetime ago. The trip to ASP seems so foggy, with only parts of that get vividly re-hashed in my brain. The complete and total fear of rolling in van with youth group kids, and the first breath I took after knowing they were all okay. What played out next no one anticipated. It was in that Appalachia emergency room with two of those same kids, and one of their parents when a suspect mass in my chest became known. Fear and disbelief were my immediate feelings. I’m still stunned by the events that played out that day, and I often forget that for the others in the van this wasn’t just any car wreck either.

Last week one of the girls in the van cut off her beautiful long auburn tresses for Locks of Love, an organization that makes wigs for cancer patients. I’m touched by the compassion of this young lady, and proud to know her. I have a very special love for the kids I shared that day and moment with, and I’m grateful for them all.

more of the same.

I visited the oncologist today, and he said nothing that surprized me. The CT scan I did last week shows that the lympnodes in my chest are still enlarged, but may or may not be active cancer. So I'm out of treatment for the month of Feb, I'll be having a PET scan at the end of the month, which will give the docs a better idea of how much of the yucky stuff is still remaining and how much more treatment I'll need.

For now I know starting in March I'll be marching back to chemo for at least two more rounds, and the jury is still out on radiation.

SIX MORE WEEKS OF WINTER -- that is if you trust rodents for your weather forcast.

Perhaps it's just that we've made it half way through (a thankfully rather mild) winter and I'm just looking for an excuse to party-- but Groundhog's day in the last several years has made it's way to the top in Meg's book of favorite holidays.

Here's to hoping for a speedy Spring!