Just can't say it enough...

Paul and I are truly giving people. We have done so much for others, and we enjoy that. However when some help was offered to us - we were both very reluctant to accept it. We have really terrific friends and next door neighbors, Heather and Coy. They arranged for a large group of men to come to our house today and chop up and split 2 trees that had been cut down before Paul got sick. We are so grateful for all of the hard work they did today. Thanks to them we should have plenty of firewood this upcoming season. It is just so awesome to know there are people out there who would do such a difficult task - at best - out of the kindness of their heart. All for strangers. Thank you all again so much! Ugh, I am tearing up just typing this. :p




Graphics for Thank You Comments

Hate when this happen...

As we were driving to the hospital this morning a rock hit the side of my windshield. Those 2 white specks in the black part is the site of impact. We park the car and come back about an hour later and that small crack spread about a foot and a half! Luckily that was the worst part of the day.

We thought that today was going to be long and drawn out and made preparations for Alayna. It turns out Paul was only at the hospital for a very short amount of time. They checked his blood levels and everything is still good. Dr. Fogerty performed the bone marrow biopsy and that went well. Of course I'm not the one who had a needle in my hip bone. They just gave him a local anisthetic and told him to take Tylenol while at home. He is now upstairs taking a nap. We will not know the results of the biopsy until possibly Wednesday of next week. Until then, please keep your fingers crossed that they don't find any cancer!

Talk soon!

Another fun filled day...

We were given very short notice that Paul had a couple of consultations for his radiation in Boston today so all three of us piled in my car and headed down. The doctor came in and started talking with Paul about his medical history and his diagnosis. I wasn't able to sit in there long - about 15 minutes worth - before Alayna decided she had enough of being a quiet girl. So we walked around the hospital a bit and found this big fish. Then we headed back to my car to watch a movie. Today's selection was Curious George. Then when she fell asleep I watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding. On our way home we stopped and ate a late lunch at The Cheesecake Factory.

While we drove home Paul filled me in a little about everything. Paul will be having full body radiation to try an eradicate any cancer cells before the bone marrow transplant. Again, there is a possibility of numerous side effects from the radiation. He will be rendered sterile, there is a 50% chance of getting cataracts, and he may develop another type of cancer with tumors. Those are the big things.

Some days things seem almost "normal" here, like Paul isn't really that sick. And then a day like today when you hear all of this that will be happening in the not so distant future. :(

Things pile up...

It is amazing how much stuff piles up when you don't do anything for a month! Errands you put off doing because you have more important places to be. Chores get shoved aside because you would rather spend your time doing other things. All the while still trying to take care of a rambunctious 20 month old.

Paul and I are trying to catch up with our "normal" lives. Paul would typically be cutting and splitting wood on his off days but he will be ordering several cords this week. The oil in his car needs to be changed but we will be taking it into the dealer so they can do it. I have an eye appointment that is overdue. The grass keeps getting taller. And the garden Paul planted right before he went into the hospital is severely neglected. But in between the weeds and grass growing wildly - I can see signs of new vegetable life! That is the metaphor for our life right now. Everything seems misplaced and in disarray -but we are growing stronger and we will push through all of this ugly stuff.

It's been a long day...

Paul had his appointment in Boston at 10:30 this morning. We were trying to plan ahead to give us plenty of time to get there with traffic and left the house at 8am. We actually got there early and they took him in. We thought it was going to be a quick 1 hour appointment to get his chemo and blood work, but it turned into a 5 hour ordeal. There was tons of waiting for this and that and Alayna was getting so sick of being in her stroller. Finally towards the end I took her to the car in the parking garage so she would fall asleep in her car seat. It worked!

So basically his levels look really good and he didn't need any additional blood or platelets. They gave him his final dose of steroids and sent him on his way. We have his next appointment next Friday for the bone marrow biopsy. I think I will book a babysitter for that one though!

Let's see, what else? I finally buzzed Paul's head. It was sorta shocking at first to see him with no hair but we are used to it now. His energy level is really good and his appetite is great. He is having his friends Scott and Chris over tonight to shoot the breeze. I even made them a fantastic tasting 7 layer dip - minus one layer - so a 6 layer dip. So things are good on the home front for now.

I hope you all have a fun filled weekend!

Oh by the way! I hope you are enjoying our music selection. Alayna, Paul, and I each chose 2 of our favorite songs for you to hear. Can you guess who chose what?! :)

Under construction...

Welcome to our new family blog! As if I didn't have enough going on I decided to start another blog. Stay tuned for a new post soon!