Great, great, GREAT news!!! I am officially in remission!!! Finally, after two years of treatment!! I can relax and heal. Thank you God and thank you EVERYONE for all of your prayers! They worked! Who ever tries to say prayer does not work is crazy. I had my LAST chemo treatment on Monday. I was suppose to have one more treatment after that one but my doctor said she was happy with my last biopsy results and didn't see the need for the sixth treatment. Yea!!! I'm so happy. My BBF Kelly W. took me to my chemo yesterday (what an experience it was for her). She couldn't believe all the IV medications that were going into me. We stayed in a hotel by the medical center with the plan on going antique shopping the following day but that didnn't happen. I woke up sick and kept throwing up through the entire day, I felt awful. She winded up taking me home around 10:30. I had a bad day after chemo day, probably the worst ever. But..... that's okay because I won't have to do it again! At least hopefully for a really long time. I know with Lymphoma that we can't say never but at least hopefully for a really, really, really, long time. Hair is really falling out today. I think my doctor must have put a little extra something in my chemo treatment this time because the after effects are definitely worse than ever before. I'll have my next biopsy in about five or six months - please pray that my doctor doesn't change her mind and make me do a followup of radiation.

We have a cool front in Houston right now and it's LOVELY!! I love the fall/winter time. We don't actually have four seasons in Houston. The year kind of goes like this - kinda cold, cool, hot, hot, hot, hot, kinda cool. Our coldest month is January. My husband did have to put the heater on last night though. Mmmmm.... can't wait to crank up the fireplace. Ours is gas, not nearly as good as wood, but it gives off a good effect at least. The cats are acting all frisky because of the weather and are driving me crazy running around and getting into everything. They are indoor cats but they can still feel the difference. My 17 year old cat is still hanging on. Every time I think it's time to put him to sleep, he starts acting all perky like a kitten. He'll probably outlive me.

I got all of my Christmas shopping done! I did every bit of it online. It was quite fun. No crowds, no standing in line, no driving. All the boxes are arriving and I think my mail lady hates me right now. She just leaves a postal box full of packages on my doorstep every day. Some arrive by UPS and FedEx. I usually try to have all my shopping done my Thanksgiving because I hate crowds. I'm crowdaphobic :-) I broke my record by having it all done my Halloween. Ya Hoo!

Well, that's all for now. Now that I won't have my cancer to talk about I'll have to think of other topics. Take care and Lots's of Love to all !!!!

p.s. check out the photo of my cute cousin at the bottom in her halloween costume!!

St. Theresa's Prayer

May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are
exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite
possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you
have received, and pass on the
love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you
are a child of God. Let this presence
settle into your bones, and allow
your soul the freedom to sing,
dance, praise and love.

Atticus! Such a handsome guy!

another photo of my thinning hair.....

My oh my...... I can't believe it's been so long since I've written on this blog. Much has happened since my last post. We had Hurricane Ike come through and spent five days with no electricity. Thank God we had a mild cool front come through to help endure the heat so it was not too bad but having no electricity really is a pain in the butt. My parents did not have electricity for I think 8 days. Luckily we did not have any major damage. Just some missing shingles and some water leaks. We lost a few fence post and lots of branches. Most of our neighbors did not fare so good though so we felt quite happy with the little damage we had. Our subdivision is older so we have huge trees everywhere and many are long gone.... ripped out at the bottom. It took three weeks to get all the trees, branches and fences picked up around the neighborhood. It's unbelievable that only a category 2 hurricane could cause so much damage!

The other big event last month was I turned the big 40. I spent the day in the hospital so it was not a fun birthday. One of the big side effects from my chemo has been really horrible, severe migraines. And I had a doozie of one on my birthday. So at least I got to spend the day on some very potent pain killers :-) Actually the last few weeks I've spent some time in the hospital because of fever or migraines. Last week I spent two days in the hospital. It was a new hospital by our house and it was the worst experience I've ever had in a hospital. I left feeling worse than when I went in.

I had my fourth chemo treatment two days ago. The treatments still take about six hours and I'm there all day. I still feel nauseous and now I get the migraines but at least I still have my appetite and am not actually throwing up. But I've put on so much weight because I still have my appetite but am too nauseous and exhausted to exercise. Other bad side effect of chemo is the horrible fatigue!! Today I have no migraine so I'm doing pretty good but, boy, I can barely get out of bed. I'm continuing to still loose my hair little by little. I had to cut it again because it was thinning. I'm okay until I get into the shower and then it comes out a lot in my hands. It is really a gross feeling. Another side effect of chemo is bad day and night sweats so that was the other reason of chopping more of the hair off. The other day a person asked David if his son was okay!!! The nerve!!! I look like a boy now.... lovely. A boy with big boobs.... was the woman blind or am I just fat now? Anyways.......

I got a box of hats, scarves and caps from my beautiful Aunt Karen and her co-workers last month. It was a fun surprise. My dearest and favorite cousin, Susan, sent me this scarf thing from the show Survior that is the coolest invention in the world. Not only can you wear it like a million different ways but it is perfect for pulling your hair back to remove makeup!! I love presents!!

Well, that's all for now. Here is the latest photo of my short hairdo: