Catching Up... and Thanksgiving

Thanks Mom for posting your funny story (above).  So, I am finally catching up on our blog.  Pete and I just returned home to Virginia from Xenia, Ohio, after a great holiday with Mom.  We spent Thanksgiving with Sheri and family.  Sheri is the daughter of one of Mom's best friends ever, Pat Felton.  She loaded us up with all kinds of leftovers and sent us off feeling well loved.  We missed seeing my cousin Cathie, as her husband Dale has a flu bug.  My husband Pete and Petunia-Mom visited with her forever friend from Bowersville (school days), Jane, who was visiting Ohio from Delaware with her husband Bob.  They visited with Jane's sister, Lois, and her family, Sue and Roger, while I was catching up with friends from high school with whom I've reconnected with on Facebook.  We also spent a day with my brother Tony and his sparkling wife, Anna, seeing their beautiful home, meeting their snuffle bugs, JT (James Taylor, of course) and Coco (Chanel) - Yorkshire Terriers - and connecting even more.

Before this Thanksgiving visit, I spent a couple weeks with Mom in Xenia (though I had to work from there).  With her diligence and motivation, she found a new oncologist, Dr. Gordon, who we both loved.  He totally  "got" Mom and her wishes for quality of life and understands her sensitivity to medications.  He is not of the "my way or the highway" mentality of her last oncologist.   A blessing indeed.  Even better, we connected with some really special folks at a MM support group at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton - what a great group of people.  At this meeting, there were some tears, lots of stories shared and so many nods of agreement and understanding and support, and so, so much hope!  Every story told there included dire prognoses - months, a few years, five years, one year.  Amazingly, every. single. person. (no matter what stage) was well beyond - often by many many years - their prognosis. Mom and I left feeling connected and lifted by these wonderful people sharing their hope and experience. 

So, tomorrow Mom embarks on a low dose round of chemo. She's not thrilled... but she's staying Petunia-Frog-Eyes positive.  She has the support of us all, I know that, and she welcomes hearing from you (funny face pictures are always a bonus!).   She has much love behind her, and I have no doubt she will be in remission quicker than the blink of an eye.