Annaleisa and Terri

Alice and Terri

We all know we aren't supposed to wish our lives away, but, I'll be really, really glad when this month is OVER. I've had a car wreck, lost sunglasses, (I know it's trivial, but it was traumatic to me) broken my ribs, had two snakes in the yard, am trying to learn this new Blackberry, and I'm dealing with scanxiety.

Now that I've gotten that off my chest my ribs all ready feel a little better. April hasn't been all bad. I went on a girl trip to Hot Springs with my friends Alice and Terri. The weekend was wonderful all the way around. The weather didn't really cooperate, but we didn't care. We started out on Friday, and checked into The Arlington. Had martinis on the veranda, and a fabulous seafood buffet. I'm taking every opportunity to try new things. I had both beluga and salmon caviar, and it was delish! We stayed up until 3:00 laughing and talking. Saturday we started out early with "the baths" which by the way were pure heaven on these aching ribs! Baths were followed by a sauna and massages. I didn't bother to tell the masseuse about the ribs, actually I had forgotten about them by then. We had facials, manicures and pedicures in the afternoon, so the whole day was spent being rubbed, lotioned, oiled, and dipped in wax. We had an early dinner, and headed back to the veranda for drinks. We only stayed up until 2:00 on Saturday, I think we were so relaxed after a day of pampering that we were wiped out.

I had a happy birthday. Heard from lots of special friends, spent the afternoon with Judy, and had a surprise birthday party Friday night. Lana brought red velvet cake, and left it here. It's been birthday cake morning, noon, and night for the Boggses.

I'll finish this up with a request for prayers. My next scan is Monday, May 4. There is a spot the doctors are watching, hoping it's nothing.

Hi All,

It's been a while. I guess no news is good news. We've been busy getting the yard in shape, and just generally going and doing.

The talk I gave at the hospital in March went well. It was a good experience for me. I'm used to talking about "the cancer" one on one, and mostly to other women, so the mixed group was a scary change! With the kind of cancer I have, it's almost impossible to not talk about bowel habits, and such. I'm still getting over having to use some of the terms that were necessary to the story in such a mixed group. I warned them up front about how hard it is for me to communicate a lot of my symptoms. That is what got me in this mess to begin with! I almost died of embarrassment. I really am a goof.

Lenice came in at the end of March for Pops' birthday. While she was here we took a tour of Sweet Shop USA. We got a very personal tour, since we were the only ones there. I didn't dare take pictures of us in our scrubs, shower caps, and booties. She would have killed me. Just picture Lucy and Ethel! She picked up some really cute Easter treats for Olivia and Reece's baskets. I was a really good girl, and just helped her shop. I didn't buy a thing, Don will be so proud.

We had lunch that afternoon in Winnsboro at a cute little Italian restaurant. I always take any opportunity to have artichoke and asparagus pizza, yum-yum. We had planned on going to the bakery, but it was closed for remodeling. We walked around in Winnsboro for a while afterwards, but didn't go into any of the shops because Kitty was with us. I don't know how dog-friendly the merchants are over there. I would love to go back sans Kitty. There were some interesting antique shops that I need to see closer.

Vicki, Kitty, and I met Lenice and Marilyn Morgan for lunch in Canton last Friday. We only got to visit briefly, and never did run into Jaime and her friends. It's a small world. Vicki's sister, and Marilyn's husband went to high school together. Marilyn and Lenice have been friends since early high school. Vicki and Marilyn played catch up while Lenice and I just visited. Have I mentioned how much I enjoy being around Lenice? I know if you've been following this blog for any amount of time, I'm beginning to sound redundant. Thank you again for a wonderful lunch Marilyn. Kitty was so excited about the road trip that she bounced all over the back seat on the way to Canton. After a full day of walking, she never moved on the trip home. There were lots of dogs on leashes there, so she felt quite at home, and loved being around so many people. I took some pictures of Easter chicks to help celebrate the season.

I guess I need to update on something besides fun stuff. That's the reason for this blog after all. I had an appointment with my breast surgeon on Thursday. She seems to be concerned about my Feb. pet scans. She sees something, and in her defense, the Dr. who read the scans originally saw a little something too. When I met with my oncologist to review the readings he seemed to think that I'm good, nothing to worry about, probably just a bit of constipation (here I go again, talking about things that you don't mention in public). I had a colonoscopy in Sept., and the Dr. who did that said everything looked fine, and since the type of cancer I have is very slow growing, he doesn't think it's anything to worry about. He'd be happy to do another colonoscopy, but I'm not ready to put myself through that right now. The spot in question is in the cecum. She says that it is a very difficult to see area, very low, right by the appendix. To make a long story short, I've moved my appointment up to Monday with my colon surgeon in Dallas. I'm going in armed with a copy of the pet scan, and reports of everything I've had done since I last saw him. If he thinks I need a colonoscopy, I'll do it.

Hope everyone has a happy Easter, and it doesn't rain on our parades!