No Christmas Cards This Year

Well, I couldn't let Christmas slip by without including the dogs. Once again they were good sports, but as you can tell I wasn't as inspired this year with their costumes. I'll try to do better next year.

Bryan will be in Monday, Sarah, Frederick, Carmella, and Joe will be here Tuesday. It's gonna be a full house!

Merry Christmas all!

Elvis puts up with me and my crazy ideas again.

Priscilla doing what she does best, and yes she loves to have her picture taken.

But I don't want my picture taken. That's Tubby, also known as "The Moron".

Tubby took a break from digging for gophers long enough to have his picture taken. That's mud on his nose, as usual.

Tubby, what a goof!

In memory of Miss Loretta July 2001-Nov. 2008

Done! (Medium Rare)

Vicki and Oscar hosted the finishing up party.

Oscar came dressed for the occasion.

The mold. I wanted to keep it for a souvenir, but was told it's bio-hazardous.

Well, I'm finally done with radiation. Last year at this time I was still doing chemo. What a crazy year it's been! Here's hoping 2009 will be better.

I started Christmas shopping on Tuesday. Thank goodness we can now do a lot of it online. I did a marathon shopping trip Thursday, and got most of it wrapped by Friday night. I'm really ahead this year. I'm usually just beginning to wrap everything on Christmas Eve, but I'm trying to listen to the doctors, and not "over-do".

Don was sworn in, or at depending on who you're talking to, on Friday. He won't take office officially until January 1. He's looking forward to being able to take Priscilla with him a lot. I never thought of coonhounds as truck dogs, but whatever.

I got all the lights up on the house last weekend, but of course the back ones keep blowing fuses. I never do have good luck with Christmas lights. I only got on the roof once, I was a good girl this year. One of the guys that work for Don did most of the heavy lifting, but I couldn't resist getting involved. It's just not Christmas til I spend some roof time.

Almost Done!

A constant reminder on the door to the treatment room.

"The Team" Nick, myself, and Chad

Well, I've almost made it. Last treatment is scheduled for tomorrow at 1:00.

I won't lie, it's been rough, but I haven't had to miss a treatment, and I'm finishing on schedule.

I can't help but wonder what exactly all this radiation has done to my body. I mean other than wipe out any stray cancer that might have been floating around, which is why I willingly allowed myself to go through this treatment. Since diagnoses I've had 3 pet scans, and I've lost count of the ct scans and x-rays. I figure by now I've probably been exposed to as much radiation as a human can safely be. Who knows?

The first day I realized that this was serious stuff was the day they couldn't start the machine because there were workers on the roof. They didn't want to cook some poor unsuspecting maintenance guy, so we waited until the roof repairs were done, then proceeded as usual. I then noticed that after I was "set up" everyone would run, and I'd hear that huge door close. I was left in the room with all that "stuff" buzzing around and through me. If the radiation can float up through the ceiling and roof, and do a number on someone up there, there's no telling what it's done to me.

Wouldn't it be ironic to survive chemo, radiation, and all the emotional crap that goes with it all, just to find out years later that "sorry, you have radiation induced cancer." There probably isn't really a cancer called radiation induced, but it sounds about right.

Anyway, I just have 1 more to go-yeah! I asked the guys if I could keep my block and have it framed. A block is kind of like a stencil, made out of some serious metal, that focuses the radiation where you want it to go. Nope. Seems my block is bio-hazardous. Figures.

I've been spending some time lately surfing you-tube. The kids are mortified, but thought I'd share this oldy with everyone. I think it's funny, and it's kind of fitting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Aq5cqjUFOo

Thanksgiving with the Boggses

New for me this year was pie baking, but it wouldn't be a Boggs holiday without a fancy cake!

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Ours was fast!! It seems like I cooked, cooked, baked, and baked some more, we sat down and it was over! Sarah wasn't able to come in this year. She spent the holiday in Atlanta, GA, with Frederick's family. The boys came in Wednesday. They were kind enough to help me pull the Christmas tree, and all the decorations out of storage. I finally finished the tree last night, but I still have boxes and newspapers scattered everywhere.

Radiation is still happening. I have 8 more treatments! I look like a boiled lobster! They are starting what they call "the boost" with today's treatment. It is a concentrated blast of radiation directed at the area where I had the lumpectomy. The good thing is that the part of me that is burned won't be getting anymore radiation. I've had 4 days off with the holiday, and I'm ready to get it over with!

I had an appointment with Dr. Prakash last Monday. Looks like I'm still on the 3 month scan schedule. I'll be having a Pet scan in February. Seems I have a cyst on the liver, and it needs to be monitored. It's probably nothing, but we can't be sure. The genetic testing is off for now. My insurance won't cover it, and I'm not willing to add yet another medical bill to the list. The good news I carried out of the meeting is that if or when I do have a recurrence, I will be able to use the same chemo I did the first time. I had really good response to it. The bag of tricks is still full.

Results

It has been a really, really long day. I didn't sleep much last night. Don hates it when I get so worked up. I don't live scan to scan. I live everyday, but the 2-3 days before scans are killers to me. My attention span is nil, and my temper is even shorter.

Anyway, my appointment for the scan was at 9:30 this morning. I was up by 5:00, why I don't know. I couldn't have any coffee, breakfast, or even water. I finished the last of the lovely Banana-Barium Smoothie by 7:00. I was at the hospital at 8:30, and met Vicki there. We spent the next 1 1/2 hours waiting. I had to drink another "Banana Smoothie", and wait 30 minutes more before they could do the scan. We finished everything, and I was released at 11:00. We went straight to Sonic. Breakfast was calling!

I spent the next hour at home in bed. My radiation appointment was at 1:00. I followed that with another 1 1/2 hour genetic counseling session. I had blood drawn, Don showed up and we drove over to the hospital.

We had hoped that the CT results would be available. Unfortunately they weren't. We left my cell # with Dr. Twaddell's secretary, and I went home. I waited, and waited, until I couldn't wait any longer. Errands don't wait for much of anything around here. I went to the banks and post office. I wasn't gone 20 minutes, but I missed Dr. Evett's call. He left a message that the scans looked great!

I have a radiation treatment in the morning, but don't think I'll be volunteering. I feel like I'm coming down with the "East Texas Crud". I'll see Dr. Prakash next Monday. I'm hoping he'll be putting me on a 6 month checkup schedule. The results of the genetic testing will be back in 3-4 weeks.

Vicki came over tonight for a little celebration. I'm so glad I'm her "project". Life would be so boring without her around.

Positive Thoughts

Tomorrow, Monday, will be a busy day. I'm due to have scans in the morning. I'm suffering from a bad case of "scansiety" today. If the tests come back clear, I'll be released for 6 months! Yeah!!!! If they don't come back clear, we'll have to pull out our bag of tricks. Yuck.

I'll have a radiation treatment tomorrow afternoon, followed by genetic counseling. I don't know if they will draw blood tomorrow, or if I'll have to wait for that. There are some pretty serious complications that we'll have to face if I carry the gene mutations.

I'll post again when I get the news, until then, please keep us in your prayers.

Mom and Dad relaxing after dinner.

Connie and Barbara (on the bike). These two ladies are part of the team that keeps "Team Boggs" rolling!

Vicki and Nick-one of the "radiation guys"

Vicki just being Vicki.

Don and Elvis heading to the pool.

Vicki, Don, and Merideth at Vicki's birthday party.

I don't know what's wrong with me! Sorry I finished the last post the way I did. These pictures should clear up any ideas of depression on my part! I have a new favorite song I'd like to share with you--http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJe57FQykAQ&feature=related

Seasons Changing

I've been taking pictures, and composing what I'd like to share for weeks now. This morning it's cold and rainy out. The leaves are at least a foot deep around the house. The plants that survived my care this summer are tucked safely inside, hopefully to make it through the winter. Don and I have been trekking across the meadow to check on "The Tree". It is finally showing it's color, and will only continue to be more beautiful in the next few days.

For those that haven't heard, Don won the commissioner's race. He will soon be officialy Commissioner of Precinct 1. We had a few friends over to wait for the totals. I think everyone was happy with the results.

I'm still volunteering at the cancer center twice a week. I've met some amazing people, and think that I've benefited from the experience more than I've helped. I have now finished 12 of 33 radiation treatments. We are trying to decide if we want to do genetic testing. It's a big decision, but thankfully, I don't have to make it quickly.

Don got his new wet suit in this week. He's only used it once so far. It's harder to get into and out of than he thought, and since the gym has an indoor, heated pool, I guess the wet suit will only get used when he can't make it over there.

The last week was Vicki's birthday week. She celebrated in Tyler, Mt. Pleasant, and Pittsburg!

Merideth and Roy had a fish fry for her on Saturday night. It was lots of fun! On Sunday afternoon we went to the winery in Pittsburg. We decided it was the perfect way to spend an afternoon, very relaxing.

It seems like whenever things start looking up, and we are moving ahead, something always happens to bring us down. We lost our sweet Loretta yesterday. Don found her in her dog house. I can't believe that she's gone. My heart is broken.

1 year, and 5 months after diagnoses, I've finally started radiation. I'm being treated in Mt. Pleasant. The plan is to receive 33 doses. I go into the clinic every day (Mon.-Fri.). If all goes as planned, and the machine cooperates, I should be finished by the first week of December. Let's all keep our fingers crossed.

On a more upbeat note, I drove down to Anahuac a couple of weekends ago for a quick visit with Mom and Dad. They rode out Hurricane Ike amazingly well. I think they were lucky this time. I hope they don't try it again. While we were having dinner in Baytown Saturday night I ran into a friend from high school. I'm not going to say "an old friend", because she looked fabulous. The years have been kind to Barbara!!!!

I can't believe I haven't posted in so long. Where does the time go?

I've started walking again. An old friend, Vicki, called out of the blue one day and said, let's go for a walk. I've done it everyday since, and couldn't feel better. We are back up to 2 miles, with plans to get up to 3+ a day. I'm noticing that my clothes are starting to fit better again. Yeah!
I won't need to go shopping for a while since I have a huge range of sizes hanging in the closet.

Vicki and I have also been volunteering at the cancer center twice a week. I don't know how much help I've been, but I keep going. We were in charge of getting the place "pinked up" for breast cancer awareness month, so we spent most of Thursday morning making and hanging pink ribbons. I told everyone that would listen that March is colo-rectal cancer awareness month, and our color is blue. I want some attention for that too! I have been surprised at how many patients here have the same kind of cancer I do (did).

I've helped out at the flower shop a little, but the girls had homecoming under control, so I stayed away as much as possible this week. Homecoming never was my favorite thing. Now, the fall flowers are starting to come in, and that's another thing all together. I LOVE fall colors. I did a little light decorating at the house last week, we have pumpkins, and "the crow" on the front steps, and fall arrangements and pumpkin pie candles burning in the house. I'm ready for the leaves to start falling.

Don has been doing well, he's still swimming every day. We are going to have to join the gym when it gets colder, either that, or heat the pool. He ordered a wet suit so he could continue to swim, but he's had some "issues" with it, I wonder if he has a plan "B"?

We spent last Saturday at the steer sale at the fair. I didn't go last year, since I had just had a treatment, so I really, really enjoyed the funnel cake we shared. The weather was "fair-perfect", and it was nice to get out and walk around like normal again. Pops even went, but not with us! His sitters found a wheel chair, and took him out for about an hour. He had a big time.

We finally got around to celebrating our 32 anniversary last week. I can't believe we've been married that long! We took a quick trip out of town, spent the night, and had a lovely dinner at our favorite Asain restaraunt. It was a nice break.

Pops's care has had to increase, he now has a visiting nurse that will come by 1-2 times a week. An aide has been added to his team too. She is scheduled to be here everyday at 6:00, and will stay until 7:00. She is responsible for night-time meds, and helping him with a bath before bed. We are hoping that that will help him sleep better. Seems he's been getting up a lot every night, and has had a couple of falls. Don can no longer get him up by himself, it takes two men to lift him, remember he's a big guy! The amazing thing is that he can't walk into the bathroom without falling, but he can wiggle his way out of his hospital bed, complete with rails without falling down.

The campaign is gearing back up. We put up a few signs last night, and I've noticed them popping up around town. There is a Democratic Rally planned for today, and we'll be stopping by for a while. The next debate is scheduled for Oct. 14, at the Civic Center. November will be here before we know it!

Hope everyone is able to enjoy this wonderful weather. There's something about that first little fall briskness in the air.