A few pictures

Hi everyone --

Sarah left a few pictures on my computer that I thought would be great to share. You can see just how amazingly beautiful Granno looks, and how awesome she's doing these days.








Gardening at Vashon


Lounging at Vashon



On Saturday, Granno & Sarah joined my family, along with Jan & Tom, Eric, and my parents for a BBQ at my house. Then in true Granno Fashion, she sat on my front lawn with me & helped redesign the entry to our house. I invited Sarah & Granno at the last minute, and I'm so, so glad I did. It was great fun having her here.

Also, she told us that she walked around Greenlake with Jan & Sarah that day! She's just amazing.

Katie

Chemo #4 done - Doing great

Anno left the hospital Friday night and took a lovely top down drive with her son John to LaConner for a fabulous dinner on the water. Saturday she drove onto the ferry and met Sarah and Chris at downtown Vashon for a relaxing day in the sun at the cabin. Sunday was a birthday bash for grand daughter Alison's 13th birthday with all the family. Today is duplicate bridge!
We continue to be amazed and thankful for her fortitude. She loves the fitness room at Horizon House and keeps adding more weight to her hour routine.
Thank you all for your prayers, thoughts, love and kindness.

Sarah

Busy Weekend & Return to Swedish for Chemo #4

Anno had a busy weekend:

• Friday dinner out with Jeff and family
• Saturday 8am - 5pm Lymphoma Workshop with Jan
• Saturday dinner out with John
• Sunday Mother's Day brunch at Katie's with the Kirkpatricks
• Sunday afternoon at Kirkpatricks watching golf
• Sunday Mother's Day dinner out with Boyds

This morning to her oncologist's office for a blood draw and to activate her port in hopes of starting the chemo earlier at the hospital. Checked into the hospital by 10:30. Chemo started at 2:00. She is feeling great and is all set up with laptop, cell phone and reading material.

More on the workshop Mom and I attended Saturday:

The Seattle Chapter of the Lymphoma Research Foundation put it on at the Sheraton Hotel just a few blocks from Mom's. It was called:

Lymphoma Workshop:Understanding Lymphoma Basics and Current Treatment Options For Lymphoma Patients, Survivors and Loved Ones

We got a lot of background information on lymphoma from expert physician-researchers from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. We realized just how rare Mom's lymphoma is. The final break-out session of the day included a presentation on T-Cell Lymphomas. While there were probably 200 or more patients at this conference, when we got to the room where the T-Cell Lymphoma information session was to be held, there was no one but the speaker there! Only one other patient with a T-Cell Lymphoma came in so it was basically a private tutorial!

The session was presented by the physician that Mom has consulted with at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. He is extremely knowledgeable and a good presenter; it was good to get a refresher and additional background from him.

We learned that of all cancers, lymphoma is a small number and of all lymphomas, T-Cell lymphomas are a small number. There are about 12 variations of T-Cell lymphoma so each of those is quite rare. Even this expert drawing patients from a wide region said he would see maybe 15-18 T-Cell lymphoma patients in a year. A regular urban oncologist might see one every two years.

Mom lasted through the entire 9 hours of conference! I glanced at her from time to time to see if she might nod off but she never did. We had a very interesting time at the conference.

Jan

Doing Well

Mom is feeling well, exercising, has a great appetite and fabulous fortitude. Her 4th Chemo begins Monday. She spent Sunday and Monday at Vashon, did some gardening and relaxing in the sun. She is using the fitness center at her retirement home and is healthy enough to spend more time alone. We are so thankful for her progress.
Sarah

Resting

Anne did a lot Thursday! The Physiatrist is very happy with her progress and increased strength. Each day in the hospital she did more exercise than the entire chemo floor combined! Way to go Anno! Her legs are getting their strength back and she has gained back a bit of weight. She walked from the Physiatrists office home. Her blood draw showed WBC at 1,000. Low but expected and that means the chemo is working. She went to ACT theatre last night with her friend Phyllis and had a wonderful time. Today she will rest up to get ready for the wedding shower tomorrow of her future granddaughter-in-law.
The Boyd families (daughter Jan) loyal dog Max layed down and left peacefully yesterday and we are thankful for all his loving memories and he will be layed to rest under a tree at the family cabin on Vashon.

Happy May!