THANK YOU!!!!!

Sharon!!!! You are a wonderful woman and I just wanted to let everyone know that. Of course if they know you, they already know that. Your comments on this website are so uplifting and your words in person and very comforting. You have become a wonderful friend to me and my mother. And now my sister Shirley will know what a great friend you are. She feels your love and does not even know you. I know God did not just make Jake and Tanner friends so that Robin and I could become friends. He knew we would need you down the road!!!

Your ham and potato salad and brownies were awesome. And it was of course perfect timing with Mike's accident and Shirley not feeling well. So on top of being such an awesome person, you are an awesome cook. We love you Sharon, and do not know what we would do without you!!!

Love,

Teresa

I'm So Much Cooler On-Line

That is my new motto. Everyone tells me how much they love the blog and what a "great" writer I am. So now I have decided that the title to Brad Paisley's song is my new motto! And I am going to sing it all the time.

I thought I would lighten the mood a little bit. Shirley was so sick this morning but I think this afternoon doing a little better, so now I am doing a little better.

August 26, 2008

Chemo went fine last night. It was a late night. After we were done, we went to eat at Strouds. They have great chicken and they serve it up family style with all of the sides and cinnamon rolls. After we were done, we decided we would not eat like that again. Way too much food and we were just exhausted afterwards. But it was a good time nonetheless with the ladies.

I will say that Miss Shirley was very emotional yesterday. I know that she did not feel good all weekend and that makes me sad. It makes me sad to know you cry Shirley. I know things are difficult, and I know you don't feel good a lot. Life can be very overwhelming and you are dealing with so much. But you have so much support behind you and it is important that you realize that and take advantage of that. It's not easy for anyone to ask for a little help now and then - but people who love you ...love to do that for you. Someday those same people may need you and you will be happy to do it. We love you so much Shirley and want to do whatever we can to make life as easy as possible right now. We can't do much but we will do what we can.

O.K., that's my emotional post for today. Some days are just like that. No chemo next week thank God. And a 3 day weekend ahead. Let's try to make the best of it!!!!

Love, Teresa

I Don't Do Windows...

But Steve, Ron, Dad, Nik and Jake do. This past Saturday was spent putting one of the many new windows into Shirley's house. Fall is approaching and we are going to try to get as many windows in that we can. Now that Mike is temporarily disabled, others are stepping up to get the job done. Shirley is very grateful for that. And we are happy to do it. Of course, I say that and most of the time Mom, Shirley and I spent in the shade "supervising". I actually had a good time.

This afternoon we will go to chemo. I will update after that. Everyone have a good day.

A Tiny Peek Into Our Chemo World...

So I will just start off today saying that Shirley's tumor markers are down to 69. Now they tell us not to look at that number too closely, and we really try not to. But Shirley has felt really good lately, she looks really good, her scans came out good and her markers are down. Besides asking for her cancer to be completely gone, we couldn't ask for much more.

I completely believe in my heart that things happen for a reason. I really don't like to think that God gave Shirley cancer for ANY reason. But I will cherish this time with Mom, Shirley and Kathy for the rest of my life. I was almost looking forward to going just to see them. Things are as good as they can be right now I think with Shirley's health, and I am so grateful for that. I think for the most part, we have all come out of our shock of this whole situation and are just enjoying life with each other. I am so thankful that some of the anger is gone. And I say some, because there is still a lot. But I am burying that for now and moving on. Kathy said today that we are taking this "week by week". And that is true. And that is o.k. Nobody's life is perfect and everybody has to deal with something. This is what we have to deal with and for now we are doing a pretty good job. (as you can tell in the pictures).

I may not always be this positive in the future, but for now I am. They said they will do another CT scan in 6 weeks. So until then....Stay Postive and keep praying!!!! Pray that Shirley will get through this week the best she can, and that Mike's body will start to heal.

Happy Birthday Kathy

Yesterday was Kathy's birthday. Wow, she's the youngest of all of us and she's getting old. Join the rest of us!!!! I know she had a really busy day yesterday and didn't get to enjoy it very much. Shirley and I went over to give her gifts and mom and dad were there. So we did celebrate a little.

And tomorrow it's back to chemotherapy. It's been such a nice break. I know Shirley has felt really good. Well, besides her husband being in a motorcycle wreck and being at the hospital. Other than that... I don't know what the two of them will do when Friday comes. Who will take care of who???

I know that this is a difficult time for Shirley and Mike as it would be for any of us. So please pray that Mike recovers from his injuries quickly. And I will say my own little personal prayer that Mike or Shirley never gets on a motorcycle again.

A Day In The Life....of Us

Well, more bad luck. Mike, Shirley's husband, wrecked his motorcycle yesterday morning. Thank God he was not hurt more than he was. He has a fractured shoulder and dislocated his ankle. They also said that he had bruised his chest/lungs, which seemed to be their main concern. He was taken to Overland Park Regional and they did keep him there overnight. They did a procedure to put his ankle back in place and put a splint on it. The doctor came out to talk to us and said that he will be laid up for awhile. He was hurt pretty bad. This whole thing happened because a dog decided to have a little early morning fun and see if he could catch Mike's bike. Unfortunately, he did. Mike told us he is hoping the dog lived.....and hurting as bad as he is. Yeah, this sucks...but it could have been a lot worse. He was wearing his helmet and after seeing the helmet...it's a good thing!

So here we are, another thing to add to our list for bad things that have happened in 2008. But we will move on. We will come together as a family and help Mike and Shirley get through this. Shirley has actually had a really good week being off of her chemotherapy. But we start back up on Tuesday.

Teresa