12/14 - December is Flying

Hey everyone, remember us? Yea, sorry about that, it has be a long time since we last posted anything. Peg is doing good, recovering well. Last Friday we had her 3 week follow-up with Dr. Cameron at UCLA. It was a good meeting, he said that she was healing up well, that everything looked good, they got all that they needed to get with good margin. One of the 3 spots was nothing, just benign, but the other two showed more aggressive tumor cells than the first tumor removed.

That was a little disheartening, to say the least! However, I am glad that they are staying in front of this, and maybe this could mean that they really got all of it. However, the surgeon is suggesting we discuss follow-up treatments with the possible chemo and radiation. We are trying to stay positive, but I know Peg is feeling frustrated that this thing is not ending.

We meet next week with these doctors, plus our family doctor to discuss what steps would be next.

And of course to make things more complicated, all three doctors are dropping our insurance provider in January 2008! It is going to be another interesting year!

She is feeling good, moving around, driving the car, and off pain medications. We were very blessed to have Mom Wolf out last week to help with the kids and stuff around the house...and friends have been bringing food for the last 10 days or so!!! We are eating high on the hog!

Anyways, please continue to pray for Peg, for encouragement, and supernatural wisdom for us, going into this next year. Also, for complete restoration to her body and strength for this next year.

Blessings, Larry

12/02 - Woman Thou Art Blessed

Well, ladies and gentlemen, she made it to church today! Peggy was up and cruising to church with Grandma and the kids. Thanks to Aunt Lauri, and me a little bit, she was able to arrive at church without much incident. A lot of you may not know this, but I guess she is kind of a celebrity, since she was worn out with hugs and love, before she even got inside the church.

Next time, we're using a secret entrance to whisk her in and out, with dark sunglasses to avoid the publicity. We're going to have body double all over the place to try and decoy people. But seriously, she enjoyed seeing all her church family, and was well worn out by the end of the morning. I told her to remain seated during the greeting time, because she was already tired. But all in all, she loved getting all the prayer, love, support and encouragement from everyone!

Thanks to all you who have been praying for her. She is recovering well! We are supposed to meet with the surgeon this Friday, down in Santa Monica, as a follow up to the surgery. We are praying for continued good result and feedback from all the doctors involved.

Also, be praying for us, if you think about it. A number of our local doctors are dropping our insurance plan, Blue Cross, come January 1st, 2008. This could be a challenge because it puts our local doctors "out of network" making it more expensive for appointments. Since she has a "pre-existing condition", it could be difficult for to switch to a different health insurance provider.

God has it all in control...I'm not going to loose any hair worrying about it (partly because I don't have any to loose!.) Anyways, thanks again for all the prayers for us! Blessings, Larry

11/29 - It's Still November

Ok, ok, sorry, sorry...wow, there are alot of angry people out there starving for information on PEG! :-) She is doing good, recovering everyday, feeling a little stronger, she is bench pressing about 390 right now, which is way lower than before the surgery, but we are taking it slow and easy right now.

Seriously though, she is feeling better, the 3 iron pills a day routine, is tough for her, mostly the morning one, gets her a bit queasy. She has been walking around, helping where she can and doing too much around the house. All in all, we have watched a lot of Christmas movies and been enjoying the time to slow down a bit as a family. Friends have been bring the meals, which has been sooo awesome. Thanks everyone, please no liver or sardines. :-) (PICTURE IS OF JOSHUA - 3yrs old)

She went to her first family Doctor visit today and all was looking good. They said the pathology report came back great, and that all the spots removed had full and clean margins. They took about 6 lympnodes around those areas and 4 were affected, 2 were clean. All in all Dr. Kerr seemed quite pleased with the results. We have a copy of the report, so I will have more to share on that in another post.

On a family note, Lexie has started her first organized sports team, at her School, girls basketball and her first game is this weekend. She is ready to go and doing quite well. She's doing single handed dunks right now, but we are working on the reverse dunk and the Jordon dunk. I was supposed to coach the team, with another father, but our wonderful city league put all the games on Sunday mornings. Don't get me started...I am a bit steamed.

Thanks for all the pray, love and support. Peg has been reading your comments, now that she is feeling better, so keep those remarks, comments, attitudes, and general love, coming!

Blessings, Larry

11/22 - Happy Thanksgivemas

It seems that Christmas is quickly overtaking Thanksgiving, so I am proposing that we change the name of Thanksgiving to Thanksgivemas. Oh and happy Festivus to everyone too!

Anyways, just wanted to update you all while you are writhing in pain from too much Pumpkin Pie...Peg is doing good. The nights have been tough, since she is supposed to be taking pills every 3-4 hours, and well, you have to sleep too! She is staying on the Oxycodin until the pain subsides. She is still having a fair amount of pain between dosages, but generally speaking she is not having the nausea she encountered after the last surgery. She has to take iron, and sometimes, even the SLOW FE type are hard to keep down. She is on Protonix which helps to reduce the nausea. Don't you love all this talk of Meds!? (Picture is of two love birds...sounds sappy, eh?)

I have had to scold her a few times about bending down to pick-up toys or laundry or whatever...but for the most part she is laying low. We got a walk in this morning which was really nice. The kids are with Nana for a few nights, so that will make things easier around the house. I'll try to post some fresh pics tonight after the Thanksgiving festivities.

We have been praying for her hospital roommate at UCLA Medical Center, Ashley, so we called her mom on her cell phone. She was very blessed to hear from us and we were able to encourage them again. We figured out something amazing about God's timing. Ashley got moved from the ICU floor to the 4th floor prior to Peggy arriving. She was there for 7 days and then when we left, she got moved to the 7th floor, the Orthopedic floor. I think God wanted to encourage and strengthen Donna (her mom) and Ashley and let them know of his love for them! I think the 4th floor, that she was on, was more for heart and lung patients (like Peg).

The number 7 in the bible, refers to God's completion. God is doing a work in their hearts and lives and we feel privileged to be there to pray and encourage where we can.

Blessings to all of you, have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Larry

11/20 - Jack Frost Roasting On An Open Fire

I always like to sing that song backwards..."...chestnuts nipping at your nose..."

Well the first night home was very enjoyable for all. We had TWO meals brought over by friends last night! Is that insane or what? God is so incredible, he wants to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we can ask or think.

We enjoyed a great family dinner and time around the fire (man it was cold last night...for California!). Peg slept pretty good, a lot of pain in trying to get comfortable. It didn't help that the local pharmacy was 4 1/2 hours behind in filling prescriptions...and then couldn't make out the doctor's name on the note. Anyways, we got settled in and it was nice to be all back together as a family. Little Josh got to sleep in the sleeping bag on the floor in sister's room, which he had fun with, while Nana is here staying with us.

Peg told me this morning she might just stay in pajamas all day...I told her, go for it!!! (PICTURE IS FROM LABOR DAY WEEKEND.) Patsy had everything under control when we arrived and it was a blessing to have her at the house. Thanks again to Nana, Cara, Dad & Dorothy, Lauri & Dennis, Mike & Candice for all their help with the kids during this time. And to our neighbors Grace & Larry for watching our house, paper, trash cans, mail, etc! We feel richly blessed and touched!

Have a great day...Don't forget to make God's Word first place in your life today...Blessing, Lar

11/19 - 8:34pm - Red Shoes

There's no place like home, there's no place like home (click, click)...yep we are home. The kids were very excited to see us and it was fun to see them. We had two people bring meals tonight, wow, that was crazy. So many have been willing to help it has been truly amazing!

Here are some photos from the hospital. The top photo is Peg's roommate Ashley and her mom Donna! They were so sweet, and have been through a lot. Ashley works for Universal and has been getting "production" credits on a few projects lately. We have been praying God's blessing and speedy recover for her from the terrible motorcycle accident.

Also pictured is one of the many nurses who we made friends with and we felt like they became part of our "family". Maria was a lot of fun and a blessing to Peggy!

Thanks again for all the cards, letters, flowers, meals, and help with it all. The next couple of weeks will be a bit of a challenge as Peg works through the recovery. Peg's mom Patsy will be with us for a few days this week to help around the house and with the kids!

Blessings to all!! Lar

11/19 - 2:00pm - Elvis Has Left the Building

We are departing UCLA! All things are green light...should be home around 4pm... Blessings! Larry

11/19 - 12:30pm - Departure

Here's Peg resting in the room, after a good meal and everything has happened according to schedule. She is doing great and ready to be discharged from UCLA. It looks like we will be out of here in the next hour or so. Thanks for all the prayers, love and support. You all, through God's guidance have made all the difference in our lives. THanks so much, I will provide another update once we are home and settled in!

Blessings! Lar

11/19 - 11:30am - Monday

Well things are progressing along very well. Peg continue to get better, she has already walked about 3 times, been taken for a full X-ray. She is eating well and had the last chest tube removed this morning. So she is cableless, or I guess you can call her wireless. She still have vital monitors but they are wireless so, she is fully mobile. (Picture is Mom & Peggy, yesterday)

There is talk of going home today, she just needs one more thing to happen...I can't get into details, just to say, Raisin Bran cereal is beneficial. :-)

I suspect by the time all the paperwork is done, it will be this afternoon before she is released. She is feeling better today, coughing is understandably difficult because of the incision. Got to see the incision and well let's just say, it's no paper cut! But as always, they do an incredibly great job here and just like the last one, I am sure it will heal up really nice.

More to come, in about 1-2 hours...

Your Blue Gown reporter, Larry

11/18 - 5:30pm - Sunday

Hey all! Well Peg is doing great. We have taken 2 walks so far, the last one she did, was just a few minutes ago, and we walked the entire length of the floor in 3 directions! It was also just Peggy & I this last time, so she is definitely feeling more stable. They have her on a new pain medication, Oxycodone, which is some strong stuff, hopefully only for 24 hours or less. Remember Rush Limbaugh? Yea, that stuff.

Peg's good friend Molly stopped by to say hey and hang out, which was a blessing! Also, her mom stopped by again to check-up on her baby! This day has been an excellent day and a great turning point in Peg's recovery.

Please continue to pray for her roommate Ashley, who is a sweet girl and still dealing with alot of broken bones pain. I pray God would give us another opportunity to share and prayer with her and her mom, before we leave here.

Blessings, Larry

11/18 - 12:00pm - Sunday

Ok, sorry for the delay. Yes we are still here and Peg is doing great. She walked twice yesterday. A couple of praise reports...

* No need for blood transfusion
* Heart rate & blood pressure have normalized
* Pain is subsiding
* no more nausea

She got two of the three chest tubes out and they have been starting to give her pills, instead of injections for her medications. They have cut off the epidural, partly because it came out and partly because she doesn't need it any more. Here goals today include, 3 walks, pain control with pills, and regular, well, um, just being regular, you know. :-)

I personally was feeling wiped out last night and actually sleep alot this morning. That's why I got delayed in updates.

The doctor says that maybe the other chest tube will come out later today, which is a major step towards going home. Two friends stopped by yesterday, Julie and Amy. It was fun for Peg to spend some time with them. They have been praying and encouraging Peg along the way.

Thanks for all the love, support and prayers!

Blessings, Larry

11/17 - 5:30pm - Video Post

Ok, never done this before, and the audio is bad, but hey, modern technology still needs some work! Anyways, this is an attempt for Peg to greet everyone via video to thank you for all the calls, cards, letters, friendship, thousands of dollars (ok maybe not that one :-), love and visits, everyone has been giving.

We are working on a few things to make sure the kids are covered on Sunday & Monday, since we didn't expect to stay that long. According to the doctors, she might be here until Monday, so we will see.

They gave her some medicine to help with her heart rate and it seems to be working well. She is hoping to get a walk in, tonight! Thanks for all the prayers and comments...

Blessings, Larry

11/17 - Noon - Update

Hey all, just sitting around on a foggy Saturday and hanging at UCLA Hospital! This is definitely not a 5 star resort hotel, and at about $10,000 a night, I think it is probably a little expensive for even the fanciest hotel room. But all in all, Peggy is getting good care!

She is still feeling a fair amount of pain and discomfort but was able to sit in a chair and get repositioned. We have been able to talk more with Peg's roommate and her mom. I got the great opportunity to pray for them and with them and just provide a lot of comfort. The daughter is out here in Los Angeles, but all the family is back east, so her mom is here by herself. It is amazing how God puts people in our lives and in our paths to be Jesus to them! (PICTURE is Peg with her childhood friend, Donna, who stopped by to visit!)

I am working on a possible video clip, I think I can take and upload, we'll see how that goes, but give me the next update, in about 1 hour to be able to give it a go. Lar

11/17 - 11:00am Update

Ok so a few prayer requests for you. Peggy is doing good, she saw Dr. Cameron again this morning and he said it might be Monday morning before she is able to go home. Her heart rate is a little high, her blood pressure a little low, and she could use some more iron. They might want to do a blood transfusion, although if things get better they may forego that.

She has been having more pain today, we are thinking the Epidural is not working properly, since she is feeling mid-section pain. But all in all, she is smiling and enjoying visits from family and friends. (This picture is from last night, Rita, Lauri, Wally and Peg.)

Hopefully she will be able to get up and moving today. She had a small fever, but they are managing that, and it sounds like the recent temperature check is back in the normal range.

Thanks for all the prayers...Larry
More to come!

11/16 - 6:00pm - Larry The Cable Guy

Ok for the record, it is insane the number of tubes, cables, devices, monitors, tags, masks, boxes, bags, containers, hoses and general "appliances" hooked up to the average patient. I think the nurses know what everything does...atleast I hope they do (sorry to all those nurses out there.) I am doing my best to help "route" and "manage" cables.

Peggy was able to get up and out of bed, and stand, but walking was a bit much at this point, so they may try again later tonight. Her voice sounds strong and she has been enjoying a few calls and visits from friends and family. She is eating well, and enjoying a few bouquets of flowers. Well, she's not eating the flowers, but they smell nice. The nurses and team of doctors are awesome. Her goal today on the white board said, "up out of bed". There are a few friends out there that need to have that goal..naw I'm just kidding! :-) Anyways, she accomplished that well and was working on walking next.

Still not sure when she will be released, possibly tomorrow night, but I am guessing Sunday morning. She is accepting visitors if you want to drop by...unless you live in like, Illinois?!

She's in room 415B at UCLA Medical Center on Conte Dr.

Take care, Lar

11/16 3:00pm - Update

Ok, Peg is doing better, they have continued to reduce some of the pain medication. She has been able to sit up and eat both breakfast and Lunch today. They said they want to get her up to walk either before or after dinner tonight. She is resting well and experiencing some pain. Peg's brother Jeff stopped by on lunch break to check in on her, so that was very cool and she was blessed by that. (Here is another picture, she is reading the blog entries and comments.) A friend also send a boquet of flowers, which she is enjoying!

Also, if you have an extra prayer to throw out there, Peggy's roomate's name is Ashley, she is 24 years old and sustained a traumatic and debilitating motorcycle accident. She was wearing a helmet, so thankfully no head or spinal cord injuries. However she has had broken legs, arms, collarbone, hand, knee, etc. She has had numerous surgeries, and has been in the hospital for 2 weeks. We have had the opportunity to share and pray for them. God is good and I know he wants to show his love, salvation and healing to this entire family.

Thanks for all the prayers, we love you all. Larry

11/16 10:30am - Update

Ok, so Peg is doing good this morning. She had a chance to talk with the doctor this morning, he stopped by. He said that the surgery actually started about 2:00 pm, so it did go as planned with timing. Apparently they had a delay in the start time from the other surgery he did in the morning.

He said they didn't have to take any part of a rib, or diaprapm but did take a small bit of the right lung again. She is recovering well. The epidurial is really helpful in managing the pain, although her blood pressure was a little low, so they had to back off the dosage a bit. They are bringing additional pain medication for her a little later.

She said she slept ok last night. I think because she was sleeping all day yesterday during the day! But all in all, her voice sounds good, her color looks good, her hair looks good and she is feeling pretty ok. She is up in a chair this morning, eating oatmeal and keeping it down. (Here she is this morning.)

The room is a little cramped but the staff and nurses are doing an awesome job. More to come in the next hour or so.... Larry

11/15 11:30 pm - Progress

Ok, finally got hold of a live nurse about 8:45 pm, they said they were moving Peg to a room. Well, it took them till 10:15 pm to move her. I finally got to see her about 10:30 pm. She said that she started coming to about 7:00 pm, and was amazed that she was out for that long. The moved Peggy to room 415B (east wing of the hospital). I got to talk to her, she looked great, had dry mouth and was feeling ok. Apparently when she came to, she had alot of pain, so they had to deal with that before they put her in a room.

I left the hospital about 11:00 pm, so she could sleep and I could sleep back at the motor home. Right now I am borrowing someone's free wireless internet somewhere in a business nearby, to write this blog. It was a long day and I am praying that she sleeps really well, without too many interruptions.

Have a great night...Larry

11/15 7:45pm - Update

Ok, back online, cell phone and computer is charging...

We talked to Dr. Cameron about 6:30pm and everything went well. They were able to remove the 3 nodules as expected. They had a little challenge with the upper one, because it was a ways above the incision. We are not sure why the procedure took 5 hours, but they said she is doing well. They expected to take out the breathing tube around 6:30pm and start bringing her to. They expected about a 2-3 hour "recovery" before they move her to a room.

As of now, she still has not been assigned a room and so we wait. We don't know anything about the pathology report yet, but are prayerful that they were able to remove everything. Dr. Cameron didn't mention any complication, or having to remove any structures. There was some initial concern going into the procedure about having to remove part of a rib, diaphragm or a part of the lung, but it sounds like none of that came in to play.

There will probably be one more report tonight, hopefully I will have talked to Peg after that point. (Picture is of Lauri Stevenson & Mom Haeussler.)

Reporting from UCLA, Larry Wolf, PNN News (Peggy News Network). :-)

11/15 5:30 PM - Phone call

Well got a phone call from the O.R., one of the doctors said they are "closing up" and finishing up, and Dr. Cameron will be up to talk to us in about 30 minutes. They said Peg is doing great. I'm running low on laptop and cell battery life and left my charger in the motorhome in UCLA long term parking. Next update might be in 1 hour.

Thanks for the prayers... Lar

11/15 4:55pm - Update

Well no news yet. Peg is still in surgery. We are thinking they started later than they expected and often they are only able to give an estimate of time, not an exact amount. But all is good, God is still in control and things are going to turn out great.

Thanks for all the prayers and fun comments on the blog. I will let Peg read them on the laptop when she comes to. Here's Mom Hauessler having fun in the lobby. Larry

11/15 3:00 PM - Update

Nothing yet, still just waiting in the lobby...Here's a photo of Peggy in pre-op. Yes this is the latest fashion outfit...You'll see it on the runways on the E! Entertainment network...

Larry

11/15 2:00 pm - Update

Ok, sometimes I don't like Verizon Wireless. Today is one of those days. I can barely get cell service anywhere in this Hospital. I know UCLA is #3 in the nation for hospitals, but for cell service, it's alot WAY lower. But on a good note, they have free wireless internet for family of patients.

Anyways, onto Peg! They were a little delayed in getting her into surgery, which she went in around 12:30 PM. Wow, talk about forms, documents, and stuff to fill out! She probably was talked to by about 30 people before surgery today. There is a medical nurse, technician, assistant, doctor for everything. I think if you sneeze here, they have a doctor of sneezology to take care of you. Anyways, you feel well cared for, that's for sure.

They said the procedure would be about 3 hours, so we may be hearing something around 3:30 PM. She was in good spirits when they were rolling her across the hall into the O.R. Mom (Patsy) Haeussler is here, she got here about 10:30 am. Lauri Stevenson (my sister) was here for a little while before having to leave to pick-up her mother-in-law at LAX. All in all I know God has it all under his hand, and in his control. This photo was one a friend sent Peggy yesterday, who has been through cancer treatment and surgeries.

More to come...

Blessings! Larry

11/15-9:15am - Arrival

Well it took us 2 hours and 10 min to drive 50 miles today...to get to UCLA! Wow, we arrived in ok time and peg is check-in and waiting to go into pre-op.

She is sporting her designer hospital gown! She feels good and at peace!

Thanks for prayers...larry

11/14-Surgery Tomorrow

It's official...Peg will check in at 9:00 am tomorrow at UCLA. Surgery begins around 11:00 am. It's about a 3 hour procedure. Thanks for all the prayers...we love you guys.

Larry

11/9-UCLA Surgery

Hello,

It looks like I will be doing the surgery on Nov. 15th next Thurs. at UCLA. I have completed my pre-ops which was just an EKG and some blood work. Dr. Cameron thought this visit would be about 3 days. I will make a list of a few prayer requests.

-Peace for the entire family.
-For the kids to feel confident and secure during this time while being placed elsewhere.
-For Dr. Cameron to get every tiny cell of disease existing.
-For clear margins around the small masses.
-For no complications & quick healing.
-For us to be witnesses for Jesus whenever possible.

Thanks for all the faithful prayers!! Love to all!!!

Peggy

11-1/Surgery Info.

Hi All,

All I have is a tentative date at the moment. So, I might be going in for surgery November 15. That's two weeks from today. Dr. Cameron at UCLA has been called in for jury duty and it has messed up his surgery schedule a little bit. Hopefully I will get this date firmed up by tomorrow. It is hard to get the kids schedules arranged without a firmed up date. But, I do know that he does surgeries on Thurs. So that helps. That way I will hopefully be home the following weekend. And in plenty of time for Thanksgiving.

I hope this surgery will be easier to heal up from since they will be going under the ribcage and not through it this time. But, still it is major surgery and I need to keep that in mind too. I know God will work out all of life's details. It can be so overwhelming trying to think of all that you do and wondering how it will get all done. But that is all part of the be anxious for nothing verse. So I am trying my best. On top of that I am trusting Him for complete health. So much is out of my control and now in His control. Such a better place to be anyhow.

Again and again and again Thank You so much for all the prayers. Through them all God is getting us all through this very well!!

Lots of Love to all, Peggy

10/27-Another Surgery

Dear Friends and Family,

My appointment with Dr. Cameron at UCLA went as expected. He would like to do the surgery. It will be less involved than the other one. But more involved than what I was expecting. I will get cut under both breasts this time. So my scar will go horizontally rather than vertically. He said that the hospital stay would be about 3 days. If the area in question, that is up higher, is touching my rib I will have to have some bone cut away. But, when all is healed it won’t even seem any different. There is a possible need for radiation when I’m done. If all the margins are clear, no sign of disease anywhere on any of the edges, then he said he would be reluctant to recommend radiation. I just found out this time that you have a lifetime maximum amount of radiation you can receive. But, if it is positive anywhere I will definitely need more radiation. Chemo is unlikely since it is only moderately helpful with this kind of cancer. My neuroendocrine cancer is intermediate. The high grade kind responds well to chemo and the low grade kind doesn't respond at all. So I'm somewhere in the middle and we just did chemo and stuff still came back.


So after talking to Dr. Cameron-who by the way bears a remarkable resemblance to Napoleon Dynamite-we have decided to schedule the surgery. We can't do this until the office manager returns next Tues. They said that he is working about 2-3 weeks out at this point. I'm hoping to be all done and home healing before Thanksgiving. It will be interesting to see how it all works out this time. I know God will organize it all out perfectly.

Prayer Requests:
-That the margins are all clear on the tissue that is removed.
-That all the child care gets covered without too much hassle.
-That our family is drawn closer together through it all.
-That we are all drawn closer to God too!
-That we do not get discouraged and keep hopeful attitudes.
-That God will use us in the midst of this trial.


Thanks you so much for all your faithfulness to us all through it all!!
Lots of love and blessings, Peggy

10/19-Giving it to God

Hi Guys,

I have been needing to update this blog for days. I have been busy with just normal life and the new added twists too. The doctors wanted me to do a PET scan too. This would somehow help them to determine exact locations of these new spots. So I did this scan last week. I happened to have an appointment set with my primary doctor Dr. Kerr. I had him copied on the report so I knew he would be able to give me the info. from the PET scan. He talked to Dr. Rigberg(my oncologists) who had talked to Dr. Lum (my radiologist) and they agreed that radiation would be the next course of treatment. All the new spots are outside the area that I had radiation on earlier this year. Then Dr. Kerr proceeded to tell me that he strongly recommends that I set up an appointment with Dr. Cameron (My UCLA surgeon) and see if he could just remove these spots altogether. Dr. Kerr said he wants to take the aggressive approach and get to CURE! I said Me Too!! Am I throwing out enough Dr. names at you???

Both Larry and I talked at length about this and we agreed that seeing Dr. Cameron would be a good idea. So, I have that appointment set for next Fri. I thought that was amazing enough in itself because last time it took 6 weeks to get an appointment with him. I prayed to God if this is the right course please let it be sooner than the last 6 week wait. An sure enough it was. Last time all the test were old and needed to be redone. So thank-you Jesus for that!! Last time he saw me he had me in the next week doing surgery. So, please pray that this is clear to us. Dr. Kerr said this surgery would be way less invasive and I would heal up much quicker! They would not need to open up my sternum this time. They might even be able to remove the spots with some kind of a scope thing.

Thanks for all the great prayers. We have been experiencing peace through it all. We have had moments of challenge, but we have been able to overcome that. Keep the prayers coming. We will have schedules to work out with the kids. Also, of course, all the decisions we need to make and prayers for complete healing. I just want to be a light to others of God's great love. Hoping I can let my light shine wherever I go. Thanks again and again for the prayer support you give to me and my family.

The kids are doing great! Lexie even got "Peacebuilder of the month" in her classroom this past month. It's a big deal at their school where they have an assembly and the principal announces the kids chosen. We are so proud of her. Trinity was move up from kindergarten to a new K/1 class. She was observed as being ready for a little more challenge. We are so proud of her too! She is doing great in this new class! Joshua continues to thrive in his pre-school class! He is making lots of new buddies!! We feel so blessed to have the kids that we do! They truly are gifts from God!

Lots of love to you all!!! Peggy

10/5-Thankful

Hello All,

I had my octriotide scan on Wed. This scan is specific to Neuroendocrine Tumors. The isotopes they inject uptake to the neuroendocrine tumor areas. Dr. Rigberg my oncologist reviewed the results of the scans with Larry and I yesterday. I was thankful to see that they were not picking up any other problem areas other than what was already discovered with the cat scan a couple weeks ago. Dr. Rigberg is a very thorough kind of Doctor. He showed us the May cat scan and the Sept. cat scan. We could see the new tumors in the Sept. scan. They are 2 and 3 cm right now. One is right behind the ziphoid process which is at the end of the sternum. This one is right by my heart. The other one is close by but going more toward my liver.

The next step is to wait for the two doctors to confer with each other. Dr. Rigberg wants to make sure that these new tumors are indeed outside the port of radiation from my last treatments. If not, he mentioned a possible need for more chemo. Dr. Lum seemed fairly certain this is not the case. I see Dr. Lum next Tues. Hoping to have more information by then.

It has been a little tough emotionally with all this. We are not sure why God is allowing this to continue. But, we know that He knows why. We trust God and we know He is faithful. Pain always teaches us how to be more compassionate. Look what Christ Himself endured for us. We have a compassionate God!!

Also we do have an issue with blue cross our insurance carrier. A lot of my doctors are dropping them. If I continue with an out of network doctor we will get hit with much higher doctor expenses. So please just add that to the prayer list. I know God will work it all out somehow.

Pray for all the family. The kids seem to be just going with the flow. We talk about it all with them so they know what's going on. Pray the just give it all to the one who can really heal and comfort!!

Thanks for all that you all do!! Lots of Love, Peggy

9/24-Hope

Hi All,

I had my regularly scheduled CT-scan last week. They are checking me every 3 weeks. I wasn't able to set up to meet with Dr. Rigberg my Oncologist until next Thurs. I happened to have a post radiation check up the Dr. Lum today. So he was able to go over my Ct. Scan with me.

It looks like there are some new spots that have developed since my scan 3 months ago. It's just below the radiation field on my chest. Everything in the radiation field is clear. This is good to know, this means that the radiation did it's job. Both Dr's talked and they agreed that radiation will most likely be the best course of action and no chemo. I do have to do another octriotide scan to make sure that this is all that is out there right now. Both Dr's feel that it is most likely all they will find. So I do not have any of the new course of radiation confirmed or scheduled yet.

I am praying that they find nothing more or just plan nothing at all. My God is a healer and I know He can heal me head to toe. Thanks for all the prayers and support.

We love all of you!! Peggy

8/30-School Days

Hi All,

It has been too long again since I have updated my blog. No good reason really. The girls have finally started school this past Monday. Trinity is officially a Kindergartener. She really loves it!! Lexie is in the third grade and they are both at our local public school, Rio Del Norte. Joshua will start PreK next week at Our Redeemer preschool where the girls both attended. I will for the first time in 8 years have a couple hours to myself two days a a week. Hooray!!

I have been feeling pretty good with my health lately. I am getting back into my old excercise routine and feeling ok. For a while there it would really burn me out. It would take away all the energy I had for the day. But I feel good now. I saw Dr. Handley the Pulmonologist this week. We waited 6 weeks and did nothing. And nothing looked worse. Hooray!! So, they tried antibiotics and steroids and that did not make it go away. And they did nothing and it did not get worse. So he feels pretty comfortable that the spot on my lung is just a scar from the radiation. Thank you Jesus!!!

Thanks for all the prayers. Please if the Lord puts it on your heart, lift up my dad in prayer. His heart needs some major work. Being a parkinson's patient it makes it very tricky to do the by-pass surgery that he really needs. So He will be going in tomorrow for a less invasive angio-plasty(roto-rooter) and have some stents put in. Pray with me that he does well with the procedure and his safely home by Saturday as planned. God knows all the rest of the technical stuff!!

Thanks so much for all the love and friendship, Peggy

7/9-Feeling good!

Hello,

Summer is moving along just fine. We are all getting used to a more relaxed schedule. We already had our Church's VBS program called Summer Slam. The theme was Treasure Island. It was all week long and the kids had a great time and learned lots of great stuff. We also had lots of our AZ relatives out for the 4th of July celebration. We spent a really fun day up in Santa Barbara playing at the beach, eating, riding bikes & scooters and of course watching the fireworks. We are doing the library on Tues. and Park Day on Wednesdays so far. Also, we will be going for Forest Home at the end of the month for a week with Jeff and John's families. We are all looking forward to our official family vacation.

I finished my tapering dose of Prednisone. I saw Dr. Handley last Thurs. The new x-ray didn't show any changes in the spot on my lung at all. He asked how I was feeling and I told him that I definitely do not feel worse. And as for better, well I never really felt that bad to begin with. He said I never looked that ill either each time that he has seen me. So We are going to just watch things over the next six weeks. If things get worse sooner, I will call. The spot may just be a scar as I have mentioned before. They just want to make sure it is not some other kind of infection going on.

Thanks for all the recent prayers. I am happy to be feeling better.

Lots of love to all, Peggy

6/13-Prednisone

Hi Friends and Family,

I saw Dr. Handley today. It's been 2 weeks and I just finished my last of the antibiotic today that I was taking. I got a chest X-ray first. Dr. Handley was able to compare that with my last CT scan. He said he did not see any changes. When he listened to my lungs he did hear some rattling from both lungs. I don't feeling any worse and even a little bit better. He was able to rule out Valley fever and a couple other lung problems from the blood test I had done. So this leaves me with Radiation Pneumonia. Since the lungs are sounding worse I need to treat it with the prednisone steroid. I will take a dose that tapers down until it is done. Then I will visit the Dr. in 3 weeks and do another x-ray and a breathing analysis too. So right now I am praying for all the side effects to be null and void in me. I believing for it to do it's job and nothing else. This steroid is meant to treat any inflammation in my lungs. Thanks for praying with me through this new little mountain I have to climb. All and all we are doing good. Lexie finishes 2nd grade on Friday and Trinity is graduating from Pre-School tomorrow. We are all looking forward to a fun Summer.

Blessings to you all!! Glory to God!!!!

Love, Peggy

5/31-Pulmonalogist Appt.

Well Wed. I went to see Dr. Handley my new Pulmonalogist. It used to be Dr. Paladino, but he moved back to NY. He seems like a great Dr. He was brought up to speed about everything and then listened everywhere to my lungs and didn't hear anything concerning. He said it all sounded clear. He was concerned about the shading in the upper left lung( which was in fact a radiation port) and the pain I have been feeling with a deep breath and the tiredness. He didn't want to start the prednisone without first running a blood test and also check for valley fever too. So he has me taking an antibiotic called Biaxin for 2 weeks. It is used to treat just regular pneumonia. So, after 2 weeks I go back to Dr. Handley and get an X-ray and another check-up. So, if the Lord brings it to your mind to pray, please pray that this antibiotic works and I do not have to take the "Stinky Prednisone" as my wonderful friend Julie O put it in the last comment field. All this must sound all to familiar to you dear Julie!! Thanks for all the prayers!! Thanks to everyone!! I love you All!! Jesus is my healer!!

5/29-Scans and More Scans

Hi All,

Sorry I took so long to write back about the results of all the 6 week post treatment studies. It's been a little crazy with Dr. stuff and we went to visit family in AZ for memorial weekend in the middle of it all. It was a wonderful time in AZ visiting Larry very fun family!!

First of all Dr. Rigberg called me Tues. after the Monday CT scan of my chest, abdomen and pelvis. He said I had a condition in the small bowel that showed part of it going into itself, like a telescope, he described. So he set me up for a barium study on Wed. to check closer in that area. And, thank-you Jesus, it showed all looked back to normal. Also the CT scan showed that my left lung looked like it was showing some shading. It could be scarring from the radiation or another condition called Radiation Pneumonia. He asked if I had a fever or if I was short of breath. I was not. While in AZ I started to get a low fever in the 99's and low 100's with achy joints and pain in the lungs with a deep breath. So I called Dr. Rigberg and he told me to take an anti-inflammatory Aleve. He said if I get short of breath and start to run a fever over 101 then go to the ER. I thankfully did not need to do this.

Today I had a scheduled appointment with Dr. Rigberg to go over the study results in detail. The bone scan for my hip all looked just fine. If I keep getting pain in my hip I need to do an MRI on the hip next. Also the MRI on my brain was all right with no problems. Probably just allergy related headaches like I suspected. Dr. Rigberg is ultra thorough. Back to today. Dr. Rigberg listened to my lungs. Didn't say anything sounded bad or good. Asked where the pain was specifically when I took a deep breath, my lower right back and whole lung area. He wanted to rule out a pulmonary embolism. This is a very serious thing I guess. So he sent me to get another scan right away called a CT angio gram. It was basically to get a closer look and the arteries in the lungs to make sure there are no blood clots. Since no one has called me telling me to get right to the hospital here 4 hours later, I think it is safe to assume I do not have that in Jesus name!!

Tomorrow he has me seeing a pulmonary specialist to see what is up with the shading in the left lung. If it is an infection it will need to be treated with a serious steroid called prednisone. I really do not want to take this. I was reading about it and it sounds yucky!! I am believing for the Lord Jesus my healer to make this all go away. I am reporting this to all of you to believe with me in the Lords healing.

Thank you all for bearing with me for such a long update. I appreciate all your prayers and faith!!

Love and Hope, Peggy

P.S. Is. 53:5&6..remember folks, because of His wounds I am healed!!!!!!!!

5/21- 6 week Post check

Hi Friends,

Just a quick word to let you all know that I am feeling good and growing lots of curly hair back. It is very strange to have such curly hair. The Dr. warned me that it would grow back this way.

I saw Dr. Rigberg early last week for my 6 week follow-up. I had mention having headaches, but I was fairly certain that they were related to seasonal allergies. But, he is a very thorough guy so he sent me in for a brain scan and the regular CT scan of the chest and abdomen to check the regular spot. Also tomorrow I go for another bone scan because the ache in my left hip continues. I do not know what that is about. We will find out I am sure. Please pray it is all a bunch of nothing. I am so done with treatments and surgeries. Thanks so much for all the love and prayers!!

Lots and lots of love, Peggy

4/6-It Is Finished!

Dear Friends and Family,

I couldn't think of a more appropriate day to be able to use this title. What a wonderful thing Jesus did for all of mankind this day 2000 years ago. Because of His wounds, I am healed!! Thank you Jesus!!! Just yesterday, I finished my final cancer treatment! Hooray!!!

Monday I went to Dr. Rigberg and again my white cells were too low to do my last chemo. So I was able to forgo it. I do not have to make it up, so that was that!! Hooray, again. I think it was God's way of saying you do not need anymore! On Tues. the radiation machine was down so they did not treat me. So instead of being done on Wed. I was done on Thurs. They even presented me with an official graduation certificate. I was so happy, I even got a little teared up.

That is all the treatments that they have scheduled for me. I am going to just be watched from here out. I get my blood checked in two weeks to make sure my white cells are bouncing back. And in six weeks I go back to the radiologist to make sure my healing is going well. Right now I'm just looking forward to getting more energy and for my esophagus to heal. Swallowing has been painful. They said give your body about 10 days. They said with the swallowing to be careful because I will feel better before I am all better and some rough foods could re-injure my esophagus. Hopefully I will remember to take it easy there. Also, sometime in May they will restudy me again. I'm believing that God has totally healed me.

Thank you all for all the prayers and support you have given me and my family during this time of challenge. I feel this has been a total group effort. I have not felt all alone in this process by any means. I have felt so lifted up and loved. It has helped me, for the most part, just keep doing all the stuff I normally do. I'm looking forward to getting on with life with a little more energy now. Words cannot express how deeply grateful I am to all of you for all that you have done for all of us.

Lots of love and lots of blessings, Peggy

3/27-Week 5

Dear Friends and Family,

Hope all is good for everyone!! Today I was scheduled to have my 5th chemo. But again, he decided not to treat me. My white cells were up, but not enough for him to feel ok about treating me. It is fine with the Radiologist though. So I have stayed on track with my radiation. Dr. Rigberg said that right now that is the most important thing. The big chemo's I did in Nov-Dec-Jan are systemic and the radiation is localized to the area where the tumor was. They see a higher incident or cancer returning to the same area when treated with chemo alone. So the radiation is extra insurance that we are getting it all. The chemos that have been missed are just dropped and not delayed. They were mainly for enhancing the effects of the radiation. Next Monday will by my last chemo and only a half week of radiation. Hooray...then I should be done!! Other good news is that my scans from last week all looked good. I had a mammogram, a pelvic ultrasound and a hip X-ray. No problems appeared whatsoever. I know it's because God has healed me!! Thank you Jesus!!! Thanks so much for all the prayers and faith that so many have extended to me. It has built me up in my own faith seeing so many standing and believing with me!! You guys are the best!! I love you all so much!!

Keep praying and believing, God can do ANYTHING!!

Love, Peggy

3/20-Halfway

Hi All,

Just a real quick update on this week. Dr. Rigberg did not treat me with Chemo this week because my white cells were too low. But, they were not too low for Dr. Lum, so I have been on schedule with the radiation. I'm not sure if this chemo was just dropped or delayed. Please pray for my white cells to increase. Also, my hip pain went away and then came back on one day and left the next. Not sure what that is all about, but Dr. Rigberg ordered an X-ray for this Thurs. Please pray that is is all just nothing at all. Thanks so much for all your faithful prayers!!

Love and Blessings, Peggy

3/12-Moving Right along.

Hi All,

Hope this finds everyone doing well and healthy. Today I finished my 3rd or 6 chemo's and started my 3rd week of radiation. So at the end of this week I will be officially at the 1/2 way point. Hooray!! Everything has been going pretty good for the most part. However, I am experiencing some very normal side effects. I'm going to list these and let the prayers and Jesus do the work here.

I have been experiencing lots of itchy skin and red splotches. They are temporary like hives. No permanent rashes thank goodness. This is more annoying than painful. I have also been getting more irritation in the esophagus. I can feel the food going down like a big lump. But this too is not painful. If it does get to the point of being painful Dr. Lum said he could prescribe some pain medication. I am hoping to avoid this. On the outside, by the radiation area, the skin gets extra itchy and splotchy at times. I'm thinking this is getting more irritation too. I hear some people actually get blisters. I'm praying this doesn't get that bad. Also this past week I noticed a ache in my left hip joint. So I brought it up to Dr. Rigberg and was hoping it was somehow connected to a treatment side effect. But not so, he said to watch it and if it increases in discomfort I will need to get an X-ray and possibly a MRI. So please pray that is just something that is minor and going away quickly. The last thing to mention would be prayer for my white blood cells to increase. They have been on a steady decline. These are important in fighting things off.

All in all things are going along pretty normal. Larry has been doing a great job getting the kids off and going in the morning. They are enjoying the extra time with Daddy immensely. Larry and I had our regular "date night" last Friday. We got a chance to see the movie "Amazing Grace". What a great movie that was. If you enjoy history and very inspiring movies we recommend it highly. It's just so good to be out doing our normal stuff in the middle of all this crazy health issue season we are in. I attribute so much of that to all of you and your faithful prayers. I can tell you how many people bless us with comments, encouraging words, gifts, prayers and lots of hugs!! Thanks soooo very Very much! What an incredible journey and it helps so much to be surrounded by such wonderful support. Am I getting too gushy??

Thanks and I love you all, Peggy

P.S. Just remembered, it's been so hot lately that I decided to brave the very short hair look this Sunday at Church and today at the Doctor visits. It was just too hot to wear a hat. I got lots of positive feed back. I will have to get Larry to post some recent pictures for my good friends and family far away.

3/4-1 down 5 to go!

Hi Everyone,

I completed my first week of Chemo with radiation. Everything went just fine. The chemo is more than half less than what I was taking earlier. I had no nausea and no need for medicine to help with that. The radiation process is painless. You just lay there, they position you, they leave the room, I lay real still, I hear a buzzing sound for about 15 seconds. No flashing lights or anything. They move the machine to my side and do it all again. Then I leave 10 minutes after I walked in. It's all very quick and systematic.

Friday afternoon I started to feel achy and sore in my muscles. Sat. I woke up with a slight fever and more of the same. So Larry took over kid duty completely and I rested a lot. I feel better today. I think I picked up a bug of some sort. I know if I have a fever on Monday they will delay my treatment. So I am resting and trying to keep everything on track. I'm just so looking forward to being all done with the treatments. I'm still on an antibiotic from last weekend. Maybe that helped.

I hope everyone out there is doing well. Thanks for all the prayers. They mean so much and they are helping so much. Keep praying for good health and no side effects.

Bless you all, Peggy

2/25-ER visit

Hi All,

It all sounds way more dramatic than it really is. I woke up at 3 am Saturday morning to use the restroom and found blood in my urine and a lot of pain from urinating too. So I call the Dr. and he says to go to the ER. I took myself so Larry could stay with the kids and they would not have to be disrupted. It only took a couple hours, which is quick for the ER, to find out that I had a UTI-urinary tract infection. I got some heavy antibiotics and pain killers. My oncologist Dr. Rigburg happen to be there checking one of his other patients and saw my name on the patient list. He stopped in my room. It was good to find out that this medicine should not interfere with tomorrows new chemo and radiation treatment. So all is still on unless I develop a fever. Which is unlikely at this point.

Monday at 9 am I get chemo. A new drug called Taxol and an old one called Carboplatin. Pray that I have no allergic reactions to this new drug. Pray for health, energy, no digestive problems, no mouth sores, no long term effects and peace! After chemo I go in at 11:20 to Dr. Lum to get my first radiation treatment. Pray for peace with this new thing and no discomfort with skin irritation, fatigue, heart burn and to keep up with the crazy schedule. I do radiation everyday Mon-Fri for the next 6 weeks. I only do the chemo on the Mondays. I have my Tues- Fri appointments set for 8 am. This way Larry will be able to get to work closer to on time. He will be with the children by himself getting them ready for school and stuff. Pray for him because he will be handling a lot of extra work with the kids in morning. I'm sure the busyness of it all will make the time fly.

Bless each and every one of you. Your thoughts, prayers, encouraging comments and support have been such a strength to us. That's for holding us up and helping us out during this challenging time. You have all made the ride so much less frightening. I see the hand of God in so many of you. Thanks from the bottom of our hearts!! I love you all!!

Peggy

2/16-Test Results

Hi All,

Today Larry and I went to Dr. Rigberg to get the results of all the tests that I had to do over the last couple of weeks. He said that all seemed pretty much the same and unchanged. This is good! The octriotide scan continues to show areas of concern. But, when he matches it up to the cat scan all appears well. The areas that show concern are right where I had the surgery and in the uterus. He doesn't seem that concerned since nothing is showing up physically on the cat scan. He did, however, recommend that I see my gynecologist and just make sure all is well with that area. Basically all will continued as planned. I start Monday the 26th with a new Chemo called Taxol and an old one called Carboplatin. Then I go within the hour to get my first of many Radiation treatments. The next 6 weeks will be very busy. But, that is the last of the planned treatments for me. I will be watched and studied after that to make sure nothing else shows up.

My Mom just shared an encouraging story with me last night. A women came into the branch where she works and over heard my Mom talking about me. The women volunteered that she is a cancer survivor. Back in the 70's she had cancer in two places the colon and breast. She did chemo for 2 years and radiation for 1 year. (I have only done chemo for 3 months and will do radiation 6 weeks.) She shared at one point that one night when she was all alone she felt someone put an arm around her and say "everything is going to be alright." She felt it was and angel, a messenger from God. And here she is 88 years old and free from cancer for 30 years. She told my Mom that she always felt that way, about everything being alright, before the angel came. And I feel that way too. I feel that God is going to keep me around here for many more years.

God Bless you all for your Love and Prayers!! Peggy

2/5-Update on New Phase

Hi All,

Couldn't get my injection today because of a problem with the medicine that was mixed. It didn't pass inspection so it is unavailable until a new batch is made and passes inspection. So this delays everything else by a week or two. I do have the injection rescheduled for next Tues. and the scan will be Wed. And then next Friday we will go over all the results. So the Chemo won't start up again until all that happens.

The light at the end of the tunnel is visible. After this 6 week phase of treatment I will just be watched to make sure nothing comes back!! Thank you Jesus!!! Hoping to grow some hair back for the Summer!! Who wants to wear a ski cap in the Summer??!!

Thanks for all the countless prayers!! I'm so blessed by all of you!!

Love you, Peggy

2/5-Next Phase of Treatment

Hi All,

Here is a quick update to let you know what's coming up. This week I'm getting scanned a bunch. It's part of the re-study that the Doctor is doing to see where we are at now. Pray all is well and that I am not in any way being harmed by all this scanning. I go tomorrow for a Cat-Scan. I go Wed. to get an injection for a Thurs. Octriotide scan. And Friday I go back to Dr. Rigberg to go over all the results. Then he has me tentatively scheduled to start Chemo with Radiation on Monday the 12th. I will go in at 9 am for Chemo. This should take about 2 hours. Then I will go to Dr. Lum's office and get radiation within an hour of the chemo. Then Tues. through Fri. I will only do the radiation. This will continue for 6 weeks total. Some of the radiation side effects you can start praying for are tiredness, heartburn or reflux (since it will be right by my esophagus), sore throat. Mostly please be praying about the long-term effects of all of this. Being such a radical treatment it could possibly cause other problems down the road. I would appreciate prays against anything at all like that.

The family is doing great through it all. Thanks for praying about that too. This next phase of treatment will be a lot to juggle with the kids. I have some friends lined up to help with the Mondays. And the Tues. - Fri. routine will hopefully be early enough that Larry will be able to fill in for me. The radiation is a pretty quick process from what I understand. I takes all of twenty min. if that. I hope!

May the Lord bless you all abundantly!! Lots of love, Peggy

1/23-Got Tattoos?!!

Hi Everyone,

Well today was exciting. I got my first (and hopefully the last) tattoos ever! Just 3 little tiny dots that look just like blue freckles. One on my chest, by my scar. And the other two on my two sides, almost in my armpits. It really does sting and I can't imagine doing that on purpose. But hey, some people enjoy--being art!!

We met with Dr. Lum today. What a great guy! He is the only Christian Oncologist in the county. He has seen lots of miracles happen and gives the glory to God! How awesome is that?? My case is not typical. So he will be doing extra scans and things to get things set up just right. He assured us that is a safe process and will help to remove the microscopic cancer and help to prevent it from coming back.

This won't start up for another 3 weeks. I get a ct scan on thurs. to help Dr. Lum study out the exact path of radiation. I will undergo other scans and tests in between time too to help Dr. Rigberg see where we are at now. Just keep praying that all is clear or even improved!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you all soooooo much!! God has so very blessed us with such a great support network!! We love each and everyone of you so much!!

Love, Peggy

P.S. Also please pray for health in the Wolf household. The kids have all got this virus that has been hanging out a good week now. Pray Larry and I do not get it.

1/20-Round 3 Complete

Hello Again,

Just wanted to update everyone on how the week went. I did pretty good. I did have trouble one day with getting a vein. They did have to poke me 3 times before they found one that would work. On the last day of the treatment I had a little bit of swelling were they put the needle in, but it wasn't too bad and it resolved itself quickly. Thanks for all the prayers. I know that God is so getting me through this.

I go next Tues. to meet with Dr. Lum the Radiologist who will do the radiation therapy. I have heard from a friend that he is a Christian. That will be nice. I will not be getting started on the radiation until a month goes by. I need to heal from this recent treatment first. I might be getting my markings in place though. These are permanent markings like little tattoes to mark where to radiate. Should be interesting.

Again thank-you for all your kind words and prayers!! These are priceless to me!!

Lots of love, Peggy

1/14-3rd Round

Hi All,

I'm getting ready to go in tomorrow for my third round. Dr. Rigberg said after this round we will do a re-evalutation. The really good part here is I don't have to do a 4th round from what it looks like. The bad part is I have to do another Octriotide scan. Yuck! The scan itself is no big deal. Just the cleaning out of your system that they ask you to do prior is the unpleasant part. But, whatever it takes to get to the end of all this. Right?!!

Then, and I am not exactly sure how soon, I will start doing the Chemo/Radiation combo treatment. I will do Chemo every Monday for 6 weeks. It will be a lower dose of chemo drug but will take about the same amount of time to administer. Then I will go right after to do radiation. And I will do radiation Mon. through Fri. He said the Radiologist might want to do that part for 8 weeks. I will have to meet this new doctor and find out all the other details from him. Just taking it all one step at a time.

Please pray as God leads you. I have been doing really well for the most part. Things to continue praying for...Energy-no anemia, no fatigue, no mouth sores, no nausea or other intestinal issues and no issues with my veins this time. I think my veins are getting tired of all the poking.

Thank you all for your faithful friendship and faithful prayers and support!! It has made this trying time really an amazing time watching God's people do their wonderful thing!! This can be such a lonely time for some people. I have felt so surrounded and loved. I really don't feel like I am going through this alone at all!! You are all such amazing and lovely people. I love you all so much!!

God Bless each and every one of you, Peggy

1/4-Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year to all!! I hope and pray this year holds many great and wonderful things for all. I am personally praying for a year of good health for the family!!

We had a wonderful trip to AZ. We rang in the New Year with Larry's family at his brother Randy's house. And yes, even Josh stayed up to midnight and beyond!! We all had a great time. We were all pretty tired after that though!! We are all home safe and sound now.

I got my blood checked at Dr. Rigberg's yesterday and he said it looked really good. I have my next round of Chemo set up for Jan. 15th, 16th and 18th. That's a Mon. Tues. and Thurs. I continue to feel pretty good through it all. I'm praising God for this!! Thanks for all the faithful prayers!!

Many, Many Blessing to you all this New Year!! Lots of Love, Peggy