SolandMonica.com

 Wow!  Busy, busy, busy is all I can say!  I am so thankful that I have been feeling well enough to spend time traveling and visiting with people I haven’t seen in quite a while. 

Thank you for your prayers as I went up north the day after having chemo.  I didn’t have any side effects while I was there – except for fatigue.  I was able to hang out with my girlfriends, and the house we rented worked out perfectly!  We were able to put all 12 kids to bed and spend time hanging out!  There were 27 of us  all together!  One night was especially moving as we all talked and caught up on life – sharing heart issues and being real with each other.  As we talked, we all reflected on how special this group of friends is and how rare it is to have such a group in our lives.  I miss them already!  Let’s not wait 4 more years to see each other!

Also, while we were in Redding, my parents and sister (with baby) came and took us to the pumpkin patch.  We rode the train, saw pig races, rode in a canoe, and took some silly pictures.  It was a fun time with family.

The trip back from that weekend wasn’t so fun!  We missed our connection in San Francisco due to fog and had to keep Kai entertained at the airport for 6 hours.  We finally caught a flight to Santa Ana where a friend picked us up, but our luggage went to LAX.  We finally got our luggage late on Monday.  On Monday, I went home from work with a fever of 101.  I spent the whole day in bed and woke up the next morning with diarrhea.  It was no fun, but I was glad it didn’t happen over the weekend (or on the plane)!

I continued chemo on Friday, and then drove with the family to Monterey where my sister, Karen, had been all week for work.  She arranged to stay there for a few extra days so we could see her.  She lives in D.C. so we don’t get that chance all that often.  It was a fun weekend, a long drive, but a fun weekend.  We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and had a great time watching Kai discover new things.  He loves to explore and learn!  🙂  We dropped Karen off at the airport, and Kai threw a fit becuase he wanted to go on the airplane, too!  Karen actually made it home to D.C. before we made it to L.A.  So not fair!  I was so happy to be able to spend that time with her and to once again be feeling good enough to do it.

My chemo continued this past Friday (Halloween).  We took Kai trick-or-treating and boy do kids pick up the idea of spouting off a phrase when you get candy in return.  He had a great time.  He was dressed up as Batman.  He had a plastic mask that he just would not take off.  He pretty much wore it all day (he even ate dinner with it on).  He was in the parade at school waving at everyone.  Neither of us were there to see him, but our friend took some pictures and said that he just kept waving the whole time trying to see out of his mask.  It would slide down, but instead of pushing it up, he would just tilt his head back trying to see everyone!   The first thing he said to me on Saturday when I went to get him out of bed was, “My Candy?”  He made out like a bandit! 

Last night was our Sunday School ‘s annual Halloween party.  We had a potluck and played games.  It was a lot of fun!  I am so thankful that I have felt as well as I have to participate in all of the fun stuff.  Today, however, I am feeling pretty bad.  I slept in, went to church, and then came home and laid in bed for about 5 hours.  I just have a yucky feeling in my stomach and that chemo taste and texture in my mouth.  It’s a typical feeling after chemo, but sometimes it’s worse than others.

The next thing for me is a CT scan on Thursday (Nov 6th).  I don’t have chemo this week, but the CT scan effects are sometimes worse than the chemo effects.  I’ll be out of commission for the evening – staying close to the restroom!  We are hoping and praying that the scan shows continued shrinkage of the tumors – evidence that the chemo is working.  On the last CT scan, they said that the tumors had all shrunk by half, but that there was one new one showing up.  Our prayer is that this one is also shrinking and not growing.  I won’t have any report until the following week.  I have a doctor’s appointment on Friday (Nov. 14th), but will call earlier in the week (maybe Tuesday) to find out the results. 

Thank you for your faithful prayers and support even when you don’t hear from me!   One other prayer request that I have is that I have my teaching evaluation this Friday.  The Vice-Principal will be coming to observe me teaching a lesson.  I pray that my students are engaged and their behavior is top notch.  Parent conferences were last week, so there were some difficult conversations that will hopefully turn things around for some of those kids!  🙂

Thanks again,

Love,

Monica

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