May

• I’ve been feeling pretty good for being 70 years young
• My fatigue has gone away and I’m walkin’ and talkin’ and working in my flower garden
• I went to the oncology center this afternoon to get my blood checked and find out the results of the bone scan
• One week of being on the pill and my blood counts are great
• The bad news is that the bone scan showed that there is cancer on my rib
• The good news is that it’s very small
• They want another CAT scan to compare it to the bone scan, so that is scheduled for next Tuesday
• The nurse said that since the bone cancer is so small, they will probably be able to zap my rib with radiation to stop the cancer in its tracks
• I feel like I’ve already donated my body to science!
• Look who came for a visit this week: My grandson Adam and his son Branham

• I should be getting a comparison report from the radiologist when I meet with the oncologist this Thursday
• We have been waiting for the radiologist to compare my most recent CAT scan to the bone scan to pinpoint the location of the cancer in my rib
• Here I am with Madi, Audrey, and Peyton yesterday
• I keep waiting for my hair to grow back, but Peyton still has more hair than his great-grandma
• My hair is about 1/4" long now, and blonde!
• Evie ran in the Komen Race for Cure last Saturday in Columbus in my honor
• She is collecting pledges until the end of this month, but hopes to raise several hundred dollars for breast cancer
• I have been feeling so good with this new pill
• It has given me a much better quality of life

• Tom and I went to see the oncologist today
• He said there was nothing to worry about at this time with my rib
• I will have another round of CAT scans on Monday, June 6
• At that time they will compare the place on my rib with the previous CAT scans and see if it's growing, which would mean that it probably is cancer
• Then they will decide what to do about it
• Meanwhile, he says this is a good time to go to Georgia to visit Kathy and Jeff
• I'm having some hives with the chemo pill now, but I'm still feeling pretty good

• Tom and I are in the Peach State!
• We survived the Atlanta airport
• Kathy and Jeff picked us up and took us out into the country, to their home in Loganville
• On the way, we drove through downtown Atlanta to see all the big buildings, including the state capitol with it's gold dome
• Here's Kathy and Jeff's home, where we'll be until Wednesday, June 1

• We had fun shopping for and planting a perennial garden in the back yard
• I smuggled 20 Iris bulbs in my suitcase from Columbus and we put them in with the perennials
• It took us all day, taking lots of breaks, but we got it done and it is beautiful
• A toad found us and watched us plant the whole thing
• We haven't given him a name yet, but Kathy wants to call him Tom :-)

• Today we went shopping for an herb garden
• We got lots of herbs, some succulents, and a shiny copper bird bath
• That area used to be a rock garden, so Tom helped us get rid of the rocks to make room for our herbs
• He was such a good guy that we let him beat us in Rummy tonight
• It's been nice to sit outside on the patio, eat lunch, and see the garden take shape
• Here's a picture of the back yard and patio

• Today we planted some vegetable plants and finished getting ready to plant our herb garden
• We've had fun watching the chipmunks play in the back yard, along with the many birds at the bird feeders
• Those chemo pills are starting to give me lots of hives, but Doc Tom is taking good care of me

• Kathy and I went to Snellville (a suburb of Atlanta) to get the last of the plants
• Snellville is THE place for shopping around here - if you can't find it in Snellville, you don't need it!
• Then it started raining, but that didn't keep Kathy inside
• She planted her herb garden in the rain
• Here's a picture of the finished garden, complete with copper bird bath
• We let Tom win again at cards and watched a Nascar race with Jeff

• Another rainy day and it's cooled off into the 60s
• It's a good day for napping
• Kathy will grill some hamburgers for us (inside, of course!) and we'll have a Memorial Day feast tonight
• Maybe we'll even let "the kid" (Kathy) win at cards tonight

• We all went out to breakfast this morning
• We've been enjoying looking at the beautiful patio area
• Tonight we will pack up and get ready to catch our plane tomorrow
• We did let the kid win at cards last night...now she wants to win again tonight
• The hives went from my shoulders to my toes yesterday and were very painful so I quit taking the chemo pills until I can get home and talk with the nurses
• The oncologist told me to do that if the side effects became severe
• Jeff took this picture of Tom admiring my beautiful "Hat of Hope"