oo..Ouch! That is what I have been saying all day. Both sides now have drains, but my oxygen levels have become much better. I rarely need to wear it! My sleep was so much better last night and the next step is to do a pulmonary function test and decide if a pulmonary sclerosis is necessary. Oh, got chemo while I was here too. Lots of sleep has been had today.

How things keep changing

Since my last post, that spunk has shrunk. I am actually updating from my hospital bed care of Christiana Hospital. Over the weekend, we noticed a significant decrease in my ability to breathe, even with the oxygen. I was at the surgeon's office this morning at 10 and was admitted by 11:30. The fluid has returned and how invasive the procedure will depend on what the scans show once I am sedated.

I am so tired because I can't sleep well at night, can't breathe well and just the worry of everything. I wished I had squeezed my boys tighter this morning.

What a week! I have now been home from the hospital for 2 weeks and each day am getting a tiny bit more spunk. I took the boys and my mom and mother-in-law to Lancaster yesterday to see a Sight and Sound show. It was remarkable and then we smorgasborded it afterwards.

This cold weather outside makes it very difficult for me to breathe when I go outside. I am figuring out some "tricks" to make me more comfortable. I do have oxygen at home and portable canisters for when we go out. Depending on the amount of walking, I don't always need them. David said, "I have seen grandmas with those tubes."

The swelling has returned to my face which may suggest more fluid issues. I see my oncologist next week and will see what the pictures show.

Two dear friends have reported that their cancer has returned this past week. Someone said that hearing you have cancer has to be one of the worst things you could be told. I said the second time was worse than the first because I knew what I was in for. My prayer for these friends has been sweet rest at night. The nighttime is the worst for me and I prayed that they and their families would be able to rest snuggly in their beds at night, even though they are facing these trials again.

I woke up feeling like a trainwreck and did my best to not look like it but there isn't any fooling those folks at the cancer center. I had an appointment with my oncologist and a follow-up with the thoracic surgeon today. Oncologist says, "take a 2-week break from chemo." Apparently, the CT scan done during my hospital stay continued to show shrinkage of the tumors around my lungs. Also, the fluid did not show cancer cells. Yeah! Next, surgeon says fluid has already come back to my left lung. My lung is not able to fully expand because of the cancer damage and the fluid likes to collect around it. We will follow-up in a month to see if it remains stable or continues to increase. He said we may not be done with draining this stuff. My breathing is still somewhat labored, especially at night or during activity. So, I will be getting some oxygen to help. I was told I may struggle with this for some time.

Well, I am PLANNING on not having anyone stick me for the next 2 weeks. I hope to continue to recover and feel better before the next round of chemo begins.

Fun santa video

Click on this Santa site and create a unique message from Santa for your kids. My kids loved it!

What we woke up to outside

and it is still coming down.

Merry Christmas!

Since I won't have time to do Christmas cards this year, we are sending electronic ones instead. Here are some photos taken of our family for the holidays. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and many blessings to your families in the upcoming year! You shoulnd't have to be a member of facebook to look at these photos. Let me know if you have problems.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=40110&id=1071175180&l=d526f87766