Thanksgiving

Happy belated thanksgiving to my blog readers. I have a lot to thank for in my life. I thank God to give me such a good family and friends in my life. I think them for supporting me, fighting with me, encouraging me, praying for me and even feed me and my family. I could not have done all what i did without the supports of friends, family and coworkers! We had a great family vacation on this thanksgiving. On Thursday morning the whole family, yes including Toby and Joshua, drove to Wiscousin Dells. We stayed at the kalahari resort. The more thank 100,000 sf of indoor water and them parks kept us busy especially the kids. In the two days we stayed there, kids had a blast!. Besides riding all the slides in the biggest indoor water park, they also did multiple rounds of wall climbing, laser tag, mini golf, rope course, go cart et al. The whole family enjoyed two rounds of bowling. Of course Dad beat all of us by a big margin! On thursday night, we enjoyed a wornderful thanksgiving buffet. It was a treat for sure. Here a few photos took from iPhone. Pictures can't capture the impressive feast. Kids said we should come here for thanksgiving every year - to form a new family tradition. Sounds like not a bad idea!....we have to think about:)

deserts

more deserts

my turkey plate

kids love this

more deserts

My roast beef plate

my appetizer plate

Family

On Friday morning, Bert and I drove to Mayo Clinic. It was 2/5 hrs away and an easy drive. There I finished my last Chemo!! It was all uneventful. However, I am sadly miss my chemo partner, Jeanne. She started chemo two weeks before me. Unfortunately she had went through infections first on her finer nails and now on her toes. She now ended up at least two weeks behind. I pray for her. I know how frustrated to have speed pump on the road. But Jean, can you see the light at the end of the tunnel already? Keep up your good spirit!!

So we celebrated with food and fun!

salad and pizza

desrts

salad bar

my salad plate

my main plate

a section of buffet table

Toby and Jenny having fun

Toby and Jenny

one of many phots of Jenni

Lefty handed Anna

Lefty handed Josh

proud to have a strike?

Yeah, that is definitely a strike!

Three men in my life - Love you all dearly!!

Lefty handed Toby

Dad smashed us!

Mom without passing the line

Goof around

Jenni on the wall

Anna and Toby on the wall

Toby on the wall

Anna on the wall

Jenni on the Rope course

Josh and Jenni on the rope course

Got a lot of huges from my kids:)

First family photo

Dad goof around

yeah, another family photo!

Scaring Josh? not really

Anna and Toby



Floating on the lazy river, but I think they make it not so lazy



group ride

floating on the lazy rive

The expressions from Toby and Jenni after they came out the biggest drop slides

Departing the Resorts - We had a great time!!

We left the resorts on Saturday morning. We then met with Wesses in Chicago for some Chicago dogs and burgers before heading home. It was a great getaway and celebration of my last chemo.

Pre-operative tests in one week. Then we will know my surgery plans! Can't wait!!

Small things make big difference in life

Small things can make a huge difference in life. For example, eye lashed and nose hairs, who would think they are important! Because of the side effect of chemo, I lost most of my eye lashes and nose hairs. That is when I realize how important they are in my life. Without these hairs, you would have to deal with constant running nose and tears!! I now wonder what facial hair actually does. It must have a purpose too that I believe I just have not figured it out yet. I think I will have more appreciation for my hairs when they return. I miss having full head of hair to keep me warm in the cold and isolate me from the heat under the sun. I miss nose hairs that would give me protection. I felt silly constantly sucking my nose in or blowing it out. I miss my eye lashes that keep dirts out of my eyes and keep my eyes from running like a water fountain and sparkling from the tear drops. I think police would stop me and give me tickets if they know my tear prevent me seeing the road. I don't miss my other bodily hair yet, but I am sure in an unusual situations, I may find their purposes. It makes your wonder how great God is to create us perfectly.

Happy Birthday, Udo!

Last Friday when I had my second last chemo was my brother in law Udo's birthday. Udo had been with us for 6 weeks helping us talking care of the girls and light house work. He was a great helper. He just left today back to Germany. I hope he will come again in December. We don't always have a chance to celebrate his birthday on his birthday in person so it is quite special for all of us.

Udo's birthday cake

Chemo went uneventfully on Friday. Although my blood counts were low which were the contributing factor for my fatique, it was low enough to require treament or stop chemo. Chemo is a way how I fight with this cancer so I must say that I am looking forward to every one of them. One more to go!!

administrating the "red devil"

"I love chemo" made from the pretzel I was eating while doing chemo

Thanks to my friends for your continuing encouragements and supports. Especially thanks to Sheila and Shelley for the wonderful dinner on Friday and Saturday. They are wonderfully delicious!

Meat Balls

Salad

Scalloped potatoes

dinner roll and brownie (not photoed)

Magarita! Non-acoholic

Enchiladas

Mexican Rice

Beans

Cherry Pie

Happpy Halloween!

I am so glad my girls had such wornderful Halloween. They came up the costume ideas all by themselves. With a little help from me, Jenny dressed up as  Professor Jenny. She is natural, isn't she? She spent her time trick or treating with her friend Michela from Swimming Team. With all the stuff we have including the bow except arrows, we put together Anna's Katniss costume easily. I am surprised how much she actuallly looks just like the actress in the movie!
We also managed to squeeze in some time to carve the pumpkins. As I was sitting there watching them carving their pumpkins, I was thinking how wonderful it is to have older children so you don't have do the physical carving part for them. Little I know, they got tired of carving very easily. I was glad to help them to finish up.

Anna, Katniss



Anna as Katniss. I think she is looks like the real Katniss on the movie!

Rex is being Rex

Jenny, the professor

She is natural, isn't she?

Pumpkin Time!

Go Blue!!

Anna's BOO Pumpkin

Anna is at work

Chemo #14 was uneventful. The side effect is very similar to last week. Doctor gave me some steroid now to help me with my appetitte, but it messes up my sleep. I am taking all I can to fight all of these. Only two more chemos to go. I can't wait!!

Kathy, Sheila, Anna, Karen, Lynnette,....all the friends I could not possibly list them all for the wonderful dinner, flowers, book, cards and thoughts and prayers. You are my inspiration and courage. I know I will go through this only with your help!! Thanks!!!



Beautiful flowers brighten my days!

 



a book written by a breast cancer surivor (Anna Nielson's friend). It is a children's book, but it inspiring me tremondously!



Fighting Continues...

I can't believe it has been more than 2 weeks since I last posted. A lot of things has happened. Yet everything seems to went by quite fast.
Bert and I went Mayo Clinic on October 10. We stayed there for three nights to do MRI, MBI, Echocardiogram, breast biopsy and started the 2nd round of chemo. On Friday, right before the 2nd round of chemo, I saw my oncologist Dr. Haddad. She literally danced into the room, waving my MRI results. She told us excitedly that none of the imaging techniques had shown I have a cancer tumor. I have received what is called radiological complete response. While Bert had tears in his eyes, I was still skeptical or simply could not believe what I hear. Of course every technique has its detection limit and the final judgement has to be done through surgery. However, when the same techniques that have detected nearly 2 cm cancer tumor three months ago do not detect anything, I know the only conclusion we could get is that the tumor had responded to chemo treatment very well!! Praise to God for his healing power and thanks to my family and friends for their powerful prayers!
Blood results and Echocardigram showed that I am in a good shape to start the next round of chemo Adruanycin/Cytoxan. It is commonly called "red devil" by nurses and chemo patients because its look and side effects. It surely knocked me out. The fatigue kept me in bed nearly three days. What used to smell good made nauseous. I completely lost my appetite too. Right before I had started my 2nd round of chemo, my parents were complaining to me that I might not have told them the truth about my physical status. They could not believe that I did not have any side effect with my first round of chemo. I think they "jinxed" it. Now I do have what they expected:). Now you know why I have not written. Thank God I now have lived through it to "whine" about it. I sincerely pray for those people who have gone through worse side effects than I have.
I hope to post more when I have more energy and strength. I spent more time to give my body a rest. I think it deserves it:).

Chemo#12 - time to celebrate

Last Friday marked the end of the first round of chemo. 12 weeks! I can't believe it has been that long since my first chemo. It seemed at times that this chemo was never going to end. Thanks to my fighting crews at work who tirelessly fight with me. This week, they surprised me with a collage of photos of my supporters. It was truly inspirational to see their smiling faces knowing everyone of them care about me. It is a reminder that I can't give up. I must fight to the end!

Chemo#12 was uneventful. However, what came after was unforgettable. Four mamas from Anna's adoption travel group came to Holland to spend a weekend with me! They planned this whole weekend in secret. They picked me up from my house. We stayed at a bed and breakfast in Fenville, the Heritage Manor. They surprised me with in room massage and fine dinner plans. We had great time together!

Dinner at City VU

Wine Tasting Tour at Fenn Valley