Endless

I saw the Physiatrist today about my back. He showed Frank and I pictures of my MRI results. He said the spine is healing nicely. Because I had pain in my legs he expected to find the spinal cord being pinched by one of the compressed vertebre. However he was very puzzled to find the spinal cord was NOT being pinched at all. This didn't explain away the nerve pain in my legs.

So he said my case was quite a puzzle! I was the most puzzling case all week and today was the last day of the week! LOL He was a pretty funny doctor. I will give him that.

Frank, being his lawyer self asked how they could get this strange MRI view of the spinal cord and the doc said,

"You're not going to ask me how an MRI works are you?" and Frank said "Yes."

So he proceeded to tell us how an MRI worked with Proton talk and 3D talk that went way over my head!

So after the whole visit stuff he gave me the option of going home and doing nothing vs. a bone scan and a nerve conduction test. So, knowing myself I opted for doing something and going with the tests.
This Tuesday is the bone scan and he 24th of February is the nerve testing.
So just keep me in your prayers.

My Life Story

Just to announce that I have officially transferred my life story to another blog. It is on the top of my list of links on the side bar. You are invited to read it. I just this morning finished adding pictures. Since it was on Powerpoint I could only add text, but not the pictures. Unfortunately powerpoint does not let you copy or save pictures once you have added them.

So let this be a warning to all of you working in Powerpoint. I had to go back to all my scanned pictures and add them in, one by one.

"Emma" movie

If you haven't seen the new movie "Emma," you should go out and buy it right now. It is that good!
It was made by the descendants of Emma and Joseph Smith. It is very factual and historical. It is not made by the church and is very inspirational.

Here is a quote from the movie where Emma is talking to her daughter, Julia Murdock Smith.

"We're not born with strength; we find it and the Lord gives us more each and every day!"

We watched the movie for FHE last night at our friend's house and we had treats too! Yummy for the tummy!

Doctor Update

We have all been waiting for yesterday with much anticipation. The oncologist, Dr. Batson was to decide whether or not to take me off chemo. Well, I'm happy to announce that I'm free of that nasty stuff for now.

He does want to do a bone marrow biopsy where they take a small sample of bone from the pelvis with a core needle. They'll put me out, so they can take all they want for all I'll care! I'll be in Valium land where ever that is!

I see the back MD who treats non-surgically next Friday so I will let you know the results from that visit.

This week was very busy with Physical Therapy 2x's, a book club on Tues. night and Enrichment last Thursday.

Today I went to a on-going 10 month class called

"Growing Groceries."

It was sponsored by Master Gardeners. With so many family laid off and out of work, the interest is now there to grow vegetable gardens as a family. So if we pay $35 the first class we can take 9 more classes each month for free. The catch is that we are required to go into the community and teach what we have learned. I've been gardening for years but only in the last four years have I established raised beds and gotten more serious! This year my visiting teaching companion had some large tree planting containers which I used against the south side of the house for tomatoes. The reflection of the heat bouncing off the house is great for tomatoes. They need a lot of sun! But this last summer it rained a lot so the harvest wasn't so great. I'm looking forward to this summer's garden.

We Survived the Flooding in Stanwood

Stanwood is situated on the Stillaguamish River and the town is prone to floods. Above are some pictures of the latest flooding - the worst we've ever seen in the 15 years we have lived here.
The first picture is a family in downtown (we live up on the hill) being rescued by emergency personnel.
The picture that reads City of is the City of Stanwood sign buried by water.
A road that is in our ward had two feet of water so MIA was canceled last Wednesday night. We had church today though because the waters had already receded. Lots of excitement in the last week. A rest home in the downtown area had to be evacuated to the high school which sits on a bluff above the town.
Let's put it clear and to the point; we're looking forward to spring!

New Update

After the last three weeks I was happy to see the doctor and have some positive news.
I had an x-ray three weeks ago that confirmed that I had more compressed fractures (5 now instead of 3). So I have had a lot of pain upon standing or walking. Sitting or reclining has been great though.
Friday I saw the oncologist and he said:
1. Tylenol or ibeprofen are not acceptable for a broken back. I must take stronger medication for a more serious problem. There's only one problem. He has been dealing with a stoic, stubborn Scandanavian who doesn't like heavy pain medication. So now I've learned to take what I need for pain. I'm pain free after two days on the right meds! Hurray! I'm more than ecstatic!
2. This is my sixth chemo. He is thinking and I mean only thinking of taking me off chemo for awhile because:
a. A side effect is neuropathy (numbness) in the hands and feet.
b. My body has responded so well to the chemo that my cancer counts are 2.65 and normal is 1.5.
c. Sooner or later my cancer cells will start to ignore the meds. So taking me off will give my body a jump start when the Velcade needs to be re-started.
3. He is referring me out to a physiotherapist (MD who specializes in back problems without surgery). He told me of a procedure called Kaoplasty where a balloon is inserted in the collasped vertebre, lifts it up and a special cement is inserted to prevent the disk from ever collasping again. My first thought, (I wonder if I'll gain 10 or so pounds from the cement?) Hee, hee. I don't think it's that kind of cement.

So things are looking positive for me again. The last three weeks I began to wonder!