Saturday, May 17

Hi! This is actually Marsha, tonight. Last Monday Dan and Danelle decided to set up a blog for me because so many precious friends and relatives have been praying for our family during this difficult cancer episode of mine. They felt that a blog would be the best way for us to communicate with the most people, and that's when they decided that they wanted everyone on my e-mail list to know my blog address!!! Oh dear! When I saw that THEY had written about my wonderful Mother's Day and sent the blog to everyone, I was a little embarrassed and asked if I could edit it and/or at least have an "intro" paragraph for the site. I was told that it was too late and I was too tired. So. . .

For the few of you who don't know, my breast cancer has returned and metastasized to some bones in my spine and lymph nodes in my chest. We sought 3 opinions: one from an oncologist (from City of Hope) in Hemet, and two at Loma Linda. All agreed that I am not a candidate for any conventional chemo except for the hormone-blocking drug Arimidex, which is palliative (for comfort of patient or to possibly slow growth of tumors)only. The medical prognosis is not favorable, but we all are absolutely sure of the fact that our amazing, sovereign God is the only One knows the number of my days and how I can best spend them to glorify Him in those remaining. Of course, I am also choosing some alternative therapies along with the Arimidex to build up my immune system and hopefully improve the quality! M

Mother's Day

The kids and grandkids took me to Idyllwild for the afternoon. Very few people were in the County Park and the meadow was virtually ours to enjoy. We ate lunch with the same menu which has been a favorite for years. It consisted of fried chicken, potato salad, pasta salad, watermelon, veggie tray and lemon cake. We played Frisbee golf which has been a family favorite for many years. The grandsons played stomp rocket, golf shoes, flew a kite and rode scooters in the parking lot. Then Keith, Dan and I took them on a hike with Brody the dog. We walked by the stream and had a performance at the amphitheater. The family were the actors and performers with branches as guitars with Caleb as the soloist, but hid behind the post most of the time. I enjoyed the interactive conversation among the kids as they discussed the Hawaiian trip for Grandma June's and Grandpa John's descendants. There was a lot of joking around and playful give and take.

When the weather got too cold, we all went down the hill to Devin and Michelle's home for more food, and a time for Caleb, Keith and Dan in the jacuzzi. Then we all viewed the last episode of Survivor.