Wellness

[Gracies Mom]

**HAPPY 4th OF JULY COOKIE & LOOPY!!!!!!!**

Loopy--Glad you had a wonderful time at your family reunion!!! My brother is at his wife's annual family reunion right this minute (in So.Carolina no less--hope they don't get hit with the tropical storm heading their way!).

Cookie--Please let us know how your Mom is doing!!! What did the doctor say? Your Mom has been in my prayers ever since I read your post.I can't blame you for being worried.

What are you ladies doing for the holiday? We are having a friend stay with us for the weekend--he lost his brother to pancreatic cancer last month and he is alone now--we thought we would feed him some home cooked meals and just hang out for a few days. Nothing exciting--but I could without any drama for awhile.

Enjoy the holiday……….love to you both!!!!!

GM

[cookiegal]

Happy 4th of July!!! GM, that's nice that you are spending the day with a friend--in sorry for his loss!!!! My husbands uncle is visiting us right now--been her since Wednesday--he will be leaving tonight, driving to Maryland. Not sure we'll do much today--it's such a dreary day!! Well, unfortunately we received bad news from the dr about my mom--she has a tumor on her lung. We don't have any further information, as to size, how many, etc. The dr is waiting for the actual report (apparently the technician called the dr only to say she has a tumor). My mom is already scheduled to see pulmonary dr, oncologist and several ct scans (brain, abdomen). We are all still in shock!!!!! I haven't been able to think of anything but this since we found out--I'm devastated!!!!!! Although, not shocked because of her symptoms!!! I just don't understand how this wasn't caught when she had heart surgery earlier this year--apparently they never did X-rays/scans when she was out of breath then! :-(. Anyway, I plan on visiting next weekend. I'm so grateful that so far she is handling this quite well!!! She hasn't been emotional with me at all--and I've been on the phone with her for the past two days--calling her 3-4 times each day!! I don't think it's sunk in yet, even though she verbally talks about the risks and being scared! So, needless to say, we are not in the celebrating spirit for the 4th!!! But, we will continue to have faith and take one day at a time!! I truly appreciate your prayers and positive thoughts--else can use every one of them!!!! :-) I wish you both a wonderful weekend--and I will keep you updated!!! Hugs!!!!

[Gracies Mom]

Oh, my dear friend Cookie, I'm so very sorry to hear of your mother's illness!! Believe me, I know how shocking it is to hear the word "tumor!!" You just go numb until it sinks in--and then you go into fighting mode and do all you can to get rid of it. Like you, I don't get why this disease wasn't caught when you Mom had surgery earlier this year--they do chest x-rays whenever you go into the hospital--unless the tumor was so tiny that it was missed?That might be something your should look into--maybe someone dropped the ball--I know I would. Right now, your Mom needs a lot of emotional support---can you be there when she sees the doctors she needs to see? She shouldn't go alone--she needs another ear to hear what the doctors are telling her.

I will pray hard for her--and for you dear friend!!!!! I will light candles, too.

Please take care of yourself--try your best to be strong for your Mom--it's not easy when a parent gets sick. I will be watching for your posts!!

It's a lousy July 4th here, too--rainy and stormy. My hubby and our guest are watching movies all day--I'm hanging with Gracie.

Love & God Bless,

GM

[LooPY]

Oh cookie--I just read your last posts and am so sorry to hear this news about your mom--my heart goes out to you--I'm so upset for you! I know how scary and stressful this must be--GM is right, when you have all the information and can make a plan, everyone feels more in control of the situation. I know you'll be there for your mom, but please guard your own health, too! I'm keeping her close in thought and sending healing wishes for her best health--please post when you can--thinking of you--with love.....

GM--how kind of you and Joe to have your friend, to enjoy your company and not be alone! I remember that he lost his brother to pancreatic cancer last month, and I'm so sorry. I hope you've all had a really nice weekend together! And I'm so glad that you've been feeling well! I wish you both a healthy and safe weekend--love and hugs to you both! x0x0x0x

[Gracies Mom]

*Hi Cookie & Loopy!!*

Loopy--Hope you & yours had a wonderful July 4th weekend--and hope you are having a wonderful (HOT!) summer! Any vacation plans? We had a nice weekend with our friend--Joe will be helping him fix up his brother's apartment this weekend so it can be sold.

Cookie--I've been thinking about you-please update us about your Mom when you can!! I will be praying for her.

I have an appointment with my oncology gyn surgeon tomorrow--hopefully I'm OK--I will post when I can about my visit. I haven't been working much--the hospital isn't too busy. Spending my days hanging with Gracie, reading, browsing the internet, answering e-mails--stuff I don't get to do when I'm working. I like being home, but it's tough financially--I don't get paid if I don't work.

I'm still working on suing the nursing home my Aunt Joy was neglected in--my lawyer sent a summons to the home--and now the home's lawyers want details about our suit.I've never sued anyone before, so this should be interesting--and a learning experience. This suit is about justice for Aunt Joy--I don't care about the money. Will keep you ladies updated on this.

Try to keep cool……...

Love, GM

[Gracies Mom]

**COOKIE**

Are you out there, my friend??? Am so worried that you haven't posted!! Been thinking about your Mom--and praying for her---everyday. Please let Loopy and I know how she's doing--and how you and your family are!!!!

God Bless,

GM

[cookiegal]

Hi Ladies!! I'm so so sorry for not replying sooner!! Life has been a whirl-wind of late. We had received some disturbing news about my dad's health as well and he also needed a biopsy--but I'm so so grateful to report he's fine!! No cancer!!!! He also needed a colonoscopy--there were some minor abnormalities and a polyp which they removed and that was sent off to be biopsied as well--fingers crossed that will come out fine--but I don't think the dr was overly concerned, so I'm sure it will be ok!! As for my mom--it's just been crazy--all these drs, all these tests and not too many answers. She was suppose to have a biopsy a couple weeks ago but the tech said the one spot that they wanted (she has 4 on right lung) shrunk and he couldn't do it without risking collapsing her lung. We thought in one way that's good news because we didn't think cancer could shrink like that---but we found out recently that it didn't actually "shrink". Dr said that's not what happened--tech got scared and didn't want to do it because of it's specific location!! :-(. They did a PET scan and that showed her chest lymph nodes are involved too--soooooo they sent her to new dr who will remove and biopsy one of her lymph node--that's on Tuesday (19th). I'd appreciate prayers that everything goes well. I'm a little confused about what exactly they are going to do because they did mention the possibility of removing part of lung depending on what they find--not sure if they meant at the time of biopsy?!?! Well that's the scoop for now--I will definitely keep you all updated--and I promise to write sooner---I was just so busy before and didn't have much new news!! All if the delays have been incredibly frustrating--although my mom is pretty good about it all. :-) I hope you both are doing well--it saddens me to think summer is coming to an end--my kids go back to school in a week!!!! Boohoo!!!!!!! I feel like the summer blew by in a blink!!! :-(. Anywhooo, I have to be running off!!! Again, hope you both are doing well!!!! Hugs!!!!!!!!!!!!!'

[Gracies Mom]

**COOKIE!!**

So glad you posted--I was so worried!!

First, I'm glad your Dad is OK--hopefully the polyp came back negative for anything serious. Please let us know.

Next, how did your Mom's biopsy go yesterday? I've been praying for her! Was part of her lung removed at the time of biopsy? Yes, they can do that--usually through a thorascope--they can remove a wedge of lung if it is diseased. Definitely let us know how your Mom is doing!! I will light a candle for her,too.

Tomorrow is my birthday---I'm so glad I'm still here to celebrate it---it's been three years since I was diagnosed with cancer--can you believe that? It kind of went fast, but it kind of didn't--hard to explain.

Not doing much tomorrow, but that's fine--maybe we'll go out for dinner if Joe is up to it after a day of work--if not, we can always go out on the weekend.

I bought myself a new fall handbag with my birthday money--a charcoal gray satchel. I don't need much to make me happy. Although a new charcoal gray fall coat might be nice…..LOL!!

Loopy--are you out there? How are you????

Love & God Bless to you both,

GM

[cookiegal]

Hi GM!!! Happy belated birthday!!!!!! I hope you had a nice one!!!! Did you go out to dinner?? If so, where?? I hope you are enjoying your new handbag too--did you get that on qvc?? Sorry I didn't write sooner--things weren't going well for my mom--it's a long story--they were unable to do that biopsy. They weren't able to insert the breathing tube. But long story short, she went again and they were successful--we got the results today. Unfortunately she has small cell lung cancer. It apparently is very aggressive but at the same time more receptive to chemo. She meets with the oncologist on Thursday!! It doesn't seem to have spread yet--but they need to do another brain scan--apparently that's one of the places it spreads to first!! And although she had one two months ago, the cancer is so aggressive, it could have spread during that time!!! :-(. I'm still trying to wrap my head around all this!!! I'd appreciate your prayers--we can use all we can get!!!!! How did your appointment go---hope everything was great!!!!!!!! Please keep us updated!! I feel bad I wasn't able to write sooner--now that the kids are back to school and I'm back to work, time just passes by way too quickly!!!!!! We were suppose to go away in 3 weeks to Disney, but I'm sure we will cancel now. Which is ok with me--my heart is not in it!!! Although I need a mental break! Lol Well, I better get going--I still have stuff to do before bed!!!! And my alarm goes off at 5:30!!! Have a great night--both you GM and Loopy---hope all is well with both of you!!!!!!! Hugs!!!!!

[Gracies Mom]

**HI Cookie!!**

So glad you posted---you've been on my mind!!

My birthday was fine. We went to dinner at the Outback--we had a gift card that Joe's mother gave us last November for our anniversary that we never used (at that time we couldn't eat out--still having radiation side effects)--so we used the gift card now. I had a filet mignon and Joe had prime rib with a small lobster tail--the food was very good, but I couldn't believe the prices! We shared an appetizer, I had a glass of red wine, Joe had a beer--no dessert or coffee--and the bill was $89!--with tip over $100!! Just insane!! The gift card was for $100--and I foolishly thought we'd have money left over for another dinner--I must be living under a rock, no? Joe brought home a lovely square glass vase full of flowers--they lived a long time--I just got rid of them this weekend.

Oh, Cookie, I'm so sorry to hear the news about your Mom's cancer!!! I'm thankful that it will be receptive to chemo--and I will pray that it is not as aggressive as the doctors think. I hope her brain scan comes back clean--and that her oncologist can start treating her right away. Post when you can and let us know how she is doing. I will continue to pray for your Mom--and for you too.

Saw my gyn surgeon and he feels I'm OK---he will see me again in mid-October. I see my radiation oncologist on Sept 30th-he will examine me again and make sure all is well. Both doctors are keeping a close eye on me--I will see one of them every other month, so if anything nasty grows back, it will be caught quickly. The gyn surgeon (my regular surgeon's partner, who will now be my regular surgeon--the one who operated on me left the practice and joined another one out of Columbia Presbyterian in NYC) is very conservative--he feels I will not need more than a scan every 8 months or so--he told me that he has never caught a recurrence through a scan--only by a manual exam--so he is not a fan of scans--YAY!! He also doesn't feel the cancer marker (blood test) for female cancers is useful, so I don't have to go for anymore of those blood tests either--YAY again! PLUS--this doctor looks like a movie star--young, jet black hair, bright blue eyes, nice smile (and yes, he wears a wedding ring--LOL!)--what's better is that he's gentle and does a super fast exam----I'll stick with him, thank you very much!!

Too bad you will cancel your Disney trip, but it's understandable--it's hard to enjoy a trip with your Mom being ill. There will be other, better times you and your family can make that trip.

I can imagine how busy you are----post when you can, Cookie.

Loopy---Where are you???????? Hope all is well!!!

Love & God Bless,

GM