I keep trying to insert some pictures of our little family, but can't get it to work, with the exception of the one below. I'm not sure what is happening, but the bottom half of all the pictures is cut off. Very annoying. I'll try again another day.
Does anybody see the cute picture? No? That's because I'm a dork and just accidentally erased it. Grr!
I'll just use this entry to do an update about my mom since I was asked about her recently.
So, her diseased has progressed rapidly to her lungs and heart. She did chemotherapy for 6 months until developing an allergic reaction to it. After her last chemo session she went in for all sorts of testing again. That's when they learned that the chemo wasn't really helping and her lungs were getting worse. So, they started her on an experimental drug that is very new. I don't think it's designed specifically for her disease, but should help many pulmonary diseases. She hasn't been on this drug long enough to see results. The only good thing about this drug is that because it's still so new they don't carry it in local pharmacies so they have to ship it to her house. One less trip to the pharmacy!
The doctor encouraged her to begin exercising everyday to try and build up her lung muscles. She was excited to get an elliptical machine for Christmas. When I asked how her exercising was going she said it was great and then described her daily workout. She could only exercise for 1 minute a day. That's right folks. 1 minute per day was her allotted amount of exercise. Each week she could increase it by one minute. I think she's up to 6 or 7 minutes a day. I was surprised to hear her say one minute and I think that's when I realized just how bad things were for her. It makes me sad for her, though sometimes I wish I had a valid excuse for not exercising!
About a month ago my mom did more testing for her lungs. Her terrible results forced them to put her on an oxygen tank. She only has to have the oxygen at night or if she's exerting a lot of energy (hiking, etc.). She has a large, ugly machine sitting next to her dresser. Janell probably remembers those days of having cords dangling across the room.
The latest test my mom did was a sleeping test at the hospital. She had to stay the night hooked up to all sorts of different monitors. She was afraid that she wouldn't sleep very well there, but came home and told my dad that it was one of the best night's sleep she had had in a while. Well, this morning she went in for her results. The tests showed that she has severe apnea. In a one hour period she stopped breathing 32 times. 32 times in 60 minutes? How is she still alive? She joked that that was such a good night's rest and wondered what a regular night would show. So now she has to go back to the hospital for the same sleep test only this time she'll be on a CPAP machine to see if it helps. If so she'll have one of those next to her dresser too. If not, who knows?
Such a crazy life. Please pray for her that they can find a way to help her so that she can live a normal life. She stays so strong through all the tests, machines, and bad news but I know it is taking a toll on her. She's amazing to stay so strong!
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