A Happy New Year To All!
As my friend often reminds me, "Brenda does not blog when all is well"! I will add to that "when Brenda is very busy with all the details of Holiday celebrations!" I am amazed that I am still standing!
I did remind all our children this year to please be aware that the year ahead will most likely take away even more of my ability to keep up the pace. I keep hinting and hoping one of our five children will take the hint and unload a bit of the celebrating to either their house or change our venue to include smaller gatherings with smaller meals! They are listening and some have begun to step up to the plate.
Lee and I were able to host two large gatherings at Christmas. One on Sunday evening before Christmas with 12 ( there were three absentees), and the following was on Christmas Eve, again with 12. Both of these were with a large meal followed by the sharing of the many gifts that were exchanged. It was busy and wonderful, but still very draining and exhausting. I know that this is partly due to our heavy schedule during October because we had to stay in Durham three weeks for Lee's radiation treatment. Seems as though as soon as we returned home there was much to do in preparation for seating of 20 at our house for Thanksgiving! All this with only three weeks until Christmas! In spite of the pressure ( shopping, doctor visits etc.) it was truly a magical Christmas! Our great grand daughter Alyssa was here for Christmas Eve, and Sunday before we had two-year-old Emily, and three-year-old Easton! It is always wonderful to have a baby to pass from one to another, along with others who kept us entertained! We delighted in having twelve of our thirteen grandchildren here for all the celebrations.
We count among our many blessings, our family. How fortunate we are to be surrounded by all our children , grandchildren, and now great grandchildren during these special times of the year. We are sorry the confines of this age place some restrictions on our ability to follow through with all the activities. None-the-less, we push forward, constantly reminded that life would indeed be sad if there was no one to share on these joyous occasions!
During this time, Lee had several more squamous cell carcinomas to appear on his face and chest. There were numerous pre-cancerous growths on his neck and head that were (hopefully) stopped with the topical treatment! He had a rather large squamous cell appear on his chest area. The Moh's was bypassed in favor of large area removal with a successful pathology report. He returns to the doctor tomorrow for removal of sutures.
Our calendar is already filling up with appointments in Durham from January through April. Lee now has five services and many different doctors who follow-up on his continuing history of related developments. In addition to the lung-transplant visits, he now has: Oncology, Dermatology, EENT, and Cardiology! He is now a walking medical textbook! One, I might add, that should indeed have many major chapters about his amazing resilience, his wonderful attitude and his innate ability to overcome obstacles in his path! Even as I write, he is recovering from a cold, and after five days, appears to be on the mend.
Lee has been fortunate to have established friendly and compassionate relationships with his health-care providers. He is the only person I know that actually receives phone calls from some of his doctors who ask about his current condition and remind him of their availability to him whenever he needs them! He is always able to form friendships that are meaningful not only to him, but to all those who get to know him. He is well established among his medical professionals as a strong determined man, who never complains and is always willing to work with them to do whatever is necessary to recover. I believe this attitude of determination and compliance has earned him the respect of all those who meet him.
We will resume his journey toward good health beginning January when Lee has to return to Duke for a check-up with his Cardiologist. This will be a day trip with no overnights until we return in February for several overnights for Pulmonary check to see if he is still in a mild form of rejection.
I would end this with a promise to be more faithful to the blog, but am afraid I will break the promise. As my friend reminds me, " assume all is well with Lee, when Brenda does not blog!"
Thanks for being there during our difficult times. That is when I need you support and prayers the most.
More Later....................................................Brenda
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