HALF WAY HOME
Lou was still in the recovery room when we got to the hospital this morning but had some great nurses. By the time we got there they had fed her breakfast. Mary Kathryn and I visited with her for a while and went to get our breakfast. When we got back she was sleeping soundly. We waited a while and MK decided to go ahead with her plans to volunteer at Cook Children's for the morning. I stayed with Lou waiting for the doctor to come by and release her like he did the last time she had this surgery. Her oncologist was doing surgery this morning and walked by a couple of times to wave at her. Dr. Siadati was in surgery at Baylor and had another one scheduled at 2 in Harris. We hoped he could come by to look at her and release her before noon. He didn't but the recovery room nurse called his office to get permission to remove the IV and let her go to a hospital room about 12:30. They had to get her out to permit the other recovery patients to come in. We waited in the room and I finally called again and the office called back saying to let her go home about 3:30 and MK drove us home. We will spend the night and drive home tomorrow.

THANKS FOR YOUR PRAYERS
Lou's surgery went well getting two discs kyphoplaticized, T1 and L9. The doctor said it was difficult due to the curvature of her spine, but he got them stabilized. Mark, Mary Kathryn, her sister Sue our pastor Margaret Friend and I all got to see her in recovery. The hospital is full and as of 9 p.m. they did not have a room to move her to. Dr. Siadati said she should be able to leave the hospital tomorrow. She will probably want to spend another night with our son and daughter-in-law. Should be home Friday morning, the Lord willing.

PRAY FOR THE DOCTOR TOMORROW
We heard from the doctor's office and Lou is scheduled for a 10:45 surgery and has to check in at 8:45 tomorrow which is better than the 7:30 we had gotten earlier. I think prayers work because she had a much better day Sunday when she was on a lot of church prayer lists. And we heard from our French exchange daughter who said they were praying for her. She even walked down to the pond without too much pain. She hurt a lot more Monday and today.

We drove to Weatherford without being blown off the road or seeing any fires. We had a report from Mark's friends who were driving to Midland and saw a fire south of Baird. We didn't see it when we left at 3.

RAIN IS BETTER THAN ICE
We had .4" in the rain guage by noon and this morning the grass was covered with ice. A little later in the morning we had some ice form on the trees but the temperature was 34. It got all the way up to 40 this afternoon with no sunshine. I have used up over one-half of my firewood but we have been cozy.

Lou is still fighting severe back pains. She dug out a couple of the old back braces and they help a little. The pain pills give some relief. Dr. Siadati's office called and at their request I had the MRI film overnight delivered to his office so that he can look at them Monday to prepare for the Wednesday surgery that they said would be a little later than 10:45, but that was totally expected. We have never gotten in at the scheduled time. Lou says she hopes it isn't as late as midnight like last time. At least it looks like the weather will clear up for the drive to Fort Worth.

The albino skunk hasn't come back but we have had hundreds of gold finch eating the sun flower seeds and today they delighted in bathing in the shallow water on the edge of the patio. Their bird baths are still frozen.

SURGERY SCHEDULED AND RESCHEDULED
Monday night Dr. Siadati called saying he had the results of the MRI and another disk had collapsed and to call his office to schedule another kyphoplasty surgery. This morning we called his secretary, Kim. She called later to say we were scheduled for Friday morning. We made plans for that and then this afternoon she called again to say Dr. Siadati had an emergency problem with his family and would have to reschedule for Wednesday January 30. So we have made new plans to go to Mark & MK's Tuesday night. Harris Hospital called and preregistered her. She will go in about 7:30 for preop and surgery is scheduled for 10:45. Our experience is that it never happens on time, but we hope this is a good date. Lou has had some very bad pain, but she took two pills this morning and got a shower.

I fired up the fireplace again this morning. The temperature was 32 and quickly dropped to 27. Lou insisted that I get a haircut today. As I drove to town this morning I had ice on the windshield all the way. It was OK coming back. But we are keeping the fire going.

WHITE SKUNK AND FINE FOOD

Mark and Mary Kathryn took care of us this weekend with great food. So I had to provide extrodinary wildlife. Our white skunk that I reported on before came in to show off and they wanted a photo.

MK made some gourmet meals for us and invited Ike and Sue Neal to share Sunday dinner. It was some kind of fancy pasta with a wine sauce. She had never cooked with wine before, but as usual it was great.

We called the MRI place today and they swore that the radiologist would read the pictures and send his report before 5 but we didn't hear from them. They said they would call. I will pursue this tomorrow. Lou is hurting really bad this morning. She thinks she may have turned wrong in bed before she got up. After pain pills and sitting reading she is some better this afternoon. I have to go to a building committee meeting at the church tonight, but she says she will be OK. So keep her in your prayers.

PAIN MANAGEMENT
I got an email from Shay Bennett saying I needed to update what the doctors said about the MRI. All we know is that a radiologist from Dallas will read the MRI and send the information to Siadati. So we won't know until next week what they found.

Yesterday Lou had the MRI and it wasn't as bad as she had dreaded. I called Dr. Siadati's office and asked for some better pain control medicine and he recommended vicodin. We had a few left from her previous surgery and went to Walmart pharmacy to order a refill. While we waited we ate at Cracker Barrel and got to visit with Ann Curtis, who was our mail provider for a year or so before she turned it over to her husband, Bobby. We enjoyed the meal. I ate a sirloin and Lou had the catfish special. We waited for a while for the prescription authorization and finally came on home. Lou began to hurt more and it is worse during the late afternoon.

This morning our son, Mark, and his wife, Mary Kathryn, came to be with us. They picked up the prescription for us. Lou started using what she had this morning and it seems to help better than the pill she was using. MK made a gourmet lintel soup with fresh spinach in it for me for lunch. It was fine. She is planning a meal tomorrow and has asked Sue and Ike to eat with us.

ANOTHER MRI
We contacted Dr. Hancock's office and he approved calling Dr. Siadati to have him look at Lou's back problem. They said the next open date for an appointment would be Feb. 6 but would try to find a date before then if they can get a cancellation. Dr. Siadati called that afternoon and told us that he would order an MRI to be done in Abilene. His secretary called to say that the appointment is scheduled for tomorrow at 9:45 a.m. Lou says she will take a pain pill and gut it out. She likes the people at the imaging center.

We are burning wood in the fireplace and staying very warm. Lou's chair is in front of the fireplace and she likes the warmth. I am feeling much better and walked to the mailbox to pick up the mail this morning. I hadn't walked all week and needed the exercise.

Lou is still reading novels to be judged. I am reading Glenn Beck's first book and agree with most of his conservative ideas. I watched the democratic debate in Nevada and found it really scary. Hillary stated that Bush is running the government using advisors and she would not do that. She would make all decisions herself. I would hope she would use some good advice if she becomes president.

BACKS AND WHITE SKUNKS
Yesterday we had a white skunk in the backyard. The feet were black and when it flared its tail you could see some black in the tail underneath. Couldn't see if the eyes were pink as in an albino.

Lou was feeling really good Saturday and Sunday morning she took her shower and put on makeup and felt good sitting in her chair in the living room. Then when she tried to get up she had a severe back pain occur and has been on prescription pain pills since then and still having severe problems. She is trying to decide whether she needs to go to a doctor and where. She doesn't feel that she can walk to the car and ride the way she feels now. However she is some better today maybe due to the pain pills. I have stayed home to help her not to have to reach or pick up anything. I will keep you posted.

CA125 IS DOWN!
Dr. Hancock's nurse called with the latest CA125 results and the reading is 13 which is below the normal 20 and only 2 above Dr. Hancock's prediction of 11. So the chemo seems to be working.
Lou is feeling pretty good. Yesterday she said even her back was better. We have walked to the mailbox the last two days. Her face was flushed red yesterday and slightly today but looking more normal.

She continues reading novels for the Spur award and working on her computer. She is not happy with her laptop after the AOL crashed and I reloaded a copy that doesn't look like what she is used to and keeps losing email that she writes and tries to mail. Computer aggravation!

I have read two juvenile books that I have to review for the Cross Plains Library. As usual I am behind.

ONE CHEMO TO GO
Today Lou had her fourth chemo in this series and Dr. Hancock said he would let her regain her energy by waiting 4 weeks for the next and hopefully last one. So it will be Feb. 6. Her blood work again looked fairly good for red and white blood cell counts although they were fractionally off from last time. We will call Friday for the CA125 results. Dr. Hancock is predicting it will be around 11 because it was down to 27 three weeks ago. Lou felt good going into the round and slept some during the three hour infusion. Mark and Mary Kathryn again brought us Chik-FilA sandwichs for lunch. MK stayed with us through the ordeal. Lou felt pretty good leaving at 3 p.m. but by the time we got home she was feeling the effects and was washed out. She generally feels worse the 2 thru 5 days after chemo. I will report the CA125 Friday.

FIRST WEEK OF THE NEW YEAR
It has been a pretty good week for the new year. I am really enjoying the chocolate in many forms. Lou and I have been able to walk to the mailbox and back several times including this morning. I am doing a lot better and Lou is doing well except that her back is giving her fits. She was doing well until she had to start chemo again. I hope this session Wednesday will be her last, but she expects to have at least one more.

We had an unexpected visit from our friends Dr. Richard and Mary Ann Chaffin last Friday. They have moved to Lubbock. Richard was our pastor in Cross Plains for five years and lost their home in the 2005 fire. They spend a lot of time in their RV and Mary Ann writes great travelogues. We got into a discussion about devotionals and Mary Ann said she wanted to have some that are written more for our age than young workers. I told them about reading my Guideposts devotional for January 3 that was written by Carol Kuykendal (?) telling how she was filling out her calender for January by writing in a date for chemotherapy. Her husband had taken her to the hospital on an emergency basis, she had surgery and found that she had stage IV ovarian cancer. I told Lou that we were better off than she because four weeks earlier her husband had been diagnosed with a brain tumor. So Richard wrote down the address of Guideposts. I am fortunate that my daughter has given me a Guideposts book every year as long as I can remember.

Lou is still reading novels for the Spur award and December was the end of the time for entries, but she got a couple of books this week. One had been shipped by UPS early in December the other was sent after the deadline. I am reading a book to be reviewed for the Library about the Wright Brothers.

Tomorrow we will get to visit with our Alaska schoolteacher niece. We are looking forward to that. We aren't looking forward to Wednesday and chemo, but the weather looks good. Keep Lou in your prayers.