TWO WEIRD DAYS

Yesterday was a frozen day. The temperature didn't get above freezing and the ice kept me from going to get the mail until noon. Lydia postponed cleaning until today. Kiwanis called and cancelled so we stayed home and rested. I really intended to get upstairs and work on my taxes but took a long nap instead.

Then there was this morning. About 4:45 the power went off. I got up and checked the outside temperature at 19 degrees. Fortunately the fireplace had a fire going and I had a couple of sticks of wook in the house to add to it. Also last year I bought a screen to keep the embers from coming out and could go back to bed and not worry about it. I knew it was supposed to warm up when the sun came up. I finally got up and dressed about 7 and Lou stayed in bed. I brought some more wood in and it threw out some good heat from coals. The sun came up around 7:30 and the temperature started coming up. Lou got up, put on her robe and came to her recliner where I bundled her like a mummy in her blanket. It was warm enough near the fireplace. About 9 someone pounded on the door. It was the postman delivering our mail in the ice. Bobby Curtis is a great friend and we appreciated his thoughfulness. It was really icy at that time. At 9:30 the power came on - for about 10 seconds and went off again. I called and they said they were still working on the outage. I kept putting off making breakfast in hope that I could us the skillet for scrambled eggs.

Lou had told me that she didn't want junk food like yesterday so I had planned scrambled eggs and toast, but no power meant that I couldn't get it done. I am really not a campfire cook and don't know how to toast bread in the fireplace. Finally I fixed two bowls of cold cereal and we were eating them by the fireplace when the power came back permanently at 10:30. I hadn't made Lou's coffee but she suggested a cup of hot chocolate. That tasted good. I was all fouled up. Lou finally went to get dressed and I got to shave and take morning pills.

Lydia came at 11:30 and I put recycle stuff in the car and left at noon to go to Abilene to pick up Lou's pills. She took her last pain pill this morning and we really needed them. She asked me to buy her a flannel granny gown. I went by Penney's and got one that she says will be too big, but it was on sale cheap. I have washed and dried it and we will look at it tonight. I looked in her closet and found a flannel granny gown that she already has and she will wear it tonight between the flannel sheets that we got for Christmas. Lou always feels cold and she doesn't like this kind of weather.

When I got home I broiled a prime rib steak that I had and made some mashed potatoes out of a box and Lou appreciated the non-junk food even if some was out of the package. We also shared buttermilk pie with Lydia and had some for dessert around 3:30.

It sure is a good feeling to have power and email available this afternoon. I looked out the window after my nap from 4 to 5 and saw a large buck deer with five does in his harem. They like this kind of weather.

See, your prayers are keeping us in God's care. Thanks.

MONDAY IS WASH DAY

And boy did I have laundry today. Lou was really feeling bad yesterday because she had been constipated since Tuesday and was feeling worse due both to the chemo effects combined with the concern that she had "locked bowels". She had an aunt who died when Lou was a teenager from "locked bowels" and that was the problem that put her in the hospital in 2006. So it is a huge worry. Last night I was praying and the solution came to me that she needed an enema to get her started. She has been taking Phillips Milk of Magnesia Sat and Sun night. When she got up this morning she really felt bad and we even discussed getting nursing help but she said wait until the afternoon. I looked for an enema bulb, but we don't have one. She didn't eat any breakfast and I started the laundry.

Then about 9 all hell broke loose. The laxative came through and we no longer had to worry about constipation. Before she could get to the toilet, she was dripping on the floor and of course I added her shoes, socks, panties, and trousers to my laundry cycle. The process was repeated all morning long. I washed three complete sets before it settled down and only messed with underthings. She must have gone to the pot 10 times. In the afternoon she was so tired of the diarrhea that she started taking Immodium against my advice. I was glad to see her bowel cleansing and reducing the size of her swollen stomach. It really took it out of her and she was worn out when she went to bed. All day she sat in her chair and slept until she had to run to the pot. What I am grateful for is that it didn't occur at night as it has in the past and had me washing sheets. But I got the laundry all finished and now during the ice storm tomorrow will have time to get the ironing done.

I believe that now Lou will begin to feel better and hope that her appetite will return. She didn't want to eat anything today and only had some Ensure, a little applesauce and finished off a small amount of Blue Bell butter pecan ice cream. This morning before the break through she drank some prune juice and ate a prune. But later she wasn't interested in that menu.

I have the fire place going and am praying that the ice storm doesn't disrupt our electric power seeing how we are all electric for heating and lightning.

Keep praying for Lou. Her friend Sylvia Grider called tonight and said that she had been thinking about Lou all day.

Your prayers are appreciated.

WEEKEND WITH TURKEYS

Six turkeys came this weekend to eat all the grasshoppers in the yard. At least I guess that is what they are eating. They scratch all through the yard after eating corn under the deer feeder. Kathy was here and took photos of them. She also took good care of Lou and me. Lou isn't eating much because she is worried about the constipation and is taking milk of magnesia pills. She had a small BM and we hoped that would start the process but she is planning to take four more pills tonight. She calls this the chemo blahs and is a little better today than yesterday. Kathy made potato soup that Lou ate a little bowl. She ate some Blue Bell ice cream for dessert.

I worked on the internet edition of The Flame, the FUMC newsletter this week and decided to print copies to take to church this morning. As usual with computer printing I goofed it up. I was printing on both sides and after printing a couple of pages it said the black ink cartridge was low and suggested canceling the printing. Dumb me did. Then I had a problem getting it restarted and got most pages down. I did get 5 copies to church but got there about 5 minutes late. I got a little feedback, came home and revised the copy and emailed it to all the members I have in my address book. I had to make a special copy by deleting one of the photos to send to Rev. Hubert Austin because his email won't accept a document over 520,000 and the original was 553,000. Then it worked as far as I know.

I plan to put extra photos in the CPFUMC blog where they can be accessed more easily than in a PDF file that is the newsletter format.

BLAHS AND BUTTERMILK PIE

The fourth and fifth days after chemo are blah days. Lou felt bad yesterday but had a quiet day. She asked the therapist not to come and we had no visitors. Today was different. In the morning Lou napped with her feet up high on two pillows. The therapist that she likes came at 11 and gave her a good workout and left instructions for me to help her do them in the future. Lou asked that they not come again until we call. Lou is struggling with constipation now even though she has been drinking prune juice and taking stool softeners. She doesn't want to eat much until she gets some relief. We ate a late breakfast and were waiting for a late lunch when UPS left a package on the front porch.

It was a buttermilk pie from a Boerne bakery sent by the Korbells. A few minutes later our cleaning lady Lydia dropped by coming back from a trip to Baird. She wanted to check on Lou so she got the first piece of pie. Then we ate lunch finishing the excellent soup that Cherry Shults brought Tuesday. Lou didn't eat much but I did. She then enjoyed a small slice of pie along with two little notes from the Korbells that show up every week. They made a practice of leaving notes all over the house when they were our guests during Charlie's A&M days. They renewed the practice when they came to our 50th anniversary party and again when they visited not long ago.

We are now waiting for our daughter to come in. She will spend this weekend and our son will come next weekend. That will let me go to Abilene to get Lou's pain pill prescription. Lou is planning to take a laxative tonight. The therapist gave her some leg lift exercises that she said would help move stuff through her bowels and help with the constipation problems.

Your prayers are helping. She should feel better every day this next couple of weeks.

LOU'S ROSY CHEEKS AND CA125

Lou got up this morning with rosy cheeks from the chemo. In the past she had a red nose but it is her cheeks this time. They normalized as the day went on. She is eating much better and had a whole piece of toast with her Cheerios this morning. She ate some left-over soup that Cherry brought for lunch with a toasted cheese on bread plus some ice cream for dessert. A new therapist came while we were eating and really helped Lou exercise her legs and talked her into getting her legs up to drain the fluid that is building up. Since she got her comfortable recliner she has been napping sitting up rather than lying on the couch with her feet on a couple of pillows. The therapist said she should lie with her feet up twice a day, so this afternoon nap was on the couch.

Dr. Hancock's office called with a better CA125 report. It was down to 344 from the 425 which is good news. Still a long way to go but going in the right direction. This chemo is seems to be improving her appetite and she is eating better.

Your prayers seem to be helping!
Thanks.

LOU SURVIVES CHEMO TRIP

Today Lou is doing better than other family members. Mary Kathryn is having severe back spasms, Mark is still fighting a heavy cold, Sue is taking stress test to test her heart after the esophogus test was normal.

Kathy, Val and Jim and I got up at 5 and left at 6 to get Lou to her 8:30 appointment. Too early to eat any breakfast so we noshed on granola bars in the car. Got Lou there on time. She had her blood tests and we will call Wednesday to get the CA125 results. Dr. Hancock believes it will be down based on how well Lou has done this last week. She had her chemo but they had more problems than usual. They didn't start with Benedril and had a lot of problems getting the needles in. She had an allergic reaction of her palms turning red and itching so they stopped, added the Benedril and finished the chemo about 1. At noon Jim, Val and I went to Chik-Fil-A to eat and bring some back to Kathy. Lou was sleeping and we didn't get her order. So we stopped by Chik-Fil-A to pick up some nuggets and waffle fries for Lou on the way home. The others headed back to San Antonio and we headed for Halsell Hill getting home before 4.

I started laundry and finished it before going to bed so it has been a productive day. Lou is feeling beatup but OK as she went to bed later than usual. She spent much of the day napping during the chemo and even tonight after we got home. Hopefully this round of chemo will keep her improving. Dr. Hancock suggested waiting 4 weeks for the next round, but agreed to 5 weeks after Lou mentioned that she had a Regent's meeting February 20. We will see if she recovers enough to make that trip. Last Saturday a week ago I wouldn't have given it much of a chance but this last week had shown a lot of improvement.

Thanks for the prayers that are working along with the chemo.

FAMILY HELP OUT

Lou is doing a little better every day but her sister Sue is in Hendrick Hospital in Abilene. She was having chest pains and has been worried that she is having a heart attack for some time. Her son Al took her to the emergency room where they ran tests and diagnosed her with anxiety attack and reflux. She disagreed with the diagnosis so they admitted her for observation. I will check on her later today. The physical therapist came to see Lou Friday and we won't see her for at least two weeks because she is going on vacation.

Kathy brought her son Jim and daughter Valerie Friday night. Yesterday Jim and I went to Abilene to pick up prescriptions for Lou and to purchase hardware for Lou's projects. Jim installed a grab bar over her towel rack and she really appreciated it this morning. He also installed a shower head that can be handheld and she used that this morning. We weren't as successful adding a lever so that she could lift her recliner leg support. She doesn't have the strength to go the full rotation that is required to lower it back down.

Lou is eating a little more and having less problems with her plumbing. This morning she is checking her email and Kathy is going to prepare breakfast. This is the first morning since I can remember when Lou stayed in bed until 7. My alarm goes off at 6:30 with the radio coming on. This morning I turned it off and Lou went back to sleep with me and didn't get up until 7:10. I have reset the alarm to 7 with Lou's permission. Tomorrow morning we get up at 5 to leave at 6 for Lou's chemo appointment at 8:30 in FW. Kathy and kids will go with us and leave from FW to go back to San Antonio.

Kathy is counselor at Alamo Heights High School and gets to meet some interesting parents. She said that the new speaker of the House is one of her parents and she has met with him in helping his daughter apply to Vanderbilt when she graduates this year. Lou will miss the TWU lobbying the legislature this year. In the past she has been part of the delegation encouraging the Leg to adequately fund TWU. I talked to them about engineering concerns. We will skip that this year. Lou is hoping that she will get strong enough to make the Regent's meeting in Februrary. This carboplatin chemo may enable her.

Keep Lou in your prayers and add her sister Sue for a while.

BETTER DAY

Lou seems a lot better today. She ate half a waffle for breakfast, most of a chicken leg for lunch and snacks in between. Tonight she ate some of the finger sandwichs that she asked for of white bread with the crusts removed and pimento cheese. I added half a boiled egg and she ate half of that. But her feet look a little less swollen, her stomach a little smaller and she continues to have BMs except there is still some diarrhea. I contend that helps remove mass from her belly and that is good. She had therapists giving her exercises each day and she is standing up with less help often on her own. When she sits for a long time, like tonight working on her email, I have to give her a small boost to get on her feet. She is working on walking a little more but still uses her walker always.

This is a great improvement over Saturday when I thought she was about to become bed-ridden. She is a little better each day since then. She has been putting on her Keds each day to walk in and it was easier today to get them on. I dug up an old shoe horn and it helps because her feet are a lot larger than the 4A size of her shoes.

Monday Jane Bonner from the church SS class who are concerned about how they can help us came to stay with Lou while I went to get Handicapped Parking stickers and buy groceries. Cherry Shults has offered to come next Tuesday to help. On Tuesday Lydia came to clean house at 10 so that I could go to Kiwanis. The therapist came at 1 that day while Lydia was here to see what he had her do for exercises. Lou still gets up 3-4 times a night to go to the pot. I generally get up to tuck the covers around her because she is always cold. This week we are sleeping on the flannel sheets MK gave us for Christmas and they are warm. I can't get her to use either pajamas or her long flannel gown.

We appreciate your prayers. They are helping the most.

SUNDAY SYNOPSIS



I told Lou that she broke one of the Ten Commandments because she worked all day on the Sabbath. She took a nap this morning and woke me up from mine to ask me to plug in her computer. She wanted to check her email. We had eaten breakfast late so she worked from 11 to 1 when she ate a few spoonfuls of the beans from MK's pork and beans she made yesterday. She ate some fruit for dessert. She then napped for an hour and back to the computer. She worked 70 emails that were all important messages from her friends. Of course when she answered some she immediately got returns and had to read them. Tonight at 8 she finally finished all of her mail. I took this photo of her in her new recliner working on her email about 8. She even had a little luck with her BMs that have been bothering her. I have been trying to keep her from going the laxative route and tonight she drank some prune juice. Maybe we can stop the constipation/diarrhea problems that have disturbed her sleep and caused a lot of problems for her. She is still having difficulty standing up and I help her with that. Her back is hurting but she is taking normal doses of pain pills.

She loves her recliner, but can't operate the lever and I have to position her legs and let her out when she needs to get up.

Thanks to every one for your prayers.

LOU IS A LITTLE BETTER PLUS MORE FROM KOREA

Lou is feeling a little better this morning although she is still very weak and can't stand the sight of food. She ate a few Cheerios for breakfast. She is taking vicodin pain pills with stool softeners, but not getting the results she wants. I have to help her get to her feet. Yesterday was a very busy day for her. The weather turned from hot to very cold in the wind. Mark and Mary Kathryn came in with food help. At noon the new interim pastor, Rev. John G. Woody and his wife Mryna returned to serve as witnesses on the many forms that I had filled out for both me and Lou. I needed a Medical Power of Attorney and we both needed the Do Not Resusitate out of Hospital and Directions to Physicians forms witnessed by two non-family members. They had come to visit us Friday afternoon and were so interesting and had to get back to meet the internet installer that I forgot about the forms completely. They returned Saturday and got to meet Mark and MK who are having problems with their Methodist church so got to share thoughts on those problems. Then Mark and I went to Abilene to pick up a prescription that had been automatically filled at HEB plus we bought a wall-hugger recliner for Lou. Mark and MK carried it into the house and Lou was pleased with it. Then Ashley and Ross brought his father, Ron Pagenkopf who had never seen Halsell Hill. MK made a meal for everyone and Ike and Sue came to join in. Lou was complaining about the new bench in the shower, but Ashley convinced her that it was necessary for safety reasons to keep her from falling. So this morning I helped her arrange the shower curtain so that the water stayed in the tub and she agreed to leave it in. Lou loved having everyone here but was tired out by the commotion.

I asked Jon-Marc about Busan or Pusan and he answered with the following email from Korea:
Hi Pa-Pa,
These are pictures of Pusan or Busan. They changed the name of the city recently, and as I am sure you know it is in the southern most tip of Korea. Unfortunately I could not figure out how to label the pictures through my e-mail. When I get back we are going to put all of the pictures together, label them, and then I will get them to you. In other news, we finished up our night shifts, and we are going back to days. Yesterday, we took a little nap after work and we went to the International Market. It was huge. We walked for hours taking in some of the local scene. There were a lot of interesting items for sale. The "salespeople" would literally grab you and pull you into their little area. A few times we were taken into a back room to be shown the "special items." Basically it was all of the fake designer bags and leather goods. We all politely said no thanks and left quickly. They also had quite a bit of local food there. It was not appetizing, so we went and ate McDonalds instead. Even that was different as they call their burger the Bulgagi Burger. We have no idea what that means but it tasted decent enough so we did not question it. After eating we were all pretty tired so we went ahead back to the hotel and went to sleep. We had the day off today, but we were all so worn out that we didn't do much of anything. Anyway, I hope things are going well for you and Grandmother is feeling okay. I am thinking about you a lot, and I hope to get back to the farm soon once I get back.
Love,
Jon-Marc

I continue to thank you for your prayers. Friday and Saturday morning Lou was saying that she may have to stay in bed and she is looking forward to the time when she goes to sleep and doesn't wake up the next morning. We told her that was the ideal way to go but not anything that we can control.

LATEST FROM KOREA

Lou is doing a little better today. Still can't get her to eat much but the physical therapist came this morning and had her do some new exercises like lifting her legs and holding them up for 5 secs. She still needs help occasionally to stand up.

I just got this new email from Jon-Marc with some photos that I will try to post along with the email:

Hey guys,
Things are going well here. We are almost done with the job, and I will probably be coming home sooner than expected. I am sorry I have not written but things have been pretty busy the last few days. I have finally gotten a long enough break to sit down and write. I have been having a good time. We had a few chances to go and explore and I took quite a few pictures which I will put in the e-mail. However, since this is most likely our last night to work, a few of us are going to go to the International Market so there will plenty more. I look forward to getting home and sharing my stories with you all in more detail. I also cannot wait to get home and eat a real American cheeseburger. I hope you enjoy the pictures and I will update again if I can.
Love,
Jon-Marc

Jon-Marc

Scenic view

BEAUTIFUL WEATHER ROUGH DAY FOR LOU

This morning Lou was really weak when she got up. She was able to shower but needed my help to towel off. She had to sit down to dress and put on her makeup. She was able to get to her chair where she took two pain pills, the double strength vicodin. She ate all of her Cheerios cereal for breakfast, a first. She then went to the couch and was sleeping when the plumber came to change the element in the water heater.

The plumber didn't believe me when I told him about the scale buildup but after two hours of cleaning the calcium carbonate out he understood what I was telling him. He also got a couple of pieces of metal that he thinks is the anodes. I originally asked him to replace the hot water heater but I had an element and he replaced it. It is heating water really well now. Next time we will put in a new heater. It is 12 years old.

After lunch of flour tortillas that Mark and MK left here with lunch meat and cheese they left we both took a nap but were interrupted by the occupational therapist who set up more exercises for Lou. He got a couple of cans from the pantry and had Lou doing weight lifting exercises. He again helped her on breathing exercises.

He brought a bench for the tub, installed it and had her walk to the bathroom and get in and out. He also brought some new risers for the commode seats that I had ordered without seeing them and after we installed them found that they didn't work. They were too soft and unstable, so we put the too high ones back on. I don't do too well ordering by telephone and not seeing the product. The idea was to get some less tall. They were the right height but too soft.

Tonight Lou feels awful but two pills later feels like she can go to bed and sleep. She is having trouble staying awake to watch OU and Fla in the BCS bowl. Hopefully tomorrow will be better with your prayers helping.

ICE AND PHYSICAL THERAPISTS

Not one but two therapists checked out Lou today. We were having rain, freezing temperatures and ice forming on the grass and edges of the walk. I even slipped taking out ashes and fell on my rump. The first therapist Stephen Baum is from Weatherford with an undergraduate degree in English and Philosophy from UNT and a Master's in Occupational Therapy from TWU so Lou was pleased. His expertise is in breathing problems and had Lou taking deep breaths and blowing out through her lips. He had her walk to the bedroom and show how she gets in and out of bed, how she gets in and out of the shower and sits on the pot. He recommended the transfer bench for the tub and offered to bring one since I can't run to Abilene. He also recommended Lou sleeping and napping with her feet elevated to reduce the swelling.

The physical therapist came out at 1 when we were preparing to eat. We ate a late breakfast when Lou asked for waffles and she ate 1/2 this time. We told the therapist to come on out before we ate lunch. She had Lou walk to the dining table and sit down to see how mobile she is. We will have one or the other therapist coming every day. They are encouraging Lou to get more exercise and she has done better today. One time when I was in the laundry room she got up off the couch and was standing looking out the window. That is the first time that she has done that in a week. She got a nap for a couple of hours in the afternoon with her feet up and they look better.

I want to introduce our number 2 grandson Jon-Marc Wilcox who is a technician for Ishikawajama Harima Heavy Industries (IHI) Southwest. This is a Japanese company who purchased non-destructive testing technology from Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio and offer services world-wide. Most of Jon-Marc's experience is in the testing of the pipes and containers for nuclear power plants. His company has developed robotic equipment that checks welds and piping for flaws. J-M is a night person and enjoys working the night shifts. Most of his work has been in the US until this week when he was sent to Korea and he has given me permission to post his emails. Here is the first one:

Date: Saturday, January 3, 2009, 11:17 PM
Hey everybody. We got to the hotel here in Busan at about10:00 p.m. Korea time. That is 7:00 a.m. your time. It was a long and exhausting flight, but it really wasn't too bad. I watched my movies and tried to sleep but I never could. The flight actually ended up being a little shorter than scheduled. It was 11 and a half hours insteadof 13. Once we got here getting through customs was a breeze. They did not check any of our bags and just let us through no problem. We exchanged our money and got into the taxi which brought us to the hotel. The hotel is called Hotel Theme. By the way the exchange rate is 1250 won to 1 dollar. Anyway, once we got here we decided we were pretty hungry and went to get some pizza. I didn't feel too adventurous on my first night. Although the Korean version of pizza isn't exactly American style. There was the normal pepperoni, bell peppers, and olives, but they also added corn and some things I wasn't really sure what they were. It tasted pretty good though so I didn't question it. After dinner a few of the guys went to have drinks, but I was way too tired and came up to my room and went to sleep.
As far as the room goes it is quite a bit different than back home. As you enter the room there is an entry way that you must take your shoes off. If you are caught with your shoes on inside your room you will get into trouble. After you take your shoes off, you put your key into a slot in the wall that turns on all of the lights and television. The remote control for the tv also controls the lights and airconditioner in the room. As far as the tv goes there are actually quite a few english speaking channels. In fact I was watching National Treasure 2 as I was writing this. That is really how most things are in the city. A lot of people speak english and most everything is written in both languages, so it is not too difficult to get around.
A buddy and I went exploring today and walked along the beach and saw some kids playing baseball and we watched them for awhile. There were even people swimming and surfing in the very cold water. There were numerous vendors selling their wares on the street, mostly food. There seems to be more corn products here than rice, which I was not expecting. It is now 4:00 here and we are getting ready to go out again, so I will have to wrap up.
I miss you guys, but so far I am enjoying my time here. Wewill start work tomorrow and I will be working nights, which is days for you so that kind of works out.
I will try to e-mail as much as I can to keep you updated, and I am taking a lot of pictures. Well gotta go.
I love you all.
Jon-Marc

HOME HEALTH CARE HELP

Last weekend before work starts again for our children. Kathy and Keith went home Friday and Mark and Mary Kathryn came in. They were originally planning to go home Friday but after seeing Lou they stayed for the weekend to help me. This morning the Hendrick Home Health nurse came for an evaluation. Dr. Hancock authorized their visit. She asked about 100 questions and filled out 20 or 30 forms. She then checked the vitals and had Lou walk for her. Lou needs help to stand up but can walk unassisted. The nurse said that she would send a phyical therapist out Monday to help Lou with her activity. She suggested several helps with getting in and out of the tub for her shower. MK suggested toilet seat extensions. She and Mark then went to Abilene and bought two for the two commodes that Lou uses.

MK made homemade biscuits for breakfast and Lou ate late after sleeping a while and had half a biscuit with honey. Then for lunch MK made macaroni and cheese. Lou again ate late but had a spoonful and a small scoop of frozen yogurt with a glass of whole milk. For supper she drank 1/2 bottle of Ensure. She has a little better appetite after taking laxative that caused her to be up about four times last night and going through several sets of clothes that I washed. Between the chemo and the laxative her stomach seems a little smaller. The nurse suggested using a stool softener along with the pain medicine that causes the constipation. I don't know if you want to hear all the little details but you are getting an unbiased progress report.

My children have to go back to work but I will have health care if I need it. I am really thankful that I have my strength and health is good. Thank all of you for your prayers and support.

NEW YEAR'S DAY

We celebrated 2009 by having black-eyed peas for lunch along with a lot of other great food. Keith came in last night and brought BBQ ribs from Brady. Can't remember the name of the famous cookhouse that he frequents.

Lou had a better day yesterday. She had a little better appetite and really enjoyed eating some custard that Mary Barton sent out from Cross Plains. She felt better, but was hitting the morphine. She took some before she went to bed an hour late to celebrate the New Year. During the night she would talk in her sleep and this morning she awoke very weak. She insisted on taking her shower but called me to help her wash her legs and towel her off. She sat in the bathroom to put on her clothes and weakly walked to sit on the bed while she put Olay on her face and brushed her hair. She was then able to walk to her chair in the living room just barely. She decided to go back to Vicodin instead of the morphine. I helped put her socks on. She then laid down on the couch and slept until Kathy fixed breakfast of scambled eggs and ham. We ate and then Lou got up and ate a little. She has a little better appetite than before.

Finally about 11 she got on her computer for the first time and answered a couple of emails, but had problems managing her computer and didn't get all the mail read and answered. She didn't think her answers were sent but I checked and she did get 3 that went. This afternoon after eating her black-eyed peas she slept for a little over an hour and feels a little stronger. We are hoping the chemo will reduce her stomach and let her eat more and gain some strength.

Thanks for everyone's prayers.