Queen Mom & Princess Shantel: July 2009

Friday, July 31, 2009

GREAT REPORT

This summer Mom has being having her chemo treatments up in New York so they can be at home. She still does her follow up and check ups at Duke every six weeks.

Wednesday Dad and Mom flew in to Raleigh. What started as a 6:30pm arrival ended in a 1:00 am Thursday morning arrival. Yankee weather!!!!! Very long day for them.

Thursday Mom had six week visit with Dr. Uronis and all the blood work and CT scan that goes along with each check up. This was her first follow up since starting this round of chemo so we were all anxious to see the results. Great news!! The spots they saw on the last CT have diminished and even shrunk significantly!!! All her blood work was well in range, she hasn't lost any weight, and no new spots. The Dr's are really elated and honestly a little stumped by Mom's great results.

As I sit here and write this I can't help thinking how awesome our GOD is. Rarely does chemo work on gall bladder cancer and here Mom is defying the odds. There is no cure but how great is it to have the treatment working!! What an opportunity both Dad and Mom have had to be a witness of our GOD's love and perfect outcome for HIS children. One day when Mom was receiving radiation a lady commented to Mom how she had noticed she always comes to clinic with a smile on her face. Isn't it incredible that even in the middle of the worse days of your life God was still showing through Mom.

Me......I'm cautiously optimistic.......and thrilled beyond words that Mom will have more time with us!!!!!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

OH CRAB!!!!

One of Shantel's favorite things to do when she comes home is to go eat crab. Sunday we had a great time watching her eat 2 lbs. of crab!!!

Friday, July 10, 2009

JULY 4TH........DUKE STYLE

One of Shantel's favorite things to do while she's in the hospital is "Playroom Time". Since she is on contact isolation she gets one on one time with Carolyn, the Child Life Specialist.

In the morning Shantel was very busy decorating the playroom with Carolyn for the 5th floor July 4th ice cream celebration. For lunch we joined the awesome nurses of 5300 for lunch. They did a pot luck and we brought a July 4th tablecloth, put it on Shantel's bed and made a picnic of it. It was great fun......and the food was incredible!!!!

Here are some pictures of Shantel decorating the playroom.

Ms. Liberty herself!!

Making signs

A job well done!

Shantel with Carolyn, Child Life Specialist

Monday, July 6, 2009

50 YEARS

HAPPY 50TH ANNIVERSARY TO OUR WONDERFUL, LOVING, AMAZING PARENTS!!!!

On Saturday, June 27th, 2009 we held a family gathering to honor our amazing parents as they celebrated 50 years of marriage.

It's a special time when we all can get together as a family and we had a fantastic week! We held a reception followed by a huge cook out and ended the day with a campfire on the hill with s'mores and snow cones. The rest of the week was filled with many fun activities........trips to Cooperstown for pizza, shopping for souvenirs, going to the Farmers Museum and Baseball Hall Of Fame, getting ice cream, going swimming, playing with cousins and just hanging out.

There is nothing as special as family.......enjoy each and every moment you have with your loved ones.....take advantage of every opportunity you have to spend with them......don't miss a minute!

Enjoy a few of the hundreds of pictures we took over the week.