The Journey Begins and Continues

The door is shut. The house sitters are in settled into the house. The car is packed. The wind is cold, but the roads are open. The weather is good.

Jenny and I walk out the door and head off to Mayo Clinic for her stem cell harvest. This is the next step in Jenny's journey to a cure for her cancer.

The doctors at Mayo will harvest Jenny's own stem cells and freeze them so that they can be used at a later date. We don't know when Jenny's stem cells will be used for her stem cell transplant. That's up to the doctors. We are hoping it will be a long time before that happens.

This step, the harvest, is now. We will keep you updated. Jenny's caring bridge site can be found here.
Look for progress up dates there.

Now the journey has begun. The first step is taken.
We are on the road!!!!

When you Know Someone on the Cancer Journey

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know my daughter, Jenny, has begun her most unexpected cancer journey. Her brother and I are on the journey with her. I know that I can speak for the three of us on this topic.

People want to help, but it's often very difficult.

What do you say? What do you do?

I know this is very hard for some people, but sometimes, the best thing you can say is, "How are you?"

In my situation, if I don't feel like talking, I'll just say, "We're doing all right." Please don't expect a detailed answer on how Jenny is doing or all the latest news. (I do know people who contact me for that very reason.) There is a Caring Bridge site set up for that information.

I love reading the notes that have been left! I am so thankful that we have the kind of support expressed on Caring Bridge.

If you see me on the street, we can say Hi. I might or might answer your questions. It all depends on how I feel. Please remember, this is a very stressful and emotional time for all of us. Distraction is also good for the soul.

You can call me. If I am feeling good that day, I'll either pick up or call you back. There are times when when I won't want to talk, or I'm just tired of repeating the story over and over.
Leave a message of support if I can't pick up the phone for whatever reason.

Send me an email. I appreciate those, as well as calls, very much. I am on Facebook. You can contact me there, too. Sometimes, a note such as the one I received recently that said, "I'm just checking in to see if things are better for you now." Believe me, I truly appreciated that email. It helped me very much on a very low day.

One thing I would ask is if you think that crying together is helpful, please don't call me. I won't talk to you. I cannot be your emotional support. I have a hard enough time supporting my children and me emotionally. You will find that we have a very short conversation if any at all.

Just be a friend. Make me laugh. Make me forget for a few minutes. I do need and appreciate a good laugh.

This is a most difficult journey. It's a path no one wants to travel, but with help, we will make it, some what bruised and battered, but we will make it!

Thank you.

The Journey Has Just Begun

Now, to explain the last two posts. The scriptural reference of "Ask and you shall receive," came because of my prayer to "Please, Lord, send me a wonderful dog." Little did I know how quickly that prayer would be answered.

Wrong turn: I knew of two greyhound rescues in Minnesota. I even talked to one of the facilitators in one. She suggested that I go online and download their application and mail the application into them. I asked if it could be filled out online and submitted that way. She told me she wasn't sure.

So, not remembering which organization it was, I Googled "MN Greyhound Rescue." I found the first greyhound rescue, and, amazing! It has an online application. I filled it out, and I hit the submit button. I was thrilled to have been able to fill it out online. Then I realized, I had taken the wrong turn. It was not the organization that I had wanted to work with. It was the wrong Greyhound rescue!

Two days later, I received a call from Kelly. She suggested that I take a look at Pixie. I fell in love immediately! I have never owned a female dog, nor have I owned one that is so small! Today, Pixie and I got to meet for the first time. Isn't she beautiful?

She's tired. We just got home from our first walk, and she's wiped out. I think it was too hot. We'll try again later. Now, we are getting to know each other. She's never been in a home without other animals. I sure hope she's happy!

Like I said, the journey has just begun!

The Journey - Taking the Wrong Way

We've all done it. We've gone the wrong way at some point in time. Sometimes we see the sign, and sometimes we don't. We've taken a left instead of a right, or we've taken a right instead of a left. We end up where we thought we weren't supposed to be, but then we find that, maybe, just maybe, we were supposed to be here all along. These turns and twists in the road cause my anxieties to elevate. When I get where I'm going, then I look back. It was where I was supposed to be. Have you ever done that? How do you feel when you take the wrong turn?

My Jewelry for the Bead and Button Show

I am writing this yesterday. I am about ready to leave my home for the Twin Cities where I will fly to Milwaukee for the Bead and Button Show. I finally settled on my jewelry. Some of it you've seen before, but the photo at the bottom left, I made from fiber beads from a tutorial written by Sharylin Miller of Wire Jewelry Lessons! It's a fabulous blog that I just found! Love it! Love it! Love it! I didn't realize my Egyptian Coil Necklace was upside down when I took the photos, but I am in a hurry now, so just pretend it's the right side up. Of course, there's Bugger Man aka the Nose that looked like it was porno before I added the boogers, mouth and eyes. There's also my Fire Bird and my eye ring.
All right, now I'm off. Look for later postings this week.