3 tries, guess her weight

IN THE DIGITAL WORLD, ALL CAPS IS CONSIDERED YELLING. WELL, WE DON'T have to yell at Pam quite as much for her to hear things this week. Her two weeks off from treatment helped her regain some hearing. The ringing is still there, but the muffled sounds in the left ear are far better. She met with the audiologist this week to get a baseline established and her hearing will be checked prior to each treatment now. Overall she was just relieved that it seems to have gotten better as she got farther away from the last treatment.

Ask Pam what the worst part of going to her treatment is and you might be surprised...the weigh in. Yep. A rather disgruntled Pam got on the scale for the nurse yesterday and didn't like the results. (10 more lbs. and she might be at a normal weight, YIKES!) Next her blood pressure was taken and then Pam asked if she could disrobe a bit and re-weigh. I figure getting on the scale is one of the few free things in the building, so I was all for it. She managed to drop a couple pounds, but I could see she still wasn't satisfied. The nurse lead us to Pam's room to await the doctor. While there she realized that using the restroom might help to lower her weight some more. So she peeled off her excess clothing, hit the bathroom and popped out to weigh herself again. So in all she dropped about 3 lbs. from first weight to third. It was an entertaining moment for the nurses.

Pam's blood numbers were again solid and her exam went ok, so she was given the go on the start of her third cycle of four (treatment 7 of 12). She has offically passed the halfway point of chemo and it has really gone well. In three weeks some tests will be performed to judge better the effectiveness of these treatments. The actual treatment went smoothly. Nothing to note. Pam settled in and tried to do a little journaling. She sent just a few of her strange texts and made one call to our friend Stephanie who is probably just finishing her first dose of chemo as I type today. Join us in prayer for her. She has joined the ranks of breast cancer patient just recently. The journal you see Pam writing in is just full of people to pray for. She adds names regularly. Her "retired" lifestyle enables her to have more time to pray for others, one of the few positives of her cancer experience. Praying, a little walking, brief appearances at dance class or track meets, a couple hours at church...that's about all Pam has the energy for these days.

Another plus was being able to attend the FCA luncheon on Monday together. Our host was our friend Kathy Arkwell and it was a solid good time. AZ Cardinals QB Kurt Warner was the speaker. He has a great speaking style and plenty of material (non-football) with 7 kids, ages 3-19. The jist was simple. We are all motivated by something, whether it be money, food, fame, etc. So whatever we strive for, strive for excellence. So if money is your motivation, go for it in an excellent way. Love food? Really eat excellently...wait a minute, did I even listen to anything? This can't have been the message. Please, give me a do-over, Kurt is a man who loves Jesus. He strives to do his best in everything he does because of C323. He was very encouraging to all of us in attendance as he hobbled around, a week after hip surgery. He did an excellent job.

Finally, Gina came to hang with Pam for a while and brought some scarves to share. She used an international male supermodel (who wouldn't sign the pic release) to show some tying styles. Thanks Gina.

Thanks for all the prayers, the encouraging cards and notes, the walks, the calls, the texts, sending the cleaning ladies to our house (thanks Mossville School), food, kid watching, the list goes on. Pam is (we are) really lifted up by you all.