Blessed Christmas!

Gracie in the tree, about a foot from the top of it. Oh boy!

I had my 7th out of 8 Chemo treatments yesterday. My white counts were higher than they have ever been. So we are doing something right. Yeah! Other than that nothing new to report on that front except that I ONLY HAVE ONE MORE CHEMO LEFT! Hooooooray!

The best thing about this Christmas is that we got to sleep in our house last night. No we are not totally moved in and it is not totally done, but it sure was comfortable and great to wake up in this Christmas morning. We even brought Gracie over for the event.

Christmas kind of snuck up on us this year, so we actually wrapped most of our presents Christmas morning. This is the mess we made just wrapping.

Then we promtly opened ours. Matt's making the dog face of the wall mounted bottle opener that he got.

I got some great smelling soap. Thanks Lani.

Kealii opening his tool box.

Some awesome plants in a box that Matt got me. He He.

Then we spent the rest of the day, hanging out in the house doing little projects in between friends stopping by. It was great.

Merry Christmas! I hope your day was filled with joy and family.
Peace,MEA

Mele Kalikimaka!

Cat vs. Bird - an epic tail

(This is not Gracie. My friend Theresa sent me these photos. Thanks T. They have provided me with hours of entertainment. It just seemed like there was a story to be told. So here it goes...)

Cat: Ah HA! We meet again, Bird.

Bird: Oh, Hello...Cat.

Cat: Don't try to ignore me, Bird. [poke. poke] I am here to settle this. Once and for all!

Bird: Fine, let me just finish this call.

Cat: No you don't! There will be no phone calls to your Big Bird friends. This is between You and ME. Mano y Mano, or Claw to Paw if you like.

Cat: First you see me with my left, then...

Cat: Wait! What? How did you get there? What do you think you are doing to me?
Bird: Why do you think they call the ancient martial art discipline "the crane"? (Aside) They really should have called it "the Parakeet" - I taught that stupid crane everything he knew.

Bird: Now I shall deliver my final blow - the parakeet death beak!

Bird: Ahhh, another cat who was no match for my unflappable powers.

Bird: I must secure this cat, but first - where did I drop my dang keys?

Bird: [With a mouth full of fur, dragging cat] Just...a....few...more...claws....almost there...

[Later] Cat: You may have beat me this time Bird, but I will not rest until I die. If it is the last thing I do...blah, blah, blah...

Bird: For all you cats out there. Let this be a lesson to you. Never pick a fight with a parakeet, and just say no to catnip.

(No animals were harmed in the making of this photo story.)

Peace, MEA

# 6 down (finally) - 2 more to go.

Going to work with the Hair Hat - usually can't make it a full day before I rip it off. ;)

It seems like I have been saying I have only 3 treatments left for 10 months ( yes, a bit of an exaggeration). Not any more. I am offically 3/4 of the way done with Chemo. Two more treatments left. One the day before Christmas and then Jan. 8. My little brother said it perfectly. He said "the honeymoon is over". I really think he is right (just this once, and don't tell him if you see him, I don't think he really reads this regularly anyway. :)) At first it was an adventure. Had to figure out what the plan was and then how it all really worked an played out in my life. Then there were all the blessings I was given daily - it was amazing. Now I know the plan, how it works and I am trying to plod through the remander of it. Nothing seems really exciting and new - no new tests (except I got my pulmanary function back this week and it was better than my last one. Which was good, but my second one was worse than my first. Is this a logical thinking problem? Sorry.)


My doctor has made it standard operating procedure to give me the shot after every treatment now to help increase my white blood counts. I'm ok with it. It works, keeps me on schedule, and my side effects are very tolerable. So why not.


This weekend is the Honolulu Marathon. Katie and Jesse get in today, along with a bunch of people I used to work with at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. It is going to be a fabulous weekend. As long as the storm clears by Sunday at the very least.


Also this weekend, we are sanding the floors at the Palolo house. Yay! I can't wait to put the dark stain on them and see how it all turns out. I have to figure out how to stain two different kinds of wood (the upstair vs the downstairs) and try to get them as close as possible to the same color. Should be interesting. I tried to do a walking tour of the house, but the video was too large. Hopefully this weekend I will be able to do it again, but with multiple videos, or less words. I bet I know what you would like?


Hope this finds you well.


Please keep praying for us - peace, harmony, and health. This is a stressful time for us with my cancer stuff, wanting to be in the house before Christmas, and changes to my job.


Not to mention still going bald - but for that pray for humor, because I would rather have people laugh than cry or pity me. I am still healthy looking all but for my hair. And as Kathy says, I am better now than what I was, even without the hair. The tumors are shrinking and I am healing, not getting sicker. Plus I have a chance for my hair to come back thicker and curlier, and please please without gray. So it is crappy to go through, but as with most things God takes us through, there is something better once we get over ourselves, give it up to Him and get out of the way. I can't wait to see how God is going to rock this!
Peace, MEA

Helloooooo...

The amazing turkey and its cook, Amy. Ta da!

Has it really been almost 2 weeks since I have written. I will make the recap short and sweet.

Chemo:

Had my 5th treatment on November 26th after some deliberation. My white counts were still low, even after putting it off a week. But they decided to go ahead anyway. I have been fine since. No new reactions.

Other good news is that after my 4th treatment I had a CAT scan to see how the "masses" were reacting. One has shrunk 50%, and the other 80%. I think that is great.

Jim & Kathy's visit:
So awesome to have them here, as usual. We packed tons of stuff into the 9 days they were here, and of course they worked like crazy on the house.
-Kathy's Birthday we went to Bolt in 3D. I absolutely loved it - the hamster stole the show.

Kathy and Matt with Kathy's Bday gift.

(Why is it that as a Neal no matter what the gift is, you have to put it on your head? Even when it is a pillow cover.)

-Christmas Shopping in Waikiki

-Thanksgiving was at the Palolo house. Traditionally in Hawaii, since so many people are here and their family is not, you invite who ever you talk to that doesn't have a place to go. We ended up with 18 people stopping by during the course of the evening. Looking back it was crazy, but really great. I didn't get a shot of everyone, but here's various moments during the day.

Peace,MEA