This past week, Lori has been doing well. Her pain is still a zero so I think we have that whooped for now. She is tired however, and this means she naps, and she can’t lift much weight. People scold her all the time about how she does too much, but she’s kind of annoyed by that and doesn’t listen anyhow. I almost never tell her to slow down anymore because I just prefer to let her live however she wants to live. Her mind is strong and has adjusted to the Oxy so she thinks clearly unless she’s very tired. These are good days for her though, and we never take these good days for granted!

We told Claire and John Mark about mom’s medical condition and about the seriousness of cancer. I think Claire’s reaction was as you would expect from a 5-year-old…sadness and then a quick recovery which I think was due to a lack of full understanding. She knows what death means, but she doesn’t fully understand it the way we as adults understand. She also met with a child therapist yesterday, and it was nice for her. She has been very reluctant to discuss mom’s situation with either Lori or myself, but she is eager to talk to kids her age about it. She wanted to speak alone with the therapist, and they talked for quite a while. She wrote a card for mom that said “I’ll miss you when you die” and it had a picture of sad Claire on it. It was her idea and her initiative and I’m glad she is getting it out. Today, she seemed more open to talking with me, and that was nice. We’re just trying to make sure she doesn’t bottle it up (whatever she’s feeling). It’s sad but it’s also healthy I think.

I’m back to a regular 9 to 5 job at Wright Patterson AFB, so I’ve brought in a bunch of local folks and some old friends to help out with the kids. There are many volunteers to help with child care (which is by far our biggest challenge) and it has been easy to manage so far.

Today, Lori received her scheduled chemo infusion at IU, and tomorrow we are meeting an oncologist at Miami Valley Hospital South which is just a couple miles from our house. We’re trying to get hooked up with a local Dr who can help us get the chemo infusions here. This chemo (Cisplatin) is really working well to reduce her tumor size. It’s hard to tell however if the reduced size is from the lost water weight or actual reduced tumor. I think it’s both! If we need to pursue more sophisticated care (gamma knife?), we’ll likely go back to IU.

We’re really looking forward to a quiet weekend coming up where we just hang out as a family and enjoy being together. The weather is perfect, and the kids play outside all day. There are parks everywhere, and daily we end up sitting and watching the kids, and those times are good.

Please pray for Claire and for Lori’s continued recovery and eventual healing!