Purplestride Walk pictures and Prayer request

Tuesday 7/5 Craig is having a tumor marker pulled. Please pray for a low number (below 47) so we can continue with our summer plans. We have two mini trips and a big one planned for July. Any number above 47, we would have to consider some form of chemo.

Craig also had some blood taken to do a heredity test to possible be accepted for a clinical trial at some point in Chicago. Dr. Hir. continued to work on the insurance company after the test was denied the first time. It is an answered prayer to have a doc on our side doing some of the leg-work to get extra steps taken to prepare for the next steps whenever those might occur. I do worry about the results from that test. If it comes back that it is genetic then the gene could have been passed on to the girls. At first I wasn't sure that I even wanted to know the results especially since there is not a test that can catch this cancer sooner than later. Once we hear those results we will pass them along. If it is genetic then he could be considered for the trial in Chicago.

Prayers for God's will be done and that we get to continue our summer of fun.

Thanks for all the support.

Hope you are enjoying God's gift of sunshine this summer.

Here are some pictures from the walk. There are more coming from Sara Davis but these are the ones the Breits took. We were blessed with two team photographers with fancy cameras. :)

Hannah was working hard on the stroller before the walk.

Cooper!

Brent works out.

Ethan showing his support for the Cats at the walk.

Christy, Henry, Lucy and Jacob Breit (Jason is taking the picture)

Hannah was thinking about taking a nap towards the end of the walk but was too excited to fall asleep. Those who went to lunch know that a nap would have been the better choice.

Everybody

Lucy had just had her nails painted purple. That was so cute. The girls (and Aidan) loved it.

LXA friends: Jason, Craig, Josh, and Brent

real men wear purple

Josh and Aidan

Abby, Morgan, and Emily

Morgan and Emily

Hope in Louisville - 1st Place

PurpleStride Indianapolis was a great success and a great day.  It went as great as planned.  As I explained before, there are PurpleStrides all across the country and unfortunately we do not have one in Louisville.  Indianapolis was the closest one other than Cincinnati's in October.  I don't plan on walking in that one but I may volunteer.  I was very passionate about this walk as I know funds are needed to research more about pancreatic cancer and there's the need to improve the outlook of those diagnosed.  It was surreal to see the number of people wearing purple at the event.  During the opening ceremony, they said there were about 800 registered walkers (not including kids) which was a good amount of supporters.  It was the only PurpleStride in Indiana for the year.  "Survivors" wore light purple t-shirts and all the caregivers, friends, family etc. wore royal purple.  This was the one thing that again brought reality to the event.  Out of the 800+ walkers, I estimate I saw about 10 different people wearing the light purple.  With where the stats are for this cancer, 7.5 out of us 10 won't be back to walk it next year.  Anyhow, I'm generally more of the quiet type so I didn't get to spend any quality time with the other "survivors."  I do wish I would have reached out more than I did.  I'll have to work on that.  The good news is I had great support at the event.  We brought, to my count, 32 of my closest friends and family to the event.  I know there were a lot more folks who wanted to make it but couldn't and I appreciate all of you.  The AWESOME news comes from the big reason the event was held which was the fundraising.  The event as a whole announced a total amount of $79,000 raised to go towards research and patient care.  The goal for this walk was $60,000 so that was surpassed impressively.  I am very humbled to announce our success in fundraising.  My team, Hope in Louisville, was the TOP fundraising team for the whole event.  As a team, we raised over $6,200!!!!!!!!!!  We finished the campaigning extremely strong and ended up beating 2nd place by about $700.  At the event, we saw a bunch of folks from the Nicolet family who finished 2nd and we got to do some friendly bragging with them all in fun during the walk.  They also recognized the top individual fundraiser which ended up being yours truly.  The total amount I raised personally was a little over $3,900.  That does mean my team kicked in an additional $2,300.  Special thanks to Lavin Graviss and Sara Davis for both raising over $500 individually.  Big thanks to Tim and Carol Neichter for giving at the "You really didn't need to donate that much" level.  I look forward to thanking you in person in Hilton Head in a few weeks.  I got to go up on stage and be recognized twice.  I was first recognized for being the individual winner and I went up on stage with my 1 year old Hannah on my hip.  When as the team captain I was recognized for being the top team, I went up on stage and took Emily and Morgan with me (after they were bribed for getting a cookie for dessert at lunch).  Obviously the only reason I was rewarded at the event was because of the many folks who supported me and my team.  I am so very grateful for the amount of support that my family has received.  This event was something I'll always cherish.  There's so much I'd like to say for how appreciative I am.  All I know to say is "Thank You" from the bottom of my heart.  I'll post some pictures this week from the event once I get them downloaded and I receive them from the event photographer.

The weekend as a whole was great as well.  We, along with the Ives and Bohannon families, went to the Children's Museum on Friday during the day.  It was an awesome trip as there is enough to do for the kids to last an entire day.  The favorite exhibit, as voted on by family, was the Barbie exhibit.  They had probably every Barbie ever created on display.  They also had a dress up room and a modeling walkway for the girls to walk out on.  The girls, including Hannah, had a very good time.  Hannah's favorite part of the museum was Dora and Diego's room of fun.  We were there for about 5 hours but had to cut the day short due to the little one getting  a little tired.  After the museum, we went back to the hotel to swim and the Breit family caught up with us there.  We had to man 10 little ones in the pool but it was a lot of fun.  We enjoyed an easy Italian dinner at the hotel as a group and got to hang out.  Saturday morning was the walk and afterwards was lunch for 19.

I've said it a few times here lately but I'm in such a good place right now that I have the energy to do the things that I have been doing.  I truly feel right now that there is nothing I can't do that I previously couldn't do.  Today was your normal day, I went to church, worked out at the gym, cut the grass, grilled out for dinner and played with the kids.  I want this to last as long as I can, that is my prayer.  I still have a bunch planned the rest of the summer.

I feel so blessed for all I am experiencing right now.  God has been so good to me and I'm glad to have him as my guide.  I give all the praise to him!

Praying for a Beautiful Weekend

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgFxH7iFpBY&feature=fvwrel

Gearing up for the weekend in Indy.

Prayers for good weather and a fun weekend.

Hannah 1st Birthday by Michelle

If you would have asked me a year ago about Hannah's 1st birthday I would have teared up. We knew that she was going to be our last baby and I was savoring every little baby moment. As the days and months went on this year I was ready to have a 1-year old. I wasn't weepy or anything like that. She is learning so many new things and so expressive that I am excited for to be able to participate in more family activities.

This year has been full of ups and downs but her smile and giggles were always there to pick us up when we needed them. She is very affectionate and loves to cuddly. Instead of waving Bye- bye she blows kisses that will melt your heart.

For her birthday we had a pasta dinner on Tuesday with cupcakes for dessert.  She received a bitty baby from American Girl store. Hers looks like Morgan's but I think she was excited to have her own.

This weekend we had a small party with friends and family. We rented a bounce house for the backyard and had a great lunch. One of my dear friends from UK makes cakes and she made Hannah's cakes for the party. It turned out so cute. Loved it.

 

We really enjoyed celebrating our baby girl's first birthday. She is so sweet. Emily and Morgan loved celebrating too. Hope everyone had a great weekend.


Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there.

What is a tornado made up of?

Emmy and I were in the car on the way to Michael's to get some art and crafts project for the summertime on Saturday.
Heading down Chamberlain Lane and Emily ask what is a tornado made out of?
Me: wind, you know when you make lemonade and you stir it up, it swirls around (talking with my hands while driving - not a good idea) that is like a tornado but it is lemonade. When it is a tornado then the wind swirls around.
Em: But where does it comes from?
(side note: why don't they ask these question when we are home and I can google the answers. I was thinking she wanted to know about the weather facts)
Me: I don't know.
Em: I think it is God since He makes everything.
Me: I am not sure. God does create everything but He doesn't like when we are hurting and tornadoes can hurt a lot of people and destroy a lot. BUT I do know that when bad things happen like tornadoes people pull together and God does like that.
Em: Like when all our friends helped us out when Daddy was going through chemo?
Me: Yes!

She gets it!!

2 more weeks to PurpleStride in Indy

I'm making my last push to PurpleStride in Indy which is in less than 2 weeks on June 25th.  We've done an awesome job of fundraising so far.  Currently, our fundraising team, Hope in Louisville, has raised a total of $3,920.  The website keeps track of the top individuals and the top teams and here's the current standings:
Teams:
1. Team Nicolet $4,295
2. Peregrine's Posse $4,100
3. Hope in Louisville $3,920

Individuals:
1. M. Clements $3,005
2. Craig Merimee $2,785

I am being a little competitive but I'd love for us to get recognized at the event as the top fundraisers.  If you haven't donated yet, all I ask is please consider donating or joining our team.  We are so close to winning this thing.  Obviously, the more important reason is we need funds to help with research for pancreatic cancer.  Here's the link to a past post in case you missed it that tells what we are up against with pancreatic cancer:
http://merimeejourney.blogspot.com/2011/05/purple-stride-indianapolis.html

The link to my donation page is:
http://pancan.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=463226&supid=325728367

Thanks everyone for their support and your support over the next 2 weeks.

On the homefront, work is going good and I'm physically doing good.  I've thankfully gained a little weight and I can tell big time looking at some past pictures from around Christmas time.  I think going back to work and keeping busy has actually given me more energy.  I'm not stuggling to make it through the day.  I have enjoyed feeling like an adult again and I like to make adult decisions.  Keeping busy also helps me not to think about cancer.  I'll occassionally go an hour these days without remembering I'm sick.  Those hour time frames are great, I'm not worried about anything.  Reality soon comes back but I'll take the good hours.  It used to be 5 minute intervals I could go without reality.  I am so happy to be enjoying my summer.  We have got tons going on and I simply did not have time to do chemo.  We've got Hannah's 1st birthday this week.  We've got Indy next weekend which includes a trip to the Children's Museum up there and a hotel with a pool for the kids to swim together.  We've got 4th of July and my nephew's birthday party.  We've got a weekend trip to Holiday World coming up.  All of this is before our annual trip to Hilton Head.  I feel so blessed and lucky to have this summer.  I prayed hard for this when I was I was trying to stay above water during treatments.  Looking back, those 6-7 months were a very dark time for me that I'd just prefer to forget.  I've got to give praise to God for being there for me.  He always has.  I trust He knows what he is doing.  Take care and God bless!

stable scan & 18.8

We got the scan results back from the CT scan taken yesterday and Craig's disease is stable. There has been no growth or reduction on the pancreatic tumor or the spots on the liver.
That is great news. We are still waiting for the results on the CA-19 tumor marker but the scan was good.
We have a scan scheduled for August 2nd which is 8 weeks away. They will pull a tumor marker at four weeks to make sure we are still on track.

I will update later tonight when we get the results from the tumor marker from today. If that comes back below 45 then we will continue to wait and see.

Praise God for healing.

Update: CA-19 18.8!!!! Yeah! no treatment until August at least! Yeah for summertime!

Thankful Thursday

It has been a while since I have posted a Thankful Thursday post. It is not b/c I am not thankful it just the day passes me by and all the sudden it is Friday.

Thankful things today:
-healing
-Craig being able to go back to work
-Craig feeling great
-sunshine and summertime
-pools and chubby babies in bikinis
-girlfriends and good lunch buddies
-frozen yogurt from 32 degrees at the summit - yum!
-good health
-Emily
-Morgan
-Hannah

We are so blessed in so many ways, beautiful ways.
We are so thankful for an prayer army.

Memorial Day Weekend

We have had an action packed weekend. It has been a lot of fun. I have done my best not to be anxious about the upcoming scan. I continue to tell myself to not let "tomorrow" ruin today. Craig is feeling good now so be happy for that and the sun is out and summer has officially started.

I have had a hard time over the past couple weeks. The news of cancer being in my house for the long haul is daunting. Living scan to scan is not what I had planned for my family. I have had many conversations with God on why this plan, why not the plan of Craig and I staying together for 50 years and being an inspiration to those couple who find themselves so different than wonder how they will make it. Why can't we be the ones standing on the stage of a marriage series with 50 year of marriage under our belt?  Why can't we be the ones looking out saying if we can make it you can too with God as the center of your household you to can make it 50 years. With a 50% divorce rate that plan seems to make more sense that this stupid cancer plan. I wonder those things and then I wonder is it truly possible that that is still his plan for us? Could we really beat the odds of this illness and still have that as our plan. The stats of this cancer pretty much say, no. 98% of those with stage 4 pancreatic cancer will not be healed on this earth, their only shot of a complete healing is to know Jesus and be healed in heaven.

I am struggling with jealousy of those who have what seems to be a normal life. I know that everyone has their own problems and it how we deal with what life hands but I am truly jealous of those who have struggles of anything but cancer. I was listen to a TV spot that Randy Pausch did for PanCan and one of the statements he said to his wife when she asked if he wished it was HepB was "honey, I would trade for anything. I would trade this disease in for AIDS." Yep, I have to say right now even though things seem really normal, I still wish we could trade this disease in for something a little easier to deal with. I am not sure what that would be and I know that I wouldn't trade it in for anything that would harm my children even with a different prognosis but sometimes when people talk about things they are struggling with I want to say "I'll trade ya." But really what it boils down to in any situation of adversity is not the severity of the problem or illness but just the fear of the unknown. The uncertainty of what the future holds is what hurts in any situation. I know that I can be there for people in those situations. I know that I have a story of how God has been there everyday. God is the one that relieves us of the days of uncertainty not because He lets us know what is ahead but He is there for whatever lies ahead.

In the past couple weeks I have been too bitter to feel that peace. I had told Him over and over that I like my plan better than His plan. But whose to say that they are not the same and this adversity will just strength my plan down the road. Whatever the plan might be we will persevere in strength. The farther along I get in life the more I realize what the scripture means: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

So I can have a great memorial day weekend and not sit and cry about a scan that could make us start all over through Christ who strengthens me.

So I have heard this song "blessings" a few times on WAY-FMand sometimes it makes me so stinkin' mad and some times it I just nod my head and think yep, I guess so.
I dug around YOUTUBE to find the link to post here and I found her story. I didn't know it until after I finished this post. I can see why her song speaks to my heart so much.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDiTuSLSJB8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz9irePc-iI&feature=related
or this one is a little more polished.
Wow the similarities are crazy and her testimony is about what I have written here.
And here is the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CSVqHcdhXQ

Hope everyone is have a great weekend. I hope it is a blessing with sunshine and family. :)

1st Day at Work

Today was a monumental day as I returned to work today for the first time in almost 8 months.  I started back at my last position as the manager of the BB&T LaGrange office.  I got to surprise the branch this morning so I've been keeping things underwrapped about my return.  It was definitely surreal for me.  I was never sure if I'd ever make it back to work but I knew if I did it's because I was feeling good.  A big motivation of mine going back to work was getting back to a busy day and being a contributing member of society again.  I enjoy working with people and I enjoy making a positive impact on people.  I am excited to be back and I hope that doesn't wear off.  Instead of thinking I hope I can get back to work one day, I now think I hope I get to do this for a long time.  It's going to take me a little bit to get in the swing of things but I think everything will come back to me pretty quickly.  To my BB&T friends, thank you so much for your support and thanks for taking me back with open arms.  I feel it's truly a special place and you guys and gals have made me feel very special.  I expected my computer to start smoking when I turned it on this morning maybe when I turned on my email.  I didn't know what would happen to my inbox.  Well, today's magic number was 5,580 new messages.  I was a little disappointed, thought it would be more; though my junk mail filter helped me out some.  My general rule was I deleted all messages except those sent in May.  So if you sent me something previously, don't take it personal, it's gone.

On the fundraising font for my PC walk in Indy, we are doing some really special things and there's still tremendous room to grow more over the next month.  Currently, I'm the 3rd highest individual fundraiser and my team is the 2nd highest.  That is awesome!  Thanks to all those that have donated and please consider if you haven't. 
http://pancan.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=463226&lis=1&kntae463226=DEE361149C9C463F8096274BE97047AF&supId=325728367

11th Place

I'm a little competitive sometimes.  Our team, Hope in Louisville, is currently in 11th place in raising funds for the PC Walk.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, see my previous posts.  There are 54 teams registered so far so 11th isn't bad but I'd like to be in the top 5 come June 25th.

http://pancan.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=463226&supid=325728367

We had a very good weekend.  There wasn't a lot going on so we got out the new waterslide and the girls had a ball.  I'm completely enjoying my chemo break right now and have gotten a lot of strength back.  I'm able to swing the girls and hang them upside down, whatever they want.  I missed those days.  I started a program this past week at the YMCA.  They have a Livestrong sponsored program that is free for cancer survivors to help them gain some strength back.  I have access to a professional trainer that works with me a couple days a week.  I've been lifting weights and hitting the treadmill.  I'm trying to gain weight so I've been mostly focused on the weights.  In the last month I've put on some weight and I'm up to a hefty 150 lbs.  I'm quite proud.  My Y program lasts 12 weeks.  My next CT scan is in 2 weeks.

So far I'm on a roll with answered prayers.  I prayed hard for 6 months that come spring/summer, I a) wanted to be alive and b) that I'd be able to enjoy time with my family.  We promised we'd give God the glory if he'd help us out and he's taken good care of us.  I don't know what he has in store next but no matter what, He's there to give us strength.  God bless.

Just a little update

Not much on the cancer-font. We are still in wait and see until we hear of a clinical trial that is promising or the CT scan on the 6th comes back with bad news, I guess whichever comes first. I guess that is the plan. It is not much of a plan but we are not panicked to do something just to be doing something so I guess that is God telling us to be calm, He's got this one.

Other things:
Emily graduation ceremony was last Friday. So cute. She did really well and the songs were adorable.
She won the "Biggest Heart" award which made us both so proud. I teared up when the teacher presented the award and Craig admitted he did too later that night. My kids are so darn wonderful. She is so excited to start at Kenwood Station in the fall. She thought that she was going to Kenwood on Monday since she graduated last week. I have to say that made a lot more sense than going back to the same school for a couple more weeks until the summer nanny starts but no dice. She knows that she will know no one but she is still so excited to go on to Kindergarten. And she is so ready. She is reading (really reading, sounding words out and putting sentences together) and she just loves the idea of school. That is awesome. Little clip from her graduation. This is how they taught them their right from their left. :)

Morgan is doing so much better. She is happy and crazy. She is excited for summer. While she loves her teachers and her friends at school she is more of a free spirit and will enjoy the whatever days of the summer. Her and I talked the other night on the couch about Eileen (art therapist) and if she wanted to go back to talk to her. She said that she missed her. I told her that she could talk to me and she kind of just shrugged it off and try to move on. And I asked her again why she didn't want to chat with me about it and she finally said, "I just didn't want you to worry about me." Awww how sweet is that?! Her heart is so big that she was worried about me worrying about her. I told her later that is was a mommy's job to know what was going on so she can talk to me so that I didn't worry about it. I think art therapy was overall a big help and when/if Craig has to go back treatment we will return sooner than later. I missed the happy Morgan and I am so glad she has returned!!


Hannah is as goofy as ever. Her new trick is to stand on rocking chair and act like she is surfing. It is called a mommy heart attack. She is quite a climber and is very active. She is understanding more and follows directions very well for an 11 month old. It is sad but she can't get comfortable when I rock her to sleep. She would rather just lay down and cuddle with her blanket or lambie rather than be rocked to sleep. This is really heart breaking knowing that she is the last baby and my days of rocking a baby to sleep are numbered. She is adorable and such a happy baby. She is getting into books as well. She digs in her basket for the ones she wants and brings it to you. So cute. Elmo and any book about animals seem to be the favorites so far. Babies, do not try this at home!

So Craig is good. Feeling good. He starts a program at the YMCA tomorrow that was created for cancer survivors after treatment. It is a strength gaining workout and I think he is pretty eager to start. Although I am not sure that it will be any better than lifting a 5-year old over your head or racing a crawling 11 month old around the house but whatever. I guess it will be guided by a professional rather than the demands of three little girls screaming "swing me next daddy!!"

So I am really just in the "okay" category. I would say the last two days I was less than okay but working on getting it together. Over derby week I was enjoying life. I was so excited that things were back to "normal". I had been asking God for normal again. I begged Him for normal and now we are strangely close to "normal". We have a lot of family time, we go to church, the girls go to school, I work a lot, Craig mows the grass, there is no chemo or scan talk all the time. There are doctors calling but it is not panicked and it is not in between chemo naps. So all is good, right? I road that out for a while then I thought I was just living in denial. I tried to tell myself I couldn't wait around for the other shoe to drop. That is no way to live but fear keeps creeping in and stats loom over me. Sunday and Monday I was just weepy. What is boils down to is it is easier to trade a crappy situation with sickness and treatments and bad news for another crappy situation (single mom). But it is tough to sit here in "normal" and think that I am going to have to trade this in. I am not in a pretty place right now. So how do you "live in the now" knowing that down the road is not going to be pleasant? The rough days of treatment and doctors negative opinions are easy to trade in. A life with a family of five making vacation plans and going to the zoo on Saturday afternoon, grilling out on the deck, watching junior kindergarten graduations with the person you chose to do that stuff for the rest of your life is tough to trade in for a life of doing it all by yourself.
So will I dig myself out of this hole? of course. Reality creeps in and it hits hard and in some ways this is the first time since October 4th we have time to breathe for a bit.
Even the good is tough.

So I don't want to end on a sour note so I will include some post-dinner entertainment. We are so blessed with so many nights of encore presentations but I have to say this song is by far my favorite. I give all the credit to those who work in the children's chapel at SECC. The girls learn so many wonderful things. Thanks for all that you do!! You might not think it is much but it is HUGE to hear such a wonderful message from the little ones. So this was a performance about a month ago. Craig is cleaning up the kitchen and I am finishing up feeding Hannah. On with the show....

Walk in Indy! Road Trip!

The whole family is planning on doing the walk in Indy on the 25th and making a day of it. We will participate in the walk, have lunch somewhere fun and then go to the Children's museum. I am working on maybe having a "Team Craig" tee shirt designed.

So who is going?
Send me an email and if you are interested in joining us. We may caravan up there from Louisville.
Bring the kids!

email: michelle.t.merimee@gmail.com

Hope you can join us.

Purple Stride Indianapolis

I will be participating in a 5K family run/walk in Indianapolis on June 25th to create awareness and raise funds that will help make further strides in research for pancreatic cancer.  I have become passionate about this not just because of my diagnosis but I have learned how underfunded this cause is.  There are ideas being put forth by some awesome doctors but the testing and trials are not going anywhere because funding is not sufficient to get them off the ground.  This has proved frustrating to me.  To create awareness, I'm listing some information regarding PC.

*Pancreatic cancer is the 10th most commonly diagnosed cancer and the 4th leading cause of cancer death in the United States.

*Pancreatic cancer has the highest mortality rate of all the major cancers: 94% of patients die within five years of diagnosis and only 6% survive more than five years. 75% of patients with pancreatic cancer die within the first year of diagnosis.

*Unlike many other cancers, the survival rate for the disease has not improved substantially in nearly 40 years. Since 1975, the five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer has improved only from 3% to 6%. In fact, pancreatic cancer is the only one of the top 10 cancer killers that still has a five-year survival rate in the single digits.

*It is estimated that 43,140 Americans will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2010 and that 36,800 will die from the disease.

*The number of new pancreatic cancer cases and the number of deaths caused by the disease are increasing – not decreasing. In fact, the expected number of new pancreatic cancer cases is projected to increase by 55% between the years 2010 and 2030.

There are no ways to screen for this cancer.  80% of the time, by the time you are diagnosed, the cancer has already spread which usually alleviates you from the option of having surgery to remove a single tumor.  The truth is more money is being poured into the research for other cancers at a higher per patient rate because they see more hope there.  It feels like we are getting left behind.  My passionate plea and hope is that one day, being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer is not a death sentence.

I would appreciate your support in one of two ways.  Please consider making a donation to this cause through my website that's been set up for me.  The other way to help is to join me in the walk and be a part of my team.  Please let me know if you'd like to walk and I'll help get you set up.  My personal donation webpage is http://PanCAN.kintera.org/psindy11/merimee.

Derby

Derby day is arguably my favorite day of the year; always has been.  It was a great weekend.  I spent the day with my great friends.  My favorite part of the Derby is the playing of My Old Kentucky Home.  Thanks to Insight Cable, the digital picture started to freeze up.  Thankfully, that didn't happen during the race.  This Derby day meant a lot to me.  I've been doing the math for the last 7 months or so during my treatments when I was dreading time and I knew I'd be wrapped up by mid April.  I often prayed I'd make it through the treatments and I'd be able to really enjoy Derby.  I knew it would be bittersweet to enjoy the day with a sense of accomplishment and still hopefully be healthy.  I'm feeling great and am feeling as happy and healthy as I can be.  It's actually a weird feeling because I'm feeling completely normal for the most part and I don't feel like my days are numbered.  There were many times where I didn't know if I'd ever get back to half way normal.  I'm elated to be where I am now; hopefully the shoe won't drop anytime soon.  We are still trying to figure out what to do next but the more we learn, we have come more comfortable with getting my body built back up and not doing treatments for a little bit.  We might try and make it to the first week of June without a treatment.  I am also still eagerly waiting to get more information on some clinical trials.  I can't remember if I wrote about what we are waiting on.  I'm waiting on the doctor down at Vandy to get his panel approved that he wants to do that involves getting a biopsy from me and running tests on it to figure out what type of cell mutation I have.  Pending that test, I can get referred to a clinical trial that is specifically geared for the type of cell mutation.  He was hoping to have that approved in January but there is evidently a lot of bureaucracy in getting these types of things approved.  I'm eagerly anticipating getting that done.  I think that is about all right now.  I hope you had a good Derby as well.
Happy Mother's Day to the moms out there! 
God is good!