Hello everyone... Gosh it has been a very long time since I have posted anything. I have been busy coming & going to Zion where my niece has been. She finally came home last Friday... The first time actually since Aug. 8th. She will be going back again the first part of Nov. to find out if the Radiation & Chemo has worked. The tumor needs to have shrank to the size of a tennis ball before the tumor can be removed. So, please say a prayer for her!!!

I went to a crop this afternoon, had a great time. I worked on a project I am doing to give to a friend. She makes "Totes" for patients diagnosed with cancer. She puts all kinds of goodies in the totes to pass the time of waiting. I decided to make bookmarks & a small photo book to be included along with the totes.

This upcoming week end I am going on a "Girls Week End Out" 12 of us are going to a cottage on a lake to do some serious scrapbooking. I have been looking forward to it for a very long time. I have many things to get finished. I also have some "Christmas" gifts that need to be made. I will post pictures of what I get finished. I will try to post again before I leave... Have a great evening!!!

Back at the C.T.C.A.

Well, here I am back at the C.T.C.A. in Zion IL. with my niece Chevon. She has been here since Aug. 7th. She has had 4 surgeries since being here. First, she had to have a colostomy done so that she could go the bathroom. The tumor is compressing the rectum so much that she wasn't able to have a normal bowel movement. This has help her greatly but, it has not taken all of the pain away. But it is so much better than it was. Then she had to have stents put into her ureters, this was done to help her, allowing the urine to drain into the bladder, as the tumor is also pressing on the bladder and the right ureter not allowing the urine to drain. This also has created extreme pain for her. After that she had to have urostomy tubes inserted because the tumor was still compressing on the ureters and the urine still couldn't drain this created a critical fluid gain. This has caused her to gain 60+ pounds in just a few weeks. Since having the tubes placed into the kidney the fluid is slowly beginning to come off. The Dr. want her to get up and walk, this is a hard process as she has so much pain that she fights us, WE ALWAYS WIN but it is so hard, knowing she is in so much pain , but I remind myself it is for her to get better, so we keep her going. Her mother is an amazing woman!!! She has been here almost nonstop, She left only for about 30 hrs. (back to Michigan) to get her F.M.L.A. taken care of. Then she was right back to Chevon's side. She is so lucky to have her mother!!!! I have seen the true meaning of what a mother really is, it overwhelms me more that words can describe!!!!! I have been busy getting a Benefit ready. It is going to be on Sept. 13th. The expenses are climbing each day. Her mother is staying in a hotel and it is reasonable but still it costs money. She is off from work and has no income coming in and The Family has decided the best way to help is to put on this "Benefit". I have never done anything like this ever, but I am trying my hardest to help with it. There have been lots of donations so far and hope we get more. The generosity of people is heart warming! I guess there still are good people in this fast paced world we live in... So nice to know them all!!!!!!! Well, with all this said... I am going to get ready and go over to the hospital and visit for awhile. I will update more later.
Have a safe and wonderful Labor Day Weekend!!!!!

Where does the time go? Seems like it was June and we were preparing for my 2nd sons wedding. Which, by the way went wonderfully! It was a beautiful Sunny day. Everything was perfect! Now here it is the end of Aug. and everyone is busy getting their children ready to go back to school. Myself included. Today I went with my youngest son to register for college classes at a local university. I never realized how much financial aid is avail. to minority kids. Boy, I know what I will be doing for the next few days... going to many sites to fill out the forms to see if he is a candidate for any of them. I also spent the last 12 days with my sister in law and my niece at the Cancer Center of America... my niece has neuroendicrine cervical cancer, squamous cell, small cell cancer. She had a radical hysterectomy done in Nov. of 2008 and went through chemo treatments and after finishing all of that she went back for her 3 month check and they found a very large tumor in her pelvis. She is now being treated at the Cancer Center of America. She has had 2 surgeries since going there and will be starting radiation therapy very soon. So, things have not quieted down at all... very busy trying to help get things done so I can get ready to go back to be with them at the center. Amongst all of this... I have been told I can no longer do my job. For those of you who don't know I have been off work since last April... issues with my back again. Seems like it is an ongoing battle with my back for the last 23 yrs. or so... long story short I won't be going back anytime soon. This sits very heavy on my heart as I so love my job, I have been doing it for the past 15+ years and thought I would be doing it for another 20+ yrs. Now I am going to have to keep myself busy doing things for my family and scrap booking my heart out. Well, my DH is calling me to come down stairs... bet he's hungry... LOL until next time......

Holy Smokes, here does the time go?????

Well, the Bridal Shower is over and we have 2 weeks until the big day. My 2nd son Luis is getting married as you all know from past posts. I had never given a Bridal Shower before.
I can say it went just like clock work. I served 3 different pinwheel sammy snacks, veggie tray, a cheese ball & 3 kinds of crackers and I had a Chocolate fountain with strawberries, marshmallows, rice crispy treats, and mini cream puffs. Gosh, everything was so yummy! I didn't end up taking many leftovers home.... that's a good thing because none of us in my house needs to eat all those treats...LOL
I had shown the gifts that I had made for the winners of the games and the door prize, well everyone wanted them!!!! I guess they liked my creations. giggle...
I am working on the scrapbook for the Bride to be, when it is finished I will post for all to see.
Have a great day!!!! "GO RED WINGS"