Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Christmas definately is a time of family love. I am especially grateful that I am surrounded by the most loving daughters, son-in-law and granddaughters that any one person is fortunate enough to have. 

As everyone knows I lost my soulmate and love of my life, Norm, in November and was not really sure how this holiday would be. But I shouldn't have worried my family was wonderful as usual of course there were many tears but loving arms to console. 

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Eve at Darcy's parents Yvonne and Dave who warmly welcomed our whole family to join in their annual Christmas Eve tradition of food, drink, singing ( ? ), fun, laughter and love.

I thank you so much for that.

After the festivities there we went back to Darcy and Leanne's where Renaye and the girls stayed the night with us it was wonderful to have everyone under one loving roof.

Christmas morning was again, an emotional yet beautiful day. Heartwarming to see grown grandchildren who are still excited for Christmas morning. We of course had more presents than needed but so much fun to give and receive. We enjoyed a big turkey dinner and played cards and a game called "Heads Up" lots of fun so much laughter.

I am so done with 2013 though and hoping 2014 can do much better.

Thinking of those we lost this year, Bill Dobbie this spring, my Dad, Ross Parcher in June and one of my very good friends Gwen Nelson in July and my love Norm in November. I have said often to many that are hurting that "time heals all wounds". I do hope that saying is true because it sure doesn't seem like it could.

I am definitely trusting that 2014 will bring better things and that although this is not the path I chose; that I will do the best that I can.

My plans for this next year are pretty busy so far. I have been very lucky, Norm's family has generously made it possible for me to join them at our niece Kelly's wedding in Mexico in January.

We have a road trip planned this summer with my brother Larry and his family and ALL our family. A very generous benefactor has given Leanne, Renaye and myself an Alaskan cruise in memory of Norm. Norm and I had always said we wanted to do that cruise and they were listening. I can not tell you how amazing and wonderful that is to me.

I am hoping to go back to work. Keep my mind active and busy enough to not dwell on the sadness. Also I will be looking for my own apartment or condo to live in come this spring. This will be the very first time I live on my own. Other than Norm being away a couple of weeks at a time I have never been alone. Going to be tough but will manage I'm sure.

Although I am devastated by my loss I am also aware of how blessed I am. Darcy and Leanne, Renaye, Amanda, Megan, Ashley and Alyx I don't have sufficient words to express my love for all of you. My family near and far have been wonderful. My friends all over have been great. Thank you everyone and keep the cards, emails and calls coming I really look forward to hearing from you.

My friend Margaret sent me a card with this paragraph from a book called "Day at a Time" I love it and thought I would share it with you:

" We cannot control the movement of time nor can we control our own destiny, or the destiny of those we love. But, we can take comfort in knowing that those who have lived in our hearts are never really gone. For as long as we keep them with us , in our hearts and in our thoughts they will be with us always. For love, which is timeless, never ceases to exist."

I want to wish you each and everyone a very happy 2014 filled with all the love and laughter you can handle.

With Love and Hugs,
Jo

JUST TO LET YOU KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING

Hi to all our family and friends,

Since we last spoke we have had a great few weeks a nice visit with my little brother Mike and beautiful sister-in-law Penny. So nice to have family around. 

Now just a quick update on our situation:

As mentioned in our last blog the Oncologist had taken Norm off the chemo and put him on a strong steroid for a month to get his strength back.  Everything improved, mental, emotional, general well being, EXCEPT physical strength. 

We had an interim appointment with the Radiologist who gave us his take on the scans ......... that the lung tumor has NOT grown, the tumor on T11 in his spine is no longer growing and is NO longer a threat. The lymph nodes in his chest have DECREASED a little bit. With this encouraging and hopeful news we went to see the Oncologist for a new plan. However, with Norm being so physically weak the Oncologist wants to have him off the steroids for a couple of weeks in hopes of regaining his physical health. After two weeks Norm will have another MRI of his brain in order to compare the two instead of MRI to CTScan which is inconclusive.

So just wanted to update you all as I promised and now will keep you posted after our next visit with the Doctor. 

As always thank you for your prayers and for your best wishes.

We are truly grateful for each and every one of you.

Love and Hugs,
Us

BIT OF AN UPDATE

Hi Everyone,

Just thought I would send along an update on our current situation. A lot has happened since I last sent info. 

Norm went decidedly down hill after his second session of his first round of chemo. He was sick every day spent 10 days sleeping and being sick. I called the Doctor at the Cross and he arranged an IV of antinausea drugs and rehydration, as well as a steroid to last for 5 days. For two days he was doing great, and it was nice cause Mom Schopf was here to visit us. I noticed that by the 3rd day he was starting to feel tired and not well again.

Our appointment with the Oncologist was on the 15th of August, which our beautiful daughters attended with us and the information was okay. Dr. Smiley said that what Norm was experiencing was no quality of life and decided that he would discontinue the chemo and put him on steroids for a month. 

The difference was immediate and wonderful. Physical strength comes and goes depending on the activity of the day. But the mental and emotional feelings are fantastic. 

Today we went to see the Priest at our local parish and Norm received the Sacrament for the Sick. Father prayed for us and has enlisted the prayers of what amounts to Prayer Warriors for the church. Made both of us feel much better. 

On our way home our family Doctor called to explain in more detail what the Oncologist had said to us. The brain scan was inconclusive as the first scan was a CTScan and the last one was an MRI.  The MRI is much clearer so is like comparing apples to oranges, which is a good thing in our mind because the difference is not so noticeable that is definitely a good sign. As well the lymph nodes in his chest seem to have receded a wee bit. We are ecstatic about that . The bones seem to have had more activity than we would like ... the cancer appears to have spread to his L2 and T7. This makes sense since Norm's pain in his back though manageable has been consistent. 

I appears to me that the prayers of everyone are at work ....thank you

We have an appointment with the Oncologist on the 17th to discuss further options that are available to continue the fight.

As always we are grateful for your thoughts and prayers.

An Incredible Weekend

Hello to Everyone,

I know I said I wasn't going to be posting any further blogs, but this last weekend was so special it needs to be shared :) This will be more of a thank you and a picture blog hope you enjoy it.

Norm went thru the first session of his first chemo treatment last Wednesday and I have to say it was with a fabulous result. The difference in energy, and absolutely everything was like night and day. 

They say timing is everything and the way Norm felt this last weekend was a case in point if ever there was one. 

We were blessed to share the time with many of our family. Norm's Mom came down with Norm's sister Jean and husband Garnet, Norm's brother Gary flew in as well. My brother Larry and my sister-in-law Cathy surprised us by bringing our niece Stacey with them. 

We decided to make our place the party place, Darcy and Leanne brought their trailer out and Larry and Cathy brought theirs. With those two trailers and our house everyone was able to stay right here the whole weekend. Even our granddaughters were able to spend time with us, they usually don't have too many weekends free if not working they are still young enough to have a life lol.

Our awesome son-in-law Darcy was here Friday morning making sure the lawn was mowed and that things were ready for our company. Thank you we love you so much. 

On Saturday, the 3rd (Renaye's birthday) everyone grabbed shovels, rakes, lawn mowers, whipper snippers, and did our yard, weeding spaces that probably have NEVER been weeded lol. Some of us worked on the garage and Larry and Gary worked on my SUV. What a workout that day was. But it looks fabulous. 

my beautiful little garden area after Cathy & Leanne made it that way :)

Norm was able to nap as often as he needed and yet able to enjoy the fun, especially the firepit on Friday night and Saturday night many stories, much teasing, tons of laughter ....it was a blast. Sunday was for recuperating (some of us more than others nuff said:) 

Larry, Cathy and Stacey headed back to BC last night, our kids and their kids headed back to their places. This morning Jean and Garn headed back to Saskatchewan, tomorrow Gary flies home as well. We are happy to say Mom will be visiting us for a couple of weeks.

Wednesday, Norm has his second session of the first chemotherapy  I am hoping the results will be the same. Today is a day of rest for him in his favourite recliner he is understandably a bit wore out . That day they are also doing a MRI and on the 15th will be a CT scan to see what the progress is and to decide on what course of action will be next. Likely more chemo.

Below are some of the pictures of our great weekend. Enjoy.

Gary

Jean

Darcy - Garnet

The work gang

Larry

Darcy making sure the picture will be perfect

Larry and Garnet putting up the rope light

good times

The Gang - chillin'

The Photographer's setting up

Darcy & Lee

Below are the inevitable family pictures xoxoxox

Mom, Gary, Jean & Garnet, Norm and I

Mom, Norm, Jean and Gary

Darcy  & Leanne

Darcy, Leanne, Megan, Ashley & Cooper

Cathy, Larry & Stacey

Erin & Pete

Renaye, Dallas, Amanda and Alyx

Renaye and Dallas

Renaye, Leanne, Norm and Me

Me, grandbabies, Lacey and Cooper

Our fabulous family
Back Row -- Dallas, Garnet, Cathy & Larry
Next Row -- Gary, Leanne, Renaye, Jean & Stacey
Sitting -- Mom, Norm, Me
Ground Crew -- Megan, Ashley, Aly & Amanda
How blessed can two people be xoxoxoxoxoxo

Once again, we can not begin to thank everyone enough. You all fill our hearts with love and much joy, we are so very honored and happy to call you family.

Love and Hugs to All 

WHEN LIFE HANDS YOU LEMONS GOD GIVES YOU FAMILY AND FRIENDS -

Hello all our dear family and friends,

I  know that a lot of you have been waiting to hear how our appointment went with the Medical Oncologist yesterday. 

The prognosis was not great and definitely not what we wanted to hear, but we have to remember that with this type of disease everything is related to us as statistics. The statistics are scary, numbing and depressing, however, they are the AVERAGE and as we all know Norm is above average. So we are going to be the ones who are on the high end of their scale. We choose not to pay any attention to numbers, we are going to enjoy each other, our family, our friends and our life. 
There is chemo available and we have decided to try at least one session in hopes it will help. That should start in the next week or so.

I won't be doing a regular blog now as I want to spend my time taking care of Norm and ensuring that we enjoy life. 

We are grateful for all prayers and good thoughts that have been sent our way, and would appreciate it if you could keep up the good work.
Bye for now with love and hugs,

WOW WHAT A WEEK ! ! !

Hi Everyone,

Well I have to say its been quite a week for us, the long weekend was very busy and very nice.  Norm's brother Gary, Elaine, his Mom and brother in law Dave came for the long weekend.  They helped us by finishing the deck for and putting up the Gazebo, they upgraded our deck and helped by unloading a 1/2 cord of firewood.

Then on Norm and Elaine's birthday (30th) we went to Leanne and Darcy's lake lot where all the family, (except for Mandy who had to work) was there, was nice that Erin made it out as well. We enjoyed great food, good drinks and the best company. Love you all so very much.

Monday was a day of saying good bye to Mom and the crew and getting ready for our friends from our winter home to come.  That was wonderful, on Tuesday, Marg and Ed and Karen escorted Dale and Nancy to our place. We enjoyed their company and bbq'd.  Nancy and Dale stayed with us for a few days.  During that time we had a fabulous visit, lots of laughs, played Mexican Train, ate, drank and just enjoyed the company

During all this time, Norm has done really quite well, resting when he needed too and just taking it easy. The radiation treatments, true to their word, really zapped his strength and unfortunately started the inevitable hair loss.  We actually were certain that we could beat that as his hair was doing fine. Then on Thursday, Norm came out from the shower and said "okay hon its time to bring out the clippers" he then showed me how even just putting his hand up to his hair brought out waaaay too many. argh I felt terrible. But my brave hubby is a much better trooper than me for sure. After breakfast he invited Dale and Nancy to join us on the deck for the shearing of the locks ...........although definitely traumatic it was liberating for Norm to be in control of how and when he would lose his hair. It's so nice to know that even after all this Norm still has his sense of humor and fabulous smile <3

Nancy and Dale left today, we are certainly sad to see them go. Truly wonderful friends we will miss you lots.

This weekend is turning out to be a busy one as well, we are going to Dom and Marnie's annual bbq where we will be with lots of friends and then on Sunday our wonderful family and our friends from Texas Lemont and Carey and their family will be here for a bbq.

Once the weekend is over we will be totally relaxing maybe go for a mini holiday. The 24th of July is when we meet with the Medical Oncologist to determine the chemo options and scheduling. We were a bit disappointed at how long between his radiation and the chemo appointment but did learn that after radiation there is a 4 week waiting period before Chemo can be administered. So the Oncologist appointment is in 3 weeks and we would suppose the treatments would begin shortly after that.

Talk to you soon - hugs

Us :)

Radiation Complete

Well its been quite an eventful week - radiation treatment started on our first visit to the Cross Cancer Clinic  and as mentioned they found two small tumors in the brain. Norm started radiation on those last Friday. One each day of this week with the last one tonight.  Also Norm was having pain in his collar bone that does have a tumor as well, they radiated that on Wednesday. For each radiation treatment the pains have quit. That's fantastic.

A tradition at the Cross Cancer Clinic is when you receive your last treatment of radiation you ring the bell. We are so fortunate that Norm's is complete and the bell was rung. Norm's appetite is still good and he still has his hair .....bonus

During the weekend and the first couple of days this week we created and completed a new sidewalk using paving stones.  Quite an exhausting but satisfying venture. 

Yesterday we met some of our Wagner RV Park friends for dinner, went to Olive Garden and found out that when they leave your food on the tray and you have to serve it to yourself ......all the meals are free. Worked out really well for all of us. Thanks Bruce and Dianna it was so great to see you.

Now we are set to enjoy the long weekend, celebrate Norm's birthday on the 30th with lots of family and friends. Expecting Mom Schopf, Gary & Elaine and Dave to visit for the weekend as well.

Through all this we are waiting for our first visit with the Oncologist to map out the plan for shrinking the rest of the cancer primarily in the lung, with Chemo.

Thank you each and every one for your prayers and positive thoughts we are grateful and blessed to have such great family and friends