Hello everyone, sorry I haven't gotten around to this sooner.

First of all a very sincere thank you to everyone who has posted/shared and contributed in anyway to the success of this endeavor so far! It has been uplifting for mom to see all the well wishes and donations.

I'm sure everyone wonders how mom has been doing. Obviously the most important thing is how she is feeling. As to be expected there are a lot of days she feels exhausted and simply making a trip to the grocery store leaves her arriving home in need of a little rest. Finding food that she likes has become quite the chore, as all of you know my mother LOVES all kinds of cuisine, dad and I were always a well fed duo being treated to excellent home cooked meals. Nowadays she says very few things sound appealing to her taste buds, however, she has been sticking to knowing that she has to eat to keep up her strength. There are days she wakes up in pain and goes to sleep in pain, other days she feels well enough to get out and about and enjoys herself. Despite all of these struggles that people with cancer go through she's still a fighter, still stubborn, still has a sharp wit, and maintains a sense of cynical humor we all love about her.

Medically speaking:

We got our first scare out of the way. Mom spent a week in Columbus for a dangerously low platelet count, had a platelet transfusion, and spent her days being poked, checked, etc every few hours while the blood clots in her lungs broke up. The good news was she was in capable hands and I was able to stop and see her before and after work. They put her on blood-thinners so that's a new routine she has tried to take in stride.

She went awhile ago for thorough scans where they used a contrasting dye to examine whether the tumors/spots are growing or shrinking. We went as a family for the news expecting the worst and hoping for the best. The initial scans when we were first discovering everything going on were done without the contrast dye so comparing results was not as definitive as one would like but the doctor showed us the videos and pointed out the areas. Things seem to have shrunk somewhat.

Amidst that good news though lies the bad news, mom had a reaction assumed to be allergic to her chemotherapy of cisplatin and gemzar. They started her on a 'sister' drug of carboplatin and gemzar. Shortly before the visit to receive these results of the thorough scans mom had to miss a treatment due to low counts. Since then she has had to miss more weeks of treatment due to either low platelets, low hemoglobin, or both.

It's all a lot to keep track of but I think that's the general information.

As a note of closing again I thank EVERYONE for putting this campaign out there, for the loving comments and encouraging notes, thanks to our local friends and family for a ride here and there, for taking a meal over (mom may not be up for it all the time but dad really enjoys them), and for the extended offer of future help. To our long distance friends and family thanks for the love, the encouragement, and the support.

We've been doing alright, anyone who has had a friend or relative go through this knows in no way is it easy but it's no reason to lay down and give up. With that in mind we continue to get together for meals, to hang out on the porch and talk like we always have, enjoy the kids playing with my parents and the smiles that creates, talking about having a big garden, and all things that make life worth fighting for. We look forward to getting a 5 bedroom and 2 bath house in the country where we can see mom and dad everyday. So a lot has happened, and a lot is yet to happen. Thanks again for everything you all are doing for us, I know in my heart that the good things we do for others come back one way or another, if I can't personally make it up to you someday, somehow, it all comes out in the wash.

I'll try to get around to this much sooner next time.

BEN