Catching my breath.

I see that it has been over 3 weeks since I last posted.  And yet, I continue to receive words of encouragement and offers of prayers on behalf of my husband and myself.  Thank you so very much .

My time is not my own anymore, if, indeed it ever was, and I stay busy accomplishing all that NEEDS to be done. When I do have a few free moments, I find myself crashing into a chair for a bit of reading time or computer time when I could be quilting/piecing.  Still, there HAS been some progress on the projects that I have taken on for my friend, JoAnn.

The Erin Michaels design Wilbur, is all finished except for one last patch to be buttonhole-stitched on when I see what scraps I have remaining.  Before that is accomplished, I need to finish the second quilt, which we have dubbed "Little Wilbur".  On it, I have most of the 12 blocks pieced, with the last 4 of that 12 awaiting the 4 appliqued center sections.

 That applique is now done, and I hope to get to assemble those blocks and then the entire top, VERY SOON.

Here's a sneak peek at the Little Wilbur quilt.

Hubby's C.T. scan of Dec. 28th showed that the Bendamustine/Rituxin formula of chemotherapy was not eradicating the cancer.  It showed that his cancer, Mantle Cell Lymphoma, was no worse, but also, no better.  So, on Monday of last week, the 23rd of January, he started a new regimen of Rituxin
/Fluderabine/Cytoxin.  He receives infusions for 3 days, and then waits until the 28th day after beginning of treatment, and has it all over again.  This time, we have not been given a number of treatments that they expect for him to need.  I guess it's "watch and wait".

This past week was very hard on him, as he has been much weakened since the bout of pneumonia that I wrote about in my last post.   He was prescribed 3 antibiotics to start along with this new regimen of chemo, but they caused such constant diarrhea, that we had to request that the doctor take him off of them all.  He did, but that leaves him wide open to infection.

He had a PICC line inserted on Tuesday, the 24th, because they had reached a point where it was terribly difficult to draw blood or start an i.v.  Home health now comes regularly to monitor his health, but they cannot change the PICC line dressing or flush the line, which has to be done once weekly.  This is because they are not the ones giving him the infusion........RULES, RULES.  So, as weak as he is, this means that he will have to leave the house once a week for the dressing change .... twice a month locally, and twice a month at the oncologist when receiving an infusion, or having blood drawn.

Blessings

Hubby was feeling rough and weak for the first part of this week, and finally, Thursday afternoon found him admitted to the hospital with pneumonia.  Because of his weakened condition and his cancer treatments lowering his immune system, they decided to keep him for the weekend, administering i.v. antibiotics in a controlled environment.

Of course, that meant that we got the first snowfall of the season, rendering me hesitant to drive home and care for kitty, Lotti-dah, after spending last night there with him.

Blessedly, my neighbors stepped up, and provided for me to be picked up and driven  home today, with an offer to be taken back again, tomorrow, LORD WILLING. Rose and Doug Tenison are true ebodiments of the word, NEIGHBOR, just the way Jesus meant for us all to be.