Kent, Hattie and I left Mayberry for a few days to
go be with my parents for my mother's third chemo
treatment. Her white blood count was fine and she
was able to take the treatment and we were glad for
it.

I had been looking forward to seeing her in her
Chatty Cathy mode. We met them at 7:00am and went
to the hospital together. Her schedule was a full
one because she first had an internal radiation,
then a doctor visit and then the chemo.

Of course, since she had a bad reaction during the first
session of chemo, she now must start her steroids the
night before. So, she was pretty pumped by the time we
met her at 7:00am. She already had 10 decadron pills
inside her.

Mom moves pretty fast anyway, especially when she is
walking, and I noticed that she led the way wherever we
went, and Dad, Kent and I were strung out behind, trying
to keep up.

She was especially thrilled (and so were we) by the news
that Dr. Thaker gave her. Her CA-125 level was down to the
normal range. It was a 23 and normal is 0-30. CA-125 is
a blood test that checks for ovarian cancer. And, on top
of that, because she is responding so well, Dr. Thaker said
that if things continue so she will move Mom's fifth
treatment back a week so she can go to her oldest grand-
daughter's wedding in Florida.

Friday we met my sister's family over at Hope Lodge, which
is place my folks stay while they are in The Big City. Becky
brought lunch and I brought a barrel of pretzels. It
was fun. Derrill (Becky's husband) is still jet lagged from
their trip to the Philippines and he sacked out on one of
the couches. But then, come to think of it, so did Kent and
Billy. Dad may not have been sacked, but he was very
comfortable. What was Mom doing? What else...playing
High Five with her three granddaughters.

There you have it, a Shirley Update. She probably feels
rather rotten today, and probably will tomorrow too, but
that will pass and she'll just keep being the hoot she
always is. Oh, I didn't mention that as the afternoon
wore away during her chemo treatment she actually turned
rather mellow, at least mellow for her. She did talk,
but even the nurse said it was nothing like the first
time she was there. She didn't sleep any, but she was
pretty much just MaMa.

The chemo room is not very big and really Dad, Kent
and I couldn't all stay in there all the time. So Kent
and Dad went out for lunch and they toured the Cathedral
de Basilica while they were out. I was jealous because
that is a place I really want to see. It is just a few
blocks from where my folks are staying at Hope Lodge.
Kent loved it. It is rather breath taking I gather. If
you are ever at The Big City and looking for something to
go, head to Lindell and take in the Cathedral.