This is the first day of winter, and Christmas is getting closer. We got our care package from my sister Pat, I want to thank her for them, all were intact no crumbs. Maggie has been eating them for breakfast, lunch and dinner(me too) , she even told me to hide them, I told her it's to late now !
Last Saturday night we went to Steve & Cesie's house for a pre holiday get together with some friends, it's good to have friends like them.
Christmas we will spend with some other friends, Pat & Nena. Maggie remembers in Peru they all go to 8 o'clock mass,after that they have the traditional dinner.At 12 o'clock the children sing happy birthday to Jesus They serve a thick orange flavored hot chocolate ,and panetone, a lite fluffy cake with candied fruits and nuts. and everyone opens there gifts,this is Christmas eve, the next they go to grandmas for lunch.
May be some of you can share some of your experiences.
Her are some picts of Mag doing her p.t. Merry Christmas to all !!!!!!
Love Bob and Maggie
Hello everybody,This morning we went to church, Maggie was so excited to tell everyone about her good news she was telling anybody that would listen, we sat down in one of the pews she looked at the woman next to her and started the conversation" Do you know I had cancer ?"then she proceeded to fill them in , even showing them her port. This is how she is , she can be a very serious adult, not afraid to face the difficulties of life, but retain that child like enthusiasm ,and it's not for her own glorification ,god is in all these conversations , she always reminds them she was is gods hands.
After church we went out for lunch, it rained all day Saturday so Sunday we wanted to enjoy the beautiful weather, and the church is only a block from the ocean. So we stopped at a place across from the ocean and ate outdoors, the view was good the food not so good,kinda greasy,as in southern cooking.
I'm glad we've got Skype, as it was I had to add money to the account, needless to say Mag burned up the air to Peru, it's all good ! How's ever ones Christmas prep coming ? baking, and buying,and baking and baking I wish I had some Hunky pastries. That is my request from Santa this year.
Well keep those cookies baking.
Love Bob & Mag
Well today we received the best Christmas gift ever, The doctor said ,drum roll please, Maggie shows no sign of cancer ! her pet scan was negative on all counts !
We have a follow up in March just because. After the holidays Mag will have her port taken out to Mags relive . Thanks to all the prayers from everyone, this has happened .
Now we can enjoy life, without this worry.
Merry Christmas to everyone . Love Bob & Mag
Well I hear the sound of grunting , and frustration , from me ! How can a tiny little lite bulb get the best of a 225 pound man , it sure can, when you try to find it on a string that are all out. Women don't understand that, I would rather, and have, thrown many many a light string away, and bought new ones. After two hours of blood pressure raising, eye crossing, ranting insane fits, I quite ! Time to try the new led lite's I hear there the best if any of you have used them ,how did they work ?
Poor Mag she is SO into decorating, she wishes she could leave them up all year, we did make a concession and did get a fake tree. She starts out with " this year I'll just do a little" 5 hours later she's still at it, all tho this year she doesn't have the physical power to do as much, like they say her spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.I tell don't worry, and she says "it's the job of the women to worry "
My contribution is decorating the outside, in the past I did a lot from animated deers with waving Santas, lights, a lot. This year it's gonna be a waving Santa and a blow up balloon Santa.
Maggie got her pet scan yesterday, and we have an appointment with the doctor Thursday for the results will let you know when we get back how they were.
Happy decoration everyone Love Bob & Mag
I thought you might enjoy this old video, watch the little boy on Erny's right, he's really got rhythm , and enjoys what he is doing. We say" Merry Christmas here "!
Love Mag & Bob
You may ask why? the first question is do I have to put a question mark after the why in my title? I suppose I do, but why? I don't have to put one in the above sentence.
Why do we eat so much at Thanksgiving ? is it because of the >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
FOOD
After that glorious, turcky, the tatoes, yams, and all manor of deserts, we always seem to ask the same question, Why? did I eat so much, why didn't I stop, why did I have to have that second piece of pie? Why I don't I have a few more belt holes, oh who cares ! if you can take your shoes off you can open your pant's. Thats why when you see the pictures of the dinner all the men sitting on the couch wear their shirts hanging out , and the ladies are either holding a throw pillow in there laps or standing around the deserts.
Any how I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, from the pics I've received it sure looks like it.
Mag and I were invited to some wonderful friends in Saint Augustine that's her turkey in the pic, she brined the bird and even the foil was juicy ! all the dinner was great! After, we all sat around the living room with a fire in the fire place, talking and laughing, in Fla. it's mandatory if it goes below 60 you have to have a fire.
The next day Mag and I vegged out, even tho it was my birthday we didn't do nutten, Mag baked me a cake, and found a card that she had to trim because she couldn't find the envelope.You might want to try the cake it's a angle food cake mix, with a can of crushed pineapple, juice and all mixed in that all, it's good tasting and low fat !
Maggie is feeling very good, this week she has to go for a scan to check out how effective her treatments were, but I know she has beaten the bad guys.
I'll stop for now Maggie is hovering over my shoulder trying to read this .
Love Mag & Bob
P.S. Cecy I'll send you the secret recipe
Hi ! all ! Sorry I haven't written sooner , I won't make any excuses( but I did forget my password ) Maggie is well on her way to recovery, you know that- when a women wants to go shopping. Yep and guess what she wanted to look for ? SHOES! can I get a amen! but I must ad she also wanted to shop for some small gifts for the staff at the hospital chemo and radiation. So last Friday we went to the annual Greek festival in Daytona we've been there in the past and enjoyed it, Mag was wanting a change of direction in her food, and to test her stomach and walking around abilities. Her stomach and legs are fine but either due to the economic conditions or
our extra year on earth,( older,and more picky) we were disappointed, it wasn't as good as last year except for the grape leaves, awesome ! the two things Mag wanted most , spinach pie , and those little balls with honey, not in stock.
The next day there was a Hungarian festival also in Daytona by the way both events were held in the respective churches , about the only good thing there was the water, which we brought with us ! They had stuffed cabbage, yuk made with sourcraught ,My speel check won't work on that word try it yourself ,no tomato sauce, chicken paprikas, I should use a cook book , no chicken , no paprika, no noodles ,I guess they didn't have time to steal a chicken, that's for Pat my sis. something they called goulash , I can't describe it, kielbasa with purple cabbage not, and bread. The pastries weren't much better you got a sampler plate with a slice of Kalacs, one Kiflik, some strange looking cookies all about the size of the tip of you little finger ! O yea they had palacsinta no tast, buy they way if you want a translation or how to make any of the above , just drop a line to my sister, great cook, I have a better Idea you all are invited to Hunkyfest 2010 at my cousin Bob's this summer around July you won't want to miss the bacon fat and onion sandwiches. I'm gittin hungry, Have you ever opened a cook book and crumbs were stuck between the pages, thats a good book.
Anyway Mags is doing so good she's starting to nag me ,just kidding, every day you can really see the difference thanks to all of your prayers.
Love Mag & Bob
Good day everyone, not much new to report on , Mags still feeling weak and sometime nauseated. Her apatite isn't what it should be and she has a cough. We went to the doctors today , all her vitals were good,her blood chemistry is perfect, and she looks great! So we asked why is she listless ? the answer is because of the radiation, 
and chemo she has had , it will take a couple of weeks for a noticeable recovery. In the mean time they gave her some steroids and hydration fluids I.V. that perked her up a little bit.
Got a prescription for cough medicine ( she's in the doughnut hole , medicare, so a $5.00 script cost $111.00! ) She better use it all !!
Now for the real news, I, me, yo, trimmed the orange tree,lemon, bougainvillea, palm
,and a bunch of other stuff, tied it all up in bundles so the trash guys will pick it up. I feel like a pin cushion my hands, arms and feet, have little holes all over ( I was wearing Crocks, which I quickly changed to my $5 walmart specials with the Velcro closers instead of laces ,yes I have relented to the pull of Walmart ,in our Walmart I may be the youngest person in there except for the employees, and a lot of them I'm not to sure of, this being Florida and you know what Florida is known for Oranges and old people. Most of the senior citizens, are from the New York, New Jersey area, so one must be on high alert when when pushing a cart, the people use a lot of those electric carts in the store, I would say besides not being able to see, or hear very well and most of them couldn't get a drivers license, it's a hazard to say the least,I have been flipped off a couple of times by these silver haired citizens, mostly women !
Well enough is enough, Peace and Love to all Mag & Bob
Well today isn't to good for Mag ,she feels very week and sometime nauseated she has one more day of radiation, and one more shot for her white blood cells. All the Doctors say these next two weeks are gonna be worst, than the first 6. Now it's going to take time for her body to rid itself of the poison she has been given . They say she must rest , but it's hard for her to stop going. Mag will get better, she has the spirit, and the want to ! Love Mag & Bob
Hi ev
ery one I'm sorry we haven't been posting lately , we have had company from Peru, and have been very busy. Mags niece her baby boy ( he's 3) her husband, and her father in law, spent a week with us, her niece stayed a extra week, so theirs three of us here now.
Of coarse if you know Mag she was involved in going places and doing things, now she's very tired.
We went to the Dr. Monday to have her pump put on , and as is the practice they did a blood test , all was well except her white cell count was down, that's the thing that fights the bad guys, the Dr. said it is pretty standard for this to happen ,because the chemo doesn't know the good guys from the bad guys. To rectify this situation they stopped her therapy for two days, Mon. Tue., and she is receiving a shot each day.
The shot stimulates the bone marrow to produce more white cells , and as a side effect it causes bone pain and general malaise. So for the past few days she hasn't had much zip.
Her appetite hasn't been very good as of late, she says she is to full from drinking so much water! Here is a pict of her niece and her son Marice and Ignacio, he is very active and loves trains. ............Love Mag & Bob
Hi every body , first I want to thank everyone who have left comments , and welcome the new people, I know most of you through my sisters blog. Mags still hanging in there, she's feeling more unsettled a bit everyday , more nausea, more tired, a little more grumpy ( don't tell her I said that ) , and busier we painted the kitchen , now the garage walls cabinets, and floor, besides washing the driveway. Of coarse while doing the kitchen she changed her motif from Ducks, To Chickens, witch means more stuff for the garage !
Love to all ...............................M&B
Today wasn't the official first day of fall, but here in Florida it started today, ya know how to tell ? your air conditioner doesn't come on at night ! Yep I feel like a real mid westerner this morning I went out to walk the dogs and it was in the low 70's, that will start( or is it stop ? ) the sap running ! when we got back from walking Mag asked me "how come the dogs aren't panting with their tongues hanging out ?" I opened the patio slider and showed her, oh, she said with a slight chill in her breath.
Only 22 more days of treatments , Mags still hanging in there Monday nights are usually her worst time she can't sleep because Monday when the pump is put on for the week they give her a I.V. and it has a steroid in it which the doc. says is the cause of her sleeplessness of coarse my snoring has nothing to do with it.
Everyone enjoy the change of weather, bye bye............M&B
Hello all, this weekend we didn't do much, Friday went to the hospital for our scheduled radiation and then went to the chemo place, it's on the second floor of the same hospital. This was a new experience for Mag . She had her pump taken off for the weekend, it hurt a little but not to much, of coarse after slamming the tube in the car door, and the sometime comic actions of forgetting she was attached , she did pretty well the first week.
Monday we go back for the reverse process, one week down five mor
e to go !
Had some friends over Saturday for lunch and played Rummy Cube, I made a Spanish Tortilla which has onions, red and green peppers potatoes , Asparagus and sausage a little Parmesan cheese and of course 12 eggs you make it in a big pan cook it on the burner and finish in the 
broiler not bad , I was the big loser, didn't win a game, of coarse Mag didn't help you know her, she had to help the other players ! "you missed this one, here do this do that, are you sure that's all you have?" by the time it got around to me I couldn't do much, oh well.
Sunday was a do nothing day , Mag needed her rest after talking with ALL her friends on the phone who called her. I had some wireless speakers I hooked up to my laptop and put them on the patio there's so much more to listen to then the radio, plus were live sometimes I can get 4 stations, it's working well. Thats it for now keep well....................B&M
Who is that that woman ? some say she is love and compassion, some say she is simple and naive , I say she is brave and beautiful inside and out. Yes she is one of a kind, how many women would let these picts. be published in the first week of this journey ? Today we went outside without a hair piece what you see is what you get.
If it were me I would be inclined to hide the way I look, not Mag we went to a restaurant before the hospital, and once in the hospital she was asking everyone about her new hair style ( short).
Mag is beginning to feel the effects of her treatments , today she is a lot more tired, not so much pain , just lethargic. Tomorrow is the last day for this round she will have two days off !
Mag made some chicken salad yesterday, and I ate the whole thing ! it was soooooo goooood !
Now it's 6:30 in the evening and Mag is painting the dogs are snorting, and I'm your know where...................... Love B & M
Today it hit me like a ton of bricks, just what were in for , sure I new how serious her condition is, sure you feel bad,sad,sorry, compassion, but when you start to really realize this isn't a cold and it won't be easy,and maybe just maybe you have a chance of losing , well it puts a big hole in my heart . Of coarse I feel sorry for myself , but above all there aren't many people like Maggie in this world , she is truly Gods ambassador .
Her treatments aren't painful or causing distress, she is eating well, feeling good, and as social as ever. But the chemo is starting to cause hair loss, and bless her she is not complaining or depressed by it. The hospital has what I call a wig room that is staffed by volunteers it's full of wigs and hats and scarfs and a lot of that kinda stuff, and its all free thru the cancer society watching Mag was delightful and alarming she was like a kid in a candy store, uninhibited full of wonder , which styles which colors, do you like this one? to her it was almost normal, to me it opened my eyes , this for real!
Well she picked two of different styles and colors I think they both look good, but I kinda like the blond one . Right after we left we went to cut her hair now it'd shorter then mine, and still doesn't look bad.
I know this sounds unfair but I checked with Mag and she said it's O.K. with her. I would like everyone to leave a comment which one you like.
Thanks Love to All B & M
