Praise the Lord, I still appear to be clear of cancer. I will see my specialist, Dr. Bowen, again on August 11. Due to the fact that too many scans can increase the risk of cancer, and because synovial sarcoma is a cancer where your chance of it metastasizing stays pretty steady, no matter how many years there has been no sign of the disease, we decided to wait until the autumn for the next round of scans. But Dr. Bowen knows where the sarcoma tends to travel next, and so he will do what he can without radiation to check me out during this next visit.
What are my chances of it coming back? Probably at least 50/50. It’s actually quite freeing to know that it’s all in God’s hands. Multiple times a day, I have fleeting thoughts about the possibility of having another round, especially when I go to make long-term plans. I say “Lord-willing” and mean it so much more than I used to. It’s not a bad way to live.
This is a type of cancer that one can’t officially prevent with diet or hormone therapy… However, building up my immune system can help track down any rogue cells, so indirectly, I can assist my body by keeping active and eating foods that keep inflammation down.
I am keeping busy and have made so many precious memories this summer. Here is a photo of me at a lovely bookstore in Tunkhannock for an author signing. The Little Book Place. If you live in the area, it’s so worth the drive.
We had a fabulous party in the Apron Strings Reader Series on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/apronstringsreaders It’s worth the time to stop by and peruse the old posts. The authors of the second collection announced their Tea Tale titles. These are fairy tale retellings that involve tea rooms and take place in the 1920s and 1930s. Guess what fairy tale I’m retelling, and leave a comment. I have a giveaway for whoever guesses it first.
I spent a lovely time at Emerald Isle with my family. What a special place! Unfortunately, my daughter’s boyfriend’s mother passed away a couple of days before the vacation, so she wasn’t able to go with us. (Please say a prayer for her boyfriend.) Pat and I had some “couple time” that we didn’t even know we needed because we had a suite to ourselves. However, we missed our Lizzy.
One wonderful thing that happened on Emerald Isle was that our son proposed to his girlfriend on the beach — at night, under a full moon. It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever experienced. I’m so glad he wanted the family to hide in the dunes and to be part of this special event. (Check out the heart I made with fairy lights and canning jars!)
I also had the pleasure of assisting a dear friend, Carolyn Oravitz, in preparing and publishing her debut novel, Small-Town Independence. It is such a lovely story. https://www.amazon.com/Small-Town-Independence-Sparks-Novel-ebook/dp/B0FCCVQZ6W/ Here is a photo that I took near my parents’ blueberry bushes. After tripping and breaking the heart-shaped 4th of July cookie I had bought just for a photo shoot! ha ha! I blamed my spill on my bum leg, which is still pretty numb due to all the surgery trauma. But honestly, I’ve been on the clumsy side all my life.
Another beautiful thing that has happened since I last updated youis that my niece Eva was married to a man she met while at college, who is from Washington state. Hunter is such a fine young man. They both have new jobs in Georgia. I keep saying that I am so glad that we don’t live in the Westward Expansion Era, when poor moms had to say goodbye to their kids, knowing they would probably never see them again in this life. FaceTime is wonderful — and so are airplanes!
A very hard thing that happened this summer was the death of my sister-in-law Mickie. It was unexpected and traumatic, to be honest, even though it was natural causes. Mickie was way too young to die. Please pray for her two sons and my mother-in-law. Here we are around her ashes. It might seem weird for us to have a photo like this, but Mickie would have loved it. She treasured pictures from every occasion.
Here’s a photo from the “my” side of the family, from my other niece, Caroline’s wedding. So, Eva met her love at college and ended up introducing his best friend to Caroline. Caroline and Darius fell in love almost immediately, and they got married in May! They moved to Virginia, but it looks like they’ll be able to return to Pennsylvania in the next couple of weeks. Darius will be able to work from home, and they’ve found a beautiful, more affordable apartment that became available. I’m so happy!
Here is my fabulous friend Rose, who joined me with a stand at the Electric City Flower Show in June. What a wonderful time we had, she with her pottery, and me with my bookish items. We had so many great conversations with people who stopped by, and even made some sales.
Another wonderful thing that I was blessed to be a part of this summer was the publication of my students’ anthology, Into the Wardrobe. In August, my students will be able to read to other middle-schoolers at the Lackawanna County Library. Here’s more about that: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1716mryZJx/
You can find out more about my students work on my homepage: https/www.walshmountainpublishing.com
I have many things going on in August, from a new book launching, to visiting my eldest daughter in the Adirondacks, to helping my son build a basement apartment, to moving into a new classroom at West Intermediate — and more. I will update you on how my future appointments and scans go. Please continue to pray that I do not have to deal with any more rounds of cancer, and that I will use the time God gifts me with for His glory.
I hope all is well with all of you!
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