Prayers and Medical Updates

It has been a long while since you've heard me talk about my friend Rev. Charlotte Dudley Cleghorn. Good news! She has completed her radiation treatments for breast cancer, and all seems to have gone very well. The nurses and doctors even gave her a certificate commending her for tolerating their "cold hands, hard tables, and busy schedules". I think it's sweet that they "graduated" her from treatment! Now, she and Betsy can prepare for a long-since planned trip to Taos, New Mexico. Charlotte writes:

I will take a week or so off to let the skin heal and then I will begin the five year regimen of an estrogen blocker. I will be taking Arimadex which is a newer drug. The major side effect is aching joints so I will pay attention to how that is and let my oncologist know when I see him at the end of June. Five years from June, I'll have completed the whole regimen. From now on I will have bi-yearly mammograms or MRI's, probably alternating because the left side tumor never showed up on the mammogram. The MRI will give a more in-depth view of the area....
My sense is that I am coming to the end of these postings. I will give an update at the end of June after I see the surgeon, the oncologist and the radiation oncologist for check-ups. I cannot tell you how incredible it has been for Betsy and for me to have this site and this way of being in touch with and you with us. Your prayers, your thoughts, your postings have sustained us both during this ordeal and words can hardly express how grateful we are. I have learned so much about the joy and necessity of being connected to others.

And the heavenly chorus sings, "Hallelujah! Glory to God for such joy!"

Meanwhile, my friend's mom, Gloria, has gone back into the hospital. She was having quite a bit of difficulty at home, and it turns out her sodium levels had plummeted. She is making some progress, but the concern is that there might be some cancer still in the kidney that has caused this latest problem. Please continue to pray for her.

Last week, I ran into a friend of mine who I primarily knew through her late husband. Marc's body finally just gave out from having MS, and he passed away a little over a year ago. Now his widow, Mo, is dealing with one stroke of bad luck after another(a fire, and a bad contractor)... while still coping with the loss of her soulmate. Pray for her, too.

Finally, two of my male friends, Frank and Jeff, each had heart attacks and were informed just how lucky there were to live to tell the tale. Frank, being himself and a member of the Mickee Faust Club, had called my cellphone because mine was the number he could remember while he was in the hospital to tell me what was happening. More importantly, he wanted me to know that he was upstaging our head rat, Terry, who was in recovery from the cochlear implant surgery! I haven't heard much more from Frank except that he has been told no more drinking and no more smoking. Jeff, who had broken his knee in a fall before the heart attack and was dehydrated and going into renal failure, is getting around with a little more ease. And Terry is finally starting to come out of her hazy painful state, but tires easily from having this foreign object in her head. For all of my friends, please offer prayers of support and good health... and no more hospital time.