Hello from London,

We are still sitting here, relishing all the wonderful memories of visiting with our family at the Dennis/Sanderson barbecue last Saturday. It was an absolutely amazing day, and we are so happy that so many people made the effort to attend. What started out as a small idea grew to incredible proportions and thrilled us so much. The timing was good (between Myron's chemo treatments), and even the weather cooperated better than we had expected. I am including a few pictures from the big day for those of you who are not on Facebook and therefore have not seen them. The first is of the group who were here on Saturday (or at least the majority of us), and I have also included two family photos taken that day, one of Myron with Chris' family, and the other of Myron with Heidi's family (but not Heidi).

Health-wise, Myron is doing quite well. He does have a few really tired-feeling days during each chemo cycle, but other than that, he is doing quite well. He suffers some side effects from the chemo, but no pain, and overall we feel it is worth the effort - especially since his tumor has shrunk as we told you in the last posting. Today we were busy doing some yard work, and other assorted chores around the house. Myron's chemo treatments have been switched to Wednesdays starting next week in order to give us a little more freedom on weekends. Myron is hoping to attend his brother Frank's golf tournament in Waterloo on June 14th, and if things go according to our hopes we will be heading for Newfoundland in early July. Below is a photo of Myron, taken today, as he sits on the front verandah doing a sudoko puzzle - taking a rest from his chores. (You can see Wendy's reflection in the window as she is taking the picture).

 

 

Overall, it has been quite a week - from burgers to brats to breakfast, from stool samples (inside joke there) to quilts, from casino visits to lunches out, from paintings to peanuts to pecans to popcorn. Oh, the memories! Thank you all so much. We'll write again soon. Take care and lots of love.

 

Myron and Wendy

We are just home from our bi-weekly visit with the oncologist. We were given the results of Myron's CTSCAN (on April 27th), and the news is good that the tumor on his pancreas had shrunk from 4 cm down to 3 cm. The doctor believes that this is very good news. As a result, we are going to continue chemotherapy treatments for another 4 sessions, up until June 25th and then we will take a break for a vacation in Newfoundland in July. Keep your fingers crossed that all goes well in the meantime, and we can proceed with this plan. We will be seeing the haematologist on May24th, and finding out from him whether the use of a compression stocking will help control the swelling in Myron's leg (caused by the blood clots).

On the home front things are as busy as ever. Yesterday we drove out to our trailer, cut the grass, set up the gazebo on the deck etc. (see photo below), and we're looking forward to spending a few days there in the near future. We are going out to our bowling banquet this evening (even though we only bowled the first half of the season). We are eagerly anticipating the Dennis/Sanderson family barbecue this weekend and are looking forward to seeing our family, many of you who we haven't seen in quite some time. We are expecting Betty and Red to arrive from Texas some time tomorrow evening, and Vern and Dale will be arriving from Wisconsin on Thursday evening. We raised our US flag today in honour of the visit of the Americans in our family (see photo below).

That's all the news for now. Looking forward to seeing you on Saturday.

love,
Myron and Wendy

Greetings Family and Friends,

We have had a good last couple of weeks. A few tired days for Myron, but overall, not bad at all. We are excitedly looking forward to the family barbecue on May 17th and we really hope that everyone can come. We seem to be constantly busy, from doctor's appointments to running errands to household chores. It never seems to end. Thank goodness we are retired or we would never keep up.

We went out for an evening of bowling yesterday with our former bowling league and we enjoyed ourselves very much. Myron (with a PICC line inserted in his arm, and using an unfamiliar bowling ball) still beat Wendy. Next Monday evening we are attending the bowling banquet, and we are looking forward to that. Thursday morning this week Myron is going out on his bus run to visit with all of "his kids" and he is joyfully anticipating it.

We held another progressive euchre here last Saturday evening. We had 7 couples in attendance and a good time was had by all. The upcoming week is going to be a busy one. We have a doctor's appointment on Monday (where we are hoping we will hear news concerning the results of last week's CTSCAN), Vern and Dale are arriving from Wisconsin on Wednesday evening, Myron has his chemo treatment on Thursday, and then we will be busy preparing for the barbecue on Saturday - with a short trip to the casino slotted in there some time.

We dashed outside to the front yard a few minutes ago and took this picture so you could see us as we are today. So ... here it is:

 



Off to do some more work and errands now. Looking forward to seeing as many family members as possible on the 17th. Let's make this a family barbecue to remember! Take care, love you all and keep us in your prayers.

Myron and Wendy