Thursday 9/18/08

Hello all, Since I last wrote, Glenna has had a fun and exhausting week. Stephanie's visit was wonderful and full of nothing but laughs. She is so uplifting for all of us. I took a few days off from work and spent time with the whole family. Bob, Glenna, Steph & I drove up to Loudin, NH, to visit her two sons - who were working the Nascar Races there for the weekend. They put us up in the cottages on Winnepesauke Lake where they were staying. We had so much fun - going to a race and seeing what that whole thing is about, and hanging out with them enjoying the beauty in New Hampshire. Glenna had a wonderful time. She really hung in there and kept pace with all of us. Of course, there had to be one mishap, as nothing ever seems to go smoothly. Before we left, she had developed an infection on one of her fingertips. It was really hurting her, and on Saturday, she noticed a red line moving up her hand. So, we wasted no time in getting her to the local hospital - which luckily was only 5 miles away from where we were staying. They took lots of blood and tried draining it, but didn't have much luck, and ended up putting her on an antibiotic (again). It seems better now, but her Boston docs looked at it today and want her to watch it closely and stay on the antibiotic another week longer.
When we came home from NH, she was really beat up. She spent the next couple of days resting as much as possible. The last two days we have played tourist on Cape Cod and showed Steph around some of the best spots. Then today, we drove up to Boston to deliver Steph to the airport. Glenna also had followup visits with two docs. Dr. Shih checked her out and said she really did well through all the radiation - better than she had imagined she would do. She told us that they really gave her aggresive doses of radiation and she handled it very well - physically and mentally. That was encouraging to hear. She will be going back up sometime next week to have an MRI to see how things are behaving in her brain.

OK - and now some very exciting news......Glenna was given a big surprise from our friend, Gayle, and her sister Bonnie. Anyone who knows Glenna well, knows her favorite TV show is "Ellen". Well, Gayle and Bonnie are going to California in October and while there, they are going to the Ellen Show. Bonnie somehow worked her magic and got her hands on two more tickets to the show, and is giving them to Glenna. I can't even tell you how excited Glenna was to hear this news. She cried her eyes out - which made all of us cry with her. The show is October 7th, and we are starting to plan a short trip out there. Of course, Glenna hasn't chosen her "Ellen-mate" yet , but you know I'm hoping it will be ME! Anyway, its a great thing to look forward to and its all she talks about right now.
Well, that's the news for now - we will be in touch again soon. Love to all of you....MK