A Few Good Memes

Hi Everyone,

I haven’t written in quite a while because I haven’t been sure what to say.

Anna is doing okay. Not great, not awful. She says she is somewhat better than in August.

Last Tuesday Anna had some CAT & PET scans done and on Friday she got the results. Physically, everything is the same as it was in June (when she had her last treatment). Her leg might be slightly better. The Chemotherapy dramatically shrunk the tumor in her right leg in May and June. If anything, the leg tumor is even smaller now. Her left lung still has a fair amount of tumor and/or scar tissue in the lower lobe. At this point, it’s impossible to tell the difference between scar tissue and tumor in the left lung. All-in-all, this is about the best report she could have hoped for…still she would loved to hear that she was cancer free.

Anna continues to have difficulty talking and breathing. She has a hard time talking for prolonged periods. Certain times of the day are better than others, with mid-morning generally being the best.

She has some chest pain and was worried that that means her cancer is coming back. For now the tests show that’s not happening. But it’s hard for Anna and Jason and for everyone not to second guess the meaning of every ache and pain, every change of any kind.

Anna’s kids are back in school. Alyssa is in second grade. Ian and Emma attend a pre-school at a local church. They seem to be happy to be back to a routine.

Anna’s Mom, Frieda Worrall, is heading back to Indiana in October to help out with things. Some volunteers are also still providing much appreciated help.

The week before school started, the whole family — Anna, Jason and the kids came to visit my family here in Charleston, SC for a week. They needed a break. They worried about the trip…but it went better than they feared. Even though it rained a bunch that week, we managed to get Anna and the gang to the beach 5 times. We also went out on a motorboat — the kids went tubing. We saw a baby loggerhead turtle released (it was like a mouse with flippers). We also relaxed a bunch. Anna was pretty tired the first day, but seemed to pick up steam with each day, except for one down day in the middle. It felt like a virtuous cycle to me — we did more than normal, so she ate more, so she felt better, so we did more and on and on.

Alyssa, Ian and Emma are doing well. Any issues I noticed seemed like normal developmental and kid communication issues (”hey, that’s mine!” kinda stuff).

While she was here, Anna told us that she really wanted take her kids to Disney World. Jason has set up a trip for to Disney World in early December.

Anna is wishing that she could return to work. She craves the structure, the social interaction with colleagues, and the sense of purpose. But Purdue’s employee benefits are structured in a way that makes that impossible. Anna is getting 65% of her previous wages under long-term disability. Anna was meeting today with some people from United Way to see if she can volunteer her time a few hours a week. She had done work with them as one of her recent projects at Purdue. Anna hopes volunteering will give her some of the things she would like to get out of work.

They have racked up some significant medical bills. $5,000 from Arnett Clinic is just one example. They’re working through that, trying to figure out how to negotiate them down and pay them off over time.

Anna’s went to a cancer survivor’s weekend near Fort Wayne, Indiana this past weekend. It was interesting for her to meet other people who have gone through similar situations.

I hope you all are doing well.

Anna and Jason wish to thank all of you for your support and encouragement. Anna often says she can’t believe the vast amount of love her friends, family, colleagues, church and community have shown her. She only wishes that she didn’t have to get cancer to get it.

Reggie