Normalcy Setting In….. A Well Deserved Vacation….MRI Scheduled

Patti is doing great.  She sleeps like a puppy but has the energy now to run errands and can drive her car for several hours if necessary with no fear.  We expect this period to last a long, long time with improvements to Patti’s spirits and vigor.

 

Back on May 18^th our family went to Santa Rosa Beach, FL for a long planned break.  This in itself is unremarkable, but the whole story is bigger.  This was year 28 of the same four families getting together for a trip to the beach.  The families of Doc Eldridge (Athens, GA), Woody Cole (Carrollton, GA, Johnny Power (Savannah, GA) and we merry Hodgsons gather with our children, spouses, significant others and now grandchildren every late spring or summer.  The guys started as fraternity brothers at UGA and the wives and children have grown very, very close.  I know for the Hodgsons it’s a time with friends we hope to never miss.  We could be a group of 27 even without girlfriends and boyfriends if we had full attendance at our “Cabinet Meeting”.  This year we had 21 with us at some point.  We’ve gotten together for as long as two weeks or as short as four days.  The time doesn’t really matter.  The great friendship is what matters.

 

Patti enjoyed this trip immensely.  The car ride was almost six hours but the time flew by and she handled it well.

The week coming up is important.  An MRI is scheduled for Wednesday to evaluate the success of the radiation and chemotherapy.  And to see that no other ‘spots’ have shown up.  A special prayer for Patti Wednesday would be appreciated.  Speaking of prayers, we received word recently that the many ‘petitions’ to Mother Mary at Lourdes had been received.  Thanks to all who helped with this.  Keep those cards coming…. And thanks for the wonderful wishes.

Radiation is Over.... Chemo Too For Now...

Patti’s last radiation treatment was this morning and her chemo pills are gone.  Thanks so much to everyone who has made the last six or seven weeks so bearable.  We are in such a new and scary place.  Patti has kept up on dietary ideas and if sleep were a prescription medicine, she might have overdosed the past week.  People who meet Patti and talk to her on the phone are blown away by her attitude and her optimism.  Her doctors are so complimentary of Patti's fighting spirit.  And her vitals and blood work are better than mine.  She will make the Big C her hostage and squish it like a bug!!!

On Sunday (Mother’s Day) Mary Catherine came home from Ole Miss after the Spring Semester.  She’ll be with us all summer and the added fun will be great.  She’s likely to take a summer job and keep the house busy with high school and college friends.  Those of you who are parents know how much fun that is.  And how much fun it is to complain about it.

Saturday we leave for Santa Rosa, FL and our annual Cabinet Meeting.  Don’t ask about the name, nobody knows the answer.  But for 28 years, four families (fathered by four fraternity brothers from UGA) have gotten together at a beach in the South and watched our kids and guts grow like weeds.  This Meeting will feature the first two members of the third generation.  If everyone shows up their will be 27 including spouses, children, children's children and significant others.  A photo of most of the group from last year’s trip to Saint Simon’s Island is attached.

 

Next for Patti is another MRI in about two weeks.  This will tell us if the tumor has taken a hike as expected.  More chemo will be scheduled sometime during the summer and another MRI every couple of months is the normal schedule.

This blog will take a short break for vacation and because there are no doctor visits or similar for a while.  Please, please continue the cards and calls.  We are all part of Patti’s family now.

The Benefits of Faith

Most of us reading this have a measure of faith.  You’ll hear no preaching here, but please know that Patti is a good Catholic and proud of it.  She is a regular church attendee at The Cathedral of Christ the King in Atlanta and has brought our children up Catholic, too.  Patti was educated in parochial schools and by my recollection she has never spent an hour in a classroom, from grammar school through college, when a nun was not in the building.

Patti has enjoyed accepting the power of her Lord during this trial.  She reads prayers and devotionals daily and it helps us all.  To Catholics, an important place of worship is the village of Lourdes, France.  There, the Virgin Mary appeared to a young woman, Bernadette Soubirous, in the mid-nineteenth century.  For generations, Catholics have been making pilgrimages to the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes to ask the Blessings of Mary.  I hope you will look this remarkable place up if you are not familiar.

Anyway, our good friends Diane and Ed Festa of Atlanta take an annual pilgrimage to Lourdes this time of year for personal benefit and to take petitions to Mother Mary for others who may be sick.  This week is special as members of the Knights of Malta, an ancient and appreciated Catholic service organization send thousands of petitions by hand to the Blessed Mother’s Shrine.  Thanks to Diane and Ed, personal letters and petitions to Mary from friends and family members have reached the Shrine in Lourdes.  The Festa’s could not go this year, so their friends the Wessels have taken the letters in the blue ribbon (pictured) on our behalf.  Friends supporting friends.

http://www.orderofmalta-federal.org/Lourdes-2013

In other news, it seems the doctors know what they are talking about when it comes to partial hair loss and great fatigue.  Patti has stayed close to home but her spirit is undiminished.  Great cards and calls come in every day.  A special handmade card (also pictured) from 4^th and 5^th grade students of Jane Connolly Leonard of Augusta arrived yesterday.  It is impressive the effort some friends will make for a gesture to Patti.  Our Mary Catherine turns 21 next Saturday and she will be home for the summer.  I, me, Tom will be looking for refuge from the estrogen.  Any offers?