1/13/13 Day Zero

Hello friends and family,

Gabrielle here.  Today Daniel and I went to the wig shop!  We tried on lots of different ones and ended up with something pretty similar to my own hairstyle that will be ordered on Tuesday and arrive next Friday.  You won't see me in it too often.  I plan to mostly just wear scarves or hats, but figured the wig would come in handy if I go to the Symphony or something.  Renee bought me tickets to see Vivaldi's Four Seasons at Benaroya Hall in a couple of months.  That will be a wig-worthy event!

The good news/bad news of the day is that the one-day culture of the needle aspiration of the abdominal port showed no infection.  But the bad news is--Steve and I know it IS infected.  I am having fevers (two days straight) and it is painful and there is a huge red circle spreading from it.  He marked the circle with black ink and the date/time so we can watch it grow or shrink as I take these antibiotics. 

Today is considered day zero--the day before chemo.  I went ahead and took my day zero steroid dose to prepare for tomorrow, but am truly wondering if with an infection and fevers they will be able to give me chemo tomorrow.  Daniel and I will show up there at 10.  They will draw blood and send it to the lab. The doctor will look at my red skin and black ink artwork on my abdominal port and my record of fevers today and then will decide yes or no to chemo.  Please pray for this infection to go away soon!  For the doctor to figure it out and for the antibiotics to work.  Pray they won't have to surgically remove this port, let the infection heal, and put in another one on the other side.  These are my little worries of the day today, but am casting these cares on God who cares for us.  (1 Peter 5:7...I think!)

Lastly, for the blessings of today (besides the new wig).  Today we were showered with kindnesses YET AGAIN.  My friend Lynette showed up for a visit with beautiful peach roses and a frozen lasagne for our freezer.  Our friends Howard and Nancy made us delicious pasta for dinner tonight which Howard delivered around 5:30 PM today.  Did I mention yesterday that Mike and Colleen brought us a quart of homemade yogurt and will continue that each week?!  And today I received six of the sweetest, most encouraging cards from friends at church, SPU, King's, and Steve's work.  Oh--and last but NOT least, my college friend Janet and her husband Tracy from California mailed me a care package!!  It contained homemade ginger cookies (ginger is good for nausea), kiwis, lemons, and meyer lemons that they and their neighbor grow, kale chips, a blue head wrap/scarf, and a sweet card (which would make card #7 today). 

I wish each of us could always feel as loved as I feel right now--by God and our family and friends.  Thank you all SO much for the love, kindnesses, and prayers to God who is the Great Physician.

Love,
Gabrielle

P.S.  Today I tried a WHOLE dropperful of the "daytime" marijuana essence for nausea.  Still nothing.  Tomorrow I'll try the nighttime one which is more potent, though it may make me sleepy.  Better sleepy than nauseous!

P.P.S.  They said you can lose your sweet tooth during chemo--and they are right!  Those of you who know me know I live for good chocolate and desserts.  Not anymore.  This is truly the Twilight Zone of my life!  My house is filled with Fran's and Theo and See's Chocolates, along with homebaked goods from friends--and I just can't do it!  AAAAAHHHHHHH!  Torture!  :-)

1/30/13 Wednesday evening

Steve

Wednesday evening update.  On the plus side, Gabrielle is finding that, just as predicted, her nausea has been improving little by little and has not needed to resort to any sorts of formerly illegal substances to achieve that goal.  Chef Daniel made amazing spaghetti and meatballs with green beans and French bread last night that Gabrielle pretty much inhaled.  And right now, he is out in the kitchen whipping up some squash ginger soup (with nary a cookbook in sight…the kid is amazing!)  As an aside, where the old man failed, Renee came through for Gabrielle and came up with tincture of THC from good ol’ Fweedom on Aurora.

 [Oh, I have to brag about Renee too…two days ago, she handed me a present that took quite a bit of searching…my very own kintsugi bowl!!!  I love it!  She said they are actually quite hard to find and ended up getting this one out of Japan.  I have it on the mantel and keep some of my favorite pieces of beach glass in it.  As is apparent, I am increasingly drawn to broken things.]

My kintsugi bowl!

Daniel is cooking us dinner tonight!

But back to Gabrielle…

On the down side, her abdominal port has continued to give her grief.  Yesterday, she was on a loading dose of IV antibiotics and has been taking Augmentin since then.  But with worsening pain, a quick call to Dr. M.’s office this morning resulted in moving up the planned abdominal ultrasound from tomorrow to this morning.  After seeing the ultrasound report, Dr. M., decided that she wanted a needle aspiration of some fluid around the port, so then it was back to the IR department (IR: interventional radiology) for the procedure.  The nice radiologist (Dr. Joseph) showed the future Dr. Daniel what he was doing and let him get a nice and close look of the whole process.  Now, part of Gabrielle’s abdominal fluid is sitting in a petri dish to see if anything worrisome will grow.  The preliminary report looks good, as the gram stain (initial microscopic look see) didn’t show any organisms.  This is good news as it means that she is on track to get her next chemo treatment in two days. 

Her abdominal pain has been getting worse, and Gabrielle has been back on the pain meds (which she had been off of for several days).  So, it’s one of those three steps forward, two steps back days.  That’s two days in a row of spending more time at the hospital. Tomorrow: lab test to see how the blood count is doing.  If that is fine, then round two of chemo for Friday.  Hopefully, tomorrow will be less eventful than the past couple of days.

Gabrielle's mother, Gloria, just stopped by for a quick visit to check on her baby.  In the midst of the conversation, Gabrielle talked to her about cancer with amazing words of wisdom, peace and clarity of mind:

"You know, at first, I thought that it's a bummer to get cancer.  But then I thought, 'lot's of people get cancer all the time', so why should I expect to escape it?  As a matter of fact, why not me?  I'm strong.  I have a strong faith.  We all have a strong faith.  I have a great family and a terrific support team.  Why not me, that's what I figure.  Better me than some other folks who don't have all that going for them".  And that's the kind of attitude that Gabrielle has going into this thing.  Watch out, cancer!  You've got a formidable foe to contend with.

Prayers for today, should you feel so inclined:  improved abdominal pain, good blood test tomorrow, and continued stamina for what promises to be a long, arduous process.  And, of course, prayers of thanks for our wonderful kids, family and all of you for your support.  No hyperbole here, we couldn’t do it without you.

1/29/13 Going with the flow

Hello dear friends and family,

Gabrielle here.  Today was supposed to be wig shopping day!  I survived my teeth cleaning at noon yesterday, which isn't the easiest thing to get through when nauseous, and I thought my "reward" would be Daniel's and my 11 AM appointment at the wig shop today.  We were going to have lots of laughs trying on all different colors and styles.  I'm pretty sure I won't go with blond.  I wore a blond wig on "spirit day" at SPU last year where we were supposed to dress up as someone.  I dressed as Sandy from Grease with blond wig and Renee's black leather pants.  Little did I know that none of my colleagues decided to join in for spirit day and that afternoon, I had forgotten I needed to attend a going away party for one of our VP's up in the President's Administrative Suite.  To say that experience was a little uncomfortable is a huge understatement, and it has soured me on life as a blond.

Anyway, I digress.  Rather than getting to go wig shopping today, last night I developed very bad pains in the area of the port that is in my right hip.  It is swollen, pink, tender to the touch, and I got a fever.  My doctor called in antibiotics and said she wanted to look at it this morning at 8:30.  I thought--no problem.  See the doc from 8:30 to 9, home for a rest, then hit the wig shop at 11.  Instead, I was in that doctor's office for over four hours getting bloodwork (infection), i/v antibiotics, i/v fluids (severely dehydrated and low blood pressure), and mercifully, i/v anti-nausea drugs!  Everyone in my doctor's office is super nice and comforting.  They gave us snacks, waters, a DVD player, People magazines, and we watched Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality.  But after that adventure, I was far too tired for trying on wigs.

Instead, we came home and had a lovely brief visit from my beloved aunt and uncle, Julianne and Oliver, and then, buoyed by all those fluids and antibiotics, and the rain having stopped briefly, Daniel and I walked around our block which is about four city blocks.  It felt so good to be outside!!

The other strange thing about today is that I tried my first "half dropperful" of the medical marijuana "essence."  It's not supposed to make you high--just help with nausea and appetite.  Truthfully, I felt/feel nothing.  Maybe will try the full dose of one dropperful next time.  Trying it, however, made me say to Daniel "what kind of alternate reality am I living in now?!"  One month I'm snowshowing in Leavenworth after Christmas (I'm a non-drinker and have never smoked pot) and the next I'm back and forth to the hospital and the doctor's office, in for tests (abdominal ultrasound tomorrow to see what's going on at that swollen/sore port site), and squirting pot juice under my tongue! 

Some of you know me as someone who is a planner and likes to be in control.  So it's pretty whacky having all your plans change daily and having very little control over anything (well, at least over my body and the flow of my days).  Many of you have sent me the Bible verse in Jer. 29:11 about God knowing the plans He has for us, plans to prosper and not to harm us, to give us a future and a  hope.  He knew that today I needed fluids and antibiotics more than I needed that wig and each day I'm learning more and more that He is in control and His plans are far better than mine.  Working on relaxing, trusting God, and going with the flow. 

And in case I don't make it to the wig shop on time, a woman from Steve's work (Marianne) knitted and sent home to me today two new beautiful hats!  And Aunt Julianne brought me a lovely scarf.  Thanks to you both and thanks to all the friends from SPU, Children's, church, and life who sent me cards today.  I think I got FIVE today.  And thanks to Lisl for the amazing dinner last night.  I have the best support team in the world.  I am blessed! 

Love,
Gabrielle

1/27/13 Magic Man

Steve

Gabrielle is still fighting the nausea, big time.  Has no appetite…since last entry, she has had half an English muffin, and had to force it down at that.  This prompted all of us to put our heads together and come up with a plan.  I reminded everyone that at our last visit, Gabrielle got a prescription for medical marijuana.  Renee did some research, looking for the best resources, while Daniel scoped out the various preparations of the stuff to see which ones did the best job at cutting down on her nausea and stimulating her appetite at the same time but without the “high” of smoking the stuff, which she clearly did not want.  It seems that there are various elixirs that you can buy with the main component, THC.  Supposedly, this won’t make you loopy, goofy, or diminish your chances of retaining your Scrabble champion title.  However, there were no real specifics on things like prices, amounts, weekend specials, or the day old bin like at the bakeries.  This called for an in-person visit, conducted by yours truly. 

After donning a trench coat and dark glasses, I ventured out (after all, I am a respected member of the north end medical community and didn’t want to give the wrong impression to any patients that may be driving down Aurora on this rainy Sunday afternoon).  I drove on past the establishment in question, which was nestled between a couple of high end motels on Aurora: the Seal and Orion, if memory serves me correctly.  Was too nervous to go right in, so I took a detour to the nearby Home Depot and asked the friendly greeter if they had any yew bushes.  This is something Daniel and I have been discussing as a possible nice addition to our back yard, as Taxol, one of Gabrielle’s chemo drugs, is a derivative of the Western yew.  The greeter was clueless, so steered me in the direction of the nursery where I found to my great dismay that they don’t have them.  Skunked. 

On the way out, I thought I would do the greeter a favor by reporting back on what I had found, just to be ready for the next yew seeker.  “No yew today.” I said.  He looked at me like I was from Mars or if I had just told him Who’s on first and What’s on second.  It didn’t help that I hadn’t combed my hair yet and had a three day growth of beard.  But, honestly, you’d think the guy would have remembered me as I had just asked him not five minutes earlier “where’s the yew?”

So, I’ve got my nerves up and drive into the parking lot of the “collective”.  100% honest to goodness truth, all that follows is true.  That last little bit about the trench coat may have been an embellishment, but not the yew guy.  The name of the place was “Fweedom”.  I half expected to be greeted by Elmer Fudd complaining about “dat pesky wabbit!”  Instead, there’s a stark waiting room with some “gardening” magazines on the table, an ATM machine in the corner and a friendly woman (who didn’t look at all like Elmer Fudd) who greeted me behind what must have been two inch thick bullet proof plate glass with three really tiny holes drilled in it so she could hear what I was saying.

I asked about their product line.  Heck, I didn’t know where to start.  She said to go to their website, “killdawabbit.com”, or something like that.  I asked if she could just give me a brief overview.  Not a chance as I wasn’t the holder of the very necessary, much coveted, often sought, but rarely granted by this doctor, medical marijuana card.  OK, off to the next place to try again.

Tooling up Aurora, I pulled in to the parking lot of another “collective” where this time I was greeted by someone bearing a striking resemblance to Shaft from the old 70’s TV series.  Once again, he was safely positioned behind plate glass.  Behind him, a bored looking crew was working with large bags of “product”.  He also told me that he couldn’t show me or tell me anything as I wasn’t the holder of the card.  I asked if there was anything he had that didn’t make you sleepy.  He said that sleepy was a good thing if you were in pain.  Here, to demonstrate, he held his massive hand up and laid his cheek against it to make the sleeping motion as if he were a toddler in pre-school having nap time.  He looked so peaceful “dozing” there behind that plate glass, wearing that braided gold necklace.

As I drove away, I turned on the radio and heard the final strains of Credence Clearwater’s “Lookin’ Out My Backdoor” about “tambourines and elephants all playin’ in the band, won’t you take a ride on the flyin’ spoon, doo doo doo, wond'rous apparition, provided by magician…”  Now that’s the experience I was after with Gabrielle, but no dice.  I thought to myself, that that was a good medical marijuana song, but that an even better one was the one about the magic man and “let’s get high a while”, though I hasten to add that Gabrielle gave me strict instructions that she didn’t want to get high.  Next thing you know, honest to medical collective truth here, the song came on!  It was a miracle.  There was Heart singing about “last night when I was not so strong you know, a pretty man came to me…never seen eyes so blue (OK, so mine are brown)” and then the famous line “let’s get high a while”.  This was not five minutes after I thought it. 

Once again, I had no interest in getting Gabrielle “high” but I did indeed want to be her Magic Man and come back with some goodies from one of the collectives on Aurora.  No such luck.  No luck for “yew” either.  Home Depot is out.  But, I figure that if I can “think” a song to be played, what with that Magic Man stuff, I ought to be able to think that cancer right out of Gabrielle’s body.  And right now, I’m thinking real hard about that.

As for being a Magic Man, I guess I will leave that to Heart.  And now, I am heading out with my pal, Dean, for a brisk swim at Edmonds while the kids hold down the fort.

Steve

1/27/13 Nadir

Steve

Nadir.  That’s the word that was bandied about a few times during our pre-chemo meeting.  It means low point, especially as it pertains to white blood cells and other lab values.  For example:  “The nadir for your white cells will be 10-14 days after the chemo treatment”.  That’s the period of time when the body is the weakest and is thus most susceptible to infections.  But nadir, in a broader sense, can apply to other things as well.

For years, I have told people that my office is located at the nadir of Holman Road.  If you’re familiar with this road, which connects the lovely areas of Greenwood with Crown Hill, you know that it dips down to roughly the QFC area before heading back up.  For some reason, not sure why, I have gotten quite a few puzzled looks when I describe by office’s geography in such terms.  Lately, I have switched my approach and tell them that my front door looks directly at the garbage cans of Luisa’s Mexican Restaurant.  The lights go on.  They all know where Luisa’s is, nadir or no nadir (great hand-rolled tortillas await you at check-in, by the way).

Another nadir can be moods or just plain feeling crummy.  They warned us about that too.  Nurse Janelle said that Gabrielle would feel the worst on days two and three after chemo and slowly improve for a couple of days before it all hits again.  Well, that’s what we’re in right now.  Nothing tastes good.  I offered Gabrielle anything under the sun for breakfast, to which she said “no” to everything, but finally (more as a gesture to make me feel better, no doubt) agreed on letting me make her some bland pancakes with applesauce.  She ate just over one.  Didn’t sleep well last night.  Stomach was churning and gurgling.  Is still getting significant drainage from part of her abdominal incision.  She is worried that all the medicine is leaking out, but I assured her that there is plenty that is sticking around to do the job, otherwise she wouldn’t feel so lousy.

She is wondering if she has the strength to do this for 18 weeks.  I counter with the fact that she is the strongest person I know and that she will do fine.  However there will be tough challenges along the way, like last night and today, but that she’ll get through them.  One day at a time.  Or as she likes to say, “Eyes on Jesus.”  That’s a good place to focus, don’t you think?

The kids have made one of those paper chains that are popular around Christmas time to go on the tree right up along with strings of popcorn and ornaments made out of cellophane-wrapped sugar cookies.  It’s got 126 links, one for each day.  They have written encouraging notes or Bible verses on each one.  Each day down, and another link comes off.  Right now, it is draped along the banister.  Eyes on the prize.  We’ll get through this.

I also remind Gabrielle that the term “nadir” implies that the opposite also exists:  zenith, or high point.  You can’t very well have a nadir without that now, can you?  To go back to my Holman Road analogy, zenith is an apt term, as at the Zenith of Holman Road, you will find such fine establishments as Dick’s Burgers (a Seattle institution that gives Inn ‘n Out Burgers a run for its money), Holy Grounds Coffee and Daniel’s favorite: Value Village.  That’s the Crown Hill Zenith.  The Greenwood Zenith has Bick’s where Rachel Ray once did an episode.  They have one mighty tasty (albeit pricey) hamburger.

So the nadir of Gabrielle’s emotions and how she is feeling will soon give way to a zenith.  Along the way, we look at little bright spots:  the birds at the feeder outside the window, cheerful flowers, plants and cards, a bright, airy house which sure beats nine days of Room 440 at Northwest (no offense, you guys at Hotel Northwest were awesome…you just weren’t home).

And that’s Sunday.  Thanks for your prayers and support.  Now, if I can just talk Gabrielle into a trip to Dick’s or Bick’s, we’ll be making some real progress.

1/25/13 Finished first chemo treatment!

Dear Friends & Family,

Hallelujah!  We made it through my first chemo appointment!  Only 17 to go!!!

It was a long day--six hours.  The blood work took longer than normal before we could start, so next week I will go in on Thursday for the blood work and then we will be all set to start the chemo at 10:30 on Friday. 

My three chemo nurses are wonderful.  Great bedside manner and very comforting throughout the process.  They explained everything really well and checked on me continually.  They even let me order lunch (which is a freebie with your chemo if you are there for four hours or more...there is such thing as a free lunch) and brought me lots of bottles of water.  Daniel was with me the whole time and Steve about half the time.  He also had to get some paperwork done at work.  We played Estimate (my favorite card game) and I was easily beaten this time as they give you Benadryl with your chemo.  Rather woozy!  We played Scrabble, which I won before the Benadryl kicked in.  We watched Top Chef "Last Chance Kitchen" online on Daniel's computer.  And Daniel said a beautiful prayer of thanks when we were done.  Tonight we will read our daily devotional together in "Jesus Calling" and in the One-Year Bible and pray again.  Prayer is becoming like breathing.  Frequent, steady, life-giving. 

When we got home, I went on a round the block walk with Steve, going "slightly" farther than our last walk.  I had to stop several times to shake back and forth (think Chubby Checkers "do the twist") to slosh the chemo in my belly around real well.  Unfortunately, when we got home, a bunch of fluid (hopefully more the saline than the medicine) had "leaked" out of part of my abdominal scar that is not fully healed in only two weeks' time.  Now I'm going to lay down and flop back and forth in a lying position to continue spreading the chemo and hopefully, not having too much more drip out while lying down!  Really enjoyed the walk though on such a pretty, cheerful day.

At chemo I met a new friend who has given me her name/number to call her anytime.  She was diagnosed 11 years ago with stage 4 ovarian cancer.  She has had lots of remission since then but is currently experiencing a recurrence and beginning chemo again. I was very encouraged, however, to meet a stage 4 patient who is ALIVE after 11 years!  This was a sweet note of encouragement from the Lord!

And speaking of encouragement...oh my goodness!  When I got home from the hospital, you won't BELIEVE what was on my porch (it's like every day is Christmas)!  Our cousin Robby and his wife, Becky, sent me an authentic autographed picture of Kelsey Grammar (Frasier) for me--his biggest fan!  Most of you know Frasier is my favorite comedy of all time and I have seen all episodes about ten times.  I will treasure this photo.  Thanks, R & B, for such a thoughtful gift!

But wait, there's more!  There was a gorgeous flower arrangement from two of my dear friends from my Children's days, Bruce and Jeannie.  Happy memory with Bruce--went to his house one night and told him the downtown Nordstrom store didn't have my favorite work shoes and never offered to order them, so I assumed they were out of production.  The next morning I got a call from Bruce saying "Gabrielle, I have your shoes--they are shipping in today!" I couldn't believe it that such a busy man would take time to do this kindness for me!  Favorite Jeannie memories--two lovely spa vacations together and eating my first grapefruit right off the tree at B & J's Palm Springs home.  I still wear the light blue "moon" nightshirt that Jeannie gave me on our spa trip, which was over my b-day weekend!  Thanks so much, B & J, for the flowers and lovely card about your thoughts and prayers for me.  Speaking of my birthday, which is coming up on 2/18, I wonder if I will have any appetite to go out to dinner or if we will just stay home.  We are about to cancel our Canlis reservation for Valentine's Day (sob) as I just can't eat enough to make it worth paying for that special night with a five-course pre fixe menu.  Oh well--NEXT Valentine's day we can go and I will even have my own hair all grown back!

But wait, there's MORE!  Two other dear Children's friends, Bill and Luanna, sent me the largest basket of Harry and David fruits you ever did see!  Apples, pears, kiwis, limes, avocados, and mangos!  Fruit tastes really good to me these days and I quickly had Daniel slice me some apple to go with my "fatten me up" snack of two saltines topped with peanut butter and chocolate chips.  Delicious apple!  Thank you, Bill and Luanna, for this perfect gift and your prayers and love.

And even MORE, there were two more cards in the mail from two friends at work, Kristi and Maribeth, that made me smile with such sweet sentiments.  And an awesome encouraging e-mail from my friend, Ted.  Thanks to all of you who heretofore have not been mentioned in the blog for your gifts, cards, etc.  I have been trying to get out thank you notes with Daniel's help but we can't keep up.  So I will try to thank people in the blog going forward and shoot a text or e-mail when I can.  OK?  Every kindness means the world to me.  I feel I am not alone in this battle.  You are all with me.  I have never felt so blessed in my life. 

Jesus summed up the greatest commandment by saying we should love God and love our neighbor as ourself.  His love is poured out to me right now through all the love you are showing to me, your friend ("neighbor").  To love and be loved--what could be more important in life?  What an amazing rope team I have.  One foot in front of the either, one day, one hour at a time and we will summit this mountain called ovarian cancer.  The view from the top and coming down the other side will be magnificent!

Love to you all,
Gabrielle

Gabrielle and her main T.V. squeeze

1/24/13 Day Zero a Quick Review

Hi dear friends/family,

Gabrielle here.  I wanted to check in and say "hello" as I finish up my final day of "life before chemo."  It has been a good day.  Daniel and I awoke to reasonably nice weather so we ate Mike and Colleen's homemade yogurt and granola (yum!) and headed outside for our "not so power" walk around the block.  It was so good to get outside, as most of my waking hours over the last two weeks have been indoors.

Around 11 AM my good friend Erin-Joy came over and brought me--reader discretion advised here--"Naked" juices, filled with lots of healthy fruits and veggies.  She also had mail ordered away to one of my favorite stores on earth--Bruce's Candy Kitchen in Cannon Beach--for one pound of dark chocolate sea foam candies.  You should have seen my face light up when I saw the pink and white striped box.  We have spent many wonderful summers at the Cannon Beach Christian Conference Center with the Bjorge Family and daily trips to Bruce's were mandatory.  By the way--would some of you on my prayer team please pray for Erin's niece Kierstin tomorrow at 1 PM?  She is three years old and was burned in an accident and has to have another trip to Harborview tomorrow to have her wound debrided.  I am not the only one in the world who is facing hardship right now and in need of our prayers!!

At 1 PM Daniel and I took a drive to pick up some meds and went down to Richmond Beach to gaze at the perfectly clear, snow-capped Olympic mountains.  We had our prayer time together gazing at the handiwork of God.  We then felt a small burst of energy and went to Central Market to get some lunch.  I am having trouble with appetite and not much sounds good right now.  Have lost 10 pounds since Jan. 1 (New Year's resolution accomplished for the first time in history).  Daniel said "I'll make you anything in this store that sounds good."  So guess what?  I had a CRAB cake for lunch...followed by a Naked juice chaser and a piece of sea foam.  While eating this delectable meal, we watched one of my favorite movies, "About a Boy."  The theme of the movie is about how people need each other and that you need more than just one other person "on your team."  You need "back up!"  If you haven't seen this movie, watch it!

Around 4 PM my dear friend Loretta came over.  She is a cancer survivor--six years now!  She gave me lots of great chemo tips and encouragement that I WILL make it through the next 18 weeks.  She brought me  a little "angel of prayer."  The little tag with it said "for those who believe in the power of prayer."  I put it on my dresser and she said "every time you look at it, remember how many people are praying for you."  Perfect!

I almost forgot to mention that getting the mail is a highlight of any day.  Today, like most days, there were cards from friends that brought me great joy to read.  I love your cards and notes.  Thank you all SO much!  And then there was a SPECIAL DELIVERY at the door--a card and homemade fuzzy, warm, cozy blanket from my great friend Dean's AWESOME Aunt Evie in San Francisco!  I love it!  I have snuggled with it today and it is going in my chemo day bag for tomorrow!

And the last act of supreme kindness and love in this day was from our dear friends and neighbors, Jerry and Laura, who just brought us clam spaghetti, salad with strawberries and blueberries, bread, chocolate cake, appetizer, beverages, and a ton of gorgeous long-stemmed pink roses.  There can't be better neighbors anywhere in the world (or at least anywhere in Shoreline)!

I am bathed in and overwhelmed by LOVE.  God's love, manifest through all of you, is covering me daily and bringing strength and hope for this tough journey.  Thank you all for coming alongside us and shoring us up for the 18 weeks ahead.  Tomorrow, when I arrive for my five-hour first chemo session, I will close my eyes and say a prayer for all of you, who are praying for and loving me.  Blessings to you all.

Love,
Gabrielle

P.S.  Many thanks to my wonderful friend Maribeth for organizing the meals and the great conversation on the phone today!