Dark days are here

Dear friends , tried to post last night and it came out all jumbled , don't know what happened.Anyway I'll try again , but please understand I'm very tired and it's hard to write this stuff. Lainey had an e.r. c.t. scan yesterday. We get the results at 11:15 this morning. It looks like things are getting out of hand. her liver is inflamed and enlarged and her liver enzymes are off the chart, they think the new chemo they gave her may be doing it . We need to know , what it means, can she have a different chemo, is the liver damage reversible or permanent. Lainey wants to fight on ,I'll do all i can to help her.Well we'll post the results when we can , love to all Keith.

Saturday night slight improvement

Dear friends forgive me for not updating but we have had several days from hell. Lainey spent all day and night Thursday and Friday dry heaving over the bathroom sink. She has not been able to eat hardly anything. She is tired, weak and very nauseated. That's the readers digest version, we did not sleep at all Wednesday or Thursday nights. Last night (Friday ) she was given some meds to sleep and it knocked her out. Today she was marginally better, couldn't get up till 5 pm and then only to lay on sofa and watch a movie with me.
So many friends called and or stopped by today, sorry i couldn't let you in , but Lainey simply did not have the strength to see people and i have to yield first to her needs.
Thank you Robert and Theresa for your love and support and encouragement.
Thank you Charlie ans Sheryl and Konrad and Grace for stopping by. Thank you Christina and Jeremy for trying to see Lainey. Thank you Marika, Carmen , Anita,Dad, Renee, Debbie,Ray, Kevin, for the kind calls. Thank you Boonie ( Danielle) ever faithful to your Lainey friend.
Combined you all made the day more bearable.
I hope Lainey sleeps tonight and wakes feeling a little stronger and able to eat tomorrow.
I/we need your encouragement to strengthen us to face the trials ahead, i need your help to take care of Lainey and keep my mind intact, so thank you all for your love, understanding and compassion. Take care , good night, Keith.

Wed eve doing a bit better

Dear friends it's Wednesday evening and Lainey is a bit better. Temperature is finally under control and her appetite is returning.
We just had 2 dear friends from Connecticut ( don't know how to spell that since it's not a real English word) stop by to see us, Jeff and Lydia Micallizi. So good to see friends persevering in the truth after all these years, they've been married 30 years and Lydia still looks way better than Jeff :-). Seriously thanks for coming by to visit.
Well we hope this next week will see an improvement, take care and stay close to the truth, and do not give up doing what is fine, Gal 6;9,10. Love K and E

Lainey not strong enough for chemo

We went to the doctors yesterday but Lainey still has a fever and is too weak/ill to have chemo. She was disappointed but it's best to play it safe. We now have to build her up so she can keep fighting. Times are tough at the Lellybelly house, fighting despair and defeat, hope we can turn a corner and see some improvement, love to all Keith.

Tuesday hopefully chemo day

We are off to doctors today for tests and a medical to see if lainey is passed fit for chemo. She hopes to be able to resume but is tired of feeling so bad all the time.
So pray for her to have courage , strength and endurance as we go through the day, love to all Keith.

Sunday morning blues

Dear friends it's Sunday morning and Lainey is very down. I'm trying to get her not to give up. I asked her if she thinks it's over , she said yes, , that she's just waiting for more bad news to come.
Thank you Eija for the encouraging words, i read them to Lainey and she perked up a little. It's true isn't it, dogs never give up, if only we could be more like them, and as they say 'if only i could be the man my dog thinks i am" !!!
Our dog Twizzle who died a couple of years ago had a seizure, she was paralised on one side of her body by the time she got to the vets, she was still licking my hand and wagging her tail as they put her to sleep. Oh the spirit, half our problems are what we do with stuff we know in our heads.
So pray that i can find the inspiration to pick my up and get her ready to fight on, she doesn't need pity she needs encouragement and cheerleading. We will prevail if we do not give up !
Well that's it for this morning, Eija ( a dear friend in Colorado ) needs daily updates so there you go Eija , love you all Keith.

Saturday am blues

Dear friends, Lainey is resting at home trying to build her strength to resume chemo.
She is on oxygen 24/7 and feels like she is sliding backwards. If you can call me and come and visit her and please encourage her not to give up the fight. She needs encouragement that she can fight back and keep living for years not weeks or months. If there is any advice/help you can give me to be an inspiration for her please do. I am understandably tired and beaten up but i need to be her beacon of light and laughter, so please help me/us to get our momo back. Love to all Keith.

p.s. thank you Debra for the beautiful card from Paris and Karen for the package from England and Nona for you kind words and gift card from Washington. Thank you Jathan for the letter which i will treasure the rest of my life.We are being touched by beautiful people all over the world,some of whom we've never met, we love you all Keith.

home safe

Dear friends , Lainey is home safe. we escaped just before the snow hit again. We had to wait for oxygen tanks for the trip home. There is concern over how much oxygen she's getting in her lungs, plus the risk of pnuemonia. She'll be on oxygen for at least a few days until we see the doctors down here. Also we'll see if she's past fit for chemo next week, she really has taken a beating this week. She is very immune suppressed so if anyone comes to visit be aware she can't hug you or shake your hand. We have to focus on getting her strong now so she can deal with chemo. Basically we've been told barring a miracle she will be on chemo to suppress the spread of the cancer for the rest of her life. So it's a big burger to chew on.
Well just wanted to let so many caring people know we are home safe. we are both very tired and a little disoriented so excuse if we don't communicate very well. we are just trying to deal with it one day at a time.
Hope to see you all at the hall soon, lainey will obviously stay at home, if anyone wants to volunteer to sit with her and listen in over the phone that would be greatly appreciated.
mum leaves on the 30th , she been fantastic, i don't know how we could have coped without her.
Well as you can imagine lots to sort out after being away for 3 weeks, love to everyone, a very grateful Keith.

We are so out of here

we are out of here in an hour or two, huge thanks for all your love ansd support, last post till later tonight, thank you big to the wonderful friends in Reno, love you all Kman

Rollercoaster continues

Just met with doctor 9pm. Says he does not think temp is from an infection. He thinks its tumor related and that the altitude is causing the symptoms to be elevated. Wants us to go tomorrow morning Thursday, with oxygen to get over mountain. Believes lainey will be much more comfortable at a lower elevation, halelujah !

My job to keep her temp down overnight,

She'll be weak and tired, her red count is low, and the pleural effusion is probably malignant tumor fluid that is coming through the walls from the liver/abdomen into the lower lung area. Got to make sure that is kept at a minimun, doctors in San Ramon may choose to drain it, as long as it doesn't increase in volume the main problem will be malignant cells in fluid in vicinity of the lung. Only thing to do about that is try to whoop it with chemo.
Lainey's cancer is very aggressive, we'll beat it up as long as we safely can, at some point she may have to decide if the battering her body takes at the hands of the chemo is worth the taking.

Cancer stinks bring the ultimate cure Jehovah , Rev 21:3,4

Thanks for all the love and support, calls ,texts,e-mails, cards, i can feel the support lifting us up to endure things we never could on our own. BIG LOVE Keith

Wont be leaving Thursday

Won't be leaving Thursday, maybe Sat or Sun, Lainey's fever 103.2
Can't answer calls , too busy with lainy's care.
E-mail me i am way over on my allotment for texting, pray she can get home this weekend, i don't want something bad to happen here, if that's to be it needs to be at home, pray pray pray, just for her to get home forst please, love Keith 6;20 pm

Wed morning update

Lainy slept soundly all through the night, woke up feisty ;-) gave her a bed bath, enjoyed by both her and nurse keefer. Only big issue is temperature, woke up 101.6 (before the bedbath !!!).
Hope we can bring that down, still plan on Thursday am escape from the mountains.Later Keith.


p.s. little Jack Dallman saw Lainey's photo on this blog sais " is that Lainey's fancy hair" you gotta love kids,
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continued improvement

More good news, ct scan showed that the fluid in lungs was very small amount, whereas chest x ray made it look like a large amount, ( 1 third to 1 half of lung )dotors say fluid is bi product of cancer in liver but nothing else.Fluid is not sufficient to warrent removal.
it appears Elaine has an upper respitory infection, (sinus),and an outside possibility that pneumonia was starting when we first arrived, but she's clear of pneumonia now.Having to do breathing exercises as the lungs are not perfrming properly yet.
Dr said goal to send lainey home Thursday morning with a weeks worth of antibiotics.
Alternative therapy will be suspended till May, after winter/flu/cold season is over.
Lainey should be able to resume main war with chemo starting again next Tuesday.
As many people have said, Lainey needs to fight back and fight on.
So we've dodged a bullet, infections and pneumonia are very dangerous obviously when you ar immune suppressed.
Thanks for the incredible support, BIG LOVE, Keith

C.t.scan no cancer in lungs !!!!!!!

Dear friends , just got c.t. scan results, fluid in lungs but no sign of cancer !!!!!!
Wel that's one bullet dodged. Now got to get that fluid out and hope it's not infected,will ket you know more as i can

Taken a turn for the worse Lainey in hospital

Dear friends Lainey has taken a turn for the worse. Over the weekend her discomfort increased,at 7 pm on Sunday evening her temperature spiked to 103. We rushed her to hospital, she was admitted at 2 am this morning (Monday)
We had a chest x ray done which showed pleural effusion. She has a large resevoir of fluid around the bottom half of her right lung. She has to have it drained tomorrow morning , which hopefully will relieve the pressure and enable her to breath easier.
We just had c.t. scans done of the brain, chest and abdomen. We should get results late tonight or early tomorrow a.m.
She has some kind of infection that is causing the fever, they are treating it with 3 kinds of antibiotics. They are testing for various diseases.
The fluid is the body producing it in response to the cancer, it may be from the existing cancer in the adjacent liver, or it may be from a new secondary site, (ie lungs) we will know when ct scan results come back.
I’m hoping to get her fever/infection under control and drain fluid and high tail it back to Pleasanton by Friday.
We need to be with our closest friends , family, doctors, support group. The friends in Tahoe have been amazing but there is no place like home under these circumstances.
I hope we can resume chemo in Walnut Creek next Tuesday but that remains to be seen.So many unanswered questions.
I am praying the cancer has not spread to her lungs.
She is calm, strong and dignified. She is in relatively no pain now and the temp is under conrol, last night at it’s peak she was shaking uncontrollably.
My little sweeheart has fought so hard so long, she is like a little kitten that hurt no one and is being kicked around by a gang of thugs. She is beaten and battered but will be victorious, she will maintain her integrity and loyalty to Jehovah God to the end and thus look forward to a resurrection to paradise.
Please, as I know you do ,pray for peace, a calm heart , strength, faith and courage for both of us but especially for my baby .
I am on the verge of emotional collapse but that will come later, right now I have to be her support, comfort and guardian. I will do all I humanly can to take care of her.
If we make it back to town , please come and share your love with her/us. Hopefully this is all premature and my little angel from Brooklyn will bounce back again, if not I pray her pain will end quickly and peacefully.
I’m going to be a royal mess, she’ll be asleep but I’ll be in my own living hell. So I’ll need lots of understanding friends for a while. I will bounce back and will not forsake the truth in my grief, I owe that to my courageous wife and many others of faith who have gone before.I'll close now, excuse that i can't field calls, im on 24 hour Lainey watch and care.
Love you all always Keith

Friday night update

Dear friends it’s Friday night and I’ll give you a quick update. Lainey made it through another week but it was very hard. She had 1 relatively good day Thursday. Today she was pretty desperate emotionally, it’s such a hard drawn out battle for her .
We would not be able to make it without the power of the Sovereign of the universe and the help he provides.
Thank you so much Chris and Kate Kolodziej for letting us stay in your beautiful home. For making us feel welcome and your generous hospitality.You and the dogs :-)have made us feel loved and secure (and well licked ).
Thank you Neal and Susie, finally we got to meet these two wonderful friends today. They let us stay in their home while they were gone and they had never even met us. Well upon meeting you we can tell you are gifts from Jehovah, full of love and compassion, may Jehovah help you through your trial too !!!
Thank you Marika for calling and mailing and sending flowers.
Thank you Ray, Art, Sylvia,Mum , Dad,Sam,Deven,Matt, Cheryl,Debbie P, Debbie Z,Robin , Dianna,and all the other friends for writing to us and calling.
Thank you Eija for checking in almost everyday with words of love and encouragement.
And thank you Danielle aka “Boonie” for being the greatest friend ( Boonie is flying in on Sunday for 8 hours and flying out the same day because she “just had to see her Laineyfriend” that’s amazing love and kindness.
I can’t think of much else to say except I know in my mental exhaustion iv’e neglected to thank many others that I should.
So thank you everyone, I know friends in many countries are praying specifically for us in France, Englnd, Mexico, USA to name a few, some we don’t even know personally.
You are all examples o the very best of humankind and a tribute to the God who made us in his image.
So good night and may the peace and joy and love of Jehovah God be with you ,your Bro , Keith

Wednesday and we are halfway through

Dear friends it's Wednesday and we are halfway through treatments. The sun is still shining in reno, bad for the skiers good for us. I'm hoping Lainey will turn the corner again and start to feel better.
Want to thank all the dear friends fro the calls and e-mails, you all mean so much to us, can't wait to be home so we can see you all again.Well i'll say more later, just big hugs and kisses all around, only problem is when i give Ray Oberlin a hug i get a face full of belly button!!! Either he's gonna have to shrink or i'm going to have to grow in the new world, maybe we'll meet halfway,nah 5'ft 6 is the perfect height, get ready to hem your pants Ray :-) XXXXXX Keith

Monday night update

Dear friends, Lainey had a rough weekend but she is marginally better today. We are pinning a lot of hope on the Salicinium and Poly Mva products that she is receiving. After 3 weeks of infusions she will take both products everyday for the rest of her life.Some people have had great success with them especially in conjunction with regular chemo, we live and hope. The stuff is crazy expensive though , i think the oral pills and liquid are going to run over a thousand dollars a month ! But we place a value on things and my Lainey is priceless to me , so as long as i can pay for it she'll get whatever she needs.
This system is insane, you don't know till it happens to you. Already in the past year and a half the insurance has paid over a million dollars in covered medical bills for Lainey, so my advice to anyone is ,if you don't have insurance get it and fast, i would put having health insurance ahead of owning a house, without insurance i would be wiped out and then what good would my house be to me then . The Bible was written a long time ago , so where we are counselled to be content with "sustenance and covering" if that were written now it would say "sustenance, health insurance and covering" !!!!
Friends if you are in good health never take it for granted, if you are ill our hearts go out to you.
Here goes a huge kiss to the Cueto's,Sister Glei, Sister Jenkins,and any other friends who are suffering, soon pain
and suffering and tears will be no more, i'll be 5ft 6"(which is the perfect height) and Lainey and i will have 30 kids!!!! ( My version of Revelation 21:3,4) :-)
Well stay happy and show love at every opportunity, and remember this life is not all there is, so don't get caught up in this decaying world, draw close to Jehovah and live!

Love you all Keith

P.s love to Debbie Zimmerman, heard you are under the weather too, hope you are well soon, lots of love to the Ron man :-)

Saturday and we are a third of the way through

Dear friends,
It’s Saturday morning and it’s been quite a week. Lainey was in such a bad way when we arrived on Monday. As you can imagine going to a cancer clinic where pretty much everyone around you is stage 4 is quite depressing. We go to an infusion suite where about 8 patients are hooked up. The whole scene is awful and one I hope you never have to witness. Everyone is very courageous, but there is an underlying fear /sadness in everyone’s eyes. Oh my how we need the kingdom to do away with sickness and .
For those of us in relatively good health we soldier on somewhat oblivious of the pain and suffering that’s going on in the world. Stats say that 50% of men an 33% of women will get cancer in the USA. That’s just plain terrifying. I know my vision is colored by all the sickness I’ve witnessed in the past year and a half, but this life is so sad, there is something better, and the only hope for mankind for true long lasting health and happiness is God’s kingdom.How I/we could ever take this gift for granted and get caught up in this system astounds me. I guess we all live with the “it’ll never happen to me “syndrome. So friends, stick close to the truth and preach the good news to the sad and desperate people of this system, we all need it so badly.

Lainey had a bad day yesterday (Friday), we were battling with keeping her temperature down. I hope she wakes feeling better this morning, I’m desperate to see some relief. I said to her last night , “what do you want me to pray for” she said “relief”.Just a small improvement would be a relief. I also pray everyday for faith, courage, endurance, power, strength, wisdom and love.

Well this weekend will be what it will be, hopefully a little better for Lainey before she as to go back again Monday. Have no doubt dear friends, how seriously ill your little sister is. Imagine the mental anguish she goes through everyday, and as I know you do please pray for her and me too to endure till the end, whether that’s the end of life in this system, or the end of this system , we all need Gods power to survive.

Love you all stay strong and manifest love, the identifying mark of true Christians.

I've turned the corner Keefer !

Dear friends it's Thursday morning and Lainey woke up feeling much better.She woke up at 7:15 and said "I've turned the corner Keefer !" Just a little improvement is such a big deal for us now. We'll have treatments today and tomorrow then have the weekend off, except she will take the medicine orally over the weekend YUK!
I have a little bit of a cold so iv'e been banned from passionate kissing BUMMER!
Will write more as things unfold, thanks for all your love and support, Keefer and Laineymum.

Lainey cheering up thanks to you all

Dear friends lainey is cheering up , thenks to the brotherhood/sisterhood.
Kate Kolodziej came to see us tonight, she used to live in Pleasanton, at our request she brought her 2 dogs, Lainey smiled for the first time in days.I read her your e-mails an blog postings , thank you thank you. Dad called from England, spoke to mum in Pleasanton, Mariola Polanski brought us dinner from a sister who we don't know, am getting e-mails from friends all over the world, what can i say THANK YOU, LOVE YOU, oh yes my friend Sam called me, (when the phone goes off it plays Austin Powers music, groovy baby), love you Sam.
Spoke to Lainey's bosom buddy Danille (Boonie) you rock Boonie !
Who else can i mention, oh yes thank you Jehovah , because if i hadn't come into your congregation i would not have met and known the most beautiful people in the world, WE LOVE ALL OF YOU, WITH YOUR LOVE AND SUPPORT WE WILL ENDURE TILL THE END, sincerely Keefer and Laineymum.

Sun is shining lainey a bit better

Dear friends, the sun is shining in Reno,Lainey is fatigued but doing a little better.It's only been 1 week since her latest brutal chemo treatment so i hope as this week goes on she will feel gradually better.What we need the most as do all of us is association with our wonderful brothers and sisters.When one is forced into isolation one thinks how could anyone choose to isolate themselves?
We miss you all terribly and long to be home. I hope Lainey recovers to where she can go back to the Kingdom Hall, to be in Jehovah's house is the greatest priviledge, so never forsake the meetings friends. As Bro Howard once said , "if you feel like you're dieing go anyway, it's a good place to die, all your friends are there! " With that said we do need to show love and stay away when we are sick and infectious as that would not be kind or loving to make others ill.But the point is we need the meetings, we need each other, we need to stay close to the truth in these hard hard times.
Well i'd better close, please post or e-mail, i read all your comments to Lainey and it makes her feel better and loved, love you all Keefer.

Trouble with internet access

Dear friends we are up here in Reno, having problems with internet access, wrote a blog for 45 minutes this morning then lost access before i could post it. I will endeavor to post details in bits. Lainey doing a bit better. Started treatments yesterday. Infusions every day for 3 weeks. Staying at friends home, have never met them , they are away on vacation. They offered their house for us to stay in, so here we are in someone elses home, what wonderful people. Local friends are going to provide us meals, what wonderful love and compassion. Well i'll close now in case this post goes of into the mountains, love you all Keith.

Some questions people want answered

Dear friends here are some recent questions people want answered

QI also noticed the message that was sent by Shauna. I started reading her blog, too, after googling salicilium...

never can remember how to spell it. I too would have contacted her. Did she think her treatments there helped her?

A(She did not think the treatments had any effect on the cancer, she does think it is a positive experience)

QIs Elaine going to keep up with doxil while in Reno?

A(yes, she gets Doxil every three weeks, we’ll have to drive down here for the treatment then go back to Reno)

Q How many times can a person take that chemo?

A(As many times as the person can tolerate it physically and mentally)

QHow soon will you know it is working?

A(Probably get a c.t. scan in February )

QIs she feeling better by now, assuming she was not well after her last treatment?

A(No she feels pretty awful right now )This treatment has really knocked her on her butt)

Please feel free to ask , i will respond if i can love Keith.

will miss the friends

Dear friends, we are packing to go to Reno . We will miss you so much, PLEASE e-mail me so i stay in the loop. We hope to see a number of friends who moved from Pleasanton to Reno a few years back, the Polanskis, Kolodziejs and Nyby's. We'll need the emotional and spiritual support. I have officialy closed down my business for a month or two. I have to dedicate all my time to Lainey and trying to get her back into remission, That is my mission knock this @#*&@$ back to where Lainey can live a little and be around you all in the spring. I am desperately struggling with inner grief and sadness right now so ANY encouragement is appreciated. I will post frequently from Reno to keep you informed, please share the info with any and all friends and ask them all to pray for strength, endurance, faith, wisdom, a calm heart,peace, power beyond what is normal and hope. I can't express how much i will need your emotional support in the months ahead, bring a big box of tissues cause real men do cry , a lot !!! Well take care , get out in the ministry, share the GOOD NEWS of something better than this. If this life was all there was then God would not be a God of Love, but he is and this rotten world will end and God's kingdom will restore peace, love and joy to ALL worldwide.Rev 21:3,4. I'm not a Bible thumper, but friends there is something better than these few years full of tribulation. The answer is right there in the scriptures, we all need knowledge and faith and then the guts to do something about it. I know non witnesses look at this page, PLEASE talk to Jehovah's Christian Witnesses when they come to your door, ask them to share their faith with you, ask for the 'WHAT DO JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES BELIEVE" brochure, read YOUR bible and make your own conclusions. We don't drag ourselves out of bed , put on a suit and come to your door because we think we are any better, we come to your door because we love you. Well that's it, sermon for the day :-) Love to all , Keith.

Going to Reno on Monday

Dear friends Lainey and i are going to Reno on Monday to a cancer clinic there. If we agree to their recommendations we will be gone for 3-4 weeks. Lainey will be having daily treatments. Please remember us in your prayers and if possible check on my mum who will be holding down the fort. Love to all K and E.

New Chemo went ok

Dear friends just a quick post to let you know Elaine's new chemo "Doxil' went ok today.

Lainey wanted me to let you know she survived chemo today without incident. We’ll wait and hope the reaction over the next 3 days is tolerable.

We are going to Reno for consultation with 2 doctors on Monday. If we agree with their assessment we will stay there for about 3 weeks and get treatment every day, this is in addition to her regular chemo. Unfortunately insurance doesn’t cover this and it will probably run about $30,000, but she’s worth it to me, so we’ll give it our best shot. If any of you friends are available to stop by please call her first and do so ( as long as you are not sick or been close to someone who is sick, because her counts are low and immune system challenged ) , Lainey would love to see you. Wed-Friday will be the worst days for her.If you can't come see her please call.

Lainey said she can be like the "bubble boy" on Seinfeld, and you can play trivial persuit with her, ( remember ? it's Moops, It's Moors ) if your not into Sienfeld you won't know what i'm talking about.

Gotta run, love Keith.

Big day big week big help needed

Dear friends, we start the next episode this week. I want to make sure everyone knows how serious Lainey's situation is. I don't post too much about this as Lainey reads this blog and i don't want to scare her. But many people see Lainey and say 'how can she be so sick, she doesn't look sick". Lainey has stage 4 ovarian cancer that has metastecised to her liver and it's growing.She is platinum resistant, which means many chemos won't work on her cancer. She is in a lot of pain, she is tired, depressed, weak,scared, anxious,shocked, distressed, sad, the list could go on and on.
Due to her current situation she has to be very careful.We've decided now she must stay away from the meetings for the winter , she will listen in by phone. She absolutely can not risk exposure to sickness, it would be a disaster. Every week when she goes in for chemo she has to pass a medical to be pronounced for for chemo. If her temperature is too high, is she is ill, if her counts are too low she can not get the life preserving treatment she needs.
We need your love and support. Phone calls , cards, meals,scheduled visits, so she is not totally cut off from the world. She needs to not feel forgotten. She may not be strong enough to answer the phone but she love's to hear your voices, and i need to know we are still loved and thought about.
Today we go to Stanford. Realistically there are not many treatment options, but if they have anything else to offer we will take it. Today i hope to make contact with a Doctor in Reno. We hope to go see him next week and if all works out we will probably spend the month of December there getting daily treatments. I am pulling out all the stops to try to get Lainey's cancer under control.
We are under a huge amount of stress, if you can imagine the current economic situation, add to it you can't get work or do work because you have to take care of your wife, add to it the medical costs, which after insurance are still tens of thousands of dollars, add to it the pain and sorrow of just going through this with the one you love,add to it the loss of everything normal in life that we usually take for granted, add to it the isolation and fatigue due to daily medical needs and procedures, add to it the sheer sadness of the whole situation, add to it we have been fighting this now since July of 2007, imagine all that and you start to imagine how we feel. The stress alone does weird things to your mind and body, you develop stomach problems, digestive problems, you feel dizzy, tired, unable to think, unable to remember, unable to do simple tasks. You mourn the abilities you had just 2 years ago, you mourn the future planning and growing that you wanted to do. You fall into a rut of getting through each day.
That is why kind words, hugs, emotional support are huge. If you don't know what to say , just say i love you , and give me a hug. Tell me i'm doing a good job, tell lainey how much you love and admire her for her spiritual strength and courage.
As you can tell we are in a new place mentally and emotionally, it's a desperate place where you cling to hope and pray for relief. Nothing is normal for us and it never will be again.
In the future i will need all the love and support i can get, behind my smile is a heart that has already broken, please excuse me/us if we aren't capable of normal, we wish we were.
My dear friends, we are not the only ones who suffer, this world is full of pain and suffering, do all you can to show love, kindness and mildness to others, after all Micah 6:8 say's : "He has told you o earthling man what is good and what is Jehovah asking back from you but to exercise justice, and to love kindness and be modest in walking with your god" to me that scripture says it all !
In closing take care of your families, they are precious, take care of those in need, and there are many, and "Never give up in doing what is fine,for in due time we shal reap ,if we do not tire out"

We Love you ,all you kindhearted people, family, brothers and sisters Love Keith and Lainey

The fight is on

Dear friends, i knew yesterday we had new challenges, Lainey's ca125 shot up to 122, that plus her pain and decreasing strength and i knew today we would get some tough news. The conclusion of the c.t. scan is as follows : "Marked increase in size and number of hepatic metastasis'. Translation the cancer in her liver is growing and spreading.
We see her doctor in Walnut Creek on Thursday where they will recommend a different chemo "Doxil". We will start that next Tuesday. We will get a second opinion at Stanford on Monday, and pending our meeting there may well transfer Lainey's treatment to Stanford. It's further away and a larger facility but we feel she will get closer scrutiny there and hopefully the highest possible level of treatment.
My Lainey is a brick , she is shell shocked but handled it with great strength and dignity. I on the other hand, found out an hour before her and bawled my head off before i got it together to tell her. She is the most precious person in the world to me, the love of my life.
We have talked and are determined to fight on and win.Please pray for us, and when things calm down , come and see us and help us through these dark days, I/we will need everyone of our friends and family. We love you all Keith and the mighty cancerbuttkicking Lainey.

Tough day today

Lainey had a tough day today, will give all details as soon as it is correct to. She is in a lot of physical pain , and very nervous about the c.t. scan results. She did however love the assembly day on Sunday. We were secreted away by some very kind brothers. We could see all off you but Elaine was quaranteened away for her health reasons. Thank you brothers who went above and beyond, that's real love !!! The assembly was such an encouragement, we hung on every word, Bro Velours has it right, it's all about love, will we all PROOVE what we are by our actions not our titles?
Pretty soon i'll post some amazing remarks one of the Gov body made at the the recent Malta district convention, my mum was there with friends, the gov body have it right we need to listen to them and humble ourselves. Friends times are going to be very rough for ALL of us, may we yield to the mighty hand of Jehovah and do not our will but his. Love you all , Keith.

Say a little prayer for Lainey

Dear friends, Thursday Nov 12th, i think! Lainey has had her c.t. scan moved up from January to this coming Monday the 17th, the reason "new symptoms". Please pray for her, she is scared and having c.t. scans has become traumatic. I hope and pray these 'new symptoms" are side effects and nothing more, i adore my little wife and need her to keep fighting on. Oh while your at it , please say a little prayer for me too! Love you all , Keith.

Hi blogheads

Dear friends, after receiving demands from friends for an update i am yielding to the pressure.
Here goes. Last 10 days have been a challenge. Lainey went in for chemo last week , had a temperature and increasing abdominal pain, they postponed chemo because they thought she might have gall stones or gall bladder disease. We had an ultrasound which showed nothing so we had chemo the following day. Lainey's pain increased so she took pain meds, she had a reaction to the pain med which i'm sure for her dignity she would not want me to divulge. But she was in a lot of pain and distress on Sunday through Monday of this week. We saw a different lower g.i. Dr on Monday he gave her 2 prescriptions and the fever broke and the side affects cleared up. The pain is still there and is concerning, as a result the insurance has thankfully ok'd an interim c.t. scan which will be performed a week from this Monday. So now Lainey has to deal with 10 days of fear, the first 2 c.t. scans were as a result of abdominal pain and were when we received the very bad news, so one can understand her fear. I keep reminding her that the last c.t. scan 6 weeks ago showed improvement, but that was a week before the pain returned so naturally she is anxious. So we get a scan which i want and pray it shows improvement and not regression. If it does show improvement then the pain is obviously not cancer related and we'll breath easier and try to figure out what it is and treat it.
Lainey is best described as tired , fatigued mentally and physically and scared. She is scared that she won't have the strength to keep fighting. But i remind her that she has survived bad prognosis twice in 15 months, emergency surgery and 2 rounds of chemo , not to mention the trips to the e.r. for various side effects and scares. She is a rock and i'd be happy if i had half her courage and dignity under duress. She has handled it so well she appears almost normal to a lot of the friends, because like many brave women she suffers in silence, not letting on how bad she feels. Please pray for her and don't forget her, her battle is a long one and extremely draining. The last thing i want her to do is give up.
So we soldier on, taking each day at a time, sometimes enjoying a good hour here or there, but life will never be "normal" for us again. We mourn the loss of "normal" and cling to the mutual love and devotion we have for each other.
I struggle on , i won't divulge my feelings but you can imagine what it's like i'm sure. Well thanks for those who bugged me to update, thanks for the sisters who call and e-mail, take care and cherish those you love, Keith.

What a good week

To all who are checking on Lainey's progress it was a good week for her. This was her "off" week , where once a month she has no chemo, you can imagine we live for these weeks. Elaine, is tired and tired of fighting , and doesn't seem to see the improvement she's making, but that's not surprising since she's been fighting cancer for nearly 16 months already. I don't know about you but i get sick of the flu after i week ! So the challenge is to keep her up and up for the fight.
We took her and mum and dad out for an hour to San Francisco last night, had dinner in a Jazz bar, cuddled up and enjoyed what felt like an almost "normal" evening out together. On Saturday we are having the first of a number of "Thank you dinners" for the sisters who have helped us so much. Mum is here till the end of the year dad, leaves the beginning of November, having family and friends around for support is vital, even for the mundane little things. So draw close to your friends and family , we all need each other , and will need each other even more in the future.
Horribly hard times in the workplace for all of us means live simply and be kind to each other. ( our trip out to the Jazz bar is probably the last for a year , no moolah ! )
Dear friends, please pray for us and for your wives, children and parents, exercise the fruitage of the spirit, love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, mildness, self control, if there was ever a time for these qualities it's now, it's a real challenge but it makes life bearable.
Well that's all for now folks, Lainey has chemo next Tuesday, hope and pray it keeps doing the job, love your old , tired , wrinkly friend Keith.

overdue update

Dear friends, sorry about the overdue update. Lainey had a rough week with the chemo. She had chemo on Tuesday and immediately felt the effects, she felt pretty rough all the way until Saturday. As you can imagine knowing you have to keep on enduring these treatments and knowing this is your new life, is pretty depressing for her. She bounces back by the weekend though, it's brought a whole new meaning to "living for the weekend" to us . We love being together on the weekend , going to our meetings and seeing our friends.Where we would be without the truth i do not know !
The pain in her abdomen has eased up, the doctors don't think it is sinister, they think it's something else, (too many beans) or the effects of the chemo attacking her cancer, there is a literal battle going on inside of her and she is gaining the upper hand! Her c.a. 125 stayed stable at 8 so i keep telling her , "you are not going backwards keep looking forward".
We have had more cards, letters and e-mails from clients this week. All i can say is in this crazy world of mean , greedy people there are still plenty of big hearted kind people out there, we are touched by your kindness, it appears half the western hemisphere is praying for my beautiful wife. If you would indulge me, when Jehovah's Witnesses ( that's what we are) knock on your door , they are only there because they love people and want to share good news with them. If you want to please ask them to briefly explain what they believe and why. We all have freedom of choice to believe and practice whatever religion we want, witnesses are at your door not because they think they are better than you or "saved' but because they earnestly believe in a wonderful future and want to share what they have learned with you. The reason we sometimes appear overly zelous is because we think it's a life saving message, so it's hard for us to say to someone casually on a sinking ship "dude you might want to get in the lifeboat" so that's why we come again and again to your door, because we care, and believe me it's not easy when most people aren't interested or are sometimes rude. Personally i would rather watch (English ) football on Saturday than put on a suit and walk up and down streets knocking on doors, so it's a labor of love. Of course if you don't want to talk with us , just firmly but kindly tell us you are not interested, however, if you would ask for our brochure "what Jehovah's Witnesses believe" and you can at least learn the truth about us , that we are Christian and we love people and God. We love our children, our families , our friends, we seek peace and pursue it and pray for a better future in a literal paradise on earth, nuff said, love to you all , Keith.

Sunday night and Elaine's in some pain

Dear friends Lainey has been experiencing some pain in the area of her cancer for the past 24 hours. the specialist @ Stanford told us a week ago that pain in that area is not uncommon as the chemo attacks the cancer.,however it's hard for Lainey as pain in her abdomen the past 2 times meant cancer, so you can understand her fear.I keep telling her the evidence is to the contrary, c.t. 2 weeks ago excellent progress, labwork same and doctor saying pain can be chemo working, so we'll see the doctor on Tuesday before her next chemo and hopefully the labwork will prove it's still going well. Phsycologically it can be very trying though , so please pray for Lainey to be brave and positive. Well i'll update Tuesday night, love to all , take care Keefer.

Tuesday and we start again

Dear friends, it's Tuesday the 30th of September and we start again, 9 more chemo's over the next 11 weeks then another c.t. scan. I can't believe it's only just over 3 months since that dreadful day when they said the cancer had returned, it feels like a year already! Any of you who have gone through something like this will understand.You have good days , you have bad days, you have days where you want to fight you have days when you don't want to bother anymore, but fight we must. So it was a slightly subdued Lainey that went back to the infusion suite to get hooked up today, the nurse asked her 'are you ok" Lainey said , "you know i really don't feel like doing this today'.Of course this is a totally normal reaction to starting another round of treatments, and she was told "something would really be wrong with her if she didn't feel this way from time to time.
I was very happy last week when we got the good c.t. results, Lainey "wants to be happy" but i think is still suffering from the shock of everything that's happened to her in the past 15+months.
This is what i/we hope, that she will improve some more from these treatments to the point that we can take a break in the early new year. I hope she can improve to where she can enjoy her life a little without constant fear.
We went to Stanford yesterday where they seem to fill in all the gaps for us information wise, they were encouraging and very pleased with the progress. the doctor said , realistically, 'hopefully after the next c.t. scan in January , we will have the luxury of discussing reducing the chemo treatments." That's going to be a big choice, if it diminishes the cancer to nothing, (which would in actual fact be fantastic) do we keep her on chemo to prevent it coming back, but live with the side effects or do we take a break and risk it coming back between 3 month c.t. scans? Not a great choice as either way impacts the quality of life or raises the risk factor. Well hopefully , as he said, we'll have the luxury of that dilemma. When i think that she was given 3-6 months to live w/o chemo 3 + months ago and here we are with a 50% reduction in tumor size i should be jumping through hoops. A real problem is sheer physical fatigue, and an emotional hammering for both of us, we just want to have a 'normal" life back. So my dear friends, i/we need you, we need you to raa raa us on, we need you to help us to have the strength and courage to keep on fighting and take back our life. We thank you for all your support, if you can please e-mail us or post on the blog words of encouragement.
love you all ,even those of you such as the friends we don't know in Colorado that apparently check in to see how we are doing, take care, and cherish the gift of life, love Keith and Lainey.

A Really Happy Day

Good Morning Friends!
I know you want me to "cut to the chase" (remember Seinfeld?), so I 'll say that in layman terms, the tumors have shrunk by at least HALF . The medical terminology describing particular body parts use the terms "reduced in size", "normal in caliber", "no new lesions are seen", "there has been a decrease in size of some of the largest masses. The actual pathology report makes for good reading, but it's better if you're a doctor.
Anyhoo, my therapist had suggested that because my last CT was such a tragic shock that it would be expected that my trepidation of this last one would be very stress inducing - which it was.
Also, that once I received a Ct that was encouraging, likely my future CTs would become more a matter of course than a heart attack inducing experience. It is my goal to absorb what I've just been told and allow myself to be joyful over today's news. Joyful and move forward - full speed ahead. My goal is by January to have a further drastic reduction in size of the tumors. In the meantime, I have a life to live, and I have prayed so hard to be able to take part in the distribution of the new tract next month and to be able to actually take part in building the new Kingdom Hall in San Ramon. It feels real to me. One of our very good clients told me that I need to be able to see myself in future positive places and situations - and she asked me: do I see myself living or dying? I could answer her honestly - "definately living - I can see it".
You know that Keith does most of the posting for this "blog" but I have to say that not one thing someone does for or says to me that is encouraging goes unnoticed by me. I know it's hard to sit around here sometimes when you have busy lives, but it makes a difference in my life and I thank you so much for it.
I meant to say more, but I have a pill regimen and I have to keep on top of it. Keith's parents Hazel and Bob are arriving on Monday and I'm so looking forward to it being a time of healing and positivity. Please feel free to visit anytime, visit Hazel and Bob and Zoe looks forward to seeing people except she's been getting a little too excited and has started whizzing on our visitors ( don't wear your expensive shoes when you come over). We're working on it. And anyone who knows Keith knows that he is always happy to have visitors. I'm sorry I went on so much about myself instead of mentioning right away that his Ct scan came back clear, he has some health issues to contend with due mostly to stress but no cancer. We both need to readjust to changing circumstances and chill out a bit more and realize that while this system under Satan's control is allowed to carry on, we need to roll with the punches and rely on the only One who can explain it to us and help us deal with what we have to, until he says: Enough.

Twas the night before chemo

Hi everyone, or both of you, depending on how many people are reading this. Lainey is doing very well. She goes in for chemo tomorrow. She has the very important c.t. scan on Monday the 22nd. I am very encouraged by her improving energy level, I pray to God the scan will cheer and not depress. As for me i went to the doctors, i too am scheduled for a c.t. scan on Monday, to be followed by an endoscopy and a colonoscopy. oh joy !!! Maybe after the scan i'll stop worrying about my health. I don't feel good but that's not surprising after 14 months of gut wrenching hell, where everything that was normal went away maybe never to return in this system.If your life is going good right now, cherish it, cause stuff can hit anyone any age and life aint the same. Someone said to me the other day, "you look different are you o.k.'? i said , no , how could i be o.k.? I am tired and sad, i adore the love of my life and the big c is trying to steal her from me, either quickly or slowly, if i didn't have a hope for us to be together in the new world, i don't know what i would do. Some may say when we pass away that " ends marriage' yes but Jehovah is going to satisfy the desires of every living creature, and my desire is, and always has been to be with Lainey, forever, so i pray , pray , pray that that will happen. As you can tell , i'm not as cheerful as usual, i'm just wearing out, but not giving up, hopefully this system will end before i run out of juice. Love to all , stay in the truth , there is no hope anywhere else, this is it, Love Keith.

Friday and she's doing great

Good morning friends, it's Friday , which is usually Elaine's worst day after chemo for side effects. She is doing the best i have seen her in weeks and it's so encouraging !!! I know Elaine is dreading the c.t. scan out of fear , but i am looking forward to it as i hope it shows a major improvement. Thank you Marika, Colin and Valerie who came to see her yesterday, and the beautiful e-mail Valerie. Thank you Anita, Lisa and Debbie Zim for your visits on Wedesday, and Debbie Zim for getting Lainey to go out in the garden.
Side note, i'm not doing so well physically, i'm in to see the doctor today, hoping to be told it's fatigue and stress, so although Lainey is the top priority , please say a little prayer for me , i need to stay strong and provide for my baby . Your support strengthens me as much as it does Elaine, a brother said to me last week , he didn't know how i was handling it, i said with the help from 3 places, friends, family and Jehovah, without these 3 ,i would be on my face, so thank you everyone for your invaluable support, love always Keith.

Monday update

Hi everyone, Lainey went in for her work and pre chemo medical today, and the good news is last weeks ca 125 came back and it's 9, which is normal !!! We now anxiously await her c.t. scan in 2 weeks. If it shows the cancer in her Liver has shrunk , as i hope it will , we will be staying with this regimen, and hopefully knock it down for a good long time. As far as we know Elaine won't be able to stop having the chemo , as it would come right back, so she'll be living with it, but the emphasis is on LIVING. It's amazing what you'll settle for when the chips are down. Living with chemo is tough but it beats the alternative. She'll have her chemo tomorrow, please continue to pray for her.
Renee one of our clients gave Elaine some beautiful earrings today and told her to "celebrate life." Lainey cried, i cried and we almost swerved off the freeway !! Thank you Renee for your generosity and kind encouraging words ! So often we have opportunities to show kindness to others, a word, a deed, a smile , a hug. Don't let these opportunities pass you by, seize the day and show someone you care. Love to all Keith.

Saturday thank you's

Hi everyone, it's Saturday and we are preparing for another chemo on Tuesday. Thanks for all the calls and e-mails, Gregory and Vanessa thanks for calling all the way from Florida, Alex , thank you for writing from Mexico,Theresa aka santa Theresa Florence for everything you do,Sam Christy, and the Oberlins for moving over to help our congregation. Thank you Jonathan and Clarissa for dinner, thank you Liz ,Marika , Lisa D and Anita, for coming every week , week in week out.Thank you again Debbie and Jenna for coming all the way from Texas to take care of my baby , and lastly a big THANK YOU to Mum and Dad, we look forward to seeing you at the end of the month, your love and support will inspire me to keep on keeping on, i/we love you so much.Again we have some of the greatest friends and family in the world, be kind, be forgiving and hug the one's you love, love Keith.

Ain't she purdy ?

Ain't she purdy , well i think so anyway. Obviously this is Keith posting. Lainey had her 6th chemo in 7 weeks yesterday, it went well and she is bearing up well today. Two more and then the very important c.t.scan. We are continuing to investigate Stanford as our new treatment center. It's further to go but major medical centers affiliated with teaching universities have the best doctors and staffs and associates. I want to assure Lainey gets the very best level of care. I am encouraged by how healthy she appears, a vast improvement over 6 weeks ago.
Very past due thank yous need to be said.
Debbie and Jenna, incredible love and generosity, Debbie you are a true friend for Lainey, 30 years later and still loyal !
Liz,Art , Syl, Theresa, Anita, Marika,Clarissa (and Lazer the dog ) Christina, thank you for all your help and love, especially you dear sisters who took Lainey to the city for her doctors.
I am plugging away, i'm tired and it's a struggle, so without your help i'd be a mess, i can't stress enough how grateful i am, i smile and joke but i'm hurting and you are helping , THANK YOU !
My mum and dad are coming back in 4 weeks , the cavalry is arriving, friends and family are incredible. In closing, love your mums ,dads, brothers , sisters, children, they are all precious and you never know how long you'll have them. Never go to bed without telling people you care about ,you love them.
Thanks for the e-mails ,
Love to all Keith

Good visit to Stanford

We visited Stanford cancer center today and had a great visit with a gynocelogical/oncologist Dr Jonathan Berek. What a kind, patient, considerate, listening man he was.
We got the pathology testing back it was completed in 4 days!!!
The findings were consistant with the final findings at UCSF. that being " a primary ovarian endometroid adenocarcinoma", the liver biopsy shows as 'metastatic endometroid adenocarcinoma" in the liver. They staged it as a grade or stage 3 cancer. This is in fact good news, because it puts to rest the former possible diagnosis of Pnet or cups, which were both stage 4 and much harder to treat. So we know what we are dealing with. The treatment appears to be working, we'll see just how well in 4-5 weeks after her next c.t.scan. So this is the way it will probably play out, although in this field nothing is for certain. Hopefully the c.t. scan will show the cancer has stopped spreading and started shrinking, The best case is ultimately a period of a reasonably long remission then it will probably come back. So we stay on Gemzar as it seems to be working, for 'as long as it continues to work and the cancer responds, or as long as Elaine's body tolerates the treatment." She will be taking chemo for the rest of her life, it's kind of like having a forest fire inside that you can't completely extinguish. You just hope to contain and suppress and keep a watchful eye to catch it quickly if it flares up and starts to spread again.
She will take this chemo , then if it ceases to do the job there are about 5 others including Cisplatin, etoposide, doxil , avastin and a couple of others that i can't remember right now that you keep in your hand to play later.They are stronger and more toxic so you only pull them out as needed as they affect the quality of one's life. and considering that she will be taking chemo probably 3 out of 4 weeks for the rest of her life you want something that you can live with physically and emotionally.
So we have hope, along with other alternative treatments we hope to knock this fire down to a smoulder and keep it there for years, if not put the sucker out!!!
No one can say what will work and for how long, it's all trial and error.
So the following is our battle plan. Which you may be able to use in your lives. Not exactly in this order.
#1 Reduce stress in life, don't let anyone in that ruins your joy.
#2 Eat an extremely healthy green diet. No sugar , no red meat.
#3 Infusions of vitamins , herbs and homeopathic .
#4 Sound wave treatment with the "Rife" machine.
#5 Herbal / and vitamin supplements
#6 Chemo therapy, surveillance
#7 Spiritual routine/ hope for the future.
#6 Laugh , laugh and laugh some more.
#7 Dance, sing, make love, enjoy beautiful places, enjoy our wonderful marriage,play with our dog
#8 Did i say reduce stress!!!!
#9 Enjoy our wonderful friends and family,
#10 Explore all alternative remedies
#11 Talk to and listen only to survivors, positive, optimistic people,inspirational happy people.
#12 Cherish life
Thats all folks, love you all for caring enough to log in , the Lellie Bellies,

P.S. We still plan to walk into the new world hand in hand , married forever,Jehovah willing !

Off to Stanford wish i was that smart !

Well it's Friday morning and Lainey and i are off to Stanford, unfortunately the hospital and not the university. Please pray for us that we are able to communicate clearly with the doctors,our goal is to get a more defined diagnosis of the pathology, make sure we are treating it with the very best options, see if we want to change oncologists and thus hopefully improve the scrutiny, treatment , care and communication. Later i will post the fopahs ( is that how you spell it ) that the current oncologist has made over the past 12 months. If it wasn't for our insistence and diligence things could have gone badly wrong or been delayed, and time is of the essence. I am literally trying to save my wives life so please please please pray for me to do a good job of communication with and listening to the doctors. We love you all, take care and cherish the ones you love ( i know that's a 70's song but i like the words), love Keith and Elaine.

Big week ahead

Hi everyone, we have a big week ahead. First of all Lainey has a 1 week reprieve from chemo :0)
Monday and Wednesday she goes to San Francisco for her vitamin and homeopathic herb infusions,
Friday we visit Stanford where we are exploring transferring to for her oncology.
I took the parafin block slides of Elaines tumor from the surgery last year to Stanford hospital on Friday and was treated so well. They are going to retest and see if they can define better what we are dealing with. Within 15 minutes of delivering the pathology they were calling me on my cell assigning doctors and suggesting oncologists. We will continue in Walnut Creek through this series of chemo (4 more weeks) then have a c.t.scan, and in the meantime see what Stanford has to say. There are 4 sisters here, including Elaine of course and they just made me dinner so i'd better go eat or i'm toast, will update later, love Keith.

More good news

More good news, the doctor faxed us the work from 3 days ago, Elaine's Ca125 has fallen to 24. THATS NORMAL !!!!. It indicates the chemo is suppressing the cancer for now. We'll know much more in 5 weeks when we get the next c.t.scan, but i'm very hopeful of it going into remission. Tomorrow i pick up the pathology from UCSF and take it to Stanford to let their smart guys test it and see if they can tell us anything more, at this point it's being called an unusual type of Ovarian cancer.
Elaine is looking and feeling better, i just know she's getting better, at least for a time. We are realistic enough to know that stage 4 , systemic ovarian is really serious but i think we can fight this for years and not months!!!
Marika as always you brought a ray of normalcy and joy into her life today. You make her feel like she can do things. She wants to arrange to go out in service, (probably no more than an hour ) with you really soon, lets make it happen, maybe next week on her off week if you are up for it.
Anita, Betty and Cheryl .E thanks for visiting her yesterday when she wasn't feeling so good.
The meds they give her for nausea actually cause depression, so for 2-3 days after chemo she takes those cos she doesn't want to throw up then she switches to a different med so she can be up enough for the weekend meetings and to chase me around the house ;-)
We have Debbie and Jenna Paseur here , who came all the way from Houston Texas to take care of Elaine for a couple of weeks, what an act of love!!
We'll have to introduce them to "y'all" they want to show you how to do service Texas style. I think it involves a Watchtower and a concealed weapon!!! ;-)
Well that's enough sillyness for now, but as you can tell i am getting my happy back a little.
Hope to see most all of you this weekend, love you miss you , Keith.

It sounds like were back to where we started

Dear friends, i haven't seen the final pathology report from UCSF, (perish the thought of the patient or her spouse seeing it ) but it was faxed to our oncologist today. His assistant told me she read it line by line , and basically it seems we are back to where we started on June 24th. They now say it is Ovarian cancer that has spread to the liver, they are saying the primary site of origin was the ovaries. this is in fact good news as ovarian cancer in the liver responds well to chemo therapy. It's far better than Cups (Carcinoma of unknown primary site) which usually originates in the lungs or pancreas, and hugely better than Pnet. So we've been scared to doodah, and now we have to deal with a serious but treatable cancer.According to the "experts" it's still uncurable, well we'll see about that! this all illustrates tne need to be super diligent with one's own health care, making sure everything is being done thoroughly and correctly.
Our next step is to get the pathology to Stanford, have them test it and see if they concur.
Lainey sailed through chemo today with flying colors, the side effects will kick in , in 24 hours, also next week she gets 1 week off before 3 more rounds, so that will be a welcome break for her.
Hopefully this chemo coupled with"alternative remedies' will put this puppy out of business for a good long time. I told Lainey today, "you'll be around to keep me on my toes the rest of my life"!
So we've gone from bad to worse and back to bad,so now bad doesn't seem so bad after all, there must be a lesson in that somewhere.
Love to all , Keith and the defiant cancer butt kicking Lainey . :0)

More good news

We saw the doctor today and got the results of last weeks tests, so these numbers are already a week old. her Ca125 dropped from 147 to just 48, 2 weeks ago it was at 333! If i drops into the 20's that's normal. This cancer marker is not the be all end all but it signifies the chemo is working, and working better and faster than they anticipated.
Here are some other number LDH (liver function) 7/21 =3720 , 7/30=1189, 8/4=454 , 8/11=190 , a decreasing number is good, Liver enzymes from 667 down to 169 in 3 weeks.

All of this is cause for hope, we are still trying to find out exactly what kind of cancer it is, at this point it is a cancer of unknown primary (CUPS) , these are difficult to cure and it's very important to identify where it started so we are sure to give it the right treatment, but by these numbers, we may have stumbled on to the right treatment. We are still pushing for a more precise diagnosis, waiting for UCSF to release it's final findings and allow us to take the pathology to Stanford for more testing.

We are pursuing a number of alternative treatments to so we may never know what is working, or if it's a combination. Our goal is to surprise the doodah (English for crap) out of the "experts," with complete remission. Lainey goes in for Gemzar treatment #5 tomorrow, please pray for her that she does not have a negative reaction.

Will keep you informed, love to all , Keith.

Another week , another chemo

Well dear friends another week another chemo. Elaine will see the doctor today andget the result of last weeks ca 125 test. We hope the numbers continued to come down and will let you know later.Lainey is tired, and tired of chemo and doctors, but we must keep fighting this thing. Next week she'll have the week off from chemo and then back for 3 more weeks then the all important c.t. scan.
Two sisters , Debbie and Jenna fly in tomorrow to help out for 2 weeks, what love and self sacrifice.
Carmen Hernandez came and cleaned our house yesterday , thank you so much, your love is greatly appreciated.
Sam and Christy are moving back to help out little old Dublin. They will be missed in Dougherty Hills but we welcome them back with open arms. If i was the c.o. (not likely to happen anytime soon) i would be talking merger, but that's cause we miss our friends so much in Dougherty Hills, you will always be Dublin family to us !
Well i have to get ready to take my bride to the doctors, please don't forget about us, we know you all have busy lives, we miss you, love Keith and Lainey.

Friday night update

Friday night update, Lainey struggles from chemo on the 2nd and 3rd days. Today she was pretty wiped out, and unable to do much of anything. However, she wanted me to thank Lisa D. for patiently sitting with her this morning even though she wasn't up to much, Natalie C. for lifting her spirits and making her laugh and allowing her to be silly for a bit, Theresa N. for the great Taco pilgrimage on your day!!! and Liz for your kindness in stopping by, staying for hours , and making us dinner, breakfast and lunch ,33 enchilada's wow! .Amber and Anthony P. for dinner last night, so nice to see you smile again Amber.
Friends it's a grueling daily battle for Lainey, to wake up and know your not going to be able to do much of anything is quite distressing. She has good days and bad, sick days and sad.We pray for better days when she can step outside and enjoy a few hours of simple pleasure. Never forget all those friends who are housebound, it's like a prison sentence for them , and when you go to see them take a little lighthearted laughter with you, we all need to be silly and smile.Hope for better days ahead, once again thank you for making it possible for me to leave and go to work and provide for my little , I love you, we love you , Keith.

Scroll to the bottom of the page for Lainey's baby

Scroll to the bottom of the page to see Lainey right after she finished her first round of chemo in February, i brought this little bundle of love home for her to take care of. Now Lainey is ill again Zoe is taking care of her , i love dogs!

Can't beat Lainey's post but here's the latest

Hi all, it's wednesday night, Lainey's chemo went well on Tuesday. She has 1 more next week then a week off, then 3 more over the following three weeks, then a very important c.t. scan in early October, at which point we'll know how well it's working. if it's shrinking the tumors in her Liver and abdomen then i believe we resume chemo indefinately. This is going to be a long battle, and i'm sure tiring for all , but we treasure your love.Quite honestly the longer the battle the better as far as i'm concerned, with the ultimate goal of victory! Hey they said i'd never be a professional ballet dancer, WRONG. They said i'd never be a J.W. Wrong! So when ever anyone says never, we say OH YEAH WATCH US!!! With Jehovah's help , the love of you dear friends and all the finest the medical people have to offer we will win this battle.
Thanks to Marika, Anita, Grayson, Cheryl and Betty for todays visits, thabks everyone for all the e-mails and cards, with your love we will fight on. Love you Keith.

From Lainey with Love

Hi everybody!
This is me this time.It's not easy for me to sit at a computer for as long as i'd like these days.But i just have to tell you all how happy i am to feel so loved and supported by all your good wishes and kind unselfish deeds.One of the things i pray for daily is to be able to have the opportunity to pay back some part of the riches i have received from you all.
Youv'e heard it said that even good things can come out of a bad situation. I never appreciated that until now. If you could only look inside my heart and head and see how much has changed for me.Big things have dwindled into nothing. And small things i've overlooked for many years have taken on such significance, that i'm not sure that anything but this cancer would have shown me the true value of life and all the things that can make it so happy and worthwhile.
I have gotten to know my friends so much better and new people have entered into my life.
What also touches me deeply is the many clients we work for now and in the past who are so compassionate and understanding. I wish i wasn't such a shy person. I want to be more like Keith.He can talk with people and get to know them so much easier. we have benefited from the type of business we are in from being able to interact with so many different personalities. One of the things i long for is to be able to hang paper in a room again.I miss the challenge and the satisfaction i got from giving it my all.
So, now i have new challenges. Every day the challenge is to get out of bed and find joy in doing simple things that make me feel like i've accomplished something.Maybe loading the dishwasher, or 1 load of laundry.
It was a really smart move to get another dog, because whenever i tend to want to stay in bed, Zoe, my puppy does her little whiny thing and that makes me immediately jump out of bed and get up for her sake.She's very attached to me, and i love that.
Because of the chemo (chemicals) my brain isn't too sharp, so i'm leaving the details of todays doctors visit to keith to share with you.What i can say is it hasn't sunken in that it is good news that my 'numbers" are coming down dramatically.
Before i sign off i want to say that my having a blog was the only way i thought of that we could share info with so many friends as expediently as possible.
I'm kind of self conscious that i even have a blog about me. But hopefully through it you can come to know me better.
I've wasted a lot of years in not spending enough time with the people in my life. You've been so good to Keith and i.You bring joy to us even in our saddest moments.
I've thought about all the things iv'e been through in life and have come to realize that there's more fighter in me than i realize.
Thank you for helping me fight.. I will do the same for you,
deepest love'
Lainey.

Good news Gemzar is working

Monday night and good news the "Gemzar ' chemo is working !

Lainey saw the oncologist today, her 4 major cancer markers in her have dropped dramatically in 1 week , which means that for the time being the chemo is working , it’s knocking the cancer back.Her ca 125 went from 333 to 147, a huge drop, we need to see it go below 100 and into the teens, but what a difference. I can tell by the way she looks and feels that she is improving. She no longer needs pain meds which is major too. Plus the added bonus, the chemo she’s on will not cause her to loose her hair!!!

She gets another dose tomorrow, but I say bring it on , it’s working. If this continues to work she will stay on it indefinitely, but she can deal with that, it’s a much better option than the alternative!!! So a good day today.Heads up Lainey is about to post, the real deal not her personal assistant love you all ,

thanks Renee Kubryk ( client) for the encouraging words today, there are so many good people around, i am privileged to know you,

thanks Sam and Christy , for being you , ;0) more love for you later!!!

Saturday thank you's

Good morning friends, Saturday morning, and this has been the best week since this second nightmare began on June 24th. Elaine tolerated the chemo well last week but it has been the visits of the friends that have built her up and made her so much happier. I can't tell you how much it means to Elaine and i that you pour your love out and come to our home and spend hours taliking and sharing with her.So here goes, 9forgive the old mans memory if i forgot someone).
Thank you Natalie and Liz for Tuesday, Thank you Marika for Wednesday and Friday, thank you Lynette Charlie,Cheryl and Becky for Thursday,thank you Theresa, Lisa and Betty for Friday, your time spent here was priceless,and when we win this battle it will be largely due to your support.
Thank you Art and Syl for wanting to come down again on Friday, thank you Jonathan for checking in, thank you Renee for organizing meals on a very difficult week for your family.Thank you Jack and Hannah for walking Zoe!!!
Thank you Jack Sheila, Stefanie and Theresa for bringing much needed food!!
Quick update, Lainey has her next chemo on Tuesday , hopefully she'll tolerate this one as well as last week. She went to meeting Friday night , and listened in Saturday morning, and plans to go on Sunday, i'm so proud of her!!!
Thinking of Ernie and Dianne, hang in there guys it will get better,
Thinking of Patricia Derr, you'll be fine and mend soon.
Thank you Kim, Katy, Jate, Cupcake, it's so nice to hear from old friends, wish we could see you more, thank you Ron and Debbie for the beautiful card.
As for me i'm a tired old dude, so thank you everyone we need you, i need you, how i could cope without you i just don't know!
This life/world is tough , but we have a wonderful hope for the future, we have beautiful kind people for friends, never doubt this is the way in which to walk, where would we be without the truth, a few years and then out , i don't think so!
Love you all , thanks for posting , Keith.

Tuesday night, Monday's chemo went witout a hitch

Hi world of wonderful friends, just a brief note to let you know Elaines chemo went well on Monday.
She obviously feels the effects of it but no major problems or alergic reactions. She is in quite good spirits, although we obviously have our moments. UCSF called today, per our request they are preparing parafin block slides of Elaines tumour that was removed last year, so we can pick them up and take them to the pathology department at Stanford. We want Stanford to run their rule over it and see if they concur with the diagnosis and if they can give is any further clarification on the type of cancer it is so we can be sure the treatment is the most appropriate and best.
Well it's late for this old dude, so i'm off to bed, thank you Liz and Natalie for visiting Elaine today, thank you Stefanie for bringing her dinner, thank you Lisa for the beautiful letter, thank you Mr and Mrs Nue (clients) for the sweet card, thank you everyone for your thoughts, prayers, love and support. Hope to have better news in the weeks ahead, love Keith.
and a special big I LOVE YOU to mum and dad, hope to see you soon.

So here we are

So here we are saturday afternoon on what has been an unbelievable week.
Monday i was re-united with my sons whom i haven't seen in years, i won't talk too much about this but it was one of the happiest days of ly life, i love and miss my boys so much and their compassion, maturity and love brought me great pride in the way they have grown into men.
Monday Theresa took Lainey to the city to see a doctor, they were rear ended by a nissan pathfinder the driver took off from the scene. Theresa gave chase so quite a harrowing experience for all
Wednesday was brutal, after doing all the research i could we met with the oncologist, even though the testing was still continuing at UCSF they were very confident of the PNEt prognosis which was brutal, we decided we had little choice but to start immediately, we were told every day counts with this kind of aggressive cancer and not to wait.
Every day sisters came in 2 hour shifts to be with lainey so i could try and work (i haven't been able to work for weeks as caring for lainey and doing all the medical stuff is a full time job)
Thursday was a dark day for Lainey, she has been through so much in her life and especially the past 13 months, she said she was tired of fighting, and i was worried that she was finally conceding defeat. We had to call off some sisters as Elaine was just too sad, (sometimes all you can do is hold your baby, love them and cry with them and kiss them and tell them you love them)
Then Darren Steele (major cancer survivor came with Linda and they gave Elaine some hope.
Friday Elaine switched meds, we found out later that day that the meds she was on for nausea has the common side effect of depression, as if we didn't have enough to be depressed about ! Noticed a big difference in Lainey on Friday, she got up , left the house which was huge took Theresa and Zoe on a walk, Theresa behaved well zoe not so good :-)
Lisa d. came at 10 am and she and Elaine talked and talked and cried together, (what s call a good time !)
Marika came at noon , read and talked to lainey showed her pictures of Italy, lainey says When do we go!! Thanks Marika you really lifted her spirits.
Betty cam at 2pm, gave Elaine soothing, encouraging counsel, THEN..............................

The doctor called said "the drama continues" said UCSF decided it's not PNET! It's still very serious but the treatment is not quite as brutal, Lainey will be on Gemzar for the next 8 weeks then will have a ct scan to see if it's having an effect. Meanwhile i will be taking the pathology to Stanford for more tests and consulting with Doctors at stanford and UCSF. Note to anyone if you have to go through this you have to take the bull by the horns and do it all yourself. You have to ask questions demand answers, get all the reports and tests no matter what , get 2nd and third opinions. Let no doctor ever think we don't care about life, Jehovah's Witnesses value life so highly we will go to extraordinary lengths to stay alive, thus banishing the myth we don't accept health care, are you crazy , we don't want to die!!!!
Lainey was so encouraged she went to meeting Friday night, and although semi concious, was overjoyed to see the friends and hear their voices,
then she got up at 6;30 am and went to bookstudy Sat morning and commented as only Lainey can ( yes i know i'm biased)
THEN she did 1 hour in the heat doing calls with Charlie and Cheryl and Becky, by then it was enough, she's very weak , dizzy and tired but she's got her joy and determination back.
Now she's laying down , Lucita and "boss" Erin are coming to clean our house, Sam and Christy are bringing dinner and as far as i'm concerned you all walk on water!!!

Jesus said you would know true Christians in that they would have love among themselves,
we are to love God and Neighbour and show it by acts of goodness and deeds of Godly devotion, we are to love one another tenderly, and be self sacrificing, can anyone doubt these fine friends are some of the most beautiful examples of Christians alive. God is not so unrighteous as to forget these good deeds and i never will . WE LOVE YOU ALL KEITH and ELENA JULIA :-)

p.s. if you can , we love to read your posts, i know they are public but please if you can figure out how to leave us a note or two it's part of Lainey's connection with the outside world

quick thank you's

Quick thank you's are in order before bookstudy,
Kevin, aka, "the man" McCullough, we love you so much and feel your pain too,
Betty runnels for your invaluable support,
Danielle, day in day out, week in week out , always there.
Lillian Squires for your constant concern and willingness to help
Art, one of the most spiritual men i know, and a true friend, (and oh yes Syl, musn't forget Syl)
Christina and Jeremy
Marika ( talk about the right words at the right time )
Natalie, Liz, Virginia, Santa Theresa :-)
Darren and Linda steele, who helped Lainey through some of her darkest moments last week, love you!
Mary and Priscila, Theresa Nunez,Debbie Zimm, Tanya Zim,Cheryl Evans,Colin and Valerie,
Anita Hernandez and Lisa Dallman, Cathy Thompsen, Claire and Jonathan,Sharon Q.

i could go on and on , but your meals, visits, calls, help , sustained us through a very tough week , love you all muchly Keith and the beautiful one Lainey

Good news UCSF Says it's not PNET!!!

Will give details tomorrow, further testing by pathology dept at UCSF says it's not a PNET cancer. It is "A carcinoma of unknown primary origin, with no endocrine features' What does it mean , still a big battle to fight but the weapons won't be as harsh. She'll be taking only Gemzar for the next 8 weeks then we do a ct scan to see if it's working.That beats the He(( out of the aggressive 5 chemo coctail we were about to do!!! So we'll see, i'll write more later, must sleep, Lainey in excellent spririts, huge bounceback from Thursday which she said was the lowest most desperate point of her entire life. It's going to be tough but hope has returned to the lelliott household and tears of sorrow have been replaced with tears of relief and hope, love you all , remember to "maintain your sense of urgency' the rock is on it's way , AMEN!

time to go on the offensive

Will update tomorrow, time to go on the offensive, Elaine to start new aggressive chemo next week , please pray for us , Keith,

Wednesday big day today

Today is a very important day , and some big decisions will need to be made. We are seeing Elaine's oncologist at 3p.m. We want to see the data that made them draw the PNET conclusion, and the resulting suggested "heavy aggressive" chemo. From what i've seen there's still room for doubt and i don't want to bring in the big guns unless absolutely necessary. We are also trying to buy some time to get more tests , second and third opinions, it's simply too important to blow this one.
Danielle and Betty will come with us for support.Please pray for us to be calm and have wisdom in our decisions, also for peace , fortitude and hope for Elaine.
I went back to work yesterday after a few weeks off to take care of Lainey, i couldn't have done it if it wasn't for the friends who visited with her nonstop from 8am till 9pm. Renee you were awesome and helped my little get going, Liz the enchiladas and your company made her feel safe and secure. Thank you Mary and Priscilla for coming and staying, so good to see you again.And then Anita who brought dinner and made it here, then cleaned the kitchen and sat and watched Gypsy Rose with us, your thoughtfulness and self sacrificing spirit are incredible.
We have Lainey sitters scheduled all week so i can work, what an incredible testimony to our faith and love, you truly are footstep followers of Christ, who see a need and pity and love cause you to stop and take care of the needy one, oh how you will receive your reward of everlasting life in paradise on earth. What a day that will be friends, don't ever give up , this world is temporary, the real life is just around the corner!
I know there are other friends to thank, but i can't think of everyone, looking forward to seeing Debbie arrive from Texas, (y'all better watch out when this Texas arrives !!!)
Thinking of Ernie and Dianne Long, Ernie had his surgery yesterday, our thoughts and prayers are with you both , we love you and look forward to a speedy recovery.
Well thats all folks , hope i have better news to report in the days and weeks ahead, in the meantime, "do not give up in doing what is fine, you will reap if you do not tire out'
never give up, this is the best way of living!!!!!
Love Keith.

Saturday night coming to grips with it

Dear friends, it's Saturday night and Lainey and i are coming to grips with our new situation re the Pnet cancer diagnosis.We are gleaning all the info we can and setting up consultations with specialists as this is simply too important to mess up.
About today, Elaine could barley stand this morning, yet she got dressed and went to bookstudy and laid on the couch with her eyes closed just to listen to the friends voices. I was so proud of her, never forget your attendance and contribution to all meetings incite to love and fine works. She struggled emotionally with the load of it all today , we talked and cried a lot, but we will standn together as we have for the past 21 years, come what may.
Today Phylis and lilian showed up just when i needed help without me even asking.
Then art and Sylvia drove all the way from Vacaville with dinner again!! Also Valerie brought us dinner and Mary Ann came too so we had a feast and so much love and good association. Never take the congregations for granted what a huge provision and gift, illustrates the need for us all to be in the middle closest to the warm fire that burns in the heart of each congregation which is God's love.
Loved being with ernie and dianne, robert and theresa this morning, Ernie and Dianne will be sorley missed, we love you guys so much and are privileged to have come to know you better.
We received beautiful cards, e-mails and texts from friends and clients, thank you Karen and Keith McKay, Mike and Cathy Sage, Cynthia and Brad Brown,Pat Menchini, for your kind words, to have clients who care is rare and i am privileged to have come to know you and your families through my work.
Thank you Virginia, Lynette, Naomi for the cards and love.
Thank you to all the sisters who are signing up to sit with Elaine next week, and or bring meals.
To have so many friends in Oak Hills , Dublin and Dougherty Hills congrgations is a lifesaver, (now you know why i moved around so much , can you say Widen out :-0 )
seriously we are all one congregation , bound by a common love of neighbour and God, so thank you all for being the kindest people on earth, you proove you are gods people by the love you are daily showing to others.
To my clients, hopefully my scriptural comments won't offend, i rarely spoke of our beliefs when working in your homes but they are the center piece of Elaines and my life , so i simply can't express myself in these circumstances without mentioning our faith.
Lastly a huge thank you for you kind compassionate e-mail today Kevin, friends let no one doubt the love brothers like Kevin have for the flock, they are unsung and often criticised hero's as far as i'm concerned you walk on water.
And a huge thank you to my dear mum and dad, without your love and support i couldn't cope, you are awesome.
Well sorry for all i've missed to thank, my brain is toast,
in closing , exercise justice,love kindness, and be modest in walking with our God and you won't go wrong, forgive quickly and love liberally, sincerely Keith.

new news, it's called PNET and it's going to be tough

. It was confirmed today that Elaine has a rare cancer abbreviated PNET. The treatment will be as outlined in the article,17 treatments every 3 weeks for 1 year. It is a very aggressive cancer and the treatment for it is very aggressive chemo. Week 1 will start in 2 weeks and will consist of 3 chemo ,cytoxan,adriamycin,vincristine, then 3 weeks later she will have isosfamide, etoposide, and I think 1 more that I may have forgotten to write down. As you will see from the attached article it’s going to be a rough, unpleasant and unpredictable ride. However Lainey’s initial response was a calm , “well that’s what I have trust me to have a rare “special ‘ cancer” she is digesting it and we have more info to glean from our visit to the oncologist next Wednesday, but she’s planning on doing the course and “fighting this thing until the new world arrives”. So there we have it , at least we are not in the dark now, it’s mean but we will overcome and come of victorious. Love you pray for peace, courage, strength, endurance, wisdom, insight, discernment and love, Keith.

Tuesday Chemo not so good

Dear friends, Elaine suffered a bad day yesterday. It was the double dose day, Gemzar and Carboplatin. Elaine successfully endured 6 cycles of Carboplatin last year but sometimes the body rejects it after 6 or 7 treatments. That's what happened to Elaine yesterday. She came through the first hour of Gemzar successfully then just 5 minutes after starting the Carboplatin she had a severe alergic reaction. This can be quite scary and very uncomfortable. What it means is she won't be able to do carboplatin again, they will probably try a different one instead. We also have a new development which we do not have all the information for yet. Her liver biopsy has yielded some results which may indicate that the cancer in her liver is a a different kind of cancer and not the Ovarian that we thought had spread to the liver, we are awaiting confirmation and what it means, so i'll keep you posted as appropriate. These are very trying times to say the least.

Thank you Art and Sylvia for driving all the way from Vacaville to bring us dinner last night and spend time with us, Lainey wasn't well enough to receive you but she loves you dearly, you are truly friends born for when there is distress and we will never forget your love that you showed for us.
Thank you to Renee, Christina, and Danielle, your ongoing support is invaluable.
Thank you Betty Runnels for cheering my up and giving her hope, we love you all.

Friends, there is only one way to live, serve the God of tender mercies, and love your neighbor, if we can just do this, love kindness, exercise justice and be modest in walking with our God, he will reward us with eternal peace and happiness in his paradise new earth, don't ever give up doing what is fine, we will reap if we do not tire out, love Keith and the beautiful Lainey.

Monday 21 chemo week #2

It's Monday and i want to say some thank you's.
Thank you mum and dad for your constant love and support
Thank you John and Georgia and Carol for the delicious dinner and for sitting with Lainey last night.
Thank you Theresa and Renee for coming over today and cleaning our house , what love!!
Thank you Art and Syl, for the beautiful e-mail and for volunteering to come tomorrow on lainey's chemo day.
Thank you Debbie Paseur for volunteering to come all the way from Texas to take care of my .
Thank you Danielle, you daily love and support is priceless
The problem with thank you's is there are too many to remember, so thank you everyone for all your love.
Today we go back to the doctors :(
tomorrow is big chemo #2 carbo and Gemzar, by Thursday lainey will feel like she's been hit by a truck, please keep coming to see us/her we need all your love.
You truly are the real 'Gifts in men and women" Compassion is mercy in action , and your compassion shows you truly get it and in Jehovah's eyes you are truly precious.
We love you all and all the other dear friends who are helping us. Keith and the mighty Lainey!

If you want to help in any way re dinners/association please call Renee @ 925 719 5523

week 1 chemo

Hi everyone, this is Lainey's personal assistant/cabana boy, Keith , updating you all.
lainey had her first new round of Chemo on Tuesday, it's called "gemzar'. It was pretty traumatic for her to return to the "chemo infusion suite" just 5 months after completing last years cycles. She took it like a trooper, but i can tell you she was in pain the whole time. What a woman , i sit there with her the whole time and her courage under fire puts me to shame.
Thursday the symptoms kicked in, pain, nausea,fatigue, depression, sadness , fear, desperation. She was pretty bad thursday , a little better Friday. Thursday saw our house "invaded " by some of the finest sisters in the world. Thank you Lilian , Theresa, Valerie, Lisa, Danieele and of course dear faithful mum. They cooked, shopped, and supported Lainey through a rough day. Friday night we were privileged to listen in by the new phone system ( thank you brothers) to the meeting, Theresa, Christina, mum, Lainey and i listened in to a beautiful meeting, we sang, hummed, appluaded, ( brothers please speak loud and clear, sometimes it's hard to hear, Gavin was the superstar , very strong voice). the meetings are a lifeline to all of us, all congregations must consider the faothful who are cut off, not to do so is to turn our back on the needy, not exactly Christlike !!!!
Well we have an even harder week ahead, Mum goes home to England on Sunday, she has been awesome through it all , i don't know what we would have done without her, she has to take care of her own health now, we pray for her safe and speedy return.
Lainey has a double dose of chemo on Tuesday, 'gemzar and carbo" she will be clobbered by this one, so please come see us, we need all of you to help us. For this terrible disease to strike back so quickly is so cruel. My Lainey is the sweetest woman i have ever known, she saved my life, i hope i can save hers now, she will always be the love of my life. Please pray for us and love your friends , family and God. Do not hold back from doing good to others, our opportunity to do so can end in a blink of an eye. Lainey will be posting when she feels better, we love you all , Keefer and the mighty Lainey