I meant well.

Not sure why, but Sally is still steaming over yesterday's blog.  I think it's the blog or maybe it's the subtle comments I made about her driving through out the weekend and today and probably again tomorrow.  Either way, I am in the dog house.  

I tried making it up to her and I washed laundry.  I even folded and put them alway. Not necessarily in that order.  She just glared.  I even did all the running around today for her and she stayed in her wonderful sleeping attire and played on the computer all day, a typical day.  So, I am hoping by outing myself in which it will be humilitating to myself, I can earn Sally's love back.  I really need to by Thursday.  I don't want her to be mad and therefor mean to me then.  Thursday, will be the day I will be having the SIRT done.  I have to be at UIC at 6:30 a.m. in the morning. There isn't anything worse than a bunch of women, most of witch ( I wonder if she'll notice the spelling) can do some major damage to my delicate area and make it look like an accident. 

The other day Sally and I went out to dinner at Cracker Barrell with the 2 youngsters.  Dinner actually went well.   There were no spilled drinks, no cries, no foods spots on clothes and no child falling off their chair. That's because Michael our 20 year old was at work.  At the very end Kaity says "I have to go poo-poo", "DADDY POO POO"! Say it louder sweetheart cause I don't think the people at the visiters center heard. Sally was still eating and wasn't feeling well because she donated blood earlier that day, how convenient I thought to myself( I think to myself a lot, its safer that way).  I was finished eating so I reluctantly volunteered to take her to the bathroom. We walked into the washroom.  I got her all situated on the toliet.  I decided maybe I should try to winkie myself.  I looked and thought it was quite  odd their were no urinals in the bathroom. Well anyway,  I did what I needed to do.  Washed my hands and waited for Kaity to do her thing.  I could hear her working really hard by her grunts, in between her beautiful singing. Still thinking the whole time about the lack of urinals. that must be something new that some places must be trying out in mens latrines.  I noticed a machine on the wall and walked to it to check it out. Noticed two buttons on it with some wording. Because of the chemo my eyesight isn't what it should be. I looked a little closer at the buttons and saw that it said Tampons and the other one said sanitary napkins. I than thought why would a mens washroom have ooooooooohhhhhh heeeelll no!   It was a machine for the ladies. I quicky exited to look at the door.  I stared at it for a few seconds to make sure it actually had W-O-M-E-N on the door and not M-E-N.

 I could have sworn it read MEN. I was so embarrassed I stayed outside the door.  I poundered how I could do such a thing.  I know I have done some silly things in my life but this takes the cake.  There is no way.  I saw MEN on the door. I didn't see the WO before it. I know my eyes are bad because of chemo but not that bad.  It dawned on me that I saw the writing around the corner.  Which is clearly the reason why I didn't see the WO before the MEN.  Plus, I was rushed by Kaitlyn so I didn't have a chance to double check but why would I.  It said MEN and I am more then capable of reading bathroom signs.  At least that is what I thought at the time.  I know now I need to check and double check before entering a public restroom.  I was in the ladies' washroom for almost 15 minutes.  If a lady or worse an older lady with a big heavy purse I would have been toast. At that point I felt like a Marshmallow at a smores convention. I could have even been arrested for being a creepers.  I was glad there wasn't anybody in there when I first brought her in.

 It seemed like it took Sally hours to finish that little bit that was left on her plate. I knew she did it purposely.  I would have done the same.  Who loves taking their kids to a public bathroom and to go "poo-poos" on top of that. . I never leave my kids in the bathroom by themselves. I Felt this was  exception, besides nobody was in there when I walked out with my tail between my legs. As I stood waiting, Sally finally shows up.  She was a little perturbed to say the least.  She started yelling at me for leaving Kaity in a guys bathroom alone.  She said she couldn't believe how ignorant I was and something bad could have happened to her.  I tried to tell her something bad could have happened to me if I stayed but she didn't stop talking long enough for me to say a word.  When I was finally able to calm her down, she saw my arm up and finger pointed to the ladie's room.  Then she took over the situation for a whole 3 minutes.  Walked out of the washroom, asked for the car keys, said she was getting dizzy, and walked away.  Leaving me scratching my head and praying Kaitlyn wouldn't need any assistance." Thanks for the help Honey"!!!!

Oops I did it again.  I really tried to wright a blog that embarrassed me, myself.  But I love my wife so much, it's so hard not to include her in my ramblings.  I don't think I did a very good job of redeeming myself, probably made it worse.

Oh, I'm going to end this now before I dig more holes. Thanks for all the prayers and support. God bless you all.

The Truth is Revealed at Last

 plus       equals  

                                                                                                              

There are always three sides of a story.  His, hers, and the truth. I am not saying that Sally's post was a lie.  It's the way she perceived the day.  I am here today not to give your my view or perception of the day on Friday March 19th, 2011, but the truth and nothing but the truth.

Sally did leave out some important information regarding that day.  Of course, she did not mention the elevator incident.  The incident that involved an elevator, my wife, and a lady in a wheel chair.  The only reason why I know this happened because Sally walked into the hospital room all flustered and told me what happened. All I could do was shake my head at her and laugh.  While I was laughing she sternly told me it's not blog material.  She forgets it's MY blog and I am the one that's in control  here.  She may wear the pants in the house but when it comes to MY blog I wear the pants, although they are a little ripped and wrinkled half the time.

Back to the elevator.  Sally was the one that wanted the food.  She was the one that kept going for the food.  I ate it so it wouldn't go to waste but she was the one who wanted the hot dogs, french fries, mozzarella cheese sticks  Snickers candy bar and the tea to wash it all down with..  I was perfectly content with my clear liquid tray that was waiting for me. Especially the chicken broth, that brings back fond memories of my Colonascopy.  After one of her food runs, she walked into the room and her face was all red.  I asked her what was wrong.  She began telling me that a lady held the evaluator door open for her.  The lady was in a wheel chair. She then told me that she asked the lady what floor she wanted and Sally pushed 7 for her which was the same floor I was on.  The elevator stopped on 7 and that is when Sally found out the lady wanted to get off on floor 2 and not 7( I really think Sally knew the truth).  I could just imagine what the lady was thinking.  Here she struggles in her wheel chair to hold the door open for Sally.  Sally pushes the wrong floor for her (Probably on purpose).  So she had to go up an extra 5 floors before she had to go back down 5 floors to get to where she wanted.  I don't blame her if she never helps someone out again.

Sally also fail to add the numerous times she unplugged the sound for the TV or the numerous times she accidentally pushed the call button.  OK I did accidentally push the call button once but my wife did it so many time I lost count( again I believe her to be a on purpose pusher).After about the 8th time they responded I told Sally ssshhhhh maybe they will go away.They must of heard me go ssshhhh and Sally giggling, now the MAY WE HELP YOU was louder. So thinking that Sally was giggling and someone had to be the mature one I said" Sally tell the lady what you want." Her giggling quickly halted and that was replaced with a look that said "%^&;$##&!@#;&)*p;$%. So I had to say sorry Ma'am my wife pushed the button again. Her look didn't improve.   By the end of the day I felt we were "Bill's & Sally's Comedy Act" on the road. 

As for her driving, if the cancer doesn't kill me her driving will. She couldn't decide if she wanted to go fast , slow or even faster. She asked me if her driving makes me nervous." I just told her if this is my time to go it's my time to go". She really didn't like that comment to much cause she told me if she was that bad that she would have our 20 yr. old son Micheal drive me next time. My fear turned to tears and I had no choice but to apologize and write 50 times that," You are the best driver on the road".

I want mention that I am still doing good. Just a little tired and sore. As of now I will be having the SIRT procedure on Thursday but, that may change if they weren't able to get the radiation beads. Then it will be next week. Thank you all for the prayers and well wishes , it makes me feel good with all the support that I have  received.

He's Back

We are back home from University of Illinois at Chicago. In spite or despite my driving.  Bill is giving me a complex about my driving because of his comment on facebook.  I spent all day with him.  Making sure he was well taken care of and this is the thanks he gave me. What a guy.


Today, went well for Bill.  Of course, it is rare for Bill to go anywhere without causing laughs and making a scene or two or even three. Today he didn't fail himself. He began by putting the hospital gown on wrong.  It was already tied in the back and he was told to slip the ties around his neck.  This is proof Bill doesn't listen.  He didn't slip the ties around his neck and instead the tie that is suppose to be in the back was around the front part of his neck. It looked like he was being choked. He didn't realize anything was wrong until I started laughing at him.  After that was fixed, he was carted off to the holding room.  I followed to give him moral support, hold his hand, and to wipe the tears and sweat away from his face.  The nurses explained the procedure to him once again to make sure he understood what was going to happen. He cringed every time someone would remind him the procedure was going to be performed through his groin. After, they were done talking to him he said to me in a serious tone, "If you hear a bunch of laughter coming from the room you know they started on me". The nurses heard and started to laugh. The more the nurse talked about it, the redder his face got.  He managed to embarrass himself this time.  During the procedure he wouldn't fall asleep. When more medication was administer to sedate him, his blood pressure dropped.  I think he was seriously afraid he would be laughed at when they looked at this groin so he fought to stay awake. 

After it was all over, he had to spend the next 6 hours laying flat.  He still managed his clownish ways and made the nurses laugh.  He asked one if she was married because she put sugar in his tea for him.  Made it sound like I do nothing for him.  Even, though he kept sending me down stairs to buy him food.  I just realized something.  Maybe he wasn't hungry, he just sent me away so he could flirt more. 


Like I said earlier, he is doing well.  He has a little discomfort which is normal. He can't drive until Sunday and is not able to lift anything that is more than 5 pounds.  No pushing or pulling either.  Let's see if he will listen.  I am willing to make a wager that he will not.  We were told that they were able to map out the veins that lead directly to the tumors.The doctor feels confident that the SIRT will work.  He is scheduled to have it done on March 24, unless they are not able to get the radiation spheres by then. 

Hopefully, Bill will be able to write a post over the weekend.  I am sure he will have a thing or two to say about this post.  However, I am only saying the truth and it's not fair to his blog followers to omit information even if it does make Bill look like a goof.He is what he is and he is loved for that.

Sally

Angiogram in the Morning

Bill is slaving over the fish tank as I am sitting here writing this post.  


Yesterday, he went to UIC to speak to a doctor about the next steps into treating the cancer in the liver.  For the most part, we understood what was going to happen because of the visit we had in November. The doctor wanted to act quickly so Bill can resume the chemo treatments as soon as possible.  We appreciate his concern.  Yesterday, all the paper work was faxed to the insurance company and today (in the later part of the afternoon) his nurse called me.  The insurance company had approved everything and Bill will be at the UIC 6:30 in the morning tomorrow.  He will be having an angiogram.  This is done to map the veins to his liver.  The procedure it self isn't very long but he will have to lie flat and still for 6 hours following it. 


Next week he will go back to have the SIRT procedure done.  This is where radiation beads are injected directly into the tumors.  This too should be an outpatient procedure.


Bill has this weekend off from work and should be able to go back to work on Tuesday.  He will be on light duty for 2 weeks since he will not be able to lift anything that is over 5 pounds.  This is why he is cleaning out the aquarium now.  Two turtles can become smelly after awhile.


I know everyone has been praying for us and we really appreciate it. Bill is doing amazingly well.  It's hard on him having all the medical stuff dictate his life.  Hopefully, next week we will get the results back for the KRAS mutation and after that life will go back to a new normal state whatever that will be.  

A huge blow

Bill had a routine CT scan done on Monday. This time we were not nervous about the results. As long as he is on chemo, we knew everything was going to be OK. At the very worse, the tumors were not shrinking as quickly as we would like. It was a change from the last time. The last time, I received a phone call 3 days prior to his chemo treatment saying the doctor needed to talk to us about the CT results. Of course, they wouldn’t say about what. So for three days we worried. I tried not telling Bill about the call but I couldn't stop crying and I was worrying him. Not knowing and worrying about the results is dreadful. Especially, when you know the results are bad and you are in the doctor’s office waiting for a long time for the doctor to walk through the door. The anticipation is unbearable and the worst case of scenario goes running through your mind. Hearing the “bad” news has been easier to handle then the waiting for the results.

This morning I woke up thinking positive thoughts. Bill was scheduled for chemo and had an appointment to see the oncologist. Bill was at work and I was just about to get ready and the phone ring. It was the nurse asking where Bill had his surgeries at. Of course she said she didn’t know anything but I knew it wasn’t a good sign. I tried to act like nothing was wrong when I saw Bill. He went to have the infusion first. The nurse started the IV and the doctor walked into the room and said he needed to talk to us and told the nurse to stop treatment. My stomach fell and I could tell Bill was very concerned. Chewing on his nails is always a given sign when he is upset or worried.

We were moved to an office and didn’t have to wait long for Doctor Mboama. As soon as he walked through the door and by the look of his face we knew it was bad. We just didn’t realize at that point how bad it was. He said that the 2 tumors in the liver had grown. Then the nurse came in the room and told the doctor he had a phone call. He stepped out and left us hanging. Which I could tell he was relented to do but I knew the phone call must have been important. When he came back he told us the tumors have doubled in size and that there are 1 or 2 more additional tumors in the liver. The cancerous lymph node has grown as well and there are 2 more cancerous lymph nodes now.

Usually, the doctor will give us a couple of options to choose from. This time he did not. He said he knows that we have young children and he is going to act aggressive and as quickly as possible. First step is to have the tumor that was removed from the colon tested to see if the cells are genetically mutated or non-mutated. If it’s non-mutated there is a new chemotherapy drug that will be used. If it’s mutated the chances of him beating this is not as high. It takes about 2 weeks to get the results.

The second step will be going back to UIC and have the SIRT procedure to the liver. http://www.umgcc.org/sir-spheres/about_sirt.htm He will have this as soon as possible, since he has to be off chemo for a month. With the 2 weeks wait for the other test result, doctor thought this would be the best time to have it done.

The third step is to wait for the test results so a new chemotherapy regiment can begin. Obviously the chemo pills, Xeloda, did not work. So Bill will have to go back to 5-fu which means he will be wearing the portable pump again. Which of course Bill is not happy about. He didn’t complain about it and the doctor said it’s his only chance for survival. He was also told he will have more side effects. Basically, he was told he is going to be feeling like crap.

Right now, we are trying to absorb everything. It’s terrifying news but the doctor still remains optimistic and so are we. We will be praying for non-mutated cells and just try to live life the same way we did yesterday. Bill is amazing. I know he is scared and worried but he is trying so hard not show it. He and Kaity are at Omni while I am writing this. Which means he hasn’t given up and still determined more than ever to beat this.

An Omission of Guilt

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about my wife's face book stunt she had done to me on my birthday.  The one that involved the hideous picture of me being posted every where.  She still has of yet changed it on the blog either.  I might of sounded as if I was undeserving of the prank which I still think it was uncalled for.  It has been on my mind why would my wife do such a thing to me?  Almost 2 weeks later, it finally dawned on me why.  I will swear right now before I go any further it was an accident, or was it?

It all began on Super Bowl Sunday.  Our friends had invited us over to their home to watch the game.  Sally had made a couple of snacks to take with.  One of the snacks were meatballs in a sauce. There was snow drifts all over so I was trying to be considerate and I dropped Sally and the kids off in the drive way.  They grabbed the food out of the trunk and I went to park the car on the street.  As I was walking towards the drive way, I looked at my family from a distance.  There was my family with there hands  filled with food.  I felt a little guilty walking up empty handed.  Sally had the container of meat balls and I spotted a trail of sauce leading from the drive way going towards the porch just in case we may forget our way back to the car.  I knew she must have had sauce all over her too.  Which is funny because I am the one that usually ends up with food all but over himself and then everyone laughs at me.  I didn't yet make it to the drive way when Sally yelled from the distance "Are you sure this is the right house?".  I of course said "Yep!" I looked at the house again and thought oooooh wait a minute, but decided not to say a word in case I was wrong (wink wink). I decided it was best for me to stay put so I stopped and watched the plot unfold from a far. I saw Sally knock on the door.  The door opens and I see Zach walk inside and  started to wipe his feet on a  the floor mat.  I then look at the guy who opened the door and I didn't recognize him. I heard him  say everybody is downstairs. I then heard my wife  apologize to him and she and the kids walked away with all the food and another trail of sauce. The whole time staring at me. "What I do?"  is all I  could say (if looks could kill I would have been a corps right then and there).  I was more concerned about getting everyone back in the car as quickly as possible.  With the trail of sauce and the mud Zachary left behind I knew the evidence of us being there was compelling so I quickly sped away from the scene.

 I drove 5 houses further down the street to Ron and Lynn's house. During the short trip I could not help but laugh at her.  She did mumble something like "I am going to get you for this". I am glad it was only a five house drive because it didn't give her anytime to say any more to me. When we got to the "right"  house I knew because their 3 kids were hanging out the door waiting for us. Next time I told her we will have to make up a checklist of their outside contents to make sure she won't do this again. Most importantly their house address.  I wouldn't want to see her embarrass herself again..  Periodically, throughout the game, I would peer out the window  to make sure we weren't being followed by angry neighbors with blazing torches.

After the incident, my wife did not mention it again to me.  So I thought maybe she had forgotten it.  But that was foolish of me, because Sally never forgets things like that.She stills brings up things that happened 12 years ago.  She may pretend to forget but she doesn't.  If she tells you she will get you back she will but she will wait until you least suspect it.  I know I shouldn't do this but Sandy (Sally's sister) you better beware.  Sally will get you back.  I am not sure and I don't know when but I can promise you she is planning something in that evil mind of hers.  There is something about Sally and her sisters.  When they get together they usually don't act their age.  Sandy thought it would be funny to stick on a maxi pad on Sally's car as she was driving away.  Sally knew nothing about it and it fell off the car between  their mom's house and the grocery store.  It amused Sandy and their mom very much.  I still haven't yet to find the humor in it but maybe it was because they littered the street with a maxi pad. Sally swore on that day there will be war.  So I thought it is best to warn my sister in law.

I'm scheduled for a CT scan on March 7th so prayers will be very much appreciated. Thank you for reading and hope you enjoyed it, God Bless!!

This isn't goodbye.

Why are we so gloomy?  Today we celebrated my mom's 73rd Birthday.  Happy Birthday Mom!  That wasn't the reason for the blues.  The reason for the sadness, is that today will be the last time I will see my big sister, Dawn for a very long time.  Well I hope it's for a very long time.  If I see her sooner than a long time , it would mean something bad has happened or  is happening.  So in that aspect, Dawn I hope I don't see you for a very long time.  Dawn and her husband Dave have bought a house in Alabama. Since they are able to receive senior citizen's discounts they feel they are now to old to endure the long Chicago winters.  


It's been along time since we actually cohabited together during our childhood.  It's been a very long time since she had snatched all my chocolate candy in my Christmas Stocking, shared her  bag of Doritos by giving me about 3 after I walked 2 miles in blistering heat in the summer and 5 ft of snow in the winter, bare footed and holes in my coat, when I was able to wear my coat because she would wear it around the house to keep herself warm,( and our furnace worked fine) to buy them for her, I had to endure her singing in the car(that was the worse of the worse), and it's been a very long time since I pulled her hair.  Even though it's been a long time and she lives one state over and 40 plus miles away from me now, I am really going to miss her when she moves 15 hours away from me.


 Thanks Dawn and Dave for being there for me when I was at my worse.  I am not going to say good bye it seems so final.  So I am going to say have a safe move.  
Love,
Bill

It's All About Me.

There was another item of importance I wanted to add to the post about my birthday. However, I decided this needed to be a posting on it's own. With all the birthday wishes, cards, food, money, and gifts, Did I say food, specifically cake, fudge and the candy Zach got me, along with the beef sticks Michael got me. I would have to say I was most impressed and humbled by an article written by a friend, Ann Marie Walker. She had written about my wife and myself as a tribute to my birthday. Let me tell you a little about Ann Marie. I do mean a little cause this is my blog and it is still my birthday month, so the spotlight stays on me lol. Sally asked me to put the lol part in so people will think I am kidding around lol. Well I'm not, like I said its my birthday month and I am still celebrating it lol(?). Sorry Ann, I am trying to be honest here.  Ann is a mother of 4,well  5 if you include her husband. She takes care of her elderly mother, a free lance writer for an on line publication called Examiner. She is the author of the Chicago Psychic Examiner as well as the NWI Frugal Family Examiner. She also decided to venture into college with my wife and drives my wife crazy because she pushes her way through school at a much faster rate then what Sally is doing. She makes Sally look like a slacker.  Sorry honey but it's true.

http://www.examiner.com/psychic-in-chicago/happy-birthday-bill-the-most-spiritual-man-and-family-i-know#comments is the article in which I feel resembles us very little but I am flattered for her thinking of us that way. We are just ordinary people facing an obstacle in life. I don't think we are different than most people because everyone has an obstacle or obstacles they are facing in their every day life. Whether if it's an addiction, a job you don't like, a problem child, a troubled marriage, loneliness, an illness,  financial trouble or like to watch people and make fun of them. That really isn't an issue except I really do like to to do that. That is more of an issue for the other person than for me. Unless you are not human everyone is going through something. I have a head that is bigger than most, but I deal with it.

Like I mentioned before, the main purpose of the blog was to update family and friends on my condition, then it turned into writings for my children to have in case something were to happen to and some how for the most part the blog has turn into amusing tales about my family's misadventures and attempts through life. I never had the intent to be the poster child for stage four colon cancer. Which is good because I am the furthest thing from it. As for many of you who follow my blog, I use a lot of humor. It's not an attempt to trivialize the seriousness of my condition or my feelings minus my bouts of rage. Instead, I approach the blog the way I approach life. Basically, what your read is what I really am like. I approach life in humor. I try to find the good and humor in everything. I learned and realize even in darkness there is always good or good that results from our darkest moments. I could never imagine going through life without laughter and having a wife who doesn't find humor the same way as I do. The day we got married I knew than she has a sense of humor.  I think that is one of the main reasons Sally and I get along well is because of our ability to laugh our way through life and at each other as well as the kids. 


I live life to the fullest based on my ability.  Of course if I had money, I would be doing many things that I am not able to do now.  However,  I would still live life the same.  Spending it with my family and enjoying the time I have with them.  There is saying "live life as if it's your last". I do not agree with that.  If you live today as if it were your last then what do you have to look forward to for tomorrow.  Eventually,  you would be exhausted trying to live every day as if it's your last. Rest is very important to my healing process, so that wouldn't be good. My advice is to do something you love each day.  It doesn't have to be something earth shattering.  For I find that often the simplest things in life are the most satisfying and most meaningful to me.  Whether it's sitting on the couch watching a tv show with Sally or cuddling up with the kids reading them a book, those are the times that mean the most to me and hopefully it's the things my family will remember.  I try as much as possible to create memories.  The memories aren't for me but  for my family.  They are something for them to hold on to in case I am no longer around.


One more quick note to Ann. I am proud to consider you a friend and have to say that this article was in my humble opinion your best effort to date. So good luck trying to top it.  What is better subject matter than me?


Here are the links to Ann's writings.  I encourage you to take the time to check them out.


http://www.examiner.com/frugal-family-in-chicago/ann-marie-walker

http://www.examiner.com/psychic-in-chicago/ann-marie-walker

http://livingafrugalfamilylife.blogspot.com/

It's my birthday and I'll brag if I want to.

As many of you know yesterday I celebrated my 46 birthday. When I was about to turn 40, I dreaded it. 40 seemed so old. Days before turning 44 I was diagnosed with colon cancer. I wondered then if I would see 45. Now I am looking forward to 47,48... and I can't wait to turn the big 5-0. It's funny how a little word like "cancer" changes ones' perspective on everything. Sally recently asked me what my wildest dream was. My reply to her "I want to grow old". I want to be that old man who walks around with suspenders,chewing on his gums, smells like soup, repeats himself, the one who drives 20 mph in a 45 mph speed zone, I'm doing about 30 now. I want to be the old man who sits in the park and feeds the birds with his grand kids. I want to be the old man who is holding his old wife's hand as they walk around the beach. "Remember when dad/Bill ....." I want to be able to correct them and tell the "true" version of the story.

I must admit I was amused by my own pictures from the previous blog. Not sure about you but they made me laugh. Sally teased me because she found me on a couple of occasions laughing at my own pictures. If you didn't know by now you should realized by my confession I am an honest man. Who else would admit this? My wife who many of you think is a victim to my comic material and grand schemes began showing off her devilish trait many of you have failed to notice the existence in her. I woke up the other day to kind Sally and the kids looking at something at the computer and laughing hysterically. I walked over and found that Sally had altered a picture of us. She had altered the picture that caused me to laugh many times. She ommited herself out of the picture and left me alone with my silliness. Not only did she have it on face book but the picture was changed on the blog as well. If that wasn't bad enough. I woke up on my Birthday day to hear some more giggling. My wife had done the worse betrayal to me ever. She changed my profile picture on face book to the one of me looking as if I may had some brain trauma. Not only did she change the picture she change my pass word so I couldn't change it. I know, isn't that bad of her? If that wasn't to be enough she changed her profile picture to me as well. The she schemed with her sisters and a few friends to change their profile to me as well. Then they were encouraging others to do the same with this posting "This is Bill. Today is Bill's birthday. He is happier than ever to be celebrating another birthday. For Bill and all other cancer patients Birthdays are great celebrations for them. Lets celebrate Bill's birthday and birthdays of all cancer patients today by changing your profile picture to Bill's (tag his picture with your name) for the day.". At one point it was confusing on face book seeing my picture on every one's post. I must admit in spite of Sally's evilness it was clever. So please don't ever feels sorry for her when I writer about her clownish dressings in the mornings or poke fun of her. She deserves every bit of it! In fact she is already scheming for next year and makes it well known to me that because of my lack of computer skills she knows I can't get her back.

I had to work last night on my birthday night. I could have taken the day off but I am trying to save my days since I had to use a lot of vacation days when the plant was shut down for 2 weeks during the holidays. I did go into work 4 hours later though. My sister, Carolyn, visited me in the morning. She brought over donut holes and a gift from my mom. My mom gave me bath towels. Sally and Carolyn laughed at them but it was what I told her I wanted. I decided I should be practical and I told my mom what we needed. Our bath towels are almost 13 years old and they are in bad shape. After my sister left I went back to bed because Sally and I were going to go out for dinner before I had to go in for work.

Sally and I went to Giovani's for my birthday dinner. It's my favorite spaghetti place in case you didn't know. I think we went there last year for my birthday as well. It was busy so service was slow which wasn't a bad thing. It gave us a chance to talk. We started talking about when I was first diagnosed and about what's important life. It was a deep conversation but not depressing in the very least. As we talked I was thinking I can't wait to have this conversation when the kids are all grown. When we talk about the past when I had cancer, the kids were little, and Sally was in school full time and not sure how but we made it. I am looking forward to that day. After dinner we went to a couple of stores and picked up the two little one's from my mother in law's house. (Not sure what we would do with out my mother in law, Mary. She is the reason Sally and I can go out sometimes and the reason I don't have to go to the doctor appointments and infusion treatments alone.) Came home and had chocolate cake and banana split ice cream. Sally gave me a single serve coffee pot, Zachary gave me a heart shape box of chocolate, Michael gave me a bag of beef jerky and a gun shaped lighter, Kaity made me a card and Zachary made me a card as well.

I have to say this was one of my best birthdays and I will remember it well. I had over 40 people who sent me birthday wishes on face book and it meant a lot to me. I never realized there are so many people who would take the time to think of me enough to tell me "Happy Birthday". As for my wife's little stunt well... I was a little embarrassed of it but I have to admit I thought it was funny. I know I am blessed but yesterday just reminded me of how blessed I really am.

Happy Birthday Bill!

Happy Birthday!

May this be the year in which many of your hopes and dreams come true.

You are very much loved and admired.

Sally