Never Give Up

Not much going on around here this week which I guess is a good thing. Lauren finished up her two weeks of Xeloda on Wednesday and is off of it for a week. We will be going to U of M on Wed. for labs, doctor visit, and chemo. I don't remember if I told you about this before, but the girl at the scheduling desk said that she would have to send us Lauren's schedule for her three appointments because she couldn't find anything for chemo. So, when we got the schedule, it said labs at 12, doctor at 1, and chemo at 5. I looked at that and said wait a minute. You gotta be kidding me that we have to wait for four hours for chemo. So, I called and they said there was nothing they could do. I called back a second time and they still said the same thing. I then decided to bring in the big guns and e-mailed Dr. Zalupski. I was really nice and told him how I raved about U of M to anybody that would listen. I finished by saying that this incident had put a tiny dent in the way I felt about them because nobody would help me. He sent me an e-mail back apologizing up and down and promised to help. The next day I received an e-mail from someone named Angie apologizing and saying this happened because the whole hospital was changing computer programs and they wanted to minimize problems by only scheduling a few people at a time for chemo. I would have understood this if someone would have told me in the first place! So now her labs are at 3:30, doctor at 4, and chemo at 5. I knew I could count on Dr. Z. He is the best.

We are so lucky that Lauren has good insurance. She is on COBRA now, and it is expensive and takes up most of her disability, but worth it. I was looking at one of her bills and this new chemo she is on is over $20,000 every time! That is not even counting her Xeloda pills, which without insurance would be around $3000. Shocking how much everything costs!!!!

Lauren went shopping and out to dinner with her friend, Jill this week. They always have a good time together. Jill is my good friend, Debbie's daughter. We have been friends for a really long time and we just love their family. Debbie wants to come with us to one of Lauren's chemo and we were going to have her come this time, but it is too late and she would need to come home the same day because she works. I think that is so nice that she would offer to come and keep us company.

Lauren and Gio are still working on his house. Geez, is it ever going to be done? He has been painting cabinets in the kitchen. Lauren usually goes over with the intention of helping, but usually ends up sleeping the whole time she is there because she has been so tired from the Xeloda.

Wo and Gio had Melissa, Dan, and Emmed over to watch their beloved Browns on Thursday night. We all love the Browns and always hope for the best each year, but you know how that goes. Mark got some tickets at work for Gio and Wo to go to see the Browns at their training camp on Sunday and they get to meet some of the players and there will be a hospitality tent as well. Emmed and Ryan are going too. I'm sure they will have a great time.

Lauren has been a little sad lately. I think it is because it is coming up on a year since she was diagnosed with cancer. How would you feel if you were told that there is pretty much a 0% chance that you will be alive five years from diagnosis. And that most people die 6-12 months after diagnosis. I think I would be sad too. Lauren is trying with all her might to prove the statistics wrong. She will never give up and tries to live every moment and not dwell on the bad things. But it is hard sometimes on her and all of us. Thanks for keeping Lauren and us in your prayers. We really appreciate it.

I don't have any new pictures so I dug in the archives for these. Lauren and Gio going to his prom in 2006. The movie star and her Italian stallion.Haha!! I just love these pics.     -Pam

I am sure Lauren would want me to tell you the reason her chest looks splotchy is that she went tanning before prom and peeled. It really bugged her that it looked like this.

Gio-The most smiling, happy person I know!

So adorable.