Joppette

Great news! Thanks for sharing. MI Judy

Katie, I hope I didn't give the impression of bashing Kommen. I'm not.

Good evening friends. It has been a very gusty, cold and wet day today. We are expecting a lot of rain tonight and are under a wind warning, as well as a flood warning. It seems so sad, we've lost a couple young folks in the last two days on big Lake Michigan. The waves are huge, and they went out to jet ski and drowned. The waves are giant out there, and it's so sad. I've been inside since Sunday and am getting cabin fever! The winds have been insane and more trees have come down again. We lost power this afternoon too. I am so thankful for that auto on generator when the lights go out for a moment. That is all it takes to kick in and it's so reassuring to hear that machine come on. Got some news about a black bear in our area! He's been spotted several times now and just a couple miles from my home. I miss Bruce here, and would expect this in his area, but here? Everyone assures me that they are elusive, and I hope so. Can't imagine my dogs running up against that beast. Did you hear about the wild animals in Ohio? The person caring for them opened their cages, and then took his life. They've been running around all day trying to humanely capture them, but unfortunately they had to kill most. There were over 30 lions and tigers. Two grizzlies, some brown bears. They told everyone to stay inside until they gave the all clear. There's still a baboon and a wolf loose. How weird is that? Anyway, it's evening here, and I'm getting ready to settle in and watch some stupid tv. I think Criminal Minds is on tonight, and for some morbid reason I love that show. R is out at an evening business outing, so I'm on my own. MI Judy

Nick, I completely understand where you are coming from. Statistically, less women are dying from breast cancer anymore, which is actually a good thing, right? I looked into the Kommen stuff to see how much actually goes into research, and the report I read said, sadly, only 17% of dollars raised with all the pink stuff goes to research. I don't know (and hope) that's not true. My Mom had breast cancer too, before she passed from lung cancer. In my cancer support group there are several women surviving breast cancer. When I hear about their pain issues, I cringe. A lot of women get this horrid edema in the arm where they removed lymph nodes in the arm pit, and it's excruciating. As I hear their stories, I am reminded that cancer sucks, no matter where it affects you. I learned a new respect for breast cancer after seeing these women that are suffering years after their diagnoses. But all that being said, I get to resent all the "pink" too. MI Judy

Good morning/afternoon, Steph I hope you know you can always write about this life stuff too! It's what it's all about! What a rough day. I get strange pains too. For the last week I have a dull ache in my left side under my breast area. It comes and goes and I have no idea what it is. I have a scan next month, so I'm not going to worry about it yet. I understand the caregiver frustrations too for sure! Ann, what a beautiful baby! I love the amazing softness of baby skin, their smell, just everything about them! Alan, how fun to go to Chicago! I love that City. It's supposed to be sunny and near 60 on Sunday. I hope you get good weather. They call it the Windy City for a reason. It is. R has been Pheasant and deer hunting with no luck so far. We don't have a good Pheasant population around here. Pheasants Forever is working hard to get habitat for them, but it's happening slowly. Well, the volunteer job at church is a subject for me. The Executive Director that did me wrong has quit. He has a opportunity in the business sector that he can't ignore. He will be leaving November 1. So I emailed the lead pastor saying that I'd be happy to come back and help out with Administration if they'd like that. He enthusiastically wrote back and copied the Admin staff saying they really need some good volunteers to help out. It's been two days and none of the staff have written me back. I'm not going to look too deeply into this and just going to keep it simple. If they want and need me, they will call. If they don't, I hope they will be polite enough to let me know that. We shall see. Judy in MI

Good Monday Morning! Ann, Congrats on little Harper! It's understandable that Jude will have a bit of trouble adjusting. But before you know it, she will be his baby sister that he is so proud of! If you'd like me to post a picture, just email it to me like you did with your profile picture. Hope everyone is well and has a good day. MI JUdy

Ah, it's early evening here, and I'm fighting the sleepies! No nap at 20 to 6! The sun is shining in the window as it readies itself to set and it has me sleepy. We had friends over last night, so slept in and went to late service this morning. It was nice. Came home and made breakfast, and worked on coupons and headed out to grocery shop. R worked on mowing and blowing leaves. Nice day. There's not much to write about when the posts in here are infrequent. Not complaining at all, but it gets interesting when a bunch of folks post. Judy and I just can't generate all that much excitement. LOL Anyway hope everyone is well. See you tomorrow. Judy in MI

I also welcome you here! You certainly do belong here. We're so glad you joined! Ah...............your Mom was so young. Breaks my heart. I was diagnosed at age 52. I'm so grateful to still be here. I so wish I had found a site like this when my Mom was diagnosed with LC. She died in 1996. Like you, I was angry and bitter. I was only 40 when she died, and I needed a place like this. I'm so glad I found it now. Unbelievable that I got the same disease. Whether we smoked or not is irrelevalent. Not every smoker gets lung cancer. Not every non-smoker gets it either. But this we know....lung cancer is a killer. They don't know enough about it....and they need to know more because too many people are getting it, and too many are dying. I'm so glad you joined. If you wish to get into a daily chat, we do a daily AIR where we open the windows to fresh air and chat. We would welcome you there if you want to get to know us better. It's fun and just a nice way to get to know each other. MI Judy

Thank God and Amen! Great news Paulette. MI Judy

Hi Paulette! It's so good to see you back. Your trips sound amazing, I can't imagine seeing the shoreline with all those shells! How cool. I've missed you and so glad to see you back. MI Judy

Good morning! Thanks for the info Judy. I am going to definitely consider that next year. Going in every 3 weeks for shots is definitely better than gagging constantly, and using a box of Kleenex a day. Steph, so glad you went in to have that "mole" checked. Skin cancer can be a serious thing. Rest, take pain meds, and spoil yourself. Sara, your weather sounds beautiful. I woke this morning because the wind is howling so loud. We live high on a bluff, and when that wind gets going, it sounds ten times worse here. We did have a tree fall yesterday, right across the road. Randy was heading out to work in his suit and tie, and had to come back and get the chain saw and cut the tree up. Our road is a private road, so you can't call the county to come and clean it up. I feel so bad for him and the radio show today. They are outside at the homecoming football game of his alma mater, Ferris State University. They are doing the show outside and then doing a tail gate party that the University paid them to do. I'm wondering how they are keeping the fires lit with these howling winds! They are currently at 50 MPH!!!!! Well, going to have a cleaning day today while he is out! Hoping he takes me out to dinner tonight. Not outdoors on a deck! Judy in MI

Bored Eric? Oh my gosh you have such a busy and amazing life. Your energy astounds me! Good for you. I hope Sally makes it and has a wonderful sober time! MI Judy

Good morning! Judy it is SO good to see you back! I really miss your posts when you are gone. I'm curious about the Zofran. Isn't that a nausea medication? Hoping this chemo does not upset your stomach and that's why the palming and hiding! That's funny. You know, Judy, I never thought to escalate my allergies to the shots level. Now that they are better, I'll be okay. But next Fall, I may look into that. I was very ill for the last 2 months, so much so that I would "get sick" from all the stuff in my stomach. That is a good idea. I so remember the steroid mania. I always took a zanax with the sterioids, not that it really helped much, but it did take away the impulse to scrub the walls at 3:00AM. LOL I was a bit concerned about your travels when I saw how badly Florida got hammered with rain. Hope those miles went by without much trouble. Here it is 53 degrees, windy and raining. This is more like what our mid October weather is like. It sure was nice getting a 2 week reprieve of 70 to 80 degrees, it was gorgeous. Now the trees are getting pretty bare. One thing I like about when the leaves fall is that I can see into my woods again. It is so cool to pull into the driveway and see a herd of deer strolling through the woods. Well hoping lots of folks stop by and chat, and wishing everyone a great Friday! Judy in MI

Diane, I think it's awesome that you drive people to treatment. Paying it forward is so rewarding! Sorry about the allergies out West for both of you. I think the really cold nights are what is helping me. I'm so grateful. Well, to continue the tragedy story with the police officer. A woman volunteer (bone cancer survivor) was supposed to come in with friends to cook supper at Gilda's. We got a call that her friend would be delivering the food, but none of them would be in because the woman volunteer just found out that her police officer husband was the one that got killed today!!!!! All her friends were too upset to come in either. In addition, when her friend delivered the food, she told us that this woman just got the news today at 9:30 that her bone cancer was back and spread to her brain!!!!! Wow. I can't even begin to comprehend how she can cope. She has 2 children, 6 and 8 years old. Sad. Sad. Sad. MI Judy

Okey dokey, it's 12:45 and no AIR yet! It's 60, gloomy and cloudy today. Temps are going to drop quite quickly in the next few days. Sad day today. Two idiots robbed a bank with military type guns, and took off on a major highway. There were 20 police cars chasing them, and they ran over one of the cops and killed him. Needless to say, they are not alive now, and the highway is closed for an indefinite amount of time. Sooooooo sad. Tragic. I was supposed to take that highway on my way to Gilda's Club, but heard about the robbery and changed my plans. The crash happened two exits down from mine, so I'm glad I back roaded it. Today is a weird Gilda day. I am in Grand Rapids for 3 hours, and then I head over to the Lowell club for a board meeting. So I'm skipping group tonight because I'm not going to drive all the way back the G.R. for that. Slept like a rock last night! It felt so good. My allergies are abating and it is heaven to not be constantly blowing my nose and dealing with the malaise of it all. Hope you all have a great day! MI Judy

Hi all, Alan, I don't know what the Tiger's score was last night. Hoping they won. What is blowing us away is the football team. Every year we groan about how awful they are, and then this year? The Lions are unbelievable. To see them actually play a Monday Night football game was unbelievable and wonderful. Nice to see activity happening in downtown Detroit. Had to get up too early to have the LP gas guy set a new tank. We are firing our old supplier. They were $1.00 a gallon higher! They said he'd be out at 9:30, nope! Showed up at 8:30. So I got to escort him around my appliances in my jammies. Ugh. Said our water heater is leaking and about to go. So will have to tend to that I'm afraid. Sprinkler guys are coming out this afternoon to shut the system down, flush the lines, etc., for the winter. R caught his plane in New York and got home on time. He said he almost lost it in the taxi cab ride to the airport. Yeah. Those guys are crazy drivers. He had to lower the window "in case" he had an accident. That must have been quite the ride. Hope you all have a good day. MI Judy

Hi all, Eric, I so would trade my monster house for a wee one! When we built it, we both were working, and we anticipated entertaining a lot. NOT! So we live with it because selling it and getting enough to pay the mortgage off is highly unlikely. Well my ladies "life group" reconvened for the fall, winter and spring. I missed them so during the summer. It's so good to get back together and studying the Word again. It's just starting the cool down again, a few degrees at a time again. Still gorgeous. Low 70's today and tonight 50. Makes for good sleeping. Love the warm days and cold nights. Means no A/C or Heat. I love that period of time when we get a break from our utilities. Well, I'm off to enjoy the rest of the day. Hope you do too! MI Judy

Get 'em Nick. I remember when I was a newbie here. I was quite angry over the "did you smoke" question. Katie taught me that the best way to respond is to quote the statistics to them. When they hear that 60% of all new lung cancers are in people that never smoked, or quit 20 years or more ago, it usually causes a pause. But when I tell them that lung cancer is the #1 killer of all cancers, and yet it is the most underfunded of them in terms of research, I usually lose them at that point. Then I gracefully step off my very LARGE soap box and move on. MI Judy

Gigs, if she gave you HIPPA permission, they have to tell you anything you ask about her. You are legally allowed to know everything about her condition. Ask away! Judy in MI

Gigs, I have to agree with Ry on this. Stage IV with mets to the bone means this is extensive. Given the fact that she has refused medical treatment until it has got this bad, it's likely she may not have a lot of time left. She and her son should be given the opportunity to make their ammends before it is too late. If she dies, and he finds out you knew about her illness, it's going to put a wall up in your marriage too. We can't know all the dynamics going on here, we've just "met" you. But given our experience with this disease, we can only offer our best advice. I pray you can come to the right decision and soon. Judy in MI

I am so sorry. MI Judy

Got up early today! It's still dark out. But I feel like making sausage and eggs before church today. I'm filling R's role at church since he will most likely be parked high up in a tree right now with his compound bow. He said it's really weird hunting in 80 degrees during the day. No one wants a deer when it's that hot because you have to process it immediately versus when it's colder out. It's so nice to have the allergies abate. I kind of forgot how that feels. I'm very grateful. Hope you all have a good day. Judy in MI

Hey Diane, Thanks for the response to my query. I understand getting busy and not being able to post. No doubt about it. It's just that in the last month or so, the posts that made this lively and interesting have totally died down. It's hard to write an interesting post when others don't post. My life is just not that interesting. LOL. I love it when the Air is lively because it gives us all something to respond to which interests all of us. I'm not blaming anyone, but do wonder about the huge amount of "looks" without any comments. I just want to encourage anyone that is here and wonders if they "should" post in here that they definitely should! We want to hear from lots of folks. It's what makes it vital and alive! MI Judy

I am curious folks. I went back to the daily air posts, and I see as many as 145 looks to a minimum of 40 to 50 looks at these posts. Who are you? Why do you just look and not say hi? We would love to hear from you about your lives. Just curious............................ MI Judy

Good morning! Another beauteous day here. Mid 80's and mid 50's. Just when it gets too warm in the house, the sun sets and the temps drop and it's perfect. No need for heat or air conditioning. KW Judy, I think I'll take your advice! R is gone for the rest of the weekend. Now take out Chinese is a challenge when you live in the boonies, but I'll find a joint as close as possible. I love Chinese food! I have all kinds of chick flick movies on the DVR, so it'll be a good evening. Even though it is beautiful out, I am home bound today. I've been neglecting the house and cleaning because I have felt so poopy with the allergies. But I'm recovering from the worst of them, and want to make some progress inside while he is not home. Tomorrow I think I"ll get the crock pot out and make a big pot of beef stew. I love home cooking and this is the time of year to do it! I miss all the regulars that are not here anymore. I invite the lurkers to come on in and get comfy. We love new folks to be a part of the air each day. Judy in MI