Saturday Morning at the Zoo.

Saturday morning at the Fort Worth zoo with Carol, Emily, Alyssa and Brooke, 4/30/2011.

Easter Egg Hunt 2011

Okay, Easter eggs have nothing to do with the resurection of Jesus Christ, but we had a fun time with the local grand daugthers after church and before lunch on Sunday.

Anniversary Passed

Three days ago, on Good Friday, marked a milestone for me of being one year off of chemotherapy. On 4/22/2010, I completed cycle # 14 of Revlimid, which essentially marked 2 1/2 years of chemotherapy. Yay-rah!

Passport, Received

On Saturday, 4/16, the mailman delivered to me my passport. Two and a half weeks ago, I applied for it, thinking Carol and I would take some of our grandchildren on a brief excursion to Canada this summer. Then, the opportunity came for the trip to Kenya, and the Canada trip got re-scheduled to later in the year, perhaps when it will be cooler.

Anyway, if you received your passport by mail, did you have to again swear your allegiance to the United States, and run around the mail truck with your shirt off, flapping your arms and making a sound like an eagle, and singing"My Country, 'Tis of Thee," (all four verses), or did my postman take me for a ride?

Burleson Relay for Life, 4/15/2011

On Friday evening, 4/15, Carol and I attended the American Cancer Society Relay for Life in Burleson, Texas. Carol did her duties as a health inspector checking the food booths, then we stayed for a portion of the evening festivities. As a cancer patient, I wore a purple tee-shirt. As my care-giver, Carol wore an orange one. This relatively small, hard-working community just south of Fort Worth raises over a quarter a million dollars annually for cancer research at this event.

Carol got "arrested" and I had to bail her out of the fund-raising "jail." It's impressive the wonderful relationship she has with the community. How many restaurant owners say to their health inspector (sincerely), "Now you come see us real soon, ya hear?"

The president of their chamber of commerce has also battled cancer. I met him at another community event recently, and promised him I would come and walk the "survivor lap" around the track at this event, if I could walk it with him, and not by myself. I went, and we both kept our promise, and had a good time.

Kenya, Here I Come

I want to let you know that I am planning a 2-3 week to Kenya this June. I will be going with Charlie Yates, another elder from our church, and Dallas Turner, a missionary our church supports. The purpose of the trip will be to teach local pastors, check on our sister church, and encourage an indigenous missionary that our church supports. It will be 30 years precisely this June since I have been to Africa, and I am looking forward to it very much. The last time was under much more rugged conditions, and on the opposite side of the continent, in French-speaking west Africa, just on the southern fringes of the Sahara Desert.

A Quick Cancer Update

Just a quick update on my visit to the cancer doc a couple of days ago. I had already received tests results from blood samples taken last week, so knew that the cancer was continuing to increase, but I did not believe it was to the point where chemotherapy needed to be resumed. Thankfully, he concurred. He described the cancer as "smoldering." It is there, increasing, and will need to be addressed someday, but not necessarily right now. Let's give my body a chance to build up some more strength before attacking it and the cancer again, and especially not have my immune system compromised for a trip I am planning overseas for this June. Unless there is a radical change, the earliest I would resume chemotherapy will be July 1. As always, thanks for your prayers, love and concern.