Power week, praise God from whom all blessings flow

Dear Family and Friends,
Nan once again demonstrated her incredible courage and inner strength. We woke this morning knowing that Nan had a doctor appointment at 3:30 in Antioch. Meanwhile I fitted in two appraisals located only about an hour away from home. Bits of traffic here and there but mostly smooth sailing. The guy in Martinez is interesting, he has over 40 pictures by Kinkaid in a Brentwood warehouse and he is trying to sell them when he can. The second home was in the flatlands of Oakland, whenever you notice the news about a killling it is most often in the flatlands of Oakland. I've never been threatened but I have had some pretty anxious dope sellers push me pretty hard to buy some "good stuff". When I used to drive the Fiero as my work car I got more attention as a white guy in a black neighorhood looking for drugs. Somehow the black bug does not generate the same interest. nan called me to tell me the comcast cable and internet had failed and it was off for hours. Lately it has been very iffy, not sure why. Nan sits in her recliner with the laptop on one side and TV remote on the other side and of course Starr right in the middle of things. So when cable goes and so does internet she feels a little bit isolated.
I was not able to get back to the house by the time Nan needed to leave to be at the doctors office on time, so she drove herself, arrived in good shape. We had our visit with the oncologist who was basically pleased with the blood work and the various numbers that were very close to being in the normal range. We had several questions for him and is offered to help in any way possible. We also asked him about whooping cough, since the boys who live next door to them have confirmed cases of whooping cough. Jason and Jo are both exposed and are on antibiotics just in case. Our doctor urged us not to miss seeing them but make no bodily contact, wash hands often and just be careful. We had planned to head out tonight but Nan was so tired when she got home, seems she got lost and found herself in a Mervyns store and also at a place that does toe nails. No wonder she was tired, 2 weeks ago she was so weak that she could hardly walk to the nursing station and back, today she walked the huge Meryvns store using only a cane for support. So when she came home off came the clothes, on went the gown and she headed up to bed for some much needed rest. Can you imagine how proud I am of her and how nice it is to see her gaining strength and weight. Today it was 131, thats a far different weight than in Boston where she was 97 lbs. Nan has humor, can be a tiny bit cranky, gets ideas, talks for hours to her family and friends and mostly is just wonderful.
This is how clever she is, she called me to say the internet was still down. She asks how she can put in the data card from Sprint so she can check her ebay bids. She found the right card, inserted it into the laptop and clicked the right places and was back on her ebay page in minutes. Take that comcast, we can do without you!!
In the morning we plan to wake early and with the motorhome packed just get in and travel to MBA which is a 2 hour drive for us. We'll come back sunday afternoon and while I am there I have an appraisal down the coast a bit to take care of. Perfect timing!
I really enjoyed reading the responses to last nights blog. It is so fun to hear from you and to be reminded that you are with us in spirit as we work through huge issues.
On a somber note, Dr. Morgan emailed from Boston. He got the ct scans and remarked that the one tumor which could not removed during the big surgery is continuing to grow larger. He did not mention seeing anything else on the scan which is great news. He suggested a couple meds that could be tried but also noted that there is no evidence that they work or not. He asked if Nan had a lot of pain in the area where the tumor lurks and truthfully she has not had much pain in that area.
The leaking place is so dimished now that sometimes the only thing wet is the tiny medical wick Nan inserts into the opening. We believe we are making progress there with less and less leakage.
Well its time to go hook up a TPN and hydration for Nan when I wake her.

Thank you for your prayers, for your support and for just letting us know you read the blog and are following Nan's progress closely. I am humbled that she is my wife, the mother of our children and a wonderful friend. She is a one of a kind person, no one else even close to being the same as she is.

So we send our love to each of you and hope you can find time to be close to God this weekend.

love

tim and nan