This Week's Update [12/23/12] - Merry Christmas

[The Weekly Update is an email that was started in the fall of 2010 to keep family and friends informed of my medical condition and has continued as a review of family activities.  Written by Zelma and edited by Steve. Working on adding past issues to the blog.]

Hi All,

It was a very busy week for work.  I had planned to have the week off to catch up on things at home, but quite a few things came up that required  me to be at the office.  It did make the week go by fast for me.  

Matthew spent the week unwinding from a very busy semester and was really pleased when he received his grade's Friday evening - all A's and B's and on the Dean's list honor roll.  We're all very proud of his hard work and perseverance as I know there were a couple of times the last few weeks of class that there seemed to be an endless amount of things still to be done.  Timing worked well, as we already had Matthew's favorite dinner planned - including his special request of the Triple Chocolate Indulgence cake (in front of him in the picture holding his grade report).

Sarah and Mike returned from their honeymoon on Friday with a special souvenir from the Turks and Caicos islands.  More on that in next week's update.  :-)  This next week GJ and Matthew are headed to the Florida panhandle to spend time on the beach with my Aunt and Uncle and their extended family and Steve and I are headed to Poughkeepsie to visit Sarah and Mike.

We continue to enjoy riding, although my hopes to get one last ride outside in 2012 appears to be waning.  Miles for the week are 70, miles for 2012 are 3,211 and total miles are 5,111!

We hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday.

Take care,

Zelma

This Week's Update [11/25/12] - Wonderful Holiday

[The Weekly Update is an email that was started in the fall of 2010 to keep family and friends informed of my medical condition and has continued as a review of family activities.  Written by Zelma and edited by Steve. Working on adding past issues to the blog.]

Hi All, 

We had a very good Thanksgiving holiday.  It was so nice to have a full house for several days both here (Matthew, and Sarah / Mike and their dog Riley) and at my Mom's (Roger / Becky and their dog Beasley). 

We enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving meal for lunch on Thursday at GJ's which included the annual family photo in front of the fireplace.  This year's photo is extra special because Sarah and Mike were able to join us.  

In the afternoon, the younger generation went their separate ways to spend time with other family and Steve and I took advantage of a wonderful day that peaked about 60 degrees to get in a 16-mile ride on the canal.  I didn't realize until we were home that it was a double milestone ride - 2,900 miles total for the year and 1,600 miles outside on the canal.  

Our perfect day was wrapped up with a Skype call with Sue and Michael (Steve's sister and brother). 

Thanksgiving is always a good reminder on the many things we have to be thankful for.  We have an extra long list this year - starting with all of our family and friends that are there to support and cheer us on; Mom making the move to Rochester so that she is close to spend time with us; Steve's cancer treatment team; Sarah and Mike's love and being able to celebrate their wedding; Matthew's graduation from HS and starting college; Steve's continued good health and his motivating me to keep getting on the bike each day. 

Today, Mom and I took Matthew back to school.  Hard to believe that his first semester of college comes to an end in just 3 weeks.  It was also a  big reminder that winter is really going to be here soon in full force.  It had been trying to snow Saturday and Sunday, but about 20 minutes outside of Oswego where Matthew goes to college we ran into full-fledged snow (picture from his dorm room included). 

This week's statistics - 70 Miles for the week (28 outside), 2,940 for the year and 4,840 total.   We are working hard towards the goal of 5,000 miles since Steve's surgery. 

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.  Take care, 

Zelma 

PS - Steve's brother-in-law Ron complained that he wasn't being included in the milestone pictures so the attached has him making a cameo appearance in the background.  

Keep an eye out for him in future milestones pictures courtesy of Picasa photo editor.  Steve says this is our version of "Where's Ron-do?"  :-)

This Weeks Update [1/1/12] - A Strong Finish to 2011!

[The Weekly Update is an email that was started in the fall of 2010 to keep family and friends informed of my medical condition and has continued as a review of family activities.  Written by Zelma and edited by Steve. Working on adding past issues to the blog.]


Hi All,

It seems like a really long time since last Sunday's update.  We started the week with Steve still feeling rough from the chemo.  Monday afternoon Sarah and Mike arrived for a short Christmas visit and for Sarah to pick up her new Subaru Imprezza.  It was a long time from August when she and Steve first picked it out and ordered it, but the wait was worth it.  [This delay was due to the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami in March.]  I've included a picture of the two of them next to the new ride :-).  

Steve had his regular anti-body treatment on Wednesday and the good news is his blood tests came back better than expected so he only had to get 2 liters of IV fluids for hydration.  The chemo can apparently upset a lot of other things in the body, so only being slightly dehydrated was good.

By Thursday, he was much more himself and we did a short (6 mile) ride on the trainers.  I thought if we were able to ride each day for the rest of the week, the 1,900 mile goal was reachable by Sunday.  After Friday night's ride we only had 17 miles to go.  Apparently Steve is still very much a financial person at heart because he decided that there was a "hard cut-off" for closing at the end of the calendar year, so we did 17 miles New Year's Eve!  Fortunately, my team photographer Matthew was home, so he did the honors of taking the 1,900 mile picture with Steve and I sporting our LIVESTRONG jerseys and our new LIVESTRONG helmets that Sara and Mike gave us for Christmas.  

It was a really great way to celebrate.  The three of us also managed to stay up to see the ball drop and I grabbed a shot with my phone to commemorate.  :-)

It's back to work and school for Matthew and I on Tuesday.  We hope everyone had a great holiday!

Take care,

Zelma