A Very Good Week Indeed!

Cathy for Carol

What a great week this has been...it is now Friday, October 3rd, and fall is in the air! Carol has learned new gratefulness for energy which she has had in increasing amounts each day this week.

Jake is sitting with me at this moment as I'm typing in this post for
Carol's blog...you can see from the picture above he has been reading a book (about Japan) with his "Nana" and Jordan. (Jake is on the left and Jordan is on the right.) They made me take a long, deep bow in front of them as if I were in Japan having to show great respect for them! Jake would like you to know that he loves his Nana VERY much and has had so much fun the last couple of days having Nana make French toast, attend soccer practice, nag him about homework and piano practice...and he is looking forward to walking to their favorite Mexican restaurant, "Mexxi's," in a few minutes.

Greg, Mark and Carol's older son, was here on a business trip Monday and came for dinner. Greg reports that even though the salmon was leftover from Sunday night's dinner it was still "first class restaurant style" even the night after! Thank you again all you fantastic cooks out there who are providing Mark and Carol with great tasting and nourishing meals!

Carol's week has been filled with many of her "normal" activities...she even went one day without a nap! She taught Precepts on Wednesday morning, has worked out at the club a couple of times and has met with many of you for Bible Study, tea, CTO and this afternoon talked with both Carol Wattles and Janet Lide about restoring some of her almost 100 year old quilts. We have both been having oodles of fun hanging out with Carol's grandchildren, Jake and Jordan, at their house today and yesterday while Erika and Tim (Jake and Jordan's parents) are off running a 13 mile half marathon in Big Sur for which they have trained diligently during the past several weeks.

As many of you know, Carol will be admitted to Stanford Hospital on Monday morning, October 6 for five days. She will be receiving a treatment intravenously for 15 minutes every eight hours around the clock that is meant to help her body recognize the cancer cells as cancer in order that the chemo drugs can work more effectively. We will let you know as soon as possible if Carol is able to have visitors at Stanford next week.

Carol's blood counts this week have been stellar...improving each time they are taken...please keep praying.

~Prayer requests for next week

• Interleukin2 will work
• Opportunities to talk to people about the Lord
  

• Minimal resulting fatigue
• Wisdom for the doctors
• Endurance for Mark

And now for the short tutorial some of you have requested on "leaving comments" on the blog for Carol to read...she really does love to read your notes to her...they are super encouraging to her...so type away, often!

1. Click on the word "comments" at the bottom of the latest entry in the blog.
2. Click in the box below "leave your comment."
3. Type in your note to Carol.
4. Type in the letters in green in the "word verification box"...the letters are difficult to read sometimes.
5. Please sign your note with your first and last name...some of us have very common first names!
6. If you have a Google account you can use your user id and password to post your comment...or if you don't have a Google account and don't want to sign up for one you can click the "anonymous" button and post your blog that way. If you go the "anonymous" route you for sure need to remember to list your first and last names in your note!

Hope this helps!

...one last note...there is a prayer time set for Carol at VBC, Sunday, October 5th at 2:00 pm. Please feel free to come and join the elders in prayer for Carol at that time. Thank you again for all of your love and support for Mark and Carol. The three weeks ahead are going to be intense, but we know that our great God sustains and carries us through the most difficult of times as He will Carol.