SUNDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2006 05:35 PM, CDT

I hope everyone had a wonderful Sunday.
I thought I would journal early today. The girls are both napping. We will be heading back to church soon.
Amy, I'm going to get you! I really thought you might be pregnant again. You're probably ready for number 3 aren't you? I'm glad to hear that you're doing well.
Stef, thanks for the post. I'm going to be prayed up the day of the walk. I truly feel honored to be ask to do it, but I'm just a little nervous. Are you going to literally be standing behind me? :-) hee hee...no seriously.
Grandma Schlegel, please come whenever you guys can come. We're going to be here. Emily will be sooo excited to hear you guys are coming. Tell Pa that he will probably have a sleeping buddy though.
Please continue to pray for this chemo to work. My lymph nodes are still really swollen. I don't want to get discouraged, but it's really hard.
I was able to help in the nursery this morning. I haven't been in there since July. I'm ready to start serving again. Praise God that I'm feeling back to "normal".
I'm off to try to get Emily and Abby up and see if we can make it to the 5:00 discipleship training. I was a little tired after church today, but I'm feeling GREAT now.
Keep posting!!
Blessings,
Kristina

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2006 09:39 PM, CDT

Happy Birthday sweet Matthew! I can't believe he is 4 already. Emily and Abby enjoyed celebrating your big day.
I've had a GREAT day start to finish.
I can't wait to see my church family tomorrow.
I'm off to give Emily a bath and hopefully put them both to bed. I have two tired girls tonight.
Karen, we love you. I'm so thankful God brought you and your family to Mount Juliet. We need to plan another girls night out ladies. Mel, do you think we're any better at bowling?
Blessings,

Kristina

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2006 10:59 PM, CDT

I hope everyone had a wonderful Friday. I was a little tired today, but after taking a long nap with Abby I felt great.
Mom watched the girls tonight while John and I went out to dinner. It was nice.
Claire, we got our fire pit. We came home and John, the girls and I made some YUMMY marshmallows. Abby has no fear of the fire. Emily was giving us the rules to obey about the fire. They're both so different and so fun. Let me know when you guys are up for some smores.
Kelly, I'm so excited about Preston. He is so cute! I can't believe he is officially crawling. My girls were such late crawlers. Do you think it was because I held them all the time? :-)
Teri, I can't believe you like this cold weather. This is toooo cold for me. I'm praying my hair comes back quickly. My little head is cold.
I need to ask for prayer for a lady named Karen Vertanen. She is a friend of Darcy. Darcy found my website looking for another site. Karen is battling ovarian cancer. Please pray for her. Darcy, please keep us updated on Karen. I love that we met through this. You seem AWESOME! I can't wait to get to know you better.
I hope everyone has an AWESOME weekend. We're planning a lot of family time.
Mel, are you back yet?
Blessings,
Kristina

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2006 11:05 PM, CDT

Okay...let me start by saying Kelly you can cook! Thank you so much for the YUMMY birthday dinner. Everything was delicious. I liked the Splenda cheesecake. I'm sure Daniel would appreciate you making one every night. :-) We loved hanging out with you guys.
Heather, you go girl. I can't wait to see you at the walk. Is everyone training? I hope so. I have been asked by the American Cancer Society to help pass out awards at the walk. Thanks Kae for getting Jill and Anna in touch with me. What a honor!
Sorry I didn't journal last night. I got a terrible headache after church and it took several hours for it to go away. I've felt GREAT today though. I started taking my chemo today and so far so good. My stomach is hurting a little, but that is part of it.
Please continue to pray this chemo will shrink my lymph nodes. They are still pretty swollen in my neck.
Grandma Schlegel, did you check out the new pictures of the girls on kristinascalling? Emily is sure missing you guys.
Mel, do you ever get tired of soup?
Teri, I missed you too. I have some pictures from retreat that are HILARIOUS of you! I can't wait to show them to you. Do you remember taking all those pictures of me at the pool? That's all I'm saying.
Rhonda, go to email author and send me your e-mail address. I want to get in touch with you. It's great to see your posts.
Kathy Frazier, please keep us updated on your mom and father in law. I will continue to pray for you and your family.
I hope everyone is having a good week. KEEP POSTING!
Blessings,
Kristina

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2006 10:05 PM, CDT

I just saw the pictures of the yard sale on kristinascalling.com. I can't believe all that stuff. You guys are AWESOME! Thanks again for all your hard work with that.
Today has been GREAT. I went to the doctor and did some lab work. I have to go back tomorrow to get the Avastin and do more lab work. I'm actually getting used to needles (okay...no I'm not).
I met Stephanie and did a little shopping. Stef, it was great hanging out with you and Sambo. I love the "normal" days too. I have cancer, but it doesn't have me. John, thanks for reminding me of that when I need it the most.
Have I mentioned what an AWESOME husband I have? He has been so supportive and a HUGE encouragement through this. I know this has been just as hard on him. He has really stepped up to the plate. Thanks sweetie.
I start back on my chemo tomorrow. Please continue to pray that this is working. I love having my energy back. The side effects are so much more tolerable with this chemo.
I can't wait to see my church family tomorrow. Teri, I can't wait to have some tacos. You're soooo crazy. I love it.
Mel, are you there yet? Please let us know you made it safely.
Misti, please update us on Caycen? I will pray for him.
Thanks for all the sweet posts. Keep them coming!
I'm off to give the girls a bath and off to bed we go.
Blessings,
Kristina

MONDAY, OCTOBER 09, 2006 08:33 PM, CDT

Let me start by saying....YOU GUYS ROCK! I can't believe how much money you guys raised! What an AWESOME birthday gift. Thank you Teri for opening up your home and yard to do this flea market/yard sale.:-)
Mel, loved the v-mail. You're crazy! You can sing though!
We had an awesome weekend. I felt great every day. Praise God!
We went to Dollywood and the Aquarium which were both neat. The girls enjoyed several kid rides at Dollywood and I even got to ride an indoor ride with Jonathan. It was really chilly that day. I ended up buying a sporty Dollywood jacket to help with that!
The best part of our weekend was the FOOD! I was able, for the most part, to stay away from sugar but still managed to have great food the entire weekend. We went to Old Mill the first night we were there on Kyle's recommendation. It was amazing. I can't believe I've never been. Heather, you've got to go there. The wait will be over an hour in the evening but it's worth it. You can go down and feed ducks on the Pigeon River while you wait.
John took my mom, Kim, the girls and me to Cherokee Grill for my birthday on Saturday. Once again I have to give thanks to Kyle for this recommendation and once again I cannot believe I've never been there. It was awesome!
Finally we had Mandarin House Chinese on Sunday night...and it was pretty good also. And just for good measure we hit Old Mill one more time on the way out this morning for breakfast. It was just as good as the dinner and the wait was only 25 minutes. Can you tell I enjoy eating.:-)
The girls had a great time too. Emily called our cabin a hotel. She would say can we go back to our hotel. It was so cute. Abby just wanted to do everything Emily and Macy did. She is so active. They both made a stuffed animal. Abby made a puppy and Em made a bear and named it Furry Head.
I think my whole family had fun. It was nice to spend so much time with them. Keith, did the girls wear you out?
Claire, don't worry...John is getting a fire pit. He wanted to stop today on our way back home and pick one up. Smores anyone? Also, thanks for getting our mail.
Thanks for all the posts while I was away. I sure missed everyone.
Oh, I have a HUGE praise. My friend Linda that I've ask you to pray for is cancer free! That lymph node isn't cancer. Praise God.
I go to the doctor tomorrow. It's becoming my second home. I'm just doing more lab stuff. My lymph nodes are still really swollen in my neck. Please pray this chemo is working.
I hope everyone had a great weekend. I'm off to unpack.
Blessings,
Kristina

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 05, 2006 10:31 PM, CDT

Today has been tough. I woke up around 4:00 AM with my feet really burning (a side effect to this chemo). I can tell you this part isn't fun. I still feel blessed to be on this chemo. I can do so much more. This morning I just handed this over to God. He knows how much I can endure. I actually started feeling better and was able to go back to sleep for awhile. What an awesome God we serve.
I told Emily and Abby we would get pumpkins today. We did get our pumpkins! I'll try to get some pictures on here of that and of the retreat soon. We had lunch and the girls went down for naps.
My stomach started hurting shortly after that and really never eased up. I was trying to get things packed for our trip, but couldn't. I took a nap tonight and I feel a little better. I'm so frustrated. I didn't even take any chemo today.
My mom as usual has been a HUGE blessing in getting everything together. Thank you Kim for taking Em tonight. Also, thank you John for taking such good care of Abby tonight.
I'm praying tomorrow is better. We're scheduled to leave in the morning. Please pray I start feeling better. I'm not sure what's going on.
Enough about all of that. Thanks for all the posts today. I loved the encouragement and as you read here, I needed it.
I'm really looking forward to going to Gatlinburg. Claire, thanks for the post. I think everyone wants to go now!!!! I'm going to try really hard to stick to my no sugar diet. Stef and mom, thanks for hanging in there with me on this.
I need to say a HUGE thank you to everyone that is helping out with the yard sale. You guys ROCK! I can't wait to see how you do. Are we making strides or what????
Keep posting. I'll try to update my journal while I'm gone.
I hope everyone has an AWESOME Friday.
Blessings,
Kristina

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 04, 2006 09:03 PM, CDT

Today has been AWESOME! I took the girls to the park. It was a little hot for us. We had a good time though.
I received a birthday present today from Amy. Amy, I went ahead and opened it. You knew I would. I LOVE IT! It was a scrapbook from when she came in to see me. Oh, I plan on putting a picture on the survivor page and you will always be older than me.
Mitzi, I forgot that you're older than me.:-) I loved seeing you the other day. You looked GREAT!
It was great to be at church tonight. It was an awesome message Pastor Alan.
Please pray for my friend Linda in Houston. I think I spoke too soon. Her oncologist is wanting her to have that lymph node biopsied. Please pray that everything comes back clear.
Kathy Frazier, thank you for posting and updating us on your mother. I will continue to pray for you both. I really enjoyed meeting you. I know your faith will get you through this.
Pat Meyer, how are you doing? I think of you and pray for you all the time.
Teri, I will not be going near that Mexican restaurant. Thanks for that memory though. You guys are crazy!
Kelly, you go girl on the diet. It's hard I know. I haven't had any sugar since last Thursday. I'm going through major withdrawls.
Heather, you can come by anytime. I would love to see you!
I'm looking forward to a long relaxing weekend with my family.
I'm about to take my last chemo pills tonight. I made it through one round. Praise God!
I hope everyone is having an AWESOME week.
Blessings,
Kristina

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 03, 2006 09:52 PM, CDT

We had a great time today. Mom and I went to Watertown for the day.
I got to open an early birthday gift today. John can't keep a secret to save his life. Thanks sweetie!
I really hope that the chemo I'm taking now is effective. It has really given me a better quality of life. The drug doesn't have terrible side effects--at least not yet.
I have a praise for my friend Linda in Houston. Linda has been battling breast cancer for a long time. A couple of months ago she was told she was cancer free. Last week she had a swollen lymph node but her scans revealed it was nothing. Please continue to pray for her. Anyone who has had this awful disease realizes that you can never really rest easy, even if you're told you're cancer free.
Tomorrow is my last day of chemo for an entire week! Praise God! I can't wait to get away for a few days with my family. It will be so much fun. And Lord willing I should have a decent amount of energy.
Well, the girls are getting really tired so I'm going to put them to bed. I can't wait to see my church family tomorrow.
I agree with Emily McClung.....WHERE IS EVERYONE? Keep posting!
Blessings,
Kristina

MONDAY, OCTOBER 02, 2006 07:44 PM, CDT

I hope everyone had a wonderful Monday.
Today has been pretty good. I had to go to the doctor. My white cell count was GREAT! My blood pressure was pretty high. We're going to watch it. It could be from the Avastin I'm now getting.
I think I'm finally caught up on my sleep from the retreat. What an awesome time!
Teri and Melissa you go girls. Teri, is the yard sale getting out of control.:-) I can't wait to see how you guys do. Is everyone in training for the walk?
Thanks for all your posts.
I have my niece tonight and John is going to be home late. I'm off to give baths and get everyone a snack before bedtime.
I'll post again tomorrow.
Blessings,
Kristina