At last, some progress!

Well, Stanford's most recent CT scan on Friday showed NO growth of the tumors! While the goal is to have them shrink away to nothing, this at least means they have found something that seems to be making a difference. And considering that at the end of July there were three tiny lesions and by the end of September there were over a dozen tumors, more tumor than liver, this is a huge improvement. So we go back on Wednesday for more chemo, this time doing the same thing but adding one more drug. This is all scary stuff. Lots of nasty side effects from them. For Stanford, this will mean being hooked up to get an infusion for 7 hours, then he'll come home with a pump for the remainder of the 5FU (one of the drugs) then it will be unhooked on Friday afternoon. He'll feel sick and tired, and nothing will taste good. Then he'll gradually feel better by about Saturday or Sunday. For me, this will mean 2 hours or so of driving up there, sitting and stitching/reading/watching DVD's all day, then 2 hours or so of driving back, and worrying about my boy. But if it does the job, this is what's necessary.

Here is my final picture in the series I had John take.
It is a lovely kit from a dear, new friend, Gail, whom I met at Celebration in Needlework. She has been encouraging me all along with cheerful emails, and is in a Yahoo group I'm in. She sent me this, and I just love it! It's amazing how sometimes you just "click" with someone right away. Gail is so friendly and cheerful, plus she has a lovely southern drawl that makes me think of friendship and hospitality and lazy days stitching on the porch, and somehow even her emails manage to have this drawl! I'll add this kit to my bag of goodies to stitch that cheer me up at Dartmouth and make a difficult time easier. Thank you, Gail!

Time Traveling

Well, I've discovered how to time-travel . . . you just plan to stitch something on Thursday, then not get to it until Monday, so you pretend it is the previous Thursday. Hurray! I went back in time! Here is a picture of Celtic Autumn, as it was a couple of weeks ago. Then last week I just added about ten beads. Then today I stitched for a couple of hours on it. I love stitching on the fabric! I changed needles from a short John James, back to my favorite Piecemaker, and the stitching is going much more smoothly. The green gives better coverage, for some reason, than the brown, but I think it will be ok. Also, though I stitch in hand, I use the stick-and-stab method rather than the sewing method, so it takes me longer.

For those who are keeping up with Stanford's cancer and treatment, Stanford and I leave on Friday morning at about 5:30, to get to Dartmouth by 7am for his next CT scan. This is, coincidently (?), at the same time our church is holding a fast for Stanford and others in our congregation in need of special prayers and health. It is comforting to know so many people will be uniting their faith at the same time, on Stanford's behalf. I'm very nervous about the results of the CT scan. I want to know if the most recent treatments have worked. But I want to know they HAVE worked. I want good news! Stanford has recovered from the latest chemo more quickly than the last time, and continues to be pain-free. He is feeling good, and seems to have lots of energy, and his color is good. These things give me hope.

September goals report/October goals

Well, here is how much I've done on In Search of the Perfect Pumpkin. Which is NOT what I intended! But I do tend to be a little ambitious on my goals, both for stitching, and for daily life. So this is no surprise, really. Here, then, are my September goals (right on time, of course, now that it is the middle of October!), and how I've done on them:

1. Work on Celtic Autumn with Ann and Sue on Thursdays. Yes, I did this! Well, it wasn't always on Thursday, but I worked on it for a goodly amount every week.

2. Finish In Search of the Perfect Pumpkin, which I started a couple of years ago. Not done yet. But I have worked on it some. And this picture doesn't show how much I have completed, either.

3. Start and do half of the latest Loose Feathers piece. Nothing done on this other than kit it up.

4. Finish Mill Hill beaded autumn kit. Nothing more done on this, either.

5. Finish My Garden Wild. Nope. The last post's picture is what I've done on it.

So I guess a more realistic October goal list might be something like this:

1. Continue working on Celtic Autumn on Thursdays with Sue and Ann.

2. Work on In Search of the Perfect Pumpkin.

3. Finish Little Witch, by Shepherd's Bush. (Did I mention I've started project after project recently? This may be one reason I have not finished things.)

4. Finish Halloween Hanger piece.

And a few goals that are more for organizing than stitching:

5. Organize no more than 7 projects in project packs (one for each day of the week) to be used in a sort of rotation system, and put the rest away for now.

6. Update blog and photos of projects in progress.

And how about a couple of knitting goals, just for good measure:

7. Finish Bar Harbor socks (I'm almost done, on to the toe of sock #2!)

8. Unravel and re-start Harvest Tweed sweater.

There, that's enough goals for now. Though I am in a start-it-now mood, and every time I go into my stash to look or to find something, I want to start at least 12 projects.

And now, for one more piece pictured for this entry. This is yet one more reason I haven't finished my goals--it is a Shepherd's Bush piece I began two years ago, and just finished. I need to have it framed, and it came with the cute mat. It was such a pleasure to work with the silks, which is why I then began Little Witch, which also has silks.

Never give up, never surrender

This was enclosed in a card by my dear friend, Karen, to cheer me up. It worked! I got a good start on this piece, too, a couple of weeks ago when Stanford was in the hospital and we watched movies during his treatment. I'll enjoy putting it out with the Halloween decorations, which are currently sitting in a couple of Rubbermaid bins in the living room. I may put the things out tomorrow while waiting for the visiting nurse to unhook Stanford from his infusion he is getting now (5 FU, for those who know about chemo drugs), and de-accessing his port. Then I'll take a stitching break, and finish this cute little guy!



Here is how much I've stitched so far on "My Garden Wild", also done at the hospital. If it weren't for the fact that it's a hospital, with sick people, and all of our lives in upheavel right now, I could freely enjoy all the stitching time I've been getting. As it is, I do enjoy it (the stitching time, that is), and try not to feel guilty at starting new projects all the time and taking huge bags with me of stitching/knitting, with a smaller bag of clothes. But my enjoyment is always tinged with worry and concern, and I make sure to also work on the projects at home and at sit and stitch nights so they aren't all "hospital" projects, in my mind.

We spent yesterday at Dartmouth, while Stanford got more chemotherapy. He went in feeling quite well and energetic, and came out looking sickly and tired and drawn. But we were able to come home last night, thanks to the home infusion company. He has thrown up twice, but eaten fairly well this evening, and is trying to do his part by drinking enough water and eating what he can so he can be at home and not in the hospital.




My final pictures for today show what I have named my "17-year-sweater". It is what prompted the title of today's post, because this is a project I began about 17 years ago, when Stanford was a baby who could climb out of his crib at 16 months of age, and did climb out about 27 times a night. So I finally sat in his room to guard the side of the crib and keep him from getting out. This took about an hour a night, but it had taken that amount of time before, anyway, of chasing him back to bed. I got to the point of being able to sit beside the crib and knit by the light of the nightlight. If I got through three rows before he fell asleep, I knew he was restless that night. The sweater is a very easy pattern, done on #5 needles. But it took me 17 years because I must have stitchers' ADD or something, starting a project and then putting it aside to begin another one, and yet more. I finally took this sweater out and FINISHED IT!

The title of today's post (which is a line from the movie, Galaxy Quest) could also refer to life in general, right now . . . keep going and don't quit. Do what it takes to get my boy healthy again. Keep stitching and keep smiling!

Recent Finishes

.
Well, I had my husband take pictures of a number of finishes, and works in progress, with the idea that I could post something every day and have a picture to go with it, then about a week later he could take more pictures and do it again. I'm finally posting! This first one is a piece I finished for my friend, Sandy, and gave it to her for her birthday, along with other goodies (chocolate, a candle, etc.). Sandy has been a friend for years and years. This picture was taken by me, as I was heading out the door to meet her for lunch back in the summer, so the light isn't as good as if my husband had taken it. It's a Lizzie Kate freebie, and the frame is one that I had that just happened to fit. It was a very fun piece to stitch, and quick, too, though I do tend to leave the finishing work until the last minute, then am stressed and rushed with it.


This next piece is a lace doily which I knitted, learning some techniques from a class I took. I knitted it while waiting for Stanford in the hospital when he was recovering from his surgery in June. It only took a few days, and was fun, once I got past the fiddly part in the center, which is where it starts. I have tons of the yarn left, and though pink is not my favorite color for a doily (they didn't have too many colors of the Cotton Fine to choose from), the rest of the yarn will make a nice baby sweater, I think.

I have a few more finishes, and hope to post again either tomorrow or the next day. To give an update on Stanford, he's on his third kind of chemo, and has had one round of it. We go back for more tomorrow. We don't know yet if this one is working, and he'll have another CT scan soon to see. He was feeling side pain, which is now gone, and had some nausea from the chemo, which is also gone now. He hasn't had to take any of the anti-nausea medicine for a week, or the oxycodone for a week, either. He looks really good, and is getting more energy each day. I can only hope that how good he feels and how good he looks are signs of improvement.