Jeanine has seen the doctor again.

December 2011

Jeanine recently had a PET scan and went back to her cancer doctor today. The news is not good. Her newest drug, Sutent, has not worked. The cancer has significantly spread in the areas that we were already aware of. Jeanine is taking a step backward and going back to Avastin, which was her previous chemo treatment. There had been signs that it might not be working well, but it was not definitive. We will find out in 3 months if this was a good solution.

The doctor says that there are 2 more drugs to try after Avastin quits working. Interferon and another one that he didn't specify. Although, he did mention the dread treatment of IL2. This is the treatment done in the hospital for as many doses as a body can physically handle. I don't know if this is one of the two or not. Both Interferon and IL2 are not enjoyable drugs to experience. Go here for more information on her last experience with the IL2 treatment.

Jeanine, at this point, is still working and able to enjoy life. She went with our family to Disneyland before Christmas and with the help of an electric scooter was able to keep up with the rest of us and entertain her nieces and nephews.

My Christmas present

My husband and I have had a front porch swing since my children were little.

I love being able to sit there when the weather is nice and look out at my garden and at our neighborhood. Recently, my husband and I were commenting on how we were going to have to replace it soon. The next day we noticed that it had literally become dangerous overnight. I sadly took it down and put it on my Christmas list as something I would like to have.

My husband immediately went to work and by copying the old porch swing's design, he built me a swing that I absolutely love! It is made from cedar and it looks fantastic!

My very talented husband showing off his work.

My latest projects

At the beginning of the Christmas season, I found and posted this on Pinterest as a Christmas craft I wanted to do. It took a while, but I finally did it. I figured I could use it anytime of the year. Right? I really like the way it looks.

I finished my other project today. I was asked to design a Ipad cover for a man (who obviously enjoys camo stuff) from an old fake leather notebook. Here is what I did to the notebook.

From there, I took no more pictures until I was done. I "flew by the seat of my pants" on this project. There is a pocket on the right side to store the Ipad in when it is not being used. Velcro holds the pocket closed.

I took some fabric and attached elastic to each corner. At my husband's suggestion, I attached the fabric and elastic with velcro to the Ipad holder.

The inside lining could have been used by itself (it had a front and back and batting sandwiched inbetween) but I wanted the notebook cover to give it more protection. I ended up hot gluing the lining into the notebook. I like how it looks.