Fiducial Placement on Monday

Here's a photo I found on-line of the type of fiducials that will be implanted on Monday. Yes, the first step in Cyberknife has started. I'm scheduled for the surgical procedure as an outpatient at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore on Monday morning at 11:00 am. This photo gives us a good idea of the size of the gold seeds (the four straight bars on the right) that will be placed in and around the liver tumors. We understand that the procedure will be done much like a needle biopsy. I won't even have to miss a day of school for this procedure as it is being done on a holiday. I should be back at work on Tuesday with little to no side-effects. This radiosurgery is absolutely amazing! More later!

Lovely Snowfall

This is the beautiful scene we awoke to on Friday morning. We weren't expecting a big snow, but God surprised us with his handiwork. Clint took this picture from our deck, looking across to the mountains. There was also a light fog in the air, so the entire area looked like a mystical wonderland. But, then... of course, it was off to work, and the "mystical" gave way to reality.

All the children at school were disappointed that we didn't have a snow day, but as the day developed and the temperature warmed up to almost 40 degrees, we enjoyed the day at school. It was especially fun for me as my school celebrated another "Guthrie Day," when everyone in the school dons the Orioles tee-shirt with the name Guthrie on back. (I am being so spoiled this year.) The children have been working on rewriting the words to long-time familiar songs using instruments and rhythm. The words were all about me, including some of my favorite expressions... such as "doing our best every day and every way" and "scrumptious golden corn." And included some details about my life outside of school, including my Subaru, Harry the dog, born in Texas, and travel around the world. We held a whole school assembly, and each grade from kindergarten through fifth grade performed a song. Clint was there, and enjoyed the little ones as well. As soon as I have some photos to share I'll post them.

What's Up?

What's a girl to do when she wakes up at 1:11 in the morning and can't go back to sleep? Well this morning, I took a picture of my wonderful new slippers (Christmas present from my sister, Martha) and the sleepy look on Harry's face. These slippers are made out of those socks that years ago, folks cut up, re-stitched together, stuffed, and created into cute little monkeys with long curly tails. If you could turn my feet upside down, you could see the monkey smile, his nose and his button eyes. Aren't they adorable? My sister has a pair just like them. We also have monkey pajamas to match.

But what I truly love about this photo is the sleepy look on Harry's face. He really doesn't like it on nights when I can't sleep. At least he doesn't like it while I'm wandering around trying to decide what to do. He prefers for me to get settled in my Lazy-boy recliner, wrapped up in the down blanket and the soft, soft reindeer blanket, so that he can jump up in my lap, cozy up and go back to sleep. But this morning, I just wouldn't cooperate.

What is this about not being able to sleep? Perhaps it's the blood pressure medicine I'm on... does anyone know if that keeps your adrenaline pumping so you can't sleep? Perhaps I'm having "sympathy pains" for my sister who has been getting up for several weeks with Zoe at 2:30 in the morning. Is that possible? Whatever it is... I'm ready to return to sleeping through the night. However, just about the only thing that will put me back to sleep is to find MASH re-runs on the tv. And, those re-runs are never around when you need them.

Now for an update on my treatment as it's looking right now. The good news is that I have been given the "green light" for Cyberknife, something I've been talking about for over a year. So, over the next 30 days or so, I will receive radiosurgery through this robotic device at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore. If you’re interested in the details of the procedures, you can check out http://www.accuray.com/ for a look at the machine, and to the right you can view a video. In the next few days, Clint and I are hoping the process will begin with the implantation of 4-5 gold fiducials (about the size of a grain of rice) in and around my liver. These will be the guide for the robot to know where the tumors are as I’m breathing during treatment. The placement of the fiducials is an out-patient surgical procedure. They will be inserted with a needle similar to a biopsy. Between that time and the actual robotic surgery (called non-invasive surgery), I will be fitted with a vest; a cradle will be molded for my body to rest in during the surgery (no movement allowed), and new CT and PET scans to the mm instead of the usual cm will be done. The actual surgery will require 2-3 days (all in one week) for timeframes that may be anywhere between 90 minutes and 3 hours. I cannot imagine not moving for three hours, but I do see a nap in my future.

We are waiting to hear from the doctors at Sinai for the scheduling of step 1, the placement of the fiducials. I'll put some quick posts on this site as I know what is happening and when it is scheduled to happen. Dr. Hudhud, my oncologist, is also meeting with us this Friday to talk about what chemo I need to be on. I haven't received any treatment since early December, so I need to get started on something again. Thanks for all your concern and prayers during these past few weeks. Clint and I are so appreciative of everything that you do and say to encourage us. Your prayers mean so much to us.

Keeping Lynn Awake

This year for the second time, we were thrilled to have our friend, Lynn Xu, come visit us from China. Lynn was our interpreter and "arranger of activities" when we visited China in 2003, 2004, and 2005. We taught English in several elementary and middle schools there, and fell in love with China and the Chinese people. Lynn has twelve-year old twin daughters who are the delight of her life. In 2006, Lynn was granted a visa and came to see us and many of her other American friends.

In early December -- just last month, we were Lynn's last leg of her second trip to the US. From Maryland, she was headed back home to China. By the time she landed on Maryland soil, Lynn had already been to Minnesota, Oklahoma, Indiana, and Spur, Texas. There were probably a few more places in her itinerary as well. Everywhere she went she had the opportunity to share about her work in China. She was always a bundle of energy! But when we would get her home at night, we all grabbed a pillow and a blanket, curled up in a Lazy Boy recliner or sofa, and we'd start talking. One night, it was just too much for her.. and I caught her in this great picture. Does this mean that Clint and I can be boring? Heaven forbid! We can hardly wait for Lynn to come back.