4th of July

Happy 4th! Hope yours was good. We went to a VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) picnic with John's parents and my parents~both dads are lifetime members. My mom ate a bit (mostly baked beans, watermelon and a bite of pie). Here is a picture of us at the picnic.

The surgery for the removal of my mom's second melanoma is scheduled for Wednesday, July 9th at 1:30 p.m. at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. It's an outpatient procedure. Pray that it goes well without complications.

The doctors have decided not to have her take more scans to see if the cancer has spread. Her oncologist will monitor her every three months and the head and neck surgeon will remove any melanomas that may pop up. She has elected not to receive additional radiation (which would be on her scalp) and does not want a feeding tube, both of which my dad and I agree with.

She still tires fairly easily but God granted my family a week in the mountains (a wonderful vacation) and my parents didn't have any problems while we were gone. My dad does have a CT scan scheduled for Tuesday, July 8th to try to figure out why he has pain on his left side (which has been there for many months). Pray that they will be able to figure out the cause of the pain - the x-ray he had was normal.

Sara & I plan on taking my parents to West Virginia from July 17-19 (she goes to MCV for a check-up on the 17th) so she can see her old hometown and visit the cemetery where her parents and in-laws are buried.

Thanks for the continued prayers. May God bless you as we celebrate our freedoms.

Anita

p.s.: My dad, the ever-lucky one, won $101 in the 50/50 raffle at the VFW picnic. Woo hoo!