UPDATE ON HELEN BY JULIE JOHNSON: I spoke to Helen last on the phone. She went to see her Oncologist yesterday. The plan is, she started her Chemo yesterday and will be doing that for 2 months, then she will go back and they will check the bone marrow to see how it is responding to the Chemo. If it does well then they will proceed with the stem cell transplant, if not she will stay on the chemo longer. She is taking the chemo by pills along with a long list of other pills. She told me the names of them but there is so many its crazy. She has a chart so she can keep up with it. Her spirits are good, and she sounds more like the old Helen, before when I would talk to her she was down and in so much pain she sounded awful. Today she will be getting her stitches out of her shoulder and then starting physical therapy soon. She has a rough road ahead of her, she worries so much how she is going to handle everything, the medicine copays are ridiculous, one prescription alone copay was over 200 dollars. She was also telling the house next to them is their rent house and the people living in up and left, left the plays total destroyed. Spray painted demonic stuff on the walls, the house will need to be gutted and redone before it could ever be rented again. Helen just amazes me, the things that has endured in her life, she has been through a lot, more then most of us can imagine. Most would have been broken down from everything, but she still stays strong, her body may be frail but her faith and spirit is strong. Please everyone keep her in your prayers and thoughts. Also a BIG thank you for all of those who participated in the raffle, through your love , and kindness you have made a big difference in Helen's life and heart. Crazyferretmom (julie johnson) and the 11 fuzzbutts memory of Sidney Sue, Slinky, Allie Boy, Polo Man, and Roscoe please check out my quality, affordable bedding www.theferretschoicebedandesign.bravehost.com/ He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep, pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart. And in our own despair, and against our will, comes Wisdom by the awful Grace of God...Aeschylus [Posted in FML 5658]