I’m posting this early because I’ll probably be asleep when the clock dings at midnight! Here’s wishing you all the best in this new year!

I also wanted to say thank you all so much for your support, prayers, and best wishes over these past months. I really do think they made a difference. At the very least, you have kept me from feeling like I’m fighting this battle on my own. Bless you all!

Sorry this is long, but I have so much to share.

Yesterday was my last scheduled day for chemotherapy—and it almost didn’t happen. When I arrived, I met briefly with a nurse who told me that my last bloodwork indicated my platelet count was critically low (70, when normal range is 150 to 400), so they wanted me to head straight to the nearby hospital for another blood draw to see whether the number had moved enough for it to be safe for me to undergo treatment. I had been dropped off for my appointment, so I called home, and the 20-year-old hurried back to town to ferry me to the hospital and back to the clinic. Thankfully, the hospital quickly took the blood and ran it. I was sitting at 117, so still sweating whether they would allow me to go through with it. When I returned, my oncologist said it was high enough for us to proceed.

Now, it’s not like I ever look forward to a day spent with medicines rushing through my body, all with side effects, some unpleasant, but I am still hopeful the treatments will give me what I need—more time. So, I blew out a breath and smiled back at him and said, “Let’s do this.” He also mentioned as I headed out the treatment room door, “Did you see your latest antigen test?” That same set of stats that said my platelets had tanked had shown that my Cancer Antigen Test number was 23—down from 1100—and well within normal range. I told him I had and moved down the corridor to the infusion treatment room.

It was packed. I didn’t get my favorite chair. I know that sounds silly, but I like the one next to the door so I’m not sitting sandwiched between two people and because the chair is easiest to maneuver it to lie back so I can rest. I don’t like asking for help to adjust my chair. But I sighed and moved to the only empty chair. Jimmy the tech, who always takes care of me, inserted my IV (remember, my port was removed last month). Then the infusions began. Hours later, after I had napped and listened to The Beatles, The Stones, and CCR through my headphones, I was done.

Jimmy removed my IV. As he was leaving, he gave me a smile. “It’s going to be easy from here on out. Just an hour in the chair, and you won’t even feel it afterward.”

The doctor had hung around to make sure there were no issues. I rarely see him a second time in the day, but he entered, smiling widely.

“You know you’ve made amazing progress,” he said.

I narrowed my eyes to tease him and said, “Amazing compared to what?” Was this a line he gave all his patients?

He shook his head. “No, your number dropped so fast, and the fact we could already see a 50% reduction in the size of your cancer after the third treatment gives me real hope for remission.”

My heart thudded in my chest, but I kept quiet. Remission does not mean a cure. Remission does not mean a cure, I reminded myself.

“We’re going to set up a PET scan before we begin immunotherapy, but after that, I’m going to refer you to some terrific surgeons at UAMS who specialize in your kind of cancer.”

That stunned me because he has repeated to me three times over the months since this all began, that he didn’t believe I’d be a good candidate for surgery to remove my cancer because it was too…big. That I’d be looking strictly at maintenance infusions for the rest of my life to keep the cancer contained, if possible. The fact he thought I would be a candidate for surgery to remove the source of my cancer had me blinking and then giving him a huge smile.

He did give me a caveat. “I think they can remove your ovaries and uterus, but I’m not sure about the omentum. That’s more complicated, but they’re the surgeons. That’s not what I do.” He also said, “Once you begin immunotherapy every six weeks, you can take a vacation, live your life, get back to normal. You can grow back your hair!”

So, friends, things are looking up. I might be able to add more years to that original prognosis of one to three years. I’m sure he wouldn’t like to hazard a guess until his colleagues agree to do surgery and I make it safely to the other side, but I’m feeling pretty damn good—even though I’m facing a miserable two weeks of recovery now.

I have hope for more time to spend with my family. More time to write books. Time to put together another anthology. Dang, I need to redo my 2025 plans!

UPDATE: The winner is…Beckie!
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Christmas decorations are still up, but it’s time to make some plans for the New Year!

Is this something you like to do? Do you set resolutions? Plan to join Weight Watchers? Sign up for yoga classes at the local rec center? Set a budget to improve your finances? Maybe plan a trip or two?

Every year, always, I set plans in motion. Some goals I achieve, some I lose interest in working on by mid-January, but others, are a constant work in progress. I love the process of planning for a new year—and it always begins with my writing goals. Seeing as I abandoned writing in August due to my diagnosis, I’m a bit wary of setting goals too far in the future, and I have tons of self-doubt about whether I can ever achieve my former productivity, but I am going to set some goals anyway as something to shoot for. And I’ll go for pie-in-the-sky because I’m an optimist, and if I have to adjust later, ah well. I have to have goals and starting points to remain motivated.

So, for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle to keep that gray matter functioning, then tell me whether you have any goals for the new year, big or small. 

UPDATE: The winner is…Anna Marie!
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All my Advent calendar doors have been opened now! Aren’t they adorable? My daughter bought me a calendar when she bought the kids theirs because she knows I’m just as thrilled (well, probably more so) than they are, opening my daily windows to see what I got. Now I have all these little figurines and I’m trying to figure out what to do with them. I can’t display them because I already have soooooo many Marvel and DC figurines scattered all over my office.

I’m thinking, I might treat them like I would a daily tarot card draw. I could put them into a decorative bowl on my desktop, then close my eyes and draw one to see whose superpowers I’d assume that day. What do you think?

As well, I posted the last Advent giveaway on Facebook. The day after Christmas, we’ll have to head to the post office to get the last of the items shipped to winners. It’s been fun, and my bookshelf was denuded of a few books and my stock of bookmarks needs replenishing just in time for 2025’s #100daychallenge. Any excuse to pull out the paints and play.

Tonight is Adult’s Christmas, and the kids get to open one gift. Then we’ll be up in the wee hours of the morning to watch the kids open their Christmas gifts. It’s always fun.

But for now, I have a puzzle. Do you remember our Halloween black kitten, Binx, that I posted about after my daughter rescued her from school traffic? Well, she’s gotten a little bit bigger and is always in trouble. The 20-year-old keeps her in her garage apartment. The puzzle picture is of her getting into a bit of trouble. She nearly toppled her tree.

Solve the puzzle, then for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, just pop in and share a holiday message. Spread the cheer!

UPDATE: The winner is…Beth!
*~*~*

Counting down the days until Christmas, trying to come up with holiday-themed posts, can be hard! I do love movies, though. I read all day long (editing, writing), and when I want a break, it’s not a book I gravitate to. I love movies. I love the full immersive experience. Lights off, volume up. After Thanksgiving, I get serious about hunting down holiday movies to watch with the family, and we’ve watched quite a few, so far: Elf, Hot Frosty, National Lampoon’s A Christmas Vacation… I know we’ve watched a couple of others, but they escape my mind.

Last night, the 15-year-old and I sat down to watch my favorite (and yes, it is a Christmas movie!), Die Hard. Get this. She’s 15—and had never seen it. When it was over, she said, “Best Christmas movie ever!” I feel so vindicated. LOL

Because there’s still time to fit a few more movies in, I’m looking for your suggestions. I listed the new film, Red One in the puzzle below, because I’m hoping to talk my family into watching another action flick with me (my favorite genre!). For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, give me some more suggestions for holiday movies to watch!

Report Card

Last week…

1. I worked on one author’s edits.
2. I had chemo on Monday, so the rest of the week passed in a haze of aches and fatigue. I’m feeling much better today, and yesterday I only took one pain pill so I could get to sleep but didn’t need a thing to get through the day!
3. My wound from my port removal is healing nicely. It no longer has to be packed—TG! That hurt like hell. Now, ripping off the tape is more painful than dealing with the incision. Progress!
4. I’m still doing the daily Advent giveaway on my Facebook friends page. If you’re not there, you don’t know what fun you’re missing! 
5. The family watched Elf last night! Still love it!

This next week…

1. The only medical appointment I have is one to get my white blood cell count booster shot tomorrow. The rest of the week is smooth sailing as I continue to recover from chemo. The second week after usually means more fatigue, but the aches die away.
2. I have two sets of authors’ edits to complete this week!
3. I need to upload Once Upon a Legend to sites other than Amazon since it’s no longer exclusive there.
4. I do plan to putter some more around my office to clear out some more clutter—mostly to just get in some movement. My In Box seems to grow every time I turn around…
5. I have Christmas presents to wrap this week. No more procrastinating!

Open Contests

Be sure to check out these posts and enter to win the prizes that are still up for grabs:

1. Flashback: Brotherhood Protectors — Tyson’s Mission (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win a FREE book!
2. Gabbi Grey: Trying Something Completely New (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Tonight is Krampusnacht (Krampus Night)! (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Happy St. Nicholas Day! (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
5. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Christmas Shopping at the Mall — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
6. Flashback: Lone Star Lovers — Reined In (Contest–3 Winners!) — Win a FREE book! THREE winners!
7. Word Search: Last Minute Stocking Stuffers (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
8. Gabbi Powell: On Brand (Contest) — Win a SERIES of stories!
9. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Raindrops — Win an Amazon gift card!

Report Card

Last week…

1. I worked on one author’s edits! A not so productive week, but after spending a good part of the previous week in the hospital, I finally feel more myself.
2. The only medical appointment I had was a quick visit with the oncologist for a checkup post hospital stay and a blood draw. The blood draw let me know that my Cancer Antigen test result was finally in normal range, which lets me know the chemo is doing its job. Yay!
3. My daughter and the 15-year-old have been troopers, changing out my bandages and packing gauze into the wound (TMI?) twice a day since coming home from the hospital after my surgery to remove my port. It’s painful, yes, and now my IVs during chemo will be delivered by a vein, rather than through the much more convenient port, but I’ll be damned if they put another port in. My body didn’t like it one bit!
4. I began the daily Advent giveaway on my Facebook friends page. If you’re not there, you don’t know what fun you’re missing! 🙂
5. We watched National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation—it’s an annual thing! It’s still as silly as ever.

This next week…

1. Chemo is tomorrow! I’ll be there bright and early in the morning and sitting in the chair until around 3 PM. It’s a long day, but they start it off with a bag of Benedryl, so I get a long nap, too. Silver linings, folks!
2. Although I’ll be pretty miserable all week long, I have two sets of edits for other authors to work on, one to finish. I’ll piddle five pages here, five pages there between naps and get ‘er done.
3. I do plan to putter around my office a little bit during the week to clear out some more clutter—mostly to just get in some movement, if not real exercise. My In Box is beyond the teetering phase, and there’s still dust on my bookshelves…

Open Contests

Be sure to check out these posts and enter to win the prizes that are still up for grabs:

1. Anna Taylor Sweringen/Michal Scott: Alice Ruth Moore Dunbar Nelson — More Than a Famous Poet’s Wife (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Gabbi Grey: Audio Love (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win a FREE audio book!
3. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Advent begins tomorrow! — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
4. November into December (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
5. Word Search: Things on My Christmas Tree + Open Contests! (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
6. Flashback: Brotherhood Protectors — Tyson’s Mission (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win a FREE book!
7. Gabbi Grey: Trying Something Completely New (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
8. Tonight is Krampusnacht (Krampus Night)! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
9. Happy St. Nicholas Day! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
10. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Christmas Shopping at the Mall — Win an Amazon gift card!