Grandmommy’s Notes in the Margin

I haven’t written about the C word in a while. Grandpa is doing well. He is settling in to his new routine of receiving chemotherapy for 3 days in one week and then off the next. This equates to a Bad Week and then a Good Week. You can almost mark it on the calendar!! Chemo starts on Tuesday. He is out of it by the end of the day; moving slow on Wednesday; gone by Thursday. He begins to pick up a little on Friday and improves through Sunday . Then he gets up on Monday and he’s like a new man! However, this week, he didn’t get to Monday until Wednesday!! But when he feels good, stay out of his way, because he’s like a workhorse. He saves up all of his little chores for the good days and then is exhausted at the end of the day. I think it’s a good feeling for him though.
We are becoming used to the fact that this is going to be a very long journey and that chemo is just a part of life for us now. We don’t like it, but it beats the alternatives.

So, yes, Robert is doing very well. He’s having good days and bad days and sometimes runs a little fever. We know that we are in God’s hands and we are just grateful for each and every day.

Now for the really GOOD NEWS in our lives. I recently was hired as a Training Specialist with HHSC. This is the agency that I left 2 years ago. I am really excited about the opportunity. It will also eventually ease some little bumps we’ve hit in treatment because of different medical coverage. We’ll have to go through a few months of very expensive COBRA, but that is doable. I will have to travel about 40% of the time. That is going to be rough, but I believe we’ll be able to manage. Already, our children have been getting Robert to treatments, so that won’t change. He actually takes himself to the clinic on the 2nd day of treatment. I’m telling you that the man I’m married to is TOUGH!

God has truly blessed us. I do not know how people manage in life that do not know Him. He has been my Sustainer each and every day. He is why I am able to smile. I would not want to be anywhere else except in His hand.

We pray for all of you each and every day and thank you for praying for us,
Robert and Sandy Little

When my youngest grandchild was about to be born (We had received the we-think-we’re-going-into-labor phone call), our telephone decided to go out. This was not good. I was the one who was going to sit with the older child while newbaby was coming into the world! I could NOT miss that call. Fortunately, I had just begun to use a cellphone and had a “backup”.

But, Grandpa was on a quest to replace the phone and have it working in time. We called Mike and made sure he knew to call the cell and off we went to search for the perfect phone.

Well, I thought we were shopping. NO, Grandpa was on a hunt! It had to have so many GHz (or something or other??), it had to have a Caller ID window, it had to be intuitive!! Well, 2 out of 3 wasn’t bad!!!

We got it home and plugged it in. It had to charge for 24 hours before it could be used. So we made another phone call to Mike. “We have a phone, but you still have to call the cell.” Do you think he cared? Of course not, he was too busy timing contractions and thinking through his readiness plans. (He is soooooo like his father).

Well, it finally charged and we got the call for Grandmommy to go do her duty. All went well on our end. I think Mommy had the roughest time, but we did get another beautiful granddaughter.

Neither one of us has ever figured out how to use that phone and it has now been 4+ years and half of the buttons don’t work.

Time to replace it.

Now the memories are flooding in. We keep telling each other the stories of the weekend that Minimike was born. My favorite memory is when Minime woke and found me in the living room. Why was I there? I explained that Mommy was at the hospital and her baby sister was going to be born. She asked me if it was September yet….it was not; it was still August. She politely informed me that her sister was not going to be born; she was coming in September.

Well, I had no answer for that and told her we would wait and see. (Baby girl was born in August).

Isn’t God good?? It’s been a great weekend…just remembering.

We had huge flakes falling for a couple of hours. No real accumulations except on tops of plants, etc. It was so pretty, but I ‘m glad that it caused no problems here.

Just wanted the Pennsylvania folks to know we REALLY had snow!