June 5, 2007

Yesterday we drove to Atlanta to visit Dr. Keller and let him take a look at James. He was pretty impressed with James' progress. We have been too. He was sorry that the port doesn't seem to work for James and apologetic about another surgery to get the old hardware out and do something different. The plan is to put in a Hickman (the kind of central line he had in the first place) next week and proceed with the chemo (methotrexate again) that he is due to get next week.

We did bring James home uneventfully last Tuesday. Just before he left, though, the nurse tried to flush his PICC line and it was blocked already, so they removed it. It was only intended to be temporary, but we were hoping for a little longer than that. In the end, it worked out well that he didn't come home with it in place.

We have had a good week together as a family. Everything is growing--the chickens, the children, the flowers and the garden plants--and for that we are very grateful. We got rain over the weekend (we heard there was 2.5-3"). This was the first rain here since March 3rd. We could use another 7" in the not-too-distant future--slow and steady.

The land we are considering purchasing as been surveyed, so now we have a better idea of the away-from-the-road boundary and a more accurate picture of the size and lay of the land. Sunday, Vern and Owen donned their 'woods' clothes and machetes and walked the line. As they were hiking back to the car, Owen was stung twice by yellow jackets. He was pretty sore to start with, but ready to sleep after a dose of generic Benadryl.

After we visited with Dr. Keller yesterday, we went further north to Canton, Georgia to purchase some used waterers for our chickens and some barrels for feed and water. We found out about these items through a Georgia farm paper. On the way, we picked up lunch from the Varsity across from Georgia Tech--that was an experience. Someday, maybe we'll go back and actually eat there. We were glad to be home about 9:30 or 10 and grateful to have dinner warm on the stove waiting for us. After winding down, we all went to bed and are back at it for another full day.

Thanks so much for checking on us and for your thoughts and prayers.

Love, Stephanie