Making Wishes Come True...

He loves cruising.

He's been on more cruises than we can count!

And... he had one wish for his Birthday this year.   Can you guess where we've been??

A Big, Fun, Crazy-Happy Family Cruise.  And it has been a monumental task.  Getting Dad to Miami and on that Cruise ship.  It took a combined Family effort to make it happen... but happen it did!  And the smiles were the sweetest reward.

So, if you're wondering how one actually makes wishes come true?  Here's the scoop... It's a whole lot of sacrifice and a whole lot of work!!

The logistics of traveling with an elderly parent, who is dealing with end-stage COPD is one part daring and two parts just plain grit.

It helps that everyone in our family loves to travel.

Tropical ports of call?  Yes, please!

But as the reality of traveling with dad sunk in we all took a deep breath and asked the same question all of you are probably asking... were we crazy?

Insane does factor somewhere in there.

And it crossed my mind with increasing frequency as the trip got closer and the packing began...

The list was long and multiplied the stress and anxiety!  Nebulizers and inhalers, perscriptions and oxygen, extra batteries and his Bipap machine, wheelchairs and passports... plus clothes and shoes and... I was exhausted before we even left Dallas...lol!

Dad's doctors happily signed off on the trip and sent extra meds and had us fill a script for antibiotics (just in case they said...)

And then we arrived at the airport and hit the TSA line... this would be where the staying power of old-fashioned grit factored in!  It was ugly... enough said.

Once we finally got on that plane and buckled up, the smiles kicked in!

And they never stopped!

Making wishes come true simply blesses the giver and receiver alike!

The week melted into a gracious time of laughter and relaxing

and making memories...
worth every minute of the sweat, worry and grit that got us here!

 We cooked with the Chef at Emilio's Plantation on St. Maarten...

And toured the top of the Island...

Explored historic San Juan...

And braved the water slides!

Dad met the officers on the ship and pretty much loved every minute...

Including the Best Birthday Celebration!

His wish come true...

Simply the best!

Brought to you by good, old-fashioned determination and grit!

Sometimes we need to be Brave and Fierce in order to

Become the Gift!

Be Kind to Someone Today!
It makes all the difference in the world!

Blessings, Always,

                          Jane

The Sweet Place

An Autumn Celebration

And today the mercury topped 100... again!   It is September, right??!!

Have mercy!

Longing for some sweater wearing, bonfire snuggling, cider brewing weather...

Please remind me come January how much I love chilly days and nights ;-)

Persevering thru the heat, blessed with family and cupcakes to ring in a Birthday Celebration for Poppy...84 years young!

Happy Birthday Poppy!

You make us smile!!

We Love You! 

Revolutionizing Cancer Treatment

He was 10 years old when his mother died from Lymphoma.

Last year he was awarded the Nobel Prize for his ground-breaking work on Immunotherapy as a revolutionary new cancer treatment.

Meet Dr. James Allison.

In a nutshell, immunotherapy is all about freeing the immune system to attack tumors. Specifically, Dr. Allison's work takes the brakes off  the T cells, the "soldier's" of the immune system, allowing them to battle invading cancer cells.

His work has led to the development of a class of drugs known as checkpoint inhibitors.  One drug, called Yervoy, has been approved for late-stage melanoma, and has already yielded unprecedented results.  20% of the patients with advanced melanoma cancer now live for at least 3 years, and many live 10 years or longer. That's beyond exciting news!

Dr. Allison feels that immunotherapy is quickly becoming the "fourth pillar" of cancer therapy, joining the traditional treatments of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.

And while immunotherapy doesn't replace traditional treatment, it can be used in conjunction with chemotherapy and radiation to offer patients a strong offense in the cancer fight.  And one other exciting aspect of immunotherapy is that it appears to continue working even after treatment has stopped.

Research continues to investigate treating other cancers with this new type of immunotherapy.  These clinical trials offer a hope that is desperately needed on the cancer battlefield.

We are holding our breath to hear that pancreatic cancer has been spotlighted... so far, the research has focused on lung, kidney, bladder, gastric, liver, cervical, colorectal, head and neck, and lymphoma cancers.

The excitement is not lost on Dr. Allison:

"It's a great, emotional privilege to meet cancer patients who've been successfully treated with immune checkpoint blockade.  They are living proof of the power of basic science, of following our urge to learn and to understand how things work."

That 10 year old boy channeled his loss into extraordinary gains in the fight against cancer.

The president of MD Anderson, Dr. Peter Pisters, believes that "Jim Allison's research has led to life-saving treatments for people who otherwise would have little hope."

And that's some exciting news for the cancer fight!

What Do Our Choices Say About Us?

Snake!

Y'all...

He just slithered up to check out the progress on our log cabin...

And not just your ordinary, every day slithery kind of rat snake.  No, we grow 'em big and mean in Texas...

You might know from previous posts that we are a No-Kill Zone here at the farm.  But y'all... He was a Timber Rattlesnake.

On our back porch!  Like, in broad daylight. Right where we have walked a thousand times cutting lumber and tile for that crazy dream of a cabin. (And yes, we are still building that dream... and it's glorious and hard and Slow! Lol!)  And should not include stories about venomous snakes. Y'all... We almost stepped on him to get to the chop saw!

Seriously! 

Now he's a dead Timber Rattlesnake.

There's an unspoken code of justice here in the country, and that big, venomous snake just crossed the line.  I'm believing that he won't be doing it again in this lifetime.

And here are two free facts for you:

1. The Timber Rattlesnake is often called the Velvet-tailed rattler because of it's black "velvety" tail. Trust me, it is not velvet. (But does look amazing... in a scary, don't get too close kind of way)

2. A rattlesnake adds a new rattle to its tail every time he sheds (roughly 2-3 times a year).  So our rattler was probably a little over 2 years old.  And much bigger than any 2-year old I ever want to see again!

But enough about scary, venomous snakes... we've got work to do!  That dream cabin isn't building itself!

And thankfully our neck of the woods is filled with a sweet beauty that remedies the nightmare visit from our Velvet-tailed rattler!

Blessings this day,

May God's grandeur surprise at every turn!

My Love,

Jane

The Purpose of Life...