Eating at our house is very different lately. It’s very strange what Betty has been hungry for. Her taste buds are so messed up that what used to taste great to her is horrible and what she used to dislike, is sometimes very delicious. I’ve mentioned this before, but chili, for example, was not her most favorite dish. Maybe it had to do with the fact that it’s the only thing I know how to cook, (and when I say cook, I mean microwave out of the can). Whenever she has been sick over the years of our marriage, I make chile. She relates the two together. Sick and chile. Consequently, one tends to bring on the other. So, we don’t do chile much. Recently, however, we’ve been eating chile nearly every day. She really has a “hankerin” for it. (look it up!) Not just out of the can, but she is using a recipe from Betty Crocker to make it from scratch. We’re really getting “chile-ed” up around here. Because of all this, I find my self up quite late at night. One such night, as I was fighting the chile demons, I was almost asleep, you know, that state where you’re just about to doze off and you know it. Sleep is finally coming and you’re about to drift away on a soft fluffy cloud of rest. In my ear, from Betty’s side of the bed I hear a whisper, “Hey, you want to go to Denny’s?” Are you kidding?. Betty, it’s 2:30 in the morning why would I want to go to Denny’s? “Because I’m hungry for pancakes!” Though that was a pleasant change from our current dietary plan, I told her, hey, listen it’s very late and I’m very tired and I’m battling a chile addiction and there is no way in the world I’m going to Denny’s at 2:30 in the morning!.....
So, we’re on our way to Denny’s at 2:30 in the morning, and she’s trying to decide what kind of pancakes to get. Strawberry, blackberry or plain with lots of hot syrup. You know, Denny’s, in the middle of the night is a spooky place to be. What a strange crowd. There were seven people there. I guess they were people, it’s hard to tell from the way they were dressed. It looked as though there had been a clothing sale at the Wal-Mart dumpster. I commented to Betty how poorly everyone was atired at this time of the morning. She said, “Have you looked at yourself?” Which I did. I was wearing old hush puppy shoes with white socks, black shorts with caulk stains and a mustard colored shirt (real mustard) from 1980 that reads “Who Shot J.R.?” I blended in wonderfully. She looked over all the menu of pancakes, waffles, blintzes, (what ever they are). She studied it all with a keen eye for quite sometime and then looked at me and asked, “Do you think they have chile?”
We are very excited to tell you that Betty takes her last chemotherapy treatment tomorrow, April 20th. She still has radiation scheduled and will continue her treatment of the drug Herceptin for the remainder of the year. We have a long way to go, but we’re doing great! God has sustained us at every crossroad and every bump in the path. Thank you again for all your prayers. We don’t know the final outcome but we are well acquainted with the One who does. Next week will be difficult for Betty as we have noticed that the side effects are, to some degree, cumulative. The hard chemo lasts 28 days in her system and she takes it every 21 days, so there’s some bleed over that is sort of stacking up on her. She’s fighting all the way though, and we’re looking forward to the final dose of these really hard drugs. Tomorrow night, in Tyler, Betty will be at the “Relay for Life” rally. She was chosen as the “Hero of Hope” for one of the relay teams there in Tyler. We’re very excited to be a part of this most worthy cause. The relay starts at 7:00 pm with the “Survivors Dinner” at 5:30. I hope we don’t have chile! God bless.