Last night my mom, Pam and I participated in "Light the Night"-- it's the charity walk for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. Everyone carries an illuminated balloon- red for supporters and white for survivors. It was so cool to see all the balloons sailing through the park. The weather was great. I got tired about halfway through, so we cut out a bit early, but it was a fun night. All the survivors took a group picture, which was really cool as well.

I hope by the time the walk rolls around next year, I'll be feeling good. Still having quite a bit of lung trouble- some days are worse than others. Some days I hardly notice it, and others I'm coughing and short of breath for much of the day. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. One thing I do know is that I need to stay away from smoke-- that definitely exacerbates the problem.

I have alot of trouble in the mountains as well- the altitude makes me feel as if I'm going to pass out. Walking uphill at all in the mountains is out of the question. Walking up the stairs is a bit of a challenge too. But once I get back down to town, I feel okay. Hopefully over the next few months my lungs will try to heal themselves, or my onc will have a suggestion as to what I can do to make it better.

My pulmonary function tests showed some probable lung damage from treatment, as did my PET scan. But the PET showed no cancer, so I don't mind a little lung discomfort in exchange for being cancer-free.

Sometimes patients with lung damage are placed on prednisone to alleviate the shortness of breath and help the lungs to start healing. But I've been told it makes you a bit nutty, and starving all the time. So I'm hoping my lungs can heal on their own.

Today I'm meeting the folks for lunch. I love them so much. Definitely two of my most favorite people.

I've been walking the trail behind our development in the evenings, doing about 4 miles before I go home. Just trying to build up some endurance at this point so that I can work into more difficult cardio. I'll get there.

These days I'm trying to be grateful for what I have, what I've accomplished and hopeful about where I'm going.

My PET scan came back with no evidence of malignancy!

Everybody dance! :)

You wouldn't believe how many people in Vegas thought this little head of hair was an actual fashion choice! :) That made me pretty happy. Got lots of compliments.

I had my PET scan yesterday, fingers crossed that it will come out clean. Thursday I have another PFT to (hopefully) help determine where my shortness of breath is coming from.

Maybe I just need to give myself some time. I think I'm being too impatient.