I'm late, I'm very, very late,...and sorry I haven't updated for so long.

I have been reminded by a few of you that I have not updated for sometime. After tax season ended, I just decompressed and seemed to fall apart. I didn't feel like doing anything. So I am sorry I haven't kept you all up-to-date.

So, in the early morning of may 20th, I again visited emerg. My oxygen was fine but I was again in Congestive Heart Failure (CHF). The doctor suggested doubling my water pills for 3 days then returning to normal dosage. Since then, I have been feeling OK (no need for midnight visits to emerg).

We are up to 29 days at the cottage so far this year. last weekend Rick and Mary Anne came up with us. It was great weekend. We got the dock in (no one ended up in the lake this time) and the summer patio furniture on the deck. My chrome rims are on the truck (sweet) and summer is truly here.

On the health front, I had good news and bad this week. Last week (Monday) was my annual Mammogram. On Tuesday received a call asking me to come in for more pictures of my right breast and an ultrasound too. It was booked for yesterday. Good news, it appears that there was a piece of tissue that folded over. When they redid they mammogram, they compressed the breast more (translated: crushed the bejezzup out of it) and it's gone. They also could not see any trace of it on the ultrasound, so Yeah, good news.

I had another MugaScan last week also. It was on Tuesday. I saw the cardiologist on Monday of this week, and I also had another Echo cardiogram. My heart function is down again, and he has increased one of my medications. Let's see if this makes any difference.

For me, this news was devastating. The CHF has taken the wind out of my sails. It has affected me way more than the cancer itself. Having to take a rest after climbing the stairs, being wiped out by the hike to the x-ray department, and needed to rest for half a day to recover from that hike. I think of returning to Italy, and I know that those walks up into villages, like Cortona and San Gimignano, will be impossible right now. And that knowledge makes this CHF even worse than the physical symptoms.

We are heading up to the cottage today and I hope to relax but also get some lake time in, and get some little cleaning jobs done, a little at a time.

~Inez