Greetings from Gravyland

I really didn't expect to still be on this earth by now, so I consider my life to be "gravy" at this point. I am sopping it up with a biscuit and enjoying every bite! There's a song by the folk-singer John Gorka called Gravyland which he says is "the kind of song you write when your real life exceeds your dreams". It's on his Temporary Road CD which I think is his best. It also has the song Looking Forward which is the first song I ever heard by him. I was working on an audit in Abilene, Texas in 1993, and they played it on the NPR station. Robert & I got to see John Gorka and Lucy Kaplansky in concert together at a winery in Grand Junction a few years ago. It was a real treat for us.

CT-SCAN UPDATE
I had a CT-scan last week. Two of the larger tumors in my liver have grown by 1 to 2 cm which is the bad news, but the good news is that they didn't see any new tumors anywhere else such as in my lungs or abdominal wall. We're going to stick with the current chemo regimen despite the growth. We think that my being off chemo while I was on radiation in November is what allowed the tumors to grow.

I had a Gemzar and Zometa (bone hardener) infusion this week. I'm tired this weekend from the chemo. I would normally be at the radio station doing my show right now, but I am just too tired. My tumor marker was back up over 3300. My hemoglobin was 13.5 which is in the normal range which is the first time it's been that high in months - the Aranesp shot did the trick. Platelets still a little on the low side. Weight was 63 kilograms. I had three breadsticks with my pasta at Olive Garden that day.

BOWLING NEWS
We took three of four games against the MAKK Daddies last Monday night. (The MAKK Daddies are: Junior Mattivi, County Sheriff; Chris Alvarez; Shane Kavanaugh, Ouray Policeman; and Adam Kunz, Ouray Fire Chief. Junior and Shane had new bowling balls which I coveted, although they had some trouble adjusting to them which may have helped us to win.) I bowled a 138, 94, and 98. That first game was 42 points above my average (96) - we took that game by 64 points. I had the same scratch score in the first game as Mike Wage, our best bowler.

We were tied with the Mixed Nuts who took all four games last week against the Hawaiin Heat. We bowl HH tomorrow night, and the Mixed Nuts have a bye. We have to win all four games to stay in first place. WISH US LUCK!


The Ice-Climbing Festival is going on in Ouray this weekend, and we have people from all over the world in town. We've had a bit more snow, so we definitely have a cold, but beautiful winter happening outside.

Okay, I think that's it for now. I feel a nap coming on. I took a long nap yesterday afternoon and was awakened by fireworks at 5:30pm. Apparently, the Fire Department blasted off the ones that wouldn't go off on New Year's Eve. I'm sure it was part of the festivities at the Ice Park, so it was a nice touch.

Just up here in Colorado enjoying biscuits and gravy.

Sincerely, Caroline