Birkeland Famly Photo, April 27, 2009

An update. This photo was taken April 27 just one day before successful brain surgery for Joyce. Since that time she has come a long way, and basically the brain cancer situation is under control, the blood clots in the leg are under control, the shingles have gone away, the heart related problems have subsided, and now we are dealing with breast cancer issues plus her lungs continue to fill with liquids, which are being evacuated three times per week, and which problem is related to the breast cancer itself. We are cautiously optimistic that she is getting better every day. She is now enjoying some wheelchair rides around the neighborhood, seeing some visitors, talking on the phone, and joking with family and friends - all good signs indeed. Thanks to everyone for your prayers, calls, cards, flowers, food and visits. We are grateful for all you have done. You are the greatest.

Girls Weekend

While my Dad was taking care of some business in Las Vegas, I was fortunate to have a few days with my Mom which we dubbed "Girls weekend." We had a great time - Sophie the terrier came over too and kept my Mom company during the day when I was at work.

On Thursday we took a walk down the street and managed to see 2 bald eagles perched in a tree. I learned about the critical importance of brakes on a wheelchair; while examining a for-sale flyer, my mother started rolling down the street and I had to chase after her to avoid a crash. It was pretty humorous and we both had a good laugh.

I would like to again thank all of you who have brought food over to our house. My Mom and I ate delicious Bobby Flay pork, spicy enchiladas and delicious soups on our girls weekend - we are truly lucky to have friends that are so generous and great in the kitchen!

Update on Joyce, June 24, 2009

Joyce continues to do pretty well. Her pain has gone down, she is sleeping and eating much better, and has enjoyed a few visits from friends (please call first). Her build up of fluid in the lungs seems to be moderating as well, and she has had no recent heart troubles.

Tuesdays she has chemo, and Heather has assisted her with hair and make up on Tuesdays, and Joyce looks mighty fine as we head off for Overlake Hospital. What a beautiful lady! So keep those prayers rolling, she is on the improve and we are grateful. I am in Vegas on business, and as I write this, it is 106 degrees, and we are having thunder showers! Wow! Didn't need to go to Vegas for rain!

Steff and Fletcher and Birk are with Joyce at the house while I am gone, together with care givers, so she is well taken care of. I return to Kirkland Saturday June 27. All the best!!!

A blog from Joyce

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to all of my friends. I am feeling really good today. I am still blown away by the turnout for the walk, and how beautiful the t-shirts were. You guys are just too much... too many flowers, too much food and too much gracious hospitality. You're wonderful. And now I have to stop doing this because its making me cry. (Fletcher and Sophie say to keep the food coming). After the stress of my first blog, I will never do this again. I'm only kidding!

Joyce was serenaded by Marilyn Pedersen and Charles Rus of our church at the house yesterday - what a treat. They played a variety of religious and classical tunes - the Ave Maria was just stunning, as was A Mighty Fortress. We discovered Marilyn, Joyce and I all had Lutheran roots as a result of hearing that piece, written by Martin Luther himself. This morning we received news that her brain MRI went very well yesterday, with no action required by the brain surgeon. She is doing a bit better every day, is smiling and laughing at my bad jokes, and in pretty good spirits. Thanks to everyone for all your support - you are the greatest!

Having trouble blogging?

My Dad mentioned that some of you are having trouble with the blog... I'm so sorry!

Here are a few common questions that we've received along with my attempts at answering them. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to email me at steffenie@gmail.com.

Difficulty "Following" the blog

If you do not currently have a Yahoo or Gmail account, simply follow these steps:

1) Click "Follow Blog" on the main page

2) Click on the "Don't have any of these? Create a new Google account" link.

I know most people don't want to have to keep track of yet another email account, but this account will automatically forward to your normal email account.

3) This link will take you to a screen where you enter your current email address (for example, janesmith@aol.com) and create a new password.

4) Next create a blog "name" for yourself (what we will all see at the end of your comments).

5) Finally, (hang in there!) is to check your regular email account and activate your account. This process will allow you to follow the blog and receive updates to your original email account whenever anyone posts to this blog.

Really don't want to create a new account?

Simply add http://www.joycebirkeland.blogspot.com/ to your "Favorites" and check back every few days.

Want to know how to create a "post"?
1) If you have an account set up (see first question), make sure you're logged in before you post. To do this, click the light blue "sign in" at the top right corner of the blog.
2) If you don't have an account, simply click on the title of the comment you'd like to respond to (for example, if you wanted to congratulate me on how much this post has helped you out, you would click on the "Having trouble blogging?" title.
3) Type your comments into the white box and click "post".

I hope this helps - please let me know if there are any other issues you're running into. We want this blog to be easily accessible!

Joyce Update, June 16, 2009

Just returned from Joyce's weekly chemo session. She is doing a bit better, sleeping better, and in less pain. They added carboplatin to the navelbine she has been taking. Pain meds have increased and she is pretty well stabilized pain wize, but an anti anxiety drug lorazepam has caused some confusion and we will limit that one. I kidded her that I needed one too! Heart functions remain pretty normal, BP is in normal range, oxygen percentages remain in normal ranges. She has getting up and having dinner with us most days and is doing pretty well. Tomorrow we go in for a brain MRI as there is concern the breast cancers spin off brain cancers and they want to check on that every 30 days or so. I will have more about that later in the week. Again thanks so much for all your kind e mails, thoughts, prayers, jokes and food. The prayers for her regaining her health are bearing some fruit as she is definitely on the improve.

Joyce, Blogs and Twinkles

I got the chance to show my Mom this blog last night and I think she really loved it. When I first mentioned the blog to her a few days ago, she remarked "you finally got me emailing and now you want me to blog and twinkle?" (I think she meant twitter). With all that has happened, she definitely still has her wit and sarcasm! Despite this, she has promised that she'll write a blog entry soon, so stay tuned.

Joyce Update, June 9, 2009

Joyce is resting comfortably. She had a chemo session today, and it went very well, followed by a nice lunch at Overlake Hospital. Her pain killer patch, which is morphine based, was doubled in strength yesterday, which has given her substantial pain relief. We have an RN who comes in twice a week to evacuate the fluid build up in her lungs, and that is going well. She also now has a hospital bed in our home, with a wonderful pillow type liner, and loves it. We are in the process of hiring 24/7 medical assistants to be with her at the house around the clock, and hope to complete that hiring process very shortly. So, she is now doing a bit better and is smiling and giving me the dickins from time to time, so that is also a good sign. Next week she will have more chemo and another brain scan to determine if any more brain tumors have cropped up. Let's hope not. Thanks to everyone for your prayers, cards, letters, e mails, flowers and food. She is a bit weak to handle visitors at this time, but enjoys all the messages of support. You are the greatest!

Over 60 friends of Joyce gathered together today to march in the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer walk in Seattle. It was very, very special, and we had a great time. Our pink shirts all had the logo on them "Re Joyce" in her honor. A total of 20,000 people participated in the walk.

Race for the Cure

Thank you to all of our family and friends who made it out to support my Mom and fight breast cancer. We had a strong group of 60+ wearing lovely t-shirts (thanks Shannon!) and it was wonderful to have so many people supporting our family.

Stay tuned for some more pics - I know my Dad got a great one of the whole group.

Here is a wonderful picture of Joyce taken at the Ste Michelle Auction in August, 2008.

Joyce News, June 3, 2009

Hey from Paul, my very first Blog: Joyce will be home from the hospital tomorrow, as we celebrate Gretchen and Mark's birthdays, and also welcome Joyce's sister Gloria and her daughter Jessica to visit. Should be fun.

Joyce Update - June 3rd

Per an email from my Dad, earlier today:

My Joyce Bee is currently in Overlake Hospital, recovering from a bout of atrial fibrillation this past Sunday. Her heart is not doing well under the stress of breast cancer (which seems to be in remission) brain cancer (one cancer surgically removed, five brain cancers zapped with gamma knife radiation) lungs filling with about one liter of liquid per lung per week, some high blood pressure issues (218 over 110 last Sunday night got her a trip to the Emergency Room) and shingles, which has been resolved without too much pain. All in all she is quite a trooper, but will not be able to join us for the Race on Sunday, sadly.

We remain hopeful that she might be able to join us for brunch after the walk, but of course that is dependent on how well she feels on Sunday.

Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure

We've got a big group lined up to walk in honor of my Mom, this Sunday at 8:30am at Qwest Field. If you'd like to join our team, sign up for Team "Re-Joyce" online: www.komenpugetsound.org and let my Dad know so he can get you a customized shirt before the race.

For those participating, we'll be meeting 50 feet east of the registration for the race around 8am. Look for my Dad in a hot pink shirt :)

First Post

Hello to all of our friends and family! We know that many of you may be interested in following Joyce's progress as she fights cancer, and we will work to keep this blog updated as often as possible. You may select to receive automatic updates when we post new information under your settings.