It's been awhile....

It seems like the past couple of months have flown by. Let's see if I can catch you up a bit.

     Dwayne's retirement did come through and he was 'officially' retired the end of November. We think all the paperwork is finally done.  He has been doing some 'honey dos' around the house, that have needed to get done. His stamina is getting better.  He also has been enjoying reading. Something he has not be able to do for the past couple of years. He said it is nice to read a book and be able to remember what you read the day before! He will start looking for something part time in the next month. Edison has a couple of agencies who place former employees, so he will be looking into that.

     We were able to get up to northern California for Christmas. That was a special time. Big THANK YOU to my sister Kerri for hosting all of us!  Some of the relatives had not been together in about seven years. It was great.

     The school year is going well. So glad to be teaching with Shannon again this year. We have a great class! It's hard to believe that the school year is nearly half over. We began parent/teacher conferences last week and will finish them up this week.

     Some of you are aware of what has gone on the past week in the family. Last week, Jared was having some health issues that landed him in the ER in Monterey. After some tests, he was found to have a hiatal hernia and some other stomach issues. God provided for him to get back to southern California on Wednesday. Not the best week for us to travel, since Dwayne was doing his chemo week. Round 18 is now completed. Hopefully, only 6 more to go!

     Jared will have follow up visits with a GI doctor and an ENT on Tuesday. We are not sure if this is related to the drug trial he's been undergoing. The oncologist at UCLA doesn't think so, but we'll see. Please pray for wisdom in dealing with this. We feel for the time being it is best to bring him back down to San Clemente. He needs to be careful of his diet, rest, etc. for awhile. Dwayne and Nathan will go back to Monterey to get his things in a week or so. Jared has had wonderful landlords who have kept a good eye on him. We are grateful to them.


     Never dull here......

Answers are coming slowly, but they are coming!

Dear Friends,

     This has been a difficult couple of weeks on many levels. A lot of decisions to make, some without much information. We have had to trust that God is in control of our future.

     Dwayne did turn in his paperwork for retirement last Friday. It can be accepted, delayed or denied-if the 'powers that be' decide they need him to stay there for awhile. We wait and see. Hopefully, in a couple of weeks we should have some answers.

     Nathan had the condo he was renting sold unexpectedly. He had a few days to move because he was working in Santa Barbara last week. So, he is back with us while he looks for a new rental.

     Jared was down from Monterey for a few days last week. The drug trial at UCLA is going well, the doctor is pleased with the results. He is still looking for a job.

    On the other front-we met with Dwayne's oncologist yesterday. The MRI he had last week was CLEAR-no changes from July!  Next week will be round 15 of the chemo.

     So, it has been a bit of an emotional roller-coaster the past couple of weeks, hope it will settle down some. Maybe, I can get a good night's sleep. Feeling drained.

Thanks for all your prayers and encouragement!

   

Update on the Update!

Dwayne's meeting with the supervisor was postponed last week. It has not be rescheduled. So, things are up in the air. We would appreciate prayers for wisdom. Really unsure how to proceed. He did confirm today that his birthday being 11 days after the cut off will not be a problem. So that is one answer.

He will have an MRI tomorrow afternoon-2:30 California time. Praying that there are no changes from the July MRI.

Thanks for standing with us.
Lisa

Update

     I know it has been awhile since I have caught you up with the Roberts' household. Actually, that is a good thing-we have been operating on a new normal and it's ok! Dwayne has done well being back at work for the past four months. He has had to re-certify in all his qualifications since he was off the premises for more than a year. Even got a call from an east coast security company to make sure he was not out of the country for illegal activities. Think he was ok on that one, he was not even out of the county! Has passed them all except one, that involves remembering a major amount of data. Think story problems on steroids! He will be able to retake that one. 

     A couple of things we could use your prayers on are as follows. Dwayne will have another MRI the middle of October. We don't have a date yet. We would appreciate prayers, that there have been no changes since July.  Also, Southern California Edison is going to be doing a significant layoff over the next few months, 700 people. To some, they will be offered early retirement-but they have to be 55 years old, by the cut off of November 16th.  Dwayne will miss that by 11 days. But as of November 8th he has 30 years with the company. So we are unsure of where that will leave him. 

     Our family has grown by one. Nathan surprised me with a cat for my birthday a couple of weeks ago. His name is Jeeves and he has settled right in and been great company.

MRI Results

For some of you this will be a repeat.

Dwayne and I saw the oncologist yesterday afternoon. The MRI looks good. There are still two areas-one 2mm , one 3mm that they are watching. They do not appear to be lymphoma. Dr. Cheng spoke with the radiologist while we were in the room and after a lot of conversation in "doctor", the term they used was artifacts (Didn't realize this was an archeology project). Could be scar tissue, or a blood vessel that is throwing a shadow. But bottom line-There is no change since May! That is the good news.

 So for now, we continue on with "normal". He will have three rounds of chemo, for you who are counting this will be the 13th round next week. Then another MRI in October.

Dr. Cheng was pleased with how Dwayne is doing. It was good encouragement for him. His strength continues to improve. He is working four full days a week. Has so much vacation time that will expire, he is taking Fridays off until sometime mid-November. He gets tried easily, but on the other had he is doing more. Dr. Cheng reminded him that for all the has been done to his body in the past year and a half, he is doing very well. Sometimes I don't realize there is much Dwayne does not remember about last year (in some ways this is a good thing). I am glad for this wonderful man in our life!

I realize that I have been on a bit of an emotional roller coaster the past 8 weeks. Even though I know that God has everything under control. I'm a planner and like to know what is coming at me. One thing this last year has taught me is to not hang on to my plans too tightly.

Thank you all for standing beside us through all of this.

Thirty three years!

We just got back from a wonderful three days along the central California coast. We celebrated our 33rd anniversary, enjoying the beautiful scenery, a great tour of an old light house and the grounds near San Simeon and stayed a delightful bed and breakfast in Cambria. Thank you Tim and Alice for introducing us to this area.

A full month of May!

 It has been a busy two weeks at the Roberts' household! On May 19th, Jared graduated from CSUMonterey Bay. The ceremony was wonderful and a very special day for all of us. We were in Monterey for four days. Two of those spent getting Jared moved into his new place. He has a very nice room that he is renting in Carmel. A Christian family from his church rent out two of their rooms. He was all ready to begin work on May 24th. Two days before he was supposed to start. He got a call that a contract that they were expecting was delayed. He is continuing to look in the area for another job, or hope this one will open up soon.

At Jared's Capstone (senior project) presentation. 

Look at the list of thank yous...

Go Otters!

Beautiful Coast!

The graduate!

A windy, but sunny day! 

Dwayne and Jared
Two miracles!

This week a year ago, Dwayne was in the rehab unit using a wheelchair or walker. We even took a couple of walks on the beach! Grateful for God's blessings!

Dwayne was able to make a trip up to northern California. He had a good visit with his parents and sister. It has been almost two years since he had seen them. A big thanks to my sister, Kerri for the plane ticket!




On May 29th, he went back to work for the first time in 14 months! He is glad to be back. So far, it is going well. This week he is doing his 11th round of chemo. His last MRI showed a "smudge" the oncologist's word. He will be repeating the scan in July to see what it is doing. There is a good chance that this is only scar tissue. We appreciate your prayers on this.