Thank you for all the wonderful Christmas wishes. We had a fun time Christmas Eve at my sister's house. Christmas was spent just being lazy and doing practically nothing. We watched a lot of movies and had dungeness crab for dinner. It was a good Christmas. I have my last AC chemo on Thursday. This is the one that's hardest on patients. This will also put me half way through chemo. Yeah!!! I start Taxol treatments (another form of chemo) on Jan. 11. The main side effects of Taxol are lack of energy and numbness in the fingers. At least there's no nausea. I was able to spend some time in the garden this morning, trimming back the dead growth that I should have trimmed back in October. It felt good to be out there. I even started trimming Abe Darby. Still got a lot to do on him but at least its a start. Happy New Year to all my Garden Web friends! 2007 can't help but be better than 2006. Linda

Thanks so much for all the thoughts - I do feel better hearing them, and I was a bit tired and slow this morning. Claire, your words were especially helpful, since you have been through this yourself. I've really felt like I had my hands tied for the past few months - I could only do very limited gardening, and so weeds have gotten the upper hand in parts of the yards. Kevin wants to go on some hikes in the mountains with me, and that was extremely difficult the last time I went, which was with our sister and BIL at Solstice Canyon. I could really tell something was seriously wrong at that point. Ellen, I do report vitamins and supplements to the doctors, as the doctors themselves have recommended them, and so I think of them as medications. Annie, I appreciate the strong thoughts you have been sending me - I really can feel them, and all the thoughts that everyone sends! I think this helps me from slipping into depression, which is one of the symptoms I've been able to keep at bay. At times, it's been difficult, however, but I have fairly positive thoughts now, and hope to be 100% positive after the operation. I don't want to hope for too much, however. I so much appreciate everyone here! Lars

Talley-Sue - yes, it was gaping. Kathy was in no condition to assess her wounds for a couple of days. She is fairly big breasted and only found the wound when she was able to take a bath a few days later. I would say the wound is about the size of a dollar coin. I even missed it when she first showed me her chest bruising but I wasn't looking that closely at her breasts just the bruising. The wound is under the breast on the outside. It actually looks like a bullet hole not that I have ever seen an actual bullet hole in someone's body. She is still finding bruises that she didn't know she had. Kathy did call her Doctor right away but like everything else you have to wait for an appointment which was today. Kathy did tend to her wounds like a nurse would do and she had a fellow nurse come and check her out. She wasn't mortally wounded so she waited to see her doctor. Kathy went to her family doctor today - he had all the reports from the hospital and he noted again where all of her injuries and bruising was. She has to go back again next week. I went with her to do some errands today and I could tell Kathy was in pain and asked her where she was feeling it the most. She said her breast and wearing a seatbelt wasn't helping any either. She said she might have to start taking a Percocet during the daytime too because of the pain. One good thing she wasn't skittish behind the wheel of the rental car. She is a little more wary of the other drivers though. We weren't out for more than a couple of hours and she had to get home because she was exhausted. Kathy has nothing but good to say about the people at the hospital and the EMT and police and good samaritans that were on the scene. If I was her I would probably be moaning and groaning but Kathy is not doing that and she is allowing us to help her. Kathy's insurance company has the police report but when she goes to see the lawyer I am sure he will get a copy. Anne

My DH was angry to see that Medicare was charged $300 for a PSA test from his physical last month. He's mid-seventies. His PSA numbers were never 'interesting' back when the test was appropriate for his age (prior to 70). We did our physicals at the same time. The lab gave me the option of declining the cholesterol test because I would have to pay the entire cost for it. I did decline it. (Perfect cholesterol is my only health claim to fame.) I wish DH had known he was getting the PSA; he would have declined it as inappropriate. Just because a test or procedure isn't Out Of Pocket doesn't make it appropriate. Jasdip -- Why is your DH having this test if he has no prostate? Is it indicated because he DID have a problem? (I don't understand.)