An update from Lonnie’s daughter Abby: 

Mom completed chemo cycle #2 the third week of April. It has been an answered prayer that again, mom tolerated the drug very well and didn’t have any side effects other than tiredness! If all goes well, she will start the next cycle on May 14th.

Last week, our family embarked on a cruise, which was a bucket list item for mom! We traveled to Ft. Lauderdale on Thursday night. We boarded a Celebrity Cruise the next morning - the first experience on a cruise for most of our family, including mom. This was such a special adventure that mom treated our family to. We made sure to “Seas the Day” and we packed a lot of memorable experiences into the 3 night cruise!

Highlights of the cruise included:
    ⁃    All 16 of us making it in the cruise ;)
    ⁃    Beautiful sunsets & views of the water 
    ⁃    Abundant and tasty food and drinks 
    ⁃    Cribbage out in the fresh air
    ⁃    A stop in Key West - with a surprise picnic with mom’s nieces that live in Florida
    ⁃    Relaxing by the pool while the grandkids played
    ⁃    Shopping both at the ports and on the ship
    ⁃    Visiting a casino in the Bahamas
    ⁃    Fancy, dress up dinners with mom’s nieces making sure she was dolled up
    ⁃    Celebrating Lonnie’s daughter, Amie’s 45th birthday
    ⁃    Live music and some fun shows
    ⁃    Lots of laughs and good times together

We returned home Monday night and I think we all slept well after such a fun time together! Mom has had some swelling in her feet since just before the cruise, but it worsened while we were traveling . We went in and got that checked out with the doctor on Tuesday. She does have a very small blood clot in her left leg, so she will be on some blood thinning medication, but the doctor did not believe that to be the cause of the swelling. Other tests came back in normal range, and he believes it to be driven by water weight. So we will just be monitoring it closely and hoping it comes down with compression socks. It has made getting around more difficult, so mom will be getting a walker to have when she needs it.

We continue to be so grateful for God’s providence - for seamlessly orchestrating opportunities such as the cruise for us to find such joy together and to bask in His glory. 

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good” - Romans 8:28