Audrey Rose Myrden passed away peacefully late yesterday at 5.05pm.  

Barry Myrden

x o

Audrey's husband Barry shares that Audrey is gravely unwell.  She is not very good and wasn't expected to last this past weekend. It could be a matter of days even hours. It is clear that the tumour has come back and they have exhausted all treatment options. 

Now it is just a case of keeping her comfortable. She is not in any pain and is heavily medicated. She has not eaten in 2 weeks and has not drank in 3 or 4 days. Her sister Corrine is here with her from Canada which is a relief.

She has many visitors each day but she has fewer and fewer waking moments. I'd like to think that she knows who is with her each day.

Thanks so much for all your thoughts and prayers.

Barry Myrden

Below is the latest update from Barry Myrden, Audrey's husband.  Barry, Audrey and their family are facing some big challenges in the coming weeks.  Thanks to all for your support so far, any further support is greatly appreciated.

Audrey is not doing so great. She is still in palliative care hospital at Greenwich and will be for some time. 

I don't believe she will ever be able to come home. 

She is allowed out on day trips but she is on strong pain medication for headaches and is easily confused. 

I spoke with her doctors last week and they said they had exhausted all options with her treatment. They can kill her with Chemo as easily as the tumour can kill her. No more surgery,Avastin, Chemo, MRI's... When the tumour comes back (if it hasn't already) then we are just to make her comfortable as possible. 

She is still relatively mobile and can feed herself but has hard time telling what day it is. 

Thank you for all your support so far.

Barry Myrden

An update from Audrey's husband Barry:

It's been over a month since the last update but in my defence, not a lot
has happened.

Audrey is still in Palliative Care at Greenwich Hospital. She is working hard on her recovery undergoing Physio and rehabilitation.

She is doing fine so far and is totally coherent (most times). She has a full understanding of where she is and why she is there.
She is not 100% yet but she has come a long way since her operation in early September.

She has some memory loss and is quite forgetful. She is a little confused at times as her mind is playing tricks on her. She sometimes has a hard time distinguishing between what happened yesterday,what happened last week, last year and what she has dreamt. Makes for interesting conversations!

I have spoken with her Doctor's and have set up a meeting with them and Audrey and hopefully Helen Wheeler (Audrey's Oncologist) for next Tuesday to discuss Audrey's progress and next course of treatment.
Helen has been overseas for 3 weeks so we have not had much in the way of medical updates thus the gap between the Blog updates.

I brought Audrey home last Sunday for a few hours which she really enjoyed. We plan on doing it again this Sunday. We had lunch and dinner together and Audrey got to be with the boys and also do a little gardening. It was hard for her to go back to the hospital.

I get the boys to call her each morning which they enjoy but the question always arises, "When are you coming home?"  We are not sure of that at the moment but she is making progress. She no longer has a Urinary Tract Infection which is good news.

Hopefully we can get a better prognosis from our meeting next week and start moving towards getting Audrey home and on the road to recovery.

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers.

Best Wishes

Barry and Audrey

Audrey has been enjoying life since her last operation in February which
removed necrosed tissue and a small amount of GBM malignant tissue.

Although she can not work or drive and must sleep for a few hours during
the day, she was able to spend quality time with her boys.

She started a new drug from the USA called Avastin which is very expensive
and not presently on the PBS list so not covered by the government.

She was on a low dose and  had an infusion every 3 weeks plus anti seizure
medication and steroids and chemo. The low dose of Avastin did not
seem to be that effective as her latest MRI showed another mass on the
right side of her frontal lobe. She went into surgery on Thursday
08/09/2011.

Audrey had a successful surgery but has been highly affected with short
term memory loss and confusion plus a lot of facial swelling.

Audrey's surgeon was happy with results but did have to go into both sides of the
brain. He removed a mass in the spot where the MRI indicated and a smaller mass in the
area he last operated on. 

As of now Audrey is tumour free. 

Following the surgery Audrey spent a night in ICU and most of the next day. Nurses moved her to the neuro ward the next day.

I saw her in the afternoon and she was barely awake but seemed to be fine
with no noticeable functionality deficit.

She was very weak and tired as she had very little sleep and had not eaten
in two days. She also had nausea and vomited out what little she had in
her.

Doctors and nurses are happy with her progress thus far but say it will be
a long recovery and time is not what Audrey has in abundance.

I spoke with Audrey's Oncologist and she is not overly impressed with
Audrey progress. The pathology came back and the tumour is similar to
the previous one removed, GBM Grade 4 malignant and aggressive. She also is
not optimistic that she will fully recover from her present state.

We were discussing the possibility of palliative care next week as she
needs more attention than she can get at home or at the hospital. Audrey
is looking at it as a respite to gain her energy and catch up on sleep. No
decisions will be made about care or next course of treatment until next
week.

It seems Audrey gains a little each day and is totally coherent but still
is confused and disoriented.

Thank you all for all your thoughts and prayers.

Best Regards Barry, Charlie, Jack, Declan and Audrey xx

 Nov/Dec 2010

It has been a crazy few months to say the least. With buying the house, filming with ACA , moving in, then more surgery. All of us have been under a lot of pressure. However, I feel over the moon to have this all behind us and living in a new home. The house is simply amazing and the experience was one of those once in a lifetime things that rarely ever happen but did!! It was a fantastic  experience and really left me feeling so blessed and very loved and supported by a huge network of people. The demolition of the house was amazing to watch and the boys really enjoyed getting involved also. I am glad we got to be on site and meet many of the workers. We got to see the house stripped bare and then were told to leave the site and await their phone call. We got to meet  everyone who kindly offered their services and came back day after day for two weeks. Unbelievable!!

We settled on Oct 29th and that evening, they did a house reveal and blindfolded us  and walked us to the house. I have to say I was stunned and very thrilled with the outcome. Sarah asked me what was my favourite part of the house and I said the yard and the deck and my bedroom but really everything was my favourite. The house has such an amazing energy. Everything is brand new and the house is so light and inviting. The yard is huge and the kids are overjoyed. We decided to stay the night. It felt like staying at a holiday home. It is now mid Dec and I have to say it is only now starting to feel like home. It all happened so fast. I am blissfully happy. The boys love the house and Barry has a permanent grin on his face.

 The live house reveal was on the 8th of Nov which was a Monday. As luck would have it, my oncologist admitted me to the hospital that morning. I had a virus and my bloods have crashed big time. I think it was because of one of the seizure meds that they added  to my cocktail of drugs.  Thank goodness my dear friend Leoni stayed by my side the entire day. I had to spend the day in Emergency in order to get admitted to the Neuro ward?? Needless to say I had to watch the live house reveal from the Hospital lounge. It was all I could do not to run out of there to be with Bear and the kids. I felt so sorry for Barry. He had the massive task of getting me to the hospital, getting the boys to and from school, packing up our old place and moving and unpacking into our new place all with 200 people on our front lawn! I was the one who started all this and could not even be there for the reveal.  It was heartbreaking. Needless to say I did not sleep a wink that night.

 My surgery did not take place until the 15th. I contracted a bad virus and I had to be transfused as my bloods did not recover in time for the surgery. Second time around it was a much different experience. I was much calmer and there was hardly any fear, unlike my first operation.  The operation was deemed a success and although I have a huge scar from one ear to the other, 4 days later I was allowed to go home. Feeling a bit sore but thrilled to be home with all my boys in my new house. My treatment started 2 weeks later. Radiation 5 days a week for two weeks.  The histology came back as a high grade GBM so Dr Back felt that despite giving me a lifetimes dose of radiation the first time around, more was needed. This increases my chance of seizures and stoke significantly. The location of the reoccurrence was on the frontal lobe this time on the opposite side and we got it relatively early so Dr Back said he could safely target it with a dose of radiation. With that, the other part of my dream team, Dr Helen Wheeler, suggested that I do 2 weeks of a very low dose of chemo. It works in conjunction with the radiation.

 
Dec 20th
It is only 5 days till Xmas and I have hardly done any shopping. Yikes!! Feeling overwhelmed is an understatement. I am feeling really tired and trying very hard to overcompensate with the boys but it is leaving me feeling exhausted. After speaking to a friend she suggested that I keep it simple… Thanks,  I have taken that on board. I see my surgeon for the first time since my surgery today and am anxious to hear what he has to say.  I am determined to have a great Christmas . I am off the steroids so that is a good start. We simply love the house. Rudy the Swiss builder, was back today fixing up a few things. He is such a beautiful man.  Tues ACA is going to do an update. Looking forward to seeing everyone again. They are so amazing all of them. I have kind of missed them. Strange  but  I feel so close to them as they all had a big part to play in helping us get our home.

 Merry Christmas Everyone, Thank you to everyone for their kindness, dinners, cards, warm wishes. I feel very loved and supported. Will keep you updated after Tues. Please have a healthy and happy New Year. I look forward to having a relaxing, fun filled Xmas with the family.

 Best Wishes

Audrey and family

Latest Update from Audrey - July - Nov 2010

July 2010

Living more, planning less…

It has been a couple of wet and cool months but I can feel summer around the corner. I look forward to not having to wear 4-5 layers of clothes in order to keep warm.

The boys are enjoying school holidays and they are always busy with fun activities. A break of routine is always good fun. We have started dancing to Michael Jackson cranked in the living room. What fun. Charlie now asks for it every night. A good way to let our hair down and have some laughs. This music brings back lots of great memories for me. They are just finding out about him. O.k. I’m starting to feel really old now.

Barry and I have started Bush hiking together. Because of my lack of balance he has bought me a walking stick (proper hiking one). I did not like it at first but it was soon obvious that I needed it. Both Barry and I love these hikes. I am surprised that my fitness is good enough for these 3 hour hikes.  The scenery is so stunning and you really feel alive and in the present.  There are absolutely no distractions except Mother Nature in all her glory and Barry telling me to speed up! It has proven to be one of the best things we have done in a long time. Why didn’t we do this years ago??? Too busy to stop and smell the roses or in this case the Frangipani’s I guess.

Thalidomide:

A drug used in the 60’s to help Pregnant Mother’s with severe morning sickness. This proved to be a very bad idea. Turns out although helping with severe morning sickness it cuts off blood supply to new growth. Thus the Thalidomide babies were born without limbs. It is a banned drug in Australia and most parts of the world.
It has recently been used for Brain tumors to help stop blood flow to any new tumour  regrowth  with promising results. It also is used for stimulating bone marrow. As mine has been wiped out, they are hoping it will bring my blood levels up. Leukemia is a real threat if they continue me on Chemotherapy. I will let you know if it works. Fingers crossed. There are many side effects and some potentially fatal ones. It is worth the risk I think considering the alternatives.

Rollercoaster

July has been a challenging month. My dear friend, Annie’s Dad passed away and that was very sad. However, he left a beautiful legacy and a lifetime of loving memories. The funeral was confronting for me but it was important that I go and show my support. I am glad I did. I learned much about her beautiful family and her Dad left a lasting legacy.

I had a few health challenges these past months. A contracted a virus that triggered ” Periocarditis” (Inflammation of the heart muscle) It honestly felt like I was having a heart attack. (Stabbing pain in my chest around my heart muscle.) Apparently, Neurofen and bed rest was the remedy  for this.It took about a week for it to resolve. Hopefully, there is no permanent damage. I was starting to think it was the thalidomide that caused this upheaval.  I have never experienced anything like it before. My Oncologist assures me it was caused by a nasty virus.

August 2010

Family and Friends

My sister Elaine came to visit for 6 days. Although short and sweet it was really nice to see her. The kids especially had a great time. I do feel bad for them sometimes as they miss out on extended family being so far away.

What a crazy fantastic month!!!  Annie and Vicky and their students from ICMS once again had a spectacular fundraising dinner for us. It was held at Manly Golf Club. There were so many highlights. Where do I begin?? Annie and Vicky arranged for me to meet with another GBM Pnet survivor from Canberra,” Sarah Mamali”. We got to meet and had much in common. We shared a similar treatment protocol and she has 2 young boys also. Not surprising we had an instant connection. When I read her blog and read that she hiked the Kakoda Trail after being diagnosed, I said to Barry, “Right more living less planning”. That was when the penny dropped and I realized that I had done enough planning and it was time to do more living. That is easier said than done. I can honestly say that I feel that I have addressed all the important things that needed doing.I felt it was the responsible thing to do when you have such a young family.

It was an elegant evening from the beginning to end. There was a beautiful young Norwegian student named, “Silje” who after meeting me at the College went up to her room and wrote a song called, “Audrey’s song.” She played acoustic and sang this absolutely beautiful song. There was not a dry eye in the room. The lyrics are so powerful. She has an exceptional voice. A very moving performance.

Helen Wheeler, my Oncologist, also came and spoke at the dinner. I was really touched as I know how busy her schedule is. Having her refer to me as a long term survivor, at 18 months was pretty confronting for a lot of people there. Everywhere I looked there were people very near and dear to me. I felt very supported, loved and grateful for all my blessings. It was also nice that my sister Elaine was there also to witness what an amazing support group of friends we have around us.  She got to meet a lot of the very special people in our lives.

Vicky organized a tub of gifts for the boys. They were thrilled needless to say. We kept some and gave some to the Far West Children’s hospital. The boys love giving back to needy children every year.

I did not want the evening to end. As always it feels like you hardly get a chance to speak to everyone.

Sept 2010

Medical Update

I am now on a double dose of Thalidomide as well as Oral Chemo. I am not liking the Thalidomide and my body is taking a while adjusting to the many side effects. But if it works I will gladly  put up with it. It seems to be keeping my blood levels from dropping too low. This will enable them to keep giving me more chemo and not contracting Leukemia and hopefully, keeping the Cancer dormant. It is a fine balance. I am doing everything in my power to combat all the damage these drugs are doing to my once healthy organs. See future blogs for, “Things that I have learned”.

Boys School

Charlie celebrated his confirmation this month. His Saint name was Luke. I was thinking, “Great he chose that name because of Luke Skywalker from Star Wars.” Was I ever wrong?? I felt bad when he said, “I chose Luke because he helps sick people” Seven years old and so sweet.

Audrey’s Song

Silje recorded, “Audrey’s Song.” in the studio and it sounds fantastic. Annie dropped off a copy of it and it is stunning. I stayed up till 2 am playing it over and over writing out the lyrics. It is very powerful and moving. I cried a river of tears but it felt good for my soul.

Johnny’s 80th

It was so nice to celebrate the birthday of a dear friend of mine Johnny who has been like a surrogate Father to Barry and I. I laugh when I think back to when he came to visit us in Calgary, Canada. The day he arrived it started to snow and it did not stop for two days. It broke a record for the most snowfall in 113 years! We dressed Johnny in Oven Mitts to go for a walk. Those were great memories. He is a very special caring man.

Real Estate Challenge

We were not having any luck finding a house in our price bracket so it was suggested to me that we do, “a real estate challenge” with the media. After much thought and careful consideration I agreed. The filming was over a period of several days. The Channel Nine crew was exceptionally friendly and professional. The segment aired on August 16th and we received an overwhelming response of offers to help. “A Current Affair” said that once we bought a house they would help fix it up and make it over. WOW!! The search is on.

October, 2010

Sold

After much searching and several failed attempts. We finally found a suitable house. Yay! We put an offer in to the vendor earlier in the week pre auction and they rejected it. With our limited budget, (We managed to hang on to a small down payment and we were preapproved for a modest mortgage) I was not holding out any hope for a successful auction bid. Barry took the kids to a concert at the Entertainment Centre while I went to the Auction. A good friend and realtor, Leoni Klaric went with me to bid on my behalf. She said to me 2 minutes prior to the auction that if she bid over our budget, not to panic???   She and her husband Rob plus Grant Williams (Channel Nine) had discussed it and offered to kick in a little extra to secure the home. They were going to gift us the difference. I was in shock!!! I was so overwhelmed by their generosity. We won the auction! Although the house needs a lot of work and now having to manage a huge mortgage, we still are quite happy to have a place to call our own.

A big case of the worst house on the best street for sure. There is talk now of a huge home renovation makeover. We are speechless. The amount and level of generosity offered to us is truly overwhelming! We are extremely grateful to all of you both here and abroad for all the love and support you have shown us!

November 2010

Latest and greatest.

After a few stressful weeks of anxiously waiting we settled and moved into our newly renovated home. It was a monumental effort by Sarah, Stef, Brad, Geoff, Lisa, Rob, Leonie, Cathy… and the entire team but they managed to pull it off. We settled on the last day of renos and the house was revealed to us 2 hours later. We are utterly speechless. Everything was done! Everything to such a high standard!! I know I said it before but we are incredibly overwhelmed!! I will update further with all the details of the new place next week when we sort out the new internet access.

Thanks again everyone!

Audrey, Barry and the boys.

Creating Memories

I apologise to Blog readers for not updating this sooner. The truth is I have written this Blog months ago and have been putting it off for various reasons. There has been so much happening that I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed.

Christmas has always been my favorite time of year. I have many fond childhood memories of Christmas. It was important to both Barry and I that we all enjoy Xmas and create another beautiful family memory for our kids.

Charlie turned 7 on Dec 30th and once again it was a special day. I have always disliked video games and vowed not to include our kids in this wasteful pastime. Barry convinced me that by buying Charlie a Nintendo DS would not be the worst thing in the world. Turns out he was right. Charlie was so excited when he opened it and declared us the best parents in the whole wide world. He then said, "Cool Mum, now I am not the only boy in my class without a DS."

January 2010 Bring it on!!!

January is fantastic In Australia!!! Vibrant energy everywhere. People running, surfing, swimming, building sandcastles, having coffee, sailing, bike riding, having picnics, etc. It is hard to feel sorry for yourself when you live in this beautiful Country. The beach has a powerful positive affect on ones psyche.

Australia Day January 26th

A huge day for celebrations.   Barry and I  decided to take the kids on

holiday to a Central Coast resort and have some R&R. We had so much fun together. The boys loved it, especially the swimming pool and slide. We had to drag them out of it everyday. We celebrated Declan's 3rd Birthday and he loved his presents and cake.

Manly Council held it's Australia Day Awards and nominated Audrey's Wish Benefit as Best Community event. It won!!!!

A proud day for me to honour everyone that worked so hard and gave so selflessly. Annie, Elise and the rest of our great friends had put in a huge amount of work in making Audrey's Wish benefit an overwhelming success. It was a night that we will never forget. They say that having a good support network improves your survival rate. If that is so, I have nothing to worry about.

Roller Coaster

I woke up on the last day of our Central Coast holiday and found that my balance was largely affected.  It was the oddest thing. Cognitively, I was o.k. but found I could not walk, stand up or get my balance without difficulty. I called Helen, my Oncologist, and she suggested an emergency CT scan back in Sydney. A couple of days later they still could not find the cause of my balance problem. Several tests and trips to Dr Dizzy ( My Neuro

Specialist) did not uncover the reason. He thought perhaps I had a minor stroke and it was slowly getting better. He advised me to do plenty of rehab and learn to move again. He suggested that the CT scan did not show an aneurism because it had most likely healed itself. It was a slow process and I am still not 100%, but I can live with it.

Family - February

Barry's Parents have left to return to Canada after an 8 month visit. It was sad to say good-bye but we were so lucky to have had them stay for as long as we did. The kids really got to spend some special time and bond with them. We will be forever grateful for their help in so many ways, not to mention their unconditional love.

Escaping Statistics

March 17th. It has been exactly 1 year since my diagnosis and guess what; I am thrilled!! I made it! I knew I would. My counsellor says that I should be aware that some people feel depressed and helpless around this time. Are you kidding me?? I feel quite the opposite. I made it and plan on beating this.

I remain on chemo and continue to have an MRI every 6 weeks. I have had plenty of challenges health wise, but have been lucky overall.

My recent MRI has come back with what looks like a tumour reoccurrence in my brain stem. Bummer! It was tough to pass this news onto my friends and family.  My surgeon says he will not operate as the risk of impairment is too high. My Oncologist says adding Thalidomide to the cocktail of drugs I take, will help achieve a couple of things. Firstly, it helps stimulate my bone marrow so I can continue to stay on chemo. Secondly, prevent any further growth by blocking new blood vessels. It has plenty of side effects but ones worth the risk.

Calgary Benefit

Our beautiful friends/family put on a remarkable benefit in Calgary, Canada for me. Thanks to modern technology I was able to Skype and address hundreds of people at once.

Like the Australian benefit, it was a huge success. A big thank you to everyone that passionately spent time, money and energy doing this for us.

We really appreciate it. I will thank you all personally when I return to Calgary hopefully next summer.

Easter

Who doesn't like the Easter holidays? We had lots of fun as always, collecting all the treats that the Easter Bunny left behind. I swear when we move there will be hundreds of tiny chocolate eggs discovered. Not sure who had more fun; me or the kids.

May 2010

Another milestone. My 43rd birthday! My friends and beautiful husband surprised me with a fantastic birthday party at the Manly Pier Pavilion. I thought it was just going to be myself and a couple of girlfriends but it ended up being a party of 16. It was a fantastic day and a very happy occasion. It was one of the first times in many years that I felt transported away from my normal life for a short period of time. It felt like I was in an exotic location somewhere and I actually forgot I had this dreaded disease. Friends were the best part of the day but the food was spectacular also and the view simply stunning. I went home that evening and slept like a baby with not a care in the world.

Barry surprised me later with a weekend away on my own at a five star hotel in Circular Quay. My friends thought he was MAD! Surely I would not want to be alone in a Hotel all weekend. They insisted on baby-sitting and letting him come join me, but he insisted that it was exactly what I wanted and needed.  He was spot on.  Solitude and down time was exactly what I needed.

Sleeping through the night has been tough lately, as anyone with young kids can understand. I spent the weekend getting room service, taking long, hot, uninterrupted showers, sleeping through the night, sleeping in past 5:30 am J, reading, writing, meditating, watching movies (yes...chick flicks), and watching the sun set over the harbor while drinking a cup of tea on the balcony. Bliss!! I felt as though my body and soul was rejuvenated.  This was the first time I have done something like this in 7 years. After spending 24 years together, Barry knows me best. The best part was that I did not worry about the kids as I knew he was taking good care of them.

Brain Cancer Week - May 2010

I spoke on a panel with Julian Huxley ( A famous Rugby Player) at a Brain Tumour Conference representing a patients perspective on the disease. It was a great day and there were hundreds of people there. My Oncologist, Helen Wheeler, spoke also. It was really informative and I was happy and honoured to be chosen to speak. I felt relaxed and enjoyed the day immensely.

Winter 2010

The weather has turned cool and wet. Staying warm is near impossible as my blood levels are low. Most days I look like an Eskimo wrapped up in layers upon layers. My recent MRI has been unchanged for the most part however, there is more swelling this time. I guess this is why I am getting more headaches. I should be starting Thalidomide in a week or so. I am also back on Temodal (Oral Chemo) this week.  I will endeavour to keep my Blog updated now that the kids are better. Fingers crossed.

Many thanks to all of you who have shown me so much love and support.

Much Love Audrey xx

 

Nov/Dec 09
 
Met with my surgeon and he seems pleased with the recent scans. I mentioned pain in my jaw and he said it was probably due to having to cut through my chewing muscle during surgery. Something I can deal with.
 
Christmas parties/kids parties/school activities keep us hopping. My two sisters Theresa and Carol came for a three weeks visit. It was really sad to say goodbye to them. I was sick for one of the weeks they were here and the time flew by really quickly.
 
I have hit a bit of a wall with my treatment.  My Oncologist has suspended my Chemo until she can find out what is happening with my bone marrow. Basically she said they are doing me more harm than good as my Bone Marrow is not recovering at all. Jan 5th I will have a MRI and follow up with Oncologist to reassess what to do. She has told me most likely a bone marrow test is in order. Take each day I guess. It appears it is out of our hands.  There are 4 more days until Xmas so I plan on enjoying  it fully with family and friends. Merry Christmas Everyone!!!
 
Love Audrey xx
 

 Oct/09
 
 It has been 6 months since my diagnosis and so much has happened. I guess that would be one of the reasons why I feel like a totally different person. Living day by day, week by week is a new philosophy for me. One that is taking time getting getting used to. My September MRI was clear. My Oncologist said that she plans to keep me on Chemo indefinitely. If she takes me off of it she thinks the tumour will come right back. The trick will be to get my bone marrow working again. My bloods remain dangerously low and to date have not recovered like they should. I have also had a couple of more minor seizures. My seizure medication has once more been increased to help with this. I find myself dreading going in and out of the hospital now. It is so upsetting for the kids. We seem to take 10 steps forward and take 20 back. Still I am grateful that I remain well enough to do most things.
 
We spent a weekend away at a friends cottage in Kangaroo Valley which was on their farm. It was just what we needed and the kids had a ball looking at cows and playing outside all day and only coming inside when it was time to eat. Thank you to our beautiful friends for inviting us down.
 
My sister Joan came to visit for three weeks from Canada. It was great to see her and to spend time together. Made me a bit homesick for family when she left.
 
 My husband Barry and our dear friend Vern rode in the 24 hour mountain bike relay in Canberra. The Campari Crazy's Team with Dean Gale and company  also rode and both teams raised money for Audrey's wish. Thank you to everyone as I know it was physically challenging.
 
The cooking classes at St Mary's were a lot of fun and the kids really seem to be enjoying it. I love  listening to them laugh. Great medicine for the soul.
 
I decided to host a Halloween party for the kids. We ended up with half the neighbourhood but the kids had lots of fun looking at all the  spooky decorations in the yard, bobbing for apples and trick or treating around the neighbourhood.
 
At this point I am on Oral Chemo one week on and one week off. My bloods remain low but I am relatively healthy so I cannot complain.