So Many People

Thank you to so many people!

Debbie and Jeff brought dinner Sunday and we had a great visit on the deck in the afternoon. It was so great to have some time with Debbie. This is so ridiculous that it takes cancer to make time to hang out with one of your oldest, best friends in Seattle….humans…or maybe human Americans…we are ridiculous! We do get so wrapped up in our stuff and believe me I know I’m among the best at getting too wrapped up in my stuff to make time for friends! Stupid cancer has an upside!

Thank you Tracy for the delicious dinner…we enjoyed that tonight on the deck and it was perfect for this warm evening. Tracy is a friend/mom of a former student who had pancreatic cancer, just diagnosed last September, and is kicking its ass! Now she is just taking small doses of clean up chemo! So great to talk with you Tracy and so great to see you and hear your good news! You are a picture of health and an inspiration!

I spoke with my first stomach cancer peer late last week. Gaby is a 55 year old, otherwise healthy young woman like me! She is a friend of a friend and former student teacher of mine. She was diagnosed 18 months ago and her tumors are shrinking. She was a wealth of information and inspiration. Thanks Glenda and Eddie for hooking me up with Gaby.

I continue to get cards in the mail and goodies on my porch. You are all so generous and thoughtful. 

Saturday we had the changing of the guard…Michael went home to Portland and Betty came back to Seattle. It is great to have Betty back! It was a long week and a weird time to be away. It was sad to say good bye to Michael…but he’s going to get a few things done back there and be back in a few days. He is kind of spoiling us…Maggie, he has set a precedent for sure!

Today we saw the geneticist and he has a couple of possible genetics links that might apply to me. It is a little far fetched and not likely, but worth looking into. He said it would not likely change my course of treatment but would inform my relatives. So, they sent blood to Utah and if insurance will cover enough of the costs we’ll find something out in 3 weeks or so.

Following that appointment we saw Dr. Kaplan. It was just a check in and we are going to keep to the course. He says there is no correlation between side effects and how well the chemo is working. He also said the side effect symptoms can be accumulative, so enjoy feeling good now! And so I am!

I continue to feel ok to good. Mostly I am fine. Really my only complaint these days is I’m feeling so tired. I really do not like naps, they drag me down, but I have had to succumb more than once and I’m not sure if I feel better before or after the nap…but I hardly have a choice.

So knowing I feel pretty good now and it might now stay that way we are taking a day trip on Wednesday (first day with no appointments) and I think we’re going to head over to the Elwa River and see where they took the dam damn down. I’m currently reading a novel West of Here, set in the late 1800 and involves the taming of the Elwa River. It’s a good book and I’ve wanted to go check it out ever since the damn came down. So…road trip!The weather is gorgeous and it should be a good day…

Tomorrow the nutritionist…until then…

Good night and love to you all!

PS I can’t help but tell you about our sad bird drama…

We have such a sad drama going on outside the window, on the deck right now. We have a very active productive bird house where many little baby birds have hatched and flown the coop. Currently we have at least the 3rd batch of babies this summer up there chirping away. The typical pattern is all day long the mom and dad come and go bringing food for the babies and each time the adult flies away, the babies hush; as the adult returns they start chirping away again. Today I noticed that the babies just keep crying and it finally dawned on us that no one is feeding them. It’s just awful! They’ll quiet awhile but then another sparrow will come near and they just start up again. This is heartbreaking! I’m still holding out hope that a Mother Theresa sparrow will save the day.