The Final Four...& a Ticket Home

No – I am not talking about college basketball!

I finally am finished with medical appointments…finished with x-rays, MRI’s, pre-op, surgery, and radiation treatments.

Wednesday the 26th of August I marched through four back-to-back appointments, all in the same building…the building I visited each day from the 3rd to the 7th of August for radiation therapy.

First down to the basement for a bone-density test – my first ever – a baseline for Dr. Margileth, medical oncologist. The cute little pill (Femara) I must take once a day for five years may cause bone loss…

Then up to the second floor to see Dr. Margileth. The highlight of that visit was the fire drill at 10:30 leaving me stranded in the exam room for 20 minutes…enough time to write my long overdue ‘thank you’ notes, which I finished up just before he walked in. He asked a few questions to confirm that the Femara was not giving me any nasty side-effects…as I left, I thanked him and reminded him that he is now part of my ‘team’…

Next, up again, to the fourth floor to see Dr. Carpenter, my surgeon. I dubbed her ‘sargeant major’ after she informed me that, while she will waive her usual 4 to 6 month follow-up visit, she was very insistent on seeing me next summer. ‘By next summer do you mean…’ ‘June, but I will let you slide until July’. Oh well - I guess that means I book a round trip ticket rather than the one way I had been planning. Sigh…but then she hugged me ‘good-bye’ and I forgave her!

Back to the basement for a meeting with Dr. Fourazannia (think lasagna), the radiation oncologist. After a brief exam he asked “so when ya goin’ back?” After my 4th radiation treatment he had asked if I had ‘booked my ticket’…with a sad face, I said “no”…he was shocked! After all he had done, pulling strings to get me treated quickly…he had done his part, why had I not done mine? I gave him the disappointing news that I missed my 8/25 departure date because Dr. Carpenter could not see me until the 26th – that seemed to satisfy him…

How is it that in 3 short months I have grown so fond of these professionals…each of whom has contributed in a unique and memorable way to my life and health?

Oh – did I mention the ticket back to Kenya? I am booked on an early evening flight out of Los Angeles on the 7th of September…yikes! That’s really soon!

Please pray:

That everything that needs to get done gets done, and that I retain my sanity!

Playdate...

Okay - let me just say now that I know there are too many photos in this entry...but you gotta admit, these pups are the cutest! And I have another reason...our new friends, Paul and Donna, aka (puppy) Carmela's dad and mom, wanted me to send them my pictures and this way I could do two things at once...hmmmm...multi-tasking?

Basically the parents of three puppies converged at the breeder's house to get the munchkins together...Orion, Carmela jr and Abby. Abby actually now belongs to the breeder, Shalein, so I guess that means she 'hosted' the event.

Orion sees his mom (Carmela) and gets very excited...
Nose to nose with dad - Tonka...

Carmela and Orion get re-acquainted.

Abby decides to let Orion know who's boss...and Tonka helps out.

...and now there are three...little Carmela arrives and is 'put in her place'...

...three siblings getting re-acquainted...Carmela is wearing the yellow collar (and not clipped ears), Abby is in red and Orion is in black...

I thought this was a great shot of 'mom' with her three kids...

...some photos need no caption!

Puppy Carmela's new daddy, Paul...with Amanda

Tonka, with all of his 170 pounds decided to sit on Paul's chair...not sure there was room for two!

...the whole doggy family...with breeder Shalein and Amanda...

We discovered that Orion does, indeed, love water - not only to drink, but also to play in.

Tonka, a bit too rambuctious, is relegated to the side yard while Carmela watches over her brood...

The pups love playing together...

...exploring the 'mountain' behind the yard...

We discovered that Orion and Carmela are climbers...agility training in their futures? Amanda poised to catch Orion before he can jump to the ground on his own...this to protect his still-developing shoulders...

Carmela striking an irresistable pose in the yellow flowers...doting dad get close to 'catch' her if she decides to jump.

Shalein decided to let Tonka out again...trusting the four of us to supervise.

We loved watching the whole family playing together, and out came the cameras...

Tonka and Carmela get going...and the scene was crazy when Shalein returned to find us all behind our cameras with our puppies at risk of being trampled by the 'giant' Tonka - ummm, I think she'll never do that again!

In fact she decided the puppies at played enough - and out came the bones - here is the trio, playing separately...

Orion, striking a handsome pose...

Carmela, still in the playful mood, took Orion's bone and he decided to get it back!

Orion and Abby exchanged bones...a few times!

We had a blast and the parents parted with promises to set another playdate and next time far enough in advance to include the other 'local' puppy...

All Decked Out!

Okay - this is me in my 'radiation garb'...not a pretty sight! My brother just saw this picture and said - "please tell me you didn't send that out!"...oh well...

So - I am a little over half way through with the radiation treatments...Yea! The staff is wonderful - but the uniform leaves a bit to be desired. I tried to tell them blue is not my color, but they don't seem to care!
I started on Monday with two treatments - 8:45 am and 4:45 pm...then Tuesday through Friday I start at 8 and then do the 4:45 treatment...that means I have just two days left...

...and I have to admit - I am ready to be done! I cannot even imagine the folks who have weeks and weeks of chemo and then do 6 to 7 weeks of radiation...makes me feel like a big baby! and also very fortunate and blessed.

This Friday I will visit my medical oncologist who will give me a prescription for an aromatase inhibitor (which is some sort of hormone pill I will take for 5 years)...then on the 26th of August I will visit with my surgeon and then, hopefully, I will be making plans to return to Kenya!

Thanks for checking on me and especially for praying whenever you think of me!