Skipping Town

Molly and Luca's brief visit continued with a fun day in Connellsville. The girls and I (and Farrah) drove down around lunchtime, and we helped Mom make fresh pasta for our lunch. The kids made a movie trailer, we played a new version of Guess Who? (Does your person like going to Medieval Times? Does your person have a complicated Starbucks order? Does your person drive a Range Rover?), and Molly and I took all three dogs for a walk. A perfect pre-Memorial-Day afternoon. When the girls and I got home, Lucia decided to make some frozen chocolate-dipped fruit and got out the double boiler to melt some chocolate. Then we watched three episodes of This Is Us. There was some hilarity when Lucia attempted to help me clean up the kitchen and instead made the mess worse as she tried to wash the double boiler. 

We've settled back into regular life post-Houston. Our Volvo has been repaired and has returned home. Greta had her seventh-grade overnight trip to Gettysburg. Andrew left yesterday for a family event in Florida. The girls and I watched the documentary Getting Lost , about the making of Lost . After a montage showcasing all the Lost -related tattoos fans have gotten over the years, the kids debated where they would get their own Lost tattoos one day, and whether it would be the Dharma Initiative logo or the series of numbers needed to save the world. I personally would lean toward the numbers.  Today (Saturday) Molly and Luca drove to PA for a visit, and they plus Mom and Dad all came over in the afternoon to hang out and have dinner. Farrah was less than pleased that Molly's dogs had invaded her home and yard and is now passed out on my bed, exhausted from the trauma of being forced to bark at them relentlessly.  After everyone left, the kids and I watched two episodes of Th...

We've had an affirming and very positive experience here at MD Anderson this week. Yesterday, we met with Dr. Gershenson's nurse, Kimberly, who reviewed my medical history, as well as Dr. Gershenson, who came in to do a pelvic exam. We scheduled a follow-up visit for Tuesday, where he said we could bring all our questions. We chatted with Kimberly afterward, who said she's been working with Dr. Gershenson for twenty-one years and told us how much things had changed in the world of LGSOC; she said this is a cancer that can be cured--the first time we'd ever heard this word connected to LGSOC.  Today, we met with Dr. Gershenson for a video visit. He gave his summary of where he felt I was based on the results of my surgery, chemo, and now maintenance treatment, and he, too, was very positive about prognosis for many reasons, including the success of my surgery and my age at diagnosis (weirdly, women diagnosed younger than 35 fare worse with LGSOC). When we asked him to ta...

It's been a nice weekend after what felt like a very long week. Friday night we had the Clarks over for dinner. It was a beautiful night, and we sat outside on the deck. The kids, forced into togetherness as usual, played Uno No Mercy and of course ping pong. Lucia was at a friend's house for part of the evening but eventually returned home. Late Friday night, I woke up and went into the bathroom, where in my half-asleep state I spotted a dark object by the bathtub. Closer inspection revealed the object to be Nutmeg, who had somehow slipped out of Greta's room and was asleep in our bathroom in a cute little loaf. It was an extremely windy night, so the pets were ill at ease; Farrah was huddled in our closet, behind my hanging dresses. I eventually got Nutmeg to follow me back to Greta's room. Saturday, I woke the kids up early so we could go to the first neighborhood yard sale of the year, in Regent Square. We didn't find much, but the kids each found some clothes; ...

My CA-125 has decreased again, down about 9 points to 53.7! That's a relief. Twenty more points and I'll be in "normal" range, though the goal is single digits. Some people never get there and stabilize at a higher number. But my fingers are crossed that I will keep decreasing. Tonight was the kids' chorus concert. Mom and Dad drove in as well. One more thing to check off the calendar as we swiftly approach the end of the school year.  We had no water for most of today--there was a water main break and we lost water at 7am. It didn't come back until 5pm. Good thing we were at school and work all day. No water is much more disruptive than no electricity.

I have the letrozole. I'm going to take my pill in the morning so I won't take the first dose until tomorrow. I'm anxious to begin this hormone-blocking. My overall lab numbers were low as usual; still waiting for them to rise now that I'll pass this three-week mark without chemo knocking me down. I'll get the CA-125 results tomorrow. It was very nice going into the cancer center today only for blood work and a short appointment and then leaving, rather than the all-day poisoning of the past eighteen weeks.  After my appointment this morning, I went to work, then picked up my prescription, and then took Greta to piano. Andrew took Lucia to the earlier lesson and then to tutoring. We are all ready for the slower pace of summer.