Well, technically, it was the other way around. First, we splashed. Then, we sparkled. For the 4th of July, we stuck close to home. Mom & Dad are in town for the week. They helped us load the kiddies, towels & beach blanket into the car by mid-morning & we headed to Heart of the City in Burnsville once again. Our crazy and adventurous boys cannot get enough of the water feature there.
We squirted, splashed, explored & snacked our way through the better part of the morning. Dad treated us all to Caribou. WM & WC, guns blazing, chased each other up and down the river over and over again.
As we were packing up, I found a ladybug and shared it with Channing for just a minute or two. He was delighted to see his 'little friend' and promised to return soon for more play.
Walt, Kath & Joe joined us in the evening. After dinner, we gathered on the driveway to enjoy s'mores, sparklers & an assortment of fireworks.
Channing made sure glow sticks were passed out to all in attendance.
He took great pleasure in lighting sparkler after sparkler, going through no less than four boxes all by himself.
The day passed exactly as I wanted it to, in the company of family. Surgery the next day was looming over me. All the business was just the distraction I needed.
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| selfie via instagram |
I'm home now. Surgery went well. I've got new boobs and no ovaries. I'm continuing to heal, to renew and refresh. Woot!
Yesterday, we found ourselves at MN Oncology meeting with Dr. Gesme, my oncologist. WM literally drove all night (from NM to MN) with Aunt Kris to be at the appointment with me. In one hand, I had a list of questions from Angie (what a blessing to have a pediatrician who dabbles in oncology for a friend), and in the other hand, an equally long list of concerns of our own.
He patiently and thoroughly addressed each one as I flung them about in rapid fire. Diet. Secondary cancer for the baby. Delaying my treatment to the second trimester. He didn't bat an eye when he suggested one chemo cocktail and I asked why not another.
Questions answered, we now have a plan. Chemo begins March 30. It will be a full day. There's 'chemo class' to start with, detailing the ins and outs of chemotherapy including a tour of the chemo lounge as I am choosing to call it. Makes it sound nice and swanky, doesn't it? Are you thinking leather club chairs and fancy cocktails paired with bites that seem almost too artful to eat? Yes, almost. After class, I have my initial labs, a quick meeting with Dr. Gesme for any last minute questions and then it's time for my first infusion. In total, it should take about three hours. Thankfully, the schedule worked to allow WM to go with me. It is his intention to go to all of my treatments. Have I told you how lucky I am to have him by my side through all of this? Truly, I am blessed.
If I am fortunate enough to have good blood counts and no delays due to colds or illness, my last infusion will come 15 weeks after my first. I will then be 31 weeks pregnant. I like that I have wiggle room. If there are delays, there is still plenty of time for my body to rebuild itself before Baby arrives provided he/she doesn't make an unexpected and early appearance.
So there you have it. The plan.
I'm glad I have my trusty red umbrella to hold onto. It's quite the leap of faith allowing someone to pour what is in essence poison into your pregnant body. Hopefully, this umbrella of mine will have a Marry Poppins effect. Once I leap, I'll find myself floating down gracefully, bag in hand, as I have places to go and plenty of things to do.
