Doing Well, Waiting for Scans

Adrienne seems to be doing very well. On Tuesday, she flew off to St. Louis to see her best friend from college. She's having a really good time so far. She returns on August 5 and then we're off to Stanford on August 10 for a PET/CT and checkup. As you can imagine, these scans always make us nervous and the whole experience is a roller coaster. She had clear scans last November and new pain in March with a recurrence. We feel like we get a little reprieve but never a break, and there's always something to worry about. We are lucky that her cancer has grown slower since her allo transplant because that has given us time to find treatments that work. Sometimes it's hard to imagine that Adrienne has had cancer for more than half her young life. This December will be 10 years since her original diagnosis and she had symptoms for over a year before that.

The move is going well but there's never enough time to do what needs to be done each day. It seems that everytime we fix one problem, another one arises. The movers left marks on the new carpet, the painters messed up the draperies, and we still don't have TV. It will probably be a few weeks before we are truly moved in. :o) Otherwise, we love the house and hope to make it feel like a home very soon.

We're Home, Almost

We got back from Spain last night after a VERY long day of travel. We had many hours on the plane and a five hour layover in Miami. We're pretty exhausted today but there's much to be done, so sleeping in is out of the question.

The trip was great. We started in Madrid for a few days to get over jetlag, eat tapas, and do a bit of sightseeing. Then we were off to Segovia to see the ancient Roman acqueduct and try the suckling pig (Adrienne, not me). After that, we went to Salamanca, a beautiful city with a large, very busy Plaza Mayor. After a night in the medevil city of Trujillo, we went to Seville for 4 days. Wow, was it hot there but we had a great visit to Jerez to see the Andalusian horse show and a wonderful night of Flamenco, along with lots of sightseeing and some shopping for good measure. Then we were back to Madrid for our trip home. We all had a great time.

Now we're back to business with the move. The house is being painted and new carpet goes in tomorrow. We actually move in on Friday. Today, we were supposed to get phones, DSL, and satellite TV. I suppose one out of three (phones) isn't too bad. I guess it's all just par for the course and everything will get sorted out in time.

Adrienne is doing very well and was able to keep up during the trip. She still has some hip pain but hopefully this will resolve soon. Her skin was quite irritated and painful from the radiation but it is peeling now and feeling much better. Overall, we're very pleased.

Moving

I haven't been posting too regularly and this will be the last one for several weeks. We moved out of our house yesterday and now are relegated to hotel living until we move in to our new house on July 21. It's a good thing that there's a trip to Spain in the middle of it. :)

Adrienne is doing well with her radiation though she sleeps much of the day. Her last treatment is Friday (tomorrow). The pain seemed to be getting better last week but now it's worse again. The radiation oncologist didn't expect it to get better that soon in any event, and Adrienne plans to take her pain meds to Spain. We'll take taxis or drive her door to door if necessary, and she can take naps with the other Spaniards during afternoon siesta.

Adrienne is looking forward to tasting the local foods and even having a bit of sherry since the drinking age in Spain is 18. Her grandma is one of those people who likes to stare at a painting, to take it all in, while Adrienne and I like to take a moment and move on, kind of like "speed museum" (think "speed dating"). That should be interesting. Otherwise, we all like to do pretty much the same things.

"A Lion in the House" Last week, PBS broadcasted a 2-part, 4-hour documentary following six families of children and teenagers with cancer. Personally, I didn't watch it because I knew it would be too upsetting, bringing back too many memories and feelings. For those of us living with childhood cancer, we know what it's like but many people can only imagine. If you get a chance, I hope you'll watch this important program to get just a little insight into what families like ours are going through and how it affects not only the child with cancer, but the siblings, parents, and anyone else who knows them.

I'm sorry that I haven't been in good touch lately, not always returning phone calls. I promise to be better once this craziness settles down. We are all keeping our cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses. You can always reach us at the same old places as I don't want to post the new addresses and phone numbers on this (very public) blog. Drop me a note if you want the details of the new house.

Very Tired

Adrienne's radiation is going very well, right on schedule. She has been incredibly tired but otherwise is doing fine. Her skin is a bit tan where she is being radiated so she puts lotion on daily. The hip pain seems better already but, touch wood, it's a bit too early to be sure it's gone.

I've actually been gone for a couple of days down to Las Vegas to sign the final papers on the house. We did a walkthrough Tuesday morning and just before, I thought, "what if I don't like the house?" It occurred to me that I had really only been there once. Luckily, I still love it. We're having fun buying some new furniture while being totally stressed trying to move out of our house here in California, all while trying to work. It's amazing how much junk you can accumulate in 14 years living in the same house.

We've had some trouble lately with our Internet connection. Our provider, Earthlink, seems to have a problem understanding dates so they turned us off too early. Some of our bills and even water have arrived at the new house despite our being clear about our move dates. I don't recall having these problems with past moves but it has been 14 years. Ah well, it'll be over before you know it.

Save the date: we are planning a housewarming party and re-marriage (yes, a tacky Vegas wedding) on October 14. Should be fun.