Quotes from a 4-yr old...

From Trevor this morning:

"Mommy, can I pick out your clothes for work today. I promise I'll do a good job."

Looking at himself in mirror: "I'm very concerned...and very curious."

Curled up next to me in the big bed: "Mommy, I just love you."

Me...

So people ask about the medical stuff, and I guess I haven't said much lately. It has seemed like more of the same. Work, home, chemo, repeat as necessary. I've been managing to work full time except for my chemo days. I finished my 8th chemo cycle last week. The side effects are somewhat cumulative, so it has been a little harder as we go along. The fatigue is a little worse, the neuropathy in my hands and feet is more significant. But overall, it's still all really manageable.

I guess I've been hesitant to write because I've been working on a plan and I still don't know if it will work out. I'm flying to Washington, DC at the end of the month to meet with a surgeon about the HIPEC surgery I mentioned a few times before. I've been on again and off again, but I know feel that it offers my best/only chance at some type of curative result. The best chance still only has a 25% success rate (in terms of 5-yr survival), but that's better than 8%.

So I'm on the schedule for surgery July 21st, tentatively. A bad scan between now and then could derail everything, but I can't go there. The surgery is rough, probably 12 hours in the OR and then 30 days recovery in the hospital in DC. You can read about the surgery and recovery here, on the surgeon's website. It's a little scary, lots of tubes. One of my internet friends refers to it as the MOAS - Mother Of All Surgeries. I'm guessing it will make my 3 c-sections look like a walk in the park.

That's it, the new plan. I'm probably in for a few more rounds of chemo before the surgery, but they have to stop about a month before the actual operation. Chemo inhibits your body's ability to heal and you need to be able to heal after the surgery. Then post-surgery, I'll probably have about 8 weeks recovery before resuming chemo for another 6 rounds.

Sean will likely stay with me in DC for a few weeks post-surgery. Then I think I'll send him home and some friends can come sit by my bedside and cater to my every whim.

Thanks as always for the kind notes, cards, packages, food, prayers that continue to bless us every day. Having you all here to support us through this journey means the world.

Superfriends...

Trevor and Logan are the best of friends. They were born 13 days apart and Michele and I have a tendency to dress them like twins sometimes...
Can you guess how old they'll be this month?

They're having a little party with their preschool crew this weekend. Can you tell if they're excited or not? Logan's hair tells most of the story...

Yes Y'all, We Live in Texas...

My chemo cycle is every other week, Wed - Fri infusion. So I usually lay pretty low on the Sat-Sun after my infusion. The fatigue isn't unbearable, but I try not to make any plans to leave the house for a few days. But there are exceptions to every rule. Like when the annual Pasadena Strawberry Festival falls on a chemo weekend. Times like that, you gotta suck it up and go.

The kids seriously look forward to this outing every year. This year Hayden's Sunday School teacher asked him if he went to the Rodeo Carnival and Hayden told him "No, we're saving up for the Strawberry Festival.". Anna came in from Budapest just for the Festival this year (not really, but we dragged her along). Michele just got her leg brace off and we conned her into going too. Needless to say, a splendid time was had by all. Did I mention the torrential downpour? We were not deterred.

There were scary roller coasters operated by even scarier traveling carnival workers:
1= Trevor (No Fear), 2= Logan (Perhaps a Little Fear), 3= Hayden (Pretending to be thrilled, but really ready for bigger adventures)

But as any East Texan knows, the real highlight of the Festival is the Pig Races. I took this picture of the boys waiting for the pigs to run, but when I downloaded it, I really enjoyed the guy/gal on the left side of the frame. Is that a sleeveless "Slayer" jean jacket? Seriously? We run with the best crowds.

Juliette is beyond delighted to be watching her second annual trip to the pig races. She really wasn't old enough to appreciate them last year.

And here they come spinning around the turn...those are some darn fast future slabs of bacon.

I know you're jealous. Don't worry, there's always room at the inn if you want to make a journey to Texas for next year's festival.

Catching up...

I've been delinquent in posting, clearly I know. Occasionally, Sean asks what's going on in my life since he doesn't get updates on the internet anymore. So that's the message my friends, stop posting your life on the internet and you may have actual conversations in your house.

OK, back to your regularly scheduled program. We took the kids to Seaworld in San Antonio for Mother's Day. As you can see, we had a fun ride in the car.
We arrived early the first day for "Breakfast with Shamu". Unfortunately, Mom's clicking skills aren't what they used to be and I apparently paid for Breakfast with Shamu for sometime in late June. So we stood outside for a while until the park opened.

When the park opened, the first order of business was the Shamu coaster. Hayden rode it about 10 times in a row when he was 2 1/2. This was Trevor's first time. I think he liked it.

Feeding the dolphins is one of the best parts. They come right up to the kids. So if you can stomach holding the slimy fish, it's pretty cool.

Trevor wasn't so much for holding the slimy fish, but he's cute, so the dolphins came to visit him despite the lack of food.

Our second day, we visited the Seaworld water park. I would say a good time was had by all, but Juliette had a massive ear infection the whole trip and was running a high fever. She didn't eat the whole time and Day 2 was not her best moment. Poor thing. She's all better now.

Oh, and the nice folks at Seaworld fixed us up with a backstage tour of the beluga whales and dolphins to replace my mixed up attempt to reserve breakfast with Shamu. Ever been kissed by a Beluga whale? Super sweet animal, but nasty fish breath.

Hayden also finished another season of Little League. I remember his first season, I took pictures at every single practice and every single game. I think this season I didn't bust out the camera till the very last game. But check out the batting stance on my little Rattler. Is he ready to go pro? We are so glad to be done with t-ball and onto machine pitching.