Baby Fix

This past weekend Dave and Alisa brought Owen for a visit.

He is six months old and couldn't be cuter. I took a few pictures... I know that is a big surprise! Isn't he adorable? I just couldn't stop...

I may have captured every expression he made in those few minutes.

Silly boy.

Pinch-worthy cheeks.

Are you done yet?!? (Nope, and you had better get used to it)

So happy!

So content.

We had a nice relaxing weekend and I can't wait to see them again! Maybe next time I'll take a picture of everyone else.

Zap 22

I am now two-thirds complete with radiation... only 11 zaps to go!!

So far it has been a non-event. And, the last 8 rounds are boosts to my tumor site, narrowing the radiation field. I'm hoping that means the actual round is quicker (even though I'm only on the table for about 10 minute now) and I'm hoping that means my skin will hold out. The only skin change I'm noticing is a little tanning on that side. My skin might be "tougher," but it is really hard to tell what was caused by surgery versus what was caused by radiation. In the end, it is minimal so it really doesn't matter.

What has been re-confirmed for me is that some people just do their jobs a little bit better than others and that has a big impact. Overall my radiation team is very good. However, there is one tech who is very good at his job. Unfortunately for me, he is on a cruise this week. I now know how good I've had it. There have been days when he was alone and went ahead to set me up by himself. Then there was the day that the light bulb blew in the machine. I was only delayed 5 minutes because he was right on top of it (no small feat when you can't just change the bulb yourself). Yes, there are some people who are just a little bit better. I really hope he's back next week.

I've also realized that this world is full of characters. I share the waiting room with a few of them... there is Sir Crabsalot, Sir Talksalot and Sir Stinksalot. Need I say more. So here I am every morning... the only woman, the only one who has to wear a gown and the youngest by at least 30 years. Ugh!! Those are 10 long minutes every morning!

Things must be alright if that is all I have to complain about, right?? Only 11 more to go.

Second Tooth

Tyler finally lost the tooth that has been loose since Christmas yesterday morning just before school!!

We tried to get a picture, but you can't really see with the tooth that has already grown in behind it.

Whoa! Scary face!

Check it out... Tyler thought he should brush it one more time so it was clean for the tooth fairy. I managed to talk him out of it imagining a crisis with the tooth falling down the drain. We did NOT have time or energy for that.

The tooth fairy brought Tyler a nice shiny dollar coin. This time it was a presidential coin featuring our sixth president, John Quincy Adams! Tyler was pleased.

18 more teeth to go!

Sunday Night

It is Sunday evening and the laundry is nowhere near done. Why?

1. Tyler attended a birthday party Friday evening. Dan, Ryan and I enjoyed pizza in the plaza. Yum. I hope he gets invited to another party at that location so I can have more of that pizza.

2. We made cookies Saturday morning. Tyler really was having a good time... he's practicing his "cool" look.

3. Then went out to a neighborhood party after doing some cleaning and grocery shopping. Since my hair is growing back I thought I'd better give Annette a chance to get out. Here she is.

4. It was a beautiful morning so the boys and I headed out to the park. Ryan could not have been more excited to see the slide.

He thought this was hilarious... I see you!

We had a very happy boys on our hands. Simple pleasures.

Ty was doing some excavating.

And found a worm. Yuck! And, he thought he might bring it home as a pet. I don't think so.

5. Ty was invited to another party this afternoon at the zoo. Since it was a nice day, we all went.

Here's Ryan trying to comprehend sitting on something that doesn't move. He kept yelling for a penny and looking for a hole to put it in. Too funny!

For some reason he was ok with the turtle not taking pennies.

What a nice day. Here I am sporting another of Sara's beautiful hats. It is perfect for a chilly spring day.

6. We went out to dinner on the way home.

So that is why the laundry isn't done. And I don't care because we had a great weekend!

Hair -10.5 weeks out

Chemo seems very far away, but my hair tells another story.

As long as you don't look too hard, I have coverage. Unfortunately it seems to be growing in exactly where it left off... thin, straight, fine, full of gray and accompanied by all my usual cowlicks. But, it is hair so I'll take it.

I've ditched my hat except for when I'm outside because it is quite cold without hair. My ears are very excited about being free! I've even treated them to a few days without glasses.

I have real eyebrows now instead of those charcoal smudgy looking things. I also have full lower lashes, but my uppers still need some more time.

Slowly things are returning back to normal.

I'm 15 rounds through radiation and overall it is a non-event. 18 more rounds to go!!

First Tooth

Tyler finally lost his first tooth yesterday at school. And, it wasn't the tooth that has been loose since Christmas which is also the one in front of the new tooth. Go figure!! Tyler's first lost tooth was his lower right front tooth. Now he has a gap on one side and a double tooth on the other!!



When I got home from work Tyler was very excited to show me his gap and I did my whole "boo hoo, my baby is growing up" routine. Then Tyler told me that he and Daddy had "predicted" I'd do that. For some reason that struck me as really funny.

Later he told me that it would be "tragic" if his tooth fell out of his bed before the tooth fairy go there. I also found this humorous... tragic!

When we first discovered Tyler's loose tooth I asked him what he thought the tooth fairy would bring him. He said he wanted paper money. Smart boy... and fairly easy for the tooth fairy to accomplish. Imagine my surprise when he announced that he was going to get a "golden Sacajawea dollar" from the tooth fairy just before bed last night. Gulp!

Well, the tooth fairly came through and Tyler was a very happy boy this morning with his Sacajawea dollar!

Boo hoo... my baby is growing up!

Port Removal

I can no longer be plugged in!! Yay! One more thing checked off the cancer list!

Having the port taken out was a lot easier than having it put in. Actually, I received my radiation and had the port taken out by 9:00am this morning!! The port removal itself took less than 15 minutes including time to remove some of the blood so I could take a picture...


I'm sure nobody is shocked that I had to have a picture. Isn't it cute? This is the little bugger that was between my ribs and my skin on my chest for the last 5 months. It is weird not to touch my collar bone and feel the tube. I didn't realize how often I felt for it until it was gone. Turns out I do that a lot when I'm sitting at my desk mulling something over.

I also took a picture of my radiation machine. Check it out...

The table moves back and up so that my face is right under the machine which rotates around me. The blue things are where I rest my upper arms and I grab the black poles behind my head to make sure I don't move. When the lights are turned off there are all sorts of red laser beams shooting all over the room that they use to line me up. The face of the machine has metal teeth that move to focus the radiation. Sometimes it is open in a narrow line and others times it makes a trapezoid shape. I wonder if that shape is what I will see on my skin when I start to notice irritation. So far radiation hasn't had any impact other than the inconvenience of having to be at the hospital every morning. I have all sorts of different lotions around the house and in my purse to avoid as much impact to my skin as I can. I have everything anyone has recommended or I've read about... I am very moisturized!!

I've decided that radiation has a lot of similarities to being in jail, not that I can really compare. But, when you are sitting in the waiting room everyone talks about what they're in for and all the injustices they've endured. Luckily I don't spend much time there.

Only 26 more rounds of radiation to go!

A Toothy Situation

Just before Christmas Tyler told me his lower tooth on the left was loose. I checked and it did wiggle quite a bit. I even took a picture of him right then and there so I'd have a nice picture of him with all of his baby teeth in tact. But, it hasn't fallen out!! Every once in a while, usually when we're having something for dinner that he doesn't like, he'll say his tooth hurts. But other than that, nothing. Until this morning.

Tyler was making all sorts of commotion in the bathroom. This isn't unusual, but we were in a hurry so I went in to move him along. Imagine my surprise when he showed me what he had discovered. An actual reason for some commotion. Go figure!

Do you see the tooth behind his baby teeth?? Ugh!! This confirms that braces are in our future.

I think I need to take advantage of this and make something that really needs chewing since he has an extra tooth!

Sesame Street Live

After much anticipation, this morning we went to see Sesame Street Live: Imagination 123!!

The boys were very excited, especially Ryan, to see all their favorite characters.

Here we all are in our seats, waiting for the show to start.

There they all are! Overall, the show kept the kids engaged which is quite a feat when the average age was 2 and it lasted 1.5 hours!!

Isn't this quite the sight... somewhat creepy in my opinion. Of course we had to get one. Wasn't it nice of them to parade them down the aisle and stop right next to us??

Ryan was particularly awestruck by this set. It looked just like Elmo's World!

See, completely in awe... he couldn't even keep his tongue in his mouth... so strange...

After the show we took advantage of being downtown and stopped into the New Era Cap store. Since I now have a bit of hair showing, I wanted to get a real hat that doesn't cover my entire head. Imagine my disappointment to find "made in China" inside the product of a local business. Oh well, I bought one anyway and the boys got a kick out of their baseball Mickey!

Then it was off to Chef's for a yummy lunch. Ryan was in quite the mood today and made himself known in the restaurant. Actually, he was rather Tyler-like. Unfortunately he discovered how to get a trip to the bathroom with mommy, just like his big brother. All you have to do is announce "I poop!" really loudly in the middle of the restaurant. And, just in case not everyone heard you, repeat it a couple of times before your mother can grab you. Nice. I was not amused when I discovered a completely clean diaper.

At least Tyler behaved himself.

A quick run through the classic car show and back home we went. I think I need a nap.