3 going on 13

I am getting very nervous about the upcoming teenage years.....

check out these recent pictures of my big girl (notice the fake earings & high heels)

Cancer Free

Friends-
Last week I finished my last treatment session! It has been a long 9 months full of many doctors visits, treatments, medications, hospitals, etc…and now it is finished. My rein as the poster girl for cancer is over. It still feels a bit weird to wake up and have no appointment to run off to. But it is something that I will happily get used to :) I am feeling good- back to normal energy level and my hair has grown back enough that I can go out without a scarf (although it is a very short cut look- see photo).
The short version for those who didn’t follow the blog updates:
• I had aggressive chemo treatments from Jan- April in an effort to shrink the tumor pre-surgery and stop any spreading. The magic poison did a fantastic job shrinking the tumor from 4 CM to almost nothing.
• Then in June I had surgery – great report- no lymph node spreading and the chemo had “A Complete Response” – i.e. no live cancer cells found
• Followed up with 6 weeks of daily radiation treatment

I will still be seen by some cancer related specialist quarterly for the next couple of years but I am “cancer free” and the statistics are positive not getting it again.

I can’t begin to thank everyone for the overwhelming support, love, and well wishes ( & awesome care packages) that came my way throughout this ordeal. Everyone was so generous and thoughtful - I am truly lucky to have such an incredible support network.
Special thanks to Michael for being the best partner; mom and Jody for coming out; Jen for both coming out and several over the top care packages; Deb & the NJ sister’s prayer group; Ali – by breast cancer buddy for going through it all together.

Love
Mimi

Nathan's pre-birthday birthday

Yesterday Nate and I went to the zoo after dropping off Reese at her first day of kindy (preschool). She did great by the way. We went to see the seal show and I mentioned to the zoo keepers at the door that he was his birthday so could he be their volunteer. Not sure whether it was cancer mom, cute birthday boy or we were just the first to ask but he got selected. Check out the pictures of Nate petting the seal and shaking his flipper. I paid a small price for telling the fib...we had to sit in the front row and got wet from the splashing seals ;)

mommy's girl

I've created a mini chocoholic. Reese now opens the fridge and points to the butter dish (which holds my not so secret stash of chocolate) and not asks but rather demands chocolate. It must have been all that chocolate I ate while pregnant :)

Baseball with dad

After what felt like weeks of doing nothing but sitting on the couch and watching world cup while it rained outside we finally had a nice outdoor weekend. Speaking of world cup- ....Nate has been playing a bit rough on the soccer field - watching too much world cup ;) also I witnessed a brilliant fatherhood moment. Somehow nate deleted the recording of the final world cup match (you can imagine how pissed michael was)...and yet he let nate live and didn't even yell. It was a true test of his fatherhood patience skills.

Yesterday we enjoyed a lovely afternoon watching Michael play baseball. It was warm and sunny like one of those fabulous Seattle weekends in February where all of a sudden it feels like spring in the middle of winter. We had quite fun- a nice picnic, playing catch (kinda....poor nate is stuck with a mom who can neither throw nor catch), and the kids playing in the dirt (nate looked like the kid in charlie brown surrounded by a cloud of dirt- pigpen wasn't it?). It was a great family day.

Reese starts school

All of a sudden the kids look bigger to me. This isn't just an illusion as Nate's shirts and pants are now an inch or two too short. So here are some updated pictures. Reese starts preschool on Monday. She went there on Thursday for a craft day (the school runs a program over the holiday break). She did great....no teary farwell, and more importantly no pee pee accidents!!! We'll see how she does on her first real day on Monday.

Here are some pictures of Reese at her new school.

update on Mimi

Sorry for delay in entries....
Everything is going well. I am one week into radiation. If you recall I will be going daily Mon-Fri for six weeks. It is a bit of a hassle driving there and the commute is longer than the treatment. The session itself is pretty short- about 10-15 minutes once it is my turn- with the zapping only lasting a couple of minutes. Most of the time they are making sure that I am in the perfect position and aligned for the rays. I have 5 new tattoos - nothing exciting just permanent black freckles uses for the alignment of the machine. I've been told that in a couple of weeks the area from the middle of my chest to my armpit will be red and sore- like a repeated bad sunburn. In the meantime I am religiously using the ultra sensitive skin lotion and following orders not to shave or wash that side of my chest. I took Nate and Reese to my appointment on Friday. Dr. Nate was fascinated by the huge machine and process. And of course my cuties were a hit with the staff.
hair update: my whole head is cover with fuzz. I actually have mini spikes in a couple of places- Michael and the kids tease me about now being able to have "bedhead". On the negative side I've never notice how much fuzz I have on my face...or perhaps more grew in than before??? The hair (head hair) is so soft - like a newborn and so fare a boring brown color (I was hoping it would come out like Reese color like when I was a baby).