The trick, it seems, is to surrender to the flow...

You know what they say about the best laid plans....

We spent the time since the previous post doing all those things we talked about last week. A deep cleaning at the dentist, an annual at the OBGYN (her ovaries look clean but her doc did recommend they be taken out when she does her reconstructive surgery), a chemo 101 class, and lots of other random errands. And then Deb cut her hair - check the photos to the left if you haven't already. She brought Ryan with so the new look wouldn't be a shock and everyone's happy with the results. New sassy short hair Deb. Ryan's running around telling anyone who'll listen, "mama. cut. hair. bye-bye hair."

If you didn't already know, our little girl turned 2 this past Saturday. Can you freakin believe she's 2? Neither can we. The birthday party was a blast. It's so much fun to celebrate with so many fun people. Great company, great food, great beverages. These 2-year old parties are setting the bar pretty high for next year ;) Plus, Papa K and Grandma were here to share the day.

So, this week's been admittedly hectic. Michele and Will arrived just in time for the party last Saturday and have been (thankfully) staying with us since. I'm really getting used to having extra sets of hands as well as good friends to share the occasional "down time". To be honest, Deb would not have been able to get everything she got done last week etc., w/out all the help we've been getting. Our support network here in town, and from the out-of-towners has absolutely made us feel the love.

Medically, here's what's happening...We went yesterday morning to get a port installed under Deb's left collarbone. This is for administering the chemo treatments without having to insert an IV for each treatment. Deb's got crappy veins so the port will help to not make her feel like such a pincushion. It's a fairly common procedure recommended for those who will be enduring any long-term chemotherapy. Anyways, we were being "inserted" into the surgeon's schedule so that we could make it across the street to Deb's first chemo treatment that same morning. We got there at 7:30am only to be told that they didn't have any paperwork on us and that we weren't on the surgery schedule. The surgeon felt horrible and assured us that this was the first time in 20 years his staff "forgot" to schedule a surgery. But, after a pretty minor delay we were admitted and began the pre-op stuff, and then Deb underwent the procedure under general anesthesia and came out the other side just fine. A little drugged, loopy, and out of it but fine. The Sutter Surgery and Maternity Center here in Santa Cruz seems like a top notch place. Really cool nurses. Also very clean and modern with a really friendly staff. 2 complaints to keep it real: no wi-fi and pretty lame cafe. I submitted a comment card about the wi-fi but let the cafe slide since I found $5 on the ground - I figured the sandwich was free anyway...

The port installation went well but we were unable to start chemo. Apparently Deb needs a baseline echocardiogram prior to starting chemo, but there was a misunderstanding/miscommunication and it didn't get done. Some of the meds Deb'll be getting have slight risk of heart issues, so they'll be monitoring that (among other things; blood counts, etc.) throughout the duration of the treatment. We met with Dr. Yen anyways and he was able to clear up a few questions of ours. He's just a really good guy, and absolutely takes the time to help us understand what's going on. He always listens and answers all of our questions with such patience. I also had a chance to meet Kendra, the chemo nurse, and both Deb and I are already very fond of her. A sweet, kind and friendly woman was my first impression. We're realizing that it takes a special brand of human being to work with cancer patients.

We've been fortunate during this time of unfortune with regards to our doctors and nurses. Rebekah, Dr. Chow and Dr. Wapnir up at Stanford were/are awesome. Our team down here is equally as comforting.

The plan as it stands is that Deb will have the echo on Monday afternoon and her first chemo treatment will be this upcoming Thursday. Deb's really sore from having the port installed and still has fluid building up in her chest, so she hasn't been online long enough to do more than post those few new photos here on the blog and edit this post; but she's doing well and is in good spirits - we're both just anxious to get going on this next step of treatment, if only to be beyond it sooner.

We're trying to go with the flow and not get hung up on stupid scheduling issues - like the scheduling mishap that happened with our dog JoJo. Due to another miscommunication (I swear it wasn't my fault), she went into heat the day before her appointment to be spayed. I'll have to post a photo of the puggle with her e-collar and diaper. Another bright side to a lame situation; both Jojo and Ryan wear the same size diaper; though Jojo's needs a hole cut for her tail ;-)

Besides that, life goes on. It's good to be together as a family and here at home in such a lovely place. There are just too many good things to dwell on those things that are less than good. So, we go with the flow. In the face of suckiness, we will prevail!