Team G: A Wonderful Weekend

The weather was wonderful, G was feeling great and we celebrated Bridgy's 2nd birthday by throwing a little party for her. Her actual birthday is tuesday but what better day than Cinco de Mayo to celebrate!

The last week was pretty busy. We spent wednesday in the hospital for a couple of hours for G's weekly chemo (Vincristine) and talked with the doctors about upcoming events. We thought that the PET/CT scan would be done the first week of June, before radiation, but we were told that its going to be scheduled for either the week of May 14th or May 21st. The doctors will all have a meeting to discuss Gabriella on May 29th and will need the scans before hand. They need to see how much the tumor has shrunk and discuss the option of moving one of G's ovaries out of the field of radiation. If the chemo doesn't fry her ovaries, the radiation certainly will. This procedure will help her have a chance at possibly being fertile when she's older and possibly help her with hormonal changes at puberty. But this entails another surgery, possibly two; one to move the ovary and one to move it back? Still so much information to gather. It makes me anxious just thinking about what's to come but it does help to talk about it. I am just trying to mentally prepare myself for those couple of weeks. We will be finding out a lot more information this month.

The rest of the week was spent with me obsessing about having my house clean and getting ready for Bridget's birthday party. Yes, I obsess about having things clean around here...the floors, the carpet, the grounds outside, etc. It wasn't so bad before G was diagnosed with cancer but now, I'm realizing its just a way for me to take control. Everything I'm feeling is 100 times intensified these days and I'm still trying to figure it all out in my head. I am very hopeful that the prognosis is positive for Gabriella but the steps to get through this are going to be tough and there will be unknowns along the way. Cleaning, organizing, purging dresser drawers, clothes and kitchen drawers gives me control over my world. I know what the outcome will be....clean. If I'm not cleaning, I'm exercising, running, pulling weeds (I guess that's another form of cleaning), etc. but trust me, I do spend lots of time with my girls and enjoy every moment; even the tough ones ;-). If you see me vacuuming or blowing the yard at midnight... just wave and tell me it will all be ok!

Friday, I actually made it to an ACLS/BLS class to renew my certificates. The week that Gabriella was diagnosed and we were going through hell, I happened to look in my wallet and realized my certs expired the end of March. I just new I wasn't going to get it done...the least of my worries and my manager was great about it. But now that things are settling down for the moment, I wanted to take the class. It was hard to leave but I knew Gabriella was feeing great and the girls were going to be with daddy. I got to feel a little bit normal for the day. As I walked down to see my manager, I just couldn't help myself and tears overtook me. Just to know how much support is coming from my co-workers overwhelmed me and I feel so lucky to have that support. It was wonderful to talk with my manager, Maryanne and assistant manager, Dulce. Thanks you guys!

Bridget's birthday party was so much fun! We had a petting zoo with bunnies, pigmy goats, chickens and a baby pig that squealed like he was going to die when being picked up. Bridgy had a Minnie Mouse themed cakes and cupcakes courtesy of Sassy Cakes and Cupcakes (me ;-)). They could barely keep their hands off the sweets before the party even started. Mostly, both of the girls had a wonderful time playing with the animals and didn't leave the animal pin the whole time! It was a great day celebrating with our closest friends and family.

As for today, Sunday, the girls and I went down to meet my sister, Andy and his great family at his parents beach house in Aptos. It was incredibly beautiful at the beach and we had an AMAZING day!!! The girls ran around in the sand with their cousins playing in the waves and just enjoying life! It was wonderful for me as well because it just felt so good to be out and about. We are so lucky to live in such an amazing area and have such an amazing support system! I am most thankful that Gabriella is feeling so great most of the time and that we DON'T have to be in the hospital day in and day out!!! G having cancer sucks ass but I am so thankful that it is not worse and that we are able to enjoy life!!

Wednesday will be our next inpatient visit for the three big chemo medications. Maybe that's why I wanted to play so much this weekend! She feels pretty crummy the weekend following the 3 chemo's and the weekend after that her immunity drops so this weekend was a perfect time to get out and enjoy.