As promised, here are a few more pictures from the triplet's graduation ceremony:
And yesterday was Tim's birthday! He wanted to experience a little bit of Lebanon before we go next week (oh yeah - did I mention we're (the whole family is!) going on a missions trip to Beirut, Lebanon?!!!), so he found a Lebanese restaurant up in Wesley Chapel called Chick & Peas. We went there for dinner and just had such a special time sharing a meal together along with Tim opening presents. The owners are Lebanese so they spent some time with us sharing a little more about the culture and the food, and even wrote down some Lebanese dishes they recommended we try when we are over there. I have to say, their food was outstanding, so if that is a taste of things to come (literally) we are in for a real treat over there! They gave us almond filled dates for desert as a birthday present to Tim - wasn't that just so incredibly sweet (again - literally!!)? Love that place! Then, we went to a Kombucha bar next to Chuck's Natural Marketplace called Windmill Taphouse, and had Kombucha and ice cream cake and watched the movie Risen! What a combination! We showed up, ordered our Kombucha drinks, and then they have a 30 seat theater there, so we brought the movie Risen, and the bar maid put the movie in for us. I had dropped off a Carvel Ice Cream cake earlier in the day, and so towards the end she brought the ice cream cake into the theater with candles lit so we could sing Happy Birthday to Tim! Talk about going above and beyond! This is another place that is on my new favorites list for sure! It has a really great atmosphere and is just so unique - love it!! As my mom used to say, I think we made a memory! :-) Here are a couple of pictures of our time together last night:
Now for the cancer update. I honestly have been enjoying not thinking about the whole cancer thing very much, but realize people need to know what's going on as I'm aware of and am so thankful for so many of you praying for me. I had a doctor's appointment on May 29 to go over the results of 2 tests they performed on my urine (one is called a cytology test and the other is called a FISH test), and to have a cystoscopy of my bladder to see what it looks like. The good news is that the 2 tests were negative (although I have tested false negatives before), and the doctor felt like the scope of my bladder looked good. I had a couple of pink spots but he said normally, even though my cancer is microscopic, it would present with some red spots. So he recommended once a month chemo for 3 months and then repeat the 2 tests and the cystoscopy. He said after that, regardless of the results then, I will need a biopsy (which will probably happen late October or possibly November) since that is the only definitive test for bladder cancer and I have yet to test negative on any of the 3 bladder biopsies they've taken over the past 2 years. I still have slight pain every once in a while when I go, but he said I would be hypersensitive to anything like that and most of us experience slight discomfort every once in a while that we wouldn't really notice unless we've had bladder cancer. So here's what I said bullet pointed:
So, like I said, I'm just not spending too much of my time thinking about it. I went from denial about it to kind of obsessing over it (hard not to when you're getting chemo every week and in a lot of pain) to just trying to have an open hand and heart to whatever God has in store for me. It definitely has made milestones this year (the triplet's graduation, birthdays (Nicholas & Tim's), going to Lebanon) that much more sweeter when there was a real possibility I wasn't even going to be here for any of them. I hope I've done a good job of updating you and answering any questions you may have had about where I'm at with this cancer business. I continue to appreciate your prayers, especially for the biopsy in the fall (would love to finally have the elusive negative biopsy!) and am just so thankful for the support network I've had throughout this whole thing. Blessings to you all! Next update to this blog will include our itinerary for our missions trip to Lebanon! We leave a week from tomorrow!!
- Had 2 tests (cytology and FISH) done on my bladder and were negative (have tested false neg before)
- Had a cystocopy done on my bladder that the doctor said looked ok.
- Will have once a month maintenance chemo at the end of June, July, & August
- Will repeat cytology and FISH and cystocopy in September
- Will have biopsies done on my bladder in October or November
So, like I said, I'm just not spending too much of my time thinking about it. I went from denial about it to kind of obsessing over it (hard not to when you're getting chemo every week and in a lot of pain) to just trying to have an open hand and heart to whatever God has in store for me. It definitely has made milestones this year (the triplet's graduation, birthdays (Nicholas & Tim's), going to Lebanon) that much more sweeter when there was a real possibility I wasn't even going to be here for any of them. I hope I've done a good job of updating you and answering any questions you may have had about where I'm at with this cancer business. I continue to appreciate your prayers, especially for the biopsy in the fall (would love to finally have the elusive negative biopsy!) and am just so thankful for the support network I've had throughout this whole thing. Blessings to you all! Next update to this blog will include our itinerary for our missions trip to Lebanon! We leave a week from tomorrow!!
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