AND WE WAIT …

My most recent PET scan was last Friday

My chest CT was yesterday

My doctors’ appointments (oncologist and chest surgeon) are tomorrow

And so dear friends, while awaiting test results, let’s hope for the best …

Annie

AND YET ANOTHER MYSTERY IS SOLVED!

 Oh my gosh!  Though I’ve not gained so much as a pound, it’s no wonder why my face has become so round as to have lost its definition!  This change has puzzled me for months …

E

Below is a description of one of my medications—

“Breo Ellipta inhalation powder contains a combination of fluticasone and vilanterol. Fluticasone is a steroid that prevents the release of substances in the body that cause inflammation. Vilanterol is a bronchodilator that works by relaxing muscles in the airways to improve breathing.”

Cowabunga!  I’ve been ingesting my Brio inhaler, daily, for close to two years!  The fact that this medication is composed of a steroid compound has never occurred to me until, yesterday, when I was engaged in conversation with a friend, who like many others, suggested that my face was as round as an apple.  As I get along with a little help from my friends (and family) I tune in whenever their questions and personal perceptions come my way—

Yesterday, my friend asked—Annie, have you been prescribed steroids?

Not since the last time I was on chemo, which was a year and a half ago.

Then, something clicked, and my inhaler came to mind.  Upon researching Brio on the internet—I released a sigh of relief as months of my apple-cheeked mystery had been solved!  Rather than swallowing steroids prescribed to minimize inflammation, I’ve been inhaling them.

 🙋🏻‍♀️🤓Super Sleuth Apple-faced Annie

A HEARTFELT PERSPECTIVE

My spirit’s in much better shape, today, than was true on Monday.  On Tuesday, Will and I talked about how overwhelmed we’d felt (for different reasons) upon arriving home from the coast, and I think airing our individual concerns with each other offered us both a sense of relief, though nothing that had Will feeling stressed and me feeling sad has changed except for our attitudes—and, as always, attitude is everything.

As you can imagine, the transition back to the bio-dome has been a bit rocky, but fortunately, Will and I were able to adjust attitudes that had overwhelmed our capacity to spotlight ‘the bright side’ of our lives..

With thankfulness, Will and I discussed our good fortune to be the parents of the trio of men whom our sons have all grown to be as this reality is the greatest blessing any mother and father can experience.  

Together and individually, Barry, Steven and David enhance our good times while also easing our way through life’s harsh realities.

Their presence and heartfelt generosity contribute more to the positively focused nature of our spirits’ well-being than any other aspect of our lives.    

As to our five week stay in CA—though not perfect, by any means (Will’s pain-ridden back injury, for example) memory is sure to recall the best of times in a resort setting that felt like an oasis (having left our worries at home), and the time we enjoyed with family and friends, felt—idyllic.

As to this week’s return to reality—

Will has already seen the oral surgeon, his internist, and his dermatologist.

I’ve had cancer-marker blood tests and, yesterday was my quarterly PET scan.  Next week’s calendar is filled with additional scans, an ultra sound and doctor’s appointments.

Any wonder why time spent on the west coast with loved ones felt idyllic?  Attitude and Perspective are everything!

Annie

PS  Today is my 60th high school reunion.  It’s the first one I’ve ever missed.  Two of my closest friends, who live in proximity to tonight’s festivities, have decided not to attend.  Individually, they’ve texted that it wouldn’t be fun—without me.  Have I really had such a lasting effect on those who’ve had an indelible effect on me?

PHOTOS—A SAMPLING OF FIVE HEAVENLY WEEKS

Since I was unable to participate in most of our family outings, much of my enjoyment proved vicarious by way of pouring over photos (taken with cell phones) at the end of each day.  So here’s a sampling, starting with Ravi and her friend, Alexa, enjoying:

A day at the beach—

  Ravi cutting up at dinner with Daddy and Uncle Barry

Ray and Marie

                                    Marie and Tony

Merle Mack Will and me

                            Andi Michael Will and me

            Will enjoying the breakfast of champions

            Grandchildren—the best medicine, ever!

                              A day at the county fair

David helping Will to pack us up as five idyllic weeks draw to an end

How were Will and I so fortunate as to have left the desert’s sweltering heat in favor of enjoying five weeks in paradise with family and friends?

Over these past three years, CANCER and COVID provided for no vacations, which is why we accrued more than five weeks of condo time that had rolled over from one year to the next, and as you can imagine, our family enjoyed every minute of relaxation spent together in this idyllic salt sea setting to which Will and I hope to return, twice more, before two additional roll-over weeks expire as 2022 bows out, offering 2023 center stage …

And while we’re considering how fast time flies when we’re finally free to have fun with family and friends, let’s enjoy a moment of nostalgia by watching a quick video taken at the resort, six years ago, when Ravi’s love of music felt so free of self consciousness as to have activated this animated toddler’s wholehearted participation in any activity that had stimulated her natural freedom of expression:

Annie

 

TRANSITION

On Thursday of last week, early afternoon, the plan, referred to in my last post, came to fruition, offering me a sense of relief.  Then, Will and I rested in readiness to enjoy several hours with dear college friends, who had driven up from San Diego.  Later, that evening, David arrived at the condo to enjoy our last weekend with family, on the coast.

On Friday, my dear friend, Cath, came to visit, and as with all of our family and friends, our time, together, was spent enjoying each other in the fresh air, surrounded by the gorgeous, colorful, garden setting of the resort.

On Saturday,  David helped us pack up, ensuring that Will carried nothing heavy and I did not over-tax the limits of my energy.  At the completion of that feat, David drove us to Barry’s, where we all hung out in the backyard before the whole family enjoyed dinner on the patio of a favorite neighborhood, Italian restaurant. 

On Sunday morning, Barry’s family arrived at the condo with Starbucks to give us a loving send off while Barry and David loaded our car.  Upon arriving home from our idyllic five week stay on the west coast (and being that Will’s back injury is not fully healed), Steven came over to empty our fully-loaded car.  As we were tuckered out after our six hour drive, we enjoyed a dinner comprised of chips and lemonade, feeling like the most fortune parents in the world.

On Monday, the hardest thing about being home was knowing it’s too hot to go outside and breathe in fresh sea air (or go anywhere indoors, for that matter), while enjoying so many of the people I love …

I was so much less aware of cancer in CA …

On Tuesday, today, my spirit is in much better shape.  Yesterday, Will and I talked about the natural let down we were both experiencing—how overwhelmed we’d each felt (for a variety of reasons, some the same, others not), and I think airing our individual concerns with each other offered us both a sense of relief, though everything that had Will feeling stressed and me feeling sad has not changed—with one exception—our attitudes, looking forward, offer a loving, wholesome vibe.

Talking always brings things out and allows us to know where we are in the world. We have dealt with so much stress and continue to have to deal with harsh realities. Lots of testing and appointments with doctors coming up—What would I do without Will and our sons and their families and extended family and our friends …

Andi will be here in an hour.

Next week, David plans to drive home.

My sister and her husband plan to be here early in September.

As I look forward, my life, filled with countless blessings, feels so much better, today than yesterday.

What a difference a day makes (when the bright side of life is foremost in my mind).

Attitude (change for the better) is everything

Next time we meet—photos

Annie

AN UNFORESEEN PLAN

 Timing is everything

Attitude is everything

As timing and attitude aligned

A plan came together that had

Never entered my mind concerning

A specific person who has been

Relaxing at this idyllic resort

At the very same time as is true of

Will and me…

Annie

MY INNER BRAIN FOOLED ME, AGAIN

 Yesterday’s post feels so profound that I plan to review my thoughts several times in hopes of training my brain to absorb the validity of every word more deeply than ever before.  Why? Because the insight-driven guidance offered up for my consideration—though the title of yesterday’s post was directed at you—exemplifies my subconscious agility fooling me into believing that the inner stress in need of identifying had not been aimed at spotlighting metastatic cancer leading toward my demise until that vital message to my conscious self had neared completion.

At times, my inner brain fools my conscious self in a good way—

In short, we witnessed my positively focused power of intuition pen a post, the content of which had bypassed the reactive portion of my defense system so as to keep my conscious connection to logic on track, knowing that, otherwise, my train of thought might have scared me half to death. .

Annie