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Cousins in the pool & pearls

My aunt and uncle are in town to celebrate Thanksgiving with my cousin and his family. Part of their stay involves having the older two grandkids stay with them at a hotel so they can swim. My aunt invites us to bring the Shecklets down to meet their cousins and swim. The 6 kids had a great time spending close to 3 hours in the pool!

After having pizza for dinner, everyone sang HBD to me and we had cupcakes. Yum! Then my aunt gave me a small gift bag containing a Christmas pin of my Grandma Fran’s and the pearl ring she always wore. The pearls in the ring were given to my grandma by my Grandpa Bill – he got them in Japan during WWII. I am thrilled to have this piece of jewelry to remind me of my grandparents 💗

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Celebrating another milestone

I’m turning another year older in a few days – and it’s a “special” birthday.

My friend, Michelle, planned a get together at a local restaurant and a great group of friends showed up to help me celebrate! I wish I had had our server take a group picture of everyone, but one of my friends did capture these pictures for me. (The lone color one is of the ladies I know from our old parish – several who have known me since before we had kids.)

In the invite, Michelle offered to put together a spiritual bouquet for me. On the vase that held 40 roses are the prayers she collected. I can’t tell you how much the love, support, and friendship of the ladies who came tonight (and many others,) means to me – especially as I close in on the “T-2 months til surgery” mark, which coincidentally is my actual birthday. I am truly blessed to have so many beautiful women supporting me in the rough times and celebrating with me in the joyful times. ❤️

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Bartering Fair 2017

Shecklet #3 had fun bartering at school this afternoon. The first graders prepared many items to trade with their friends and parents. To end the day, they got to enjoy snacks that were representative of the ancient Egyptian times.

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Meet my UCSD AN Surgeons

The two surgeons who I plan to have remove my tumor in January were featured in a press release from UC San Diego Health.  I’m grateful to have had the time to research my options and select a team who focuses on my type of tumor.

I’m still not thrilled with what I’ve had to choose in terms of losing my hearing, but I am working on coming to terms with it.  Accepting, maybe?  I’m sure I’ll feel differently post-surgery when reality hits me, but for now, I’m doing my best to keep my perspective focused on the positive.

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Zoo visit

We took the kids to the zoo to see the animals and vote for the name of the new baby gorilla. It was a pretty nice day for November.

After the zoo, I was able to go shopping with Michelle. It was great to have several hours to catch up (kid-free) and wander through the stores at the mall. I usually don’t care much for shopping, but when you’re with a friend, it’s much more enjoyable. 🙂

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Indoor jumping

The local mall has trampolines with harnesses set up for kids (and some adults) to jump and flip on. We took the Shecklets tonight to give it a try.

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A day with friends

I had to take Shecklet #3 to an appointment to have stitches removed from her finger today. 😞 My friend, M, was willing to take Shecklet #4 for the morning so she didn’t have to tag along to the doctor’s office.

#4 and her buddy had a great time playing! (Photo credit – My friend M.)

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Through it

A friend of mine in my women’s group at church was recently telling me about how there have been times in her life when she has known she needs to go THROUGH something to get to the other side. There’s no going around the circumstances that have come my way or my family’s way lately. We can only go THROUGH them.

It’s been an extremely difficult week and a half. Probably one of the hardest to date. But I’ve clung to my faith (even if it was by a thread at times,) and have caught a glimpse of what my friend was talking about regarding going THROUGH our challenges. Then I saw this in the restroom at church today. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

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Date planning – moving forward

Not much has happened since my last tumor/surgery update.  I’ve more or less been waiting for 11/1 to hit so I can confirm in-network status with my insurance one more time. The email I received back from Kris a week and a half ago (Kris is the UCSD patient navigator for Dr. Friedman,) contained two January surgery date options.  The one I finally decided to move forward with is 1/23/18.  It’s a Tuesday.

I spoke with Kris on the phone again this afternoon.  She was able to give me a list of “to do’s” that I plan to start working on tomorrow:

  • Send MRI report, audiogram and MRI scans to UCSD
  • Get registered in UCSD system so I have an MR #
  • Forward MR# to Kris so she can get surgery approval from my insurance carrier
  • Set up a pre-op physical with my primary doctor within 30 days of surgery & fax reports/results to UCSD

Once my date is “official,” Jake and I can work on making plans/reservations for flights and lodging while we’re in California as well as begin to put together a plan for family and friends who have so graciously offered to help us on the home front while we’re away (and upon return.)  I know I’ve said this before – I can’t believe this is my reality.  I’m making plans to have surgery to remove a brain tumor.  It’s so surreal.