Where has the time gone???

Today I'm grateful for...
Routines
Feeling really good
An optimistic future
Family and friends supportive love

Wow, where has the last month gone? As I look back on the blog entries I see that it's been 3 weeks since my last posting. So, you're probably wondering "WHAT THE HECK HAS BEEN GOING ON?" Let me tell you a little about it.

First, the family took a short flight to the Washington DC area to visit Lulu's younger sister Ibis for Thanksgiving. What were we thinking flying with four kids under the age of ten? Lourdes is at that age where she isn't very happy about sitting in a seat for more than a few minutes let alone hours. The flight back from DC was long and I couldn't get the cutie girl to sleep. She wanted to, of course, get out of her seat and see her surrounding? I spent much of the flight turning on and off the overhead reading light above her seat (that seemed to be the best entertainment of the trip?) Unfortunately, the light wasn't working on the second leg of the flight (from Chicago to Reno) so I had to use the light above my seat. The following two or three nights I was waking up to various nightmares of lighting storm flashes, dark scary places that bright things would jump out at me, and dreams of driving through a tunnel (as the lights blinked above the car as I passed at 60 miles per hour). It got so bad, at one point I needed to start using my thumb to turn the light on and off, because my index finger so sore. When we had returned to Reno, I suggested to Lulu that we could change our Christmas plans and celebrate it here in Reno (we have tickets to visit Puerto Rico for Christmas week, and that's a 9 all day flight there and back)? We seriously debated it, but in the end we felt that changing the plans at this juncture would be harder on us then just getting through this? The visit with Lulu's family was nice, as we all haven't been together since last summer, and we won't be seeing Ibis' family this holiday season, because they will be spending it with her husband's family in Ohio.

Second, Lulu has been to UCSF a couple of times in the last three weeks (one of these without me). Yesterday Lulu was seen at the clinic for treatment plan addressing her over active ovaries and future breast surgery. Lulu ended up going down to San Francisco with a friend since I had patients scheduled at the office, and she didn't want me to reschedule him on her behalf. She told me that the doctors have said that if she wanted to she could have both the reconstruction and ovaries removal both during the same surgery and this could be done in May or June. This is good news, because we had both been thinking that Lulu would have to have a surgery in January for the ovaries and then an additional one in May or June for the breasts? The only drawback to wanting until Spring for the ovaries to be removed, is that Lulu will have to continue the estrogen suppression shots monthly to keep the estrogen in check. I asked if she might be able to get the shots here in Reno, so we would have to make monthly trips down to SF for these. The UCSF doctors think that this is very possible, and Lulu is to make a appointment with a Reno oncologist to administer the future shots. The other trip down about two weeks ago was to follow up on Lulu's healing after the last surgery, and the talk with the newest surgeon. This woman doctor we found out specializes in female reproductive surgery. She lead us through the need for Lulu to have out her ovaries and what the science says about the production of the estrogen and the recurrence of estrogen positive breast cancers like Lulu's. She seems very confident that the right choice for Lulu is to get the over active ovaries out, and subsequently reduce the chance of recurrence of Lulu's cancer. During this same trip to UCSF Lulu received her monthly estrogen shot, and blood test.

The next trip down to the clinic will be for a bone marrow biopsy. Since Lulu was part of the trial study for this new anti-cancer drug, even though she didn't finish the trial, the doctors would like to get a final count of cancer cells in her bones. Lulu has this biopsy scheduled for the Monday after New Years. I can tell that she isn't very excited about this procedure (who would be when you're getting a large, long needle thrust into your hip and the mushy insides of your bone sucked out)? I know that we're both apprehensive about whether or not the trial drug treatment and all the side effects were worth it? Will the bone marrow test show a reduction in the cancer cells, or would the 4 months of drug treatment not produce any noticeable results?

I've been busy working on my Christmas gifts for Lulu and the other immediate family. Last year for Christmas I put together a hard cover picture book of Lourdes first 6 months of life. With pictures of her first being born, the day she could come home from the hospital, and the family sharing their home life with her. I put it together with the thought that I was going to give Lulu, grandparents, and aunts a cherished memory book of "The little miracle angel girl", but I found out that I got more out of the project then I could even have imagined. Putting together the photos and seeing the growth of Lourdes in those first 180 days meant so much to me. We are so very lucky, and blessed to have her with us, and everyday I'm thankful that I get a opportunity to be part of her life. This year I decided that I was going to improve on last years theme, so I've been working on a hard cover picture book that chronicles all our kids from 2000 (when Carter was born) to 2010. I have been finding some really great pictures to add to the book, and with the exception of a coupe of family portraits, only picture of the kids are in the project. I love these kids, and just as last year picture book did, this one is bringing me great job. I'm not sure that I have enjoyed working so hard on a project as I have with this one? I can't wait to see the joy that this treasured memory will bring Lulu on Christmas morning. I'm think of doing this kind of project every Christmas, and bring joy to not only all the receive the book, but also to myself while I put it together. I will have an extra book made for viewing at the office, so anyone who might be a patient of Dentistry for Kids (or just wants to stop by to see the picture books) can see the labor of my love?