Snow Day

Monday we got hit with a nice storm dumping 28 inches of snow on the ground. The awesomeness of the winters first storm forced me to take the next day off from work so we could go out and play. We headed out to Schultz trailhead (get a map) pointed to the top of the nearest mountain and headed up. The sky was a brilliant blue which contrasted beautifully against the pure white snow. Leo was literally in over his head and had to bound like a hyperactive rabbit which wore him out. We were the first ones out and were breaking trail up the side of the mountain to an overlook at about 8,500 feet with an amazing view of the city.
Jill continues to fight the fight with a positive attitude which has translated into a more energy, healthy appetite, iron stomach, and the continued annihilation of Mr. Oligoastrocytoma.
We're going to be staying in Flagstaff for Christmas then heading off to San Diego over New Year's for my Great Aunt Lorraine's 90th birthday.

November Adventures

We made it through the first month of our 6 month chemo therapy cycle. The death pills knocked Jill on her ass for most of the month, but she found her second wind at the end of the month and now we're back in the ring and coming down off the top ropes with the folding chair! We're almost done with "chemo week" for Month two! Just like the first month, there was some puking the first night, but none since then.
The speech therapy has been going really well in that SHE DOESN'T NEED IT!!!! Take that Oligoastrocytoma!!!! Score another one for the Jillio! She met with the speech therapist who basically said (and I paraphrase), "tumor? What tumor? I don't see any evidence of a tumor? You don't need any speech therapy"
We had a quiet Thanksgiving here at home making "Afghani Lamb with Spinach" (lamb for me and tempeh for Jill).
* 2 1/2 pound Lamb stew meat - preferably leg
* 1/3 cup Olive oil
* 3/4 pound Onions; diced large
* 4 Teaspoons Chopped garlic
* 2 Teaspoons of Turmeric
* 1/4 Teaspoons of Nutmeg
* 1/4 Teaspoons of Ground cardamom
* 1 Teaspoons of Crushed red pepper
* 1/2 Teaspoons of Cinnamon
* 32 oz Can tomatoes; drain & chop
* 1 cup Rich brown veal stock or
* 1 cup Rich beef stock
* 1/3 pound Fresh spinach; wash & drain
* 1/2 cup Yogurt
* 1 tablespoons of Grated lemon peel Salt; to taste
* 1/4 cup Pine nuts (Roasted at 350 F. for about 3.5 minutes)
It was pretty good! No turkeys were harmed in the making of this meal (just one little lamb)
We sure do have lots to be thankful for.
Other Thanksgiving weekend events included a clogged bathroom, and a broken mountain bike. The bathroom is now fixed...the mountain bike is not.
Sorry for slacking on the blog!

Here is a picture of our Thanksgiving dinner and another one from out motorcycle tour through the Swiss Alps back in 2005. That's one of my best friends Tom and Jill showing how tough she is during 8 hours on the back of a motorcycle. Oh if every day could be like that!

Death Pills

Jill got her blood work back on Monday with the good news that her white blood cells were back up to a normal level. That was exciting for about 0.02 milliseconds because now its time for chemo therapy which started Monday night. It's 5 days/month for 6 months double dose (compared to the first round). Monday night consisted of Jill puking quinoa all over the bathroom most the night. We were going to post a picture of that but who knows who'll get offended by such crude blogging. Last night the promethazine (anti nausea medication) started to kick in; no pukage in the bathroom or anywhere else.

Halloween

Yesterday was Halloween and Jill had the BEST costume EVER! Vampire Head Victim was what one person called it. It was great! She covered most of the scar with fake blood leaving some of the scar exposed. People were doing double takes to try to figure out what was going on. I dressed up as Zorro, but with my blond/red mustache it looked more like Wesley from the Princess Bride. Either way worked.
We only had about 15 kids Trick or Treating which was disappointing (except for the leftover candy!) then we headed downtown which was packed with people.

Jill's blood work last week still showed a low white blood cell count so she's going to have more blood drawn tomorrow. Once the white blood cells get back to a normal level we kick them down again with the next round of chemo therapy.

Balance (ying and yang)

We've had the first of what will be many follow up MRI's. Sunday night we drove down to Phoenix, spent a lovely hour and a half sitting in traffic further solidifying our decision to live in Flagstaff. After missing out on dinner, we had to settle for a glass of wine (oh darn) with our good friends James and Danielle the night before our appointment. Monday morning we made it to the hospital for blood work, MRI, and appointments with Dr. Porter (neuro oncologist) and Dr. Vora (radiation oncologist). The blood work showed a low white blood cell count which is to be expected after the radiation and chemo. The MRI looked very good. It's hard to explain the results of the MRI with out an M.D. after my name, but I'll try. The MRI looked really good. OK I'm charging everyone's insurance for that diagnosis (except for those of you Socialists in Canada). While we cannot be 100 percent sure that there was no tumor left due to the scar tissue from the surgery Dr. Porter was so impressed with Jill's recovery that she recommended her to be in the Mayo Clinic Magazine as an inspiration to other patients. Don't worry, we're not giving up the book rights and Oprah is next on the list.
We are learning how to balance our life with the BIG "C" and life in general. After her white blood cells get back to normal it's going to be another round of chemo (5 days/month for 6 months). We continue to monitor Mr. Oligoastrocytoma every other month, then move on to every three months, then every six. Pretty soon we'll be saying "yeah I used to have cancer, but I beat the sh*t out of that mofo"

3 months

Today was the 3rd month anniversary of the first brain surgery (is it weird to call it an anniversary?) Jill and I ran the Solstice mountain trail 10K run. Jill was also the honorary starter for the race. We had a blast! Alexis and Danielle joined us in our quest to cover the 6.2 miles (10K for you Tom) along some of the most beautiful single track trails in Flagstaff. It was so inspiring to see Jill cross the finish line a mere 3 months after two brain surgeries, and 6 weeks of chemo and radiation. How's this for inspiration? She signed up for the Big Sur marathon (get a map Tom) next April. I'm really proud of her.

Done and Not Quite Done

We've made it through the 6 week "boot camp" of chemo and radiation. What an exhausting experience. The Radiation Department has a bell for when treatment is done with the following inscription:

Ringing Out

Ring this bell
Three times well
The toll to clearly say
My treatments are done
It's course has run
And I am on my way

Jill rang that bell louder than anyone ever has! People came running from the next building over thinking that it was the dinner bell! It was AWESOME!
So we're done...well, not quite. She gets a month off then starts back up with the chemo therapy for 5 days/month. This will last at least 6 months. Yeah, that sucks. But, at least its a pill which can be taken from the comfort of our own home. At least it's 5 days/month and not every day.

Things we're looking forward to:
Solstice running race!
camping
a normal appetite
no more nausea
hair (although all I can do is hope)
driving
that bottle of champagne we got for our anniversary
going back to work
scab falling off

Things we're dreading:
speech therapy
more chemo
more nausea
the unknown