"We come from the land of the ice and snow..." for some "California dreaming..."

This about sums it up!

 

Next to John and Ashley's Front Door.

 

We have had some beautiful days in sunny California.  We have been enjoying the park with everything green and growing!  This is an incredibly healing environment, especially for Minnesota people.  I usually need a few days to recover after chemo, but not here.  We have been taking long walks, playing with Olivia at the park, sitting together outside with bare feet.  It's those simple things that make me feel both peaceful and alive. 

Ashley and John brought Maya home on Friday, March 14. There is nothing quite like holding a baby.   It's fun to see my little sister as a mother.  I reminded her she used to refer to my children as "snot machines" when she was young.  She wasn't sure if she wanted children of her own.  She wondered, as we all do, if she was up for the job.  Ashley is one of the most compassionate, caring people I know.  She has already cared for many lives in this world.  It's funny how we sometimes don't see the most beautiful things, the most obvious things, in ourselves. 

I have enjoyed getting to know John.  He is kind, supportive and loving.  I am grateful and happy for them.  John's parents, Mary and Dan, invited us over to their house for dinner.  We had a lovely evening, talking and laughing. Olivia enjoyed playing in their backyard and meeting their chickens. 

John also gave my mom and me some accupuncture.  Ahhh... 
I love accupuncture.  

Some random pictures:



Napping in the sunshine.

Beautiful green spaces

 

 

 

 

Playing at the park.

 

 

 

Holding Maya!

 

 

 

Peeking into the stroller.

 

Olivia working on making some pretty jewelry
with a bead kit John's mother, Mary,
gave her.

 

 

This tree is next to John and Ashley's deck.
A squirrel lives in this tree,
 peeks around it and chatters
when we sit on the deck.

 

George lounging in the sunshine.

 

Maya

 

Maya and Mama.

 

We soaked her up.

 

All wrapped up and cuddled close.

 

Swinging!

 

Playing!

 

 

Teeter-

 

-Totter!

 

 

 Thank you,

Ashley and John

for sharing your home,

your furry children,

and your sweet Maya with us!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday, Maya Magnolia Frink!





We arrived in Davis, California after 11pm.  Ashley was lying in bed, looking at something on her computer.  We took one look at her and knew she was in labor.

 

Our mom sat down next to Ashley and asked, "How are you?" 

 

"A little uncomfortable." Ashley told us.

 

John reported some regular contractions.  And we encouraged Ashley to get up and take a short walk through the park behind their home. 

 

We were exhausted and got settled in for the night while John drove Ashley to the Sutter-Davis Birthing Center about 10 minutes away from their house. 

 

I woke up around 4:30am when they came back home to sleep, because contractions weren't getting closer.  Then, I woke up at around 6:00am, when Ashley's water broke and they were headed back in.

 

My sister is a brave woman.  Her baby was known to be in a breech-butt first position and doctors had been unable to manually move the baby to a head-down position.  The doctor would push on her abdomen and try to move and coax the baby, but the baby would always settle back into her favorite spot.  Ashley and John were seeing a Midwife for their prenatal care and were approached to speak to a filmmaker doing a documentary about the working relationships between Midwives and Obstetricians.  They were interested in filming a breech delivery. 

 

Ashley and John did their research.  They were not willing to put the baby or Ashley at risk, however, if the baby could be born without a surgical intervention, they wanted to try.  

 

The filmmaker had notified Ashley and John that she would be in California for 3 days around the baby's due date.  Ashley left it up to the baby if they would participate.

 

So this morning, as Ashley and John went back to the birthing center, a surgical team was assembling, in case a c-section was necessary, and the filmmaker was en route to film the birth. 

 

Maya Magnolia Frink was born March 12 at 8:55am.  She weighs 8 pounds, 3 ounces.  She was born breech and her birth will be part of this documentary:

 

http://www.thehospitalmidwife.com/

 

 

Ashley, John and Maya

 



Baby Maya

Mama and Baby



Olivia falling in love



Maya and Grandpa

Look!  We have the same hair!

Congratulations, Ashley, John,
Mousie, Layla, Zorra,
George, Orange Kitty, Maisie
and Maya-
You have a beautiful family!

 

California Roadtripping + Chemo 5/2

After my Chemo- Round 5/ Dose 2- I AM OUT OF HERE!  Olivia and I are heading west to California with my parents to visit my sister, Ashley, her fiancee, John, and hopefully to meet their new baby who is due TODAY.  Larissa was my chemo buddy this afternoon.  We had Jimmy-Johns sandwiches and lots of laughs.

Cookie as big as her face!



Fun



taking



Selfies!

 

After chemo, we went back home so I could finish packing, get things settled for Mark, Nan, Larissa and Amore and wait for my parents

to pick Olivia and me up.

 

 

 

 

Roadtripping

 

My parents are some serious roadtrippers.  My mom had worked her night shift the night before and slept during the day.  They took turns driving and sleeping while Olivia and I rode along.  It takes about 30 hours to drive about 2000 miles from Minnesota to Davis, California. 

Here are some moments from the trip:

 

 

In Iowa, being tall makes a person
a bathroom-stall-peeper.

 

Olivia burning some energy with Grandma.

Midwestern sunset.

 

 



Salad time






Olivia and Grandpa with a new friend.




Wet butt.

 





A bit surreal to watch Abraham Lincoln
get belted by a blizzard.

  









Wyoming snowstorms and accidents.

 

More snowy mountains ahead.


 

Check this out-



This Nevada Rest Stop is basically a shed
with a hole in the floor
and a plastic cone positioned over the hole
with a toilet seat attached.
Olivia took one quick look at that setup 
and suddenly
she didn't have to go potty anymore. 
My mom held Olivia above the seat,
her car keys
dangling dangerously from her finger,
over that ominous hole.
Olivia refused to give up her pee.
I grabbed the keys.
We laughed.
My mom said Olivia was lucky
she didn't drop the keys.
We would have had to send someone
down the hole after them...
someone very small.

Somehow, we expected a bit more
from gambling, glitzy Nevada. 




Nevada, thanks to you,
Olivia decided
it was better to hide under a blanket 
and better to pee and poop in a pull-up
rather than risk falling into your roadside hole.
 
We named this pull-up "Mr. Stinky." 
We asked Olivia,
"What should we do with Mr. Stinky?"
She suggested we throw Mr. Stinky
at the mountains. 
That wasn't even a choice.

Bye, Bye, Mr. Stinky.
Sweet Dreams, Nevada.
Sweet, Stinky dreams.



FYI to the people trying to sell stuff:
To people in the medical field
a "Blow-out" is a poopy diaper
that has exceeded it's maximum capacity
and then some.
"Blow-Out" as a marketing tool
either grosses us out
or makes us laugh
or brings up memories better left in the past.
A "Blow-Out" does not entice us to buy.

 
 

Natalie is 14!

Happy Birthday Natalie!! 

 

Fourteen years ago, I woke up in Mexico and before the night ended I was back in Minnesota welcoming a little girl who stole my heart. Natalie Angela Marie, thank you for making me a mom. I love watching you grow into a beautiful young lady. Happy Birthday!!

Mark being silly!

Nan being 14!

Making wishes...

Chemo Date- Erubulin Round 5, Dose 1

My chemo was scheduled for Monday 3/3.  As usual, my mom and I headed over to the hospital for our 4pm chemo date.  When we arrived, the hospital infusion center nurses informed me that Pharmacy "lost" my Erubulin- again. 

For example, here is one of my statements from January.  This is how much it costs to get one dose of Erubulin:

Let me try to break that down. Of the $21,155.10:
-Pharmacy gets $470.10: for pre-meds, to check, maybe mix and send my chemo.
-IV Therapy gets $508.00: to start a peripheral IV, use some pumps, nurses to run the pumps?
-Medical/Surgical supplies comes to $133.50: IV start kit, IV tubing, normal saline IV bag, bandaids and such.
-Laboratory gets $675.40: to run my pre-chemo labs.
-Radiology-XR gets $566.20: this is when I had those lymph node biopsies.  
-Treatment/Observation Room costs $318.80 for me to sit in a chair and watch Ellen.
-Erubulin costs $16,483.10 per dose.

Wow. Just Wow.

This isn't like losing a quarter in the sofa cushions or losing a dollar to the wind.  I think "lost" is the wrong word here.  I think of how many people are involved with one dose of chemo- ordering it, manufacturing it, transporting, preparing, infusing it, etc.  It's a long chain with lots of room for potential error.  I should probably be amazed when it goes so smoothly most of the time.  I am not a scientist. I don't know how these things affect my cancer, or ultimately, my life.   

So today, I got a call that the Erubulin showed up from whatever detour it took, whatever hidey-hole it was in.  I reluctantly went against my chemo-only-on-Monday rule and decided to get my chemo today to keep it on a schedule of sorts.  The nurses said they were baffled as to where it my Erubulin had gone. I really didn't want to dwell on it. I had already let it go.  They gave me a cafeteria gift card for for my inconvenience.  I said, "Thank you."  Mark likes the hospital pudding.

Here is $16,483.10 being pushed into my vein.

Just Wow...



Dermatology Appt

 

 My skin rash.

 

Olivia redecorating the exam room table.

 

A sack of hopeful cures.