summer's end and "Get Your Rear in Gear"

Cancer aside, it's been a pretty good summer.  I'm about a month out from my reversal surgery now and healthy enough to be eating salad and blueberries again along with all the other foods I was missing. I am also healthy enough to have started my next round of chemo. This current and hopefully last round of "clean-up" chemo consists of chemo pills (brand name :Xeloda), four in the morning and four in the evening. Because the pills are so toxic I can't touch them with my bare hands, but yes, I do then swallow them. I will take these pills for six "rounds," each round consisting of two weeks of taking the pills followed by one week off. If all goes smoothly I will be done with this last part of my treatment by mid-December. For the first week or so of taking the pills, I felt pretty crummy, but I have had progressively more better days and I hope this will continue.

All things considered recovery had gone pretty well. That is not to say there haven’t been some lows, some painful patches and tearful moments (or hours) as well, but there have been an unexpected number of bright spots along the way too. In fact I suppose those two sentences are a somewhat accurate account of the past 6 months overall. At my follow-up appointment last week with my surgeon at Dana Farber, he was pleased with my recovery and even said that my incisions looked beautiful, which I found amusing given how they look to me and compared to how my stomach used to look, but gracefully I accepted the compliment just the same.

Flo and Bea have gotten to do some pretty neat things this summer including spending a week in Santa Fe with my extended family for my aunt's wedding in early August. Per their reports, after the wedding which was at the Museum of International Folk Art, some highlights of the week were building forts with their cousins and eating countless Jelly Belly's (diverted from the wedding favor baskets they were tasked to help fill). I was sad not to be there with them and the rest of my family, but also thankful for a quiet week at home. I had time to nap, and walk, which I have been doing a lot of these days, go to appointments and make more appointments. Robbie and I barely knew what to make of the lovely uninterrupted dinners and conversations on the porch in the evenings. We were also able to spend a weekend in Burlington, VT with cousins and a day in Boston to see Book of Mormon.

happy campers on messy games day at Camp Kesem

Before the girls had a chance to unpack their bags from Santa Fe, they were packing back up for a week at Camp Kesem. If you are not familiar with Kesem, it is a nationwide organization for children whose parents have or had cancer. The Camp Kesem location Flo and Bea attended was in New Hampshire's lake's region about an hour north of us. Kesem focuses on giving campers a week of being a kid and having fun all with other kids and counselors who "get it"-a week that is free of worries that may have become a part of life at home. 

The first counselor I met when we arrived had on a t-shirt that read, "Until there's a cure, there's a camp."  Everything about the place felt welcoming and inclusive and thanks to thousands of volunteers and generous donations the camp is free for all these children. Flo and Bea had an excellent week of crafts, s'mores, crazy paint games and boating, along with some meaningful evening "cabin chats" with their small groups. They are already looking forward to going back next summer.

I hope the summer has included some fun and relaxation for you even if it did go by all too quickly. Flo and Bea are excited about riding their bikes to school together tomorrow for their first days of fourth and sixth grades.

I also want to tell you that Robbie and the girls and I (hopefully I will be feeling up for it) are participating in our local Get Your Rear In Gear run/walk at Gould Hill Orchard in Hopkinton on September 8th.  We would love it if you want to join us for the walk. This annual event is organized by the Colon Cancer Coalition an organization that works to increase screening and raise awareness of colon cancer, especially among the under-50 crowd. The funds raised at this event go directly back to our community.  You can sign up to join us or contribute to our effort at:  http://join.coloncancercoalition.org/goto/juliana