A Change Would Do You Good

In my last post I told you a change was coming but more on that later………in Cancer World, I postponed my Pet Scan until after head coconut’s wedding. Two weeks before it my anxiety ramped up right on schedule until….my insurance denied it! Dr. Rachel did a peer-to-peer appeal and went up four levels and still they denied it since they won’t approve “surveillance” scans in the absence of a symptom or sign of cancer. Ironic isn’t it? How can you monitor me without a Pet Scan and since I only have one kidney, I can’t have the contrast dye involved in a Cat Scan. After a lengthy check in with Doc Rachel we decided to forgo the fight for now and settled on a Cat Scan without contrast. The bastards! The good, perhaps amazing, news is that my tumor markers are stable and the Cat Scan did not show any signs of cancer other than the inactive tumor under my right kidney. I want to trust in its accuracy and since my blood work was good, I’m going to take it. As Tim/Blanket says, “the miracle continues.” I have been NEAD for 30 months without any treatment! Kinda nutty! My favorite nurse, Katie D. (after Kelsey) sent me a funny picture to celebrate!

Now, on to other stuff. I did the podcast about metastatic breast cancer and Metavivor with Candace Dalton, the Medium, along with Blanket and my friend Brunnie. You can hear it by looking for Healing Grace with Candace Dalton dated August 28th, 2018. She is awesome and funny!

Last week I was invited to the MBC Project at the Broad Institute at MIT to film an interview about their new campaign “Count Me IN” along with Beth Fairchild and Sheila McGlown. It was fun and interesting, the director asked me some thought-provoking questions during my interview and had clearly read my blog and done her research on me! And more talking about ME! We also lunched with the directors of the project, Corrie Painter and Nick Wagle.  Beth and I talked about the upcoming Metavivor Stage IV Stampede (October 9-10) at the Capitol in Washington DC and MET Up Die-IN. It will be my third die-in, which just gets harder when people keep dying who were at the last two. I also plan to join Beth and Metavivor in San Antonio for the Breast Cancer Symposium in December where the new #This Is MBC campaign will be revealed. I’ve never been to Texas, maybe I’ll get some cowboy boots! (Doubtful since my wardrobe consists of converse sneakers and sandals). Doc Rachel will be there to give a presentation too. Win-win! I am grateful to have the time and energy to do this. I couldn’t do it working full-time and definitely not without Blanket and the Coconuts. Bridget might come too!

Speaking of the little coconut, Bridget has landed a wonderful new job as the Merchandising Manager and Marketing Coordinator at Neatly Nested in South Boston. She was trying to figure out her path after leaving education and developing her Instagram blog Let_ B_TellYou about fashion and design. This job marries her skill sets in so many ways with her degree in art and graphic design. She is a natural-born event planner! We are very excited for her!!!!! Of course her decorating skills have kicked in and she and Noah are refurnishing (nesting) their apartment.

Now about the head coconut. Unless you live on another planet, you’ve probably heard that Kelsey and Evan were married on August 25th in a gorgeous garden under a beautiful blue sky. It would have been my parents 75th wedding anniversary. Tim and I flooded our FB with photos and videos like the obnoxious, proud and beaming parents we are. The whole 3 day event was magical and fun with family and friends. The wedding itself was romantic in every way, with my life long friend, Jack, officiating. It was intimate and vintage, and the bride and groom never looked happier. Love was definitely in the air! The coconuts convinced the DJ to play Prince for me and Kelsey and I danced away to Little Red Corvette and Party Like It’s 1999. It was a full circle moment for me. When I woke up from my coma in April 2016, they told me Prince had died and I did not believe them. I truly believed they were lying! The brain works in mysterious ways!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now about that change—-Tim Blanket and I are buying a house this Friday in Onset on the water and moving! It wasn’t really as sudden as it might seem. When we are alone we have talked about what next phase in our life would we go through when it came time to downsize and retire. Neither of us expected to be retired so early–we thought we would work another 2-3 years. Now our house seems too big, especially in the winter, and I have always longed to live by the ocean. Neither of us really wanted a condo, so….out driving one day we drove through a little neighborhood in Onset Bay and saw a house for sale. It is on top of a hill, above a yacht marina with ocean views all around including a third floor loft and sweet gardens. It has two decks and lots of glass and light. It just felt right so why wait? Needless to say we were nervous waiting on my test results but Blanket is committed to the drive to Dana Farber, whatever form that takes. We have been cleaning, tossing, and donating like crazy to get ready to list our house on Canton St next week. Who has over 1,000 books? Yup, we do!! It’s a lot to move but things are shaping up and photographs are happening tomorrow. Believe me, I hope change will do me good.

Happy 96th birthday Dad, wherever you are.