Life here on Buchanan street has been punctuated by celebrations and it is time I shared a few of them with you.
Saturday May 24 Mom and Dad accepted an offer on their house on Division street. We were all very timid to become excited about this piece of news because we had experienced one deal falling though and this one initially seemed a bit shaky. But, the potential buyers persevered through their own issues and Mom and Dad did their best to deal with the repair issues that arose during the inspection process. The end result is that yesterday Mom and Dad officially sold their house and received the money from the sale. We all went out to dinner and gelato to celebrate the conclusion of the final house deal in this three house process! We are all so pleased and proud that we were able to sell two houses and buy a new one in just about three months. We had lots of contingency plans if this process were to have taken longer, but we are happy that we never had to use them.
Wednesday June 18 Mom had an appointment with her oncologist Dr. Kenyon. At this appointment Mom, Dad, and Dr. Kenyon decided on the path forward for Mom's treatment. First Dr. Kenyon examined Mom and told her that he can no longer feel the cancer in her breast. What a wonderful thing to hear! He then told them that this is the point in treatment where the decisions become a bit experimental. He said that some doctors would proceed right to surgery at this point. But, there is data coming out of research in Texas where if one does another round of a different chemotherapy before going to surgery, then the survival statistics are even better. Dr. Kenyon gave Mom the choice of being done with chemo (for now) and doing the surgery, or having four more doses of chemo, three weeks apart, and then moving on to surgery. Mom decided to do the additional round of chemo in pursuit of those better numbers.
Tuesday June 24 Mom had her last chemotherapy session of this first round of 12 weekly doses. This was a reason to celebrate too! Even though Mom will be continuing with chemo, coming to the end of the 12 felt like a big deal. At this final chemo the nurse took the time to explain the new chemo regime to Mom. One of the best things that Mom heard is that because her blood count numbers have stayed so high during this first round, she is going into the second round in very good shape. The new chemo is an unknown and thus causes Mom anxiety, but there is no reason to believe that it will necessarily be worse or harder. We will all just have to wait and see.
Here are a few other reasons to celebrate:
Mom gets a week off chemo before she starts the new stuff!
Jeremiah, Nan, and Sam are coming for the Fourth of July! Baby Sam has been to our house once already on June 9 and this was his very first long distance outing.
It is summer vacation! Steve and the kids are home and that makes for a much fuller, activity filled household.
Once again thank you to everyone who reads this and follows our family's story. We appreciate all your interest, support, and good vibes.
Love, Emily
