Oh, Dear

Well, I took Tucker and Sadie to the Groomer. I guess that Katie was just a bit excited and did not stop at the requested "bath and toe nails". Okay, Now I am looking for ideas on how to break the new cut, shave, to M-E. I also am looking for a dog therapist and hoping the SPS Scottie Protective Services are not called.

The Picture says it all.

School Cloths Shopping makes me need Drugs

HELP.........

I called my mom and she failed me. I asked her to come to Seattle to come and take M-E school shopping. She had money she needs someone that can stand to do the job.

My now former friend Vickie refused right after mom said "NO" . She had not one bit of sympathy. Dr. Tracy has offered to step in but I don't know if that is enough shoppers. I have asked my real friend Maggie. She has not said yes yet but I just sent the e-mail. I am just in a panic.

I think"School Cloth Shopping" might be akin to Halloween Costume creation. For the last 9 years the process was a matter of aquiring 8 items of clothing. Now I think we have to have things that match and fit and have more variety.

I have to simply realize that Holy Names has let me down. They don't have uniforms anymore. I can not imagine that they are more interested in teaching and imparting good values than checking on uniform compliance. Go figure.

Oh, well, I am going to see what I can do. I will even take her on Sunday to see if I can make a stab at the process. If you hear things like "oh Mom, what are you thinking!!!!! "and "Just make a decision" you will know it is not going well.

All Quiet on the Home Front

This is the Blanket that M-E choose for herself. She received it last Christmas. She has it on her bed, even now. I had ordered another one I thought " would speak to her" but I was wrong.

One of these was sent to us by Pendleton for the main "helper" Woodie. He is a tall unassuming gentleman that was so kind and so pleased when he was presented with this "offering". I have written Pendleton a note thanking them but I guess I will never really be able to let them know how kind they were to give us the blankets. I asked for 12 and they simply asked where to send them. We did not end up needing that many.

If you are ever anywhere they do business do thank them again for me.

Maybe the link will work

If you click on the link, you will end up at the Evening Magazine web site. Click on Kids Helping Kids through Cancer and it will play the piece.

Maybe

Off To Camp

The girls left this morning for Camp Good Times. It is put on by the American Cancer Society. The girls flew to Spokane and were to be met by the counselors. M-E was concerned about not having a shirt from last year. She decided to wear the Ms. Marion Tri-Atholon shirt. M-E said, Mom they will know that I have something to do with cancer when they see this.

I wish I had never heard those words out of her mouth but know that she is right. I was so excited to see her be able to go this year. We had to cancer last year because her numbers and complications got in the way.

Not this year.

A Rare Moment of Quiet

What a difference a year makes.

Tucker has a fair amount of puppy energy and we have been having a great summer. I have been spending lots of time in the back in the "covered" area reading. I have several books going and in the back yard I have been reading Darwin, his Daughter and Evolution. It was written by one of his great grandchildren from letters and lots of other things like family mementos and the stories of his relatives. It is not the easiest book to read because it if full of English Victorian references that probably mean something to someone English. It is sort of 19th century name dropping. Besides that, it is very very interesting. Darwin was in his 20's when he sailed on the Beagle and did not publish his theory until much later. He was independent wealthy had 7 or 8 kids and was not sure if God existed. Lots of people were questioning many things about their world.

Reading this makes me shudder. Annie, Darwin's daughter dies at age 10 from a 9 month illness. It was never determined during their time what it was but the opinion is TB. The treatments, the medications, the fact anyone ever lived after seeing the doctor is mindboggling. Anyone for some mercury and ammonia, is guess it perks one right up......... Not to mention a bit of brandy with gruel. They were very pleased with water therapy. It did no harm which was improvement over "treatment."

I wonder if someone is going to read this blog, 150 years from now and have the same thoughts, Cytoxon, Methotrexate, Prednison, what were those people thinking?

We all think we live in the most advanced times. My Grandmother used to state with wonder the things she had seen in her lifetime. From the horse and buggy to Man on the Moon. She was born pre-antibiotics.

We have been born in Pre-???? I guess only time will tell. I only wish we spent more money on research and less on testing the urine of athletes.

A Star is Born

Monday night, 7:00 p.m. Mary-Elizabeth and Whitney will be on Evening Magazine.

Channel 5. I hope I combed my hair.

This should be an easy time.......

Yesterday was one of those days. One of those days that should be normal and things should be going great, but they just are not. M-E is a bundle of anxiety that is being fed by Prednisone and the need to have life be "normal". But as I have mentioned before, we will never get back to the place of our Pre-Frederica life. It is just not going to happen.

Sometimes I just have to be here to try and keep things on an even keel. Prednisone makes more than cheeks bigger. Each decision is bigger, each thought and problem is more out of control, each moment of disaster is more of a crisis. Each bark becomes a cacophony.

Maybe I am the one with the issues. We have been doing this for 2 plus years, it just seems like a life time. I just would like a chance to take a breath and not have to think about all of it for a while. I wish the only problem we were facing was the buying of "School Cloths"

We have not even started and I don't know how to do it and ...... can you sense my panic? Maybe I need the drugs..

Some Thoughts from a Teenager

I found this on a site called Never Ending Squirrel Tales. I copied this for the blog because I thought it was so telling.

We are having a good summer but the level of anxiety is increasing a bit of cancer, prednisone and pre-high school jitters.

You Know You're a Teenager with Cancer When ...
You have syringes in your school locker
Your 6-year old brother does a show-and-tell about ‘how my sister got her nasogastric tube out!’ and gave the class a detailed description of how they insert it
You love school
You’re on the way home from school on the train and you see a girl sitting across from you with a large mole on her face. You say to her, “You better get that checked out that looks malignant”
Most of your wardrobe consists of pajamas
You know more about the human body than your biology teacher
Your little brother wants to be an oncologist or a neurosurgeon when he grows up, not just ‘a doctor’
You reset and flush your own drip
You feel at home when you walk into the hospital
You accidentally call one of the teachers, ‘doctor’
You have a very big collection of hats and bandanas
You start to correct Grey’s Anatomy, House, Scrubs and ER when they mispronounce a disease or procedure
You start to say ‘I was only in hospital for a month’
You forget it’s Christmas day
Last week's spelling test was written on the back of pathology results
You can swallow six pills at once without water
You have explained so many times about your illness and what’s been happening that you just write it all down to give to people who ask
Your friends get sympathy nerve pain
Your mom reads “You Know You’re the Parent of a Kid with Cancer When...” and she is in tears with laughter (it’s the loudest I’ve ever heard her laugh!)
You puke on your bedroom floor and clean it up yourself
Vomit does not freak you out anymore
There is Tegaderm® wrappers all over your floor
You’ve watched so much television that you never want to watch it again
You carry around Microshield® everywhere you go
Your English teacher does a spelling test theme on medicine and you get them all correct
Your health teacher asks, “Can anyone give me some names of drugs that are legal or used for medical purposes?” and you can list off a few hundred.
You go out to lunch with your friends and you eat two sandwiches, a large milkshake, a cookie, a packet of chips and some jellys and are still hungry. Your friend hasn’t even got through two bites of her sandwich yet. (Prednisolone!)
Your parents have bought you electronics that you hardly even use. (eg. Playstation 2, laptop, ipod, newer ipod and a Nintendo DS.) and they don’t care
You walk around the hospital and know all the nurses
You bought a medical dictionary
After you use Emla® you have a numb limb
You start to realize who your real friends are
You touch a staircase at the mall and your mom urges you to wash your hands
People at your school assume you’ve left or you're pregnant
The hospital is so familiar to you, you could walk around with your eyes closed
All the flowers, cards and presents you get from people won’t fit in your bag when you leave the hospital
The background picture on your phone is five bald people
You don’t need to worry about shaving your legs any longer
You don’t worry about using mascara any more!
You decorate your band-aids
When you start to grow a little bit of hair, your mom goes and gets the camera and takes pictures of you and sends it to all your family members
You have always wanted your hair to be curly and now, thanks to the chemo, it is!
All the bookmarked pages on your internet are cancer websites
You are so excited when you go out and buy your first bottle of hair conditioner and shampoo and your mom is crying!
You can’t —it’s your first appointment in 12 months with the hairdresser
You know everyone at the hospital so well that they are almost like family members
You forget to put sun block on when walking outside the hospital on a cold winter’s day and you end up being very burnt
You’re in the emergency department at 3:00am and you start explaining what’s been happening to a resident and she says she doesn’t understand what you’re saying because you’re using too many medical terms and that I should speak like a 15 year old.
You love to flick through hairdressing magazines and look at the different hairstyles and you can’t wait until you can style your hair
When you walk out of the hospital for the first time after a long admission you think “Oh, is that what the outside world looks like?”
On school vaccination day, people are crying their eyes out with fear and you're sitting there smiling.
You don't know your way around school, but you know the hospital back to front
You have developed so many allergies since chemo that you ask for “a hypoallergenic sandwich" at the local cafe
The teachers at school do a 'drug search' through everyone’s locker and bag and even though you have syringes, durogesic patches and other drugs, the teacher just laughs.
You get so angry when you see someone smoking
You celebrated your birthday in the hospital and they decorated the whole ward for you
After discharge, you get up in the middle of the night at home and try to find your drip pole and unplug it so you can go to the bathroom
Your main source of nutrition comes from iceypoles and mint chewing gum
Your parents get mistaken for staff members
You get sick of the plain flavor down your nasogastric tube, so you request chocolate or strawberry
You are asked in school what the best invention made is; most people respond with 'computer' and 'mobile phone,' but you say 'Ondansteron®'
At school you are referred to as 'the sick girl'
You have been asked a billion times about whether or not drips hurt and what the hospital food is like
Your little brother stands in front of the microwave while it's on and says, “Look Mom! I'm getting radiotherapy!”
You get bored on weekends because there's no school
The head of nursing on the oncology ward has a photo of you and her on her desk
You have seen all the movies on the ward so many times you have memorized the scripts
You pig out on food at lunchtime and you realize that a group of girls are looking at you in disgust. You smile at them and say "prednisolone"
You come to school and a boy in your class says, “you smell like hospital”
You can change your hair color, hair style and length everyday by buying different wigs
You have no idea where the plates and bowls are kept in the kitchen at your house, but you know where everything is in the hospital kitchen
You have caused your mom many grey hairs
You search the internet each night to see if there have been any breakthrough treatments for cancer
You are so used to sleeping in the hospital beds that it starts to feel kind of strange when you get back home in your own bed
You love reading these sorts of lists, laughter is the best medicine (unless you have a stomach ache or are extremely queasy from chemo)
You love to decorate the hospital
A regular day for you includes medications, port and IV flushes, pathology results, doctor's calls and appointments and/or hospital admissions
You have read inspirational stories about cancer for hours on end
When people ask you where you went on the holidays you say "Boston Children's"
You can't remember how to do long division but you can calculate, measure and convert mls, mmls and mgs of meds
You have been in remission for a while so you apply for bench sitter for the school football team. The coach asks you "Are you taking any sort of illegal drugs, sleeping tablets, pain killers or steroids?" and you say "Yes, the last three ring a bell."
You make up jokes about cancer
The word "remission" is the sort of word that's said with the Hallelujah Chorus in the background
You have fainted at school (yet again) and your teachers ring an ambulance. The paramedics come in and say 'oh, you again!'
Your mom reads "You Know You're The Babysitter Of a Kid With Cancer When...." and says "We need her to come and baby-sit you!"
Your little sister goes up to a elderly bald man in the shopping mall and says "My brother has cancer too!"
You don't get asked to take off your hat in class anymore
Six of your friends have got their heads shaved for charity
Your little sister plays 'doctor' and she is trying to take her doll's temperture with an ear themoetor from a non existant ear, and she gets angry when it says 'low'
You have watched almost all Disney movies and episodes of Blue's Clues...and you're 14...
The nurses have memorized your patient UR number
You're trying to put on weight rather than lose it
All your friends bought you hats for your birthday
You're pretty sure the people in radiology are sick of seeing you
Your essential beauty item is sunscreen
Your nasogastric tube and port have become a part of the anatomy
You have a very interesting “What I did on the holidays” school report
The last most glamorous thing you wore was sweat pants
You start to think if you didn’t have cancer, you wouldn’t be as strong a person as you are today
A ‘big’ meal for you is classified as a few jellies and an iceypole (unfortunately I haven’t yet been started on prednisolone)

The Grill and Fingers up the Nose

Again the link will take you to some more pictures. These are of the only pictures we could take at the Medicine Man's place. Notice the outhouse. It did not have a door. Belle learned she had a much stronger bladder than she knew.

I thought the finger nose placement was interesting. Alex and Holden. Different worlds, yet evidently boys will be boys.

Holden was just grubby and covered with hay pieces. He kept throwing things at the sheep and goats and running away. We had a bit of a chat. "They scare me". How does that make you feel? "Scared". So much for my fine ability to communicate.

I also want you to look at the grill. The Medicine Man "needed" it for the ceremony. It was a nice grill.

Some of the Pictures

Okay, all of them, not edited, just there. I have such a hard time with learning how to do all of this. The link ought to take you to the Yahoo Albums.

As I look, we had such a good time. Route 66, the Grand Canyon, Miles of open desert, lots of open space. It is quite the place.

Rocks

This was my favorite rock formation. I loved the fact that the three pieces, mesas? cliffs, thingies had all taken the same shape while being separate. I was amazed by the symmetry they began the same and then were eroded and shaped and carved by the elements. Sun, rain, wind, cold, leukemia. At first glance they could be called the three sisters, one not much different from the other. Closer inspection reveals subtle but definite differences.

I guess Gwednolyn Brooks said it best in Boy Breaking Glass

"Each on other
is having different weather"

We all start out the same and little by little by the elements shape us, we are similar but the end result is very different if anyone cares to take a closer look.

Words don't always say it all

Sometimes pictures don't do it either. How do I explain what happened during the last week? I guess I should just state it as follows:

I will never be the same:

After catching the first and second and 30th peak at the Grand Canyon;
After seeing the sun peak through the clouds as the sun rises and the rain falls;
After seeing Condors soar ;
After watching a tufted squirrel with a white belly eat a pinion nut knowing that it's brother on the other side of the canyon has a black belly;
After seeing an elk just grazing ;
After seeing the eroded mesa in all the dusty purple, red, yellow and grey that the world could want;
After eating Navaho Tacos ( fry bread with chili and cheese and lettuce);
After seeing cloudy water from the tap;
After seeing a 100+ bent over Grandmother, weighted down by turquoise and years of hard labor;
After seeing a group of "Rez" dogs wagging their tells, knowing someone will open a package and feed them, eventually;
After seeing beautiful horses and colts on the side of road, with no cares and lots of good grass in the high desert;
After seeing the formations in Monument Valley, and feeling so small and realizing our time on earth is miniscule;
After seeing a Hogan next to a new house;
After seeing poverty and happy children playing, side by side;
After getting up into a jeep and going deep into a canyon to visit the abandoned homes of the Anizasi on the clift sides;
After seeing the kids playing on the bottom of the canyon under the cottonwood trees;
After hearing about how the US government cut down 3000 peach trees because they could;
After hearing how the Navajo love their land, barren and windy and desolate as it is;
After seeing the little head of a baby peak out from a cradle board;
After seeing the dirt floor of a Hogan with the medicine man sitting in the west,
After watching the buffalo robe, mountain lion skin and deer hide being made ready for Mary-Elizabeth;
After watching the making of a sand painting of a long life line with sand and corn meal and corn pollen, a path for her to follow;
After hearing everyone's clan being recited;
After watching my daughter leave and being led back in to sit on the robes that will give her strength;
After being transformed to another time and placed with chanting that touches your heart and sole and resonated with each syllable;
After watching the corn pollen being sprinkled and rubbed on all the right places;
After putting my hands in the medicine bag, with it's smooth cool rocks and corn pollen, placing the healing substance on my tongue, top of my head and dusting it towards the East, to honor the Dawn Spirit;
After talking with the medicine man as he told us of Winter Stories and more than a 1000 such ceremonies;
After hearing M-E explain what she saw and heard during the ceremony;
After joining in the drinking of the blue corn meal mush and feast of lamb and Navaho tortillas;
After chasing away endless flys that were hungry too;
After searching for rocks to send to Seattle, each more beautiful than the last;
After heading out into other parts of the Navaho Nation and seeing the big sky and rocks, and endless beauty;
After experiencing the kindness of others from a different world;
After visiting with young men that honor their traditions and tell the stories with their art;
After returning to the "real world" and knowing we have to make the journey again;

I still hear the chanting, the deep resonant sound that so profoundly changed us all.

Some Pictures

Just a few. Big holes, big rocks and little boys with an opinion. It was such a special time. I am so glad we took the time and went. The "Mitten" is one of two. The Navaho's believe that the Spirits left them to let us know that they would return.
The little boy was at the ceremony and trying to tell me his name was Holden by showing me. He was covered with dirt and straw because he was trying to feed the sheep and goats and they sort of scared him. More when I have a real minute.

WE ARE BACK.......

WE have been to another world and returned. We will never be the same but in a good way. There is so much to tell and so much to show. We took lots of pictures. Learned more than expected. Love Chinle and the whole southwest. Came home rested in some respects and exhausted in others.

The healing ceremony is hard to explain in words. It is a sound that is still resonating in my soul.

I will try at a later time. I just need to unpack and try to get some sleep and face the Belagona world tomorrow.

Time is close

We leave early in the morning. I am working on getting out of the office and then picking up drugs and other things. I have a feeling we will get it done and I figure there are plenty of shopping opportunities once we arrive.

Wish us luck. I will post if I can and will do so later if I can not.

This is an article that will be published this fall.

Taking the Long View by Lisa Brihagen, copywriter

Higher cure rates and fewer long-term effects from treatment are just two of the benefits adolescents and teenagers receive when their cancer is treated at pediatric medical centers. Among pediatric institutions, Children’s has some of the best survival outcomes in the nation.
When Mary Elizabeth Sierra-Lanham was having trouble seeing the blackboard at school, a routine eye exam showed that the optic nerve in her right eye was very swollen. A string of visits to different specialists led to an MRI that finally explained the problem – a lump in her head was pressing against a major vein.

That was when mom Sally Lanham brought Mary Elizabeth to Children’s where a second MRI and a blood test confirmed that her daughter had Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), a type of cancer where malignant white blood cells or "lymphoblasts" are overproduced in the bone marrow and can spread into the bloodstream and vital organs. ALL accounts for approximately 40 percent of all childhood cancer.

Although Lanham didn’t know it when she switched Mary Elizabeth’s care to Children’s, her decision may have saved her daughter’s life: adolescents and teenagers have a much better chance of beating ALL – more than 25 percent better – when they receive pediatric cancer treatments rather than those intended for adults. Separate studies in North America, France, The Netherlands and Italy confirm these findings.

"We’ve learned from years of research that teenagers have far fewer relapses when their treatment is longer and more aggressive than the less rigorous treatment that middle-agers and seniors receive," says pediatric oncologist Dr. Doug Hawkins. "Yet, we still see medical oncologists out in the community treating 15 to 21 year olds with the exact same protocols given to people who are decades older."

Adolescents and teens not only benefit from cancer treatments developed specifically for their age group, they also thrive in children’s hospitals where teams of skilled providers focus on their long-term health concerns and the unique needs of their entire family.
Reducing the risks

When a persistent cough and mysterious itchiness around the ankles sent 16-year-old Matthew Hale to his primary care physician, an X-ray revealed a tumor in the lymph nodes in his chest. Heeding the doctor’s advice, the Hales drove to Children’s that evening where members of the cancer team met them in the Emergency Department and began a series of tests to pinpoint the nature of the tumor.

After a biopsy, clinical oncologist Dr. Blythe Thomson broke the news that the tumor in Matthew’s chest was Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of cancer that can develop anywhere in the body’s lymph system and spread to almost any tissue or organ.
Matthew was surprised when Thomson spoke directly to him rather than to his parents. But it’s a strategy used by Thomson and her colleagues on the cancer care team that builds trust with teens and empowers them to take responsibility for their care.
"I was in shock about the diagnosis, but glad my doctor talked to me with my parents just listening," explains Matthew. "I prefer that."

The good news for teenagers with Hodgkin disease is that cure rates are well over 90 percent. However, the treatment, which includes both chemotherapy and radiation, can leave teens with serious long-term effects, such as infertility, secondary cancers, or damage to the heart, lungs and other organs that won’t appear until 10 to 30 years down the road.
"I’m always thinking about what life will be like when the kids get older and trying to find ways to make the treatments less toxic right now," says Dr. Debra Friedman, an expert on Hodgkin lymphoma who currently leads several national clinical trials aimed at reducing the long-term effects for teens who survive the disease.

Her research findings are lessening the risks of toxicity for those currently in treatment. For example, some teens whose Hodgkin disease responds quickly to chemotherapy no longer receive radiation. Those who respond more slowly to the chemotherapy still receive radiation but get a less aggressive type of chemotherapy that has fewer side effects.
For risks that cannot be mitigated, the cancer team works with patients to plan around them. For instance, teenage boys are encouraged to go to a local sperm bank so they’ll have the option to father children later in life even if their treatment leaves them sterile. Most parents, says Friedman, strongly advocate the trip.

A healing environment

Lanham keeps a Web journal that chronicles her family’s long journey with ALL – Mary Elizabeth, now 14, has been in treatment since August 2004. Lanham’s weekly entries chronicle day-to day details, including foods that Mary Elizabeth can tolerate, juggling schedules to get to appointments and her daughter’s uncommon reactions to medications. Her journal reflects a truth about childhood cancer that is well understood by clinicians in pediatric institutions: when a child – even a teen – is sick, the whole family is affected.

A host of specialists at Children’s helps families cope with all aspects of the cancer experience. Physicians and nurse specialists work with patients and families to teach them about the disease and develop a plan of treatment. Child life specialists, social workers and chaplains support patients, parents and siblings throughout the emotional journey.

"There’s a safety net of resources that’s available," says Katherine Hall, whose 20-year-old son Brandon decided to transfer his care for Hodgkin lymphoma from a community oncologist to Children’s. "When Brandon told his nurse practitioner about some nutritional issues he was having, she paged a nutritionist who was able to meet with Brandon immediately and give him suggestions tailor-made for a young man his age."

Mary Elizabeth recalls the MRI tech who played music and chatted with her during her first procedure at Children’s – the visit that confirmed her cancer diagnosis. "I had an MRI at another hospital and it was scary," says Mary Elizabeth. "They left me alone and no one checked on me. At Children’s, the staff tell stories and we laugh. I’ll miss them when I’m done with treatment."

Surviving is just the first step

The experience of having cancer – and being treated for it – can have lasting physical and emotional consequences. The Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academy of Sciences, recently recommended that survivorship programs be a focus of care for all cancer survivors.
Friedman directs one of the only survivorship programs in the country open to adolescents and teenagers who have survived childhood cancer. The program provides after-treatment clinical care and referrals, patient education, access to the most current cancer research and opportunities to participate in research to help others.

So in addition to the hugs and congratulations patients get from staff on the day that their cancer treatment is finally done, they also get a one-page piece of paper that may be more important than their high-school diploma. It is a treatment summary that gives the exact details of their therapy, what is known about long-term side effects, recommendations for future care and an invitation to Children’s cancer survivorship program.

"By 2010, one in every 250 young adults in the United States will have survived a childhood cancer. They could potentially live another 60-plus years," says Friedman. "As pediatric oncologists, part of our job is to look beyond the cure and think about their immediate post-treatment needs as well as those that will extend throughout their lives."

Sidebar: I love you, stay away!

Younger cancer patients tend to flourish with the intense attention and specialized play therapy they receive during their treatment. But teens can flounder when their normal trajectory toward self-reliance is cut short with frequent hospital stays and health concerns that isolate them from peers. Child life specialist Katie Tinholzen is a child and adolescent development expert who helps pediatric cancer patients of all ages cope with the hospital experience.
Tinholzen supports teens in their struggle to maintain control and independence at a time when they must be dependent on parents and health care providers. She encourages journaling, scrapbooking, songwriting and creating art to help teens process what’s happening to them and to make meaning of their cancer experience.

Tinholzen also helps worried parents sort through common coping strategies of teen patients – sleeping to escape or being ambivalent about the future, and trains clinicians to create a culture of respect around teen sensitivities with body image, privacy and communication.

Sidebar: Reaching Out
Northwest families living far away from pediatric cancer care must weigh receiving treatment at home with traveling to Children’s, which has some of the best outcomes for cure in the nation.
"That’s not a choice we want families to have to make," explains Dr. Russ Geyer, the medical director of Children’s Hematology/Oncology Department.

Patients in Alaska receive an initial evaluation at Children’s, then get their treatment from a Children’s pediatric oncologist practicing at Providence Children’s Hospital in Anchorage through a program set up by Children’s, the Alaska Native Medical Center, Providence and the state of Alaska.

Patients living in The Last Frontier receive the very same protocols and rigorous safety standards followed at Children’s with one exception – each step of their treatment plan is double-verified by fax instead of in person. Geyer and his team are working to set up a similar relationship with providers in Montana.

Sidebar: Proven Outcomes, Newest Treatments
Our 30-year involvement in pediatric research studies or "clinical trials" that shed light on how best to treat cancer is a key reason why Children’s survival rates are better than the national average. While only 5 percent of adults participate in clinical trials, more than 95 percent of children with cancer do participate. These clinical trials integrate treatment improvements gained from previous studies while trying therapies to answer new questions.

Children’s helped create – and remains a leader in –the Children’s Oncology Group (COG), a group of 240 pediatric medical institutions that studies new treatment options. An important aspect of COG’s research is to track the health of study participants over time in order to better understand the long-term effects of their treatments.

She is Back at Camp and the Healing Ceremony gets only Stranger

WE made a trek yesterday to places in Washington called Home and Maure and down roads with names like Herron with signs that said- Dead-end and No-Exit. I think those are the same thing but I am not sure.

There is a very good reason that the Camp people provide a bus. I would no more haul her to the end of the earth and go pick her up every year.....

The important thing is that she back. I saw where "they" were sprained. Makes perfect sense. The kids were very happy to see her. She was happy to be back. The place is a bit of heaven and I am sure she will do great.

The ceremony is getting stranger and stranger. Belle spent some time with Gerald King and explained the new accidents and he was deeply concerned. Things had to change. The Lamb dies but not in our presence. She can not be with the Lamb as it is dispatched. It will not help the healing. The ceremony time has been changed. It must now start very early in the morning and be finished by Noon. Why? you ask, well "I could explain it to you in Navaho" seems to be the answer. Also there will be a need for more money because the grill and wood need to be purchased.

Also did I mention that we have another lamb. Albert's Grandmother wants us to use. Well you cannot say no and of course you would be honored, and so Belle now has livestock.

Time to get ready for work.

Solid Tumors vs. The bone marrow kind

See, one is easy to see, one is fuzzy. We live in the fuzzy world.

As we travel through this process we begin to notice differences and to differentiate about childhood cancer.

It all begins out as BAD, VERY VERY BAD.

Then you begin to realize that there is BAD, BAD,BAD cancer. The kind that makes you go max out your credit cards and go on endless vacations and hope the end comes on a nice sandy beach in some sort of poetic way.
Some brain tumors, metastisized anything, liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, that sort of thing.

Then there is the BAD BAD BUT THERE IS HOPE kinds of cancer. They are generally solid tumors like Wilms tumors, Brain Tumors, or Neuro blastomas. A blastoma is a tumor of a group of nerve cells. They like to hang out in the stomach area and spread from there. They seems to be pretty do-able most of the time but then sometimes they hide out for a very long time and wait to make themselves known and then they are nasty but still can be fixed.

The thing about the cancers listed above is that they are solid. You can get a picture of them. You can focus on them. You can positively visualize that they are becoming smaller and are leaving. The treatment for them is usually less than a year. People spend lots of intense time and then they are done.

Mary-Elizabeth has a more ethereal kind of cancer. No one knows where it is. It is somewhere in her bone marrow but since bone marrow is in all the bones, it is hard to isolate. She has BAD BUT NOT THE WORST KIND OF LEUKEMIA. Some are much worse. Some immediately require transplants. She has the worst of the best kind. But it is all bad and takes a very long time to treat. They have to keep at it because some of the cells go dormant and then hide out. As I think about it, since the chemo kills everything, maybe all of her cell are getting killed and replaced by new cells all the time.

These cells that are bad hide in lots of places, her brain, her lymph system, and if she were a boy in her testicles. It is all so scary. How do we every know? How do we visualize? How do we every trust again?

Maybe we have to go through all this treatment so we get to the point that we would rather trust than continue chemo and blood draws and emergency trips to the hospital for sprained ankles and scraped feet.

This Link is to pictures of where she is supposed to be........

Fudgie Pudgies from the North Hill Bakery. Red White and Blue of course for the big birthday.



She was Packed. She bounded on to the bus around 9:30 a.m.

I came home, did a couple of things and then settled in for some serious sewing and DVD watching. I kept thinking I should take the dogs for an adventure, I should at least take them for a walk around the block. I should.....

About 4:30 I received "THE CALL" from Children's hospital. Tracy, our great Fellow that just happened to be on call, had been contacted by the nurse and M-E was on the way to the Mary Bridge in Tacoma. She had stepped off the steps, on to the beach and found herself with two sprained ankles and some nasty scraps that needed to be cleaned out. She had a huge contusion on her foot and was in a lot of pain. We talked to Tracy and she made a couple of calls and it helped make it better.

So grab the puppy and run out the door. About half way there, I realized I might have left the back door open. So... Call Vickie, she was kind enough to wake up and drive over to check. She returned my call to assure me that the door was now shut and locked.

I arrived around 5:30. She was in a room because I had called ahead to let them know that we "don't do waiting rooms". It was a mantra that had to be repeated more than once. There were two counselors with her and she appeared to be sort of okay. When they left she just sobbed. She is so so sad. She was in so much pain.(Yes I administered drugs) We were finally put into a room, saw a great doctor and had the whole XRay, scrubbed out the wound with special soap, wrapping of the ankle routine. (She has very high arches and no apparent fracture at this point.) We made it home around 11:00 p.m. Not bad.

Good things, food was great. Stop for a Spinach, Portobella Pannini sometime. The people were kind. I am not certain as to which person answered the Emergency Room Phone "Joe's Bar and Grill". I have never seen so many police and security at such a small facility. I can tell that there are some "issues" I don't usually encounter. You see, Tacoma General and Mary Bridges, share the same building but are very different entities. It appears to be the PI and Seattle Times sort of deal.

Well she is home, she wants to return to camp, she is on crutches and can barely walk. I have hope for her because this just could ruin her summer.

I talked with the doctors and it appears that she is going to be accident prone for a long time because she has no reflexes left from the Vincristine. Once she is done, she will regain them after about 2 years.

Right now I would just like her to to be able to walk.......

Keeping in Touch.

Just came across your blog while searching for people who maybe are going through what Iam.. I was diagnosed with AML last year... but I believe you are a true hero.. if it was my daughter, who is two now, it would just shatter me.. its so much easier that its me! BTW, is ME getting treated at the SCCA? Thats where I'm getting treated..n

Some one sent me the note above. Who ever sent it, I would love to keep in touch.

Yes M-E is in Seattle and I guess treated at SCCA. Since she was only 12 when she was diagnosed she is at Children's. We have SCCA doctors and as far as patients are concerned, it is seamless transition. I can only say that I feel so fortunate to be here with all the resources and wonderful caring doctors and nurses and staff. We are a walking advertisement for Children's. I just hope someday we can repay the kindness.

The Kids

Fall Out

Opps, some molars did not get sealed because of chemo and now there are some cavities.

Opps, we are finishing prednisone and heading off to camp and none of our shorts fit.

Opps we can not find the immunization records because they were moved and not put back and heaven knows where they are.

Opps, Mom is very grouchy and worried about camp this year but trying not to be.

Opps, the dogs are all going to have to sleep with me.

Opps, the house can get clean and stay that way.

Opps, I don't have to cook.

Opps, I think this is looking like better fall out than I expected.

Noise

It is all around. Even in these early mornings. We seem to have more than our fair share because Tucker is very vocal about life. he has lost his bone to Sadie for the third time. He does not think it is right and would like everyone to know about it.

See I have two two year olds. They see the world in the "MINE, All MINE" perspective. It is so much fun. As I recall there are Toddler Property Rules. They are simple and concise:

If I see it, it is MINE
If I ever saw it and see it again, it is MINE
If I touched or smelled it, it is MINE
If I touched, buried, it, left, it for something better, it is MINE
If I.........
This creates lots of noise but so does life.


The noise from the fire works seem to have calmed down. There are so many bangs and pops and whistles. Noise comes at you in lots of different directions and from many sourses. The noise of the felling of trees, the garbage trucks, the construction guys, the sirens. The birds letting everyone know they are in charge.

Then there is the noise in my head. "What if......."

She had a very bad experience with her last Spinal Chemo on the day before her birthday. Pain upon waking, head ache, then heart ache. She sobbed and sobbed about wanting to be normal and wanting to have this done. Wanting me to make it stop. How do you stop that noise?

All the noise in the world won't make the What If's..... go away. I don't think they will go for a very long time, if ever.

I guess the only thing to do is to listen.

Birthday Parties

Many came, many celebrated. Mary-Elizabeth felt loved an honored and most of all had a great time. What more can I say.

Note, M&M's the ones in the middle said

Happy 14
MEB

Okay, hold the applause. I do get mother of the year.

Thoughts on 14.

The link takes you to a year ago. We were at the tail end of her intensive treatment. What a different a year makes.

Things we know:

She is going to Holy Names.
Treatment ends in December.
Puppies are as much work as everyone remembers.
Flowers are so good for your soul.
Life does go on no matter how hard it feels.
Cleaning out the garage is sort of like ridding the world of flies. It is never going to happen.
Curly hair is a great thing to have for a few years during your life.

Pictures tomorrow.

Pendleton Blankets.

We are going to Arizona in three weeks. We leave on the 18th and are going to return on the 24th. Yes we are going to the High Arizona Desert in Mid-July. Yes, we are crazy. Yes we are going seeking all the healing the Navajo have to offer.

We will be seeking the balance the "sing" will provide. We are traveling thousands of mile and driving over uncertain highways to find balance.

To join in the sacrifice of lamb.
To join in the preparation of the lamb for the feast.
To join in the singing and the chanting and the dancing.
To join in the magic of the Hogan.

For this there is a price. A lamb, some money, our time and pilgrimage to this remote place, a quilt for the Medicine Woman, a Pendleton Blanket for the Helper, A Blanket of highest honor for the Medicine Man. A cherry pink shawl for the small child that will sing.

We will try not to offend. We will try to take something of ourselves to leave behind. We will partake and become a part of the clan for a few moments and seek the balance that comes with being there in that place with our clan members.

Pendleton is giving us the blankets for this ceremony. We originally asked for 12 and they opened their warehouse and said take them.

We don't need that many. We only will take what we need. We will always be touched by the generosity they have shown. We will always sing their praises. We will continue to sleep in cold times under "The Story Teller" and "Coyote and the Three Huckelberry Sisters" and cuddle under the Santa Fe Trail in the living room.

We will tell everyone of their kindness.

They should be proud that the blankets are so valued by the Dine'.

Spread the word of how wonderful they have been. Click on the link and do some looking. The blankets are like quilts some speak louder than others.

Life if Full of Surprises and Not all of Them Are Fun

I hate that I keep getting reminded how fragile life is and how "human" we are. I was in Marysville for a deposition yesterday. At the end of the Dep, the attorney announced that he did not know if he would be continuing after Friday. He was going in for a biopsy of a brain tumor in his left frontal lobe.

It was apparent that he had not told his client and things were a bit tense. When I arrived home I sent the following E-Mail.


Things I have learned that help me survive.

1. You need a notebook to keep the massive amounts of papers they throw at your in the effort for full disclosure.
2. You need a person to call and be in charge of managing "help".
3. When people asks your wife what she needs, she needs someone to do the laundry, clean the house, do the shopping and water the yard ........... Make a list of all the things that get done in a week and in the notebook and give out assignments. People are parallelized, they want to help but not be intrusive so a ready list helps everyone.
4. Put someone in charge of the taking and passing messages and start a blog so the info can be available.
5. Everyone is spiritual. It comes in lots of forms and you will find that lots of people are pulling for you. Good energy is good energy.
6. Zofran- it will be your friend if you have chemo.
7. Dry cereal if you have radiation.
8. Hats
9 Sunscreen
10. A subscription to NetFlix. Lucy and Twilight Zone are wonderful to watch.

The knowledge that what will be will be. Worry about the things you can change.

I offer my support in anyway possible. If your wife is going nuts please call. Now I know that she won't have the strength or time or ability to call. -See, the first person that wants to help.

It is so frustrating to be outside of the situation and not be able to effectuate any change. It is so hard to see the pain in others and know only time can make a difference.

No, Sadie is Alive and Well and Miffed

Sadie: I never asked for a baby brother.

Tucker: Play with me. Chase me. Let me bite your tail.

Sadie: I have tried to ignore him. Did I ever suggest I did not like being an only child.

Tucker. Come on, Come on, I will keep barking in that very irritating high pitch tone until you play. Come on, what would one bounce do!! Pretend

Sadie: Have you noticed the very annoying high pitched bark?

Tucker: See I have your bone, come get me.

Sadie: Okay I have had enough of this brat. What did you expect? I had to jump on top of him, hold him down, growl at him in a vicious and very serious way. Puppies are just not smart enough to be ignored. You are not doing anything to keep him under control!!!!!

Favorite Things

Long summer evenings
The laundry all done
The house clean
Dinner with no problems
Puppies that know what to do outside
Daughters that seem to be doing great
Learning new things
Road trips
Good wine
A mother who advocates Margueritas
Fountains that the raccoons leave alone
Health

Yes it is a rubber chicken with a purple bathing suit. What else would it be?

Historical Markers

I never knew if we stopped because my dad loved them, it was an excuse to get out of the car or because we needed a bit of history in our lives. A bit of history in the proper context.

We always stopped. Few passed by without notice. It has been a long time that I have been with the girls on a road that had any. Cross country travel is now punctuated by road side rest areas with cold water and blow dryers and McDonald's. It has lost some of it's charm.

I passed one on highway 12 and realized my mistake. I then stopped at the next one and made the kids get out of the car. Then, horrors of all horrors, I made the kids go with me the Whitman Mission. It was very hot and M-E was limping but we walked out the wagon. It sits on a part of Oregon Trail. A long time ago someone pointed out the trail in the desert. You can still see the wagon track in the ground after all these years. It is sort of sobering to realize that they are still there, visible. Tracks that held the wheels of so many hopes and dreams. It also makes it real to see even a short part of the trail.

We headed home after our stop. A bit more aware of the vast distances we could travel and the comfort of that passage.

Maybe we will look back at these words and pictures and these will be the historical markers of those that follow our journey in the future.

Trips

They come in many forms. They are forms of travel or sometimes a bad moment of dis-coordination. They often lead us to more than we expect or stop us from doing what we expect.

We just returned from Walla-Walla late last night. Does anyone know where Walla-Walla is? It is not a little bit beyond Yakima....

It was a pleasant drive, beautiful scenery. Little or no traffic. Easy to find the Hotel, there is nothing in the town that tall. A cute downtown. Good Mexican Food. We did not get up the nerve to try the Chinese.

M-E had "tripped" just before we left. She sprained her ankle getting out the boat at crew. Don't ask, I guess it is possible. So she was in pain and forced to stay at a hotel with no pool and no room service.

A good time was had by all. I made them go the Whitman Mission sight. They now appreciate their lives a bit more. What a life. Mary-E did not want to go to see where someone tried to force a new culture on others. I think she learned that we know that is not a good thing because it has been tried and failed.

See, Life is full of Trips.

Ms. Marion is about the Go do her Tri-Atholon

School is done. Summer has started. M-E is headed to high school. I attribute her great success to the teachers at St. Joseph's. They supported and helped M-E from the moment she was diagnosed with leukemia. Two years ago we started on our journey to this point. We have many miles to go but will make it with everyone's support.

Ms. Marion is biking, swimming, running, in Bend next week-end. With everyone's help she has raised $6000.00 for this effort. This is the last one she is going to do and wanted to get to $10,000.00 in honor of M-E. If you always meant to send her some money now is the time. The title is a link and will take you to the "site".

Over the past few months I have received several e-mails from Kathy Marion asking if __________ was someone I knew. More often than not it was. Thanks everyone.

What a Difference a Year Makes

We all have those big moments in our lives. Firsts that never leave our consciousness. We all have those historical moments that we never forget. Since I am so old they include things like JFK's death, 911, challenger. We also have personal moments that we never forget.

I have a whole bunch of them in my head between now and August 14th at 8:30 a.m. They start with June 17th at 5:20 p.m. The moment that Dr. Balter pulled back from looking at M-E and said: "We have a problem"

We sure did. We did not know for two more months what it was but it was a doozie. What more can I say.

I can say that M-E has had a chance to experience curly hair. She has learned what adversity can be. She has found personal strength. I have found out how important it is to let people help you. When there is nothing else to do, a roasted chicken does help. There are no empty gestures of kindness no matter how empty they might feel.

Someday days like June 17th, August 14th and so forth will seem like just another JFK day. One we remember but only for a moment. We are not quiet to the place where they have not further power over us. They will begin to recede when we add the "last day of treatment" to the list. It will get here. We are getting closer each day. Then we hold our breath for a very very long time and pray that continued remission is our friend.

Healing Ceremony

Healing Ceremony American Style


Tuesday July 18:

Depart Seattle before the Crack of Dawn
Arrive Phoenix at 10:30 some sort of time. Mountain?
Rent big honken SUV
( Try not to bond with gas guzzler)

Drive north to Grand Canyon
Stop at all the parks and look at big rocks.
Do not steal any.

Reservation at Red Feather Lodge
Plan to go into the park for dinner and Sun Set


Wednesday July 19

Go Back to the Grand Canyon Early before the it boils
Wed Hike, dehydrate

Thursday July 20

Leave early and head to Tuba City to find Dinosaur footprints.
Continue on to Chinle using "INDIAN COUNTRY MAP"

Arrive Chinle (God willing)

Reservations at Best Western
Swim and try to re-hydrate

Friday July 21:

Early morning sacrifice.
Making of Blood Sausage,
hang out and try to be politically correct and non judgment. Claim to have alergry to some ingredient used in the sausage to save face.

Meet with the Medicine Man and other members of the tribe.
Afternoon into the Canyon with a Navaho Guide
Hike, maybe go to Ship Rock or Swim and try to re-hydrate


Saturday July 22
Work on feast
Spend time with Medicine Man
Feast with Navaho healers and friends and family
Dancing, Singing
Enter the Hogan

Sunday July 23

Call Mom, it is her birthday
Head back to Phoenix,
Visit Winslow Crater

July 24 Fly back to Seattle

Birthday Invite

Almost 14

Host:
Sally Lanham
Location:
Lanham Home in Ballard614 N.W. 77th Street, Seattle, WA View Map
When:
Sunday, July 2, 12:00pm
Phone:
206-706-0708
Well, we made it another year. !3 is almost behind us and on to 14. Please come and join in the usual summer party fare. Your are more than welcome to add to the feast if you have a special favorite. I must say I might be convinced to fix one of my famous jello desserts.We look forward to you joining us.

We Lied -His Name is Sir Tucker of Berwick

He likes to explore deep deep jungles. He likes to try and make Sadie play. He likes to chew on yoguart containers. He likes to climb. He ran after Lucy. He slept all night. He and M-E went on a bus ride. He did not like the big noises.


M-E is exhausted. Her numbers are still high so they upped her chemo. They seems to do this every time. It always makes me nervous. It has been 22 months since diagnosis. It has been almost 24 months since we knew there was a problem. We have lived with leukemia for a very longtime..

Sir Berwick of Ballard (Ber) for Short

What can I add. M-E's puppy is alive, well and sleeping as I type. He is a sweet, sweet thing. He has a howl that I wish I could record and ears that become more floppy as he tires.

He has finally been named. I wanted Toad. Tucker seemed to fit. M-E did not think he looked like a chip or cappachino too black. Spanish names did not seem to work, Diablo, Negro Pablo. Chemo and Fred were also rejected out of hand.

Sadie is okay with this new addition. She seems more irritated than anything. She did manage to get on top of him yesterday and hold him down and let him know that all of the chew bones were hers, in case he were to forget. She makes noise but not much more. He has a healthy respect for her.

M-E is in heaven. She is great in taking him out and on walks (drags) and giving Sadie more attention.

He is so little that he can sleep in a cat carrier and has been sleeping about 4 or 5 hours in a row at night. I woke him up last night to go outside. He love to hide in the bushes and the undergrowth. He is very tenatious and aware of noise more than anything. Great addition to the family.

Pictures of the Big Day

Pictures Come Later

Yesterday was quite a day. Up early and head off to Mass. The kids were so excited. They sang and spoke and passed the torch of leadership to the 7th grade. M-E was asked to speak and was just too nervous so one of her friends, Summer read the speech for her. She received a big hand of applause. A glowing report card and a gold cord.

Practice, a long nap, a special dinner in honor of the graduate, Dick's Deluxe, Frys, tartar and a Chocolate Shake.

Off to church again. She was dressed to kill in her dress from Maggie. She headed into the church and we waited for the process to begin. Beautiful trumpet procession, girls on one side, boys on the other. Father called it the hormonal divide. Presentations, a speech, then awards.

I figured at some point there would be an award ceremony. M-E came home with two. A math award and an award for courage. Yes, I cried.
Both were a surprise and both were not. She has studied so hard and so diligently at math. She just kept at it all the time. Johnny was surpised with the math award and Ana pointed out that M-E had her head in the books so, so much.

The Joseph Boyle award was the greatest honor. It was a scholarship that is awarded in the name of Joseph, the child of the vice principal, Rick Boyle. Joseph would have been a freshman this year. He had AML and only lived to be 4 years old. It is such an honor to be given the award and M-E deserves it.

Then off to dinner, a sleep over and then a Mariner's game. I am sure the girls will sleep tonight.

The Countdown Begins

I keep thinking I should be more excited. These are the last few days of M-E in grade school. What I am coming to realize is that since March, there has been a transition happening. I read the St. Joe's stuff with less interest and have begun to attach myself to the Holy Names Community. As I assess those people I will work hard to keep in touch with and identify the new people at the new school.

I have known some of these people for 9 years and would bearly talk to if I ran into them at the mall. Some will always be dear friends. I guess that is how life will be for the next few years.

Mary-Elizabeth's speech for Graduation

I have been at St. JoeÂ’s since I was in Kindergarten. This has been my second home. I have loved my time here and it will be sad as we move on.
I loved Mrs. Smart. I loved the pajama party, the Thanksgiving Feast and the Teddy Bear Picnic.
I loved when we were big first Graders and Ms. Garrety taught us to read and we were able to go to Bainbridge Island.
I loved second grade, even thought I might have talked to much.
I loved third grade when we had the new teacher Mr. Lacktrup even he was such a good teacher even thought it was his first years.
I loved fourth grade when we had Mrs. Sullivan and she kept us so busy learning and writing and working on math.
I loved Ms. Dumas and getting to earn points for the end of the year auction.
I loved Mr. Miller. He was so quiet and only had cookies for breakfast.
I hated 7th grade when I got leukemia. I hated not being in school and seeing my friends, I hated feel so scared and so sick all the time but that is when I really learned to love St. Joes.
I loved that my classmates sent me cards and came to our house for service days. I loved that Mr. Boyle came to drop off dinner three of 4 times a week. I loved that the teachers came and worked with me at home. I loved that they made it possible to do work over the summer so I would notbehindd. I loved the cards and picture that came from everyone. I loved that people called over the summer.
I really loved that I had a chance to be here for 8th grade.
I love that we have had such a good year. We have all worked so hard to get ready to leave. I love that we are ready to go but I really love that we have had 9 great years together.
I think what I love the most about S.t Joes is that we will always have the history of being here. This will always be our first and best home. We know we can always come back. And let the 7th graders know, we will be back to see the passion play next year.

Tribute to those in a Different Place

This is my dear friend Maggie's favorite Venice picture ( The gold one.). It was taken in the Farrie church and is so 15th century over the top. It also is a reliquary. The little gold things that you see hold pieces of Saints bodies and pieces of the cross and items like that. The Italian churches are full of the stuff. But when you look at it it is shockingly beautiful. It is the thinking about what it is that gets you in trouble.

As we travel through this month and head into next, I am beginning to have those hard flash backs. I keep remembering what was going on a year ago and two years ago. June 17, 2004 at 5:22 pm our world changed. I then count my blessings that we have that sort of history with Leukemia at all. I look at M-E in the picture, taken in front of her favorite house on Burrano, and how could you ever tell she had been/is sick. It is all in how you look her. I see my daughter, who has been to hell and back. I see that she has great hair, a great smile, the picture of health. In my heart I pray every moment of every day that she is always this child. The one that "appears" so healthy. I know that someday, I will come to trust she will be okay. Just as on the outside, the other picture is beautiful.

There is always the cold side of reality. Over the months, I have been reading the blog of Diana. In February, her daughter Hannah lost her battle, as it was beginning, with ALL. The link is to Diana's Blog. Diana has a great attitude, she has a positive spirit. She has been through so much. She is having such a hard time with her struggle. It is a daily reminder to me that I am so so lucky. I need to look at the obvious beauty.

8th Grade Retreat

The kids are part of a retreat on June 5th. At the end of the retreat they are given a packet of letters from friends and family that expresses congratulations and thoughts about their future.

If you would like to send one to Mary-Elizabeth feel free to do so. It can be dropped off at the school or mailed. The letters need to be there by the 1st of June.

Mary-Elizabeth Sierra Lanham
Retreat Letter
700 18th Avenue East
Seattle, WA 98112.

This is such a great idea of a present to share with a young person. I wish I had thought about doing this years ago.

The kids don't know about this. It is a secret.

Great Artist

I added the link to this artist's web site. He has such a wonderful eye. His name is Giorgio Bacci Baik and he has a shop in Dorsoduro. He does these wonderful pieces and sees the world in a not so straight head-on way. M-E and I each brought back a piece. I love his stuff and wish I had some real money to buy one of his originals. I guess a new floor in the kitchen is the more important than art.

8th Grade is coming to a Close

I always get weepy this time of year. I was never the mom that cried when school started but when a year ended.

I am just so thankful that we are able to have another year end that I don't think the tears will appear.

Oh, aren't these figures great. They were in a store window of a store that was closed. We never wandered by again but I would kill to know how to get one. Oh, well a reason to return.

We are getting closer

Which came first the house and boat cover or the suit jackets?

M-E will be done sometime in December. I am hopeing before Christmas. They count the time from the end of one of her treatment phases. She will then go once a month for a blood draw and then every two months and then every three and so on and so on. They will follow her for the rest of her life.

I have decided I can not think about that yet. I have to focus on helping her with finals this week.( Yes, I can cook breakfast.) Then we have a lot of yard work to do this week-end. And then there is the week of no real school but lots of activites and then the week of Graduation and Mom and Dad visiting. Then...... See I have learned about little moments and not big ones.