The Man with the Floor Plan

I think we're going to need trim for the trim-is there such a thing?

master bedroom

front door view

ah floor-i'm trying to convince MEA that the "distressed" look is cool-if i could only find a pottery barn picture of a lumpy, unsanded floor.

upstairs shower-very irritating but looks good if you don't look too close!

3 weeks ago we were told by the solar guy that we needed to get the floor ready on the deck to put the hot water heater in. The wood flooring was piled on the deck where the water heater goes so we decided to just install the wood floor so we wouldn't have to move it again. Then we decided to install the upstairs floor while we had the nailer rented. Then we decided that we should tile the upstairs deck too while we were at it. Then we found out that we have to put in the deck railings before we tile. Finally today, after 3 weeks of starting and not quite finishing 9 other projects, i was tiling the back deck and wondering what the holes in the deck floor were for -oh yeah, the water heater! Aloha, Matt

upstairs deck

Chemo-Shmemo

Sorry it has taken me so long to update since my chemo. The chemo was pretty easy physically, yet mentally I have been unfocused and unmotivated. Plus, time doesn't seem to move the same way for me. It is hard to explain, but sometimes I feel like it is moving very slow, other times I don't know where the hour went. The clock always seems to have a different time on it than what I expect.

Physically, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. I had a bit of an upset stomach, little headaches, and some stomach cramping, but that was it except for being tired. I feel like I got away with something. Nothing was any worse than anything else I have experienced, many cases it was a lot more mild.

I was able to play volleyball Friday afternoon, go wig shopping Saturday, and work a bit on the house throughout the weekend.

Which brings me to wig shopping...

My oncology doctor thinks I have a 90% chance of losing my hair. My oncology nurse thinks it might just thin. Just to be safe, my girlfriends and I wanted to see what my options were. You can see that some were better than others. Make sure you cast your vote in the wig poll to the left.

Have a great week!

Peace,
MEA

...Curly Brown..............................Long layers red...

...Short Blonde...........................Long wavy...

...layered brown..........................long red...

...medium brown.........................short red...

...straight blonde...

The Blessings of Hodgkin's Disease

So tomorrow I have my first dose of chemo. I met with my oncologist today. He told me that all my tests came back. I didn't have any cancer cells in my bone marrow (YEA!) and the disease wasn't anywhere else in my body (YEA!).

He also told me that I only have to have 4 cycles of chemo, which means 8 doses, one every other week. I will be done with chemo at Christmas (YEA! YEA! YEA!).

So even though I venture into unknown territory tomorrow, I have to say I am more looking forward to getting started with the treatment (one step closer to the end) than I am fearful of the unknown.

I know it sounds weird, but so far I have seen so many blessings since being diagnosed with Hodgkin's. I feel like I have been being prepared for this for years.


1. Because I worked for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society I knew immediately that Hodgkin's is one of the most curable cancers. It has a 90% base survival rate, and gets even better than that because I am a female, middle aged, and in the best shape of my life.


2. Since I have been in menopause since 2003, I have already delt and come to terms with the possibility of not bearing my own children (sterility is a possible side effect of the cancer treatment). So I can totally focus on the getting the treatment I need to get better and doing what I need to do to make that happen. As I told my doctor today "It is already going to be a miracle if I get pregnant, I don't think adding cancer treatment is going to change that. If God wants it to happen, it will happen."


3. The job I have now is an amazing blessing. The insurance is fantastic. The medical leave policies are above standard. My boss and coworkers are not only supportive, but sincerely care about me. This has taken many of those relationships to an entirely new level. Also, my boss even came with me to a couple of my appointments.



4. The timing seems perfect. As soon as Matt and I are done we the house, we are planning on adopting some kids. How great is it that this happened before we adopted and I can just focus on doing what I need to do to get better, without having to worry about little ones and all the fears and responsibilities that come with them.



5. Finally, I have always wanted to know what my head looked like under all my hair, but never had the guts to shave it. I haven't even ever had a really short haircut. Now I have a very. very good chance to see my own bald head. Yes, it will be weird and awkward, but I survived being a teenager (mostly unscathed) and that lasted a lot longer that 4 months. So I will deal.



So thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. As one of my friends said to me, "You have so many people praying for you, that not only will you fully recover, but you might morph into some superhero before this is over." Be careful what you pray for!

Peace,

MEA

We Have Floor - Oh Yeah!

Finally, after tripping over the piles of flooring for 6 months, we started.
We bought the flooring from Re-Use Hawaii, which is a company that demolishes homes in a way to preserve materials, such as doors, floors, windows and wood, for reuse in other homes. This floor came from a house 2 blocks away from us.


As usual, Bart and Ulu showed up to help. Our weekend house building project has become theirs as well. Thank God for their help. They have been awesome.


These pictures explain themselves.


By Sunday we had most of the kitchen area done.

The floor passed inspection...so far.

Quanti - what?

One of my favorite things in Panama was the Quantimundis They live in the jungle by our hotel and each day the cleaning ladies call them out to feed them. To me, they seemed like Panama's version of the raccoon, except their tail stood straight up and someone had pulled their noses straight out of their head so they were very long. They rooted in the grass and their babies were very cute. I think we watched them for about an hour and a half on 2 separate occasions, took about 30 pictures of them, and the two videos you see here. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

Meet Linus!

New Friend!
Hey guys! I would like you to meet my new friend Linus. He won't be around for long, only 4 - 6 months. He is my med-a-port, which is like a funnel straight to your heart (for distribution) for the chemo. Linus makes it so I don't have to get stabbed in my vein everytime for chemo. You can't really tell from this picture, but he is about the size of a quarter in diameter and he sticks up about a 1/4 of an inch (my surgeon, God bless him, says he is more noticeable because "I am so skinny". ) He is really not that cute without his "make-up". So there you go.
Other than the Linus debute, I had my lung capacity tested today and next Wednesday the 17th my doctor, Matt and I should be determining by course of therapy- when and what I will be getting for chemotherapy.
Ok. Have a great day!
Peace,
MEA

Waiting for Shark Night at the Aquarium

Took Morgan and the girls to the Aquarium. Entertained the girls by giving them the camera. I have to say, I like their work.

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