Baby Crush

On Sunday we got to spend time with my baby crush, Harrison. He is such a cutie! He was a little shy, but he shared his toys and I can tell he has a crush on me too.

Harrison is Harry and Melissa's son. Harry was Pat's fraternity brother in college and Melissa was my sorority sister. It is always fun to hang out with college friends. They are expecting another baby in July and it is so exciting to see their family grow.

Nice to Meet You

Over President's Day weekend we went down to Los Angeles to see some family and friends. First we stopped in Sherman Oaks to see Pat's cousin Jamie, her husband Jacob, and their new addition. They had their first child in late October and this was the first time we got to see him. His name is Ewan Patrick (like the actor Ewan McGregor). He is abnormally mellow and outrageously easy. Too bad Jamie and Jacob like him because we would have gladly taken him home. : )

Happy Valentine's Day

I am so in love.

Not only with my amazing husband, but with my family, niece, nephews, and friends.

How did I get so lucky?!

Uncle Dave

My sister's family adopted a dog a few weeks ago from a wonderful organization called ARF (Tony La Russa's Animal Rescue Foundation). The dog came with the name Uncle Dave, and being the quarky dog that he is, the name stuck. Dave is a Bassador - a mix between a Basset Hound and a Labrador. The top half of him looks just like a lab while his bottom half is short like a Basset Hound. He has a big over bite - enough to keep him from picking up small objects with his mouth. Despite the funny way he looks, his personality makes up for it. He is the most loving dog ever! He fits right into my sisters fun-loving family.

Sadly, about a week after the Sullivans brought Dave home he started to get sick and was not eating. My sister took him to the vet and was told he might have Distemper, a serious and often fatal dog virus. Puppies are usually given a vaccine to protect them against it. Dave is approximately one year old, but being a rescue dog he had just received his immunizations. Michele had to take him back to ARF to be monitored and cared for. They told her it could be weeks or months before they knew what would happen. We were all so sad.

Good news came yesterday when Michele was told that Dave was doing much better and was able to come home. Yay! They are not sure whether it was distemper or just a bad case of kennel cough (common doggie cold), but he's better and that's all that matters. We are so happy he is going to be ok. As Pat said "life seems fair again". He is healthy and has a loving family now. Camryn and Connor love thier new dog and we are all very happy to have Uncle Dave around!

January Check-Up

I have figured out that I am not the best blogger, but I am really going to try my best in 2009 to do a better job. After all, I love reading all my friends' blogs, so I will just have to find the time. I also know that many of you want to be kept up to date on Patrick's health, so I'll try to update you more often.
Patrick has a check-up with his oral surgeon/cancer specialist at UCSF once a month and January's appointment went well. Everything looks good and the healing has progressed as it should. It is just a matter of keeping an eye on his tongue, mouth and neck to make sure the cancer does not return. Just so you all know we are very on top of it. If it were to return the most important thing is to know it is there and do whatever needs to be done to get rid of it. The doctors continually remind us that everything looks good. We actually look forward to the monthly appointments - it is nice to get the "ok" and we always feel a little lighter when we leave UCSF.

SO much to be thankful for!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year! A few family members were in from out of town and it was fun to have a long weekend with everyone. My brother - Mark, his wife - Jen and their two boys - Jack & Matt came up from Orange County Thursday afternoon. My sister and bother-in-law -Michele and Dan, hosted Thanksgiving and Pat and I were over there in the morning to help with the cooking. Additionally my parents, aunt and grandparents were over for the big feast. It was fun and full of great food. Michele and Dan's two kids, Camryn and Connor were overjoyed to see their cousins. All 4 of the cousins are all about the same age and they sure have fun together. Thanksgiving was also Camryn's 7th birthday. We have a few late November birthdays - my dad on the 25th, Camryn on the 27th and Matt on the 29th - so Thanksgiving is full of celebration! In addition to pumpkin pie we had cup cakes and ice cream on Thanksgiving! What a Treat!

On Friday, Pat's mom and step-dad flew up from Phoenix. Roger is a pilot and has a small two seater plane - that he built!! Debi and Roger fly up to the bay area in 4-5 hours. We were so glad the weather was good and that they were able to made the trip.

We spend the rest of the weekend riding the steam trains at Tilden Park, watching the demise of the Oregon State football team (boo!) and just hanging out. Sunday was concluded with a farewell at Buchanan Field Airport to see Debi and Roger off. They did a low fly by and sped off to Arizona. It is always fun to see Pilot Roger in action.

Pat and I have so much to be thankful this year. Good health, above all. We have come to the conclusion that as long as you are healthy everything else is possible. Cancer sure puts life into perspective! Over the past couple of months, I have tried to make it a daily habit to reflect on the things I am thankful for everyday. Even on a bad day there are positive things to be found. Family, friends, support, love, joy, laughter - it is a beautiful world!

Getting Back to "Normal" Life

It has been almost two months since Pat's surgery and everything is going really well. Pat continues to regain energy and is almost back to 100%. He has had 2 follow-up visits with his doctor and they say everything is looking great! He goes to the doctor every month for the first year, every two months for the second year, every three months for the third year and so on for 5 years. The big milestones are the 3 year and 5 year cancer free anniversaries. At the 3 and 5 year mark the chance of recurrence goes down dramatically. It seems like such a long time from now, but we look forward to reaching those big dates and celebrating!

Pat has been doing physical and speech therapy for a while now. Both have really helped, but are an ongoing duty. Due to the neck surgery, Pat's shoulder is strained and weaker than before. Every morning he does some exercises with a stretchy, elastic band to build strength and regain movement. It still may be a while before he can swing a golf club, maybe by spring. His speech is great, just a little slurred with certain words. The doctor said it should be back to the way it was before in about a year.

Patrick is back to work 30 hours a week. His schedule allows him to get a little more sleep, he still needs more rest than usual. I went back to work full-time with my former employee in San Francisco. I am thrilled to have a job again and it is fun to be back with old co-workers.

Over the last few months we have become involved with a wonderful support organization called The Wellness Community. http://www.twcba.org/ We both addend weekly support groups and have received a lot of support in going through cancer and address some issues with moving on from cancer. We have met some great friends. Most of the people there are 15+ years older than us, but we like being the youngins and it feels good to chat with people that have been in the same boat. It is alarming to realize how many people are affected by cancer. Most of all we are shocked to hear about how many more young people are being diagnosed. We hope someday there is a world with out cancer, but until then we are thankful for our super smart doctors and places like the Wellness Community for providing support. : )

Hope this blog finds all of you well. xoxo