So Much to Say

(That title, by the way, is in tribute to Dave Matthews Band saxophonist, LeRoi Moore, who passed away suddenly yesterday. Once again, you never know when your time is up. Today, tell someone you love them.)

In our end of the world, not much has changed. Mike's spots are the same, but no new ones have appeared, so far as we can tell. He will have an MRI tomorrow night to get a better look at a questionable little area in his left femur, and we will meet again with his doctors next Tuesday. By then, we expect them to have their "official" recommendation about a treatment plan. In the meantime, we're also trying to get an appointment with a skin specialist recommended by Mike's dermatologist. We've also been doing our homework, and while the doctors say they've never seen acute lymphoblastic lymphoma (ALL) manifest in the skin this way, Mike (through the power of Google) found a 31-year-old girl in California with the same exact symptoms! They've been corresponding by e-mail and we will bring this up to the docs next week. If a team of five doctors with a combined medical education of about 40 years can't locate another case, turn to a tough S.O.B of a patient who won't take "we don't know" for an answer.

Over the weekend we attended a benefit hosted by a friend of ours. The money raised went to Alzheimer's research -- another worthy case. At the benefit, I saw a friend of this friend, whom I hadn't seen in two or three years, and found she was noticeably with child (number two). I have to admit my heart sank a bit when I saw her precious bump, but later that day I learned the significance of seeing her -- and her bump. But I'll blog about that in another post.... Later in the day, I also found out that one of my best friends (one of my matrons of honor), also in attendance at the benefit, is expecting number two as well! That one was tough, but I put on my happy face and did my best "Oh, my God! Wow! Congratulations!" What exactly is in the water back home? If I can find out, I'm renting a tanker truck and shipping it up to us for future use.

Now, if you ever want the "have you even thought this through" approach to life, ask a guy. Sorry, but it's true. Last week, Mike was talking to his best friend from college, Pete. Pete's a nice guy, but sometimes he just doesn't get it. Mike was telling him how we found out Leo got us another try at IVF right as we were finding out about the cancer recurrence. Mike was joking around saying, "What timing, eh?" Pete's response? "I think you should go ahead and do it anyway." Um, yeah. Chemo, fatigue, compromised immunity, perhaps a year of disability, one income and a pregnant Lauren. Let the good times roll.

Mike's other best friend from home tells him today that it's a great time to buy a house (we're renting one now) and we should really look into it. Um, yeah -- see above.

Other than all that, we've been continuing to pray and ask for guidance. There are too many choices ahead to make without God's help. I just hope He's listening.