Puzzling

Why do hospitals and doctor's offices always have these and always smell the same?!  Biopsy today.  Gotta appreciate the anesthesiologist.  And Mike.

After not eating for 16 hours, Snarf's is pretty darn good, too.

Tie One On

Dorothy and I made a skirt out of these!  I still have to put the hook & eye on, but the first day I wear it you can bet it will be that day's photo contribution.  It's so awesome.  And I have all the skinny ends to use for a wreath!  I have a thing for ties...

Road Kill

Kona & Keebs are big fans of the toys we bought them at Sam's.  I'm a big fan of how funny they are.

 Still, loves Mom more...

Tryptophan Coma

We did nothing this afternoon.  It was awesome.

Ren Fest

Dorothy brought the costumes she's been working on since we first met at the Colorado Renaissance Festival over three years ago.  These costumes are unbelievable, and fit perfectly!  I can't wait to wear them at any excuse...

Also, the fact that Mike has to get tights for his is highly amusing to me.

Before & After

I found these clear ornaments at ARC for $2 and have been holding on to this duplicate copy of a Michael Crichton book I bought at Hospice Thrift for 99 cents.

 You never know when inspiration will hit you!

Turkey Triumph

My first turkey in my roaster over (thanks Mom & Dad) turned out perfectly!  It was a very successful Thanksgiving feast at Quivas - my first ever in my own home.  Look at that electric knife skill...

 Daddy spuds...

Dorothy made stuffing and Robert made Green Bean Casserole, and of course Sweet Potato Casserole.  A unanimous favorite of the day.

And the China was busted out for the Asian-themed table setting. 

Thank You

I spent the week working at one of my favorite dealerships, as the first three days of Thanksgiving weak are usually pretty dead.  So they were also there to witness the different emotions caused by not knowing what was going on with my health.  I was so dispondent over a poor piece of chocolate cake the day before, that my manager surprised be with a completely made-from-scratch cake.  Just for me.

How many people have had a cake that simply pronounces who they are?  Best.  Cake.  Ever.

 I cried.

The Overlook

Mike was trying to distract me from the worries at hand by taking me to our park bench overlooking part of Boulder Valley. 

 Unfortunately, it was getting so cold I was distracted from that...

Hospital Booties: an appreciation

MRI was today.  Man those are rough.  Laying absolutely still for over an hour is even more difficult than it sounds, and it sounds pretty hard.

Because I came from work, and was wearing tights and heals, I didn't have socks with which to walk around the hospital.  So I asked if they had any booties...pretty much the one souvenier from hospital visits to which I looked forward.

I found these to be so amusing that I took them home with me.  When I called my dad to tell him the MRI was done, I let him know I was the proud owner of a new pair of hospital booties.

"Well, Christmas came early for you didn't it," he responded.  The sarcasm apple doesn't fall far from that tree.

Happy Birthday (a bit early)

Mike game me my birthday present before Thanksgiving vacation...so I'd have ample opportunity to make use of it!  I'm not sure which I loved more, that he'd pre-ordered the newest Zelda game and purchased the one console I didn't have to play it...or that he tried to wrap it!

Princess Party

For Michelle's 40th birthday, her husband Jeff held a Princess Party in her honor, complete with pin the lips on the Frog Prince...

 Princesses...

 Damsels in Distress...

 Knights in Shining Armor...

 And a rousing game of Chubby Bunny!

And Now You Know...the Rest of the Story

This might better explain the complete lack of photog upload for the past few weeks. I've been taking them, but the last thing I thought about was uploading them...

From my Dad to our family regarding the past few weeks (once we actually had something to tell them):

Dear Family,I didn’t mean to go all Paul Harvey on you. However, as we immerse ourselves into the middle of the holiday season, Robin and I wanted to bring you up to speed on a situation our family has been dealing with since before Thanksgiving.

About a week before Thanksgiving Kendra called Robin and told her she had found a lump in the middle of her back. She thought it might be something she developed over the course of starting a new exercise program with Mike about a month earlier. However, due to her history, she was concerned. Robin advised her that it was probably not a big deal, but that she ought to contact her family doctor soon to have it checked out.

Kendra took the advice and called her doctor that afternoon. Her doctor got her in the very first thing on the next day. After looking at it and reviewing her history with cancer, the doctor sent Kendra from his office directly to the hospital for an ultra sound. While we all felt grateful for the quick action, we also had our concern ratcheted up a notch or two by the fact that the doctors all seemed to be very concerned.

She had the ultra sound on the Friday before Thanksgiving. Afterwards, all the doctor could say was that there was a mass located in her muscle but the radiologist would have to be the one to make a further determination. Bear in mind that while these events were taking place her doctor was leaving on vacation and house guests were on the way to Mike and Kendra’s house for an eight day stay. Not the best timing for either event.

After a long weekend, she got word from her doctor and telling her that it was probably a good idea to prepare herself for the worst, but hope for the best. (Cancer patients who have received radiation as part of their treatment are nine times more likely to develop tumors in the radiated areas later in life than the general population.) An MRI was scheduled to take place the next day, Tuesday. While these details were all taking place, Mike picked his parents up from the airport for a stay scheduled long before these events took place, Robin and I were making preparations to host Thanksgiving for the Workman family. We told Karley and Dustin about the situation but no one else in the family. There was no need to alarm anyone else until more facts were known. But to say we were distracted is an understatement. The MRI confirmed the location and more details about the mass, but a biopsy would have to be performed to identify exactly what it was. Because of the holiday, that was not able to happen till just two days ago. (How long do you think this past week has been?)

The biopsy was performed at the hospital on Wednesday, three days ago. More waiting. Thursday night the doctor finally called with definitive information. The bad news: there is a tumor on the bone in her back left shoulder. The good news: it is benign (at this point) and is probably not related to her earlier illness (what are the chances?).

The reason for sharing all this information now? First as a praise for answered prayer. Second, because there are still issues that need to be dealt with that affect short term planning to one extent or another.

Surgery will need to be scheduled to remove the tumor as quickly as possible so it cannot develop into something else. It is not clear yet just when that will happen, but more than likely in the next week or two. There is a chance that could preclude Mike and Kendra from traveling for the holidays. If they are able to travel, we’re sure that Kendra will be in some discomfort and sore from the procedure followed by fifteen hours in a car. We wanted you to be aware of that. We may be going to Denver to help if for any reason Mike and Kendra needed assistance. We’ve told them one or the other or both of us would be there on 24 hours notice, whenever that might be. (You can see how that might have an impact on any holiday plans.)

Good news: at this point, it doesn’t look like any further action will be needed after the surgery. More good news: as a result of all of this, Kendra has done a lot of research and discovered things that her oncologist should have been doing on a yearly basis that have not been taking place to look for other common problems. She is looking for a new oncologist. The best news: Mike has been wonderfully supportive, helpful and caring throughout this entire ordeal. As parents, the toughest part of this has been seeing your child suffer from a long distance away and not be there to help and guide the process. But it makes all the difference to know that Kendra has found someone to fill that role in our place.

So there you have it. A bullet dodged. Prayers answered. Life goes on with only minor adjustments rather than major upheaval. We are optimistic about the future in the long term; looking forward to Christmas with family in the short term. If any of the plans have to get altered along the way, we’ll let you know ahead of time and you will know all the details as to why. If you feel lead to contact Kendra to offer words of encouragement or support, I would advise you to do it through email or send her a note. Between dealing with insurance companies, doctors, hospitals and still working full time for Ford she is physically overwhelmed, not to mention emotionally exhausted.

We look forward to seeing you all soon and celebrating together,

Kurt and Robin

How Appropo

The irony of this article's title is not lost on me now having had several weeks pass and a receiving a resolution to the lump I found on my back.  Initial doctor's appointment was the next day (Friday).  I think I'll let my Dad explain the whole situation in tomorrow's post.

I liked this article most for it's title/pictoral representation (Planet of the Apes anyone?) as well as this quote:

"When you look back on the history of past civilizations, a striking feature is the speed with which most of them collapsed, regardless of the cause." - Jesse Lenz

Belated Thrift Store Finds

Set of awesome mugs from World Market (looked like they'd never even been used!).  And a travel water bottle, that had definitely never been.  Very beverage-intensive thrift store biz.

Dee Kona & Dee Keebs: a study

I've never seen two dogs more attached.  Such a sweet blessing on a daily basis! 

Tea Around the World

Heidi & I are hosting a tea party for some friends in our neighborhood and family (well, Heidi's, since she's from Colorodo - and no, she doesn't ski).  So I made invitations for all the ladies.  Each one is unique (but still themed), and the RSVP info is held in an origami crane (am I especially proud of this touch?  Why yes!  Yes, I am!). 

Super happy with how they all turned out (although it's a really good thing I had a three day weekend to complete them or it never would've happened).

 

Lurv

Keebs curled up in Kona's legs today.  Epic squee.

Power Card

The Jansicks, Bourgois, and Claytons met up for adult revelrie at Dave & Busters Saturday night!  I think it sparked our once fanatical love of the adult Chuck E. Cheese once more...we bought two Xbox games with our saved up tickets!  Heck yes.

Everyone at the races...and Michelle peaking!

 Mike & Ashley!

 Ya know.

 Jeff & Michelle showing us the best makeout spots.

Dustin & Ashley, who are actually expecting!  They were grandfathered in to Couples without Kids.  Who knew doctors who told you you'd never have children could be so wrong?!  Further proof to continue taking BC if you really aren't interested... ;-)

 Our fav.  Ok, my fav, but Mike is awesome and therefore plays with me.

Next Generation

Mike and I have become Trekies once more with Star Trek: The Next Generation now being on Netflix streaming.  As cheesy as some of the moments are (really?  Riker is supposed to be the hot one?  And what is with Deanna Troy's onsies?!), I appreciate the writing now far more than I did as a kid watching Picard with my mom.

I was going to marry that man one day.  He's still on The List.

Anywho, Geordi's constant stream of space nonsense made me tell Mike that his outtakes had to be hilarious.  Hence the embedded video.  You might have to like Star Trek to appreciate; I laugh every time I watch it!

Imported from Detroit (although technically it's Dearborn)

They're the competition and let's face it, we're paying for their bailout, but the fact of the matter is: this is brilliant.

View from Above