OASIS AND BACK TO LONG BEACH

The last day of family being here - Michelle and Valerie.
I had some pictures of the last few days that I forgot about
and wanted to include a few.

I've been meaning to post to finish off our stay at Oasis and update everyone about the status of the PET scan.

Valerie had another full day of treatment on Thursday and we went to class from 11am-12:30pm.  Even when we hear some of the same information, we learn so much.  And I should mention that the cafeteria staff are always so friendly and concerned about Valerie.  We always eat in the room because Valerie is attached to an IV poll and she often has to be on oxygen during some of the treatments.... so it's usually just easier.  The staff always ask how she is doing and they sometimes make a point to visit the room "to pick up our tray" so they can see her and tell her hello.

Our last breakfast out - sweet Lily and Great Aunt Val.

Friday we woke up and started to pack up.  Melissa had made plans to drive down to Rosarito with Jermaine and go horseback riding on the beach.  And I was up and down in the courtyard waiting for my uncle and cousin.  My cousin, Timmy (my dad's twin sister's middle son) has been struggling with his own bout with cancer and his dad, my Uncle Wayne, had made arrangements for them to go to Oasis for an in person consultation.  So the two of them, plus Timmy's wife, Kim, arrived around 9:30am and we hugged and talked for awhile before they saw the doctor.  They had to leave right after seeing the doctor, but not before Wayne came up and met Valerie and hugged her neck.  (I am so disappointed that I did not get any pictures of Wayne, Timmy, and Kim.)

Lily and Tracie acting
silly.  :-)

Valerie and I went to class at 11am again.  When we got back to the room (around 12:30pm), Melissa had returned.  I don't think I mentioned before, but Melissa did not have a passport with her when we got to Mexico, but her parents overnighted it on Tuesday.  As of 1pm Friday, we still had not received it.  Needless to say, we couldn't leave until we had her passport.

We got the passport around 4pm and proceeded to pack up the car and head out.  All of our experiences crossing back into the U.S. have involved a LOOOOOOONG wait.  This was, thankfully, the shortest wait we had ever had - and we even had time to pull over and make some shopping from our car.

We stayed the night in San Diego - partly because it was late and Valerie was tired and worn out from a week of treatment, and partly so I could see my uncle and cousin before they flew out the next morning.  It turned out that Valerie had a migraine and went right to bed and Timmy was exhausted from the day and he and Kim headed to their room around 7pm.  I met up with my Uncle Wayne and a couple of his coworkers.  They had been there the previous week for work purposes are were all leaving the next morning.  I got to spend a delightful evening with 3 Tennessee gentleman and talk to my Uncle Wayne about their trip to Oasis of Hope.  It really was an enjoyable dinner.  It turns out that Timmy wasn't sold on what they told him at Oasis - they did say they thought they could help him, but with the travel involved, which is very difficult for him, and with the unknown results, he wanted time to think.

The next morning - Saturday - we headed home.  That Tuesday was my birthday... mind you, last year, my birthday was exactly 10 days after Valerie found the lump in her breast and we headed to Urgent Care - it was a CRAPPY birthday.  This year, I took the day off work, decided I wanted to go see Star Wars: Phantom Menace in 3D ---- I LOVE Star Wars!!  And then we went to Parker's Lighthouse - paid for by my mom and dad and Valerie's mom (THANK YOU!).  I had crab legs that were BEYOND DELICIOUS!!!  And my sweet beloved spouse would not even take one bite because she knew how much I was completely enjoying them.  It was a thousand percent better birthday!!

Melissa and Valerie snuggling during an IV with Oxygen.

Then, that Friday, we had a scheduled appointment with Valerie's U.S. oncologist, Dr. Chen.  We met with him and talked about the need for a PET scan.  After much explaining, he finally understood and agreed that a PET scan would be helpful.  The catch is that he said a regular PET scan is not helpful in determining if the cancer is still in the bones - just in tissue and other organs - but that a special PET scan, a sodium chloride PET scan, is the only one that would show cancer in bones.  And of course, it's not a PET scan that they do at our hospital ... even though it's the "best."  But Dr. Chen also works in Long Beach and says he used this PET scan with Medicare patients all the time, so he ordered it and we will wait to see how much it will cost us to have it done through the PPO side of our insurance.

Me enjoying my crab legs ... they were DELICIOUS!

So, for now, we will just continue to plug along.  Getting the house done is still priority number one.  We have taken some time off to entertain and thank family and friends but are determined to get back to it now.  There are still some basic things around the house that will make healing and health a much easier goal once we are done.  I think people sometimes think we place too much emphasis on this, but I can not say enough how much impact it has on our health and well-being.  And of course, I am focused more on Valerie's health and well-being right now, but it really does impact us both in huge ways.  We will both be more relaxed and more healthy after this intensely stressful year, once we have a few more things done around the house.

Love to you all!