Snowstorm

We made it home from Boston just as the snow started to fall. It got messy really fast. Hope everyone is safe and warm.

It was a good visit with the oncologist because it was good news. Like I said before, the lung nodules shrunk and the hip tumors remained the same. Dr. Silver is happy with my progress and the fact that I don't have pain, so I don't have to see him again until May! That's 5 months! Woohoo!

This is going to be a short post because I'm tired and I'm off to bed.

Merry Christmas to everyone and Happy New Year!!!

Christmas comes early

Hi all,

Christmas came early in the LeBrun household this year. Captain Mayonnaise has been staying with us for about 3 weeks or so. On Saturday, he took us to Sears and he bought us a 52" flat screen TV! It's an early Christmas present he said. I'm still shocked. I keep looking at the TV in the living room, saying to myself, "I can't believe he bought us a 52" flat screen TV!" It's very nice and opens up the room a lot. Now I have a 56" projection TV I need to sell. Anyone want a very nice TV?

Now I'm wondering if this means I have to be nice to Mayo now. Let me think...NAH!

But Thank You for the awesome gift Jim!

In other news, I've been having some very bad joint pain, from my hips to my ankles have been killing me since Friday night. Sunday I woke up, got up to go to Church, and proceeded to get nauseous, so I was in bed for the better part of Sunday. Today at work, I called Dr. Silver at Dana-Farber to tell him about my symptoms and he gave me the results of my latest CT Scan that I had done on Friday. The cancer in my hips remained unchanged, but the wonderful news is that the nodules in my lungs got SMALLER! Yes, that's right, smaller. That's awesome news because it means that something's working. I have an appointment to see him on December 19th to discuss future treatment. If this is working, he'll probably keep me on what I'm taking now, which is the Faslodex. So everyone, keep doing what you've been doing. Thank you!

I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving because I'm going over to my Mom's and my sister and neice are going to be there. I can't wait to see Brianna, she's getting so big. And there will be awesome food, so I'm really looking forward to that! :)

So I don't write until then, Happy Thanksgiving to you all! I have lots to be thankful for this year.

E

Halloween

Hi all!

I dressed up with a group of people from work as Clue Characters, check us out:



I am Mr. Boddy, the dead chalk outline on the ground! During the day, we had a real game of clue going on to see if anyone could guess who killed me, in what room with what weapon.

We won for best group costume and we got a free lunch. It was a lot of fun and we're already thinking about what to dress up as for next year. I've won 2 out of the 3 years I've been here, so I have to keep it up, the pressure is on!

Here is another picture of me and Col. Mustard.



Thom also dressed up for Halloween with his department and they dressed up as Necropsy Mice...very cute...but very disturbing...what do you think?



Good thing is, I get Thom's pink socks, they are so soft and comfy!!

Happy Anniversary

CAUTION: Sappiness ahead!

WOW! It's been 13 years ago today that I became Mrs. Emily LeBrun. To say I'm blessed is truly an understatement. I have loved every single minute of married life and I cannot imagine my life without Thom. I've actually been with Thom since September 4th, 1990. Soooo, we've been together for 18 years...that's half my life. HALF my life I've gotten to spend with my soul mate, how lucky am I?

I remember my wedding day like it was yesterday. I got my hair and nails done that day and I remember the nail lady commenting on how calm I was. Of course I was calm, I was excited, there was nothing to be nervous about. I COULDN'T wait to get married and begin my life with Thom. There was no nervousness because I knew he was the one. I'm not going to be cliche' and say that I knew it the moment I met him...but it was pretty darn close.

Happy Anniversary Thom. Thank you for your love, support and comfort. You know I wouldn't be able to get through this if you weren't by my side. Thanks for putting up with me! :)

Ok, sappiness over. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming, already in progress...

Captain Mayonnaise has been staying with us since Friday. Now he's sick too. Sucker! So the whole household has been coughing, sneezing and blowing their noses. Thanks Kleenex!

AND, I'm happy to report that we will be getting DVR!! We have crossed into the 21st century! It gets installed on Saturday! I won't have to miss my favorite TV shows anymore because I'm tired! I'm so excited, it's going to revolutionize our lives! LOL

Halloween is on Friday. The neighborhood kids finally get to go trick-or-treating ON Halloween, imagine that! Every year since we've moved in, they would hold trick-or-treating like a week ahead. And it's always at like 4pm. It's kind of crummy because a lot of people aren't even home at that time. My favorite part of Halloween is giving out the candy and seeing all the kids dressed up. And I miss it almost every single year. It really is a bummer.

That's it for now. Talk to you all soon!

Update

Got my monthly shots and here are the results of the blood tests:

Cancer Markers

	Monthly		10/15/08
	8/21/08	9/17/08		Normal ranges
CEA	10.8	13.7	13.4	0-5.0 ng/mL
Cancer Antigen	257	147	239	0-31 u/mL
CA 27-29	277	316	346	0-37 u/mL

Again, I apologize for the lousy table.

Not much has been going on, I'm still driving. I made it to my favorite store, "The Purple Onion" in West Brookfield, so as a gift to myself for going that far, I bought some stuff. I love that store, it's all country furniture and decor. Love it love it. AND I stayed by myself at the house yesterday while Thom went to work (he was on call). I'm pretty proud of myself! I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel...let's just hope it's not a train!! :)

Today

HiHo!

Got my Zometa infustion and Faslodex injections today. Infusion went fine, the injections...well...I bled through the bandaide on my right side and it soaked through to my denim skirt. Not too happy about that.

Today I thought I would entertain you with my monthly bloodwork results. They follow 3 cancer markers: CEA, Cancer Antigen 15-3 and CA 27-29. They kind of give an overview of how I'm doing. If the markers keep going up, that's not a good thing. The lower the better, but they fluctuate so much from month to month.

Cancer Markers

	Monthly		Normal ranges
	8/21/08	9/17/08
CEA	10.8	13.7	0-5.0 ng/mL
Cancer Antigen	257	147	0-31 u/mL
CA 27-29	277	316	0-37 u/mL

So 2 went up, and 1 went down. Like a yo-yo. Sorry, not the best of tables, but the HTML language is hard to do. Can't figure out how to make the columns wider without messing everything else up. HEY!! You computer geeks out there, help a girl out!! ;)

Also today, I got weighed in for Weight Watchers. I'm trying to lose at least 20 pounds, that's the goal anyways. I lost 3.6 pounds. Go me.

Going swimming at the gym today too. I look forward to swimming, I enjoy it a lot.

My old friend, Roberta, from High School found me through Facebook. That Facebook is an amazing thing! Getting in touch with lots of people I've lost touch with over the years is so nice.

Been driving still. I think I'm almost up to 15 min one way. It's weird, I should be very happy, but instead, I feel more down. Yesterday, I was very depressed and I couldn't put my finger on why. Yes, I'm still very nervous driving, yes, it's hard, but I'm doing it...so why don't I feel better?

Avast, me hearties!

Today is International Talk like a Pirate Day! www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html

My pirate name is Mad Jenny Rackham and all day long I was going up to people saying, "Arrr, ye scurvy dog, swab the decks or ye goin' be walkin' de plank and meetin' Davy Jones, savvy?" One girl brought in eye patches for people to wear. Next year I hope to bring in some pirate booty. :)

More importantly, today, I drove by myself. I drove for 10 minutes. I was very nervous, but I did it! Baby steps. I will do it again tomorrow. I'm very happy about this, I haven't driven by myself (except to the gas station 1 min away) in over a year.

People take it for granted, but driving is not so easy for me. It's one of my biggest panic triggers. That and traffic. Well, just the feeling of being trapped, of not being able to get away if I need to. So, like the Mass Pike is a problem for me because the exits are pretty far away from each other, and I feel like I can't get off that road fast if I needed to. But these are things I'm working on getting over. Or getting used to dealing with. If I can get control of this panic, a whole new world can open up for me. I'll be able to do so much more. I've been feeling pretty sorry for myself the past year, and I didn't realize it until recently. That's a hard realization to come to. I can't control the cancer, but I can take back the control that the panic has taken away. I have the power, I have the control. When I learn not to fear the sensations I get when I have a panic attack, I will no longer get them. Seems simple. In theory, it is. Putting it into practice will take, well, practice. Lots and lots of it. I will keep you posted on my successes.

Got another low-grade fever last night. I'm going to be calling my doctor on Monday, it may be nothing, but I want to make sure. It may just be the medication, or the hot flashes, who knows. The fever only lasts for less than 24 hours. It's strange. Maybe I have cat scratch fever. LOL, that's for you Thom!

A man and his Dummies

Thom and I went to see my favorite comedian (next to Bill Cosby) on Saturday night, Jeff Dunham. OMG, he was HILARIOUS!!!!! I didn't stop laughing for the entire 90-minute show, plus the encore. I'm still laughing about it today. He brought Walter, Jose the Jalapeno "on a steek", Achmed the dead terrorist, Peanut and Bubba J. We were 6 rows from the stage, center, perfect seats. Jeff tried out some of his new Christmas material on us. Achmed came out wearing a Santa hat, saying it was his "disguise" and proceeded to say to Dunham, "Merry Christmas! I KEEL you!". Achmed had his own rendition of "Jingle Bells" called "Jingle Bombs". If you don't know Achmed, he is a failed suicide bomber who is all bones. He told Jeff that he was at the doctor's and was told he had Scoliosis. The doctor wanted to take an Xray. Achmed said that he should've just taken a Polaroid, it was the same thing! It's so politically incorrect, it's hilarious. Walter, the crumudgedy old man is my favorite puppet, who always exclaims, "What the HELL!" and "I don't care."

Check out his "Very Special Christmas Special" November 16th on Comedy Central, it's going to be awesome.

Then on Sunday, we watched the Patriots play, and Tom Brady got hurt. To me, it looked like an ACL tear in his left knee, which could be, depending on the severity of the tear, season ending. And although Matt Cassell did a decent job filling in (they won), he's no Brady. But we could have a Cinderella season with Cassell, he'll have to step up. He'll get better as the season goes on, but this is a bitter pill to swallow. We've been spoiled, and I'm sure that there are many people out there that are happy that he's out.


I also got a gift from Captain Mayonnaise, my very own camel. Isn't he cute?? He's even got a hump! I think I will name him Cemal, it's Arabic for attractive and can also be unscrambled to spell camel. How clever!

Huh?!

Yeah, so I don't think my hearing is so good, no matter what that quack doctor told me (see blog entry on 4/9/08, Say What?). My friend Melissa and I took our friend Chris out for lunch for his birthday and we were sitting in a little cafe chatting. He was talking about what one of his friends gave him for his birthday...

Chris: "I got a great gift from Peter!"
Emily: "Oh yeah?! What did he give you?"
Chris: "Two years worth of porn!"
Emily: "What?! Two years worth of porn?? Wow, that's some gift! I didn't think you two were that close."

Chris pauses and just looks at me. Melissa can't talk because she's laughing so hard.

Chris: "Umm, no, he gave me two EARS worth of CORN!"

I can't make this shit up folks!!

Maybe I had those 2 ears of corn in my ears!!

Beach Time

Thom and I finally made it to the beach yesterday, the first time the whole summer. We went to the Scarborough State Beach in Rhode Island. It was a beautiful day and we had a nice time. The waves were rather high and Thom and were trying not to get knocked down by them. The water was a bit nipply and full of seaweed. I hate the feeling of seaweed wrapped around my ankles. Eeeck. Scarborough is a nice clean beach with a little ice cream shop at one of the pavilions. I love the smell and sounds of the beach, it's so relaxing. I remember as a kid that we got up early in the morning to be at the beach by 8 or 9am. And we spent the whole day there! Those are great memories. We would get home totally spent, but happy.

I got my bone infusion and my 2 injections and today it really hurt. I could hardly walk for about 2 hours after. My joints hurt and I'm an overall bitch. Took some Advil, so I'm feeling a bit better. The nurse who administered it did so rather quickly, and the faster you inject it, the more it burns. We had to do it in the bathroom because there were no free rooms. She's telling me to hold on to the sink, and being the public bathroom germaphobe that I am, refused to touch anything in that bathroom. So that was interesting.

Not much else to report except that I can't wait for today to be over with. Tomorrow is another day!

If it walks like a duck...

Here's a picture of the little ducklings I feed daily. Unfortunately, there are only 3 ducklings left now...

 

And Captain Mayonaisse sent a picture of the local Starbucks in Dubai...



Are you kidding me?! Is everything so pretentious there?? But I have to admit, it is pretty impressive.

So I'm wondering...are there a lot of Arabs sitting in Starbucks using their free wi-fi pretending to look important?? Or just one American guy?? ;)

Old Friends

Today is a good day. It just started, and no matter what happens, it's a good day.

I found an old friend I went to college with. We lost touch, oh, I don't know, 8 maybe 9 years ago. We hung out all the time, he was one of my best friends. I found him through a website called LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com). It's a networking site. You don't know how happy I am that I found him.

Just wanted to share, I don't like losing touch with people, so this makes me happy.

The Olympics begin tonight! If you don't know, I'm a big fan of the Olympics! Love watching it. Swimming, Gymnastics, and Track and Field are my favorite summer Olympic games. Watch out for Micheal Phelps in swimming, he's going to dominate! I have to laugh because Thom had to endure Shark Week, now he has to endure a month of the Olympic Games! :) He's a good sport though.

The Patriots started playing last night! This brings mixed feelings: ecstatic because football season is here, sadness because that means that winter is coming. It was so good to see football on TV! And don't get me started on Bret Favre. Will the new chant at The Meadowlands be: B-R-E-T, Bret Bret Bret?? I don't think so. What a tool, I lost what little respect I had for him. He should've just retired while he was on top and be done with it. T-O-O-L, Tool Tool Tool!

Hope you all have a good day too.

Quack Quack

Every day around this time I go out to the lake that's behind our building and I feed the local ducks that are there. I look forward to this time because it's so relaxing and it gets me centered. There are probably 20 ducks that are in the lake. Some of them are waiting on the grass, the others come out once they see me. The ones that come out from the water crack me up because they start "running", more like a fast waddle! Some even flap their wings to get to the food faster! It just makes me laugh. Anyways, the reason I'm telling you this is because today the little babies came out! There were 4 little duckies and this is the first time they've ventured out of the water. They were with their Mommy who snipped at any other duck that came close to her babies. The babies are so fluffy and cute! That just made my day. I'll be sad when winter comes. If I remember to take my camera out and take some pictures, I'll post them.

On one of the previous days I was out there, I saw the great blue heron who hangs out in the lake. He came so close to shore that day, I thought for sure he was going to come out and try to get some of the food. It was amazing! They are so majestic and graceful for such large birds. That was a good day too.

I love animals, I really do. I saw an amazing video on Youtube.com about Christian the lion. If you look it up, I swear, it will bring you to tears, it's so touching. It might be under "hugging lion", I'm not sure. Animals just amaze me. Sometimes I can't find the words to express my love and appreciation of animals. I like animals more than I like some people.

And if you haven't yet gone to the movies to see the new Batman movie "The Dark Knight", what the hell is wrong with you??? It was awesome! Heath Ledger nailed his character (The Joker) right on the head. Loved it loved it! It was a 2 and a half hour movie and I didn't even notice it. Usually I get antsy around the 1 1/2 hour mark, but this kept my full attention throughout. Best movie of the summer hands down. I think my brother-in-law would even like it. He's got some wacky taste in movies...for cripes sakes, he liked "No Such Thing", which was THE worst movie EVER!!!!!!!!!!! Two hours of my life I will never get back. Ughh, it was so bad. When he left the States, he left us his collection of DVDs and that movie was in the mix. I think I burned it. Oops, now he'll know. But he's going to tell me that he hates the Batman movie just because he's a pain in the ass (Like I need another pain in the ass, seriously.)

Until next time, here are some words of wisdom:

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." - Emerson

I wear that saying on a bracelet. Gives me strength.

Faslodex

Went in for my usual monthly injection and today we added the new medication Faslodex. No lie, the needles were 3" long. Yes, you read correctly, it was needleS, plural. My dosage was 500mg, but the needles only come in 250mg (of course!), so that means 2 sticks in the ass for me. Got one on each cheek. So I'm laying on the hospital bed bare-assed, which I'm sure was a funny site. I have 3 bandaids total, one on my hand and one on each cheek. How cute. I have to go back in 2 weeks for the next dose, then again on August 25th. After that, it's only 1x month. Can we say pincushion?? My poor bum. Thom is still the bigger pain in the ass though. He has not been upstaged yet. :)

Hmm, how many times did I say ass in the previous paragraph? Let's see...counting...well, only 3 times, but it seemed a lot more to me.

Anyways, the weekend was quiet, just how I like them.

That's all I have to report.

Results...and an unusually calm Emily

Went to see the doctor at Dana-Farber on Friday. We waited for 2 1/2 hours. I was upset, but I got over it when I realized that he gives each of his patients the time that they need, he doesn't rush. We spent a good 45 minutes with him. I have to be understanding because for all I know, some woman just got diagnosed and needed a little more time with him, like I did when I first went in. Next time I will bring a book or something.

The news wasn't good. The lung nodules grew and the tumors in my hips grew. Now we are changing meds again, this is the last of the hormonal therapy. It's an injection once a month, it's called Faslodex. I will remain on the Lupron (the harpoon). So all my medications are injections now. I don't think that there will be an unsore spot on my ass from now on! Gives a whole new meaning to "pain in the ass"!

I have more scans in November, so if this injection doesn't work, the next step is to start chemo. But it will be chemo in pill form. I won't lose my hair with this, but there is a weird reaction: the palms of my hands and the soles of my feet could become very irritated. For some reason, the chemo accumulates in the thick skin on these 2 areas.

I'm unusually calm upon hearing this news. Recently, I've had this calm feeling deep down, like everything is going to be ok. Don't know how long it will last, but I'm going with it for now.

The doctor said that in cases like mine, where the tumor doesn't respond to hormone therapy when it should, chemo becomes very effective. He's not sure why, but it does. Chemo could become my mixed blessing. Not surprised, I have never done anything like I should, so should I expect anything different from a tumor that is in me?

We talked about removing the original tumor from the breast. He doesn't see the need for it. He doesn't want to put me through unnecessary pain, and the surgery would be invasive. He said that maybe in future, once we get the cancer more manageable, we could do it, but unless it becomes a problem (more so than it is already!!), there's no need. I agree.

He's more convinced now that the nodules in my lungs are breast cancer. If he didn't see any change in them, he would still question, but because they grew along with the hip ones, he thinks that it is the same.

Latest CT Scan

Had my latest CT scan at Dana-Farber on Friday. I always dread this test. Not only because of the results that it will tell, but because of the absolutely disgusting prep they make you drink. Just crush some chalk and add some water to it, and there you have it. But not this time. This time, they gave me 2 18oz bottles of Raspberry Crystal Light and mixed in some clear stuff to it. Didn't taste a thing except the Crystal Light. It was actually good!

So while I'm drinking the stuff, they take me in to do the Ultrasound, while I'm waiting for the CT Scan. I got 2 Radiologists working on me, and both of them are wondering why my doctor wants an ultrasound done. They say that nothing can be determined from an ultrasound. The tumor only shows up as a shadow on the US. I don't know why my doctor wants it. But I will be sure to ask him on Friday when I go in for the results. It's not like they can measure it from the US. And a mammogram doesn't work either because there's too much calcification in the breast to even see anything.

The dye that they inject for the CT scan is weird. As soon as it gets injected, I can feel it coursing through my body. First I can "taste" it. Then I feel it in my chest and finally, when it reaches the lower body, I get a really hot sensation and it feels like I'm peeing my pants. I'm not, but it just feels that way. It goes away pretty quickly, but it makes itself known. It's bizarre.

So I go back to Boston on Friday to meet with the doctor and get the results of this latest battery of tests. This will probably determine the next course of action that will be taken as far as medication and such. Keep me in your thoughts.

I get the harpoon tonight. They increased the dosage on the Lupron, so we'll see how I react to it. I must admit, no periods are niiice. Sorry, I have to look on the bright side of things! May be TMI, but get over it! :)

My brother-in-law, the guy in Dubai? He's flying around royalty. Apparently, the Sheik's son wanted to go to Beirut for a party. Got that? Beirut...for a party. So before they took off, the Sheik himself inspected the plane to make sure it was good enough for his son to fly in. How friggin cool is that?? He got to meet and shake hands with the Sheik. Not to mention flying the next-in-line for the...what would you call it...the throne...the whole shebang?? Damn. That's way too cool. You hear that mayonnaise?? I think you are C-O-O-L. It's in black and white, it's official, I can't take it back! There, I said it. Now where's my postcard?? LOL

Took the 2 dogs to the lake yesterday. Keep in mind that they are both Labs, you know, the water-loving dogs? Well, Tanner took to it no problem, fetching her stupid tennis ball. She is so obsessed with that tennis ball, nothing can deter her from it. Not Max humping her head...nothing. So I'm tossing the ball into the water and she's leaping like a gazelle (only not so gracefully) to fetch it. Also keep in mind that Tanner ain't that bright. She sees the tennis ball go under, but doesn't see that it is now floating. She is completely submerged looking for this tennis ball. I thought I was going to have to go in after her because she wasn't coming up for air!! She did, of course. Her eyes are bloodshot because she's got them open under the water looking for the ball. We continue this for a good 30 minutes. Thought she would be exhausted and just crash when we got home, but OH NO, not Tanner, not the energizer bunny of dogs. She's still hyper, running around. You've got to be kidding!

Max on the other hand couldn't of cared less about the water. He wouldn't go in past his chest. He didn't like the waves because he would get water in his face. Water-loving dogs? Not Max. He was more interested in sniffing the grass on shore.

Other than that, the weekend was nice and quiet. Going to the torture place, I mean, the gym tonight. Blah.

Saw 2 movies this weekend too. Apocalypto (I give it a B+), and SuperBad (C-).

Hope all is well with all of you.

This Old House

Thom and I have decided to try to sell our house.

The reasons are many:

1) It's too big for just 2 people. We bought the house with the thought that it would be filled with children...

2) The commute is too long. It takes us about 45 minutes to get home, depending on traffic. We don't get home until 7pm most nights, and if we do ANYTHING after work, we don't get home until 10.

3) The gas prices are kicking our asses. We spend ~$250/month on gas. Yes, we have an SUV, but again, it was bought with the thought that it would have children in it.

4) No one comes to visit us. No one wants to drive that far. Slackers!

So there you are. Our project this summer is to get the house ready to be sold. There are projects here and there that need to be completed. Hopefully, by fall, it will be ready to be put on the market.

Of course, there's always that fact that it might not sell, the market being what it is. Keep your fingers crossed.

Where do we want to go? Anywhere within 15 minutes of work! We're going to look at Worcester, Shrewsbury, Holden, Auburn. We'll see if there's even anything we can afford. If would be so nice to be out of work by 5 and home by 5:30. I have a friend who lives 1.3 miles from work. How sweet is that?!

I have a plethora (like that word?) of emotions going through me right now. Sadness because I LOVE this house. We did so much work to it to make it our own, and I just love it. When we first looked at this house, I got a good feeling about it, a very comfortable feeling. I just FEEL at home here. Yes, I'm one of those that gets feelings from houses. If it's a bad, weird, uncomfortable feeling, I walk away ASAP. I don't question it.

Weird fact about this house: the previous owner had breast cancer. She's in remission, but that fact does not escape me.

The other emotion is excitement. It would be something new, something more manageable. We have rooms right now that we don't even use, they are used for storage. It's sad. A smaller, more cozier house would be great. We'd be closer to EVERYTHING!

We'd have to purge too, we have too much shit. I see a very large yard sale in the future.

Flood

We have seen some really crazy weather the past 2 days. High winds, torrential downpours, thunder, lightening and darkness. Seemed like one of the plagues of Egypt was upon us. I thought that maybe someone should start building an ark.

The circular driveway outside of work was flooded and the water was about mid-shin deep. Come to find out that the sewer drain was clogged. With what you ask? Let me tell you the story...

There once was a man named Tom,
Who should've listened to his mom.

He tried to save some baby chickens, or was it birds?
They fell into the sewer, how absurd!

With a windsock in hand, the birds he tried to scoop
To no avail, until it fell into the poop.

There it sat for about a week, clogging up the sewer drain,
when the rain finally came, it caused a large pain.

And ended up giving the city workers some overtime.

I am no poet, and I know it!

So a guy at work was trying to save some birds from the sewer with what looks like a windsock, or a butterfly net (just relace the netting with some non-porous material), for lack of a better description. Our safety officer uses it to flush the emergency showers in the laboratories. So, he tried to scoop them out with the windsock, and then the sock fell into the sewer. I don't think he told anyone, but was forced to once he realized what happened. He didn't save the birds, and nearly flooded the building in the process. That was our excitment for the day!

Heat Wave

It's been hazy, hot and humid here for 3 days. I'm loving it!

The doctor put me on a new medication, Neurontin, that pretty much took away my hot flashes! I've had maybe 1 in the past 2 weeks! It's amazing. Good thing too, can't imagine having 97 degree weather on top of a hot flash! I'd have to kill someone! ;)

We baptized my niece/godchild on Sunday. First time I've seen Brianna since she was born. She is beautiful! We looked at baby pictures to see who she resembles. Both my dad and Brianna's grammie said she looks like me. I kind of see the resemblance too. It made me feel good because at least now, there is someone out there who looks kinda like me. So in a way, I will live on. It was very emotional for me. I'll see her again for Thanksgiving. I wish we lived closer, I'm missing so much of her.

Thom and I were on vacation last week. We didn't go anywhere, just puttered around the house. We saw the new Indiana Jones movie, and to say I wasn't impressed would be an understatement. I didn't like the movie, it felt too forced, almost like they were trying to capture the essence of the past movies. I guess they were arguing a long time about the script...they should've continued arguing! Very disappointing. But it was nice to be able to sleep in and just do whatever. I want to be independently wealthy so that I don't have to work. Dream on!

Saw a coyote on the way to work this morning. We drive by a lake where there are a LOT of geese, and right in the middle of this is a lone coyote. He usually has friends, but they weren't around. Slackers!

Not much else to report. I'm feeling fine.

Back to killing zombies...

Is it just me, or is it hot in here??

Last night had to be the worst night for me and the hot flashes. I had constant ones all night. Had the ceiling fan on, outside of the bedsheets, sweating my arse off. I don't know how to dress for bed anymore. I go to bed with a long sleeve shirt sometimes, because I'm cold, that ends up coming off because I get too hot. Go to bed with a short sleeve shirt on, have to put on another blanket because I'm shivering. It's bizarre.

Thom and I are going to be on vacation next week! Can't wait. We are not going anywhere, just taking time off where we don't have doctor's appointments. I just want to be able to sleep late...late for me is like 7:30am! The dogs won't let me sleep any later, because, by that time, they can't stand it anymore. Tanner is outside the bedroom door whining. Max is at the bottom of the stairs barking. I can translate the whining and the barking: I need to go outside and I need to go NOW! If you don't want to have to mop up pee in the kitchen, you better get your ass down here and let us out! DO YOU HEAR ME?! Yes, I hear you, and I'm sure the neighbors can hear you too!!

Avon Walk for Breast Cancer - Part II

The walk was this weekend. My friend Coral did the walk and has blisters to show for it. She said to me, "Blisters don't need Chemo". So she is wearing her blisters with pride! (No, she didn't show them to me!) Want to let you all know that she surpassed her goal!!!! Thank you thank you thank you!

A few people have asked me if I was going to do the walk, and if I did the walk. I'm almost embarrassed when I say no. I'm just not ready yet. Coral kept telling me about how emotional those 2 days were. I don't feel up to being so emotional. I'm emotional enough on my own. Maybe next year.

Forgot to mention, had my 3rd harpoon shot last Wednesday. It's getting better, the lump gets smaller and it hurts less and less. Hey Mayonnaise, you missed the harpoon by 3 days! If you care to plan your next vacation around it, I get it around the 13th of every month! HAHA

This is the first time I've said this in about 2 years, but work sucks. It's been very frustrating because I'm doing stuff I shouldn't be. And that I don't want to do. But oh well.

Going to the gym tonight. If any one of you need encouragement to either start a workout or continue one...don't come to me!!! I'm not the person you want to see to get pumped up! LOL

No sleep for the weary

It's 2:55am and I should be sleeping. Unfortunately, I am not. My hips have been bothering me and tonight I'm having some major hot flashes. Keep waking up in a sweat. So, what does one do when they cannot sleep? They blog!

Tanner is wondering why someone is up, but when she realized I wasn't up to anything fun and exciting, she went back to bed! Not even company from my own dog. Fair weather friend my ass! :)

Ahh, my World of Warcraft patch has completed downloading! Hurray!

Work is good. My friend Libby is returning to Athena after an 8-month vacation! LOL It will be awesome to have her back! Although, we are having a space issue. The issue being there is no space! I suggested that we build UP, double decker cubicles! They laughed. Yuck it up, but that's the wave of the future, mark my words! LOL

We were discussing comedians at work, and my all time favorite is Jeff Dunham. He has specials on Comedy Central and he uses puppets. He has me in hysterics! Some of his puppets: Jose the Jalepeno (he's a jalepeno on a stick), Achmed the dead terrorist, and a crumudegy (sp?) old man named Walter! Look him up on Youtube! You'll be glad you did!

Well, I'm going to go now. Try not to miss me too much! :)

Avon Walk for Breast Cancer

My co-worker and good friend, Coral Titone, is participating in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer this weekend, May 17-18. The following is part of the letter that she is using to further the cause:

On May 17-18, I’ll spend the weekend walking, along with thousands of other people, in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. I will walk the distance of a marathon (26.2 miles) on the first day, and a half marathon on the second day. I will also raise at least $1,800 in donations to the cause. I’ll have to spend the next few months training, fundraising, and preparing for the event. It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve ever taken on, but I’m very excited about doing it because I know it will make a real difference to the millions of people affected by breast cancer. I lost my mother-in-law, and have had several friends and relatives beat it. I also have friends who are fighting it now. I am sure that most of you have had someone close to you diagnosed.

Coral has been fundraising and training for this event for the past 8 months. We created a poster together that is displayed in the cafeteria at work.

I am once again asking for your help. Please help Coral reach her $1,800 goal. She is 72% of the way there! She will still be able to take donations after the walk. Please go to her website and help if you can:

http://tinyurl.com/37q3rn

You can copy and past the address in your browser window, for some reason, the program isn't creating a link, so you will have to do it manually. Sorry!

Many many thanks to all of you who have already contributed! You DO make a difference!!!!

I might as well give you an update while I'm here. I've been having some hip pain for the past week or so, but Advil keeps it at bay.

My brother-in-law is now in Dubai. He's a pilot and got a job flying some hoity-toity people around and he moved to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. He landed at the airport around midnight and he told us that the temperature was 102 degrees...at midnight!! He said the earth caught on fire after that! I don't care if it's dry heat, moist heat or whatever, that's friggin hot! He's the color of mayonnaise, so he needs to wear sunscreen with like an SPF of 135! LOL

Happy Anniversary??

Today is the one year anniversary of my cancer diagnosis. I'm kind of torn about this day. I'm happy because I am able to celebrate another year here, but I'm sad because it's become a day to acknowledge. April 25th will not just be any other day for me anymore. I can remember that day vividly in my mind. What I was wearing, where I was sitting in the waiting room, what was in the waiting room, what was on the TV that was playing in the waiting room. Walking into the Xray room, seeing my mammogram up on the light box, and thinking to myself, "Wow, that doesn't look normal." And also thinking to myself, "That's not what I pictured cancer to look like on an Xray."

I remembered what I had for lunch that day...a Lean Cuisine panini...and where I threw it up. To this day, I cannot even look at a panini sandwich without getting nauseous. I remember getting home that day, crying my eyes out, and then taking a nap on the couch. I just wanted to sleep so that I would stop thinking.

Those first 8-9 months were the hardest to get through. I don't know how I did it, well, actually, I do. With the love and support of Thom, that's how. He's been my rock and he has been there through it all. Thank you, Thom. I didn't think it was possible, but each day that goes by, I love you more and more.

I've been doing surveys for Dana-Farber since I started there, it's the Young Women's Breast Cancer Study. They want to know about all kinds of things from the perspective of a woman under 40 with breast cancer. They ask about background, work status, health status (umm, I have cancer!), emotional status (not enough room to discuss that!!), body image, activities, social impact, etc. I get a package in the mail a couple of days ago and they want to know how my life is one year after diagnosis. They want to compare it with the first survey. For the next 2 years, I will receive surveys every 6 months and subsequently, I will receive them yearly for 7 years. So I will be around for at least 7 more years so that I can complete the surveys!! At least! God willing!

So, today I am celebrating surviving one year! YEAH ME!!

Baby steps, one day at a time.

I want to thank you all for being here too. Your support and laughter help me more than you know!!

And I'd like to thank the Academy...

LOL, I crack myself up!!

Doctor's Appointment

Went to Dana-Farber on Friday. Guess what?? He looked at me, told me I looked fine and sent me on my way!

We scheduled a CT scan in July. He measured the lump on my left breast and told me that it got smaller. I don't really notice it too much because I feel it everyday, but he has the advantage of only seeing it once every 3 months.

The hot flashes have been bad, but they go away so quickly, it leaves me wondering if I was just imagining it. The doctor told me they might get worse in the summer. He prescribed some medication that may help relieve the hot flashes, Neurontin. I used to be on it for my restless leg syndrome. Yes, that is a real phenomenon. It's worse at night when I'm trying to sleep. Thom tells me that it seems like I "walk" in bed because I have to move my legs to make them feel better. But I digress...

Got the latest picture of my niece Brianna. She's beautiful.



Not much else happening here. I am going to have my next Lupron injection tonight. (Get the harpoon ready!) Let's hope it doesn't hurt as much as the last time.

I'm excited...the new season of The Deadliest Catch starts tomorrow on the Discovery Channel! LOVE that show. Thom bought me a tee-shirt for my birthday which reads, "It's twelve degrees, sleeting sideways, and there are 40 foot swells. Go Fish." I LOVE IT!

Well, not much else to report. It's getting warmer out, which means Summer is on the way!!! My favorite season.

Say What?

I went to see an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor today because I think that I'm beginning to lose my hearing, in the words of Roger Clemens, I "mishear" things.

Well, I walk into the exam room and the first thing I see is this old fashion-looking chair. I was asked to sit in it. OK. I look over to my right and there's this weird looking table, and some old looking instruments. I'm getting nervous here. Did the sign on the door say Dr. Frankenstein? What kind of a joint is this?? I look around and I see rubber tubing...who still uses rubber tubing??

While I'm sitting in this peculiar chair, the vent above me turns on and starts making a lot of noise. My over imaginative mind starts working and I'm picturing some kind of knock-out anesthetic is coming from the vent and that I'm going to be knocked out in a matter of seconds. Then Dr. Freak-a-zoid was going to come into the exam room and do something funky to me and no one would be able to hear my screams!

Doctor comes in, looks semi-normal, looks in my ears, tells me that everything looks fine, and I'm going to be given an auditory exam. OK. Walk into another exam room and there is this old looking machine, which I assumed was the hearing test machine.

The "audiologist" walks in and tells me he's going to give me a hearing test. I put on the earphones and then he proceeds to test my hearing. Beep, Beep, Beep, lower and lower the tones get, but I can still hear them. Then he takes out this piece of paper with words on it, and the paper is yellowing! How old is that piece of paper?? What kind of a joint is this?? He says a few words and asks me to repeat them. No problem. He announces that I have perfect hearing. Huh?

Soooo, I go back to the "doctor" with the results of the hearing test and he tells me that I probably get distracted and don't concentrate on what's being said to me.

This whole thing took about 10 minutes. I left there not feeling any better. It can't be that most people around me are mumbling! So please, if you talk to me, please be sure not to mumble. I would appreciate it. It's NOT me, it's YOU! :)

Might go for a second opinion, and if I walk into another exam room with some weird looking torture-like instruments, I'm walking out!

On Monday, I had my Zometa injection. Nothing out of the ordinary there. Thom and I got some lunch and sat down in the lobby to eat it. While we were sitting there I noticed something. "There's a boy...in the hospital...with a broken leg!" Thinking of you Jerry!! There really is a boy...in a hospital...with a broken leg! You weren't lying!

And oh yes, forgot to mention that the doctor that I see for my monthly injections is leaving the practice and going somewhere else. Wonderful.

That's all from the land of the fruity and nutty! Remember, it can only happen to me!

Femara

Took my first Femara pill last night. It's TINY! I hate small pills because I always wonder if I actually took it, or if I dropped it on the floor! No side effects...yet. I will keep you posted.

And for those of you who are concerned...my butt is better, thank you! :)

Happy Birthday to me! Thank you for all the well wishes. My department took me out to lunch today and I'm going out tonight too.

I played an April Fools joke on some of the people I work with! I sent out an email telling them that I gave my notice and my last day will be the 14th of April. Underneath my name was a standard disclaimer that I rewrote to say that this is a prank etc. I got a few people! You can't fool an April Fool's baby, but they can sure fool other people!

April 2 is Kick Butts Day. So, tommorow, kick someone's butt, even if it's your own!!

Talk to you later!

Doctor Who

Well, I had an appointment with Dana-Farber today, but I had to cancel it. We have an unnounced inspection and I have to be here for it, considering I'm part of QA.

No scans were scheduled, just a visit to the doctor so he can look at me and tell me I look fine. It's rescheduled for April 11th.

Not too much going on otherwise. My ass still hurts a little, the bump has gone down significantly, but is still there.

Other than that, all's quiet on the Western Front.

Later!

Ass cancer??

My butt has been hurting for a week now from the injection. Today, I just noticed that the injection site now has a hard lump around it. There are no doctors in the office to call, so I have to wait until Monday. Figures.

I have to laugh because it seems like I have no problems talking about my butt, injections, boobs, whatever. I have no shame anymore talking about this stuff, I just put it out there. It just cracks me up.

I was just joking about the ass cancer, by the way! :) That's for my mom, so she doesn't worry and call me all upset!

Speaking of mom, we are going over there for Easter. Spend some quality family time with...the family! La Famiglia!

Happy Easter everyone! Write to you soon!

E

Lupron

Got my first injection of Lupron on Friday night. It is to be given intramuscularly...in other words, I got a shot in the ass. And man, that spot on my ass hurt for 3 days after. I have attached a picture of the lovely injection that I will be getting every month. The picture just doesn't do it justice.


The needle itself is about 2.5" long. I'm REALLY beginning to hate needles.

I don't feel anything different. The doctor said that I might feel an increase of bone/joint pain, which is good. I haven't felt that yet. I hope it's working. I get so damn paranoid about these things. If he says that most people feel this, I expect to feel it, and if I don't, I worry that it's not working. It's really hard being me. [Sigh]

I've been following the story on the (former) New York Govenor Eliot Spitzer. The reports say that he didn't wear condoms. Umm, I have to comment on this, I can't let this go by without saying something! She's a prostitute...a WHORE (I just like saying that!)...you are not the first guy...you don't know where she's been...why the HELL wouldn't you wear a condom? You might as well stick your piece into the mouth of a komodo dragon. Except for the teeth, it's pretty much the same!! OMG! Nasty! LOL, I crack myself up!

Are any of you on Facebook? If so, I have a page, feel free to add me as a friend! Here's the website: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=680345138

Well, that's it from crazyville.

Happy St. Patty's Day! Today, everyone's Irish! I'm wearing my green, are you?

Snakes...why did it have to be snakes?

I don't know if you all know, but Thom and I have had a pet snake for about 15, maybe 16 years. Well, our pet snake passed over the weekend. Don't know why. Maybe not the most affectionate pet in the world, but she would come up to our face when we held her and flick her tongue as if to say, "Hello there!" When I had longer hair and could put it up in a ponytail, I would wrap her around it and go along doing what it was I had to do, and she was more than content to be there.

I'm sad, it's hard to have something for so long and then...not. But she was a very docile, sweet snake and she will be missed.

Bye Bye Phee.

One Mile

So we joined Bally's gym yesterday. I walked one mile yesterday, that's 9 times around the track. One mile is better than nothing. Feel good today. Last time we went for a free day pass, I did some stretching, and the next day I didn't feel so good, my hips were killing me. This time I decided not to stretch, and I seem to be doing better. Go figure. Guess it's sinking into my thick skull that exercise is good for me. <--Did I just say that?? What's the world coming to??

Congratulations to my friends Michele and Matt, they just had a baby, his name is Liam. Michele and Matt, if you're reading this: We Miss You!!

Happy Leap Year!

Today is not a good day

I don't know what the hell is wrong with me (besides the obvious!). Today I am feeling very edgy and generally pissed off and I'm not sure why. I feel like I could cry at any moment. As a matter of fact, I've already cried today. I do not want to be at work today, I'm tired, I hurt, I'm sad, I'm angry. I just want to go home.

Thom wants to start working out. Those who know me know that I hate exercising. I know it's good for me and all that jazz, but I find it extremely boring. I need it, but I still hate it. We went to check out Balley's last night. Didn't like the place. The manager seemed slick, like he should be wearing a velvet jumpsuit and lots of gold chains. Yuck. The girl that showed us around was trying to pressure sell. I cannot stand that shit. Don't pressure me. You pressure me, I dig in my heels and do exactly the opposite. But Thom wants to work out. We got a 1-day pass and tonight's the night we said we'd go in to try it. I'm just going to walk around the track with my MP3 and my music. I don't want to talk to anyone, I don't want someone to "work me out". Just leave me the fuck alone. Wow, I am a gem today.

There's not much I can do at a gym anyways, my hips and knees are always bothering me. So the place has to have a pool if I'm even to join. Doing laps gives me enough of a cardio workout and doesn't put any pressure on my joints. You're probably saying, "Em, if you go to a gym, lose some weight, that'll take the pressure off your joints." Great. I just don't have the energy. I don't have the energy to fight cancer, fight panic attacks, work out, do housework, work. I'm tired, man. This is not me giving up, I'm just tired and I don't have much energy after a day's work (if I even get any work done) to go to a gym and work out for an hour, get home around 8pm, eat, and then go to bed at 9pm (because I can't last much longer than that), get up, and do it all over again. I hate getting home later than 7pm because I don't feel like I have any time to chill before I go to bed. I get very cranky when we do things after work a lot of the nights during the week.

Poor Thom. I feel, because of me, he can't do a lot of things either. I think that's what bothers me most. I'm more than happy to just go home everynight, I'm a homebody, always was. And that's just A-OK with me. But I feel like I'm keeping him down somehow. It's my choice, but is it his? I feel like I'm trapping him. It's a sucky feeling. And I'm having a hard time dealing with it too. What can I do? I feel like such a burden to people. If Thom wants to go anywhere, he has to make sure that I'm with someone, like a fucking babysitter, is what I feel like. I have good friends, but when will they get sick of it too? They have their own lives, they don't have time to babysit me. So many sacrifices made for me. I'm very grateful, but it's unfair to them.

Gee, I had a lot to say. Thanks for listening...errr...reading.

Pain in the...

Hips. Been having some joint pain...of course last night while I'm trying to sleep! Slept like crap, feel like crap, and probably look like crap too! Advil's not doing it's job. It seems like everything bothers me more at night while I'm trying to sleep. I read somewhere that your pain threshold decreases at night. I think something about hormones. Hormones make the world go round. It's going to be a long day. I have a meeting later in the afternoon, my worst time, I get so sleepy. I hope I don't nod off during the meeting, that's so embarrasing.

Thom and I took yesterday off, just to have a day off where we're not going to the doctor's. I stayed in my PJs all day! It was very relaxing.

Went to the movies and saw "Jumper". It was good. The ending was weak, but the premise is awesome! That's my dream, to be able to just "jump" anywhere in the world.

That's all that's been going on here. Sorry to be a wet blanket.

News

Well, I finally heard from the Dana-Farber doctor. He finally read my CT scans. The lung nodules have remained the same, but unfortunately, there has been some progression in the bone (I didn't ask how much).

He mentioned again that the nodules in my lungs may not be breast cancer, since it's advanced in my bone, but not in the lung. But it's also not unusual.

Anyways, he didn't sound all doom and gloom, and he said that we have a lot of hormone options available. The next step is a hormone called Lupron. It's an injection I get once a month and I can get that done at the same time as the Zometa infusion. That's a blessing at least.

He also told me to stop getting any scans done in Worcester and having them sent to him. He said that it's getting very confusing, and frustrating because he doesn't have all my films all in one place. I can still get the infusion and injection in Worcester, but for any scans, I am to go to Dana-Farber. That's fair.

The Lupron will cease my periods and give me some nasty hot flashes. He told me to let him know if they get bad and interfere with my sleep, he can give me something to counteract that.

And the reason why the doctor in Worcester didn't mention anything about the progression in the bone is because he doesn't have the original bone scan to compare.

I think I'm doing ok. I didn't break down upon hearing the news, which is usually the scenario. That doesn't mean it won't hit me later.
Update: it hit me later

Please continue to keep me in your thoughts and prayers. I appreciate it.

Much love,

E

New Addition

My sister, Lizz, just had a baby girl! Brianna Elizabeth was born today at 10:15am, weighing 6 lbs. 13 oz. Both mommy and baby are doing well. I'm an aunt (Auntie Em, Auntie Em) as well as a godmother.

I get to live vicariously through her.

Update

Hi all,

Had my Zometa infusion today. No steroids this time, so we'll see if I get a fever. The steroids were making me too edgy and unable to sleep for a couple of days, so I didn't want it.

Still waiting to hear from Dr. Silver at Dana-Farber, but the doctor that gives me the infusions told me that the CT scans show no change. He has a call in to Dana-Farber also.

Cancer markers in my blood have been another way to judge how the Tamoxiphen's been working. I get those checked once a month. It seems that over the past 5 months or so, they have been creeping up slowly. These values fluctuate, so it's not uncommon for them to change each month, or even from day to day. And they haven't increased dramatically, so it may be that I'm building up a tolerance to the Tamoxiphen. This was expected. The next step would be for me to go on another hormone therapy, this one's called Lupron (you may have seen the commercials for it). This will put me into menopause and my estrogen levels will drop dramatically, and quickly. It's an injection, once a month or once every 3 months, not sure. It will supress my periods (PLUS!), but I will get hot flashes (YUCK!). In conjunction with the Lupron, I will stay on the Tamoxiphen and see if that can't supress things. I don't have a lot of details yet because we are waiting for Dana-Farber to chime in. The doctor in Worcester won't do anything until he talks to Dr. Silver at DF. So nothing is going to happen until then.

I'll keep you posted on the happenings.

I was kind of bummed out this morning, just waiting in the waiting room, looking around at all the old people, and here I am. I don't know.

18-1

Maybe Bob Kraft should trademark that: 18-1, or as Thom said, "Not enough"; how about Losers? That perfect season was all in vain. That game SUCKED NY GIANTS BALLS! Did the offensive line forget how to protect Brady?? That boy went down more than a whore. I'm pissed off, they could've made history, but today, people are happy that New England lost. Now we have to hear about the 2 Manning brothers having rings, bla bla bla. Bitter much?! Yes, I am!! Bitter, table for one.

I know what did it...Belichick didn't wear his normal grey hoodie with the cut-off sleeves. Or maybe he washed his underwear. Something jinxed them! They had that game, they only had to stop the Giants 2 more times. @#$!%^# I've never gotten so upset over a game, I'm always telling Thom, "It's just a game, Focker!" But @#!$# it, why did the ONE game they lose have to be the biggest game of the season? But they deserved to lose that game, they played like crap.

Ok, I'm done.

I haven't heard anything about my scans yet. I have a call in to the doctor to ask him what the F is up! I'll let you guys know when I hear something. I love the sense of urgency they show. Damn them.

CT Scan Prep

Ok, so I have to drink these 2 bottles of prep. I looked at the bottle and it read "Creamy Vanilla Smoothie." You can call it whatever you want, but it doesn't change the fact that it's still chalkie CRAP! But I love the choice of adjective: Creamy. Who you kidding?! LIES!! Just thinking about drinking that makes me want to puke. It's like 2 liters...ok...maybe not that much, but at least 32 oz. each.

I probably won't get the results right away, they have to send the films to Boston, and the doctor has to look at them. But, as soon as I know, you'll know.

Man, I'm bummed that Heath Ledger died. So sad.

Scan moved to the 24th

Just wanted you all to know that my scan has been moved to January 24th.

Where is everyone?! I'm lonely! :)

Scans Scans Scans

Hey, sorry for not updating sooner! I was supposed to go to Dana-Farber to get a Chest CT scan, but I decided that I didn't want to drive to Boston just for a CT scan. SOOO, since I see the doctor in Worcester for my bone injections, I can get my CT scan done here. Yes, we could run into problems with the films not making it to Dana-Farber, but I have confidence in this one. I'll be having a chest, abdomen, pelvis and head CT on January 22nd. I have to drink some yucky contrast. That's the worst part. Bluckie.

Anywho, wanted to keep you updated. I've been getting some slack!!

Let's see, what's been going on with me? Not too much. Had my monthly injection on Friday. Joints hurt today, but not too bad. Nothing Advil can't handle.

We had a snow day from work yesterday! Haven't had a snow day in YEARS!!

Good news: I had an old friend make contact with me! We grew up together and we were very close! It's wonderful to touch base with friends that we've lost contact with. Thank God for Classmates.com and Google!

I won an award at work. Don't know for what yet, I wasn't at the "Winter Gala". Stayed home and watched the Patriots go 17-0! Yeah! Figures, the one time I don't go, I win something.

Talk soon!

E