Big Changes from Nothing

Two Years Ago

This post brings the biggest Lloyd news, and the first real change, in almost two years. It has been two years this month since Lloyd announced his presence in my life—July 28, 2008. Or, as Mark likes to call it, the worst night of his life that I don’t even remember.

This July, though, brings a different Lloyd: a sleepy Lloyd. We found out yesterday that my MRI shows no change, that my tumor is “stable,” and that, ultimately, I have had no change since my craniotomy in August ’08— just shy of two years ago. That is a pretty amazing run of luck!!!

Dr. G has been waiting for me to get to two years of no growth, hoping I would make it. Now I’m here. There is no magic doorway to step through with cancer (once you step through, that part is over and you don’t ever have to worry about going back there again! Ha! If only…) We all strive for red-letter goals, thinking they will protect us, but the truth is they just give us hope. Hope is the most powerful tool we have, and frequently the biggest shell we've got to load into our guns. “Five Year Remission” is a big red-letter goal, for example, but I’m not in the running for that. I’m not complaining, though. There are a lot of people who would give their right arm for my two years of no growth. This brings me back to my prize…

I have been cleared to come in for MRIs every three months instead of every two months.

I’ll just give you a minute to get all excited and/or calm down. (smile) I realize this might not sound that exciting, but when you stop to consider, this is only four times a YEAR. This is only once per SEASON. I won’t go back until October! That’s Fall, Winter, Spring… you get it. And now I’ll only have to get all worked up four times a year, at the expense of possibly finding out about Lloyd’s growth only a month later than I would have otherwise. I think that is a good trade-off. And, let me remind you, it took me two years to earn this!

Duckpin Bowling—a Baltimore Tradition!

He Started Flapping

Non-Lloyd news includes a fantastic spring (I didn’t post after my last Dr. Day, so it’s been a while), with fishing, a short trip to NYC for our five year wedding anniversary, gardening, lots of reading (Catch 22, Lolita, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The House of Seven Gables, and, currently, Vanity Fair), and frequent visits up to the country in Pennsylvania. The NFB convention (and prep) kept me extremely busy, but was a fantastic time in Dallas. It unfortunately prevented me from joining Mark and our family in California, but he had a great time with them. We both just got back home, and last week Sansi came to town to visit and join us in the Delta Parade, representing my parent’s farm: the Dinner Bell Berry Farm.

Strawberries, Raspberries, Blueberries, and Sir Gway

It isn’t every day you get to dress up like a berry & ride through a small town on a Segway tossing candy. I have said it many times, but I have a wonderful—a joyous—life, overflowing with love, and it is because of all of you. Thank you.


Love, -Kristina