Thursday January 5th

Hello Everyone! I took a vacation from writing my blog because...I was on vacation! We took the family down to San Diego for a few days and enjoyed the sun and activities. Before the trip, I had finished a round of chemotherapy and then had a PET scan to see if the treatments had reduced the tumors or if they had grown. The results were in before we left on our trip, so I called to schedule an appointment with my oncologist for after our trip. The staff needed to know if they needed to schedule time for a chemo treatment or just a consultation, so they told me they would consult the Dr. and call me back. Dr. Shehadeh himself called back and confirmed that yes, the tumors had grown since the last scan and I would be starting a new drug and a new round of chemotherapy when I returned.
With that in mind, I was extra grateful to be able to travel with David and the children before starting the new drug and treatment schedule. We stayed in a cute 2 bedroom cottage just 2 blocks from the beach. We went to Sea World, Legoland and the Wild Animal Park. We also took a bus to Tijuana. Now the kids can say they have been to Mexico! My favorite activity of the trip was our 3 hour whale watching cruise. We got to see grey whales and we followed them in the boat, as this is the time of year that they migrate to the Baha peninsula to give birth to their young. We also saw a sea lion and several black and white dolphins. We got an extra bonus, as we approached a dive boat and saw an adolescent grey whale playing nearby. Our ship stopped the motor and we saw the whale as e came around to the dive boat and rolled and waved his fin at them. He swam around with a dolphin nearby. When he moved to the other side of the boat, we followed around in ours and the whale came near us and did the same roll and wave of his fin. We could see the little white limpets on his usually grey skin. Another whale watching boat came over to watch from a distance. When we returned to the harbor, the naturalist on board told us not to mention our bonus to the people in line for the next boat, as it is rare that a whale will stay in one place that long.
We got the boys shovels and they had fun at the beach, digging piles of sand and watching the tide come in and wash them away. We also drove to a place with some tide pools and the kids found sea anemone, sea snails, hermit crabs and little black crabs. We made our own breakfast and lunches then ate out a few times at nice restaurants for dinner, ordering seafood, of course!
One morning, the kids had been playing at the beach and David came back to see if I wanted to go down and join them for a while and look at their "creations." I decided to take off my hat and go out to get some sun on my bald head. I did put on sunscreen first, and I wore my sunglasses so I could go incognito. David carried some beach chairs from the cottage and I brought a book to read. It felt quite liberating to go out in public with a bald head. It was a big step for me, but gradually I am becoming comfortable with the fact that I have no hair.
When we got home, I had my oncologist visit the next day. Elaine drove me up and David was also there for the doctor visit. He explained the same thing as he said on the phone, that the tumors were growing again and we needed to change medication. He gave me some instructions and a short exam, then I moved on to the chemo room. The new drug, Doxil, doesn't take quite as long as my old medicine, but they had to drip it slower than usual for the first dose, to make sure I don't have a bad reaction or anything. Elaine and I chatted most of the time. She has been having some health issues and has not received a clear diagnosis yet. She called me today and mentioned that her doctor recommended surgery, so it looks like her problems aren't over yet. At least she can have a degree of empathy for me and all the pokes and procedures I've had over the years.
Today is the day after my treatment and I haven't had any side effects yet, just fatigue, so I took a 2 hour nap before the boys got home from school. My parents are coming this weekend, so I am looking forward to seeing them. Thanks, everyone for your prayers and service to our family. I promise to write more often, now that we are home. I just didn't want everyone on the internet to know that my house was empty for 5 days. Bye for now,
Emilee