More Updates

Well I guess we can say the waiting is over. In a manner of speaking, I suppose that is true. My mom was here for her post-surgery check up about a week ago. During that appointment, she was told the results of the tests done on the lymph nodes and tissue taken during the surgery. There were eight lymph nodes taken, as well as breast tissue and also skin tissue. There were no signs of cancer cells anywhere. Hallelujah! This news, though, has its ups and downs.

First off, there was a question as to whether mom would have to endure chemo at all, since cancer was found nowhere else. Word was received today, that yes, they are still recommending chemo, and still at the highest dose available. I truly had high hopes that she may avoid it, or else be able to only have to receive one of the lower doses, especially with the chances of leukemia and other cancers that the higher doses have a small chance of causing. Unfortunately she will still be subjected to that risk.

Next, there’s now a question as to whether the insurance will pay for the second mastectomy surgery in a year. Since the cancer was found nowhere else, it’s possible the insurance will take that as definitive results that it had not spread and therefore view the second mastectomy as…hold on to your shorts…cosmetic. That’s right, apparently chopping a body part off these days is considered cosmetic. Ok, so I know maybe sex change operations had a big hand in that, but still! This is a woman who has had to go through treatment for breast cancer. Twice! How can surgery to possibly save her life, while mutilating her body in the process, be considered cosmetic?? Insurance companies may as well be government agencies. They sure think like governments do.

*ahem* Pardon me. Ok, end of rant. Regardless of the bad that is coming out of it, it is a great relief to all of us that it had not spread. Now the next awful step begins next Tuesday. On the up side of things, I guess we get to see my mom a lot more. It will just be hard to see her that way. The treatment is estimated to continue into January. Four months of hell. But I believe we are all as prepared as we can be, which may be why the news that she has to go through it anyway, while disappointing, was not devastating. I’ll keep you updated along the way.

And, since this is a post of updates, I suppose I ought to finally post the pictures of our new house. Thanks to a very talented friend (Thanks again, Fitz!), I have several pics sans address numbers:


The house is technically a six bedroom, 2 ¼ bathroom house, though one of the bedrooms has been altered. The prior owner was using it as a craft room. It also has a storage room, a living room, family room, formal dining and eat in kitchen. And as big as it is, we’ve had no trouble filling it up with stuff. I’m still trying to figure out how we put that much crap in the last house we were living in. Amazing. I even feel like I need to clean stuff out, so I’m planning a yard sale for the spring. I figure by that time I might have actually gotten through all the boxes and put things away. Though, at this rate that’s a lofty goal.

We do have grand plans for the house. It looks like it will be a constant remodel project, which isn’t all that bad. It has great potential. There will definitely be some cosmetic work to the outside done, which will also help save energy. I’m also hoping it will help with the spider problem, which is apparently going to be an ongoing issue. Yes, we’ve had 4 spiders in the last week, one of which decided to crawl upon my husband as he sat on the couch in the family room. A fatal choice on the spider’s part, but still disturbing enough that I instantly called the company that sprayed our house, even though I knew it was after hours, just to leave a frantic message which sputtered something about giant spiders and their 100% guarantee. Unfortunately they couldn’t fit us in until this Friday morning. I’m counting the days, and they’d better show up this time!

There will also be quite a bit done to the inside, starting, I think, with the bedrooms. Though right now we are in the process of replacing all of the windows, one at a time. It’s turned out to be a relatively easy project, after the first window was in. And it’ll end up costing a whole lot less than having someone come and install them for us. Ah the life of the do-it-yourselfer. Anyway, I will try to get the place cleaned up and take some pics of the inside, but don’t count on anything. Like I said, the way things are going, that is a pretty long way away. I think that’s it for now. I will try to also get some cake pics up, as there are several I have done that I have yet to post. Thank goodness none have been disasters!