14 June Update

High time for an update! After my trip to Singapore I went on an Indian Guides camping trip with Ben and Sam to Starved Rock State Park, which is around 2hrs SW of Chicago. It is known for its hikes into canyons off of the Illinois river - you can see Ben and Sam walking in to one. Got a pic of Sarah and Elizabeth, who was up for a visit as well. The 3rd pic shows Ben and his 1st grade teacher on his last day of school. Can't believe he's already going in to 2nd grade next year! Time sure flies... Sarah's brother Thomas is also here for a visit this weekend. Sarah's birthday was this past Wednesday and she got lots of birthday well-wishes from everyone + we went out for a nice dinner to celebrate that as well as her 2-year "cancerversary" - approx. 2 yrs since her diagnosis on 11 May 06.
Sarah finally started Xeloda again last Sunday and she's feeling "ok" so far. Some nausea and fatigue, but nothing that is stopping her in her tracks. We think it may have a cumulative effect so we'll see what next week looks like. We've got two more months until we can do another PET scan to see how effective the SIR-sphere treatment was. Hard to wait... in the mean time Sarah got a tumor marker check and we're waiting to hear the results. They should be down from the last time. We're kind of in wait-and-see mode and keeping very busy as the school year ends.

So, although I was cleared to start chemo again on Monday, my insurance company had other plans. I was unable to get my prescription for the Xeloda pills filled at my local Walgreens. I'm required to have it filled by the specialty mail-order pharmacy. My request for an override so that I could get the first 30 day supply at my Walgreens and get started right away ... was denied. They assured me that they would put a rush on my order, but first they had to verify my benefits and co-pays ($0 at this point since we long ago met our deductible and out of pocket maximum). I finally got a call from them at 6pm tonight, at which point they sent a fax to my doctor for a prescription. So, of course they won't get that until tomorrow, and I won't get my pills until Friday (at the earliest), which means I won't start my chemo until Saturday morning. Some rush!

In other exciting news, some people moved in across the street from us with *five* pit bulls. Earlier tonight one of them got out and was following a guy down the street, barking and growling at him in a very menacing way. This happened right in front of our house, just one hour after Ben and Sam had been riding their bikes up and down our driveway. The owner did come and get his dog, but I called 911 anyway. A squad car came out and the officer went in and talked to the owner(s), but I don't know what was said. Our village doesn't have anything in the municipal code about pit bulls, so I'm told there is nothing they can do until something happens. I am sick to my stomach at the thought that *something* could happen to my kids or my neighbors' kids. I don't think I'll be sleeping much tonight ...