Another follow up at UCLA

On Wednesday I drove up to UCLA for another follow up with my oncologist. Things are great and I'm still cancer free! Over Thanksgiving, Brett, Jenelle and I came down with a cold. Jenelle started first with a clear runny nose, then I started to have it as well. My cold started to look like a sinus infection by Sunday, so my oncologist placed me on an anti-biotic. It worked well and I am doing fine.

My doctor still wants to keep me part time, but was OK with my increasing my work hours a bit. I've been able to work four, 7 hour days a week with Fridays off. When I asked about full time, the doctor reminded me that I was on an anti-biotic for a cold. Clearly, even though my mind is ready to do more, my body says to keep it slow.

As you can imagine, the cold has not been pleasant for a child like Jenelle, especially when she can't blow her nose. In the last day, the runny nose got worse and I took her in this morning to see Dr. Patel. Yesterday I insisted to the nurse Jenelle only had a sinus infection and that all she needed was a Z-pak. The nurse insisted the doctor needed to see her and it goes to show me, I'm no nurse; Jenelle has a sinus infection and an ear infection! Poor thing. She is now on a more powerful antibiotic and cough syrup. Hopefully she'll be back to her happy self this weekend.

Thanksgiving was thankfully uneventful this year and we really enjoyed sharing our desserts first the night before. After my appointment at UCLA on Wednesday, I walked over to the hospital and went up to the 6th floor oncology unit where I spent most of December last year. I spoke to a nurse at the nurse's station and dropped off a Christmas card/thank you note. She didn't remember me at first because last year I had "blond" hair, but said the best part of her job was seeing patients like me return to say thank you.

I peeked into my old room, which was empty, and reflected on how different things are this year. What a blessing to have a new lease on life. Thank you all again for your prayers and support. Things are so much better this time, this year.