Much needed R&R...

Graham LOVES the beach! (But don't we all???)

Diva, diva, diva...

Rest and relaxation...yes! The beach is the place for that indeed! The last month has been a whirlwind and there's no better place, in my opinion, than to refresh at the beach. We had planned on coming down on Thursday, but that day seemed way too rushed with 3 doctor's appointments starting at 8:45. My first appointment was to see Dr. Rippon about the fluid under my arm and breast. I thought she was going to have to drain it- yuck, but she said it looked good and that my body would absorb the excess fluid in a few days- and that was normal. Yeah...one less needle stick! I went straight to St. Francis Hospital for my echo cardiogram after seeing Dr. Rippon. That appointment was fine- as far as I know (you know they can't really tell you anything about the results). They were just looking at my heart to make sure I can handle one of the meds in my chemo treatment. Then I headed across the street to my third and last appointment of the day. This was the PET scan and lasted FOREVER! I got there at 11:15 and left after 2:00! (I had to fast for this so by the time I left, I was starving!) I went by myself because no one is allowed back with me with the radiation. They started an IV and pushed a radioactive tracer through it. Then I had to drink about 32oz of this nasty drink- basically water with a bleach taste. I sat in that room for almost 1 1/2 hours or more- in the dark with nothing to do! No TV, music, NOTHING! They say that you need to be still so that your muscles aren't active. Thank God for texting- because I chatted with a teacher friend of mine for a few minutes until she had to get back to her class! After that, I had the scan, which wasn't bad at all, that took about 30 minutes. So, like I said earlier in a post, I have learned a lot through this road I'm traveling. So how does this test work? It's pretty cool...the drink and the IV med contain a high level of sugar. The cells in your body metabolize that- cancer cells will metabolize the sugar at a much higher rate than the good cells. So after the cancer cells metabolize the sugar, the radioactive tracer is left behind and will be viewed as a hot spot on the PET scan. So, hopefully they won't see any hot spots, but we'll find out on Monday or Tuesday. Phew...what a day. Needless to say, I was exhausted and could not bear the thought of traveling with 2 kids (and my husband- which is really like a 3rd kid) to the beach in the car for 4 hours. That's why we left Friday morning instead! When I get home tomorrow, I'll post some pics from the beach. We're having a blast and the weather is PERFECT! We played on the beach all afternoon and will head out there again after lunch today. :)

Mema, Papa, and Mallory Kate walking at Broadway at the Beach.

How precious is this?