Medical Update

I know you have been anxious, as have I, to hear what the results where of the scan I took last week. I've been going back in forth with the NP, and he with the radiology department, trying to clearly understand how the report was reading....what we know at this point is that there are two spots on my liver and that they are stable and have not changed from the last scan in July. This is essentially GREAT news!!! The only thing that is still unclear to me is why is there now two spots that are showing up, where as in July and even as far back as April, there was only one spot that the doctors where concerned about? The radiologist states that both spots where there in the last scan but due to difference in techniques, and they are both unchanged. Ok, first of all I love how these doctors aren't being very articulate and don't seem to speak English when speaking about my medical issues. A difference in technique could apply to the scan I took at Valley Medical back in April -Vs.- the first scan at UCSF in July, however the scan taken last week was done with the same machine, at the same location, and analyzed by the same radiology department=UCSF! What am I not understanding here?

Again, GREAT news that the consistent words here are stable and unchanged! My doctors don't seem to be worried about this second spot and so I guess I shouldn't be:) I just don't understand and until that is clarified, in ENGLISH, than I will still feel a little uneasy. A LITTLE I said, need not worry...it could be sooo much worse..."steady and unchanged, steady and unchanged..."

I wait for response in the mean time but I do know I will go back in November, rescan(for last scan of the series), and meet with my oncologist to discuss how to proceed at that point:)

C Love's BDay BBQ with a side of Ladies~

It was time to celebrate one of my dearest girlfriends birthday!! Our group of ladies (minus our sweet and lovely Steph who had to work that night) got together to BBQ and toast a few glasses of wine to Miss Christina and her 34th birthday:) This was a gathering that was oh so appropriate for such a beautiful woman. Christina is a true friend of mine that I have had the utmost privleage of calling my friend. She is a woman of confidence, spirit, passion and sparkle;)! I admire so much about her and her natural ability to take on the world. I adore her and the great friendship we have developed over these last 8 or so years:)

A tasty array of BBQ'd dishes, wine and cupcakes for dessert(made by none other than Mira Cakes) completed the feast and shortly after we suprised her with her bday present...the new IPod Nano, in purple of course. Well unfortunately, that day the order was still in transit but the proof was in the order form. She got the gist!
The rest of the evening we chatted and caught up with each other and then a couple of the girls took finished the night off by taking our girl out to the Cardiff in Campbell. From what I hear, they closed down the place and had a great time doing it:) Hey, mama needed a little "let loose time", you go girly!! Love you C!!

First peek at the Nike Run

A new friend of mine, Marla Botner, who lives up in San Francisco, invited me up to go check out part of the course that we will be running in the Nike Woman's Half Marathon. I drove up the night before to spend the night at her house and drive with her early the next morning to run part of the course for Nike. We started at the finish which was at the Great Highway and Ocean Beach. We ran a total of 3 miles around the park across the street and back to the beach. It wasn't as cold as I had anticipated for the city. It was chilly but of course once we started running, it was the furthest from our minds;) After the run, we drove out of that area and tried to drive some of the city streets that are on the course. Since we didn't have much time, we made a plan to meet again and really scope it out! Thanks Marla!

Our 7th year!

Wow, our anniversary was coming around again, and so quickly it seemed. I honestly had not been putting much thought into the plans or details this year. There had been so much going on the last few months physically and emotionally that I decided that this year, I wasn't going to plan anything on my end. I wanted to be surprised this year, it was my anniversary too after all....

Derek was in for a surprise when he took on the challenge to plan something for us and maybe even come up with few spontaneous ideas this year. Bless his heart, and most guys hearts, who may not know that we want to be swept off our feet sometimes. He did well though! He started the weekend off treating us to a night at the Four Seasons in Palo Alto! What a BEAUTIFUL hotel! It was the first time being there for both of us, and every time I had driven past it in the past, I would say "I'd love to stay there one day", but I mean c'mon, it's not like the type of place that you randomly pick to crash at, unfortunately. But this was a special occasion and it wasn't about just needing a place to crash at, fortunately. Derek remembered my desire to go there and made it happen, "Dink" (the sound of my tear of joy).





Shortly after we checked in to our room, and shortly after we explored every nook and cranny of sophistication and class within our room, we headed down to get our massage in the spa. This experience was as equally high-class with a huge dose of relaxation. I enjoyed an hour massage which wasn't long enough, as it never is:) Derek selflessly took the half hour time slot due to the fact that it was the only other option available at the time. What a sweetheart. I'm a lucky girl!




It's always hard to quickly snap out of the coma that you go into during a massage but we had no choice if we wanted to make our dinner reservation downtown that night. We cabbed it down to Mantra Restaurant in Palo Alto and enjoyed this wonderful "new to us" place that served modern Indian cuisine inside a beautiful interior space. Dinner was great and we enjoyed every morsel.



We head back to our new home for the night. I'm telling you, even the most rural folk would consider converting into a sophisticated ubanite after staying at the Four Seasons! We were both pleasantly surprised to receive a special gift from the hotel shortly after we arrived back at our room. Knowing that we were celebrating an anniversary, they sent up a bottle of Champagne, chocolate truffles and a small array of strawberries and berries. In chocolate, they wrote "Congratulations on 7 years" on the plate. Wow....I was so touched by their gesture that I made sure that we finished everything on the plate, down to the powdered sugar. Hahah...like I wasn't gonna do that anyway! Thank you FS;)



The next morning I took advantage of their gym and tried to counteract the consumption of excess calories this weekend....I know, I know I make any excuse to run these days;) Then the day began with a wonderful breakfast inside the hotel restaurant, Quatro. Yuuum!



After sadly checking out, we headed to Capitola for the Art & Wine Festival. Enjoying samples of many coastal wineries, checking out local art, and being right next to the beach was a nice way to finish off our weekend. Thank you Baby, Happy Anniversary:)

Dave Matthews Band concert @ The Greek Theatre, Berkeley

Our last dose of DMB...

Back in May, my girlfriend Nicole bought tickets for us to this concert for my birthday. Neither of us had ever been to this venue but were excited to experience it since we had heard so many good reviews from friends. After spending the weekend prior in Washington actually up close and personal to the show there, this was the cherry on the sundae! One last dose of this bands live performances...for this year at least ;)


OMG, the Greek Theatre in Berkeley is AWESOME! In my opinion, the best place to see a concert! Visually, there is no bad seat in the house. The amplitheater is small and intimate and is easy to get around. Of course once it fills up for the night, you want to stay put. Especially if your in the stage pits, which we moved to about 10 minutes into the concert, due to the fact that the sound from the sides of the stage didn't sound good, not clear. The stage pit which is right in front of the stage center and any spot behind that you get the best sound.

The concert was fantastic and I swear Dave looked at me again and smiled, I'm not even lying;)
This time around I was able to capture the evening with pictures and video...enjoy:) Thanks again for my Bday present Nici Mama~xoxo!

TNT Fall Season '08 Albums