June 27th, 2010

I did it; I finally emailed my oncologist. Dr. Kaplan asked me to contact him after June 14th about my next step in my treatment plan. I didn't want to contact him at all so I have kept finding excuses to not call or email him. I would love to bury my head in the sand but that won't help keep my cancer away for as long as possible. I gave myself the goal of emailing the good doctor by the end of this weekend. I procrastinated all day. Then I talked sternly to me and said 'Sit down and email the man.' So I did.

I have been doing some research on my next steps in treatment. It all involves more chemicals into my body, yuck. I am going to continue to focus on the positive which is one more week of treatment and then I really am done for quite a while (we hope and pray). I am hoping Seattle will have nice weather in August. I will look forward to sitting in the sun and reading good books.

I had a great party last weekend with family and friends, many from out of town. It was wonderful to laugh with people I have known for so many years. And, I am not kidding when I say we had at least 20 pounds of M&Ms' in this house. Everyone brought M&Ms' and people bought more when they got here. Did you know that the Mars Company now makes Coconut M&Ms' and Pretzel M&Ms'? We had them all this past weekend We also had brownies, bread pudding with brandy sauce, cookies, cake, and numerous other things with a high sugar content. I am now working on my no-sugar diet again. Although I think it is becoming no sugar most days not every day.

The weather for the party was perfect, sunny and warm. We sat outside and I introduced many people to Blueberry Beer. It was a great weekend and I was sad to have it end. Thank you everyone for helping me celebrate a 'no trip to Seattle in June' weekend.

I will let everyone know what Dr. Kaplan thinks would be best for my next treatment step.

This is a picture of me and some of my friends attending the weekend gathering. This black and white dress has a long history among my group of Ketchikan friends. It has been passed from person to person for about 15 years or so. . It was the perfect gift, I laughed and laughed.

Thanks for reading.