Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Surgery is Approaching and Becoming Real


Randy's surgery is coming up faster than we realized, and although I thought that I would be ready, I don't think I will ever be. Yes the presents are all bought and most the of them are wrapped, although I seriously doubt that I will be getting anything shipped to the great white north before then. The laundry is all caught up and the house is relatively tidy (still have to vacuum and change the sheets) and the grocery list is being compiled for the last minute run on Thursday.

I thought that having all of those things taken care off and done would make me feel ready.

Well it didn't work. So today I decided that I would decorate the house - knowing full well that, although this activity will keep me busy and possibly occupy my mind, it will do nothing to make me feel more "READY".

The thought of my husband, my best friend, father of my children, confidant, caretaker and soul mate going in for yet another surgery, with again the shadow of Cancer hovering above it almost unbearable. He is my rock, the strong one and to see him a a hospital bed has always pushes me over the edge (even back before we were married back in Canada - he was in the ER after a cycling accident with his brother Jody, and I swear I felt my knees buckle under when I saw him lying there), I can be very strong for just about anything else, my Mom's death, bathing and shaving my Grand Father after he died while my Dad was going to pick up my Grandmother. I'm good and I can keep it pretty much together.

But with Randy it cuts to the bones.

It is all becoming very real very quickly. The sleepless nights started last week, the bitchiest is full blown and usually ends up being directed at the one I am so worried about(yes I can hear Leslie "Be nice to him he has Cancer...").The nausea appeared over the weekend (I am trying to see the nausea as a positive - maybe just maybe I can loose some of this 60+ pounds I have gained). Whoops, hold please, BRB

- Ok the nausea just turned into full blown throwing up - looks like soda water for me from now on...

We still haven't told the kids (supposed to have last night but didn't) so hopefully will tonight.

Our wedding vows over 17 years ago came from the Velveteen Rabbit-it was all about "becoming real" -


"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."
"I suppose you are real?" said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive. But the Skin Horse only smiled.
"The Boy's Uncle made me Real," he said. "That was a great many years ago; but once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always."

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

How I amuse myself when my brain needs a break...

Just about everyone uses those little emoticons aka smiliesPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket.
I really never paid much attention to them until I saw him...
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
and I fell in love.
How could such a little collection of lines and circles capture so much heart felt joy and emotion. I mean, just look at him, he is so happy, exstatic even. Oh and joy isn't the only emotion he is capable of.
He can be impatientPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
He can be sweetPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
He can get frustratedPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
He knows how to have a good laughPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
He can be comfortingPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
and at times he can be a littlePhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket shy
Somedays he's judgmentalPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Other days quite mischievousPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Sometimes he feels a little offPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
And there are days when he is just down right annoyingPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucketblah, blah, blah
All in all for some strange reason he just makes me smile Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
And so I thought I would share him with you...

Saturday, December 1, 2007

New update on Surgery

Got a call last week that they were re-scheduling Randy's surgery from the 7th to the 14th. Of course this happens *AFTER* we cancelled the Disney Trip - but that's ok. Now at least we have a little more time to get every ready (the Gazebo is still up, with the patio furniture and frozen house plants - thank god I finally got all of the flower bulbs in).

Thursday, November 29, 2007

How cute is this...

Sarah and I went to Max's school for their Thanksgiving feast last week. After a serious game of marshmellow dodge ball we sat down and ate. Sarah was dressed in her finest attire (as always) and she was wearing her faux fur pink cape with a sparkly pink jewels broach. A little boy from one of the lower grades poped his head out of the class room and said "Hi, Max, Hi Max's Mom, Hi, Max's little sister..." Max introduces us and Alex disappears into his classroom. 2 seconds later, he pops his head out again and says, "excuse me Sarah, I love you pashmina". Sarah, ever the lady, graciously accepts the complement and says "thank you", only to turn to me and say "Mom what's a pashmina?"
OMG, I could not believe this came out of this little 9 yrs old boy. I mean, I was like - 35 before I knew what a pashmina was... I love these kids

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Stop the World I Want to Get Off!!!



All right. This goes under the "everything happens for a reason" heading.


Remember last June when Randy was hit by a car? Well the cat scan revealed an anomolie in his thyroid gland. They sent him to a specialist. He had a biopsy and another scan. The results came back "inconclusive" - but as we talked more with an endochronologist, turns out they tests weren't so "inconclusive" after all. Apparently the cells present in the biopsy are stastically cancerous in 65% of the masses removed. So...Randy will undergo surgery on December 7th at 8 am. He is opting for a partial thyroidectomy. If the pathology comes back clean then, yippee! He still has part of this thyroid and won't have to take medication for the rest of his life.


If the pathology comes back positive for cancer, then he will have to go in for surgery #2 and have the rest of the thyroid removed. And then later take this radioactive iodine isotope thing, where he will be radioactive for about 10 days. No sleeping in the same bed, no hugging the kids and no sitting next to anyone for more than one hour...


So as it stands. Surgery December 7th (we had to cancel our Disney trip and won't be going home for christmas) released from hospital next day and no driving for 10 to 14 days...and hopefully there won't be a part 2...But realistically speaking - there probably will.
So as my BFF Leslie says - "So like, it was a *GOOD* thing that Randy got hit by a car". God knows I love my Leslie...


Thanks for reading and please keeps us in your thoughts.

Friday, September 14, 2007

Where do I live...



Max and Sarah on their first day of school.


Here it is the last day of the first full week of school and we are finally *starting* to get into a routine. The kids are happy as clams. Max is triving and Sarah is in her element. I've made out "schedules" for everyone (and they are soooo excited about those--NOT).Transportation is still a little bit of a challenge. Now when anyone asks where I live, I tell them "In a green Ford Winstar".


It's amazing how your vehicle becomes another room, an extention of your home. In the mornings I bring my coffee, a breakfast bar and some water for the ride back. On the passenger seat are a selection of cds, a klennex box, my blackberry and my to do lists. Suprisingly this van has no decorative elements, which got me thinking: This is probably the only thing I own that doesn't have that distinctive "Rhonda" stamp. That's right, not one frog element is present (other than the fact that it is green).






I'll be thinking of a way to make this van "my own" over the next while. If you have any ideas, please feel free to share...






Wednesday, September 5, 2007

UPDATE


Here is the scoop. Max is indeed at school today. His new school. Pictured here to your left.


We last left off with me dropping the kids off at Pam's and going to the SPED office. I get there and am *cheerfully* greeted by a sped secretary with "Can I help you?" I tell my story again, and again get that well this is the first I've heard about it look. Then I see Angela, one of the secretaries who doesn't think I'm hiding horns under my hat. See asks if I have heard from Mrs. Brown yet, no I say. "But I gave her the message this morning" she says. She then proceed to call Mrs. Brown and gets her. She puts me on the line with her and after a fruitless conversation her I then have another fruitless conversation with the new SPED director. She seems more concerned with why I have made the effort to go look at the Manville School in Boston.


I have already seem 2 of the 4 schools and we already know that Manville isn't an appropriate placement for Max - not a judgement on the school, it's just not an appropriate placement.


I am more concerned with the fact that I had to find out accidentally that my child had no educational placement on the day before school started.


Again, she brings up Manville. Turns out she used to teach there...Ahhh - everything suddenly makes sense. I tell her my goal here is to get Max in school on September 4th at the SAL. She tells me that that isn't going to happen. Even if she wanted to we could not coordinate all of the meetings and paperwork that need to take place in order for this to happen, and that I need to consider and interview with Manville.


To make the rest of this very long story short, after looking for the Superindendant of schools unsuccessfully, many phone calls to our attorney, educational consultant and 1 hour in the Mayor's Office (I *LOVE* our Mayor and not just because this worked out in my favour either), and a signing of documents by me at 6 p.m. last night. Max is now *OFFICIALLY* registered at the School for Accelerated Learning.
Whew!


No transportation yet, but at this point I am just pleased that he has a school to go to...


And the saga continues...