And we're off to Portland!!!

Hi All!

Cheryl here, with the latest news. Since Dave wrote the first entry, I'm taking control of this one. I finally heard from the Oregon Clinic (http://www.oregonclinic.com/) late yesterday afternoon, and now have an appointment with Dr. Todd Crocenzi on Tuesday, September 18. This will be a consultation visit, and hopefully with the doctor we can plan a course of action.
Let me just say: having a plan, planning to plan, or even the hint that we could soon create a treatment regime makes both Dave and I feel a whole heck of a lot better. The worst part of the past month has been the feeling of helplessness brought on by a whole lot of waiting. I want to get on this as soon as possible! I'm young (relatively!), healthy (relatively!), and am hoping for an aggressive treatment plan, as right now I can take just about anything. I guess we'll see after next week.

On a (more) personal note, I think both Dave and I have done a pretty good job of moving forward after the diagnosis. There have been both good and bad days, but we're both committed to beating this thing and doing whatever we need to do. Currently, its very easy to put cancer aside in my brain, especially with cats, husband, work, and thesis taking up a good portion of my time. Additionally, I don't feel sick, for the most part. I wake up every morning between 4 and 5 am with some nausea and stomach cramps. These are symptoms of the cancerous ulcers in the lining of my lower stomach, but they only appear when I'm hungry, and go away after eating or after a healthy swig of Pepto (mmm). I have the same energy and appetite, and I'm not losing weight. Heck, I played softball on Sunday afternoon! We won both games, by the way. I had two good hits, and an additional blooper that got me to 1st base!

Both Dave and I plan to keep this blog going, both for a source of information for our vast collection of friends and family, but also for our own sanity. Writing a blog about something that is growing inside of me (and likely will not need to be potty-trained later) feels a little odd. If I wax on a little too poetically, bear with me. So long as I don't fall into archaeology techno-babble, I should be understandable! If any of the following words/phrases slip into my posts, close the window and come back later: x-ray fluorescence, National Register eligibility, chi square, projectile point morphological variability, coprolite, transect interval, paradigm shift, faunal assemblage, and on and on and on...

Well, coprolite might be acceptable! ;)

Cheryl