Port Removal

So I lied about posting our Zions trip.  I totally forgot. In the meantime we've had some stuff happening! Last week we found out Danny got accepted to UC Irvine's Urban Design and Planning masters program. We were really excited.  Our lives are still very different then they used to be and I guess I have felt like we would simply go on doing this forever. It is incredibly refreshing to imagine our lives away from cancer and actually DOING something. Don't get me wrong, I love not doing anything. I love that Danny stays home with me and the most stressful thing we do is make sure we get his walk in. It is awesome, however, we may feel more fulfilled in the future. We are still waiting to hear back from UC Berkeley,  Cal Poly and the U of U. I'm excited to hear back so we can start making some decisions.

Last weekend we went on fun beach trip with Steve and Marilyn. We drove up the Marin headlands and walked to Black Sands beach. "Black Sands" sounds so exotic-but it was more like "Brown Rocks". It was a gorgeous walk down though and the beach was very beautiful. Lucy LOVES the beach and had a wonderful time.

Tomorrow we go to a surgeon to have Danny's port removed.  Most cancer patients keep their ports in for awhile in case their cancer recurs.  Our Dr. told us we could take it out whenever we felt like it-which made us feel great. The procedure is much easier then getting it in. It is only local anesthsia and I guess they just open up the wound and pop it right out. Done in 30 min. He can't swim for several weeks, which he is bumbed about, but other then that it is just a good excuse to have some vicodin again! More then the actual procedure, we are relieved to get it out just so that reminder is gone. Danny said this in a family email:

"Getting the port out will definitely mark an important moment in this shedding of the cancer process.  I'm really looking forward to getting it out.  It does feel a little symbolic in the sense of it all kind of began with the port - it all happened through the port - and it will all kind of come to an end with the taking out of the port. I never thought about keeping it as a keepsake!  Good idea, maybe I'll ask.
It's funny to think about the beginning at Tahoe when I had just gotten it in.  I remember the night before we left for Tahoe (I believe I got it in that day) and I had just loaded up on some vicadin and Christy wanted to go to Staples to get some calendars and stuff.  It was 9 at night and it was the first day on vicadin so my system was really sensitive to the stuff still, so I was super loopy when we went.  I went into staples with my sweats, socks (no shoes:), and a sweater.  I was kind of swaying as I walked, with a big grin on my face as I walked around following Christy.  It was all so funny right then.  We were completely overwhelmed after our meeting with the nurse practitioner that day, but I was able to kinda forget with the drugs and poor Christy was trying to put it all down on a calendar just to try to make sense of it all.  Oh man, I'm certainly glad that we aren't there anymore:)"


Me too.  I'll post some before and afters of the big event.
And now just because-here is Lucy throwing rocks in the gutter behind our house. What a beautiful time of year!