First Day of School 2020

Today was the first day of school for Evan, Noah, and me.

Evan and Noah had online classes and my school started back in person.

Noah's first class was at 8:15am and Evan's first class was at 9am.

I tutored a student online at 8:45 and then went to my school.  I taught 2 classes today from 10am-12pm.  My school set up tents outdoors so I was able to teach outside. I hope to do that as much as possible.

Today Papa had his hip replacement surgery. It sounded like everything went as planned, but he's spending the night in the hospital to manage the pain and some other post-op issues.

I got home around 1pm, ate, and did some blog work.

Then starting at 4pm I tutored three students and taught my Hebrew class.

I've been teaching online through Outschool.  You create your own classes and use the platform to post them.  You determine how long the classes last, the number of students you will teach, and the price.  I decided to create a Hebrew alphabet class and have 6 students in my class that meets once a week for 8 weeks.

Evan had baseball practice tonight.

When Evan and Morry got home we ate dinner.

Both boys were pretty exhausted today.  It sounded like it went well, but it was just a long day sitting at the computer for both of them.  Evan didn't have that many breaks.

Evan Wins at Clue

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

We signed the boys up for a winter break baseball camp.  It's M-W from 9am to 2pm.  It's not real baseball instruction - just different fun games using baseball skills.  I dropped Evan and Noah off around 8:50.  They seemed excited to go.

I went to get Rachel's car cleaned but the place didn't have all their workers show up.

I worked from home all day.  Rachel went for a run around lunch.

Both Rachel and I went to pick the boys up.  The instructor asked me what team Evan plays for and inquired about Evan's interest in playing for his team.  He said if Evan was interested in being a fill-in on a weekend we weren't playing to let him know.  Evan talked non-stop after we picked him up.  Apparently, he and an 11-year-old were getting along very well.  Evan won or came in second in a number of games.  Later in the day when they played a game, they had team captains and Evan was the first one picked and the teams were fighting over him.  He was just so excited.  Noah seemed to have a really good time as well.  Evan said that Noah played well today also.

After getting the boys, we took Noah to get his blood drawn for his surgery next week.

We went to HEB before dinner to get some stuff for the week.

For dinner we had chicken fajitas with some left over chicken.

We played Clue after dinner.  Up until tonight, I had won every game we had played.  After each game, I would tell Evan and Noah the strategies I was using so they'd learn.  Unfortunately, it backfired on me tonight and Evan was able to win the game.  He was so excited.  Noah was excited that I didn't win tonight.

Overall it was a good day for Evan.

Until next time...

Getting Back to Normal

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

As most of you know, we were in Houston last week where Rachel had surgery.  It didn't quite go as well as expected and she stayed in the hospital overnight and we stayed in Houston an extra day.  Friday I left to surprise a friend in Philadelphia for his 40th birthday.

But today, it seemed like the start of getting back to normal.  Rachel looked and felt better this morning for the first time since before the surgery.  And the day was more like a normal day.  We did go to school a bit earlier than normal.  We had our semi-annual parent-teacher conference with Noah's teacher.  While we talked to her, Evan and Noah played on the playground.  The teacher gushed about Noah.  She talked about how good at Math and Science he is.  She said he was one of the few kids to increase their reading level over the summer.  She talked about he is really an outside-the-box thinker.  And she said he was really just a sweet, good kid.  She couldn't say enough good things about him.  It was very nice to hear.

I went into Aaron's to work on some Your Trainer stuff in the morning.  I met a friend for lunch.

Rachel took it easy during the day.  We walked to get the boys after I got home.

Evan had football practice in the late afternoon/evening.  He played really well.  He's really found his confidence on the team and is playing well.

We had Coke Ham for dinner when we got home.  Both boys ate very well.

The boys are in bed now.

Until next time...

The last few days

Well, here’s what has happened the last few days.

Last Thursday, Evan’s class had their first field trip. I came along, as did most moms. We went to the Zilker Botanical Gardens. The kids had a great time, though were more interested in the rolly pollies than the flowers. Here are some pictures and videos - Evan's Class Field Trip

Thursday night we drove to Dallas.

I had my implant surgery on Friday. It was a lot better than I expected. I was just a little sore afterwards. I was even able to go to the park on Saturday.

Saturday night we went over to Sherah, JW, Nolan, and Court’s house. We had pizza for dinner and then went to Sonic for dessert. The boys had a great time playing with each other.

Morry flew home Sunday.

We saw Sherah and boys Monday and Tuesday as well. The boys were really excited to see each other each time.

Grandma/Lynn drove back with Evan, Noah, and me today. I’m not supposed to carry the boys so I needed the extra help.

Evan had his sports class tonight and then we ate dinner at home. We made one of those freeze and eat meals (mango cranberry chicken). It was good.

We just put the boys to bed. We are all glad to be back home. I hope they sleep better here than they did at Grandma and Papa’s house.

Breast Cancer Update April 2010

It’s been a while since I have posted a breast cancer update. I’ve been busy getting back to life.

Things are going well. I’m feeling good, for the most part. I still get sick easily. I had a stomach bug a couple of weeks ago that was no fun. Evan got it first, Noah had a slight case, and then I got it. Somehow Morry avoided the bug.

I have been more active. We plan on joining Lifetime Fitness soon. They have a great childcare area as well as classes for the whole family. We did the week trial and enjoyed it. I was actually able to take a few group classes and run on the treadmill.

Noah turned 2 on March 20 and Evan turned 4 on April 5. We had a joint birthday party for them between their birthdays. We had family and friends over at our house. The weather was wonderful and everyone had a great time. Here are the birthday party pictures if you haven’t seen them yet.

Back to me – besides being worn out easily, most days are good. My hair is growing back. The only annoying thing now is my fingernails. They became weak from the chemo and 5 of them have fallen off. Since there was already some nail regrowth it doesn’t look too bad. Just the upper half or 1/3 of the nails are missing. Really, it’s not too bad considering everything I have already been through.

My port is gone. I had that removed in February. It feels so much better without it. The breast surgeon did an amazing job removing it and fixing my scar. You can hardly see where it was now.

On April 23, I’ll have my final surgery for now. The expanders will be removed and the implants inserted. I’m not looking forward to another surgery, but I’ll be glad to have it completed. I have heard that surgery is not too bad. The surgery is scheduled for a Friday in Dallas and I plan on driving back to Austin on Tuesday.

Here are a few pictures taken today. You can see my head is covered in hair now. I’m no longer wearing wigs or hats.

Hope you all are doing well.

Lizzy’s Surgery

Lizzy, our dog, had a lump on her side that the vet removed today. It was a fluid filled mass that they believe is benign. Everything went well and she is at home resting now.

For lunch I took the boys to a nearby park to play and have a picnic lunch. The weather was great when we got there. It was sunny and in the 70s. Evan and Noah played some and then we sat down at a picnic table for lunch. Both boys ate pretty well. Just as we were finishing a cold air blew through and it started to rain. I quickly got our stuff and the boys in the car. By the time we got home (5 minutes) it had already stopped raining and was sunny again. That’s Texas weather for you.

For some reason Evan and Noah did not nap. I would have thought they would have been tired. Around 5pm Evan fell asleep in the hallway upstairs, but only slept about 30 minutes.

We had leftover chicken from the other night for dinner. I made a salad to go with it and chicken nuggets for the boys.

Evan and Noah are in bed now. Noah is still talking. Evan seems to be quiet. He actually stayed in bed last night. Let’s see if he can do it again tonight.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Well, I’m starting to see a light at the end of this tunnel.

I was in Dallas earlier in the week for doctor’s appointments. I had my last expansion at the plastic surgeon’s office. Now, we can schedule the implant surgery for May. The breast surgeon removed my PowerPort (where my chemo was injected). When I had the port put in, I saw a surgeon here in Austin who gave me general anesthesia. To get it removed, the breast surgeon only numbed the area and I was awake the whole time. The procedure took about 45 minutes. She put in dissolvable stitches. I was ok at first, but later in the day I was really hurting and had a rough night. I’m feeling a lot better now. I still hurt where the port was removed, but it’s getting better.

I’m really starting to feel better and get back to normal. Like I said before, I started tutoring again. I see 4 students during the week now. I wanted to start back slowly. We are trying out a few gyms. We got a 2 week trial at 24Hour fitness and I did a few group classes (Yoga, Latin Dance aerobics, aqua class). The gym has a childcare. At first, Noah wasn’t too happy about us dropping him off, but Evan was fine. After a few times, both boys were having a great time there. We are going to try Lifetime Fitness next and compare the two gyms. I really want to get back in to exercising and I think it will be easier going somewhere with a childcare rather than trying to push both boys in the stroller. I tried running for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I had Evan (40 lbs) and Noah (30 lbs) in the double stroller and was only able to run about 10 minutes.

My hair is starting to grow back. It’s somewhat patchy right now, but it is filling in. The color seems to be a light brown. It’s too early to tell whether it will be straight or curly. Attached are some pictures of my hair growth after chemo. It’s been about 2 months since my last chemotherapy.

Next weekend Evan and Morry go to baseball Spring Training in Florida. Noah and I will stay at home. My parents plan on coming to Austin that weekend to help me out. Noah has really been a handful lately. He demands a lot of attention and it’s hard to get anything done.

The weekend after that I go to Chicago.

We have been looking forward to these trips for a while and it’s hard to believe they are almost here.

Well, just wanted to send out another update. Things are good for the most part. I do have some bad days, but overall, things are going well and I feel we are all starting to get back to how we were before all of this. There are times where I get frustrated because I just don’t have the energy to do everything I was doing before. That’s my main complaint now. Physically I feel decent, but I get worn out very easily. I can tell it’s getting better though.

Hope you all are doing well. Have a great weekend.

Port Surgery

This morning I got Evan for ready for school and Jodie picked him up and took him home.

At 10:30am Sonya and Avery came over to watch Noah while I had my surgery. Katheryne picked me up at 11am and took me to have my port put in.

The surgery was fine. They let me go home around 2:30 and then I just slept when I got home.
We got the results from the cat scan and the bone scan. Everything looked fine. Tomorrow I have a heart scan.

For dinner, Morry made shrimp for Evan and me and pasta for him and Noah.

Evan and Noah are in Noah’s room now, but still awake and playing.

I'm Back - It's Good to be Home

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For those of you that don't know what's going on read here... otherwise skip to the next section.

A few weeks ago I noticed a lump. A few different doctors all thought it was just a cyst. My ob/gyn said to wait a few weeks and see if it went away. Since breast cancer runs in the family, my parents insisted I get it checked out sooner. I went to have the cyst aspirated (drained), but when it wouldn't drain a biopsy was done. Even then, the surgeon said not to worry, it was probably just tissue that needed to be removed. To everyone's surprise, I got the dreaded news on Friday, September 25. All they knew at that point was that the lump was cancerous. Other test results were still pending.

We were able to get an appointment with a top breast surgeon at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas on Thursday 10/1. So, we all made the trip to Dallas for what we thought would just be a consultation. We had a very long day that Thursday. We met with various doctors. I had a lot of tests done. We were very impressed with everything and decided to go ahead and have surgery in Dallas.

The cancer was only on one side, but we (and the doctors) decided the best thing in my case was to have a double mastectomy. I have the BRCA1 gene mutation which gives me a 50% chance of getting cancer again on the other side. Since I’m young (31) they said just going ahead with that surgery (rather than just a lumpectomy) would give me peace of mind for the future.

They were able to quickly fit me in for surgery on Monday (10/5). So, 10 days after getting the bad news I was at the hospital having the surgery. I ‘m glad we got things moving so quickly.

Last week we met with the surgeon and the oncologist. The final results of the biopsy/surgery were complete. It appears they removed all of the cancer. The margins were clear and the lymph nodes were clear. The second suspicious spot turned out not to be cancer. There was just the one tumor that measured 1.3cm. I am at stage 1, which means we caught it early.

The oncologist does recommend I do chemotherapy. Even though it seems the cancer has been removed, there could still be a cancer cell somewhere that they want to make sure to get rid of. The oncologist we met with today recommends a combination of 2 drugs (docetaxel/taxotere and cyclophosphamid/cytoxan). I would get it 4 times total - once every 3 weeks = 12 weeks total. Most likely that will begin around the middle of November.

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Morry, Evan, Noah, Lizzy, and I came drove back to Austin yesterday. It’s good to be home. The boys and I were in Dallas for 2 ½ weeks. Evan and Noah seemed happy to be back as well.

Jack/Zayde is here now with us. He’ll stay for the week to help. We also have babysitters scheduled to come during the day while Morry is at work.

This morning Morry made pancakes. He made blueberry ones for the boys. Noah ate a little of them, but Evan ate a ton. He loved those pancakes.

Morry, Jack, Evan, and Noah watched the Steelers game. We put the boys down for naps at half-time.

For dinner, Morry made spaghetti. Then, we went out for dessert. We tried a new frozen custard place called Likkety’s Frozen Custard. They have a double decker bus outside that they let kids draw on with chalk. The custard was good. Evan asked for vanilla with gummy bears. We got plain vanilla for Noah. After eating, the boys enjoyed drawing on the bus. Evan kept wanting Morry to write Evan’s name on the bus. He liked seeing his name up there.

When we got home Morry gave the boys baths. It took them a while to fall asleep, but it sounds quiet up there now.