Ruth and Matt update, April 23, 2007

Dear Friends, relatives, and prayer partners,

Thanks so much for the supportive e-mails. It is always good to hear from you.

I forgot to update you all on Matt. While the University of Nebraska accepted him, he did not get into the theater performance program, and if he can't major in performance, he doesn't want to go there. Actually, if he had a tech portfolio, he could try for that, but all he has is monologues and an acting resume. At the moment, he is planning to attend Radford University, which is in the Virginia State system. Good for seeing his plays, and good for the budget, too. It is just down the road from Blacksburg, home of Virginia Tech. Matt has some friends at Tech, but none of them were injured. One of the fatalities was a drama major, though, so some of his friends probably knew her.

Speaking of Matt, he is playing Horatio in the Lake Braddock Theater's upcoming production of Hamlet. He is also the makeup designer. I keep coming home to a crime scene as he experiments with recipes for stage blood and ways to use it.

The following link will let you know when the performances are:

http://www.lbtheatre.com/currentseason.html

I hope to be able to give you a link for tickets sometime soon. If you could come to the Saturday, 7:00 pm, performance, that would be great. That is the "Cappies" show, and a good crowd with good reactions helps with the judges. But, just come to one of the perfs, and enjoy!

Get your mammograms. Do your self-exams.

Ruth
http://ruthsmusings.blogspot.com/

Ruth Update, April 20, 2007

On Tuesday, Paul and I went to my usual monthly meeting with my oncologist. She was surprised to see Paul there, and asked to what she owed this pleasure. I said "Elizabeth Edwards." We wanted to ask her some hard questions about my future. The gist of her answer is that she doesn't know what my future will be like, and Elizabeth Edward's doctors don't know what her life will be like, either. Yes, I might have a recurrence. It could be in a year, two years, or more. She says that breast cancer is not one of the ones that can be considered "cured" after five years of being cancer-free. Then she ordered another PET scan for May. It is scheduled for May 12th, and I should get the results from her on May 17th.

After the appointment with the oncologist, I went for my annual mammogram. I get shots of both breasts: a "bilateral comprehensive" mammogram. This means I got two shots of each side. For those of you who have never had a mammogram, the technician takes the shots, and then you get to sit down in your little paper bolero and wait while she shows them to the radiologist. I think they just look to be sure that the shots are clear at that point, but they also might see something they want a better look at. When the technician came back, she took another shot of my left breast -- my "good" one. When the radiologist looked at that one, he/she ordered an ultrasound of my breast. This will happen on May 1st. Happy May Day.

Now, I have had retakes in the past. One time, I had a breast MRI ordered. That was an adventure, but it didn't show anything exciting. Of course, that was mostly for my reconstructed breast. The radiologist in that case hadn't really seen anything like that before, I guess, and he just wanted to be sure. This one, though, is for what is supposed to be my healthy breast. Am I worried? Yeah, a little bit. I am also glad that there will be a PET scan after the ultrasound.

Now for the good news. I called my oncologist's office to get the latest on my blood work that was drawn on Tuesday. My cancer marker is down from last time! Whoo, hoo!

I would still appreciate your prayers.

Get your mammograms. Do your self-exams.

Ruth