HOUSTON, TX

Its Dori, at the Houston Aquarium 

It's hard to believe that it has been three weeks since my last entry, time does fly.  I wish I could capture all the great things/memories  in my life, put 'em in a jar just like fireflies, and keep them next to my bed where I can see 'them all the time...  
Yesterday I had my third round of chemo, just like the other two times, my body is able to handle it pretty well.  I get some side effects but they are not horrible which makes me a bit nervous.  I wonder if the treatment is working.  I spoke with my doctor about it and he explained to me that there are no indicators of whether or not the chemo is  working until the next CT scan...  oooohhhh, the waiting game... but then again, I'm a bad ass, so maybe my body is just able to andle the chemo REALLY well... right?  I'll have a CT scan in three weeks to find out where things are, for now I'm feeling great and things are going really well otherwise... I'm Zumba ing and hiking almost every day... spending time in the rose garden and spending much time doing research... 

Last week I traveled to HOUSTON, TX for a consultation at MD Anderson, the best cancer institute in the world.  It was, to say the least, an amazing experience.  Getting there was not easy since making arrangements for an appointment takes a lot of "pulling strings", but I'm lucky enough to have a wonderful primary-care doctors who has become my guardian angel and is constantly looking for ways to help me.  Dr. Grimm often calls me early in the day or late at night to share information or to see how I'm doing and how things are going.  You just don't see doctors like that anymore.  I'm in very good hands.  Well, he made the arrangements to get me there quite quickly.  I got the call for my appointment just a few days prior.  Alex, my son traveled with me, which was great having him there (we also got to spend a lot of time together, there is a really good chance he will be joining the Coast Guard soon... more to come on this... I'm so proud of the wonderful young man he has become.  By the time I met with two incredibly smart doctors there, they had already familiarized themselves with my case, so the four-hour appointment was very fruitful --- they pretty much gave me a road map of various treatments and studies around the country I would qualify for in case the current treatment does not work, which gave me a peace-of-mind.  Having alternatives does that to me...  they also agree with some of the treatments from my local oncologist and disagree with others, they contacted my local oncologist my phone for inquiries and also the surgeon who did the biopsy last December... ultimately, they drafted a report for all of my doctors to have that included the information available for treatments...  Like I said before, I'm in good hands.  

Alex at Galventon Beach., TX -Golf of Mexico...

Alex and I spent time seeing Houston and San Antonio, which was absolutely wonderful...  The icing on the cake came on our way back home.  As I mentioned on a previous entry, there is a really good reason for having a BIG smile on my face - his name is Luis (a super handsome Spaniard, who is absolutely wonderful to me and I'm crazy about  him :))... After a long trip, Alex and I are waiting at the Houston airport (huge place) and I get a text from Luis (he is on his way to Costa Rica on business from AZ) stating that he is also at the Houston airport and has couple or hours before boarding - we knew we would both be going through the that airport but the chance of a rendez-vouz was not considered... until his text...  he started walking from one side of the airport and I started walking from the opposite end until we met... you know those scenes in romantic movies where you think the lovers will miss each other? Well, it was kindda like that... this whole scenario involves taking a train to get from one side of the airport to the other... just as I'm about to get on the train, the doors opened among a lot of other people, out he comes... OMG!!!  It was very hard not getting on that plane to Costa Rica with him --- if only I was not scheduled for treatment this week... ;(