Not an easy phrase to say or spell. Not an easy recovery either. Just before round 3 of chemo I woke up late at night with what at the time I thought was the worst pain imaginable in my right knee. We called the on-call oncologist who directed us the emergency room. I don’t have a lot of memories of this visit, but the medical records I can access in the hospital app show that I had an MRI and CT scan of my back. They sent me home with meds. I woke up a few hours later in morning…
I have a strong family history of cancer. Because of this I have annual mammograms and skin checks. It’s now standard, but when it wasn’t always opted in (and paid extra for) 3D screening. In May of 2025 I had my annual mammogram. Something showed up. You may have guessed that from the post title. This has happened before. I go back for another mammogram and an ultrasound. It has always been clear on the second visit. This time it wasn’t clear. The radiologist reviewed this with me and gave me 2 options – wait 6 months and they would…
I started this website over a decade ago to organize and write about different family things. As life went on, I stopped writing here as my focus had moved elsewhere. The last posts are some of what our life was like during the Pandemic. Life at the point was routine, some adventures, but kids busy with school and I was busy with work. Enter 2025. Things dramatically changed. I was ill. I almost died. Breast Cancer and then Necrotizing Fasciitis. I’m not a fan of terms like ‘new normal’, I think those were waaayyyy overused during and post pandemic. But…
I really miss hiking. I keep thinking about places I’d love to go and then I remember we’re in a pandemic. Yes, gas is cheap (although the price has been going up) – we could drive to pretty much anywhere. We could pack snacks and a picnic, we do that a lot when we take road trips. But the pandemic part that keeps us close to home is, well,…. where can we go? So I don’t mean that in the sense of our destination. I mean where can we have a rest stop? Pre-pandemic after an hour or so in…
What a gorgeous day! We spent the morning doing yard work. Cleaned up a lot of brush and leaves. There will be a pretty good outdoor burn sometime in our near future. We went and hiked at Fox Point this afternoon. Jacob stayed home to finish some schoolwork. His choice surprisingly, I figured he’d want to go. Turns out John had never hiked any of the trails there. I’m really surprised, since we’ve lived in Newington now for over half of our lives and all but the first year of our marriage. We took the trail along the point and…
No picture today. I traveled to an essential business to provide a First Aid CPR AED renewal class. They don’t allow pictures in their facility as they are manufacturing and forging metal parts. It felt so different. Traveling local to provide classes is something I do several times a month, but this was only the second time for April and we are all wearing masks and gloves and trying to stay 6 feet apart from each other. It just felt, I don’t know …. surreal? dystopian? I can’t think of the right word but I had those nervous butterflies like…
Wednesday I drove down to Boston to bring Becca supplies for her apartment. Most of her roommates have returned home and she’s barely leaving the apartment to stay safe and healthy. I expected empty roads and surprisingly still hit pockets of traffic on Rtes 1 and 93. It’s like it is here at home. People are out commuting to essential jobs or just driving to get out. There were fewer pedestrians and traffic was definitely lighter when I was off the highway. We definitely missed Becca on Easter. But we all decided it was safer for her to stay put…
It’s official we now have another teenager in the house! Sophia is now 13! It’s Social Distancing day 32 for us. She had remote learning and then a special delivery early in the afternoon. Becca is still in Boston and found a local business on Instagram, Wandering Sprouts. They do free local delivery so Becca sent Sophia a birthday plant! And of course she bought one for herself. They’re Zamioculcas zamiifolia, Zanzibar Gem, or more easily called ZZ Plants. The challenge with a milestone birthday like this during Social Distancing is that she could share her day with her friends.…
Today was the first time I waited in line for a while to get into Market Basket. It had to happen at some point. But once I was in I was able to get what I needed and check out pretty quickly. One of the things we’re doing more of is cooking. I’m making family dinners pretty much every night. The only nights are the few that I’m actually teaching a class, which have only been one or two. Everything is pretty much shut down except for healthcare provider classes and registrations for those are way down. But we’re cooking…
I was thinking I should be better about taking pics, but I taught on location today and I’m not allowed to take pics there. John was on Remote Learning Duty today! Today was 1 of 2 on-site classes I have this month. I am only doing them for essential staff. Today was only 3 people for First Aid in a large training room sitting 6′ apart from each other while wearing masks and gloves. As a guest to their location I was required to wear a mask. No worries, it’s to protect all of us so I didn’t mind. The…