Well, how do I sum up this day? Most of the people that look at this blog are aware that today was the day for
“the” breast biopsy. Max and I arrived enough ahead of time to get some coffee and donuts before time for the scheduled appointment. Needless to say things did not proceed on time and we were about 45 minutes late getting started. I was a nervous wreck – not looking forward to the procedure. I did manage some Black Eyed Peas Nano time which helped the time pass. When the Radiologist finally started the sonogram, she was just not having any success with finding a good two dimensional shot of this
“abnormal” tissue she was looking for. The spot showed up well on the mammogram, but they wanted a better idea of the exact location for the biopsy. After trying diligently for an accurate reading to be able to proceed with the biopsy, she said we would have to give up the sonogram and move on to Plan B (I was having a pretty difficult time completely understanding Plan A). She then informed me that the
“abnormal” tissue
HAD to come out and the only other option was to perform an actual surgery. She presented my choices as to see the surgeon either on Friday at 3:00PM or Tuesday at 10:00 AM (neither of which appealed to me since we were planning to leave for Cal City Friday around 3:30 PM and I would have Desirae with me on Tuesday). Unfortunately (or as Max seems to think – fortunately) the Radiologist (very nice doctor – a bit intense, but very nice) was honing in on my hesitation connected to Cal City and having our grand daughter for two weeks and Cal City again and then Ireland for two weeks. She left to make some phone calls and came back with an appointment with the surgeon for that afternoon at 4:00 PM. Okay so we are in Walnut Creek and it is 12 noon – what to do?
SHOPPING! A little retail therapy never hurt anyone. We went to Best Buy and picked up cases for our cameras and a computer program for Suduko. We had lunch at Chevy’s and then browsed the Tuesday Morning store (which neither of us had ever been in before). Tuesday Morning produced a very cool Betty Crocker Cook Book, a Sleep Book (different methods and ideas to help get good nights sleep) and some nice wooden puzzles. We hit Target with the primary objective of wrapping up purchases for the grandkids birthdays – thank goodness that was very successful.
With our bellies full, shopping successfully completed and basically emotionally stressed and drained, we headed back to Kaiser for the surgeon’s appointment. The surgeon and the radiologist were not exactly on the same page concerning this
“abnormal” tissue. The surgeon admitted she was not that good at reading x-rays, but did not feel this
“pea sized abnormal tissue” was all that concerning, but at the same time she agreed that it did need to come out. Hmmmm - concerned, but not really concerned, how to exactly find it (that would be more mammograms and sonograms), how to mark it (that would be with a pin with a hook on it stuck into my breast), when to take it (before or after my Ireland trip) – give me a break here! I became a bit confused about this whole thing as the surgeon was explaining the surgical procedure and the two different outcomes – cancer or no cancer.
So here is the bottom line as we know it. I go back on Thursday for additional mammograms (oh Joy – this will be the third set just on this one area). Hmmmm if I don’t actually have cancer now, are they trying to make sure I do with all the mammograms they are taking???????? These new mammograms will
prove to the surgeon that the
“abnormal tissue” does in fact exist and then the Radiologist and Surgeon will have to find time when they are both free to schedule a joint appointment where I will get YET another mammogram. This mammogram will show them where to insert the above mentioned pin and hook, hopefully confirming it is in the correct location by the sonogram and then send me over to the surgeon who will remove the pin/hook and surrounding tissue. I am still not clear on how they are going to confirm they were in the correct spot (I still have many questions to ask prior to this procedure taking place). Then the tissue goes to the lab for analysis and depending on that finding the next step is not known.
Now just how fricking confusing was all that????????????????????????? Yeah, and I was there for the whole day! There you have it and I once more move back into the holding pattern of playing the waiting game.
Later . . .
I did not want to have two large suitcases so I am taking one large one and then one that I will be able to fold in the larger case on the trip home (providing I don't find something to fill it up with).
Duane has been showing me some things to make a better blog and I hope I am learning.
After the errands were completed, Desirae and I decided to go to McDonalds and get some food for a picnic in the park. I had decided to take her to the park so there might be the possibility we could return her the way we took her – BRUISED! I think the mission was accomplished, but it is only a little bruise on her leg.
She had great fun and met up with some other kids and had hours of good play. She was very proud of herself that she could walk the chain rope with no help.
I am still working on Max to NOT get Desirae completely worked up before bed - see how well that is working?
She had a LONG leisurely bath after which we went to Albertsons so she could pick what she wanted for her “Birthday Dessert”. The decision was made for soft sugar cookies with pink frosting and sprinkles. When Max came home from work we headed to McDonald’s for the birthday girl’s choice of favorite dinner (Happy Meal chicken nuggets with chocolate milk). We then headed straight to Dublin for the movie theater. We had pop corn and pink lemonade while watching Curious George. Desirae loved the movie and we were glad we could give her another movie experience (no scary parts in this one). After the movie, we came home for cookies, ice cream and milk.
We gave Desirae a couple of birthday presents (Unicorn purse and Land Before Time puzzle) after we finished our dessert. 
She got into her jammies and put the puzzle together (that girl is a whiz at puzzle making). 
Kathy and Paul came over and we all had dessert (Desirae had ice cream) and it was comfirmed - DEEEElicious! 
We had the opportunity to spend several hours playing in the sand and did not have to worry about getting sun burned, as Desirae was completely covered from head to foot with her hair shading her face most of the time.
Desirae and Max had a great time and did quite well until they both finally got wet and we gave up and headed home. After changing into dry clothes, Desirae was asleep almost instantly and slept the entire trip home.
Desirae had a wonderful time and was amazed at the water and waves. We collected shells and sand dollars and built our first sand castle (mine as well as hers).
Desirae was very happy with the motel stay and the fact she had her own Queen bed. Nana and Desirae had their new jammies that Aunt Joy made for us 
and after we went out for a bite to eat we settled in for cartoons while Max did some homework. The weather indicated it would be warmer on Sunday and the showers would not arrive until the afternoon, so we all went to sleep hoping for a better day at the beach on Sunday.
Max decided she would change to her notebook and Desirae thought that would be a great idea because she could then lie on the couch next to her instead of sliding off her lap in the chair.
Desirae and I had a time of it drawing on the driveway. We (actually she – bum knee and all) played hop scotch and she had a complete story line going for the drawings.
It was amazing to listen to her expand on the story and how the whole thing unfolded.
Desirae actually got the kite in the air, but Max almost wet herself when she told Desirae to "run" and Desirae took off running around in circles! It was so funny to realize that one must be a bit more specific with a child who does not know how to fly a kite. 
We had to stop because with the wind blowing it was wickedly cold. We are all having a good time.
Cozy little family - Max doing homework, Desirae cuddled next to her and both the dogs asleep at their feet. I had the greatest of intentions, but my computer would not cooperate with me. I had a post for the blog written and was going to add some pictures and my computer froze up on me and I had to shut down and lost everything. I was tired and frustrated – so I went to bed. 
The general gist of the post was dealing with Desirae and the dogs. Her bed time has turned in to a complete family affair. What does not show up in the picture is both the dogs sitting in the doorway of the bathroom watching Desirae brush her teeth. Darci is there because she thinks she needs attention and Kodi is there cause he actually wants to sleep in her bed.
We had a wonderful weekend with the family. The drive down was not bad – light traffic except when approaching Bakersfield (lots of 18 wheelers). Devin’s birthday was a success and fun was had by all. He had a THREE foot sub sandwich, which was really quite tasty. He had a space themed party and the cake was excellent. I must say I had forgotten just how much is required when raising children – nice to be Nana. I saw a license plate frame that read “Grampa is the name and spoiling is the game”. I can relate to that!
She had a bath and was ready to go to bed at 8:00 PM. She is really excited to be here alone and we are hoping that she does not become too home sick before we are ready to take her back for her birthday party on the 25th. We plan to keep her busy, but she has already mentioned missing Mommy and Daddy. Thankfully she loves both Max and I (not to mention the dogs) and likes to be here.
We decided to go out to dinner and the Italian place we wanted to go was closed so we went to our Sushi place. OMG they had changed their menu and WOW - it was a taste treat sensation to say the least. 
Since my previous post seems to have slide off in cyber space never to be seen again, I will have to see if I can start this process over. Success was had on the music front! I succeeded in getting all my music back on my computer. I had to drag out all my CD's and check to make sure they were actually on my computer and all the tracks were present. I have no idea why some of the CD's just vanished and on some of the CD's some of the tracks were missing. Dont mind telling you the whole process was quite time consuming, but I plan to copy all my music to my iPod and back it up so I will hopefully NEVER find myself in this delima again.
Moving right along - we finally moved all the Christmas stuff up to the rafters and were able to move the tables and get the Quads back where they belong with the battery chargers in place. It really is nice to have the Quads back accessible and hopefully we can get them charged, aired and ready to ride. We continued to clean on the garage and managed to get the racks for the fishing poles put up along with some hooks for our fishing vests. We were also able to get the bicycles down from their overhead home (God knows how we got them up there in the first place). We plan to get them both into the bike shop for a good cleaning/tune-up and maybe actually ride them at least around the neighborhood a bit. I am not sure how much riding I will be able to accomplish with this bum knee, but I shall give it a try.
Once we finshed with the garage, Max was able to get busy and install the new DVD/CD burner that she purchased. She was having monumental difficulty with her Alcohol 120 program and the ability to copy games. So far the burner seems to be in and running, but the whole Alcohol 120 question is still up in the air. Hopefully it will all work itself out and our computer problems will just disolve.
It appears that all is working well with the posting and uploading pictures, so I am going to quit with this and see if it will post properly and stay where it is suppose to be.