Good morning -

It's gray and overcast here but it's deceiving since it's supposed to be ~90 by noon! Yesterday was the annual Peach Festival in Lafayette. Glen and I did a peach run in the morning and then went back to wander in the afternoon. Evelyn had a volleyball scrimmage all morning and Maddy headed out in the afternoon for a sleepover birthday party.

Things here are fine. Nothing much substantial to share but I thought I'd write anyway. Largely I feel fine physically. The thing is, I felt fine before the diagnosis and so the only thing that's changed is the knowledge that something is horribly wrong in my body. My right ribs/hip are a little achy which I was told is normal when the cancer is in the bone. It's maddening overall (for all of us I'm sure) that mentally and outwardly physically I'm fine but all this mess inside is happening.

I do light stretches (yoga) each day and have been walking a lot - around 4 miles a day. My lovely Glen just arranged for us to get a treadmill. It will be a few weeks, it will allow me to walk in the basement and out of the not-great weather once it arrives. I did get back to the gym to do some stationary bike and light weight lifting. My aim is 2x a week for that with a build up to 3x week. My physical therapist said it makes sense for me to go back to a routine and I don't need to go see her each week.

This week I go back for a check in at the cancer center. Tuesday I'll get blood drawn and meet with the nurse. Tuesday night I start my next round of oral medication and Wednesday I'll go for a shot of Lupron (shut down my ovaries) and Zometa (infusion of bone strengthening medicine). Right now my prescription for the coming month is still on the highest dose of the chemo (Ibrance) at 125 mg. I am in my "week off" where I don't take that medication and I can tell the difference physically - I feel a bit "lighter".

We tried a counselor for the girls last week. It wasn't great. We will see if we can find someone else. They both started school last Thursday so there is some routine which is helpful. Evelyn's volleyball started (she made varsity!) and so that helps. Maddy doesn't start dance until next week.

I went to a very interesting nutrition seminar on Monday focused on diet and how it fuels inflammation in our bodies. It talked about how chronic inflammation is bad and the role our food and lifestyle plays in it. Very interesting and compelling. We are in the process of reevaluating everything we eat and trying to follow the guidelines. Generally - cut out sugar and carbs. Stick to Mediterranean-like diet (also Indian and Asian foods). We got a book that was recommended and are reading it now. It's written based on scientific research by a dr. who was a brain specialist and ended up with brain cancer himself. He started looking at how modern medicine interacts with our overall lifestyle to fight cancer. He lived for many years by making changes. If we like the book I may send you a copy :-) We are doing everything we can to fight this so if you see anything compelling (grounded in science) please send it our way. (Anti Cancer: A new way of life)

Glen is headed fly fishing next weekend to southern Colorado and I'm grateful Ann will come hang with me and the girls.

We are grateful for all of you. Much love!

Donna & Glen