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Showing posts from June, 2024

A Treatment Plan

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This week's "big moves" involved our initial appointment at The Cleveland Clinic.   Thanks to a quick referral from a close family friend who is the orthopedic oncologist at Johns Hopkins, we were able to speak with the chairperson of oncology at Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Abraham.  Dr. Abraham promptly referred us to his expert team.  We were fortunate to get a quick appointment with Dr. Shilpa Gupta, who is the director of genitourinary medical oncology at Taussig Cancer Institute at Cleveland Clinic.  She has been quite involved in research to study and treat bladder cancer.   Dr. Gupta was closely involved in immunotherapy and genomic therapy for bladder cancer, and she seems very optimistic and positive about many new treatments that have improved outcomes in this field. My initial apprehensions about the Cleveland Clinic were quickly put to rest by friendly smiling faces, helpful people, and a clean, healing environment.   Dr. Gupta laid out a very promising plan with tw

Mommy-of-Three v2.0: Rebooted.

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It's been a long time, 10 years or maybe longer since I've dusted off my keyboard warrior skills and put together a tome worthy of sharing across the interwebs. What a walk down memory lane it was as I re-opened my "Mommy-of-Three" archives- stories of raising my three littles, the trials and tribulations I faced as a young mama, the joys, laughter, jokes and fun, and oh the love.  What a time of my life that was. But now I get to reopen my blog for a little different reason. A word I'm not sure I was fully prepared to hear.  A word I definitely was not fully prepared to comprehend or deal with. CANCER. Bladder Cancer with Bone Cancer. Metastatic Cancer. Every time I say it, it still sound surreal.  I'm 48 years old.  I have 2 kids in college and a senior in high school.  I have a career where I enjoy both the challenge and comfort of caring for tiny babies, and have opportunities to teach and mentor students.  My husband, a varsity coach in our hometown, for