Happy Birthday Brooks!

Actually his birthday was July 2, but I just got home and told him happy birthday. I did not get him a gift, but I do plan to make dog-friendly cupcakes this weekend. He is two years old. Even crazier than dog birthdays, we also celebrate his adoption day in August. Go ahead and make fun. I just can't stop the ridiculous-ness when it comes to Brooks.

Side note: He managed to escape the crate every day this week. It is only because he missed me. He is much better now that I am home. Chris is still concerned about the welfare of our couch, and carpet, and pretty much anything outside the crate, even though no damage has been done (yet). I am going to video Brooks while we are gone one day this week to try and catch him in the act. I will post the video if we succeed.

We met with my mom's doctor in Little Rock today. He was ready to begin treatment today, but the myeloma in her bone marrow biopsy was at a low enough number that we had the option to come home for a week and begin treatment next week. We decided to come home today and give our minds a break from hospitals and testing and everything else. She will have her central line placed next Friday (July 11) and begin chemo the next day. We met with the doctor and nurses for several hours today. My mom's myeloma doctor is quite a character. He is a Dr. MD (MD, PhD, haha). He came into the room wearing jeans, a tight black t-shirt, brown motorcycle boots, and a big chain necklace. He is a fifty/sixty-something year old tiny German man. He has a pretty good sense of humor, too. He made fun of my Alabama accent and teased us about being Southern Baptists. Dr. Barlogie understands myeloma better than anyone else in the WORLD and I think it is so great that he is my mom's doctor. The nursing and administrative staff at the clinic is great. Everyone is sooo nice. When we made the decision to come home for a few days, we went back to the apartment, threw some of our stuff in the car and started driving. We got to my parents' house around 11 or so. I was too excited to see Chris so I drove from Jasper to Tuscaloosa after that (and after I photocopied all of Mom's test results so that Dr. Shubert can approve). Chris did a really good job of explaining the disease to me, so I was not shocked or surprised by anything that we found out. I even read one of Dr. Barlogie's presentations on the internet before the visit, and he was very impressed that I took the time to read and understand it. (Thank you again, husband.) We were surprised to find out how long the treatments will take. We were told to plan on staying in Little Rock three weeks out of every month, for at least five months, and possibly a year. She was also asked to participate in a clinical trial and has to make a decision about that. I am glad we got to come home, because now we have to make even longer-term arrangements. (Yeah, I don't think "longer-term" is a word either, but you know what I mean.) I am not sure if I will go back next week with my parents. I am going to meet with my advisor next week and try to work around everything for fall. I have a lot of other details about the clinic appointment today, but I am not going to post until I go over everything with Chris. If you want to know more about myeloma or how the visit went just email me. Or email me if this post doesn't make any sense, I just realized it is 2:30 am. I am going to sleep in my own bed now! More tomorrow...