Clinic and the future

At Stephanie and Channing's wedding reception this past weekend in WV!

Congrats to Sean, who made PA Business Central's "Foremost Under 40" list for 2013!

Thank you, Marisa, for this gorgeous picture of Campbell taken while graciously babysitting him over the weekend! Cam will be 2 years old on Nov. 12, and he is ready to be a big brother!

After nearly two years of submitting information, my first clinic date has been scheduled for the LFS study by the NIH! (http://lfs.cancer.gov/li-fraumeni.html)

My clinic visit will be Dec. 2 at the NIH in Bethesda, MD. It will consist of a full body MRI, a brain MRI, and blood work and a physical exam. I am told it will pretty much take all day, from around 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. I’ve never had a full body or brain MRI before so of course I’m really nervous about being in the machine for long periods of time, and also that they could find something. This is the first time literally ALL of me will be looked at, which means things (cancer or non-cancer) could pop up anywhere.

Despite all this I’m actually really, really, really excited to finally be getting this done. I know it sounds crazy, but having these scans will give me SO much peace and relief and SO much control over the LFS. I’ve really taken control since the diagnosis with my blood exams every four months, annual breast MRIs, colonoscopy, dermatologist appointments, abdominal and transvaginal ultrasounds and regular physical exams, but these screenings will add so much to that. So I feel like I’ve BEEN in control, but this will really be the icing on the cake, if you know what I mean.

Just knowing my entire body, from toes to brain, are being scanned for cancer, makes me EXCITED. Is that sick? I can assume I’m fine because of my regular check-ups, but after these, I will KNOW I’m fine.

Up until now it’s been an ultrasound here and there to look at this and that, but with my clinic appointment it will tie everything together. I know it will be a hard day and a long day and a stressful day, but I’m ready. This is part of my plan. I want to be in control of this crazy thing called LFS. It’s one thing to be scared to get scans. It’s another thing to be scared because you’re not getting scans.

I am pretty confident they won’t find anything. But the idea is that if they do it will be taken care of. Will it be pleasant? No. But this is life now and I am so grateful I get to be in this study. All of these scans will be covered. If I wasn’t in the study we’d have to pay out of pocket for these scans. This way everything is taken care of. And hopefully, just hopefully, I play a small role in advancing medicine and LFS screenings and treatment. Maybe they will learn something from me.

Besides clinic, I’ve been letting all of the information about the adoption process sink in. I’m really excited to be starting this process and feel really blessed we are in a position to take this next step. I told Campbell there will be a baby in the house and he seems to be OK with it. I know he’s used to getting all of the attention and being the center of attention, but this process will give him plenty of time to adjust to no longer being the “only baby” in the house.

Our family, no matter how we have one, will be special because it will be ours. It will be unique because it will be ours. We’ve never shied away from a challenge before. And the adoption process isn’t just a challenge; this is the next step in our lives. It just happens to be one we didn’t expect, but thanks to medical advances we could plan for it and are ready for it.

I’m really excited and looking forward to ALL that we have ahead of us, from starting a family to our first 10-miler to Ireland next year to all of the family events we have coming up, and all of our pregnant friends and babies being born and more weddings and more travel. I never thought I could be so blessed to lead such a full life.

So bring on the MRIs. It’s one more item on the list being checked off: me in control of my life and my health in preparation for our eventual baby and our future.