Linds Rang The Bell!

ANNOUNCEMENT:  Linds finished radiation and got to move to Connecticut yesterday!


For months now we have been anticipating the day I would get to Ring The Bell!

In the main waiting room of the Radiation Oncology department at Penn Medicine, there is a large stand with a shiny silvery bell.  Here are some photos of it--

The plaque at the bottom of the bell stand says, 

"The Bell Ringers.  As the sailing ships of another generation relied on their ship's bell to signal their position in a fog, may this bell enable you who ring it to navigate your way to a life free from cancer." 

(Generously donated by Frank McKee, Grateful Patient)

My own personal Liberty Bell!  Liberty from being at the hospital for hours EVERY day, liberty from lingering cancerous cells in my brain, liberty from being states away from my marital home!  Liberty indeed!

Some of my radiation therapists came out from the back to watch me ring the bell.  One of them took this video (below) for me, hopefully you can see it...if not, I can email it to you :-)

Here is the YouTube link: 

http://youtu.be/naPpuU6cnTY

The bell is loud, but my voice is pretty quiet.  I said something to the effect of, "I started this the day after our honeymoon, which was like the worst thing ever.  But now I can finally move in!"

Yes, I cried when I got on the elevator to leave, but don't ask me about it! :'(

OPEN HOUSES are CANCELLED :-(

Hello to our dear family members and friends!

We have already begun to send out postcards announcing this, but we also wanted to put it here as well--

We must regretfully cancel both of our Open Houses originally scheduled for October.  

With Lindsey's rigorous treatment schedule in Philadelphia, it would be really tricky to travel all the way to California and back without risking missing a day of radiation.

It is also getting increasingly difficult for Lindsey to even make it up to Connecticut, because the radiation is starting to take its toll and she gets tired easily.  Planning the Open Houses was just a little more stress than she wanted to deal with at present.  We are very disappointed to not celebrate with everyone, but we hope you all can understand.  


To our Connecticut loved ones, please plan to come visit us for dinner in the new year!  We would love to have guests once things are settled and Linds is actually living in CT full-time.

And to our California loved ones, we are planning to try to make to to California for Thanksgiving, so when it gets closer to that weekend, please reach out to us and we will try to get together, if possible.


We love you all; thank you for your continued support.  Linds is doing surprisingly well and is nearly half done with her radiation treatments.  If you want to read the latest on her blog, the URL is--

 http://jaydiva.blogspot.com/


XOXO!

Raspberry Rapture

We were so excited to hear that Bishop's Orchard still had raspberries!  We drove up there on Saturday and picked 7 POUNDS of beautiful, dark, sweet raspberries!

And it was a lovely, sunny day.

So I made Jack some berry and yogurt parfaits to put in his lunchbox this week :-)

And I have been experimenting on all the delicious things to do with super ripe raspberries before they go bad.  Here's today's from-scratch accomplishments:

~ Lime and Raspberry Crumble (Gluten free!  Made with coconut flour, oats, and coconut oil!)

~ Whole Wheat Raspberry-Chia Galette 

~ Ginger and Raspberry Scones 

~ Chia Pudding with Honey, Cinnamon, and Fresh Raspberries



All natural, of course!  Made with maple syrup or honey as sweeteners.  And I used differing quantities or coconut flour, garbanzo flour, whole wheat flour, and organic unbleached flour.)


YUM!    Happy end of summer!


P.S.

We saw the GIANT pumpkins at the Durham Fair on Saturday, too!  We saw one over 1,500 pounds!

A few more of the details...

You may be getting tired of our wedding photos, but I NEVER WILL!

Here are a few more details from our Central Park Family Picnic and Ring Ceremony:


Price family photos outside the Manhattan LDS Temple-

 Mountain of picnic boxes!

Gift bags for our out-of-state guests--

The cutest little processional...

Our guests got to choose a button to wear in support of my issues :)

Central Park Family Ring Ceremony on Cherry Hill-

 The Cake!  One little coconut-lemon meringue cake on top of tiers and tiers of lemon, coconut, and vanilla cupcakes.  Excellent flavors for summer.  We LOVE Magnolia Bakery!

Photo Teaser

Our photographer is working on editing our photos, but sent us a few recently-- what a tease!  I love them :)

Bethesda Fountain, Central Park, NYC.

The Lake in Central Park.

I got caught mid-shoe change...oh!  Didn't mean to show off my Italian leather Kate Spade wedding shoes!  (Thank you, EBAY!!)  And here's a close up of my bouquet-- yellow billy balls, yellow Gerbera daisies, Creme De La Creme roses, yellow spray roses, and viburnum berries.

So this is outside the Metropolitan Opera House, which is right across the street from the LDS Temple where we got married.  In case you didn't know, our first BIG date was to the Met Opera and we later got engaged inside there, too!  So it is special to us :D

We took a little row on The Lake, very picturesque!

P.S.
Gary did not take this photo, my Grandpa Mike did--- but we also ran into some pirates on the lake!  AKA my siblings...

Hahaha!

Its Official!

In case you haven't heard the good news...

WE GOT MARRIED!!!

We had such a fun, exciting, emotional whirlwind of a day!  It all went by so quickly and we only regret that we didn't have more time to spend with each and every one of our loved ones.

Thank you for everyone's help and generosity.  (And thank you for praying for No Rain-- it worked!) We could not have pulled it off without everyone's patience (my mom...) and for everyone's willingness to share their talents (RAJ, Annie!)- including their organizational talents (Simmandi, Meredith), and people's amazing willingness to help out (Sheila, Jason, Shawn, Sarah, Bishop Jenson...)  HUGE shout out to the Philly YSA constituency who really made the family picnic in Central Park what it was.

Thanks to everyone's love and service, we had a wonderful day!

And adorable Baby Gwen was the sweetest --if not the most disinterested-- little Ring Bearer ever!  She can do NO wrong in my eyes!

More photos to come!  And many thanks to those who have taken and shared THESE photos!  We were a little too busy that day to take any ourselves :)

XOXO

Countdown...

10 MORE DAYS!!

That's a hot photo, right?  Nice work, Gary.


And the 10-day forecast so far says August 30 should be... 

High of 80 degrees, 30% chance of AM showers.  Could be worse, but still... EEK!!!  At least there is supposed to be sun all the week before, so the ground shouldn't be sopping wet.

Still, time for the prayer patrol to get on the cause of NO RAIN AUGUST 30 IN MANHATTAN!!

Before and After

I wrote a new post on my personal blog-- HERE is a link to it, if you are interested.

But to get to the point, here are the highlights!  How about these for Before and After photos:

Not too shabby, my neurosurgical team!  The smudge on the post-operative photo where the tumor was, according to my chief surgeon, is just leftover blood from the operation that will diffuse.

Now if that is not a miracle, I don't know what is!



P.S.

ONLY ONE MORE MONTH UNTIL THE WEDDING!!! :D  HOORAY!

Our First Hike

This is a pretty big deal.

Not only was this our first hike together, but it was my first hike since surgery (hooray!), and it was my Mr. Jackson's first hike ever! 

We were inspired by either spontaneity or perhaps he just wanted to support my recovery by joining me in something he knows I love, and this weekend we went on an impromptu hike at Sleeping Giant State Park in Connecticut after searching for homes(!!) and checking out the Peabody Museum at Yale.

This was my first full week after getting the green light from my physical therapist to walk without a cane.  With that new liberty, as well as having my mom back at her home so nobody could tell me I was going too fast or needed a break (sorry, Mom, I was a little naughty) I entered Turbo Time!  I have been speed walking for miles around downtown Philly, getting my groove back.  I felt ready for a little trail because if I can navigate cobblestone streets and sidewalks that have been on the city's Fix-It List for, oh, decades, while somehow not getting run over by taxis, then I think I can watch out for sticks and stones on a trail.

Plus- big, strong Mr. Jackson was holding my hand or had an arm around me for support the whole time.  So we went on a little 3.2 mile loop to the top of the mountain on the Tower Trail.  As you might imagine, there is a large stone tower at the top which was built during the Depression by WPA workers- cool!

On our way down the mountain, there was a nice breeze and at one spot we were experiencing a surround-sound of singing birds and he said, "Now this I like."

And this from my novice hiker!  YES!!

To try to give him positive associations with hiking, we ate pizza at Sally's for dinner right afterwards.  Excellent!

So don't you worry, Grandma, he will use that brand new camp pillow you got him from our REI Registry-- I'll make sure of it!

(Full story at THIS LINK)

Medical Update #2

A longer version of this post is available at THIS LINK on my personal blog.

Change and decay in all around I see;

O Thou who changest not, abide with me!

Abide With Me!

Text: Henry F. Lyte, 1793-1847

(Here we are after church last week—my first time at Sacrament Meeting since my operation)

Hi, its Linds again :)  Since my last post, so much has changed, including my diagnosis and prognosis!  But the important things in my life have stayed the same—my sweet fiancé and I are still full steam ahead for our wedding and our lives together.  I love my family and they love and support me, which means the world to me.  I have continued to receive so much kindness, including countless cards from individuals and families in my hometown 3000 miles away, whom I was sure had long forgotten me!   Thank you so much for your love!

Here are the Main Updates:

1) I am recovering from surgery expertly!  Physical therapy is fun and going very well.

2) My pathology study was completed and the doctors were wrong about my tumor—it is a completely different variety than anyone expected, a VERY rare type, and it was malignant. 

3) I do NOT have cancer, but the tumor will likely try to come back in the same spot. 

4) I am most likely going to undergo Proton Therapy in the near future

5) Prayers for faith and courage, please! 

6) The Wedding is a GO.  I cannot wait to marry the man who has been carrying my weary soul through this experience.

(No more staples!  And my little shaved hairs are already growing back!)

I am so pleased with my recovery from surgery, and I want to share that I am doing so well and I’m nearly back to my normal life.  My staples are all out and my incision is healing really well.  But I also must share the fact that we have some new developments from my medical team.

After a lot of wondering and waiting as Pathology did their thing with my tumor, on Friday, July 11, and then again on Wednesday, July 16, we finally got some answers.  The answers included major changes from information we had previously been relying on.  The biggest piece of news after the full Pathology study of my tumor is that my brain tumor was a totally different type of tumor than anyone had expected.  Rather than a benign Meningioma, it was actually a very rare tumor called an Anaplastic Hemangiopercytoma– and it was malignant. 

Now before you panic, it was not malignant in the sense that I have cancer.  This is the Good News: I DO NOT HAVE CANCER and I praise the Lord because of it.  There is no fear that cancer cells or tumors will appear in other parts of my body.  However, this type of tumor is very likely to grow back in the same spot.  So unlike what we thought before, my fight with this tumor is far from over and I will be monitored to keep it from returning for the rest of my life.

In an effort to jumpstart my fight to keep the tumor from returning, it looks like I will be undergoing a gentle form or radiation called Proton Therapy. Although it is more gentle than traditional radiation, it will still be pretty intense.  I am not sure if they will wait until after the wedding or not to do it, but I will know a lot more after the first week of August, when I see the Radiation Oncologist whom my Chief Brain Surgeon gave my case to.  It is so amazing that I have such advanced medical facilities literally right down my street.  (P.S. Thank you Ian for giving me a tour of the Proton Therapy facilities last year!  We had no idea at the time that I would be a patient there, but knowing what it is all about and what it looks like has been a HUGE source of comfort to me.  You are such a great friend in so many ways.)  And if they wait until after the wedding, I still have my apartment in Philly through most of the Fall if I need to stay here for my treatment.  Things will be pretty crazy when that is all going on, but I am confident that it is going to work out.

All of my doctors, including the Radiation Oncologist, are still on board for the wedding taking place as scheduled.  It will be a small, quiet, sacred occasion with my close, immediate family in the Manhattan Temple.  I bought new wedding shoes—lower wedges—so I don’t fall in my less-balanced state :)  Besides the lower shoes, everything will go as planned.  I think it will be a more meaningful occasion now that we’ve really fought for it.  I also am looking forward to seeing my siblings, grandparents, and other family members SO much.  They have been big supporters throughout my medical melodrama and I just want to hug them all, and tell them I’m okay, and thank them for their prayers.  (P.S. I am also graciously accepting prayers that it will NOT rain in New York on August 30^th!  PLEASE!)

For the past month, change, fear, and worry seem to be crowding all around me like they’re trying to box me into a corner.  I realize that despite my valiant efforts at living a healthy lifestyle, and despite being a mostly good person, and despite planning out the rest of my life in detail, there are really very few things within my absolute control.  But two of those few things that I can control are (1) what I believe, and (2) how I respond.  I choose to believe God loves me, and I choose to make an effort to feel peace in my heart and mind. 

And now…remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

Helaman 5:12  

The Book of Mormon

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

John 14:27  

The Holy Bible

When I felt at my lowest of lows and my world was turned upside down, I can tell you honestly that it NEVER even occurred to me to abandon my faith.  It seems counter-intuitive since faith is belief of things unseen, but when all was in flux and I could not see the end point of anything, the only stable thing I could see was faith.  If I allowed doubt to steal away my faith, I would literally have had nothing left.  My faith was all that I had as I was wheeled alone into the Operating Room, so I fiercely guarded my faith and, more importantly, it guarded me.