Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Scan results-books-birthday

Today I went to see my Dr to get the results of my most recent scan of my kidney tumor.  I always get anxiety before these visits and I always think about the day he said the words "You have a tumor" and that was followed by a talk where the C word was used.  It is scary stuff.  Nobody wants to have a conversation that includes tumor, cancer and your own nameI found out about this mass 2 weeks after having had surgery to remove my gallbladder.  Five months prior to that I had a full hysterectomy and the thought of having another surgery was a lot to take.  I did not have the surgery to remove the tumor.  My Dr recommended waiting and see if the tumor grows.  I went to see a specialist at Loma Linda for a 2nd opinion and he said the same thing.  So that is the plan.  Today I got the results of scan #7 and it showed that the mass is not bigger.  It is the same size as it was on the very first scan.  This is good news.  Maybe tonight I will finally be able to sleep. :)

Books
I love books.  That is my favorite thing to receive as a gift, it is the only thing I spend money on for my kids or myself outside bdays or Chirstmas.   Bill bought this one at Costco last week and I stole it right away..I mean he works 18-21 hrs a day, he does not have time to read!

I know many of you read this one.  I just started it and it is really good
Before this one I read this book

Anyone read this? It is from the teen section.  Yep. I read an article about it and I had to read it.  I think every parents should read this.  Teenagers should read it as well WITH their parents.  The subject: suicide.   It is a hard subject of course but this book is more about why the person got to this point.  She left tapes to explain why and we follow one boy as he listens to her voice on these tapes.   This is the kind of book that opens discussions. 

Running
After my Dr Appt I went to the gym to do my speedwork.  6x800 @4:30.  Man that was hard. It was late and my small breakfast was hours ago...I only had one bottle of water with me.  I was not pretty.  First 4 went OK.  At #5 I started telling myself that 5 is good, I could do just 5 and nobody would know or CARE.  That is true.  Except I care.  I did the 6th one.  I almost threw up on the TM and it was my slowest of the 800s but I did it.  In the end today was more a mental workout than anything else.  I struggle with the mental aspect of long races like half marathons.
Speaking of that...18 days only before Half Marathon #3.  I got 2 long runs left, one 11 miler this weekend and 12 next week.

Today it is my dad's 78th birthday!
Bonne Fete to my wonderful papa!
He is the smartest person I know...Hey he has a PhD and he speaks 5 languages (Hungarian, Russian, German, French and English)!
He is fair and kind and family is the most important thing to him.
He is the kind of grandfather who will roll on the floor with the kids and who also thinks they cannot do anything wrong.  "They are perfect" "Don't be so strict" "It cannot be that bad"  This is what I hear all the time from my dad wh0 was REALLY strict himself as a parent. 
And to me he says this "You are too thin, why don't you eat more"  "You look terrible and tired in this [running] picture"  "You know you will not go to the Olympics right?"  "Too much running is not good for your.....wait for it.....KNEES!"  and also my all time favorite "You are doing a good job raising your kids"  That is priceless to me.


This was when he was 21, Hungary 1954, 2 years before he left his country.
 
Playing with Will

In his garden, he makes is own wine with the grapes 


New Year's Eve 2010, we were going to an NHL game!


18 comments:

Emz said...

1st happy birthday to Carotabi's dad!!! You made one fine daughter!!

2. Yay for same. Same is good!!
3. I must start reading. Just so I can be like you.
4. Yay for doing ALL 6!! That rocks!!

Jill said...

Happy Birthday to your dad, love all the wonderful pictures!!

Very happy news the tumor is NOT growing - woohoo! Get some good rest tonight...800's and good news deserve some good rest! :)

Kate Geisen said...

Oh my goodness that's a lot of stuff packed into a not that long blog post!

So glad to hear things are staying stable. I can totally see why you'd be OVER surgery for a while.

Happy happy birthday to your dad! He sounds like a wonderful man.

I cannot WAIT to read that book, especially after the way CK's been talking it up.

And way to go on those 800's! I blew off my speedwork this morning bc I was worried about falling in the dark (I've gotten wimpy this summer), so now I'm going to have to do it on the TM. Bleh.

Terzah said...

I must read Unbroken! First though I have to get through my book club meeting Monday...for which I have not read the book...and which I am hosting at my house. Uh oh.

I'm so glad the news on your tumor was good--and six 800s on an empty stomach=not fun.

Happy Birthday to your dad!

Nelly said...

Great to hear on the status of the tumor, hopefully it stays like that.

Awesome on Unbroken - I'll say it again, I don't read a ton of books, but that is the best book I've ever read.

Nice job on the workout!

I love seeing old formal pics of people from the past, that is a great pic of your Dad. Hungary had a lot of trouble as a country in teh 1940s and 1950s, I'm glad he was able to leave the country okay.

And lastly, when will your husband ever be able to work less hours? How is he still standing working 18-20 hours a day? The human body can only take so much before it is pushed to its limit.

Laura said...

Yeah to all things in this post!

RockStarTri said...

Good news on not growing and handling the stress of waiting each time.

When doing 6 sets, #4 or 5 is always the hardest mentally. Good job!

giraffy said...

Good news about the tumor!!

And nice 800's, I despise those!

Annnd, happy birthday to your dad!

XLMIC said...

What a relief about the scan! Yay :)

Happy birthday to your dad! What a handsome guy. He looks like he is a lot of fun now.

Awesome on closing out those 800's :)

Christy @ My Dirt Road Anthem: A Runner's Blog said...

Yay for great scan news! That must be such a relief. Your Dad sounds quite awesome, I love that he makes his own wine. I have not read either of those books but I have heard great things about Unbroken.

Teamarcia said...

Happy Birthday Papa! What a wonderful man!

Happy to hear nothing is growing. My neighbor just had a tumor removed from his kidney...it was affecting adrenal function but all is well now.

You rock on the 800s. Sticking it out and almost puking will take you far mentally and physically come race day.

I love to read and have Unbroken here waiting. Need to crack it open. Today!

Anne said...

So glad there is no change...always a good sign. :)

Bonne Fête à ton cher papa!!

Bravo d'avoir poussé jusqu'au bout pour tes intervals...you are hardcore :)

Thanks for the book suggestions...I went through your list the other day and wrote down all the books that interested me (that I hadn't already read) and went to the library to find them :)

Unknown said...

Yay for good news! So glad. Sleep well.

I read Unbroken - fantastic story. He's from my hometown, our local airport is Zamperini field. Fun to read about a local guy with an incredible story.

I enjoy seeing other people's training plans - we're training for the same race and my last two weeks are a 12 miler and then a 6 miler (although the last week also has a mid-week 6 miler). We're going to have to meet up at the starting line :-)

Happy Bday to your dad!

Jess @ Blonde Ponytail said...

So so so thankful your scan revealed no growth. I had no idea the C word was in your background...you probably haven't discussed it much on your blog.

I appreciate you recommending books--I HAVE to read before bed and love to get lost in a book!

SupermomE13 said...

YAY for good scan results. I have been praying for you. :)

HAPPY HAPPY Birthday to your Dad! He looks like a wonderful man.

And I read Unbroken and LOVED it. It is HARD to read at parts, but such an amazing story, especially since it is true. Loved it! If you haven't read "The Long Run" by Matty Long you need to read that next. SO good. :)

Tricia said...

I'm on the wait list at the library for Unbroken -- that is unless I buy it before my turn gets around.

Congrats on the scan results. That has to be a relief.

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Carla said...

Fantastic news on the tumor not growing, and great job on the 800s. I've been scared to do those. And happy birthday to your dad!