Day Five - AAAAARGH! - the biopsy

 Hear my cry, O God; 

listen to my prayer.

 From the ends of the earth I call to you, 


I call as my heart grows faint; 


lead me to the rock that is higher than I. 

Psalm 61:1-2

Well the weather was beautiful, but Riley is in a funk. The problem is, I think, that he is remembering his mother, who died from cancer. This is totally understandable that he is finding all of the extremely unpleasant and fearful. But I did my best to not let it get me down.

When I came down stair to go into the garden, Riley was talking on the phone with his sister. I got settled and he handed the phone to me. Riley has a lovely sister - Valerie - who is a pastor at a church in Virginia. She told me that they have a 24 hour prayer room at their church, and she was going to put me on the priority list of people to be prayed for. That was so encouraging. Knowing that so many people are praying for me is fantastic. All my family, friends, people at church, my doctor, acquaintances, ..... etc.

Riley went and dug a big hole in the parking strip to plant white roses for me. I figure he needed things to distract him. I sat in the chaise in the sun and read. I don't remember what I ate, but I know I was well aware of the need to greatly improve my nutrition. Oh now I remember. Riley came up with the idea of going over to Whole Foods and getting a healthy sandwich. Well they didn't have one I liked, but I then remembered that Starbucks had one I like a lot. As a matter of fact, last week I was there in the morning with Emily to have some coffee, and I became obsessed with the idea of have their egg salad sandwich on whole wheat bread. That what I had yesterday. Riley got a chicken salad, and we sat in the sun and did a crossword puzzle while we ate.

Then we went back home, because I was starting to be overcome by panic, and I didn't feel I had enough energy to shop. I probably took a short nap, and sat for a while more in the sun, and then at about 2:00 we left for the doctor's office. I was definitely in a swivet. The office was easy to find, and it had a rather dreary waiting room, and a cold receptionist, and I was given a great deal of paper work to fill out.

Shortly after I finished the paper work a very friendly young woman came to get me. She really was ever so pleasant. She took me to the usual kind of room, asked me a few questions, had me put on a very small paper gown, open to the front, and the had me lay on the table (or what ever you call those things). Then another very friendly young woman came in - she was the physicians assistant - and she started in on me. I was on the verge of panic, but I remained relatively calm throughout the entire procedure. In the end she had to stitch me up, but for the time being I felt little. They gave me and ice pack, told me I'd probably hear by Wednesday, and sent me on my way. We went straight home, as I had an ice pack stuck inside my shirt.


I sure that upon getting home I laid down. Gramma called and said she was coming over to bring me a book on nutrition that I had loaned her, and she wanted to take us out to dinner. Riley was going to say no, but I stopped him. Then there was Sarah wanting to come over with some things she had for me, but she was a Whole Foods with her sisters, and it would take a while. Mom and Dad soon arrived, and then we didn't know about Sarah, but Riley called her and she said she would join us a dinner, we just needed to tell her where we were going. At first I suggested sushi or Pho Van, and Riley poo pooed that, so I came up with Arabian Breeze, a Syrian restaurant in our neighborhood. Nothing like hummus and tabbouleh, and tatziki, and fallafel and salad to be healthy. Only the bread was a problem.

Sarah and Caleb arrived in a very cheery mood, and Sarah had a big sack of goodies for me. There was tahini, whole grain baby cereal, a book on healthy baby food, brewers yeast, and deodorant that's safe for women with breast cancer. That was so sweet of her. Then we all ate a mezza for one, and a big green salad, and Sarah took home the left-overs. Caleb was a very good boy, and was enjoyed by everyone, and we all had a good time, even Riley. Oh ... and I gave Sarah a brand new 3 quart sauce pan, because last week she burned hers rather badly.


When we got home Annie and Corey were in the kitchen, cleaning things out as it turned out. They got rid of all the stuff in the refrigerator that shouldn't be there, and they threw out my stash of gummy bears and the like. This is a good thing. I laid down on the couch to rest a bit, and the girls sat in the living room with me, but it didn't take long before I could see that those two needed to eat. So I turned on Jeopardy, and Riley came in to join me, and the girls went to the kitchen to eat.

Afterwards we went to the back room to watch the baseball game, and soon after that Jill stopped by with vitamins for us, and she stayed for a while to chat. Riley went to bed soon after she came, and I went to bed soon after she left.

"The LORD is good, 

a refuge in times of trouble. 

He cares for those who trust in him." 

Nahum 1:7