Birthdays & Bike Races
September has been a really busy month for Bryan and me. We celebrated Bryan's 32nd birthday by hosting the fourth annual "Bish Ball," a day filled with friends, BBQ and softball. Bryan started it five years ago and had three successful years, but we took last year off for obvious reasons. It's almost surreal to think that almost exactly a year ago Bryan was checked into Cedars' in-patient program as well as given his first infusion of Avastin. It's true when they say (whoever "they" are), "What a difference a year makes." At that point last year things were pretty awful on all counts, and we honestly didn't know if Bryan would make it to see his 32nd birthday. Well, not only did he make it to his birthday, he planned a heck of a party. We went to Costco and stocked up on all the supplies for the softball field's snack shack: nachos, hot dogs wrapped in bacon, hamburger meat, grilled peppers, etc. A friend reserved an awesome little league field in Westchester that was equipped with an A/V tower, bleachers, batting cages and of course, the snack shack. Bryan's parents flew down for the occasion and were our heroes; his mom organized the shack and passed individual trays of nachos among our friends while his dad manned the BBQ. It was a great day for everyone involved and we're so happy to have the tradition back on track.
Last weekend was another big weekend; I rode in the MS Waves to Wine bike race, which benefited the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Why MS? Bryan was misdiagnosed with MS before he was diagnosed with the brain tumor. A few thousand people participated in the ride and I'm really proud to say that so far it has raised over $1.3 million for MS research. I trained for the race throughout the Summer with a good friend (I have her to thank for asking me to be on the riding team) and completed the 40 mile course throughout Sonoma County. There was also a 75- and 100-mile ride option, but given that it was my first race and temperatures were soaring into the mid 90's in Sonoma County, I'm really glad I opted for the 40-mile route. I'll go for the bigger course next time, because I've really caught the cycling bug. The race was such a fun day and interestingly enough, there was even a team riding from Genentech (the pharmaceutical company that produced Avastin). Hopefully they can work their magic for those afflicted with MS as well as they do for brain tumor patients.
It's really crazy that it's almost October. The Summer flew by and now it's nearly Halloween? Spooky. But the Fall means some awesome things: Bryan can enjoy USC football once again (he wasn't able to go to any games last year), he can dress as his hero (Optimus Prime!) for Halloween and we can truly enjoy moment of the holidays with friends and family. Our neuro oncologist said the other day that Bryan appears almost "back to normal," and it was a wonderful thing to hear. He still has the tumor but it's being managed. For the first time since May 2009 we are actually talking about the future like, for real. Up until now, the "future" has been a cover-up conversation, a hopeful discussion but never one that was filled with anything truly concrete. It still may not be filled with concrete events, but that's a universal truth for everyone. I've stopped saying that "Bryan is doing really well" because aside from the bi-weekly infusions and once monthly chemotherapy course -- which are maintenance/preventative at this point -- I just consider him to be a healthy adult. He has a slight limp but as he goes to the gym that will get strengthened and slowly disappear. Bryan drives himself everywhere now, is back at the BBQ helm, takes Charlie for walks, does the ACE and Film Vault podcasts several times a week and is exploring a few other job leads. He's back to being a full-time partner in our home, which is a huge accomplishment. He continues to succeed in just about everything he set out to do when he began therapy a year ago, so there's no reason not to expect the treatment will keep working and he'll continue to improve. The most important thing is that we're not worrying every second. Maybe I worry once a day or a few times a week, but that's a HUGE improvement from before.
As an update on the insurance situation, Bryan was accepted into the California high-risk insurance pool so he's got excellent continued coverage. Thanks mostly to advice from the LIVESTRONG foundation as well as due diligence on our part, things are working out on that front. And just as we expected, I received a letter last week saying that my insurance coverage ends at the end of October so I'm working on getting an individual plan. As far as jobs go, things on that front are really coming together, too. Bryan is getting paid more from the podcast and he's having meetings with awesome potential sponsors. I've got a lot of freelance writing jobs in the hopper and am in talks about marketing gigs. I'm especially excited because LA Weekly has given me additional assignments, so my writing efforts are paying off. We just keep putting ourselves out there, meeting new people and searching high and low for new opportunities and slowly but surely things are working themselves out.
The biggest issue right now? Finding Charlie a Halloween costume. We wanted him to wear a Charlie Brown sweater, but turns out dog versions are hard to find. I offered to sew one for Charlie, but Bryan laughed at me. I can't believe he doesn't have faith that an L.A.-marketing-career-woman-turned-caregiver-turned-food-writer wouldn't be able to sew black zig-zags on a yellow doggie sweater. I'm sure I could figure it out, but I have a taco costume in mind just in case it doesn't work out. :)
