An Inconvenient Tumor

Throughout my life, my parents have often said that I always seem to be in the right place, at the right time. Everything worked out the way it was supposed to. From varsity volleyball try-outs to play auditions, to grad school acceptance and job recruitment, it has always seemed that there is a method to life's madness. I truly believe that if you do your best to put the wheels in motion, fate will take you where you are supposed to belong.

I truly believe that fate brought Bryan and I together. Anyone who knows our "story" marvels at its serendipitous nature, like living across the street from each other for two years and having never met. Being in the same pictures at college formals and later weddings, dancing back to back, but never having met. Spending an entire weekend with his (now ex-) girlfriend's family at USC/ASU football games. Re-meeting at our friends' Adam & Claire's wedding, but hitting it off ourselves at the rehearsal dinner before they even had a chance to sit us at the same table. Bryan's college roommate is my best friend's husband, and it was his wife that originally introduced us. The list goes on and on.

Looking back at the past year, specifically, I can't help but acknowledge that there is, without a doubt, a rhyme to this situation's reason. In August 2008, Bryan and I got engaged. In September, Bryan won $100,000 on "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire." We socked it away, hoping to would help with a down payment for a house. Then the economy started to really tank. All industries were suffering, but in particular Bryan's and mine: radio and advertising. Bryan's radio sidekick job on The Adam Carolla Show ended soon after the new year, when 97.1 FREE FM (RIP) changed to AMP FM (I'm still pissed, but that's an whooooooooole other blog). Then in March my advertising client (a private jet company; need I say more?) pulled their funding from our advertising agency. Things were slowing down and I was absolutely sure I was going to get laid off. I did, in fact, get laid off, but not for over a month. So that downtime really afforded me the chance to catch up on wedding planning. We had the entire wedding planned and ready to go by the end of March, even though it's not until late June. This winding down of our careers and our wedding planning commitments seemed strange. The fact that we had so many trips planned (for bridal showers, etc.) to see his family and have both our family's together seemed uncanny. But most importantly, the fact that we were able to be together every second of every day seemed the strangest. It was almost as if something else was about to hit us, which as you know now, absolutely happened.

I thought the overall time line was interesting. Maybe you will, too.

- Tuesday, April 6: Christie gets laid-off
- Friday, April 10: Bryan tells Christie he's "sick"
- Monday, April 13: Bryan's appointment with Neurologist #1
- Tuesday, April 14 - Friday, April 17: COBRA isn't cooperating and won't pre-authorize Bryan's MRI. We freak out and go to Vegas.
- Monday, April 20: Bryan's MRI
- Wednesday, April 22: We get the "You don't have MS, but I need to see you tomorrow morning" call
- Thursday, April 23: Meeting with neurologist #1 in the morning, Googling "low grade glioma" at noon and meeting with Dr. Doom at 3pm
- Friday, April 24: Fly up to Bryan's parents house for our bridal shower (we'd scheduled this trip several months prior)
- Monday, April 27: Appointment with Dr. Black
- Tuesday, April 28: Appointment with Dr. Black's neuro oncologist
- Wednesday, April 29: Appointment with Dr. McHottie, radiation oncologist
- Thursday, April 30: Christie's own doctor appointment (details to come in a later post)
- Friday, May 1: Bryan hits the sperm bank as chemo and radiation can make you sterile (hilarious details coming in a later post)
- Saturday, May 2: Bryan's family comes down for Los Angeles-based bridal shower (they'd scheduled this trip several months prior)
- Monday, May 4: Bryan starts chemotherapy
- Tuesday, May 5: Bryan starts radiation

I don't know about you, but that entire cluster of times, dates, and pre-planned visits tells me there's more to this story than we know. That Bryan and I and our families are experiencing this for a reason. I'm certain of that. To close the serendipitous loop, Bryan's 6-weeks of chemotherapy and radiation conclude two weeks before our wedding. He'll have four weeks off (ending just after our honeymoon ends) before he starts chemo pills (only 5 days per month) again. Then it's back to finding a job, finding a house and finding the perfect puppy.

The timing will work out perfectly for that, too. We just know it.

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