summertime and the living is easy

A girl I used to work with has breast cancer. She wasn't just someone I worked with. She was a friend. Close enough to have gone for drinks with a few times, close enough to have been to her house and had her to mine. Not a close friend, but a friend.

She wrote to me yesterday while I was away, telling me of her situation. She had a mastectomy on Friday. She starts six months of chemotherapy in September and then five years of hormone therapy after that. As if that isn't bad enough, this whole situation prevents her and her husband from having the baby they'd been planning on during this six year time frame as chemotherapy can destroy eggs and hormone therapy prevents pregnancy. They have invested in freezing embryos in hopes they can find a surrogate mother to carry their baby.

She has asked if I would consider it. Carrying their baby. I'm stunned. Not just by the request, but by the whole situation. It's a reality that we are reaching an age where things like this will happen, and yet it somehow seems impossible that mortality is rearing its ugly head already.

I talked about it with Shawn and found him more open than I expected. When I told him about it, the first thing he said was, "And what do you think about that?" Not, "Wow, that's crazy," or anything like that. I told him I didn't know what to think about it. We've been thinking of having a baby of our own. Obviously we can't let this stand in the way of us doing what we need to do for ourselves. But I couldn't dismiss the idea outright, either. I feel unsure.

I wrote her back quickly, not wanting to leave her dangling while my mind was churning, and told her very directly and straightforwardly that I wasn't sure, that our own plans might not make that possible, and that I couldn't make a promise. I told her to continue seeking other options but not to completely write me off either.

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The trip to Vancouver yesterday was pleasant. Waking up at 4:00 was not pleasant, but I found the puppies surprisingly amenable to eating breakfast at that hour and managed to get through the morning routine with no hitches (or power failures) and to catch my plane in time.

The interview was good, overall, and the interviewer told me that he was going to recommend me for a position (which does not guarantee I will get one as this is still dependent upon the needs that arise in the system) in spite of my tendency to talk very quickly. I was a little startled by this as no one has ever told me I talk fast, and I was left to wonder whether:

a. I do talk fast all the time and the rest of the world is too polite to tell me so.
b. I only talk too fast when I am being interviewed because I am nervous.
c. That man is crazy.

In any case, he didn't seem to think it was a debilitating condition and said he hoped I would find a placement soon. I do too.

After the interview, Shawn took me to the new house and we got to walk through it and see where our new life is going to take place. Exciting. It's a lovely house, with an even lovelier yard. Shawn had stacks of magazines in the car showing pictures of all the renovations he's been dreaming of.

Shawn's plan to come home for the weekend was derailed by his nonsensical decision to put his wallet in my bag while we were in the house, resulting in me bringing his wallet home with me when I flew back. Without any identification he was unable to catch his own plane later that night. Instead, he changed his tickets to two weeks from now, and I mailed his wallet back to him. Thanks, Purolator, for your 24-hour service option.

I'm disappointed, of course, that he's not home with me now as he was supposed to be, but am pleased that his decision to come home in two weeks means he'll be able to spend three instead of two days. It's a long weekend for him, due to some statutory holiday that exists in BC and not here.

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I am concerned that Little Puppy may be having tooth issues again. The last few nights when I have brushed her teeth, she has reacted as though she finds it painful for me to brush her back molars (the two that are left) and there has been a little blood on her toothbrush. Sigh.

We are scheduled to see the vet on Wednesday. I'd hate for her to lose those teeth as they are her only chewy teeth left and she loves cookies so much.

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My niece is coming to visit on Sunday and to stay for a week. She'll be going to summer camp in the daytime and spending her evenings with me. I have great plans for us.

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