I'm Home!

Even though I have totally fallen in love with the East Coast, you can’t beat home, or California weather for that matter. This past week my little town of Madison was hit with a blizzard and leaving the house was out of the question for a good 3 days. All I could think was "Thank God I am such a good food shopper!" I lucked out, in the fact that, for those three days I didn’t have to go to the city. As I have expressed before, I love the snow. What I am not such a fan of, is shoveling the snow. I didn’t even give it a thought. But when I woke up one morning I saw two men with tractors outside, I was beyond stoked! Turns out they do this for all the homes in my track of housing. I took so many pictures of my little winter wonderland before the tractors got down to business. (I have to wait until I get back east to load them) … My breaking point was when the evening news announced that it was -1°F! At that moment, my love affair with actually experiencing a true winter was kinda over, and I called my parents to inform them that if I wasn’t flown home soon, I may turn into a blonde popsicle. When I landed in Long Beach, the weather was in the mid 60’s, and I couldn’t have been happier! My Dad was sitting out front waiting for me, and when I climbed in the car, I realized that, yes I couldn’t be much happier- Lola (a.k.a. the center of my universe) was in the car! We both freaked, and for the first time in roughly three weeks I got to hold and play with my dog. It was almost surreal. I don’t think that I stopped smiling all night, and the only thing that put my smile to rest, was just that, to sleep in my own bed. It has been a great few days. I have been fortunate enough to be able to play catch up with many of my friends and family. It is nice to spend time with my Mom, I have missed going to coffee with her in the mornings and just hanging out with her. This weekend I have plans to watch my Dad and my little brother ride dirt bikes. Even though Shallyn just left the East Coast, we picked up right where we left off- frequenting Yogurt Zone. We are without a doubt their best customers.

Alright I have lots of good news and some bad news, I’ll give you the good news first…

GOOD NEWS… I’ve had my last treatment on the MDX & CD-30 clinical trial. For the next few months, I have to do follow up with blood work. On February 14th, I have a PET scan; this will provide conclusive evidence to my doctors if my body has responded well to the trial. Over all, I feel pretty good, just the nagging itching is still bothersome. My SED rate fell from 34 to 30, a normal SED rate is 0 – 20, the fact that it’s going down makes everyone happy.

GOOD NEWS… On February 2nd, the Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach is having a benefit for me, comedian Evan Davis is headlining; he’s so funny. Mike Lacey, who owns the Comedy & Magic Club, is donating all the proceeds from tickets sales to my medical care and treatment. Mike has been a friend of our family for many years and I am touched by his generosity and willingness to help. If you’re not busy Wednesday evening, come join us for an evening of fun and laughter.

BAD NEWS… For as long as I can remember, I have never washed my face, and I’ve never really had any problems with my skin- ever. I consider myself really lucky, and my sister always teases me that one day it’s going to turn around and bite me in the rear end. MY DAY HAS COME! It totally figures that 5 days before the benefit- where I’m sure plenty of pictures will be taken, a blemish the size of China, has developed on face, one so big that it requires it’s own zip code, I’ve name him Bob. He has 4 days to vacate the premises, and then I can only pray that Max Factor will be able to come to my rescue. But if a blemish is my biggest problem these days, then I’m a happy camper, and I consider myself pretty darn lucky!

Continuing my Fight 2 Win,
-Alese