Can Joe get some license~~ma?? We finally paid off his California license and he's at the Michigan Sec of State's office with ten billion sheets of paper, hoping they'll issue him a Michigan driver's license which will open his job prospects immensley.

Thanks everyone.

I'm happy to report that my mom's gall bladder removal was successful yesterday, and she's now home and recovering. Less happy that she's in pain and nauseated, but I understand those are normal after-effects of the surgery.

Any get-well-quickly~ma would be greatly appreciated.

I'll probably be dark gray WRT the board at least through Monday, very little time away to access a computer.

Thank you for your two weeks of votes and all of your support! (And a special thank you to Polgara)! My grant was funded today! You all are AMAZING!

Drew is being readmitted to the hospital today. Unfortunately his pancreatitis is back, so he needs to be here for treatment for some more time. We are glad we have a good hospital with good care despite how much we don't want to be here. We are trying to stay positive and believe that this is just a temporary setback on the road to recovery.

Finally, a bro update: He has a grade III anaplastic astrocytoma. He didn't say so in the email, but based on the brief googling I did, it looks like a prognosis of about two years, especially since his is inoperable. He said that the chemo is a pill, and so far no side effects, but that they haven't been able to do the radiation yet, because he keeps having panic attacks when they try to fit him for the mask for the radiation. They're trying drugs for the panic attacks, but so far no luck.

Also, it looks like my sister-in-law's father is going to die any minute. The doctors didn't expect him to live past 1:00 p.m. yesterday, but he's still hanging on. (He has the same kind of--relatively rare!--cancer that my mom died of, but he has lived with it for much longer than she did.) So no wonder she has been freaking out so much. My brother said she hasn't slept in days.

I don't even know what to ask for, just thanks for keeping my family in your thoughts.

So much love to amyth and family.

Drew is having an ERCP tonight, which is a procedure they've been avoiding for a month because it has the potential to make the pancreatitis worse. It needs to happen and will most likely be a good thing, so make-it-better-not-worse vibes would be appreciated. He will be in here for awhile. We don't know until we see what happens tonight and over the next few days.

Good news! The ERCP was successful. All those MRIs and CT scans managed to miss the 7 mm gallstone that was lodged in Drew's common bile duct. It has been removed. He still has recovery ahead but should FINALLY start to truly heal. Thank you, Buffista vibes!

Now that ND's surgery has gone well, I guess it's my turn to ask for some Buffista vibes. My lumpectomy surgery is scheduled for 11:00 tomorrow--can I get some easy surgery and no lymph node involvement-ma?

Everything went well, and quickly, and now we are on the way home. No sentinel node involvement, which is what we wanted.

Yay Perkins!!!

Thanks for the job~ma - I got an offer!! Now to decide whether to take it.