Hi all,

It's that time of year again. Sonic is running a contest to fund Donors Choose projects. If you could, would you please vote for my project (copies of Darin Strauss's book Half a Life). Also, please reshare far and wide. [link] If you vote 10 times then you'll get extra bonus codes, and I have a feeling this may take me a while, but please vote!

If you wanted to donate, that would be great too!

Hey gang, any speedy recovery~ma you can spare for my best friend would be greatly appreciated. He found out last night that what he thought was a kidney stone was in fact an intestinal rupture, and is now in the hospital hopefully avoiding major surgery.

Recovery~ma for your friend, Matt.

DH goes in tomorrow morning at 7 am EST for a sentinel lymph node biopsy as well as excision of the cancerous area on his back. It's going to be a long day--for everyone--and we should be able to take him home around 6ish tomorrow evening. I'll update as I can.

Thank you so much for the good thoughts, ~ma, and prayers. I couldn't even pretend to get through this without this community.

Dh is still in surgery. We'll know more in an hour or so.

Starting hour 4. Was only supposed to take 3. Slightly worried even though OR nurse said no complications thus far.

It may have turned out that things in DH are sitting in unexpected places. Anatomy texts are indications of averages, not always reality. Or he has unexpected extra bits. Hubby has more bones than most humans. Backup systems, I think.

I heard from MFNLaw. She and DH are headed to the in-laws' for the weekend. DH is fine, responding well, if a little groggy. The surgery took longer because they had a hard time getting to the lymph nodes. No complications. They took some tissue to biopsy and the results should be back in a week and a few days.

And it just keeps coming. The restaurant is going to flood and we're going to lose a lot of food and equipment. The river is supposed to crest at 28.5 feet which means substantial water in the main level. The parents just landed from Italy. My sister just told them. I hope my father survives this. Still haven't told him about DH. I don't know how we're going to recover from this.

I am going pink for the weekend. you might see apost from me on FB f I can keep the phone charged.

and i will be sending the ma out to those that need it , even if I am not reading the board.

It's spread to the lymph nodes. He has Stage III melanoma. Next step is a full body scan to determine if it's spread to other organs, and another surgery to completely remove the lymphatic system associated with the cancerous area on his back.

I'm done. I cannot deal with any more. I have no idea how to cope. I am at break point.