Preparing for the unexpected

I feel that this weekend with the fire situation and all really made me want to get prepared. I have always known it was improtant and the smart thing to do, but i never seem to get it all together. We have 72 hour kits and remnants of some emergency kits in our cars (Tristan just had a can of chili for dinner that has been in my trunk for 2 years. YUCK!). But when i was single i did not have to worry about the big stuff like food storage and a months supply. I could just eat my parents and if i were going be single and living with them another year i probably would have thrown myslelf into the natural disaster anyway (just kidding) so not much to worry about. When we got married i made 72 hour kits but we did not have enough room for food storage and now we should if i can just make everything fit into this house. I have been trying to research exactly what we would need, and even have signed up to do some dry canning and such, but then it is always when i am working. This weekend just made me see how i can't put it off anymore. Also, i have this cool binder thing i made at my sister's homemaking night and it is so organized and such for all your emergency needs. BUt i have to fill it in with all our records and information and of course it has been two months and I have not done it. Over thanksgiving break i will be searching for several items that i currently have no clue to their where abouts.

As for updates with the fire. We are ok and Heather and her family were able to go back this morning to their condo. School was cancelled for her daughter. Her bishop completley lost there home as did some others in there ward who lived in apartments that caught on fire. The park next to Hannah's (my niece) school is completley gone. But we are glad they are ok and were able to make it to my parents. Some women in Heather's ward who also have breast cancer (remind me not to move into that ward) spoke with their physician and he agreed to meet heather for a second opinion. So as of this week she has a new doctor and is on oral chemotherapy. No more weekly trips and ivs. She is sicker with this in some ways as her IV chemo never made her throw up. But she is hanging in there. I still wish we could have the big docs at USC or UCLA or city of hope check her out, but for now i am glad that we have changed up some things in the hopes of changing our outcome.

I need to post some pics, but i dont know how to get them from the camera to the computer. How sad is that. I thought i was good with computers until I married Tristan and realized i really only know how to write a paper or email. Promise some will be coming soon.

Help, we're on fire

Well, we have had quite the adventure this weekend. We woke up a little late on Saturday (9:30)and i immediately went to eat while Tristan got ready for his english proficiency test he has to take to graduate (that is a whole other blog about the inner workings of Cal State Fullerton, they just love to find things you have to do to graduate that you have to pay for. They love to take your money). So Tristan sees that traffic is bad and decides to leave at 10:00 even though he does not have his test til 11:30. A little bit later her calls me saying there is a huge fire right where we live and he is in a traffic jam just trying to get to the freeway. Turns out they would not even let him get on the freeway and he was very upset cause he needed to get to his test. They forced him to get on the 91 east so i suggested he get off at the next exit heading east and get back on going west there. He did not really want to as it was a complete parking lot going west but i assured him it would be worth it to sit for one exit and then he would have a free flowing freeway. This did happen, he sat for 30 minutes to get to the next exit, but then he started flying and called me to tell me as we were on the phone he starts yelling about how there is another fire and it is right by my sister's house.

I did not see any of my neighbors moving or evacuating, so i turned on the news and turns out the fire was on the other side of the freeway from us and we were safe as long as it did not jump the freeway. I was in the middle of cleaning and just continued to do so. I probably should have stopped and packed up my car in case i had to evacuate, but that would be to practical. If this house was going down, it was going down spotless. I called heather and she said only the rich homes on the hills had been evacuated, but that meant lots of people in her ward had to leave their homes. Right after i hung up the phone the news announced that anyone west of gypsum exit must evacuate. I called heather back up and told her and she said that everyone in her condo complex was running around like crazy so they all must have just heard. As heather was in her car with the kids trying to drive to my parents the national park on the left of her caught on fire and she had to drive in bumper to bumper traffic with huge flames just on her left. She just kept saying if you were seeing what i am seeing. Poor thing, i wanted to go help her but i had no way out of my area it was all closed off.

By the time Tristan finished his test, the fires were out of control and the freeway had been shut down. He had no way to get home. The fire jumeped the freeway at that time, but not in our area. I was nervous that it would and so i continued to clean on my hands and knees, washing walls, vacuuming the car etc. It kept me from thinking about it. I was worried about having to evacuate all by myself and not being allowed to go west toward any of my family. I would have to go east and got to some shelter all by myself. FREAKY! I finally rented a bunch of chick flicks Tristan would not want to watch and settled down for the night with hot chocolate. Around 11:00 they opened the freeway heading east only. YEAH Tristan got to come home. I have never been so happy to see him in my life.

Moral of story: Maybe i need a natural disaster once in a while to get me to clean the walls, mop boards, and other places i don't clean routinely. Oh yes, and i need to get my food storage in order, don't really have any cause we keep eating it.

Heartbroken

I don't know how else to describe the last couple of days as anything other than heartbreaking. My sister Heather had a repeat scan last week since she completed her chemotherapy. At the last scan just a few months ago the tumors in her lungs had shrunk by 70%, but she was having questionable spots on her liver. Appartently that was the point where her body was no longer responding to the chemo. I guess i should say the tumors were no longer responding. In just three months, despite having weekly chemo, the tumors have grown. This is the first time we have not had a good response from chemo in this whole battle for the last two years. THe tumors in her lungs are now bigger than they were when they found them in march of this year only two months after she was deemed in remission. In addition, the spot on her liver was indeed cancer, as it has grown in size also since her last scan.

So now what?????? Well, surprise we are heading for our third round of chemo in less than 2 years. Add that to a couple of months of radiation and a double masectomy and you have quite a busy two years. Heather will already undergo treatment starting next week. THey will be using two different chemo agents that are platnin based such as cysplatnin etc. (for any of you out there familiar with chemo drugs). I am spear heading the get a second opinion team and realize that i will probably have to call the insurance company my self and get it approved and then sleep outside UCLA or USC's cancer centers until they let her in. But i am ready to do it. I just want to make sure that this is the right treatment for her and that she is getting the best treatment she can get.

Unfortunatley I have been working the last two days and only got a few minutes with heather yesterday on my way home from work. She seemed to be holding it together when i got to her house so i did not want to discuss the issue and upset her. However my parents said it was a really hard blow for her as she was expecting it to be smaller and hoping it was gone. I love my sister dearly and it is so painful to see her like this, but mostly my heart is breaking for her two children that i love more than anything in this world. And it is breaking for Heather as i cannot imagine what it would be like to go through this while worrying about the future of your children. Thank you to everyone who has kept her in your prayers and has asked about her and shown your concern. I really apprecaite such wonderful friends. MUCH LOVE!

And Heather if you are reading this, I love you and won't give up until you are cured