Happy New Years!

Hello dear friends and family

I hope your 2020 is off to a wonderful start and that your holidays were fun. We had a nice break, and now it's back to our routines. The 4 of us spent a few days of Hanukkah and New Years Eve in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida with my in laws. Delicious latkes were had by all. We had a few warm and sunny days on each end of the trip. In the middle of the trip, we went mini golfing with my sister, Hillary and her family and got caught in a downpour. They drove to Miami for the holidays and then on their return trip back home, they visited with us for a few nights. We hit the beach a couple days and also spent most of the day at the pool on the warmer days. I was able to continue my physical therapy on the recumbent stationary bike in the fitness center there as well! While we were there, One of Dan's college friends, Adam, met us for breakfast with his kiddos.

Honestly, I think we were all happy to close the book on 2019, with the recurrence of my disease, and start a fresh new year, now that I'm feeling stronger and more energetic. Although 2019 did bring some bright spots, so I should acknowledge those: Alina starting college at Western Washington University, my recurrence stabilizing and not continuing to grow, my 50th birthday, and the completion of our beach house.

I'm happy to be able to share my Jan 7, 2020 MRI results. While my doctor found the images hard to compare with my Oct 2019 MRI, she was able to compare them to my Sept 2018 scans and determine that some enhancing areas remain the same while others have gotten smaller or less enhanced. However, there is more tumor mass in my brain overall since that time point. We're calling these scans a win-Mostly stable, no major growth in the last 3 months. Since my last update, I did complete 2 more cycles of chemo, bringing me to Cycle 11, which I will start as close to Feb 2, 2020 as possible. And about a week later, I will be returning to the Chicago area for a few weeks. Dan and Hillary will again be my personal Air Marshalls-love love love them for making my travel possible and for a million other things they do for me.

In not such great news, unfortunately I had a non convulsive seizure last week. I think I was a little bit dehydrated. A new joy in my life-I have to be very conscientious about staying hydrated, and I'm just not a water drinker. Sleep deprivation and alcohol can also cause seizures for me. So I have a 2020 New Years resolution: Drink at least 48 oz of water a day.

Last night, we met up with some friends for dinner downtown and a Howard Jones concert at Benaroya Hall-all acoustic, about half the music was from the 80s and half was new music. It was a really fun show!

After my Chicago trip, my brother in law, Mike will be coming into Seattle for about 6 weeks, which we're really looking forward to! During that time, Dan and I are going to a resort in Oahu for a week in early April.