A Technical Note + Many Thanks + A Few Shout-Outs

I don't have much time to write tonight. I have to be in bed soon if I'm hoping to get anywhere near a decent night's sleep tonight since I have to be up at around 4:30 to be at the hospital by 6:30 for my day of scans. GAH!!! I AM SO SO SO NOT A MORNING PERSON!!!! I said that already, didn't I :)?

First: I am a blog n00blar (as we say in WoW), so I didn't have the RSS buttons set up at all on my blog until today. Many apologies. Mea culpa and all that shit. I looked over all the gadgets available today and added those I thought would be useful (search, RSS, etc.); let me know if anything's missing that you'd like to see.

Second: I have many, many thanks to give to all of you for making me feel so loved. I have tried as much as possible to thank each of you personally, but I've probably missed a couple of emails or FB comments. If that is the case, please accept my apologies and know that I have read and greatly appreciated each and every one of your comments. I honestly only have so many hours in the day, and obviously most of my time during the week is taken up with work, and I'm working extra hours as much as I can to build up comp time. On the weekends and weeknights, I try to spend time with Kyle or just on my own doing something that doesn't involve thinking about cancer. Like watching "Entourage" and "Mad Men" as I did last night for about four hours :). And don't even THINK about talking to me about what is going on currently with those shows! I'm always a season or two behind because I watch them on Netflix. If you send me a spoiler, I will have to hunt you down :P.

Third: There are a few people I want to single out. First, my sweet, dear, crazy husband has never been more supportive. Anything I have asked, he has done. I told him that I just have too much on my mind to keep deciding what to have for dinner and doing the cooking. He said he would do it. This from someone who has never cooked much at all (OK, that was partly my fault; I'm so obsessive-compulsive about doing stuff a certain way that he would always get upset with my telling him what to do and how to do it). I have come home to dinner waiting for me several nights now: chicken in a lovely white wine sauce last week and cottage pie tonight. And they were both AWESOME! Thank you, Kyle -- and Joy of Cooking :).

My boss and friend Suzanne could also not have been more supportive. She has sat and listened to me, worked with me to figure out the leave time (using a combination of vacation time, comp time, and sick time -- we are also looking at the sick leave pool that the UT System has), told me that my job is safe, and best of all, made me laugh. That is a HUGE load off my mind. She also, get this, told me that if I have to have chemo, she will shave her head in solidarity with me, lol! I'm not sure if she was joking, but I kind of think not :).

Two of my high school classmates that I have reconnected with on Facebook, Frankie and Alesia, have told me that they want to help after my surgery (or if I have to have chemo) by hiring a maid team or meal service or something else I may need. They want to organize other long-distance friends to help as well. Wow. Just wow. I haven't seen these women in almost 30 years; I'm just blown away. I don't know whether I will need anything like this, but the thought that it's there if I do is such a relief.

One of my friends from work did the Komen 3-Day Walk last year and has been planning on doing it this year, too. Last year, she walked in honor of her aunt, who is a breast cancer survivor. This year, as soon as she heard my news, she emailed me and told me that she'd like to walk in my honor as well. That was yet another point at which I cried. Her name is Kathleen Marquez Houston, and she will be walking 60 miles over three days to raise money for breast cancer research. I will post the link to her fund-raising page as soon as she has it up. My friend Jamie in Rochester Hills had planned on doing the walk this year but injured her foot/ankle; she still raised over $4,000 for Komen.

My in-laws (particularly Carol and Paul) have been incredibly supportive, offering to come and stay at the drop of a hat, should we need them. Their outpouring of love and messages of encouragement are overwhelming.

Again, I can't thank you all enough for your well wishes, support, friendship, and love. Such sweetness to come out of such adversity. If I have forgotten anything or left anyone out, I blame it on the Xanax that I took a half-hour ago. I'll post tomorrow post-scans if I have the energy.