Another busy day

I have to say the double dose of ativan really helped last night - I slept soundly and was free of surgical thoughts and dreams. We had breakfast, packed lunch and got Ellie to the bus. Nick and I hung out and played this morning until Mom came by to pick us up. We went to CVS and I struck gold on the clearance shelf - generic claritin (Nick's daily allergy med) for $2.12 a bottle (expiration in 2012) - I cleared the shelf. I also found metered saline doses - think neti pot in a single serve pack - great for sleep overs and vacations - also, cleared the shelf.
We went to my new favorite Whole Foods and sampled our way through the store and picked out lunch. We were able to find a table outside and ate al fresco - it was a gorgeous day. We headed back here and relaxed here until it was time to get Ellie off the bus. Ellie got off the bus and was absolutely delighted she got to visit with Ms. Doolas, the social worker at school this afternoon. I had a heads up because Ms. Doolas was nice enough to email me with a summary of what they had discussed. Ellie really likes her and I am so happy she feels comfortable enough to share intimate details of out lives with her - I know this will be very comforting while I am at the hospital. Ellie did her homework and had a snack before Rob got home and took them outside.
We had an awesome surprise and my girlfriend Christi and her girls stopped by - we had a great visit and Ellie got to play with her best bud and Nick got to play with his (very much missed) girlfriend. The summer went by so fast and it was so hot that we didn't get to play much after the kids pottery class ended in July. We had a wonderful time with some very good laughs - the best medicine. They headed home before dinner and I have Ellie and Nick their bath - they were dirty.
We had a lovely family dinner with Mom and Dad. Rob is upstairs doing bedtime - we are trying to break Nick into Rob putting him to bed - its been my job since he was born but he will need to adjust soon. It was a great day - I think Sally had the right idea with distraction being a good technique to deal with this stressful time. I am honestly more at peace with the whole next step today than I was yesterday. In thinking back to some of the things said to me during my 2 hour cry at the doctors visit yesterday - there are some very comforting things I didn't think about before and just thinking about things from a different side. I have completed a vigorous chemo/radiation treatment successfully. I have a tumor and lymph nodes that did not grow or move and have shrunk. In less than a month I will hopefully be cancer free (fingers crossed that the pathology comes back negative for cancer cells). I will control what I can control - which isn't everything but enough. Finally, I just might drink a mojito everyday - it might be my very own apple a day. Visualising my healthy body, Tree