I have been chastised for not posting this week.... I don't know that I have any cancer related news, but everything else is going well. School ended for the kids. Wed. was the last day for high school, and Fri. was the last for elementary. Matthew just finished his first year of high school and seems to have a nice group of friends he gets together with sometimes (and plays x-box online with all the time!) Em just finished 5th grade, her last year of elementary school.

She'll be starting at the middle school around the corner in the fall. Transportation will be easier -- but it's a big transition because no one from her elementary school will be going there, and the neighborhood friends she has are there already -- so they won't be in her class. As if there weren't enough changes going on in her life -- but she chose to leave the bilingual school system, where most or at least many of her schoolmates will be going. She and I are planning to work on Spanish at home.... wish me luck with that!

The other thing going on is that nothing is going on. For the summer. I didn't sign the kids up for anything. It's a bit of a story but basically she went back and forth with a friend about what to do and didn't come to a conclusion before my diagnosis, and after that it took a back seat..... and now it's summer. Good thing Mom is here -- for half of it, anyway!

I did find out something yesterday that worried me actually. Anecortave acetate, the eye medicine that is supposed to be the plan in case my pressures go up with the decadron I'll be using with taxol starting in mid July, is not a sure thing. I mean, it's sure that it will work (if I get started using it in time), and it's safe, at least for my left eye. (It might mess up the surgery in my right eye, but the surgery in my right eye makes it less likely that it will be needed.) However, i just found out that my doctor will have to get approval from both the company and the FDA for this because it's not what it was studied for, and would be considered a "compassionate use." Though it seems to be a no brainer that this is totally necessary and important, I hear that it might not be approved for use for someone with breast cancer.

So what the hell do I do if it isn't? I need to get in touch with my eye doctor on Monday and make sure he is applying for approval now, and that he makes a nice convincing case -- which frankly I think it is! However, if there is a chance it might not be approved I need to have a plan B, so I need to ask him what else he can think of. Though decadron increases eye pressure in only 30% of people (higher risk for people with glaucoma) statistics will be small comfort if I start losing my vision.