A week of highs and lows

02 July 2017

I am beginning this post on Sunday, July 2^nd, with plans to add to it during the next ten days and post it sometime after July 10^th.

For the past couple of years, on and off, I have had some urinary tract problems. I first saw a urologist back in 2015 and she thought it was a urinary tract infection and prescribed antibiotics. It improved for a while, but since then the symptoms, including blood in my urine, have come and gone. Each time I would see the urologist, and at the time of my annual gynecologic exam, the bleeding had stopped so was not observed. Recently, having more routinely observed blood in my urine, I decided it was time to try to address it and returned to the urologist. At this point she suggested we do some further testing. Meanwhile, she prescribed a medication to help the symptoms. The medication, if anything, made the symptoms worse, and despite the busy summer ahead I felt I had to once and for all figure out what was going on.

Now, actually observing blood in my urine, she encouraged me to pursue a diagnosis but I still put it off a bit, hoping it could wait until all the grandchildren had come and gone. But the symptoms were relentless and I finally decided to go in and have the cystoscopy, all the while thinking that this would simply enable her to prescribe appropriate treatment.

I had suggested Barry just drop me off and wait in his office for me to call when I was done. But within seconds after inserting the scope she told me the shocking news that I have bladder cancer. No question. I had her call Barry and he came right over.

03 July 2017

We are trying to keep busy, so in a short while Eliana will be arriving for her week with us. We are hoping this will go well, but Simmie and Ronen recognize that we may need to call on them to take her home later this week rather than waiting for next Sunday.

We have tickets for a Yankees game tomorrow and for the Broadway show “School of Rock” on Wednesday, and I am hoping I can get through those.

Meanwhile, this morning we went over to the Botanical Gardens for a bit. We were there for under two hours and I had to use the restroom twice.

06 July 2017

It has been a busy few days with Eliana. All in all I think it was a good decision to keep our plans intact. If she were not with us I think I would just be glued to my bed. At the end of the day going out and trying to have fun must be the better option, despite the now almost constant physical discomfort and the need to plan bathroom visits.

“School of Rock” was awesome!

This morning we are going back into the City. Barry is going to take Eliana to see the third installment of the “Despicable Me” movies while I go for my pre-op physical. Then we plan to head over to the Museum of Natural History for the afternoon. Tomorrow we are heading over to a place called New Roc City, a video arcade extraordinaire that looks like it has Eliana’s name written all over it!

10 July 2017

The remainder of our week with Eliana went well. She loved New Roc City. She and Barry, with a little help from me, spent six hours on Shabbat afternoon building a huge Lego kit we had bought for her. On Sunday we met Simmie in Mystic and returned home.

My surgery was scheduled for 8 am this morning, and we were told to arrive by 6. I’m going to spare you all the details, but the main hitch was that after discussions with my pulmonologist it was decided that this needed to be done under local (spinal) anesthetic if at all possible. It was, thankfully, possible, but definitely not a day at the beach. The doctor believes they got it all, but final judgement is pending the full pathology report. So now I am home dealing with the mess, not to mention discomfort, of bladder surgery. They had to leave in a catheter which will hopefully be removed on Friday.

I plan to lay pretty low this week. At some point, I will hopefully feel up to filling in the rest about our week with Eliana.

Be well, all.

Love,

Rebecca

Blog post from Eliana!

Hi my name is Eliana (you probably know me) and I love Minecraft. Okay enough about MINECRAFT, let’s get on with the story…

It all started on July 5^th… I went to a BROADWAY show called “School of Rock” with my #awesome grandparents and I saw the show. The end.

Who am I kidding? ‘The end’? NO. NO. NO! Okay, moving on, here are my favorite things about the show-

My favorite character: Zack, he was really funny and good.

My favorite part: The songs

My favorite song: If only you would listen

My favorite scene: Everything!

Later on, I met some of the actors when they exited the theater. Here are some photos!! Chao for now Eliana (aka AwesomeMiner11 (Minecraft user) and Ellie)

Brandon Niederauer (Zack !!!)

Eric Petersen (Dewey)

Jenn Gamhatese (Rosalie)

Eliana  (no actor!)

The week so far in pictures

We are keeping very busy and having a blast with Eliana!

More details later, but here are some pictures that pretty much tell the story.

We are having fun – hope you all are too!

Love,

Rebecca

Just two words

Dina was out running errands and saw this sign in a store, and could not resist handing it to Julia and snapping a photo. I, of course, could not resist sharing it with all of you!

Love,

Rebecca

Did I hit a nerve?

My last post has generated more “pageviews” on this blog than any previous posts by orders of magnitude.

Guess I really hit a nerve on that one!

So, with exquisite timing, our granddaughter Eliana arrived yesterday and Barry and I are being grandparents this week!

Take that, all ye who do not appreciate grandparents!

Love,

Rebecca

Grandparents need not apply?

I have not written much about political matters over this past year or so. I realize that I have readers and friends with a wide range of viewpoints and have tried hard to respect their views and retain those friendships. But I knew I could no longer remain silent when I saw the headline in this morning’s New York Times:

Stepsister Yes, Grandma No: US Sets Guidelines for Revised Travel Ban

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/28/us/politics/homeland-security-prepares-to-issue-travel-restrictions.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share

The Supreme Court has ruled that any travel ban involving Muslim countries would not be enforced among foreign nationals who have a close familial relationship with a person in the United States. But what precisely does “close familiar relationship” mean?

According to a diplomatic cable obtained by The New York Times, “close family” is “defined as a parent (including parent­in­law), spouse, child, adult son or daughter, son­-in­-law, daughter-­in­law, sibling, whether whole or half. This includes step relationships.” But the document went on to state that “close family” does not include “grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, fiancés, and any other ‘extended’ family members.”

I recognize that grandparents may not be considered part of one's “immediate family.” But the idea that grandparents are not part of one's “close family” is beyond absurd. If the first rows at a wedding are reserved for “close family,” does that mean that the bride’s and groom’s grandparents are left to sit wherever they can find seats after they have walked down the aisle?

Under our previous President, Marian Robinson, the mother of the first lady, was often referred to as the “First Granny.” She moved into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue after President Obama’s 2006 inauguration along with her daughter and son-in-law, and played an active, albeit out of the spotlight, role in the children’s lives.

How can we go from that model to one in which we do not recognize grandparents as part of a close family?

Love,

Rebecca

A week in pictures

It has been a busy week and a half during which Barry travelled to Barcelona to attend a meeting. We had been in Barcelona together eight years ago but at this point the travel is simply too difficult for me. During the summer, when Sabbath does not end until after 9 pm on Saturday evening, the only way to be in Barcelona by Monday morning is to travel on the Thursday evening before. So Barry had a weekend on his own, and booked a hotel for his first couple of nights near many of the magnificent buildings designed by the late architect Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926). Quite a bit of progress has been made over those eight years in the completion of the La Sagrada Familia cathedral, the most famous of Gaudi’s works, which has been under construction since 1892 and is anticipated to be complete by the 100th anniversary of his death.  

Meanwhile, back on the home front, I spent the week in Sharon and kept busy with our grandchildren. As I was preparing this, I realized I had never written about or posted pictures of a lovely recent event in Ella’s class at Striar Hebrew Academy of Sharon (SHAS), the opening of a garden which was planted by the fourth and fifth grade classes and will continue throughout the summer and into future years, with produce to be donated to local food banks. 

Dina and Aaron hosted quite the party to celebrate Ella’s 11^th birthday last Sunday, and fortunately the weather fully cooperated. They barbequed hotdogs, served a yummy cake that Dina baked, made cotton candy (a friend owns a cotton candy machine), and roasted marshmallows. A terrific time was had by all.

Two days later was the Fifth Grade Graduation at SHAS. Here are a few pictures from that event. Because there were only eight students in Ella’s class, each was able to share their memories of their years at the school, which was quite touching and a wonderful opportunity for them to become accustomed to public speaking.

After Maya’s last day of school on Wednesday, Simmie and I took her over to Crescent Ridge Dairy, a local dairy farm that serves delicious home-made ice cream!

We found ourselves back at Crescent Ridge again the very next day, when Dina and I took all six children for an afternoon treat.

And just for a smile, here is a particularly cute look at Noah playing with my purse and shoes:

Barry returned from Barcelona late Thursday evening, and first thing Friday we headed back to New York because he had a review session this morning with the group of residents who are soon taking their board qualifying exams. We are looking forward to a bit of peace and quiet which will hopefully allow him to recover from the nasty cold he must have picked up on the flight.

Have a good week!

Love,

Rebecca