Writing in the bolg when I'm feeling rested and well is a good idea in general. On the other hand letting people know I don't always feel that way has its merit as well. The last week has been a challenging one with more symptoms and side effects. By about 3:30 each afternoon I've felt fatigued. The flushing episodes have been a bit more frequent and my blood sugar has dipped down in numbers enough to cause some hypoglycemic episodes. I've been trying to stay hydrated in the face of 3-4 days of diarrhea. What changed to cause this increase in symptoms you might ask. Well certainly my diet has not been as steller as it was the 3 weeks preceding this week. I'm sure that has had an affect. However, I am trying not to lose weight and the TQI diet was doing a great job of helping me to lose weight. I'm back to maintaining the 140 lb's where I've been since August. I actually think stress and hours worked might be the biggest factor in not feeling well. I'm finding it very difficult to manage exercise, meditation, eating all organic, fresh foods that need preparation, work (40 hours), household chores, yard work and just all life activities. I'm sure lots of suggestions and questions might come to mind; have I tried this and thought about that.  I'm changing and altering and working on things all the time and it is a delicate balance. It will all work out. :-)

Peter and I will leave tomorrow for Portland. I met a wonderful woman who is in a support group I'm going to start going to. She has had NET/Carciniod tumors for 14 years. We're going to meet with her Sat in Federal Way on our way to Portland. She has the same doctor with GH and is on SAA LAR 30 (Octreotide) every 28 day injections just like me. She has visited the top NET specialist in Germany. She let me know the German specialist, Dr. Richard Baum, will be speaking at a conference in Vancouver BC June 9th. I have registered for the session and will attend. My first Support Group Meeting will be June 22 in Tukwila. After the Monday 6/3 appointment with Pommier in Portland at 9 we'll be coming straight back to Seattle where I have a meeting at 5 in W. Seattle.

My helper, a nurse at GH named Catie, from Dr. Feldman's office let know she had finally been able to acquire the notes from Dr. Woltering in NOLA. She put a copy in the mail to me but I have yet to receive it. Catie is great to work with. I was hoping to have the notes to take to Portland. Either way I should get them soon and fax or email them to Pommier. After I meet with Pommier I'll be putting together all the information and deciding whether I think surgery is still the best option. There are at least 4 different ways I could go and Dr.'s that support the different alternatives. Since there isn't a lot of data on these treatment options (because this is so rare) decisions for patients are more complicated. With breast cancer and some other more common types I think it is easier to determine what path you should take forward. I might be wrong about that but at least there have been clinical trials and large studies.

This Wednesday I get to spend my moms birthday with her and we're going through old family slides to organize them into books for different family members. We really love looking at the old pictures. There are a lot of cute ones of my sister and I when we were little that I've never seen before. It is fun to see my mom, grandma and grandpa's, my brother and Auntie over the years. My mom and dad will then spend the night and take me to the biopsy appointments at 7 the next morning. Both the thyroid and bone biopsy will be done Thursday and we'll return home in the late afternoon. I'll be put in deep sedation for the bone biopsy only local for the thyroid.

Last but not least my son and daughter in law Lindsey are only 2 weeks away from the due date of their new baby. My daughter and son in law found out this week she will be having a girl in October. I hope to spend time with my wonderful grandson Kimani in the weeks to come. Last Saturday he helped Peter and I plant a new weeping cherry tree in our yard. He was a big help with his shovel and watering can! :-) He is such a special boy and I just adore him.

As always thank you for caring about me and being interested in how I'm doing.