I know I haven't written in quite a while. A lot has happened...well not that much...okay maybe a lot.
I guess I will just list things off and elaborate where I feel it is necessary.
-I started my last semester of graduate school.
-I got the professor that I really wanted for Degree Project and I sit by my bestest buddy Jordan...so studio life is good.
-I am also taking a great class known as SLAM CO (Saint Louis Art Museum Construction Observation). I get to wear a hard hat, neon yellow vest, protective eye wear and scary butch/lesbian hard-soled shoes. It is such a great class!
-I had a professor ask me to write him a letter of recommendation for an award he was nominated for. I felt very honored to be asked to do that. I spent a good amount of time trying to write something that would do him justice.
-I got called to be a Relief Society teacher...seriously! I have only taught three times and they are progressively getting better. For my second lesson I put a picture of Megan Fox and Hugh Heffner up on the board...I am like no other teacher they've had before! ;)
-And the big one...my dad has had prostate cancer.
Over the last few years his Gleason score has remained relatively low (~6). This spring he went in for a biopsy and cancer cells were found. Surgery was scheduled for August to remove the prostate. He had a pre-op MRI and the doctors saw what they thought might be a metastasis on his hip. So that freaked everyone out for a good week. (I had even made the decision that if that was the case that I would leave school to spend time with my family.) The area on his hip ended up being a shadow from a previous injury and not a tumor because nothing showed up on the x-rays. After a lot of self-diagnosing and pessimistic/worse case scenarios he felt that he needed to just trust his doctors and that things would be alright.
So my dad ended up having his prostate out at Huntsman Cancer Institute (which is bizarre because I had used the HCI as a precedent for my Degree Project.) The surgeon was confident that the tumor/cancer was encapsulated and that they had gotten clear margins. Pretty much best case scenario all around. I have no doubt that Heavenly Father definitely heard and answered our prayers.
I called him twice a day to check up on him. We even skyped a couple of times while he was doped up and he was hilarious as usual. He was as happy as a clam because he was getting to eat salmon and drink fruit smoothies. So he was in the hospital for 5 days I think...then he went home with his "pee-bag."
The next few days were really rough for him, he wasn't feeling well both physically and emotionally. He went in for the post-op appointment, got the catheter out, and the pathology report back. The tumor was encapsulated and the margins were clear!
Over the next couple days his pain progressively got worse instead of better (7-9 on a scale from 1-10.) I thought he was just being a wuss or had just not been keeping up on his medicine, like he tends to do. Well the pain got so bad that Dina took him to the emergency room Saturday morning. A CT scan revealed he had two large abscesses where his prostate was removed. I felt like a royal jerk for not believing him. He was readmitted to the Huntsman. The doctors opted not to drain the abscesses and treat it intravenously with antibiotics. After four days of salmon and sleeping the abscesses had only reduced in size 20%, not ideal but going in the right direction.
It's been about a week since he was released from the hospital for a second time with another pee-bag. He had another follow-up appointment with yet another CT scan. The abscesses were a lot smaller and his doctor said he was confident that the abscesses were just fluid filled and that there was no need to go in and drain them. So my dad is supposed to finish the antibiotics and continue to rest and heal. Next week the doctor said they would remove the catheter because he wants to make sure that the bladder continues to drain and that there are no other issues.
As soon as my dad was well enough to sit at a computer he has been "researching" and reading crap on the internet. So every time I talk to him he is going on about how he could have the really bad kind of cancer and that his doctors don't know what they're talking about. That's when I have to gently bring him back to reality and tell him that his doctors really do know more about his condition and new treatments than the obscure quacks on the internet. He usually says "Yeah, you're probably right." I respond by saying "Not probably Dad, I am right. Now turn off the computer and go upstairs and spend time with the family." Most of the time he obeys. :)
That's what's been going on with my dad. I know that wasn't the most eloquent writing but you get the idea.
-This last weekend a friend that I met through school got married. So about week before the wedding I had kind of forgotten about it and I didn't have a date, oops. That next Sunday I taught Relief Society so I was busy preparing the whole weekend and hadn't put much thought into a date. Well, as I was leaving church after my lesson I just so happened to glance backwards and see a guy that I have only talked to a few times and have gotten along with. I had a small yet distinct thought that I should ask him. That just kind of stayed with me for the next several days. So I did.
He was really nice on the phone and said that he would be more than happy to go. Score! It's always a good sign when you're not rejected right off the bat.
I had a great time and was actually very impressed by him. It was so nice to be able to interact with somebody that is confident, polite, intelligent, with a sense of humor.
Something I was just thinking about...During dinner he had brought up what he "needed" in a partner which kind of took me off guard. I then quickly responded something like I don't know what I want or need (which is totally not true.) I think I was just thrown off because I don't usually talk about that kind of stuff or share it openly. I am a cornball/nut-job that will be completely honest with anyone but I am very reserved and private about some things. I need somebody with a strong personality that is able to take control of situations if needed, someone who is confident and sure of themselves, someone who can accept my strong personality and all my craziness and still think I'm wonderful. Anyhoo...I really hope no one else besides the three friends that I know of on here are reading this.
If nothing else, I have been given hope in this dreary singles existence just to know that there are guys like that in the world.
It's time to end this post.
I really should revamp this blog. It's very boring does not accurately reflect my "style." Maybe when I am procrastinating some night in studio I will give it a whirl.
Ohhh I also webbed my desk at school! I will take a picture and put it on here. In the mean time check out how awesome these things are... http://www.selkbagusa.com/ I totally want one so I can look like Gumby when I go camping.
BB.
-cassie
