Doing well

After a hectic week, the sound of my computer and Abe's snoring are the only noises in our house on this Sunday afternoon. Katie, Maya, and Abe are napping away.

First and foremost, I can report that Katie is doing well. Other than some neck muscle pain, which we think is due to an awkward position during surgery, Katie is making a steady recovery. No signs of the infection that complicated the last round. She checked out of the hospital on Thursday morning and has spent the last couple of days relaxing at our house with her parents.

Next, we'll have about three weeks for her body to recover until she begins the radioactive iodine treatment. A week from tomorrow we'll start a low-iodine (salt-free) diet so Katie's body will suck up the radioactive iodine and kill off any remaining cancer. More about that in later posts.

Continuing a theme of the blog, Maya's grandparents came through during the last week. Not only did Bob and Nancy buy groceries and help Katie get back to health, but they also watched Maya last night so we could get away for our wedding anniversary. Although Katie and I spent about as much time in the car getting there than we were actually awake in Kerrville, a night away allowed us to relax, celebrate, and reflect upon what has been an eventful third year of marriage. Here are a just a couple pics of the cabin, as well as Abe's hilarious interaction with the donkeys that live at the B&B.






Maya has been an absolute trooper during the last week--keeping our spirits high with infectious laughter AND continuing to be a champion sleeper. She was out almost 12 hours for grandma and grandpa during our time away.


Thanks again for all the love and support.

Thyroidectomy, Round 2

I just spoke to the doctor and Katie's second thyroidectomy was a success! She's waking up from the anaesthesia now. I'll send another update later today.

By the way, thanks for all the love and support. If I had a dollar for every one of our friends who said, "let me know if there is anything I can do," I'd have enough money to buy up all the toxic assets.

Maya's Mom Turned 30

We celebrated Katie (and Danny's) 30th birthday last weekend by decade. First, we started at a place that's cool if you're 10--Chuck E. Cheese.

Katie and Danny do the Chicken Dance with Chuck E.

Katie's best friends from high school--Sarah, Kristen, and Chelsea flew in for the surprise party.

Even Maya made an appearance (this is still HER blog) and gave Veronica a big hug.

Mo, Brec, and Josh took a break with Chuck. Brec won the Best-Dressed 5th Grader Award.

Danny swears that CEC has some of the best pizza in town.

We hopped on the party bus after video games and cake to head downtown to a bar that's cool if you're 20--Logan's.

Katie, Kristen, Sarah, Chelsea, and Aunt Cory (who drove down from Dallas) took a break from big beers.

Then to a party spot for 30 year-olds--The Belmont. Danny is in heaven.

We ended the night at Don's Depot, where the gray hairs boggie down.

Danny two-stepped with Susan in his short-alls.

Thanks to everyone who helped with the party, especially to Grandma Shu Shu, who watched Maya while we celebrated.

DC

Maya continued her travel adventures during the Labor Day weekend with a visit to Washington, DC and Virginia:

Jim and Ginny Turner (our friend Susan's parents) not only hosted us in McLean, VA for the weekend, but also babysat two infants so we could party down in Charlottesville. Here are Maya and Ginger stretching before the UVA football game. We love Ginger's mullet.

"Wah--hoo-wah!"

Larkin and Parker Collins (the nine-month-old son of Chelsea, Katie's best friend) immerse themselves in southern tailgate culture.

The pre-game festivities were a reunion of sorts for Katie and her friends from UVA--Chelsea, Katie, Jodie Slater, Susan, Mandy Doyle, and Tatman Savio.

A beautiful day for football. USC won, of course. Lucky for them the Longhorns opened at home in Austin.

After a LONG day of football, Aunt Allison "Bumsy" Schott cooked up some yummy pancakes in Alexandria.

Aunt Mandy snuggled with Maya.

So did Aunt Tatman.


Susan's dad, Jim, a former congressman, gave us a private tour of the Capitol. Here are two freshman members discussing legislation.

And arguing in favor of a bill.

President Tackett practices her State of the Union address.

We took a break from the tour to eat.

Visiting with a former member has its perks. This is a private look at the new Visitor's Center, which is almost complete underneath the Capitol.


Katie's former UT student, Loren Fowler, who just began her first year of Teach For America in DC., joined us for the tour.

With the National Symphony playing in the background, the weekend ended with a beautiful sunset on the Capitol Mall.

On an unrelated note, Maya started daycare last week. Here she is with the director of Stepping Stone--Ms. Judy.