Moms Are the Best

Moms are the best. This is an irrefutable fact, ranking right up there with other irrefutable facts like the world being round, humans being carbon-based life forms, and chocolate being one of the most delicious creations of all time,

My mom flew in on Tuesday so she could be here for my latest (and, ohpleaseohpleaseohplease, hopefully my last) round of tests to see if the uber-strong doses of progesterone have been able to get rid of the endometrial cancer — and having her here is both a) a huge help, and b) totally awesome. (To any moms or future moms out there reading this: if your kids ever need surgery or any big medical procedures, do whatever it takes to be there with them. It makes a world of difference!)

Anyways, I had an outpatient surgical procedure yesterday to retrieve endometrial tissue samples for the good folks in pathology to look at. Once they get all up close and personal with the tissue samples, they’ll be able to tell if the cancer cells are still there, if they’ve regressed into a pre-cancerous stage, or if  they’ve regressed all the way back to being normal, happy, benign little endometrial cells.

Obviously we’re all hoping for the latter, since the party-crashing cancer cells were definitely not welcome guests in my baby-making bits (or anywhere, for that matter). Given their killjoy ways, this was definitely not a case in which — to quote one of Alicia Silverstone’s many awesome monologues from Clueless — we could “get to the kitchen, rearrange some things, and party” with the rogue cells. It might not say RSVP on the Statue of Liberty, but my fingers are crossed that the progesterone has been acting like a big, burly, and ill-tempered bouncer who patrols my uterus to keep party-crashing cells from returning. Kinda like this guy, but with more ‘roid rage:

Anyways, mi madre is keeping me company while I recover from the surgery and wait for the pathology results. Right now, we’re planning ways to stay occupied while I convalesce — and the first thing on our list is to watch movies. Mom and I both love animated children’s movies, so the ol’ Netflix streaming queue will soon be filled with movies like Epic and The Croods. (I’ve been chomping at the bit to see The Croods for a looooong time. When I first saw a preview for it in the theater, I got all giddy — a phenomenon that Brandon kindly tolerates, as all these movies are meant for people 25 years younger than me.) Brandon’s and my Netflix recommendations list is going to look quite different once Mom and I are done with our movie binge…bwwwhahahahah!

I also have some art projects on deck, so forced convalescence is the perfect chance to finish them up and send them off. They’re both surprise gifts for two dear friends; I love sending “just because you’re awesome” cards or crafts to people (is there anything better than sending people little surprises to uplift them/make them happy? I think not), so I’m seriously excited to get these collages polished off and in the mail. There’s some benefit in it for me, too: I’ve found that doing creative, artsy things is seriously therapeutic and often helps me heal faster. Now that’s a win-win if I’ve ever heard of one.

Lastly, if I’m up to it, there might even be some retail therapy involved — I live within walking distance of a lot of shopping opportunities, so depending on how I feel, there might be some mother-daughter efforts to help boost consumer spending numbers. (Hey, it’s all in the name of national economic recovery. We’re doing our part to help the country crawl out of the recession! Shopping is patriotic!) After all, I’m in dire need of new facial moisturizer, and I’m totally not a fan of all the paraben- and phthalate-laden products available at CVS. Given all the insanity going on with my hormone levels, the last thing I need is increased exposure to endocrine disruptors. So, this cowgirl is on a mission to find effective, toxin-free facial moisturizer. Spill your secrets, Sephora.

For now, though, I’m remaining mostly horizontal-ish on our recliner. My in-need-of-redecorating temple mainly needs rest, so that’s my numero-uno objective for the day. It’s time to curl up with some books and a cup of tea, which — and I know this will come as a huge surprise, given my love of both reading and drinking tea — I’m pretty stoked about.

I hope everyone is having a lovely day so far!