Update

Okay, I've been chastised again for not posting in a while (this is for you, Greg!) so here's another update.

My last post left off with low white counts and a suspicious mole. I had a blood test the week after NIH and the WBC's were up slightly so the doc said they wouldn't worry since I typically had low white counts but if I had any fevers or anything weird like that to call them. It left me wondering about what I should do if I get the flu or something, but luckily that didn't happen this winter.

However, the mole turned out to be an atypical mole and I had it removed just in case. After I went in and had it biopsied, I got the call at work a couple of weeks later when the lab results came in. I answered the phone and their nurse asked, "Is this a good time to talk?" I've learned the hard way when they say that, nothing good can come of it. I laughed and steeled myself for bad news - which wasn't as bad as it could be. WHEW! The surgery went well and I left with stitches and a big band-aid full of gauze with strict instructions not to do water aerobics or volleyball that week in case I ripped the stitches. The following week I went back and had the stitches removed. Since I now have an allergy to latex, after a week of putting a big band-aid in the same spot my skin looked like it had been burned in a big square band-aid shape. I hadn't realized my allergy was that bad! After that episode, I have to report back to the dermatologist every year for a thorough check-up.

The week after I had the mole removed, Mike and I went to Key West for a long weekend before my next big proposal at work hit and before his schedule went wacky too. We stayed at an awesome hotel down on Duval/Front Street which was a close walk to everything. Even though it was a little chilly, we took a jet ski tour around the island (and paid for the windy weather with back aches from the rough water after we returned!). We also rented bikes one day and rode over to the southernmost point and took our picture at the marker, like good little tourists. We caught the sunset at Mallory Square a couple of times but decided to watch the sunset from our hotel balcony the last night because the view was just as good there. One of our volleyball friends and her family was in Key West at the same time, so we finally caught up with them at Irish Kevin's one night. Unfortunately for Mike, the singer was country. He suffered but I had a good time. Afterwards, we wandered over to the Hog's Breath and stumbled into an excellent concert by a band called 'Simplified'. They were awesome and we bought the CD and went back to see them the next night. They're from Charlotte and mainly play in that area, but they've been to DC a couple of times (apparently, they're friends with OAR who are from Rockville). If they ever come up here again, we are there.

I ran the Cherry Blossom at the beginning of April as part of my personal 3-year diagnosis day "cancerversary". I hadn't trained as well as I would've liked so I was slower than last year, but I finished. It was a little frustrating because I started at the front pack and got passed by a ton of people. Since then, I've joined a women's running group with the MoCo Road Runners' Club (MCRRC) and I'm training for the Run for Roses 5K in June. I'm running a little faster now, but I feel better about running. I'm also in the fastest running group, the Manolo Blahnik's (which totally cracks me up!) and we have a nice group of ladies. I think there are about 60 women in the whole group and about 15 in my group. When we do our Saturday runs, I feel sorry for anyone out on the trail who comes upon this 'herd' of women hogging the path. After the 5k in June, I plan to jump on over to the 8k program and do the Rockville Twilight run like I did last year. Maybe I'll do a 10k in the fall, but I'm toying with that idea.