Greetings friends and family - 

It's sure been a time for many of us lately. The world, no matter what little corner we inhabit, certainly feels overwhelming at times. 

Our story picks up as we have watched Aaron's mobility decrease as of late. We certainly have been guessing and experimenting but mostly, we've been watching Aaron closely. And sure enough it's been quite consistently getting worse for Aaron, even though he will never complain. He struggles to walk, move, get in and out of vehicles, walk ... it's rough ya'll. 

We had an appointment with his surgeon on Monday. In effort to support him, I was there but needed to leave for the airport for a work trip that required me to miss this appointment. From what Aaron has been able to deduce, Dr Cheng, the hip surgeon, thinks his cancer might be spreading around his hip area. And he thinks Aaron's muscles are suffering from some sort of radiation-associated fibromyalgia. Basically this means his muscles around his hip are turning into beef jerky level rigidity;  and to top that, there is nothing we can do. Also it may get even worse over the next 1.5 yrs as a result of the radiation. 

Today we heard back from a second opinion at Mayo and they agree with Aaron's personal belief which is the that he doesn't see cancer growing at the site the surgeon thought . But also the radiologist acknowledges the shared frustration that things are hard to see. So we have another scan -CT with contrast- next month with an appt after. All three drs (hip surgeon, radiologist, and local oncologist) will take a look at it. Also Dr Cheng, the hip surgeon, wants to see us in 6 months not 1 yr light last time. 

Hmmmm sounds a lot like life being fully lived and tested to me. Most of us are unfamiliar or not fixated on that aspect of life that is death and dying. But our family is doing our best to maintain a balance between living and dying. We are actively engaged with this dance daily - and we thank Nora for the mental resilience training of seeking the positive choices - where is the good? Where is the love? Where is the sorrow and what can we do to help? 

That is all this is - balancing our lived reality with our expectations. 

What do we have to enjoy in the meantime?!?! Each other! Our brilliant kids, have you met them? They likely don't get good grades all the time, but they just might blow your mind with their intention and their interests and their unique empathy and skill sets. We are so in love with each other as a family, it's kind of simplistic for today's society, but we know how amazing it all is to just exist together and we really don't care about the outside world much.   

We wish for and hope for that others find their own versions of peace and contentment. 

Thank you and blessings, 

Molly and Family