Hi Therese,

I am so glad that your visit with your brother went fairly well. I hope he relents and lets your mom see him too, but at least the other siblings is progress. So many wasted years that you could have all been spending time together. It is great he has some named beneficiaries already. I am so sorry you are having to go through all this. Planning his funeral is so difficult, no doubt. And feeling so helpless to help him with his illness must be so excruciating. But a gift nevertheless to have him let you and your siblings into his life for at least some time.

I switched my care to Mayo rather than the local medical care system and feel good about it. My contact at Mayo got in touch with his classmate, the breast surgeon. She is picking up my file and will hold an appointment for me and also a surgery date, sooner than what I would normally be able to get. She has reviewed my file and has said this mass is a slow-growing type, thankfully, so I feel ok with waiting a minute. I am scheduled with some other doc for July 30, in the breast clinic.

I am back to work this week, but not much to do, so I am collecting more continuing education credits. I can usually knit while I listen to the materials, so I have been able to finish sleeve #1 on my sweater.

I plan to go kayaking tomorrow. That will be the first time I have been in/on the water this summer. It will be a nice break, as I have been pushing hard to get lots of yard work done. I even edged my entire driveway. It is about 300' long with a center island, so probably about 1000'. I don't think it has ever been done, (not in the 6 years I have been here!) so it was a major undertaking.

How's that brioche scarf coming along?

Take care of yourself!