Holiday Merriment and More

Merriment...

Ginny has declared that she has had many happy Christmases, but 2016 was indeed the MERRIEST.
This pleases her wyf (that's me).

We began our celebrating December 16th with Gal Pal Jocelyn P with an overnight in Minneapolis and a night of theatre.  We saw Fun Home, an award winning play that is based on a graphic novel that is a favorite.  We LOVED it.  We ate wonderful food (oysters and other amazing bites) and chatted up a storm.  We continued to collaborate on Ginny's current writing project - The Book of Lurch and Pal Joce and I fed our shoe and boot addictions with a visit to the Fluevog store.  What wonderful start to the season with two of my lovelies.

On December 21st our beloved Sue arrived.  Susie and I have been friends for over 20 years and Gin has grown to love her deeply over our years together.  Susie is a Kiwi (New Zealander) who has lived in the states all the years I have known her.  She spent the Holidays with us two years ago and is very much part of our family.

Brother Dan arrived next.  With the foursome complete we entered into blissful days of GREAT food, lazy mornings and puzzling.

Gifting was thoughtful and meaningful.  There were a couple of highlight gifts.  A piece of Byron Johnson art that I commissioned for Gin and a "pill jar" presented to Ginny from Susie.  This extra large mason jar was filled with color-coded slips of paper (medicine for the soul).  Some are poems and others are quirky facts, thought provoking questions and 3rd grade jokes.

Over the days we broke bread with close friends who stopped in for meals or morning coffee breaks.  Lots of love...lots of sweet memory building.  The Baltimore Larsens sent crab cakes from Pappas (Christmas Eve) and I dug into my family traditions and made roast beef and Yorkshire pudding for Christmas dinner.  Susie and I enjoyed days in the kitchen together.

On Chirstmas Eve, trooper ginny suited up in her cuddle duds and winter gear and we headed out for fun in the snow with the Susie the California Kiwi.  Great fun and that Gin was a great sport.

Spoiler alert...

This is the moment in this writing that the tone will change. I don't want to "spoil" the warm gushiness that is a merry season report, but I know you want to know how she is doing.  Feel free to stop here and re-read the merriment again if you like.  I would go back and get another dose before I moved forward.  Not because what is coming is horrible (although not very merry) but because when I read the first half of this post I smile and so if you have the time, rewind for another smile or two before moving forward.


The other stuff...

I hate (that's right hate) that there is another side of our story.  Gin and I have agreed that each post must include the LIFE being lived in these days before we give the other stuff.  So continue to bask in thought of a MERRY GINNY while you continue to read.  She insists that you all know she is cheerful!  Oy...my wyf.

Ginny is continuing to struggle with pain management and an increasing "pressure".  Her tumor is in her lower region pressing on a section of her lower bowel.  She is unable to sit comfortably.  She has become very attached to her donut cushions.  We found a model that she loves and that provides relief.  We have been meeting with medical teams to work on the pain management but with the increase in pressure we have asked the oncology team to up her next ct scan as we believe the increase in symptoms and pressure may be an indication that the chemo treatment is not working as we hoped.  We will travel to Mayo Jan 13th where she will have her scan and we will meet with Oncology, Pain and Palliative teams.  At this time I am supposed to tell you, again, that she is cheerful.

There continue to be challenges with her "systems".  Her urinary and "waste" systems are both significantly impacted.  Gin has declared that her dignity remains intact but her modesty is long gone.  "My body is not my own."  The loss of these controls has been difficult BUT, as is Ginny's way, she is always the optimist.  Just yesterday she listed all of the cancers that would be worse to have. "We have got to keep looking at the bright-side Kir."  My heart aches...

There will be more to share in the coming days.  Stay tuned and KNOW that we are grateful for the love and support of our peeps.

Bright-side people...bright-side.

Kir

Another 30,000-Foot Post

An apology for the lapse in posts the past couple of weeks.  Much going on.

I am in the air...alone this time.  I am on my way to Winnipeg this morning.  I will meet my sister Erika and we will travel to Portage La Prairie, the place of my birth, to say goodbye to my mother’s sister.

On November 28^th we received word that my Aunt Gillian was diagnosed with cancer…late stage cancer.  Tumors were present in her liver, both ovaries and both in and out of her colon.  Efforts to address an obstruction in her bowel failed and a second surgery was too much for her to manage.  She died 13 days after diagnosis.  Monday the 19^th we will gather to remember, to celebrate and to say goodbye.

I have to say that this has been a difficult few weeks.  Gillian’s diagnosis and death has stirred many memories and feelings.  It has been almost 20s since my mother died, but in these past weeks, it has felt new and raw once again.  My mother was one of three girls.  My grandmother (94) lost my grandfather when my mother and her two younger sisters were little ones, raising them on her own.  My grandmother and Aunt Jocelyn remain.  Aunt Gillian has two children, Scott and Brianne.  Scott is married and he and his wife Laura welcomed Gillian’s first grandbaby only days after her passing.

I will be singing for my Aunt as I have done for all of those I have lost over the years.  There is a joy in being able to do this.  I am thankful that I have Randy Lindbloom genes and am able to share this with family and friends.

Aunt Gillian, Jayme, Aunt Jocelyn, Erika and Kir

On the Ginny front, we had a MARVELOUS weekend in Minneapolis.  We attended Fun Home (touring Broadway musical).  I loved it!  Gal Pal Jocelyn (yep there are two Jocelyns in my world.  Aunt Jocelyn and Pal Jocelyn) joined us for the evening – a gift.  We ate wonderful meals and spent time working on Ginny’s latest writing project.  Gal Pal Joce is co-authoring and her husband Byron, the artist, is illustrating.  I get to publish.  There is much joy in this project.  Saturday morning Pal Joce and I slipped out for some shopping – great fun.

This morning I dropped sweet Gin off at the shuttle and we parted ways.  She has been managing well, although her pain continues to increase and there have been several pump adjustments made in the past weeks.

Ginny describes her pain as pressure that grows from pressure to pain and then to agony.  Most days she can find relief with meds and standing or stretching out.  If asked, she says that she feels like she is sitting on a honey crisp apple (not sure why she selected honey crisp).  Gin believes that the apple is indeed growing as the pressure has increased and more meds are required to keep her comfortable.  She is not scheduled for a scan until January 24^th.  I will be inquiring on her behalf on Monday about moving the date up as symptoms are changing.

I return Tuesday evening with two school days left before Christmas break.  I am so looking forward to waking up Thursday morning, knowing that at the end of that day, there will be rest.

We will be home for the holidays.  Gin’s brother Dan and our dear friend Sue Blough will spend the season with us.  We are looking forward to their arrivals later this week. 

With all that is happening there is still a sweetness in this season for the Lindbloom-Larsens.  We are living each moment as we enter it.  We are focused on family and friends and we are loving each other with intention and tenderness.

Time feels short and in some moments that is overwhelming.  It is then that gratitude takes over, gratitude for love, for life, for the time we have had and for the days ahead.

Enjoy the season, love with intention and tenderness…

Gratefully

Kir

My iPod is spinning favorite carols this morning.  This one makes me weepy. Always been my favorite.  Oh Come All Ye Faithful 

Mayo Visit Update

We made our way to Rochester on Tuesday for two medical appointments.  The first with Palliative Care and the second with Oncology. Both of these were check-in appointments.  There were no tests/scans.

In our Palliative Care team visit we talked about pain management, quality of life challenges and end of life wishes.  Gin continues to struggle with her "evacuation systems" and the challenges faced in these past days have been met and conquered.  She is good humored, thank God.  I don't know that I would cope as graciously as she does. The discussion about end of life wishes made for hard conversation, but we are all in agreement and decisions have been documented.

The visit with Oncology folks went well.  Ginny believes the tumor is growing because the pressure she feels has increased but we need to wait another month before taking another scan.  We expect the scan will be set for mid-January.  The pain pump masks her pain but she still feels the pressure. STINK!

She is asking that I convey to you all that despite it all she is CHEERFUL :) and enjoying life.  I continue to be amazed.

Love fiercely peeps. Take nothing for granted.  Hold your kin close.

Love
Kir & Gin

A Thankful Kir

 Grateful…

We are 35,000 feet in the air on our way to Baltimore to spend Thanksgiving with the east coast Larsen clan.  Our flight was delayed hours and sweet gin is exhausted.  She fell asleep before take off and has not stirred.  Thank God for the pain pump.

There are so many things that I am thankful for and as I look at Gin sleeping soundly I am genuinely grateful for my life with her.

Ginny and I have been together for almost 10 years.  We met "officially" after a mutual friend suggested I reach out to her. I was looking for a confidant and some guidance.  She was happy to oblige. We became fast friends.  She became a wonderful support and I so enjoyed her company. Although neither one of us saw it coming, love happened. 

These past 10 years have been the greatest of my life.  The challenges faced and the victories won, the adventures sought and realized, the joy of love – for each other and those we love and living/loving each other in health and in sickness, all mark this incredible journey.

As we move forward in this next season of uncertainly, I am so honored to be hers, to wake at her side and to walk through these days, cherishing every moment together.  Our decision to not take anything for granted in these days is something I wish we ALL could do ALL of the time.  There is a sweetness and a joy in walking so intentionally. 

As the weather has changed I have moved my morning coffee from our patio to our bed.  That 30-minutes of time at the beginning of each day has become my favorite time of day.  There is a tenderness to morning coffee pillow talk.  There is security and comfort in that bed full of the Lindbloom-Larsen gals and pups, making for gentle and real conversations about living and dying, wishes and regrets, the future and the past.

Ginny has given me the world, figuratively and literally.  She has challenged me to be a better me, to be a better teacher, a better friend, a better sister and a better wife.  All of which she takes pride in and rightly so. 

So this Thanksgiving I am thankful for my wife…my creative, linguistically brilliant, animal loving, tender-hearted, justice-minded, story-telling, ass-kicking, quirky, hilarious Ginny. 

Grateful…

Kir

Tis the Season

It is Friday night and winter seems to have arrived.  We are settled in for the night and I decided not to wait until morning to fill you all in.

Tuesday afternoon I picked Ginny up from the hospital and brought her home.  The antibiotics have worked beautifully now that the systems are flowing.  She has her appetite back and seems to have more energy.  I am so grateful.

It seems her symptoms are being managed.  We return to Mayo November 29th for a day of appointments with Ginny's various care teams.  We will have an update after these appointments.

In the meantime, the yard is ready for winter.  Christmas decorations and lights are up.  We have increased our outdoor Christmas presence in the neighborhood this year.  It feels good to be ahead of the weather.

Wednesday next week we will fly to Baltimore to spend a few days with our east coast family (Ginny's side).  I LOVE this tradition...great people and fantastic food.  I am looking forward to the oyster shucking and slurping off the half shell - YUM!

We are so very thankful for you - our friends and family.  We are entering this season with hope, joy and a sense of peace.

Love
Kir & Gin