"Normal" Vegans Sometimes Cry In Their Noodles

Today was a big step towards change...went on the vegan shopping trip, tried to get things Aspen loves: split peas, pita pockets for sandwiches, lots of peaches, tiny rice noodles, chocolate soy milk. She had a melt down yesterday afternoon because she thought she was going to have to have a vegan cake for her birthday party. All her friends love it, but she wants something "normal". It was the first time I heard her speak without hope, she said, "I want to have a normal cake because it might be my last birthday." I waited until Ken was up and around to have a meltdown myself. I think I just needed a good cry. We also got word that my great uncle has cancer and is dying. I could use a few dull moments in life right now.

I called the doctor yesterday afternoon to ask more questions. For some reason I didn't just have them all on the tip of my tongue while standing on the side of the highway with a flat tire, four children, roaring traffic and the shock of the news he was delivering. Hope I don't get the chance to work on that skill again! I would like to know to what degree her pancreas has atrophied, if it is consistent with anything he has seen before, if he is sharing her chart with colleagues at other hospitals/universities looking for answers and I will probably have more questions after I read the research from our family friend Mary who got right on the new development...thank you!! The nurse called today to say I won't hear from the doctor until Tuesday due to his schedule and the long weekend. That gives me time to get all my questions together...email questions if you've got them, you may have thought of something I haven't!

The girls are over at a friend's house playing and Ken is at work so after I finished grocery shopping I thought I would treat myself to a noodle bowl at a Vietnamese restaurant by the grocery store. God put a good friend in my path...literally! She walked out of a shop right onto the sidewalk in front of me and she just happened to be headed for Vietnamese by herself too! So I had a wonderful evening catching up, and didn't have to eat alone because I was a little worried about crying in my noodles in public.