Here's what we've been doing

There is quite a bit to catch you up on so I'll jump right in:

Since our last post we've had some visitors starting with Kira and Matt. Kira is Darla's daughter and David has known her since she was a wee one. She and her friend Matt were in the process of hitchhiking from Portland, OR to New York City for the Occupy Wall Street protest. They stopped here for a hot shower, a good night's sleep and a big Bomber breakfast before thumbing it the rest of the way. They are still there, still protesting nad probably getting snowed on as I type this. Check out their blog (although I think they update less frequently the even we do!) Go, Kira and Matt!!!

Then my parents were here for a few days. Mom made us 2 apple pies and some stuffed shells for dinner. The took their usual trip to Ikea and we played about a million games of cribbage. It had been a year since they were here last so it was great to see them and spend time together.

The following weekend was the Purple Stride walk at the Detroit zoo. It was really something to see: there were thousands of people there walking and cheering. The event raised over $175,000 and Team Martini raised over $2,000 of that! David actually walked the entire 5k which made the day even more special. Plus, animals! Detroit has a really impressive zoo. In addition to usual assortment, they had peacocks wandering about freely and a pair of very frisky aardvarks. Here is Team Martini (with the exception of Liz who took the picture. Thanks, Liz!)

We are all sporting another Matt Sturm original t-shirt. Awesome!

In the few weeks since the zoo walk David has been feeling poorly: more and more tired, no appetite, another allergic reaction to the latest chemo drug, a birthday spent sleeping and feeling crappy. Then, early Thursday morning I took him to the ER with abdominal pain that no amount of drugs could touch. It took them some time to get his pain under control. Meanwhile, they did x-rays and an ultrasound and were initially afraid that he had a bowel obstruction. A CT scan on Thursday night showed no obstruction but he was severly constipated. He is still in the hospital and has had some improvement but not enough to come home. He just needs to poop, really. That's all. One good poop. there have been rumblings and considering the variety and amount of things they've been administering it shouldn't be much longer. Sorry for all the poop talk but if you have kids or dogs or saw Bridesmaids I'm sure this doesn't bother you.

He's feeling some better, his pain is under control and he has a private room so it could be worse. His mom, dad and sister Danielle are here and while they're not having quite the visit they were expecting, they are glad to be here for him. They've also been a big help with the dogs while I've been otherwise occupied.

So, that's what new with us. Sorry if I burried the lead by putting the big news at the end but I wanted to share some of the good stuff too. There's always good stuff. Thanks for reading. More soon.