Now this is a story all about how
My life got flipped turned upside down
And I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there
I'll tell you how Yari became the queen of her chemo chair

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this will serve as an end of year review, almost a holiday message to friends and family. i say almost, because this message will have swears and not really focus on holidays. yes, they are necessary. if you dont want to read them, move along.

2017 sucked. plain and simple. this has been one of the shittiest, fucking years weve been through. i look forward to when it is nothing more than a distant memory.

in january of this year, we decided to try and drop some weight and started a keto lifestyle (basically just low carb, high fat/protein) and it was working great... for me. yari struggled. she was frustrated and had a cheat day. in february, after having a grilled cheese sandwich, she didnt feel right. we blamed that sandwich for weeks! she was feeling bloated and nothing helped. we thought maybe it was gas, constipation, anxiety, etc. the doctor listened and tried to help, but nothing worked. eventually she was sent for an xray in april. they found fluid a mass on her ovary. google that and nothing good comes up. she was scheduled for more tests but we ended up in the ER. they couldnt do anything other than a CT scan which... showed a mass and fluid in her abdomen. guess what they wanted to know? how much alcohol does she drink? she must have cirrhosis of the liver, afterall. they gave her pain meds and sent her away. we ended up back at the ER days later. they ended up draining about 8 liters of fluid from her abdomen, and there was more. hallelujah, finally some relief! the obgyn wanted to schedule for surgery at mad river but after confirming with his colleagues, they sent her to the bay area. mermaid prom dresses 2019

may 9th everything change. remember the book "the giver?" this was the opposite of that. yaris surgeon could have been dubbed "the taker." instead of giving life color, she took it away. and all it took was saying the magic words. "shes ok, but it was cancer."

fuck.

there it went. the color was gone from the world.

but she was alive and that was enough. she might be missing some parts and she may have to shit in a bag, but she was still alive. all of the fluid had reaccumulated in 3 weeks and was drained before switching to blood collection. instead of a laproscopic surgery, she was split open from above the belly button to the pubic bone. stapled and stitched back together. she was alive! and good thing too, because she has a lot left on her to do list.

next up started chemo in june. this continued until october. you might not have noticed, but she lost a little bit of her hair, but never her smile, grace or sense of humor. she persevered and continued to create while she could. quilts, pillow cases, a wedding dress, bridesmaids dresses, halloween costumes, etc. we had birthdays, our anniversary, road trips, and laughter. the kids spent a lot of time with yaris parents, who helped out often and without question. theres the good stuff.

we had long nights, days of exhaustion, mishaps and frustration. we had to explain to the kids that we were putting our dog chuckie down because he had cancer.

hows that for a kick in the nuts? kids lose their dog to cancer while their mom is being treated for cancer. but no matter how tough the situation, no matter how shitty (literally) the day was, yari soldiered on. and so did the kids. it was no easy feat, but they sure made it seem that way. i think its fair to say that she was an inspiration and, as one nurse told her, a breathe of fresh air. the physical and emotional strength shown has been nothing short of amazing.

we had a fairly uneventful november. just doctor visits and rest for the most part as we tried to schedule the next phase of treatment. we started december off with a fun evening watching the truckers parade and enjoyed making a small batch of tamales to share with the in-laws and jens crew of visitors.

we didnt make a big deal about it, but yari had surgery again on tuesday last week. you probably couldnt tell if you saw her today though. shes already back to captaining her sewing machine, putting together a quilt for another cancer patient. theres no more concern of having a blow out from her bag as they reversed her colostomy. lifes almost back to normal. theres only a couple weeks left in 2017 and im not sorry to see it go.

its been an emotional, fucked up year. we are grateful for the family and friends that made the effort to support us. we really appreciate everything people did; from giving us food to simple txt messages, they had a positive impact.

special thanks to the following people for keeping my high school sweetheart alive:

the countless nurses who were there every step of the way

dr kent

dr puttler

dr raymer

the er doctors

dr ohanlan

dr oholleran

the anesthesiologists

dr richa

dr green

dr rydz

dr barker

thank you to all of my coworkers and supervisors that donated leave time and cash to help me spend time with yari as needed and to help with some of the medical bills. cancer isnt cheap and we'll be paying for it for quite a while. there are many, many others i can thank, but wont, just know theyre appreciated as well.

and special thanks to Stephanie for being there for the only time yari ever overdid it and got sick. youre amazing and im so happy you guys are such good friends.

the road isnt over, but thats where we are. to recap, this year has been terrible. and rosies picture sums it up our attitude towards it perfectly.

we wish you all a merry christmas and a totally unfucked new year!