Do you know where the toothpaste is?

As a mother I field many questions during the course of an average day. Some very intelligent, some silly, some flat-out strange while others often come straight out of left field. I do my best to answer them all with detail, fact, and sometimes a little embellishment.

This morning started like normal, sleepy girls fumbling to get dressed, hair brushes working through tangled hair. What was different was the question that came next, “Mom, do you know where the toothpaste is?”. Nothing whitty came from my mouth. I stood looking at my eldest daughter who was at the top of the stairs looking back at myself. “No Megan, I would assume the toothpaste would be on the sink where it belongs.” Now, the girls share a bathroom which Frank and I do not use. No one else roams the halls.

“Well I don’t know where the toothpaste is because it is not there.” I have a second set of tooth cleaning items in the kitchen which we often use at night. I have had a basket there since they were babies. Now it is used when I want to check on the thoroughness of the cleanings or those events running out the door before school when we “forgot” to brush upstairs. Last night they brushed at the kitchen sink leaving an even wider gap in the search window.

At breakfast I listened to the girls wonder out loud what could have possibly happened. “I think maybe it fell on the floor, and maybe got kicked behind something”. “Maybe the tooth fairy took it when she came for Meg’s tooth the other night”. “Maybe a leprechaun came to the house early and he took it”. I found myself getting involved in the conversation, “when was the last time you saw the toothpaste?”

After getting the girls out the door to school I went up to the bathroom. It seems that the “kicked behind something” theory was a winner.

I guess you never know what’s around the corner. Thankfully, the great toothpaste mystery has been solved.

It’s the final countdown!

I got to once again spend the day with Madison’s Kindergarten class on Thursday for the Valentine’s ice creme party. We helped the kids each pass out their cards, played a rousing game of musical hearts and then they were sugared up on ice creme sundaes. What more could you possibly want at 6 years old?

Today the girls were off from school so we began to complete the final checklist for our trip. We went to the salon where they both got haircuts. Then we went to the mall for some clothes for Madison. Of course while we were there we could not pass up the opportunity to enjoy some jumbo pizza slices at the food court.

The weather is calling for some possible snow over night tonight but by the time we got home from the mall it was in the mid 50’s and sunny. The girls finally had an opportunity to try out the roller skates they received at Christmas. It was a nice day with my girls!

One more week before we are on a plane to Disney World! Yippie!!!! With each day the anticipation grows even more! I hope and pray for great weather and an even better time with my family!

Genetic testing

So to this day I have never been tested for the BRCA gene. My decision to have the bilateral prophylactic mastectomy was based solely on my own history. A mother who died of breast cancer and my own irregular pathology which put me at a 50-50 risk which was good enough for me.

The findings of lobular carcinoma in situ validated my decision to act quickly and aggressively. Once I was finished I did not put too much thought into BRCA genes. I was doing the follow ups needed and figured we would get the girls tested as they got older.

I have now come to realize that along with the facts that I knew, men in my family also have prostate cancer which is also associated with the BRCA mutations. So, does it matter at this point? For me personally probably not. I have already sprinted out ahead of breast cancer and will have yet another pelvic ultrasound in a few months to once again check my ovaries.

It does matter greatly for my beautiful girls. For me to be able to protect my girls, to be as proactive as possible with their health I need to have as much information as possible! I reached out to the genetic counselor I met with almost two years ago. Thankfully she replied pretty quickly to my e-mail and is pulling my file to check on the insurance. That was always the sticking point for the testing. This blood work cost well over $3,000 dollars which is just not in the budget. I will not rant too much about the insurance company since they were fantastic as the surgery bills came in. My out-of-pocket was minimal! It is the entire system that is broken. priorities are out of whack.

I will receive word probably in a few days and like everything else will go from there. Until I do hear back, all focus stays on the something really important…10 days until Disney!