Picking up where we left our heroine in the last episode, Dea has made it home safely from California, she set a new bar for glamour on the way, she outran the Coronavirus in all those airports, and the superhero suit that gave her flight has been dutifully burned and deleted. After many big efforts by the whole Perry clan, and one small fire, the band is back together, at home, for summer in the Pacific Northwest. I would ordinarily insert photographic evidence right about here, to authenticate such an observation, but it turns out to be really hard to find them all in one place at one time. Peter is working overtime to keep the business going in a season full of challenges. Ricky is finishing up the final quarter of his senior year (from home), and holding down a job all the while (also from home). Dea is working to support the boys and stoke the Aurora Florialis as energy permits, but she’s also busy working to figure out how much energy actually permits.
As she was getting ready to leave Santa Barbara, Dea learned that she’s got eight new tumors in her spine, and those buggers are making ordinary activity a pain in the neck. And back, actually. Then, on Monday, she learned that she’s got yet another handful of newer tumors in some other bones. As she settles in with a great new team at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, she is getting ready to do some new testing to assess other promising long-term treatment possibilities. In the meantime, they’re also switching treatments right away, and looking forward to the prospect of this summer’s new meds being tougher on tumors, and gentler on the rest of her. Amen.
Dea is in good spirits and she’s leaning in to her new round of adjusted treatments. Her docs are encouraging her to keep moving, she’s giving that everything she’s got, and the trusty bones seem to provide best support for that mission in the mornings. But they seem to rebel a little as the day goes on, and so we’re putting out a call to get the old meal train band back together, as well.
There’s been a groundswell of support and encouragement to help out, so we’ve resurrected the old meal sign-up list, which is here.
Might you be willing to put together a meal or two for the 3 Perrys this year? Rumor has it that our patient’s summer diet is simple, and that’s all spelled out on the sign-up page. What’s more, Dea is encouraging cooker-friends to call or text on your meal day – to say hello and assess the possibility of coordinating a 1-1 socially-distanced hello when you stop by. If the kitchen muses are with you this year, and you’re willing to share a meal with the Perrys, you can sign up here.