Its been over a month since ive blogged. The summer has been so busy and gone so fast.  I have to start this post off on a negative note. Most of my Cleveland friends have already heard that there was an armed robbery at a beloved Cleveland heights restaurant. During this senseless act of violence the owner was shot and killed. My little sister worked at the colony for years and considers her co-workers a second family. This tragedy has affected her tremendously and my heart breaks for all involved. When I first heard of the shooting my initial reaction was sadness. Sadness for his family, the community, the restaurant, the employees, but I also felt sad for humanity in general. I cannot begin to fathom how a human could take another humans life for something as trivial as money. I also felt sad that I couldn’t find the words to explain to my 19 year old sister why people like this exist and commit such heartless crimes. As the days went on and the cowards were arrested my sadness turned to a burning rage. This happened minutes from where I grew up in a place that I went with my family countless times. These “boys” decided that on a Monday afternoon they were going to bite the very hand that fed them. I say that because one of those involved was no other than a colony employee who was given nothing but chances from the very man who was shot and killed. I know stuff like this happens everyday all across America but for many reasons I felt very emotionally connected to this incident. My faith in humanity was restored when a gofundme account was created by a member of the community to support the employees who no longer had income because of this crime. In less than 24 hours some $30,000+ was raised, with much more to come. I encourage all who haven’t seen it to check it out and donate whatever possible, every little bit helps and I can vouch that these employees are the real deal. This makes me so proud of the community that I came from and will always call home no matter where my current address is. I cant wait until the doors of the colony re open.

I have found a recent perspective in my life in the past year. I really feel like I grew up a lot and learned not to sweat the small things. Those who know me know that I am a super high stressed person who often lets the small things bother her. With recent events in the last year I have to just look at the big picture and realize that despite all my problems, they are only touching the surface of what others go through.

June was an amazing month for me and it flew by in a flash. We celebrated my birthday by going to see Wicked on broadway, something ive wanted to do for the last 10 years. I also got an unexpected birthday present when the Rangers made the Stanley cup finals! We spent many a nights screaming at the TV watching the underdog rangers get there. I was fortunate enough to get to take a trip out west to visit my cousins and my aunt. I absolutely adore my California family and despite the fact that we only get to see each other every 5 years or so, the second I got there it felt like I never left. My cousin Bijan and his wife Panoo have the most adorable daughter Portia who I could have packed in my suitcase and stolen she was so cute. The trip was a much needed relaxation period away from the stress that the city brings. Its such a different way of life out there . I spent my days going to vineyards, feeding new born cows, playing with baby goats, enjoying nature and the company of my family. I wish River could have been there to experience this trip with me but were definitely going to plan a trip out there next year.

Medically speaking this summer had been pretty rough, but ive done everything I can to not let it bring me down. Unfortunately, I did not respond to the cimzia that we started in the beginning of May. This was essentially the last drug in this class of drugs and with its failure brought a lot of question marks about what would be next. At this point, another surgery is one of the possibilities, however it is the exact thing we are trying to avoid. Because of my prior surgery and the location of my disease, another surgery would almost guarantee that I would have a colostomy bag for the rest of my life. This is obviously a very bitter pill to swallow and I would like to avoid it at all costs. The other option is basically a newly FDA approved medication that is for patients who have essentially exhausted all other options. I fall into this category but the issue was going to be getting it approved by insurance. This drug is called entyvio and its very hard to get your hands on. The Cleveland Clinic doesn’t offer it yet and although Mt. Sinai is able to prescribe it to a select few patients the hospital itself doesn’t have the drug and has to send patients to one of the few infusion centers in the city that is cleared to administer it. I just found out that it was approved for it and I have an infusion scheduled for this week. At this point I’m extremely optimistic about this drug working because its structured much differently than anything else ive taken. That being said, however, Im sleeping with one eye open because at this point I realize how few my real options are. Because of the severity of my case I was able to get in to see the “top dog” of crohn’s doctors in NYC. This doctor is going to head the new gastro department at Mt, Sinai and worked on numerous research including finding the gene that is linked to crohns disease. He is kind of a big deal. Please cross your fingers, toes, eyes, arms, legs, and anything else possible that this treatment works for me!

This weekend is my one year wedding anniversary and River and I celebrated by renting a cabin in the catskill mountains for the long fourth of july weekend. The cabin is just what we needed. I didn’t think it was a real thing that people could get no cell phone service but that is just how far in the middle of no where we were, and it was perfect! We did drive about a half hour to get service one day because river needed to know the world cup scores and for some reason we had a feeling lebron signed with the Cavs…whats wrong with us! The weather at first was a bit questionable and cold, but as the trip went on the sun came out and we were able to enjoy all that nature had to offer. We did some swimming, hiking, star gazing, had a fire and just in general relaxed. The dogs are going to sleep all week because of how much running and swimming they did, ive never seen them happier.

River has officially sat for 3 of the 4 CPA exams with the last one coming at the end of August, hes been busy at work but still finding time to play on his firms kickball and softball teams. I have also been busy at work with my buddy Jonah. Weve been loving the summer weather and spend most of our days outside…what could be better?

Next month my mom and kyra are coming to visit and I cant wait to show them the craziness that is my life. Hope everyone is having a great summer! Don’t forget to tell those who are important to you how much you love them…life is too short.