I Love You, Tess!!!

Many of you know, unless something directly pertains to the Pre-Raphaelites, I try to keep personal things away from this journal, just to keep it on-theme. But today is an extremely important and emotionally fraught day for me and for many people who read this site...today is Tess Avelland's surgery.

Tess is a dear friend of mine, owner of the beautiful store Midnight Muse: a woman with a fellow passion for the Pre-Raphaelites, and a photographic memory for their art. She is dearer to me than I could probably ever express, and she has popped up occasionally on this site. Last Christmas, she went into the hospital for appendicitis, or so it appeared. During the procedure, however, they found a much more serious problem. After a stay at the hospital over the holidays, she was given the diagnosis: a rare form of cancer, Pseudomyxoma Peritonei. PMP, as it's known for short, is a cancer of the abdomen, and can spread to any of the vital organs in the abdominal region. Since it is such a rare cancer, there is little known about it. But the common treatment is a surgery, cytoreduction, known in the PMP community as the MoaS, or Mother of all Surgeries. The name of this surgery isn't given lightly...basically, depending on the advancement of the cancer, all or many non-vital organs are removed from the abdomen, and a heated chemotherapy is poured into the cavity. This is the surgery Tess will be undergoing today.

There is very little else I can think about right now. Tess is a beautiful woman, with a great love for beautiful art, so I thought I would post a few images that make me think of her.

Heal quickly, my Sister of Beauty. Si je puis, and I know you can.