January 24th

Where does the time go? I cannot believe January is almost over. Spring will soon be here. Yippee! I've gone back to work full-time. Three days a week at the Sun selling advertising and two days a week at Innovative Products. It's great to be out of the house, but I seem to get little else done. It's so nice to finally have a pay check again. Not working for 10 months was rough financially, but things could have been worse. We'll get thru this. My hair is about 3/4 of an inch long. Lots of gray. Not as thick as I'd like. I just hope time does it justice. I need to go on a diet. Food tastes like it should, and I'm enjoying every bite. I've actually put on a few pounds this winter. It's cold. It's very easy to come home from work, eat some dinner and then get a blanket and lounge on the couch. :-) I'm feeling good. Finally building up some stamina, but I like my sleep. Don't have to go to the doctor again until late March. Yeah! Take care. Love ya all!

January 3rd, 2011

Happy New Year! Yes, a new year... thank God!

I haven't written since before Thanksgiving and a LOT has happened in the past 7 weeks. Treatments are completely over. My port has been removed. Ended up in the hospital the Wednesday after Thanksgiving for 5 days. Lots of stomach cramps and just didn't feel quite right. Turned out I had an infection and was running a 103.7 fever when I was admitted. My white blood cell count was extremely low and was depleted of some metals. They put me on some heavy duty IV antibiotics and IV magnesium, potassium, and iron. Slept great this go around and came out feeling like a new woman. Each day gets a better.

Started back part-time at Sun Publications in the middle of December. Things are going well. It is so great to see and talk to people about things other than cancer and my treatments. My hair is growing, but it's startling to see how much gray I really have. Hair color does amazing things. LOL! My eye lashes and eye brows have come back. Love it! I had a check up with my oncologist last week and all is good.

Christmas and New Years was quiet at our house. Spent time with the family enjoying each other's company and good food. I'm sad to see the holidays go, but I'm also excited to get this year rolling and see where it takes me.

My prayer is for everyone to have a wonderful and healthy 2011. Love to you all!

November 14th

Well, as some of you know, my hair is gone... I'm bald. I wasn't sure how I'd handle this, but in all actuality, it's quite liberating. It is what it is, and I can't do anything about it. The wonderful thing about it is the cheering and support I've had from my circle of friends/family and other cancer patients and survivors. Randy and I were out to dinner last night, and I was approached by a woman who is a cancer survivor and she immediately recognized I was going thru treatment because of my hair (or lack of). She shared her story, and I was warmed by her positive spirit and well wishes. Then at Wal-mart this morning, I ran into a gal with similar hair who is going thru treatment and we shared our stories and well wishes with each other. I feel so loved, blessed, and am humbled by everyone's support and am shocked by how many people are affected by this crazy disease!

Tomorrow starts my last round of chemo and then I am done! I know I'll be chemo sick for a couple weeks following this week, but I am so excited to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I just pray daily that I never have to revisit this disease. It's been a crazy ride, but I survived. Wow... I can't believe it's almost over. I'll have to have PT scans and continue seeing my oncologist this next year, but no more treatments or chemo sickness. Hallelujah!

I'm so looking forward to December and enjoying the Christmas season. I hope everyone has a fabulous Thanksgiving. I know I have a lot to be thankful for and hope everyone struggling with everyday life can find some goodness in the craziness of it all. Love and prayers!

October 21rst

Day 4 of round 3 of post surgery chemo... so far so good. I'm usually feeling some side effects by now but am only feeling a bit nauseous and still watching my hair fall out. I'm mortified by this hair thing. I've tried a couple wigs, and I can honestly say, I'm not a wig girl. They just don't do me any justice. I bought a really cute hat that has some bling on it so it's my mainstay. My doctor suggested I cut off what hair I have remaining, but I just can't do it.

Our trip to North Carolina was fantastic. Randy and I stopped on our way to NC in Atlanta to see Sue. That was great. Hadn't seen her in a year and a half. Good things never change. Then we were picked our by dear friends Tom and Kim in Atlanta and drove the rest of the way to Emerald Isle, NC. Lovely, lovely, lovely. We had beautiful weather, ate good food, drank a bit and just enjoyed life. I was sorry to see the trip end so soon. Luckily we are having some lovely fall weather here in KC. Randy is back in NC this week for his brother's promotion ceremony. He was promoted to a 2 Star General. Very exciting stuff.

Hope everyone is doing well. Love you all~

October 5th

Once again, where does the time go? I cannot believe it is already October. Put out some Halloween decorations over the weekend. Soon it will be Thanksgiving and Christmas. I am doing ok. Hanging in there with my post-surgery chemo. This has been much more than I expected. I did so well with the pre-surgery chemo and was anticipating the same. I've been sick quite frequently, extremely tired, and my hair is now falling out. Doctor didn't expect for me to have as much hair loss as I'm having, but I'm definitely losing a lot. I cut off about 10 inches a couple weeks ago thinking it would help it look fuller. Not sure if it helped or not, but now my hair is right above my shoulders. I'm wearing lots of hats. Doc said hair should start coming back in about 6 weeks following my last chemo session. I have two more to go and should be finished right before Thanksgiving. Instead of "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth", it will be more like, "All I want for Christmas is my hair to grow back".

My mom is doing quite well. She's driving again, and as I can attest to, when you can start driving again, it's a good feeling because you regain some of your freedom. I'm so relieved she made it thru her ordeal without any lasting issues. She still gets tired easily, but with time, I think she'll recover completely.

Chiefs are 3-0. Only undefeated team in the NFL. Go Chiefs! Leaving for North Carolina on Thursday. Flying into Atlanta. Randy and I are meeting Sue (former colleague) for lunch, and then we are meeting some friends in Atlanta and driving onto NC from there. Have someone coming to watch the dogs and I hope all goes well with that. So excited for the weekend. Will be on the beach at least one full day. I'll be wrapped up from head to toe since my skin is so sensitive to the sun because of the chemo, but I'm so looking forward to just sitting under the umbrella/tent and watching the ocean. Randy's class reunion is this weekend and then his brother has his 2 Star General promotion ceremony the following week. Very exciting stuff!

I just heard that a classmate of mine's son was killed in a car wreck. So sad. Don't know any details, but this reminds me how quickly one's life can change. Live, live, live!!!

September 13th

Where does the time go? The week following my chemo was not the best. I pretty much slept the week away while trying to deal with the nausea and mouth and skin issues. Thankfully the side effects have gone away and last week was a pretty good week. I saw my oncologist last week and he's agreed that my side effects were pretty severe so they are going to cut my chemo back by 20%. He also did a blood test to see if I'm missing an enzyme that helps break down the chemo. I'll know more when I start my next round next week. Right now, I'm feeling good so this should be a good week. Hopefully the next go around is better!

My mom is home. She's doing remarkably well considering how she was doing. We went to breakfast yesterday and then to the grocery store. She was beat by the time we got home, but I was so happy to see her up walking and feeling like her normal self. Thank you for all the prayers... they did their job!

My aunt and uncle are coming thru KC today. They are heading south for the winter. They are Winter Texans. Wish I could go. It will be great to see them as always!

Tonight's the Chiefs Home Opener on Monday night football!!! Go Chiefs!

August 31rst

A lot has happened since my last post. My mom is still in the hospital. Her blood work was out of wack the morning they were thinking she might be released. She's had a lot of ups and downs, but fortunately, she keeps rebounding. Yesterday she had a heart issue where both her heart rate and blood pressure shot quite high. Why? Not sure, but no sign of stroke or heart attack. She's still extremely weak, but she has been up walking which is a great sign.

First week of post-surgery chemo. Done. I was thinking I was going to make it thru without any side effects but some nausea, but NO, couldn't be so lucky. My lips started feeling funny Thursday night and then by Friday, my mouth, throat, and skin were completely irritated and fatigue had set in big time. Went to see my chemo doc's nurse practitioner yesterday. I was put on an IV for fluids since I hadn't been drinking much. Liquids/food are difficult to swallow. Plus an IV with some sort of anti-nausea drug. Gotta say, the nausea is better, but it's going to take time to get the mouth, throat, and skin issue back to normal. I haven't done much since Friday except sleep and watch football plus a few movies. Watched "8 Men Out". Great movie. Thanks Gretchen for the suggestion! That is two for two! :-)

I'm feeling a bit bummed as I was feeling SO good, but I know this too shall pass. I keep reminding myself this post-surgery chemo is like insurance. You gotta have it.