June 26 - July 8 2009

Friday, June 26, 2009 9:14 AM, EDT

A few years ago there was a boy I worked with at Seven Counties; I worked with he and his mom and a foster family for about 2 years. He had Leukemia, and had to be pulled into foster care due to his mother's alcohol/drug issues and inability to maintain his care, especially his high medical needs. He got better, and eventually went back to his mother [against our wishes]. Ironically, he is coming back to our foster care program, I will again be his therapist, and he again is fighting cancer - he has relapsed, and his prognosis is not great. I've thought about him often - he taught me about ports, and chemo, and blood counts, and survival. I pray he can win this fight again, and feel so sad for him but so honored to get to be one of the ones to help him through it again - Lord knows I come to it with a different perspective now. I have said a thousand times, kids are stonger than us grown ups, and they have alot to teach us about life. Kick in a prayer for Cody as we try to beat his cancer demons, too.

As far as me, I'm doing good - I start radiation on the 7th, so I get another week off to keep healing before that starts. I can taste food [and margaritas!] and take the kids swimming, and whatever...just waiting for my hair to grow back!! ;) Take care all, have a good weekend!

Thursday, July 2, 2009 8:47 AM, EDT

A typical conversation with Case [true story!]:

Casey: Mom, don't you have Breast Cancer?
Me: Yep, remember when we talked about that?
Casey: Yeah, but Jojo at CEP [summer camp] says that if you have breast cancer your boobie gets sucked in, and yours isn't sucked in, so I didn't think it was the same thing...
Me: I do have breast cancer, but tell Jojo that your boobie doesn't get sucked in, the doctors just have to fix it sometimes.
Casey: OK [back to playing his DS...]
Apparently no one explained to Jojo what a mastectomy really was - poor kid thinks the damed thing just got sucked back in!!

Another milestone, went back to Zumba last night [latin dance type aerobics, rather addictive] - I am quite the creampuff since I haven't been able to excercise since November! Don't get me wrong, you know I'm no athlete, but even though I've always been big there's an all new level of muscle mush when your activity level has been ground to a halt for 7 months! Regardless, it was fun, my face was more red than when I have a hot flash, and today I am sore -- mission accomplished!

Have a happy 4th everyone, swing by for our fireworks fiasco...I mean fiesta...the boys went overboard with the pyrotechnics this year, cross your fingers the rain holds off and come on by!




Wednesday, July 8, 2009 11:50 AM, EDT

Well radiation is going to be a test of my ability to schedule and focus around an annoying appointment in the middle of each day. You see, the "we'll work around your schedule" thing turned into, "we're really packed, and you need a consistent time, so can you do 11am?" So every day, in the middle of the day, I stop what I am doing to run over, get zapped, and run back to work to try to refocus. At some point you wonder who on earth came up with these hoops you have to go through to get cured - must I prove I really really want to be cancer free by going through 6 months of the chemo gauntlet, have my boob sliced up, and now a daily routine of stripping down for more strangers in the strange world of radiation oncology? I guess so, so I will. I know, I know, it could be worse, it could always be worse. But did I mention hair is growing back fairly rapidly everywhere EXCEPT ON MY HEAD?!?! I think the better I feel, and the more normal I start to feel, the more bitchy I get about these things...I must have been too tired to gripe about these tedious elements of treatment before . So when I gripe, don't worry that I am wearing down, it oculd quite possible be a sign that I am revving up!!

The 4th was fun despite the rain, we all had a good time despite the rain, and the big boys got to play with fire while drinking beer. What else could you want for a yard party?