Aug. 30

Last day of August. I do get Monday off. I have 7 left--2 like I've had all along and then 5 as a "boost" to the scar. The scar isn't so bad if you're wondering. The skin is healing that was bothering me on Monday.

Did you ever think you'd be blogging? Just think how many of you have expanded your computer knowledge by posting on a blog! That goes for me, too!

The twins turned 2 on Aug. 17. I'll put some pics up of them so you can see. Carol and I talked about the day she called me two years ago to tell me that Juli was in labor. I was unloading groceries and just kept saying over and over, "it's too early." And then I started to pray. I called Barbara and asked her to send an e-mail to our Friday morning bible study group. And I prayed some more. I called my mom in Ohio and Dad also. Prayers went out all over. Our realtor here in CO, Mary, also prayed. (I found this out as we were looking at houses.) Mary and I talked about all the prayers that these two beautiful babies received. And now at two, you wouldn't know that they were born 10 1/2 weeks early. In fact, their pediatrician moved them to "normal" status, not premie, when they were 1 year old. I thank God for Hailey and River and that they are so healthy. They are amazing.

I've had a few questions about what comes next. I'll see the oncologist in October and then every three months for three years. I'll be taking a medication for five years. I think I'll start that in October. I imagine there will be some sort of scan to make sure there's no cancer left. I won't get a mammogram on my radiated side for 6 months after treatment. And the other side will be on the annual schedule (sometime in February.) I will also see the surgeon again. I don't know how long I will see her. I'm sure I'll be seeing the radiologist for a while.

That's all for now--nancy

Aug. 27; #2

OK. I meet with the nurse and doctor (radiation oncologist) every Monday. My doc is on an Alaska cruise with his family. So I saw the other guy today. That's not what's important. What's important is that when I told the nurse I was nauseous today and several other days last week, she asked, "Are you pregnant?" First I laughed. Then I laughed some more because I was fixed when Aaron was born. I told her I'd need some divine intervention if I was going to get pregnant.

I also got some gel pads for my underarm from the nurse. It was hurting in the night. Those pads are great. My underarm feels so much better.

Not really sure why the nausea. But I ate fine for dinner. More later--much more later...

Monday, Aug. 27

That last post said it was posted last Wednesday. I did it Friday. Regardless, I have ten total treatments: 5 like the ones I've been getting and 5 focused only on the scar. Cancer can come back in the scar. Tricky stuff, it is. Remember me telling you how cold it is in the treatment room? I found the thermostat--it was 67 degrees in there! No wonder when I'm lying on a metal table with only a sheet on it, I get cold. Especially when it's 97 degrees outside.

So I should post more often. If you want posts, I can post. They might become a little mundane. So you're warned.

We got the bedroom furniture Saturday. I feel like I'm walking around in a hotel room. It all matches. That's so exciting! Although when the towel or dirty clothes are in the same place as before I left, I wonder why the maid hasn't cleaned up. And she's not too good at making the bed either.

Today's will be 22 done, 11 to go

I'm doing well. Some skin redness but I have gel to use. The nurse calls it "tanning." Not so tan looking to me. And who wants a tan in their armpit anyway? My skin is in tact-not raw or any sores, etc. That's good. They said I might get tired more easily. I'm noticing some of that. But with school starting this week, who knows what is causing it.

First week of school going well. There's no homework so the boys are glad. Driving Aaron isn't so bad. It takes about 20-25 minutes. Nate walks or rides his bike.

We went to buy some book cases for under $30. And ended up getting our bedroom set as well. Jay and I will now have a matching set. Even when we sort of had a matching set, the bed wasn't the same. Not sure why that's important, but it will look nice.

I read an article this week that said that 25% of the women diagnosed with breast cancer have children at home. So imagine your day to day routine and all the stuff you do with the kids, plus breast cancer. Some days I wonder how I do get it all done. Ahh-well, I don't actually. Certain things get left. Like laundry that's upstairs or the kitchen floor that needs mopped. I figure it'll be there later. There's no rush. Things are not out of control at our house. (I don't think so, but maybe Jay ought to comment...) I know if I needed help, I'd call someone. I have had many offers so don't fret that you can't be the one to help me. I'm not talking to anyone in particular, just everyone who doesn't live in CO.

We got a new garage door opener. Those home warranties do work. We just paid for a service call and he installed a new one. Not quite that simple but for me it was. The dealer called the warranty place and set it up. The phone wasn't working this week. They had to come twice. On Tuesday by the time he came, it fixed itself. Yesterday a different guy found a short in one of the cables.

For those of you reading and not posting, let me know by e-mail. I'm getting to the point where I feel like I'm just writing to a black hole. Now I have heard from one of you that you want me to continue. As long as I have something to say, I will. Oh stop choking. Of course I always have something to say...

Never a dull moment...

What should I tell you first? Nate's bike was stolen out of our garage yesterday. We're not in Bolton (Massachusetts) anymore, Toto! Although even there, my neighbor's house was broken into just before we moved to CO. So we called the police and made a report. The kid who took Nate's bike left his old broken one on the sidewalk. Pure opportunity. We're pretty sure it was a kid because the bike is a 20". I'll be looking at school bike racks. We have an investigator assigned to the case. I don't expect anything to come of it. We don't even know the serial number.

This morning I took Taurus for a walk. Not unusual. We go different ways just to keep it interesting. Today I walked around the school. Well, we get around back and Taurus needs to mark at a few posts. He's marking and an alarm goes off. Great. I'm expecting police, fire and an ambulance to come rushing the school. I walked around to the front and the custodian was in the office shutting the alarm off. I waved and he didn't come out. So we finished our walk and decided we won't be walking around the school anymore.

Today will be treatment #15. Not quite halfway. I have 33 treatments total and 18 to go. The doctor gave me some gel for a spot of redness I have. I told him I love lotions and potions. Not really these of course. But he and the nurse laughed. It's a small thing, I'm easily amused.

12 done, 21 to go

Hooray for you gals who have gotten your mammograms or who have scheduled them! It's been a busy week. I know it's a scary prospect but necessary. Putting it off doesn't change the need.

Last Saturday we went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo which is south of Colorado Springs. The best part of the zoo is feeding the giraffes. The raised walkway puts you eye to eye with them. They have long, twirly, black tongues. Here's the live giraffe cam: http://www.cmzoo.org/zoocam.html

We also found a movie theater where you can eat lunch or dinner there and watch a movie. We saw Surf's Up. It was pretty good. Someday I'll be able to watch movies other than kids movies.

We also went to a hot springs pool. It's about an hour from us. We just swam in the large pool. They have lots of other options but not whith the boys. I'm not paying for them to get a mud wrap when they get into all kinds of dirt in other places.

For now, life is moving along normally. This week is the last before the boys go to school. We have two open houses to go to Thursday since they will be in different schools. Unless of course Nate does get into Challenge school. That's my prayer.

That's all for now-nancy

7 down 26 more yards to go...

Oh wait, this isn't a football game. But it's going. I'm not sure I'll feel OK about going daily a few weeks from now.

The boys start school Aug. 20. I'm keeping track. We're all ready for a new schedule.

Just a few comments about the cards we're dealt. We all get a deck of cards when we're born. Some we like playing. Like the Band card. Some play the Choir card. There's the College card. The Boyfriend/Girlfriend card. The Marriage card. The Children card. The New Car card. The House card. The I-phone card. Some have to deal with these cards: Divorce (parent's or yours), Abuse, Neglect, Heart Attack, Cancer, Mental Illness. We don't expect we'll even need to pull these from the deck. But the deck does come complete with a whole slew of other cards. Some so horrible we can't even imagine. Back to the Cancer card. I've actually been forced to play it. That's when someone pushes until you blurt out that you have breast cancer. While that wasn't so bad, the bad part was that the person never even asked me again about it. I'm afraid I'll have to do more with this person. Not exactly afraid, but there must be more to it. And maybe not but I feel as though the blurting wasn't the end of it.

Then there's the people who stare because I have a little cap on and no hair. Or the ones who look just a bit too long. At first I was convinced that they were sure I had cancer. Now it seems that people are either just rude or they really aren't sure if I don't have hair. I can almost see the wheels turning. I haven't figured out what my response ought to be. Maybe hand them a card with my story and blog info? Maybe tell them I don't have hair? One suggestion I got was to say that I was in a rock band and do you like my hair? I'm so not rock band material. Anyway, wearing hair in 100 degree weather just isn't reasonable. My head sweats. I don't remember it sweating so much when I did have hair. Of course it must have. I have found that 20-somethings don't care. I met a nice gal in Starbucks who just acted normal. And I thought I couldn't relate to them. Men don't have much of a problem either for the most part. It's the women my age who whack out. Those are the ones I should give a card to.