Tests, tests and more tests...

I met with the genetic counselor today. The good news is that both of the tests were negative...in this case negative is a good thing. Well, the sweet little counselor couldn't just say good for you and goodbye....nope, she had to hit me with two more tests they want to run. The first one is a more extensive version of the first two, it is called BART ....kind of hard to explain but they won't run this test until they get the results back from the first...then they go back and look at family history and since we have two women diagnosed with breast cancer in their 30's that "qualifies" me for this test. She describes this as the most intensive BRAC test...If I would test positive this would mean an increased risk of uterine cancer for me. My sisters and my kids have a 50% chance of having the same gene flaw (that's not the right term but that's how I think of it) which puts them at higher risk for breast cancer and uterine cancer. Anyway, this test is only $650 so they are calling to see if insurance will approve it. The second test is for Cowden Syndrome which is another genetic test for breast cancer and thyroid cancer and uterine cancer...this is where it gets crazy....the main reason they are offering this test to me is based on my head size...yep, I have a pumpkin head! She looked at me and said "did you know that your head is larger than normal?" Right there I busted out laughing and all I could think of is that is why I always think my face looks so fat in pictures...that or my double chin...I like the big head theory better! Anyway, when they have breast cancer patients that don't have positive results on the BRAC tests they look at their head circumference because this is one of the characteristics of a person that has Cowden's syndrome...there are other things like dermatalogical issues which I have had so she offered me this test...there is a lab in Cleveland that is doing a clinical study on this and they will run the test for free...that's a shocker..nothing in medicine is ever free but I took them up on their offer...gave them 4 tubes of blood and will hear back on that in 2-3 months. I guess only 1 in 200,000 people have this but since I could have the test for free I agreed to do it.

So don't quote me on any of this because it was all very confusing....I am just glad about the first tests coming back negative because those tests carried some very high risk numbers for family members.

To my faithful comment posters - as you have probably seen we have had some individuals that I don't know leaving comments with links...I haven't opened any of the links and I hope you haven't...I have set up an option that will now let me moderate comments before they are posted. What this means is you will not see your comment added until I have "approved" it. PLEASE don't stop adding your comments...I love reading them!!!

Enough for now....

Tuesday update...

I had my Herceptin treatment today...I know I wrote that it was on Wednesday but I forgot that it really was today...chemo brain! Anyway, the treatment went fine. They were so busy...we were packed in the small treatment room like sardines. It was mostly all men in there with me. They made me take two benadryl before the treatment to prevent any allergic reactions and that made me sleepy, of course, but I didn't want to fall asleep and start snoring in front of everyone. This treatment only takes 90 minutes so I was able to go back to work. I was tired all afternoon but made it thru the day. It was wierd to not have Bret with me today....the room is so small he would not have been able to sit with me anyway but it just felt funny going back there by myself.....all those hours that we sat thru chemo he never complained and never left my side. When I was doing the A/C he would wake me up to get me suck on ice chips so I would not get the mouth sores and when I was doing the Taxol he would wake me up to tell me I was snoring too loud....he's a good guy!!!

I did find out that my white blood cell count is back to normal. Most people have trouble with them being too low during chemo and mine actually got too high...I was hoping it was from the Neulasta shot (white blood cell booster) because having a count that is too high can mean that your body is fighting some other infection or sometimes it can be a sign of leukemia....that scared the crap out of me when I read that. All my other counts look good, too. I am still anemic which only adds to the lack of energy but I am hoping that my daily supplement will soon take care of that.

Bret is out of town so the kids and I went out to dinner and to get haircuts for both of them. When we came out of the salon everything was covered with ice again....we had rain and snow again most of the day. I am so ready for warm weather!! It was so COLD out today! BRRRRR!

Hair update: I noticed that the hair on my legs has started growing...darn, gonna have to start shaving again....I haven't missed that these last four months!

A FANTASTIC No Mo' Chemo Party!!

On Friday night Bret hosted a No Mo' Chemo Party for me at our house. He did all of the planning and food all by himself...all I knew was that there was a party at our house that night at 7:00. Being the "control freak" that I am it was quite a challenge for me to keep my nose out of his plans or to stop offering "my advice"!! Our friend Penny came over in the afternoon and decorated for the party with lots of balloons and she even made banners for the front door and the back porch - everything looked awesome! She had also bought all kinds of fun things from the Save the Ta-Tas website so we had lots of people walking around during the party with Save the Ta-Tas stickers and buttons. She even found Ta-Ta's Forever tatoos (see the 5th pic above)! Bret really worked his butt off on the food. He had a full taco bar with three different types of meat, two types of meatballs, a fruit tray, a cheese and cracker tray, spinach dip, two types of mexican cheese dip, a beautiful cake, creme puffs, a veggie tray and lots of other snacks...he had also set up a full bar and made the girls favorite drink "Pineapple Upside Cake" (I heard a few gals were feeling bad on Saturday because they enjoyed this a little too much) he prepared enough food for 60 people based on the rsvp's but because the weather was so horrible we had around 30 show up. My sister Vicki had sent my favorite cookies from Cheryl & Co. Those were a big hit! It was a great mix of people from work, the neighborhood, other friends we have met and a big surprise to me was that Dr. B and his wife showed up. It meant so much to me to have everyone come out on such a horrible night...about an hour before the party started our entire area got coated with a solid sheet of ice!

Bret and I just really wanted to thank everyone for all that they have done for us these last five months. The evening just went by too fast...I felt like I didn't have enough time to really talk to everyone that was there but I really think everyone had a good time. Bret has taken such good care of me and the kids during all this and it means so much to me that he worked so hard to have this wonderful party to celebrate the end of my chemo...I AM A LUCKY GIRL!!! He and Penny certainly make a great party planning team. Penny - thank you so much, all you did for the party is greatly appreciated..you are a wonderful friend and we love you! Penny is also the person that set up the plan for us to have 2 meals a week delivered the entire time I was doing chemo....we are so blessed to have her in our lives! We didn't do a great job of taking a lot of pics....the ones above are a mix from Friday and Saturday night...
(p.s. - someone brought me a lovely plant that night and can't remember who it was..chemo brain..if you read this post please let me know that it was you)!!

On Saturday we all had a slow start but finally got around to cleaning thigs up. That evening we had the Galberg's and Wolff's join us to eat "party leftovers"..I finally got to meet sweet Baby Addison - she is adorable!! Jillian and the other girls had fun dressing up and entertaining us - it was another great night.

Today it is snowing AGAIN and we are just working on taxes and I have been cleaning out closets...have I mentioned that I am tired of winter and ready for warm weather!!!

I got a call from the genetics counselor late last week...I will go in on Thursday to get my test results...I am starting to get nervous about that..it seems like I fail any test that I take lately!! I am praying that the test comes back negative because it not only affects me but my sisters and my kids.

I have my first Herceptin treatment on Wednesday...this is the hormonal medicine that is used to treat my type of cancer. I am curious to see how I feel after the treatment...I am planning to go on my lunch and go back to work. I have heard some people say that it can make you tired so we will just see how this one goes before we plan the next one in three weeks. I won't be going to the treatment center that I went to for chemo and I am thankful for the change of scenery....all the nurses were great there but I am ready for the change in location! Dr. B. has a small office close to my work. He is only there on Wednesday's so I can see him there for these treatments...it will be nice to have a fresh start for these hormonal treatments!

2 weeks since last chemo...Feeling Great!

I can't believe it has already been two weeks since my last chemo session...I have thought about it a lot today and I am so glad to be here at work and not in the chemo chair. I have been feeling really good this week. My goal was to get on the treadmill this week and I have done it once...I can tell you that I didn't go far and I didn't walk fast but it felt good to just start exercising again. I really am amazed how well I feel....I have heard so many horror stories about how once you get to the end of chemo you feel like you can't do anything for weeks and I really don't have any of that. I will admit that my energy level is lower than it was before chemo but I think I am doing good. Dr. B. had commented on how good all my counts were the day of my last chemo, he said I had a very strong system!

We are getting more snow and ice here in Cinci tonight. Everyone panicked here in the area that I work in so there is a horrible traffic jam....I decided that I would just stay here in the office for a while and see if it gets better.... I am so ready for winter to be over! I have loved the snow that we have had this year but it is so cold this week that I am ready for some warmer temps.

Hair update: my ghostly white bald head now looks like a fuzzy peach. I have a covering of very fine, very light hair all over. I can't tell if they are blonde or gray...with my luck they are probably gray but at least it's hair! GROW, GROW, GROW!!!!

A wonderful time spent with friends...

I had a great weekend! My wonderful friends Sue and Cheryl came to visit from Crawfordsville. I was worried the trip might not happen because I started getting a sinus infection Thursday but Dr. B. called me something in that had me feeling much better Friday afternoon. The girls got here late Friday so we just sat around and got caught up on everything...we have not seen each other since October so we had a lot of catching up to do! Saturday morning we got a slow start so we did a tour around Landen and then headed for Kentucky! It was a beautiful sunny day and I wanted to take them to lunch on the river so we went to Don Pablo's in Newport (it should have been a short drive but Bret gave us some poor directions...remind me not to ask him for directions again!!) Our friend Reese is the manager there so he made sure we had an awesome experience - Thanks again Reese for going above and beyond - you're the best and I can't wait to come back in the summer and drink frozen drinks on the deck!!! After lunch we headed back across the river to do some shopping. It was great just to be out so I would make a quick trip around the store and then sit up front with the old folks and people watch until they were finished. Later that evening we (Bret included) met up with some of the members of my MOMs club at a couple's night out at the comedy club. As usual, it was fun to just get out and laugh! This was Sue's first time to a comedy club and we all had a great time.

I was so sad to see the girls pack up this morning and head for Indiana. I have been friends with both of them for almost 20 years and even though we have not lived close to each other since 1998 we have remained very close. Both of these ladies have had horrible diseases come crashing into their immediate families and they taught me so much about strength and courage as they traveled their journeys... since the day of my diagnosis they have provided so much love and support to our family. In life as you move thru different stages you may see that your friends change from time to time but I am so lucky to have these two as life long friends. In our many years of friendship we have seen the best and worst of times but the important thing is that we helped each other out and remained faithful friends....friends like this don't just come along every day and I will always be thankful for these two!!

Today it was very rainy here so I knew it was time to rest up so I spent most of the day in bed watching tv or napping. Tonight Tyler and I went to Border's for our Mom/Son hot chocolate time. He went to his first school dance on Friday night and then spent the night and most of the day Saturday with a friend so it was nice to spend some alone time with him and catch up on his weekend. We both really enjoy getting out like that to have a chance to talk. Jillian lost another tooth this weekend so she was excited to show that off to the girls. She loved having them visit and she even got to sleep in Sue's room with her so she thought that was very cool. She constantly was doing dances and song performances for them while we were home....she is quite the entertainer.

Have a good week...Sue and Cheryl - thanks again for visiting - I miss you already and love you!!! (In the pic above Cheryl is in the middle and Sue is on the right)

Appt. with the Plastic Surgeon

Bret and I had a good meeting with Dr K. (plastic surgeon). We went over the surgery plan again in detail. She said that it will probably take at least 4 - 5 hours for both surgeons to complete their parts. I will stay in the hospital that night and be discharged the next day. I will have two drains that will need to stay in for about 10 days...I have heard these are a pain to deal with but I have learned some good tips from my online group on how to make them more tolerable. She said I will not be able to drive for almost 3 weeks and will probably be off from work 6 weeks total. She said that once I heal from the surgery we can start doing "the fills". This is where the implant that has been placed behind the muscle in my chest wall will have saline added over a couple months to PUMP EM' UP! She said each patient can decide how fast or how slow they want this process to go...after each fill there will be discomfort as the muscle stretches so it just depends on how much pain I can tolerate. Once we get to the "desired" size we will then schedule the exchange surgery. This will be done as outpatient and I should only be down for about a week. Months after that it wil be time to talk about nips/tats. I will need to have another outpatient surgery to complete that final phase and again I should just be down for a few days. We reviewed the different implant types again. I am still leaning towards the gel (gummy bear) implant vs. the saline. She agreed that these seem to be a better choice for reconstruction patients. I told her I was hoping to be a full C when this was finished and she started pulling out implants....the first one was 450ccs which is what usually ends up being a C....then she pulled out a 650cc..my eyes about popped out of my head --- it looked so big so I quickly handed it back before Bret could come over and give his opinion....we all know he would probably prefer the bigger ones but I am the one that will have to carry those babies around!!

Anyway, it was a good appt. She seemed a little more personable this time which was important to me...this is someone I will be seeing a lot of over the next year so it is important that I like her. She is in practice by herself and a large portion of her work is reconstruction. It is nice to talk to her because she really understands all the breast cancer lingo and understands what these types of patients are going thru. I was able to talk to her about all the things that I have read "that can go wrong" with implants and she was very good about talking about her experiences and she just comes across very confident that this will turn out well.

Hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day!! Love, Jan

Happy Valentine's Day!

I wish I could have bought a big box of yummy chocolates and a dozen beautiful roses for each of you today to show how much I appreciate you and your frienship....since I didn't do that I will simply say "Happy Valentine's Day, I love you!" I hope today is a great day for you. Love, Jan

Tuesday update...

I am starting to feel better from the final round of chemo. My feet and shins still hurt quite a bit today but hopefully that will end by tomorrow. This time around I was living in "Hot Flash Hell"! I am not sure why there are so many jokes about hot flashes because I don't see anything funny about them at all. Maybe it is worse when you don't have any hair and you can reach up and feel the whole top of your head covered in sweat...gross is the only word I can think of. I have a lot more numbness in my toes this time also. I guess the technical word for this is really "neuropathy". A lot of people on chemo have a big problem with this in their hands and feet but I have been pretty lucky. To me, it always feels like my toes are really swollen but they aren't....I hear that this can linger for months after chemo but I don't think I will have that problem.

I don't know if I have written about "chemo brain" but it is certainly time for that. Supposedly, the doctors will tell you that chemo does not affect the brain or your memory or concentration skills....I definetely am living proof that it does and I have read so much about this with other chemo patients. You all know that normally I have a great memory but now having a conversation with me is like playing a trivia game.....I can ususally only remember part of what I am trying to say and I will force you to try to finish my thoughts or guess what I am trying to say. I guess it's kind of funny in every day life but it has gotten tough at work....I just hope that it will get better soon.

I did hear back from Myriad labs about the insurance approval for my genetic test. The cost of the test is $3100 and it will be fully covered under my plan...since I have already met my max out of pocket for 2008 (how sad is that...) I won't even have a co-pay. They said the results should be back in 2-4 weeks. I have to say that United Healthcare has been really good so far with all of my expenses. You hear so many horrible things about insurance companies these days I am just so thankful that I have not had to fight any claims or that I haven't been denied any types of tests or treatments.

Tomorrow Bret and I will meet with the plastic surgeon. I feel like I have forgotten everything she said when we met with her last fall but I have learned so much more about reconstruction with my online support group...I will have lots of questions for her...it just seems a lot more complicated than I thought it would be.

Here in Cinci today we have a weather mess...school is cancelled because we had snow last night and now we are getting freezing rain. On top of that the flu and all kinds of other illnesses have hit the tri-state area. I guess the daycare has told the kids to stop hugging each other because there is so much crap going around. Bret feels like he is getting another cold but the kids seem to be ok. I have been so lucky to stay healthy thru chemo I definetely don't want to get sick now.

I am REALLY looking forward to this weekend. Sue and Cheryl (friends from Crawfordsville) are planning to visit this weekend. I have not seen them since October so it will be so great to hang out with them. We are planning to go with a group from my MOMs club to the comedy club on Saturday night....laughter is great medicine!!!

I want to thank all of you for "celebrating" with me as I finished chemo...I received some beautiful cards in the mail yesterday and Kathleen brought over some lovely flowers last night. It has been a long four months and I don't know if I really believe it is over....this stupid cancer stuff has become such a big part of my daily existence....when I went to bed last night I was thinking that at this time last year we were getting ready to leave for our Orlando trip.....so many days I still wish I could wake up to find that this has all been just a horrible dream......

Here is some good news! Two of my wonderful friends had beautiful, healthy baby girls last week. My neighbor Heather gave birth to Addison on Wednesday and my friend Joanna from work gave birth to Alana Grace on Thursday. These were first pregnancies for both of them so it has been so much fun to watch them move thru each phase until the big day arrived. Both babies are just precious and I can't wait to hold them someday soon! I am so very happy for all of them!

Pics from last chemo...

Here are the pics that we took during my last chemo. The first one was taken after my exam with Dr. B. and his nurse Diane. The second one was with the chemo nurse after I finished the last bag of Taxol. (Jamie & Annette, the pink scarf I am wearing is one that you sent to me, I got a lot of compliments on it!) The third pic is of my nightstand at home....I always just think it is crazy to see how many different drugs I take the weekend after chemo....I also wanted to show you one of my favorite x-mas gifts....The Breast Cancer Awareness Dammit Doll. Bret got her for me, she is kind of like a voodoo doll...here is what the card says that was attached to her. When you're feeling angry and you just need to vent. When your body is tired and your mind is spent. When you want to climb the wall, and stand right up and shout. There's a little Dammit Doll You cannot do without. Just grasp it firmly by the legs, and find a place to slam it. And as you whack the stuffing out yell "Dammit, Dammit, Dammit!" If dammit is not a word you say then twist its little neck and grumble out repeatedly "oh heck, oh heck, oh heck!"........



So far the weekend has gone okay...lots of sleep, just looking forward to getting this over with!!

No Mo' Chemo For Me!!!

Everything went just perfect today. We wanted to do something for all the staff that are so nice at the treatment center so we stopped at Panera on the way to pick up lots of bagels and creme cheese for breakfast and yummy cookies for an afternoon treat. They were all very appreciative of the snacks. When the nurse checked me in my blood pressure was high but I knew that was because I was so worried about missing the treatment today. I did lose 5 pounds since the last treatment so that was good news. That means I only have 4-5 to lose from chemo....I had read about women gaining so much weight during chemo that I was expecting to gain between 20-30....4-5 sounds much better. When the blood work came back it showed by WBC count was still a little high BUT lower then the last treatment so she made the decision to go ahead and let me get started.....I had even asked her to pray over the blood sample as she took it back to the lab so I guess her prayer worked...I was so relieved to get going. Later in the morning I slipped on my pink wig and headed back to Dr. B.s office. Everyone in the treatment center LOVED the wig...I wasn't sure how some of the older patients would react but several of them smiled and commented that they thought it was great. When Dr. B. walked into the exam room he just started laughing at my wig and my "Save the Ta Ta's" T-shirt. I told him that was exactly the reaction I was hoping for. You have to imagine that being an Oncologist does not bring a lot of opportunities to laugh with your patients....I wanted to do this for him today and hopefully make his day just a little brighter. We went over my long list of questions and thank God Bret was there....I had already had my bag of benadryl so I was more than a little loopy... one question I asked was "what side affects do your CUSTOMERS tell you about while taking Herceptin". He and Bret just cracked up! It was a good visit with him....one thing he is considering is only having me take the Herceptin for 3 more months verses one year....I guess the lastest research is showing that a year may not be necessary but I am going to do my own research before I agree to cutting the treatment short. One really good thing we discussed is that I do not need to take my white blood cell booster shot tomorrow. Since my count is already high and I won't be doing any more chemo there is no need for it. The shot really does cause a lot of pain so I am glad to not have to deal with that this weekend.



Bret and I went back to the treatment room to finish my 6 hours in the chair. Bret had lots of work to do on the computer and I was ready for my long nap. I think at one point Bret was too absorbed in his work that he forgot he was supposed to wake me up for snoring too loud. At one point I was snoring so loud I even woke myself up...Yikes...oh well, I do get it honestly from my Dad!!!! At the end of the day it was time to say goodbye to all the nurses....they were all so great and celebrated with me that this was my last chemo. Bret took some good pics today so hopefully he can add them to this post tomorrow.



I did want to explain what "Save the Ta Tas" is all about. It is a clothing line for women, men and children along with car magnets and things like that. The purpose of this product line is to raise awareness about breast cancer and since it is a little edgy they are hoping to get the word out to more young people. A portion of each sale is donated for breast cancer research. I have not been a huge fan of all the "pink ribbon" products that are out there today so this was something that really did appeal to me. Since the nurses all loved them and were even checking out the website while we were there I would not be surprised if they don't start wearing them to work!!! That would be fun to see!



A big thanks to Kay and Family for the lovely flowers that arrived today...they will be so nice to have in my bedroom this weekend while I am hibernating. Thanks to Peggy for the great meal she had prepared for us yesterday...it was great!



Thanks again to all of you for your positive thoughts and prayers today......LET'S ALL DO THE NO MO' CHEMO DANCE BECAUSE I AM DONE!!!! YEAH!!

Ready for the last round...

Tomorrow is FINALLY my last round of chemo. I am so ready for it just to be over with...I am a little worried that it won't happen because I have not felt good today...I kind of feel like I might be getting the flu but we will just have to wait and see what happens when we get there. I would be so disapointed if we had to delay this treatment. I feel so lucky that I have made it this far with no delays.

I want to thank all of you for your prayers, cards, meals, blog posts, gifts, hugs, help with the kids and everything else that you have done for all of us during these last four months. Your constant encouragement gave me the strength to keep moving forward on a tough journey. Love, Jan

Thursday Morning Update: feeling better this morning....I guess 10 mega steroid pills can make anyone feel better!! I have been up since 3:00 (thank you steroids) but definetely feel much better than yesterday...looking forward to getting this day over with!!!

Surgery is scheduled!

I was able to get a surgery date for my bilat mastectomy...it will be March 25th. It feels really good to have a date...I guess it just makes me feel like I am finally moving forward again. I am still nervous that they may find other cancer from this surgery but I have feared that all along and it's time to know the facts. Dr. B. and I spoke about the surgery and I asked him again about my MRI. After my lumpectomy all the docs told me it was my choice to have the mastectomy or stop with the lumpectomy and do radiation. Once Dr. B. ordered the MRI and the tumor board reviewed my case with him their advice was that I should definetely have a mastectomy on the right side because even though they removed the 4mm tumor and an area 9 x 8 cm that contained a lot of pre-cancerous calcifications the MRI showed that there were other areas left in the breast that also contained pre-cancerous calcifications. They felt that if I did not do the mastectomy I would probably have more lumpectomies over the years due to these suspicious areas. When I talked to Dr. B. last week I made him tell me again that they did not see anything that looked like a tumor on the MRI, just more calcifications... I still feel very comfortable with my decision to do the bilateral mastectomy. Knowing that the right breast contained so many pre-cancerous areas I would always think of the left breast as a ticking time bomb...anyway, until the final pathology comes back after the mastectomy there is always going to be that worry that they will find more cancer....I guess that's one of the things that really sucks about cancer. Even though you have the tumor removed for the rest of your life you have to find a way to move forward and not let every little ache or pain terrify you and make you worry that the cancer has returned...........

On Monday I will have my genetic testing done. Due to the fact that my Mom and Dad have 17 siblings between them it took a while to get all the facts straight about my family history. I only had one aunt on my Dad's side that had breast cancer. On my Mom's side it is just my Mom and I so I am very glad to see that we don't have a long family history of this disease. I am looking forward to learning more about the testing and what the results mean. If I do test positive it will be important for my sisters and Jillian to be followed more closely over the years. From what I have read it could also mean that I have a very high risk of developing uterine cancer in the future and will need to consider having a hysterectomy. I am not sure how long it takes to get the results from the test tomorrow. I have heard of some people getting their results in 2 weeks and others taking over a month.

For those of you that know me well you know how much I hate anything that has to do with a dentist beyond a six month cleaning. Well, on Friday I was having a late lunch that consisted of Corn Pops cereal and once I finished I realized that a big chunk had broken off of one of my teeth. Can you believe that this is the second time I have broken a tooth on cereal? The first time it was Captain Crunch...it's not like I eat cereal all the time but I seem to have a bad record. Anyway, I had to call Dr. B.s office to see what type of dental work I am allowed to have during chemo and once they called me back and told me I can do anything that is not "invasive" like a root canal or removing the tooth it was too late for me to see anyone. I tried to call other dentists on Saturday that advertise "emergency" appointments but none of them would see me. I have had a toothache since it happened but since I have the genetic appt. tomorrow I will probably see if I can get into the dentist on Tuesday. After three days of nonstop tooth pain I have kind of gotten used to it.

Bret and the kids went over to Indiana to go tubing on Saturday morning and they had a great time. On Saturday night I played Bunko...I surprised the girls by wearing one of Jillian's pink dress up wigs...I am beginning to think that all the meds I take are slowly driving me a little insane....a year ago I would have never even considered doing something like that but it was actually fun. I didn't win any big money but it was great to see everyone and get caught up.

Have a good week....

Friday update...

Not much new to report here. The pain from the chemo finally ended on Wednesday so I was glad about that. Once I get passed the pain I am amazed at how good I feel. My main issue is that I just don't have much stamina....example: I used to like to walk ALL around Wal-Mart BEFORE I would start grocery shopping....now when I try to do that I have no energy to do the grocery shopping which was the real reason I was there....I am officially done with mascara for now....I only have a couple remaining eyelashes left and it just looked silly to put mascara on. The eyebrows are hanging in....I have lost the outside arch on the right side but for now that can be filled in with some makeup. We don't have any big plans for the weekend...I am looking forward to meeting up with the Strawberry Hill Bunco Babes on Saturday night and hopefully taking some $$$ from them! I hope everyone has a good weekend.

Here is something I read late last year and I think it is just a great message....Reignite your passion for living and see the extraordinary in the ordinary. Remind yourself how precious and how short this adventure really is. Why waste one second on self-pity, frustration, irritation and all the rest????????

Lots of love to all of you and thank you for your precious gift of your frienship!!