Happy Birthday Cheryl!

I wanted to say "Happy Birthday" to my friend Cheryl - I hope you have a wonderful day. Thank you for being so supportive during my cancer journey but also for just always being a great friend - we have shared a lot of good times together over the years - I have always admired your strength...you are as beautiful on the outside as your are on the inside...I am blessed to have you as a friend!! Love you!!!

What a crazy week...

Well, both kids survived the first week of school...it was a week full of open houses, practices for cheerleading and football, kindergarten screening and lots of fees....I swear I have written 20 checks to the school system this week! Tyler seemed to get back into his school routine just fine and Jillian did well moving to the "big school"...she was reluctant to go but didn't cry or anything which was a relief.

Friday was a fun but crazy day for me. First thing in the morning I ran down to Covington, KY to attend a lighting show and class...it was nice to see some people that I worked with in the past. Once I finished up there I ran up to Mason to do a short commercial for the Komen Race for the Cure. Cammie Dierking (local news anchor) is the honorary chair for the event so she was there. We had maybe 30-35 breast cancer survivors stand around her while she talked about the upcoming walk. This was really my first big event with a bunch of survivors but things were moving so fast I didn't really have much time to think about it. It was about 90 degrees so we were all sweating with our pink T's and hats on. I was surprised to see that the majority of women were my age or younger...for some reason I was thinking that most would be older women. I was there with my friend Pat who I met a couple months ago and she intro'd me to a woman that she had met at the plastic surgeon's office. This woman was talking about her recent exchange surgery and how much she was loving her new, soft foobs...before you know it I was feeling them...yep, right out there in front of the Mason Muni Center I was feeling some other woman's soft new foobs...of course, in that group of women it seemed like the most natural thing in the world but I would think that someone passing by might have found that a little odd. Oh yeah, I forgot to say how nice they felt....compared to these rock hard things I have sticking out of me right now hers were wonderful...makes me look forward to my exchange in November!!

I am still having some issues with my blood pressure...for some reason I wanted to convince myself that it was just medication related or something like that but I am beginning to think that is not the case. My one year "cancerversary" is quickly approaching (Sept. 14th) and I am wondering if that is part of my problem..I have read that many people have a lot of anxiety about approaching that 1 year mark but I didn't think it would bother me. I guess the fear of recurrence or the fear of moving farther away from the treatments can build up and eat away at your mind...the last time I had a Herceptin treatment I remember looking around the room at the other patients that were receiving chemo...I almost felt like I was going to have a panic attack right there...it was like for the first time in 11 months it really hit me that I had cancer and I was in this room...I just wanted to pull the tube out of my port and run out of there....I remember just closing my eyes and telling myself to get a grip...it just seemed so weird to have this type of reaction after being in this exact same environment so many times before...

Last night was the Annual Strawberry Hill Adult Pool Party...Penny did a great job planning this event...Reese cooked crab legs for everyone and this year we had a DJ and he also did Karaoke....things got pretty amusing as the night went by..we saw some awesome duets by The Jenkins and the Galbergs...eventually it was the men that kind of took over...seems like we heard a lot of Johnny Cash and Lynyrd Skynyrd...what a combo!! Some of us met back up at the clubhouse tonight...Reese fixed more crablegs for everyone...I am not really of fan of crablegs but Tyler got to come up and he ate a ton!! I love our Sunday nights up at the pool...hard to believe that next weekend will be our last weekend to go up there. At least we have Bunco and Dinner Club to look forward to over the winter months..

Jillian had her first performance today for cheerleading. Her group did the 1/2 time show during one of the King's youth football games. They did a cheer and a dance...it was at 2:00 and it was so hot but they all did a great job...she loves cheering!!

Enough rambling for now...have a good week...

A little get away...

We had a great weekend! Jillian turned 5 on Friday. Bret and I both took the day off and we drove up to Vermilion for the weekend. Jillian has been asking to go to the beach for a while so the four of us went to Huron and spent a great day playing in the sand, building sand castles and jumping in the waves. The weather was absolutely perfect and it was just nice to spend the day together doing something we all enjoyed. On Friday night we went out with Kay and Dean and Amanda and Jason while the kids had dinner with Grandma and Papa Deel. We sat on the river and enjoyed watching the boats go by.

On Saturday my sister Vicki and her husband Todd had a great cookout. We celebrated Jillian's b-day and my Dad's b-day. The weather was perfect. We spent most of the day in the pool and then we had a great fire that evening. We had all of our family and my aunt and uncle and three cousins came in from Detroit. Most of Todd's family were there also to participate in a race this morning so we had quite the gathering. Their home is so great for entertaining with the pool, the basketball court, etc. Dad even let the kids all get on the golf cart and the four wheeler and ride back thru the trail in the woods...the kids had a blast.

This morning Todd and some of his family participated in a Triathlon/Duathlon (sp)..we Middleton's just slept in but we were cheering for them in spirit!! Todd finished first in his division and his brother Jeff finished 4th in his - Congrats!!! This afternoon we ordered pizzas and everyone gathered back at Todd and Vicki's for more swimming and family time....it was another great day.

Speaking of races, we are building quite the team for the Race for the Cure in September...we have almost 30 registered and probably another 15 that say they will register...Team Ta-Ta's will be quite the group on September 14th!!!

It was nice to spend time together...we stayed with Kay and Dean so we were able to spend some quality time with them and and I appreciate Todd and Vicki having all of us over there 2 times...that is a lot of people to entertain but they do a VERY NICE job. Poor Jillian just cried and cried when we got in the van to leave...she loves playing with Todd's nieces...it didn't take long for her to fall asleep once we got on the road so she and I snoozed for quite a while...

It's almost time for school to start...Tyler starts on Tuesday and Jillian starts on Thursday. I didn't think Jillian would worry at all about going to the "big" school but last Thursday night she cried and said she just wanted to stay at her old school...looks like we may have some drama this week. I think she will be fine when she sees all her friends there..I can't believe my baby starts kindergarten...

Have a good week!

Happy Birthday!!!

Two very special people to me have birthdays today!!

Happy Birthday to my Dad, Clyde Deel!! Looking forward to celebrating with you this weekend. Love you!!

Happy Birthday Heather! You are such a good friend and have been such a big help to us this past year...want to go out and celebrate your b-day again tonight?? Just kidding, I still haven't recuperated from Saturday night...I'm too old for that stuff!

Have a fantastic day!

A whirlwind weekend...

First of all it was so good to hear from Sue! Glad they are all home and resting.

We have had a crazy weekend. Friday night we went to a great pool party at Ron and Peggy's...it was the perfect summer evening. First thing on Saturday morning Jillian had her cheerleading camp...from there we went to her and Ava's party at Run, Jump and Play. We had 27 kids show up so it was a lot of fun. I never knew how nice it was to have someone else do ALL the work at a party so that was a nice way to go and Jillian had a great time. Her actual b-day is not until the 15th and that is kind of confusing her this year...she thinks she turned 5 on Saturday...Saturday evening a group of the Strawberry Hill babes hit the town to celebrate Heather's upcoming b-day. We started at the Melting Pot...we did the cheese fondue and then went straight to the chocolate...OMG, it was so yummy. After that we went to a bar called the Porch of All Sorts...not sure about porches but we sure saw people of all sorts...the $5 cover charge was worth it just to people watch. They had a pretty good "house band" playing so we kicked our heels up until Midnight. Once we made it back to Strawberry Hill and dropped Heather off the rest of us decided to move on down the hill to a scary little bar called the "Monkey Bar." This place was nuts...very tiny block building built right on the river...it did not appear that the Ohio ban on smoking had any affect on the patrons here and with some of the guys it seemed that clothing was optional (just shirts). We joined right in with the friendly crowd as they were doing some of the very worst karaoke I have ever heard in my life...we finished up about 1:30 with a few of the Strawberry Hill Babes doing an awesome version of Love Shack...wow, what a night!

This morning Jillian and I went with Heather and her family to see the musical Beauty and the Beast and we had a very nice brunch before the show...this was Jillian's first time in a real theater and she absolutely loved it...it was a special b-day treat for her. Tonight we met up with a few families at the pool for dinner...it's hard to believe that the pool will be closing soon...while we were out last night we started talking about relationships and friends...when we talk about things like this I always remember how lucky we are to have such great friends and what a great place we are at right now in our lives...we really enjoy being with our friends and just have so much fun together...we are very blessed!

I did have a minor medical issue this past week...I was having some dizzy spells and my feet were swelling pretty bad...of course when anything hurts or goes wrong with your head after a cancer diagnosis you always first think - brain tumor. I decided to call my family doc and when I got in to see him my blood pressure was really high...something like 140/99...he said most people don't really feel symptoms when their BP goes up but I am someone that obviously does...anyway, have yet another new drug to add to my list of daily meds...thank God for my pill box...I would have never thought at 40 that I would need a stupid little pill dispenser box..jeez, I even have the one with the AM side and the PM side...oh my, I am getting old...

Friday JD Update!!

JD was going home today...the follow up MRI showed no signs of residual tumor!! YEAH!! Hopefully we will have a post from our Sweet Sue sometime soon!!


I heard from Sue last night. The surgery went very well, quicker than expected. JD was in some pain last night but she was hoping they would take care of that soon. Today they will do a follow up MRI to confirm that the entire tumor was removed...please say a prayer for good news, restfull healing for JD and peace for Sue and Jack as JD recovers...thanks!



Many of you know my good friend Sue and some of you just know her from her supportive, sweet and funny comments that she has posted here on my blog. Sue and I met back in 1986 and have been friends ever since even though we have lived in different parts of the country....she is one of those types of people that you know will always be there for you and be a true friend for life... She has mentioned her son JD (in her comments) and that they went thru a lot a few years ago. In 2005 they discovered that JD had a benign brain tumor...he has had a couple of surgeries to attempt to remove it and radiation. As of the last time they radiated it, the tumor was very small and they have been following it by doing MRI's. They were very happy that the tumor was not showing any change...unfortunately, last week the report from his last MRI showed that the tumor had grown again.

JD will be having surgery to remove the entire tumor on Tuesday. Sue says that he is doing great...for those of you that don't know him he did amazingly well with all of this before - quite the miracle child with an amazing spirit and his Dad's sense of humor at his young age of 12!! I remember being at the hospital the day JD was born..Jack came out of the delivery room carrying his son with tears in his eyes and the proudest expression on his face. Sue and I had big plans for Tyler and JD...they would grow up together and be best of pals like their dads. I can remember when we would get them together as toddlers and they would argue constantly..it would drive us nuts!! Unfortunately, Lithonia messed up our plans to raise the boys together but our families have stayed close over the years....

Please take a moment to say a prayer for JD and Sue and Jack and their entire family...tomorrow will be a long day for them and they need all the prayers and support that we can offer. This is so tough on Sue and Jack...I can only imagine how hard it is to see your child go thru something this scary....you are terrified but you have to remain strong for the child.. Please also say a prayer for the surgeon and the other members of the medical team that they are able to safely remove the tumor and provide the best care possible for JD during his time in their care.

Not much new to report with the Middleton clan..we had a great weekend spending time with friends up at the pool and on Saturday it was finally cool enough to use our outdoor fireplace and have some folks over for s'mores! Yummy! On Saturday morning I went and had my hair colored...I just felt like the color was dull and too brown...now I am a redhead again....it just makes me feel more like ME again. Chad styled it differently than what I had been doing...in my mind it kind of looks like I am standing in front of a high power fan that is about to blow me away but all the comments I got over the weekend were good so I decided to stick with it and go for the change. Tyler is at his first night of football practice tonight. Jillian and I just finished making 30 treat bags for her big birthday bash this weekend at Run, Jump and Play...she is having it with her friend Ava from school and it should be quite the social event for the Kings pre-k group and friends...

Thanks for your prayers for JD and his family...I will post an update after his surgery.