Sunday Update...last one of 2008!

I cannot believe that Christmas is over and in just a few days it will be 2009. I am looking forward to this year being over and 2009 being a much better year. I hope everyone had a good Christmas. Ours was very nice except that Bret had the horrible head cold that has been floating around Cinci the past few weeks. He started feeling bad the day before Christmas Eve and really just started feeling better today.

On Christmas Eve our family went out to dinner and then came home and tried to get the kids to bed early....Jillian was a complete SPAZ! She was so excited about Christmas and just could not settle down. Tyler didn't think there was any reason for him to go to bed early and kept reminding me that this is his "winter break"...so Bret was the first to go to sleep....after putting out cookies, writing a letter to Santa and putting reindeer food out in the yard Jillian finally wound down and fell asleep. I had to then get Bret back up to "help me get ready for Santa to arrive". Once things settled down and the house was quiet I had a yummy cup of hot chocolate and just laid on the couch by the Christmas Tree. It was so peaceful and relaxing. I took the time to look at all of our special ornaments from activities that the kids have participated in or vacations that we have taken. The holidays can be so hectic it was nice just to slow down for a few minutes and reflect on the past year and think of all the blessings in my life. I also said some special prayers for those people in our lives that are stuggling right now.

The kids had a blast on Christmas morning opening their gifts. Jillians big gift was a karaoke machine and Tyler's was an I-pod. They both seemed very happy with everything. After that we packed up and headed to my Mom and Dad's. It was nice to spend the evening with them and Kay and Dean and the kids came out to visit. The next morning Kay and I headed out for some power shopping and then later that day we all got together at Vicki's for a pizza party. It was nice for us all to be together..we came home the next morning. We had planned to stay longer that day but Bret was really feeling lousy and I was afraid that he was spreading all those germs to everyone else.

Today we put all the indoor decorations away and then went over to celebrate Amanda's 40th birthday!! Tomorrow it's back to work for Bret and I and then another 4 day weekend coming up! Yippee!!

No, They're Not Real...the real ones tried to Kill Me!

Here is a pic from my last treatment...the nurses had asked me to wear my Save the Ta-Tas T that I wore for my last chemo but I found this one and thought it was more appropriate....it got a lot of laughs! We are getting ready to go out for a Christmas Party...I will write more later!!

Tuesday -

Just finished baking cookies with the kids and decided to sit down and get caught up on here. Wow, I can't believe that tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Tyler mentioned something about Christmas Eve last year and I couldn't remember what he was talking about it. The more I thought about it I realized I have no recollection of Christmas Eve at all last year. My Mom says that's a good thing...I don't know. I know I was not feeling good but it's just hard to believe that I don't remember anything from that day.

I have to work tomorrow which is a bummer...first time I have EVER worked on Christmas Eve...it will be slow at work and I doubt they will let us leave early.

We have been busy just like everyone else wrapping up those last details before Christmas. We had our Middleton Family Christmas on Sunday which was very nice..the kids had a great time playing together and it was fun to get caught up with family.

My last treatment of Herceptin was kind of surreal. Unfortunately, it took 3 nurses several tries and about 45 minutes to get my IV started...my arm looked like a pin cushion but Diane finally hit a vein. I didn't go to sleep like I usually did..just chatted with the nurses and reflected back on all my treatments. I watched those last precious drops of Herceptin slowly drip into the IV and it was really kind of scary but exciting at the same time. They have all been so good to me so there were lots of hugs when they finally took out my IV. I actually will go back in January to see Dr. B for my three month check up and my Lupron shot so they can't get rid of me that easily!! Going forward I will just go back to see him every 3 months for follow ups.

On Friday night we went out with a group of friends to celebrate my last treatment...I was in the mood to dance! It was a fun night and I really appreciated everyone coming out to celebrate with us. We went to a club that had a live band...I think my ear drums are still trying to recover...I think that is definetely a sign of old age when you think the band is too loud...

Yesterday I had another follow up with the plastic surgeon. She said I can finally quit wearing the bra at night...YIPPEE!! We reviewed all my "issues"...dent on right side...new dent starting to appear above left breast...little pocket forming on the underside of left breast..etc. She said the "pocket" could probably be fixed pretty easily with a little nip and tuck during the next surgery. The dents are not that easy. She said we could consider doing a lift on both breasts to try to fill in that area and/or go up to 800cc implants. For right now we are just going to give it more time and see how things look in February when I see her for the next follow up.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas! I know I have so much to be thankful for this year and have been enjoying the holiday season!!

Yahoo!! Last Herceptin treatment this week!

I can't believe it's time....I am looking forward to having my last treatment Wednesday but it is also a little scary....being in treatment is in some way comforting...I guess you think the meds are keeping you healthy. Oh well, a new part of the journey - just have to get my head around it now.

Things are busy as we get close to Christmas. I am so thankful to be out there enjoying everything this year that I had to miss last year. I went to two fun Christmas parties on Wednesday night. On Thursday I had a great dinner out with Melissa for her 35th b-day. On Friday I took a vacation day so Penny and I had a great time shopping in the shops in Lebanon and having a nice lunch and the historic Golden Lamb. On Saturday morning I took Jillian and a couple of the neighbor girls to a "Princess Prom"...they had fun spending time with the "big girl" princesses doing crafts, having story time and dancing. I did some Christmas shopping while they were there. Later in the day Bret and I went to an open house at the Clarke's and then came back to Strawberry Hill for our neighborhood x-mas party. When I got home at midnight I started making candy and then got up and finished with that this morning. This afternoon we went to the Strawberry Hill kid's x-mas party...all the kids loved spending time with Santa and Mrs. Claus. The weather is nice here today so this evening we added some more decorations outside...whew..it's been a busy few days but we're having fun!

The first snow...

It it certainly starting to look like Christmas around here. It snowed all day yesterday - we didn't have a lot but the kids did get to get out and play in it today. Jillian and I went with some friends Saturday morning to a Breakfast with Santa and Mrs. Claus, they had lots of crafts for the kids to make so they all had a good time. Last night was my monthly bunco night with the Strawberry Hill girls...we all pulled out our "tackiest" Christmas attire and dressed up for the evening. Carissa won the prize for the night..she even had red, green and gold plaid pants to finish off her look. It was a late bunco night....some of us sat around gabbing until after 1:00 am...needless to say, I was slow getting out of the bed today! Today we all went up to the clubhouse for our annual Bengals party/Chili cook-off...yes, the Bengals suck but the chili was good!

We finally got our tree put up on Friday night and I finished the Christmas cards tonight so I am feeling more prepared for Christmas each day. This just seems like a short month with way too many activities packed into it!

Sue's son, JD, will do his second round of chemo tomorrow....he did amazingly well with the first one. Please say a prayer for all of them as they continue on this journey....

Love to all!