A Freshman and a 1st Grader!

The kids are officially done with school...wow! Hard to imagine another year behind us. Not much new to report....we had a close call with tonadoes on Saturday...they came way to close to our neighborhood but we just had some little limbs down and everyone was fine....more big storms heading this way right now so it may be a late night tonight.

We had a good weekend...Jillian had her last soccer game Saturday morning and then she went to a slumber party. On Sunday we attented a wonderful graduation open house at the Maxwell's and then we had a fun going away party for Jess as she prepares for her big trip Columbia...we will miss our sweet girl.

That's about all for now...thanks for checking in!

Need another day off!!

I wish this was a 4 day weekend vs. a 3 day weekend....it has been a great weekend and I am not ready to go back to work. We started the weekend off with a night out to celebrate Beth's b-day and Reese's 40th b-day. It was a perfect way to start the long weekend. Saturday was HOT---I don't know what the temp was but I was out looking for flowers to plant at 8:30 in the morning and the sweat was just rolling off of me...how gross! How will I ever survive the hot days of summer when I sweat like this??? After hours of searching and driving to too many different places I finally found what I wanted...after that it was off to the pool. Saturday was the first day that it was open and the water was COLD...the kids just don't seem to mind it...we Mom's hang out on the stairs to stay cool. On Sunday we went to two cook-outs...again it was so darn hot....after the first cook-out I actually felt kind of sick and had a headache....I just couldn't seem to cool down. Our 2nd cookout was our first Sunday Night Cookout at the pool which it was of my favorite activities of summer. Bret was in charge of the grill so we got everything packed up and went to the pool....it finally clouded up a little and cooled off just a little. We had a great dinner (I made Death by Chocolate for the first time...YUMMY!!) and we had so much fun hanging out with friends. Jillian is such a little fish...her head doesn't even touch the pillow before she falls asleep after a day at the pool...she loves swimming! Beth worked with her in the deep end because she wanted to learn how to dive...there were lots of belly flops but she keeps on trying...I love her determination at times like this. We were the last ones to leave at 9 when the pool closed...the guys had started some kind of dominoes game at the pool and moved the game to our house...I was wiped out so Jillian and I went right to bed and let the guys have their fun.

Today has been a lazy day...Jillian just woke up from a nap...she never takes naps so I know the weekend has worn her out. The rain finally arrived which is a good thing for our new flowers.

I'm not sure how many of you watched Farrah's Story last week. I thought it was an incredible documentary about living life with cancer. There has been a lot of debate about all that was shown...the treatments, the vomiting, the pain, the fear and the realization that the cancer had returned. I thought the show was so well done and I think it is great that she chose to share her story. Unless you have known someone with Stage IV cancer I don't think that you have any idea of what that journey is like. I think the documentary showed that no matter how much money you have you cannot "buy" a cure. I think it was good that it showed the different types of treatment that she was able to receive in Germany because I hope that we all will continue to help raise money for cancer research in hopes that new treatments will someday be available in the US. It definitely was not an easy show to watch...her battle with cancer has been so much harder than mine but there were so many moments that I could relate to..the neausea, the hair loss, the fear - those are things that every cancer patient must unfortunately experience. She really wanted to show all of the emotions and fears that come with a cancer diagnosis. I have not heard any recent news on how she is doing but at the end of the show she was not doing well at all...I am hoping her doctors can come up with something to help her....she is an incredible fighter and she just wants to live.

It was great to hear that JD's MRI came back clean this week...he has been doing chemo for 6 months....it was so wonderful to see that the chemo is working to kill the cancer cells and keep the tumor from returning in his brain. It has been a long battle for them and it has not been easy...they all amaze me with their strength each and every day.

This week I have got to start exercising again....I was in a pretty good routine until this last surgery...I have become VERY lazy!! I have a nice walking trail across the street from where I work and I belong to the gym around the corner from where I work...I have NO excuses and I always feel better on the days that I exercise...I just hope the motivation comes back!!!

Thanks for checking in...have a great week!

Back to work...

Made it back to work today...long day....I really would have liked a nap this afternoon. I think I need a new chair at work...my back just kills me when I am there.

Please say a prayer for JD and his entire family...they will get a MRI tomorrow - praying that it shows that the chemo has been working and that the tumor is not growing again. This is so hard on all of them...I wish I could do something...anything to make this a little easier on them.

Time for bed...I'm whipped....thanks for checking in!

Elvis, the Swine Flu and a very patient hubby....

It's a rainy Thursday morning...I slept in until 9:30 and now I am in bed with my new laptop (which I love) watching the Ellen show.....I think I could get used to this schedule...ha ha..

There were some interesting things that happened on the day of my surgery (I might be the only one that really finds these things interesting) so I wanted to get them wrote down before I forget them. Please bare with me as I ramble on here....

The day of the surgery coincided with the peak panic of the swine flu...so where would you rather be than in a hospital??? EEK! We went in that morning and I didn't want to touch anything and kept pulling out my little bottle of hand sanitizer just to keep us safe. This was my first surgery at B North so I was nervous about being there anyway....I missed the comfort of Good Sam Hospital that has always taken such good care of me during my five other surgeries.

So the first big hurdle of the morning was going to be getting the IV started. I usually do not tell the nurse how difficult my veins are to access but I wanted someone that could get this sucker in on the first try. The nurse was very sweet and really took her time to try to find a good spot. I was afraid that she was going to try in between my knuckles but finally marked a spot on my wrist....we all took a deep breath and in she went....GOT IT - YIPPEE! So now what were we going to do for the next hour??? The IV process takes so long that I usually get rolled right off to surgery as soon as they can get it in. Bret and I just sat back and watched tv and Joe Biden and his big blunder almost inciting a panic about the swine flu....he was being slaughtered by the media..OUCH...you should be a little more careful before you make statements like that on national tv!!

Next the anesthesiologist came in and went over the plan to make sure I didn't get sick...she also had to go over that long check list of questions...do you have heart trouble - no, do you have pain - no, do you have a history of breathing problems - no, do you have trouble holding your legs up - WHAT-- WHOOAAA....I have never had this question...I busted out laughing and said..."oh, I guess no one had mentioned stirrups...great...oh well, Giddy UP!

Dr. L came in to see if I had any last questions and after that it was time to get rolling...literally....the rolled me out of my room and down to the operating room. The anesth. gave me something to make me sleepy right before we went into the room so I didn't have much time to check things out. I always like to look around, chat a little with everyone in there (hey -these folks are about to open me up...I like to butter them up a little so they take a little extra caution!!)

The next thing I remember is waking up in recovery. I had a very nice nurse with me and we went over the plan on how to rank my pain so she knew how much medicine to give me. She even put some vaseline on my lips which was a huge bonus (you all know I have a lip balm addiction so I had even considered trying to smuggle some in this time...)I was not feeling sick so I just tried to lay there and relax...that worked out fine until Elvis started yapping next to me....yep, I said Elvis...there he was laying there next to me...just a curtain between us. I heard the nurse say, can you tell me your name....Elvis...she giggled. I think his name was something like Elmer but he must have told her 50 times that he was Elvis and he was mad because someone (he couldn't remember who) had told him that he would not have any pain after his surgery....she just said "no one should have told you that"....he then went on to announce every time he burped and then told her that he had never had surgery in his life but he had been shot in World War I....now he was obviously old but she quickly said...are you sure you don't mean WWII???? Nope, it was WWI...ok, so this is the part I hate about recovery. I lay there and just try to get my head straightened out and try to wake up enough so they will get me out of there....the last thing I needed was to listen to Elvis!!! I guess it was better than my last surgery....all I remember is an old man close to me just moaning the entire time....that got old fast!!

So, finally get of there and back to my room...the meds they give you make your mouth EXTREMELY dry....I always want a Pepsi when I come out of surgery so they brought that and some saltines to get something on my stomach....trying to eat saltines with a mouth that dry is almost impossible so I kind of have to do a Pepsi/cracker mixture...YUCK! The nurse tells me that as soon as I feel awake enough and can go pee one time I can go home...ok, no big deal...that shouldn't take too long....WRONG!!! I guess the bladder is affected during this surgery and it makes it VERY difficult to pee...well that's just great because I already have "pee on demand" issues (this is where Peggy giggles if she reads this). I drink my Pepsi, then another and also have the IV still going thru me....ok, I think I can do it. Bret helps me in there ....I can do this....wait, try, wait, try....NOTHING! Back to the bed....drink some more...try again...even try reading a magazine this time.....nothing. I want to go home...COME ON - PEE ALREADY!!!

Shift change occurs and I get new nurses....they say if I can't pee soon they will need to do a bladder ultrasound...ok, my abdomen hurts so the idea of an ultrasound does not sound pleasant...I tell them to speed up the IV and bring me more water! So again I wait, try....nothing! They finally come back and say it's time to do the ultrasound...it really wasn't painful and it showed my bladder wasn't even full yet so she said I would probably have to drink more to be able to do it...so back to the water. Finally, I try and VICTORY!! I was able to pee...let's get out of here. Now here's the part about Bret....during that entire time he never once said....do you want to try again...maybe you should drink some more....maybe you should stay in there and try a little longer...I was getting impatient and yet he never once tried to push me...Wow...am I a lucky wife or what....he takes such great care of me...and has to be the most patient man in the world!

We packed up and off we went....time for pj's and lots of sleep! I have to say that my first surgery at Bethesda North was a good one....all of the staff were very nice and took great care of me.

A little trivia (just for you Kay!)....how big are ovaries??? I read something that said they are about the size of almonds...interesting...I would have thought that they were bigger than that! No wonder they can suck them out thru the belly button!

Tuesday update...

I have finally been able to sleep....I have slept in until 9:00 the past few days...wow - feels good. Not sure that will work with my back to work schedule next week!!! I have very little pain now with the incisions. The one in my belly button was the one that seemed to hurt the longest...I think that is where she did most of the work...OUCH! I have been sitting outside and reading. I love Nicholas Sparks who I just discovered so I am addicted to his books. He writes romance novels...you might have seen The Notebook or Nights in Rodanthe which were two of his books that were made into movies. I find it interesting to read romance novels written by a man but his stories really are incredible....I think The Notebook is the greatest love story I have ever read....

Our weekend was nice. Kay and Dean were in town to help their nephew with some remodeling at his home over on the East side so it was great to spend some time visiting with them. On Sunday Bret and a few other guys put together a great Mother's Day dinner. It was a beautiful day....it was so nice to let them do all the planning and just show up and EAT!

I have included a few pics from our weekend. Mom, the beautiful flowers are the roses that you and Dad sent...thought you might like to see how nice they were...Thanks again, I really enjoyed them!!

Happy B-day Vicki

Happy Birthday to my big sis, Vicki! I hope the next year is a great one for you...you deserve it!

Prayers for JD this week....his counts were down today so chemo for this week is delayed...hopefully they can do it later this week...he is such an amazing your man and Jack and Sue are navigating thru all this cancer crap so well....a beautiful family that I have been so blessed to know for many years!!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom and all the other special Mom's out there...I am blessed to know a lot of good ones!

Love you Mom!

It is a blessing to be a Mom....sure there are rough times and days that I think I have absolutely no parenting skills but I wouldn't trade this "job" for any other...

Follow up with doc...

I saw the surgeon today for my follow up. She said the incisions were healing well. I told her that my hot flashes have turned into "rolling boil" episodes...they are more intense and last longer....I was hoping she would say that this was just things getting adjusted after pulling out the ovaries but she said they will probably be this way....great...just what I wanted to hear! She adjusted one of my meds so we will see if that helps..

I told her I was surprised how long it was taking me to get my energy back. She said that most patients notice much improvement during the second week after surgery...just seems crazy that this type of surgery would be harder to recover from than something like a mastectomy.

So, I am doing what the good doc ordered....resting with my feet up. Bret and the kids got me a laptop for Mother's Day so I can just sit here on my lazy butt and do some surfing....

I hope that some of you had the chance to watch the Micheal J. Fox documentary "Adventures of an Incurable Optimist" last night. He really is inspirational. He has such a wonderful attitude about life...he doesn't look at his disease as taking something away from him...he keeps a positive attitude still lives a very full life. In the show he interviewed other people that had very optimistic attitudes....Lance Armstrong was one of them. Anyway, I just found myself very inspired by him and hope that you had a chance to see the show... a little optimism for all of us could go a long way right now...

Pathology was clear...

Good news....Dr. Lewis called to check in after surgery and said the pathology came back clean...the crazy thing is that she called me on Saturday and I didn't remember that she called until today....people that are drugged up should not use phones is the lesson here.

Anyway, I am feeling ok...just amazed at how little energy I have. I went out of the house for the first time today since Thursday...I was able to make one slow trip around the house...came back in and started having bad hot flashes. The pain is very manageable. Nurse Bret is still taking great care of me and keeping the kids on track while I lay in bed and nap....what a good hubby I have..

Thanks to the Harmon's for a wonderful dinner last night...your meatloaf rocks!! Thanks to everyone else that has sent cards, etc.....we are so blessed to be supported by so many wonderful people.

Signing off for now....nap time!

A few pics to share from last weekend!

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These are some of my favorite pics that I took last weekend when we had the perfect weather. After soccer, Jillian and I went to get lots of snack fooods, drinks and a slip & slide to play with that day. It was so much fun to see all the kids come out to play in the water...Tyler and his pals even got in on the action. I think everyone had a lot of fun that day.

That evening Bret and I went to a b-day party being held for 3 great friends. They had a fancy karaoke machine set up in their basement....it didn't take long for bret to take over the controls....I finally had to leave around 2:30...they were giving me a headache....I think he has found his new passion in life...EEk! It really was a perfect weekend...thanks for looking at our pics!

Hangin' in...

Just wanted to do a quick upate in between naps....I am feeling ok....I think the gas pain has ended...that kind of felt like having a huge butcher knife permanently stuck in my right shoulder blade....now I just have the pain around the belly button which is where the ovaries came out. The pain meds were driving me nut....for some reason they were making my face and upper body itch like crazy so that was keeping me from sleeping...now I am just using the ativan to try to make up for the sleep.

My first experience with B North Hospital was fine....everyone that we came in contact with was very nice.

Bret and the kids have been taking great care of me so I am very thankful for that. Thanks so much to Heather for keeping Jillian the night after the surgery and thanks to the Galbergs for the yummy soup last night.

My heart is so sad because I heard that an old friend, Steve Cox, passed away suddenly on Thursday morning at home. Steve and I worked together for many, many years in Vermilion, Crawfordsville and even long distance when I was in Georgia...he was only 52...too young to die....my prayers go out to his entire family during this difficult time.....

Thanks for checking in....I will post again when my head clears up a little more..