NASCAR, Health, and Logan updates...

OK Kasey made it into the chase, so excited! This year we got 8 out of 12 in the chase that we like. AND KYLE BUSCH DIDN'T MAKE IT!!! Love it :) The first race Kasey blew up, so ticked!

This weekend is DOVER! And I'm so excited to go, just hope I feel better! We are making some signs this time around and here it out first...hahaha Do you like it? We got ticket's for Friday too! I am going to be SO tired come Monday!

I'm on my LAST round of chemo pills, they increased it too so it's pretty much kicking my butt. Most days I haven't gotten out of bed til 12ish, but it's be nice being able to stay home and relax while being sick. I'll have off for a month (October) then 4 rounds of radiation (2 times a week for 2 weeks) and then, if everything goes as planned, I will be DONE! A year and two months later!



Logan is doing good in school. Love his teacher Mrs. Pratt, seems to be on top of things like Mrs. Miller & Mrs. Robson! And I'm happy about that. He also scored really well on the Maryland State Testing, so good he got a letter about doing the Talentant Youth Program! SO EXCITED and HAPPY!

Happy Spring

Logan & I at Fair Hill

WOW, so it's been a long time since I have updated. Sorry! Just haven't been in the "mood" to! Now lets see if I know were to start!

IT'S SPRING! But darn it don't feel like it! It was warm and then for the first day of spring it had to be cold! Go figure! Really looking forward to the warm weather, flowers and lots of blue sky! And of course tons of thunder storms!

Logan got a good mid term report! He's getting ALL A's and B's, WHOO HOO! He's started baseball although were having issue's with what team he should be on. He's found a new friend named Jeffery who comes over often. I'm so glad cause there really is no one here for him to play with since Brandon and Calvin left. We still talk to each of them but it was just really hard on Logan when both moved away a year apart. Calvin's mom gave us a plant that I keep in my kitchen and sometimes I'm bad at watering it. So Logan will remind me to water "Calvin" LOL. He was home 3 days this week with a sinus infection. Now I'm feeling the same way! My head feels like its gonna explode!

I've just finished my 7th chemo round. Got 2 more that I know of left. I will find out more once I go this Wednesday to get the measurement done :) Had my liver tested and it came back ok! I'm tired most of the time with no energy to much but rest and sleep when I get home.

Saturdays and Sundays are taking up by taking pictures! I got a new camera and I'm totally in awe with it! I have got some AMAZING shots that I plan on sharing!!! I've made a list of all the places I want to visit! So far I have done 3 of 12, but that's only for Cecil County! I have other lists for DE, Harford, and Baltimore! There is a woman at work with the same camera as I just got who's been very helpful and we plan on going on 'photo shoots' together! All excited :)

With Easter coming I've made plans with my favorite girlfriends to go to the Bunny Train at the Wilmington and Western Railroad. Haven't told Logan, cause I know he will be excited and want to talk about going 24/7. And then we are going to my moms for a few days for Easter and hopefully taking Logan to Gettysburg! He's been doing LOTS of reading about the Civil War. If that boy isn't going to be a engineer he will be a history teacher! LOL

Celebrated my 32nd birthday on the 4th! Feel old now! Keep telling everyone I"m counting backwards, so I'm really only 28! LOL Went out with the girls last night and we had a BLAST! I really love my friends! I'm happy to say I FINALLY have a 'GOOD" group of best/close friends! My best friend Jennie is buying a house and had some set backs, so I'm hoping she gets it all worked out so she's not all stressed! Vicky's also looking around to buy a house and I'm so excited for her. Dawn had her third child on Feb 27th, one month after my friend Kathy had her son Jaxon! And let me tell ya, a month makes a difference! LOL Kathy's baby is so much bigger and heaver! Both are adorable! Tammy's little girl Lucy is getting bigger and bigger! She's going on 8 months the end of March. Just wish I got to see her in person more rather then pictures! Haven't seen my mervo friends in awhile so hopefully when I go to my moms for Easter I can see some of them!

Before we know it...

Logan's big 10th Birthday will be here... Not sure what we are doing yet either! I need to start working on it! By now I've always had it planned! LOL He wants it on a caboose but I gotta see if I can afford that. And then it's who to invite with only being able to have 20 people including adults!

NASCAR will be here... As of today we have 68 days to go! Logan and I are making the trip alone for the spring race! My mom got the tickets for Logan and I for his birthday :)

WILDWOOD will be here... 92 days and counting!

Testie Tuesday Was Good!

Well, I guess it's time to update! I can't find any "good" meme for today so I'll have to just post :) My godfather's surgery went good for his cataracts. He was in and out in a hour. We finally got some snow, but not as much as I like. Then of course ice! So Logan and I are both home from work and school today. And I'm loving it! We were outside for a little but it started to rain harder so we came in.

I had a very good doctor's appointment. The size has went down again and to date it's been the biggest improvement. From 3.5 to 2.7. This is with a whole 2 mg pill now. My blood pressure was high so they have changed my med for a high does for when I'm on my chemo pill. My blood counts came back good for the firs time in MONTHS also! All are still low but are higher.

Let's see my
WBC (White Blood Cells) is 3.9 (was 3.4)
RBC (Red blood cells) is 3.60 (was 3.20)
There's also a bunch of different types of WBC & RBC that have there own numbers, all lower.

HGB (Hemoglobin) is 11.7 (was 10.2)
Platelet Count is 127 (was 115)

Next I'm off to get my liver checked again! How fun :) NOT! Also, I get to be radioactive again too! LOL I got to set up a gallium scan but this time it's only a one day thing instead of 3 so I was happy to hear that! They also did a study on my white blood cells to see if they can pin point where the cancer cells are coming from. Pretty neat that they can even do this if you ask me!

But ok, going to go and eat some soup for dinner and then get a shower!

Life as I know it

I'm sitting here very agitated and amused by someone who took something that was meaningful to people and just destroyed the whole meaning. I wonder at times why people do this. Wonder if it's just for attention? But it's to the point that this person has offended me by what they have did. And a part of me wants to say something and a part of me don't, because consider the source!

Speaking about agitated, I have yet another funny yet amusing story about myself again :) On our way down to Baltimore this past weekend, Jennie and I were behind a truck of hay. The hay blowing off got to me. Sigh...silly!!! I have noticed that it's gotten worse with the increase of my chemo pills. Other then that I'm doing pretty good. The size has shrunk again! Down to 3.2 now! Started at 4.7, so it's SLOWLY shrinking! YAY! The only thing I'm really having problems with now is being tired all the time. I'm going to sleep in Logan's bed around 7 each night. Sometimes before that. I don't think too many people understand how out of it and tired I am, pretty much all of the time. Not to mention the roller coaster of emotions that come along with it. I may have a smile of my face. But inside I'm not smiling. It's weird when your sick and people say or do things that hurt you knowing what your going threw. I have sure learned with this who my real friends are and who are people just "in my life". And I'm grateful for those who have been there for me.

We booked our Wildwood trip for this summer. We are staying at the Blue Palms, we stayed in the hotel last year but got the wrong building. So this year they gave me a night free. I'm excited! My mom is going this year with Logan and I. He's all sorts of excited about that! And Kim, I'm really gonna miss you guys!

For those who are close to me, know my godfather is going in for surgery next week. We spent 2 and a half hours at the doctor office tonight for his physical. So please, keep him in your prayers!

Well, I'm off to watch some T.V. with my little man :)

Anticancer Diet

Ginger
Fresh ginger, or ginger root, is a powerful anti-inflammatory that combats certain cancer cells and helps slow tumor growth. A ginger infusion can also alleviate nausea from chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
How to Use It: Add grated fresh ginger to a vegetable stir-fry or fruit salad. Or, make an infusion by slicing a 1-inch piece of ginger and steeping it in boiling water for 10 to 15 minutes; drink hot or cold.

Japanese Green Tea
Green tea is rich in compounds called polyphenols, including catechins (and particularly EGCG), which reduce the growth of new blood vessels that feed tumors. It's also a powerful antioxidant and detoxifier (activating enzymes in the liver that eliminate toxins from the body), and it encourages cancer cell death. In the laboratory, it has even been shown to increase the effect of radiation on cancer cells.

How to Drink It: Sip 2 to 3 cups a day within an hour of brewing. Green tea must be steeped for at least 5 to 8 minutes -- ideally 10 -- to release its catechins, but it loses its beneficial polyphenols after an hour or two.

Pomegranate Juice
This juice, which tastes like raspberries, has been used in Persian medicine for thousands of years. Its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties are well confirmed; studies show it can substantially reduce the development of even the most aggressive prostate cancers (among others). In addition, drinking it daily slows the spread of an established prostate cancer by more than 50%.

How to Drink It: Have 8 ounces daily with breakfast.

Fatty Fish
The risk of several cancers is significantly lower in people who eat fish at least twice a week. Several studies discovered that the anti-inflammatory long-chain omega-3s found in fatty fish (or in high-quality purified fish-oil supplements) can help slow cancer cell growth in a large number of tumors (lung, breast, colon, prostate, kidney, etc.).
How to Eat It: Have a seafood-based meal two or three times a week. Choose small fish, such as anchovies, small mackerel, and sardines (including canned sardines, provided they are preserved in olive oil and not in sunflower oil, which is too rich in pro-inflammatory omega-6 fats). Small fish contain fewer environmental toxins such as PCBs and mercury. Wild salmon is also a good source of omega-3 fats, and the level of contamination is still acceptable. Choose fresh over frozen whenever possible, because omega-3 content degrades over time.

HD Update

Second cycle of my chemo pills is done, YAY! And I wasn't as sick this time. I start cycle 3 on the 14th, just in time for Thanksgiving! How nice! They took me off of my blood pressure medication cause it was making it too low and I was getting horrible side effects from it they think. They put me on a iron pill and new vitamin pill cause I'm getting close to being anemic with my levels going low. And my last ct scan showed that the area in my tissue has went from 4.3 cm to 3.7 cm, so the medication is working and I'm SO excited!!! The put me on something for depression and I really think they need to give me something to balance out the agitation ( another blog posting and funny).

I'm going to be making a diary off here and I'll email it to everyone, so please email me your address if I don't already have it and would like updates. There are just some feelings that I would love to post but cannot since it's personal and I only want my close friends online and off to read it. Aunt Teresa, I will need your email address please!

I was going to do the biggest loser at work, I had planned on it even before I found out I had cancer and people are bitching, so after a few days of thinking about it, I've decided not to do it. It would be good money if I did win. But it's not worth it to me if people are already saying it's not a fair advantage that I have cancer! Hey if they want the cancer by all means, they can have it! But it's just silly to me, I've lost the weight I think I'm going to lose cause one I'm off my pills I eat like crazy! LOL

But anyway, I hope everyone has a great rest of the week and weekend! It's almost Friday WHOO HOO!!!

Got agitation?

OK agitation has taken on a new meaning for me these days! The other day at work, I was sitting in Vicki's room and someone came in to ride the bike she has for PT. The bike being close me was so annoying that I had to move to the other side of the room cause the bar was sitting to close to me and getting to me. Then Tuesday night, on my way to pick Logan up from my moms the wind shield wipers of all things bothered me to the point that I had to stop and pull over to take a break from them. Stupid things like this have been going on for the last two months and it's getting worse. It's annoying but funny at the same time :) It's just one of the side effects of my medication! Just thought I would share since I'm over the wipers thing and people laughing at me LOL

Hodgkins Lymphoma Update

As most of you know, I was recently diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. It was a 5 month process... with to count, 9 blood test, 3 CT scans and a PET (gallium) scan. I got the news on August 27, 2008 and was totally freaked out. But knew and really just had a feeling it would be cancer. I am in stage IIA, II meaning two or more groups of lymph nodes are affected and A meaning I have no symptoms of the HD. The following week I did the PET scan to make sure there was no other cancer and thank god it wasn't.

September 15, 2008 I started taking a pill called Allopurinol to reduce the uric acid in my stomach, this is to help me not to be as sick (supposedly). When on chemo, your body produces more uric acid, too much for the kidney's can take and if I have too much I could get kidney stones. I also started nexuim and vitamins.

Then on September 19, 2008 I started prednisone and my chemo pill, chlorambucil. I will be doing chemo for 2 weeks on then two weeks off for six cycles (6 months). They also gave me prochlorperazine for nausea and vomiting.

So far the acid medicine has made me sick and the chemo pill is ever worse. I'm literally exhausted ALL the time. I'm sick for about 2 hours a day, at work. So that isn't too fun. When I do eat and it's not too often these days, food don't even taste right.

As far as my mood, I have my bad and good moments. More bad then good, but I am hanging in there. It's really amazing how you find out who your real friends are verses the people who are just there. It seems the people who said they would be there are the ones, who when I need then aren't there yet the ones I least expected to be here for me are. I've learned who to depend on. I want to thank everyone for the emails, comments, cards and phone calls about how I'm doing. I can't tell you how much it means to me that you take the time to ask about me. And I'm sorry if I don't answer you back, I just don't have the energy or time sometimes. I been doing ALOT of laying in bed with Logan, but that's pretty cool! He's a little bit more a momma's boy! LOL

Went to the ENT

Hi everyone, I had some people who wanted to know how my ENT appointment went. It went pretty good I guess, they did the scope for my throat right then and there and nothing was found in my throat. That part was relieving and finally some good news!. So I will get two CT scans, a week a part first one is next Friday morning and the second is the following Friday afternoon. My neck is still hurting, but it did stop for about 12 hours today but at that point my ears, nose and throat were sore due to the scope.