Dis Breast Cancer Survivors Part II -GAGWTA!

[Pea-n-Me]

Yes, Laura, we'll be using IKEA. In fact, the builder's coming over this afternoon. (He built out in-law addition.) We've finally given into the fact that we just don't have the time to be doing over the whole house ourselves - unless, of course, we want to finish around 2015. DH tore down our deck and screen porch in April with the idea he was going to rebuild new ones himself. Well, besides the time involved in travel baseball, the permit process changed in town (it was strict before, now it's nuts and incudes things that are beyond his capability, like sinking supports down 4ft into the ground for wind protection, etc) so needless to say he hasn't gotten very far. We really missed having them this summer. The good thing is is that we know this guy well and DH can work with him doing carpentry, demolition, painting, etc, so that will help with costs. DH will also still primarily do the kitchen himself (believe it or not, it's our simplest project as we're really just replacing cabinets, which he studied in HS and IKEA makes it easy, and adding an island and countertops, the rest is cosmetic), but we're going to have him do the family room and our bedroom as I want to turn my closet into a small bath and maybe a Juliet balcony, and we have a whole bunch of other things like windows, interior doors, recessed lighting, etc.

The timing might be in our favor on this because in the past he's always been busy with big projects, but now things have slowed so the smaller projects are looking pretty good. Interest rates are good, and we bought 19 yrs ago so I think even if we spend a fair amount, we'll still be in good shape. I always have to remind myself that renovations like these just add to your investment in your home, really, cause it all makes me nervous. I'll probably be increasing my work hours, which I was going to do anyway. (I cut back after BC and never went back up, I think I'm finally ready to. It'll still only be 3 days/wk.)

So I'm looking forward to finally getting started. The first thing we have to do is rent a dumpster and start clearing this place out as if we were moving. We have a whole cellar under the in-law that is basically just used for storage now but we'd like to convert it to usable space for our exercise equipment and the kids' air hockey/pool table, etc. So we'll hopefully be getting busy soon. I've been straight out since DH's episode last week between work and kids' bday party planning, but I'm on vacation now so hopefully that'll give me some time to get things done.

My babies are turning 11yo this weekend.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Have been following all of your posts - mainly from work while I was trying to wolf down a quick bite. It was dog busy so I didn't have time to write. But you're all in my thoughts and prayers.

Laura, I'm sorry you're not feeling well. Good luck at the endo, and with your DH, too.

Laurie, hope your Mom's doing well. I'm sure you'll have some interesting experiences to share. You'll be happy to know that I myself brought in a huge box of chocolates and some bagels for the staff this week with a thank you note; and I also bought small gifts for 3 nurses who went above and beyond - all friends of mine. Yes, it was good to be there. When I went back into work Friday nite, it was strange seeing someone else in "our" room, LOL. (I was thinking it would kind of feel like hanging around a Disney resort after you check out and seeing someone else in your room later.) For ever more that will always be "our" room.

Merry, I'll keep my fingers crossed for your DD. I'd love to see pictures when you're done with your work - you too, Laura. I will when we're done. (That reminds me I'll have to do before and after.)

Maureen, thinking of you and praying that your procedure goes well. We'll be there with you in spirit.

Cheryl, your DD looked beautiful, and the location was so nice! Thanks for sharing the pictures.

Barbara, thank you for your always nice thoughts.

Elizabeth, hope your Mom's doing well. Tell obm I think I'm finally getting the hang of my camera.

I hope all of our other friends here are doing well, also. Would love to hear how Dawn's doing sometime!

GAGWTA

 

[NHAnn]

I am so excited today, despite running on about 5 hours sleep.....
first ....I got home from work yesterday and turned my laptop as I've been trying all week with varying fits and starts of nothingness, a few lights, a HP logo....but yesterday...IT'S REVIVED! it works! I'm posting on it now! My space bar is a bit messed up because I popped some keys off trying to dry it out. I think I still will take it for service and arrange for some kind of backup of what's on it anyway, but I'm thrilled I don't need a new one for the moment! It must have been an omen because THEN....the Red Sox came alive TOO!!! I was all set to turn the TV off but I was reading, and near the end of a good book, and still had it on with the 2 outs bottom of the
7th, losing 7-0......and they began their comeback --so I had to stay up.....SOOOOOO much fun!! Linda--I thought of you....I think I was ALMOST as excited when Big Papi hit his homer tomake it 7-4 as I was when they ended up actually winning....and no matter howthe series ends up, it was a very memorable game!

anyway....

This weekend I should be able to get some pics out to Laurie and Sha and post a couple here, from RFTC!!

Cheryl--LOVE the wedding pics, thanks for sharing!

Maureen - :hug

Thinking of Laurie's mom, Laura and Her DH, Linda's DH...yikes the list goes on, doesn't it?.....sending heartfelt thoughts/prayers to all.

I am doing the local Making Strides on Sunday --should be great walking weather...sunny and in the 50's

GAGWTA!!!

 

[CherylDan]

Ann....wooohooo for your laptop! And have fun at the walk on Sunday - weather sounds perfect!

Linda, wow, that sounds like quite a project you have going on. I'm hoping to re-do our bathroom next spring, but we'll see. Happy Birthday to your kids!

Laura, sorry to hear your UC is flaring up again.

Snappy, how's your mom doing?

Maureen, how are you holding up?

I spent quite a bit of time today packing up gifts and other random stuff from the wedding that I'll have to ship to DD. There was only a few gifts, thankfully almost everyone had gifts sent directly to their apartment or just brought cards, so I was really glad about that. I'm not sure what the people who brought gifts to the wedding were thinking? I mean they knew that they were flying back home, it's not like they could carry on these large gifts - and they are really quite large and heavy! OK, rant over.

I'm up too late for my own good tonight....we have an early morning planned, so I guess I should go find my pillow!

I hope you all have a good weekend!

GAGWTA!!!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

GAGWTA, Ladies!

We're on our way to RFTC. Thinking of you all this morning!

I'll pop in later for a proper post!

 

[lookingforward]

Ann, I am so happy your computer dried out! That has happened to us on several occassions over the years and it usually works out.

I will post a more substantial hello later, I am busy with errands this weekend. Wednesday is the day. YIKES. Hope and pray I am doing the right thing. I am not looking forward to being in hospital again...I hate hospitals (except when I was having a baby). No baby this time,unless you count two silicone implants as babies. Maybe I will name them....Fred and Ethel? Lucy and Ricky? Ying and Yang? Angelina and Brad? Ellen and Portia? Any other ideas?????

 

[NHAnn]

..... Maybe I will name them....Fred and Ethel? Lucy and Ricky? Ying and Yang? Angelina and Brad? Ellen and Portia? Any other ideas?????

One of my sisters, after a recent weight gain, refers to her girls as "Thelma and Louise"

I'll be wishing you peace of mind and wonderful results on Wednesday!!

GAGWTA!!

 

[laurabelle]

~~~***GAGWTA sistas***~~~

Well I'm home and not at the RFTC as planned...damned UC!

Elizabeth- I hope you had good weather for your RFTC. Did you take any pics?

Ann- I'm so glad your computer moved away from the light and came back!

CherylDan- Ouch. I hope shipping all those gifts wasn't too costly. I'm glad most of the guests were thinking.

Maureen- I never named my girls. Depending on my mood I either call them my noobies or my franken****s. I did however throw the old girls a going away party complete with a anatomically correct cake with a jelly bean tumor. Yeah, that's the piece I ate... I know, I'm sick.

Linda- You're much further in the process than we are. I think I have a plan that I am happy with, but of course as you know the more you look the more ideas you get. I love the Adel cabinets and I think we are going with birch to keep it light in our small kitchen. I've thought of doing the two different colors, I love the medium brown, but hubby thinks it will look weird.
Happy birthday to the twins!
I know how much it means to you to be here for it.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

GAGWTA!

DS and I did the 5K yesterday! We missed the start of the 1K because we were making the "In Celebration Of" tags. (Next year I will make them on my computer before we leave home. The ones people made at home were much nicer than the ones we made at the race, and the only pen I could find was a ballpoint - I needed a marker.) Anyway, DS was disappointed that we didn't do the 1K so on a whim we jumped in the 5K and did that. DH wanted no part of the 5K so he went home. After he left I tried to take some pics but my batteries were completely dead! And I didn't have my phone to call DH and tell him to bring me a camera.

I think the race started late (it was supposed to start at 7:40 AM). We started walking about 8:40. We hit the 1 mile marker at 47 minutes, so I think at least 25-30 minutes had elapsed by the time we left the Start line. There were still PLENTY of people behind us so I wasn't worried about it! We were finished and walking back home by 9:40 AM. DS said last night he is proud of himself for doing the race, and he is glad we did the 5K.

Cheryl - The wedding pics are terrific! Congrats to DD!

Ann - Glad your computer dried out!

Maureen - I will be thnking of you this week! I hope everything goes well and your recovery is easy! I don't have any inspired names for your girls, but I'll let you know if I think of any! I saw a lady at the race with a shirt that said "Yes, these are fake. My real ones tried to kill me!"

Laura - I am sorry your UC is giving you so many problems. I hope your DH has a good appt. with the cardiologist!

Linda - Happy Birthday to the twins!
OBM says to tell you he might have the hang of his camera if he would stop bouncing back and forth between the 2 dSLRs.

Laurie - Hope your mom is doing well!

My mom is doing fine right now. No Taxol this week, just an injection to boost up her cell counts.

 

[snappy]

I am not good at this but I will try.

Pictures. . .

 

[snappy]

Here we are, Ann, Sharon and myself at the Survivor tent area.

DH and I post race.

 

[snappy]

Another one. . . just Ann and me this time.

Now Sharon and me

Sadly, we lost the ones of Ann and me doing the second line thing at the Louisiana stage (DH accidently reformated the camera?. I do have an interesting one of Ann though on my Photopass file. I don't know how to post that one here.

Anyone interested in seeing pictures of the new Bay Lake Tower model rooms?

 

[snappy]

One of the few that did not get deleted of DH and me.

The flowers my sister sent us and the centerpiece I "won" at the RFTC.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Very nice pics, Laurie! Everybody looks so happy! Your flowers are beautiful!

 

[snappy]

Thanks, Elizabeth. Glad your mom is doing well. he has come a long way.

I was bummed we lost all pics on our camera from the first 4 days. Unfortunately, we bought our camera a couple of days before my reconstruction in 2006 and never spent much time learning to use it. It is doing all sorts of wierd things and the pictures are less than stellar. We bought it mainly because it can handle getting wet and being dropped. I am afraid we are not "purists" in the picture department. We do need to learn to use it properly.

However, we did the photopass for the first time this trip and got a respectable number of pictures taken. Many are not very good but there are a few keepers.

I am having fun editing them and adding borders etc.

Maureen, hang in there. Will be thinking of you Wednesday.

Linda, hope the birthday party was a success.

Cheryl, thanks so much for posting the pictures from the wedding. They were glorious.

Laura, I am sorry the UC is active and you missed the race.

Ann, did you have your race this weekend?

I do have some Mom stories, Linda, but it will take me a few days to write them up. Tom is leaving early tomorrow morning, my sister is worn out. I think I will be busy the next few weeks with mom. It will be about 10 days before she can drive. Her church friends are all older and although they did a lot of praying and call her, most don;t drive very much. She does have one younger friend who lives in her neighborhood who has been to see her just about every day. I may have to rely on her some. Bad thing is that my work is at the annual peak load right now.

Overwhelmed is a word I use too often. That is where I am though.

Bright side: much to be thankful for. Mom's pathology came back Thursday and there is no invasion in the sentinel nodes or in the breast (just additional DCIS), so no further treatment. It sounds like she won't be on hormone treatment either. Also, the drain was pulled on Friday morning and now she can shower without me helping her.

She seems a bit helpless though about fixing her meals etc. Maybe she is just maximizing the benefit of having all of us around? She will be by herself most of each day starting tomorrow. At least we are close. My sister lives abut 40 miles away and Tom lives in Manhattan. Hoping to see him for Christmas for a few days again.

The port for the fills is the one thing that is bothering Mom now. She had relief when she took the muscle relaxer starting Friday. It did make her sleep alot though, day and night. she is also dreading not so much the fills but having the port removed and the exchange. She did not seem to want to hear much about this on the front end. Now she worries.

Yesterday she just went with Tylenol so obviously the pain is under control.

We have had a few moments involving poloitical discourse between mom and my sister and brother. I think the pain meds make her even more outspoken.

If you think the actual campaign is ugly, you shoulda been at mom's house. I had to tell her to button it up, during the debate Wednesday night she was yelling insults at the TV (Tom had not arrived yet thank goodness).

I actually think it is neat to hear how people in a different part of the country feel about the race. Tom had some very interesting comments about people who are enamoured with Obama right now and who he thinks will be disappointed if he is elected and may not be able to pull off the things he promises.

I really enjoy Tom's visits. I need to get mom up to NYC for a play and museum trip next spring. She did very well when we went in 2006.

I guess I will go there another day.

GAGWTA everyone.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Great pictures, Laurie! You all look very happy, and I love the shirts!

There is a way to do recovery of your pictures if you deleted them accidentally off your card - but, you shouldn't take more pictures on it or it will hinder the process and you won't get all of them back. If it happens again, just use a different card (good to have lots of them anyway). Also, when you take pictures off a card, just erase, not reformat. Have learned this the hard way myself.

She seems a bit helpless though about fixing her meals etc. Maybe she is just maximizing the benefit of having all of us around? She will be by herself most of each day starting tomorrow

My guess would be a combination of discomfort and sadness. All natural.

We also had some interesting political discussions at the family party on Friday nite. I guess it's another "natural" this time of year. Most of us in DH's family are on the same page, though. My family is another story.

Sox lost last night. I was happy for the Rays, though.

 

[CherylDan]

DH and I post race.

What an adorable picture! Your pictures look like everybody had a great time. Very good news about your mom's results - I hope her recovery continues to go well.

JSG...woohoo on that 5K race!

Maureen....you sound like you are in pretty good spirits! I love your name ideas. Betty and Wilma also come to mind.

Laura....I hope you're feeling better.

Ahhh....political debates. Our family stays out of them! Heck, DH & I even tend to shy away from discussing stuff with each other. Although I am happy to say that, for this election anyway, he has come around to my way of thinking! But honestly, I'm not one to jump into a debate with anybody. Unless somebody is actually interested in my opinion I just tend to keep it to myself - keeps the peace with the relatives. Especially the ones who could really use some enlightenment!

I had my 3 month checkup with my oncologist today....everything went well. It's been two years since diagnosis, so I got the go ahead to get my port out! I'm so excited about that.....not that it bothers me or anything, just that it's still there, like I might still need it. So getting it out, I think, will seem like I am really moving on. AND, my appointment schedule has now changed from every three months to every four, so a good day for me all around.

GAGWTA!!!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Cheryl - YAY for a good check-up and for getting the port removed!! I had no idea the port stayed in past the final chemo infusion. Now I will know that when it comes up with my mom.

 

[CherylDan]

It doesn't always.....depends on the situation, the doctor, etc. In my case, because I had so many positive nodes, my onc thought it best to leave it in. Your mom might be able to have it out right away, just depends how the doctor feels about it.

 

[lookingforward]

It doesn't always.....depends on the situation, the doctor, etc. In my case, because I had so many positive nodes, my onc thought it best to leave it in. Your mom might be able to have it out right away, just depends how the doctor feels about it.

Two years is an AWESOME milestone! According to everything I read the two year mark is the most important! I am so happy for you! I hear you about the port...although mine was taken out a week after chemo ended. I had two ports, the first one caused a horrible blood clot and the second one was fine. The whole port issue was very difficult for me because the first one I had was installed by the biggest hack alive. He was horrible. The doctor who removed it and placed the second one even commented...and doctors rarely knock each other.

I thought of two more great names....Thelma and Louise! Bonnie and Clyde or how about Hugh and Hefner! HA!

Seriously, I was thinking all day of cancelling my surgery. I am having major second thoughts. I don't know why, really. Just feel awful.