The "Boobie" Prize

Well, happy day.... the boobies have arrived.  I went to a specialty store in Tulsa on 12-23-10 to order my breast prostheses.  After my fitting I was informed, "I'm sorry, but we only have one and will have to order the other".  Are you kidding me?  They went on to inform me that, because of the holidays, the company they ordered from would be closed for 2 weeks.  Well, that's just great...but what do you do? 

After many follow-up phone calls, the store finally received my order and shipped the package to me REGULAR mail.  Good grief, you would think that at almost $200 a boob, over a month later, and the fact that there is a woman having to walk around with a boy chest, that they would at least overnight express it to me.  Real compassionate people, huh? 

The "girls" are precious, if I may say so myself.  I couldn't wait to wear them to work, only to be disappointed that no one really even noticed.  Now I know that nursing scrubs aren't the most flattering of clothes, but surely someone would notice.  Just goes to show you that the flaws you think are a huge deal, others don't even notice.  Peoplpe love you for what's on the inside, not the outside.

Of course, I wasn't going to let them go unnoticed.... so I pointed them out to everyone, lol.  Many had questions why I had to wear a special bra, why I couldn't just stuff them in my regular bra (like we did in high school).  The special bra has little pockets to secure the "girls", otherwise they ride up and over, and before you know it.... your walking down the hall and one of the "girls" fly out on to the floor, smiling and waving at you.  You could be standing in the produce department at WalMart and holy nuts, she jumps out and there she lies.

Work has been great this week.  My girlfriends wore hats with me everyday, they are the best friends ever.  Tomorrow Bryan and I are going to Tulsa to see our grandson, Hunter.  I can't wait to get my hands on that precious little man.  Tell someone you LOVE them today..........

Happy moments, praise God
Difficult moments, seek God
Quiet moments, worship God
Painful moments, trust God
Every moment, thank God

Hat Shopping

Good day.  No nausea, yay!!!!!!  We had a nice lunch at Applebees and then off to hunt for hats.  We had a good time.  Check out the cow hat Bryan thought I needed for the kids at school......I passed, lol.

"Hair" today.... gone tomorrow......

I had my 2nd Chemo treatment last Wednesday, which went well.  We had a snow storm that night which closed school yesterday and today, giving me extra days to rest.  So far I've just been a little queasy off and on, I have good drugs for that...... and a little tired, nothing a nap won't take care of.

My hair started coming out Wednesday morning (day 14).  It was just several strands when I brushed my hair, but I could tell that it was different.  This morning, Friday, it was coming out by the handfuls and getting everywhere.  We decided tonight would be the night to shave it all off.  The day I have been dreading. 

This is something you never want to have to ask your husband to do for you but he was a trooper, as usual.  He promised to take me hat shopping tomorrow...... Bryan never passes up a shopping trip, haha.  The actual shaving process was surprisingly unemotional.  I think I had prepared myself pretty well.  I look at it this way... if the chemo is killing my hair, it's killing the cancer.  The look will defiantly take some getting used to. 

Here are some pictures of the new "bald" me.  I will post some more after hat shopping......  :)

It's All About Attitude

My friends know how nervous I'm getting about the day I lose my hair.  A dear friend sent me an email with a note that it reminded her of me.  I laughed out loud when I read it and absolutely loved it.  I want to share it with you........

ATTITUDE:

There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror and noticed she had only three hairs on her head.  "Well," she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today."  So she did and she had a wonderful day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on her head.     "H-M-M," she said, "I think I'll part my hair down the middle today."  So she did and she had a grand day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head.  "Well," she said, "today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail."  So she did, and she had a fun, fun day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head.  "YAY!" she exclaimed, "I don't have to fix my hair today!"

Attitude is EVERYTHING........

Remember to take time to pray and thank God for every day.  Love you all :)

Roller Coaster

Everything I read before I started chemo mentioned having good days and bad days, and fatigue.  Being a very high-energy person, I really never experienced fatigue before so I wasn't exactly sure what that would feel like.  Well, what "they" say is true.  It's crazy how different I feel from one day to the next.  Yesterday I was so weak, hungry, tired and COLD.  I had the strongest craving for pot roast.... I couldn't shake the craving.  I don't know if my blood counts were down and I needed protein or just what it was, but I couldn't get pot roast out of my head.  I found a local restaurant that had pot roast on their menu and picked an order up after school.  It was the BEST meal I've ever had, isn't that funny.  Then I crawled up in my lounger with piles of covers trying to get warm.  I was so tired and achy, praying I wasn't getting sick.  I finally gave up and went to bed about 7:30-8:00.  Today I feel absolutely WONDERFUL..... strong, warm, happy, great appetite.  Isn't that crazy..... I now know what it means to take one day at a time.

P.S.- the hair is still hanging on for dear life, ha ha ha. 

Taking It Easy....

Thursday and Friday after chemo were really uneventful.  I felt well and enjoyed work.  Those 240 little 4 and 5 year olds keep me going, I just love them.

Saturday was another story.....  The nausea hit hard and heavy.  Nothing really set well and as a result I didn't eat too much all day.  I can tolerate pain so much better than I can nausea.  Smells really have an effect on me.  Coffee smells horrible, and I LOVE coffee.  Really strange.  I just laid as still as I could, eating soda crackers and sipping water, napping when I could.  It was a really looooong day.

I woke up this morning feeling good, my stomach grumbling.  Pancakes (of all things) sounded so good.  My sweet Bryan went immediately and got me some.  I have to say, they were the best pancakes ever.  A baked potato with mac n'cheese for lunch and I'm still feeling good, thank goodness.  My hair is hanging on tight, I haven't noticed any on my pillow yet.

It would be great if this was as bad as it is going to get but I know I'm just fooling myself.  I haven't had any of the bone pain they kept warning me about so maybe it won't be too bad.  I'll just try to take it one day at a time.  I have to admit that when I was laying there sick Saturday, 6 months of this was overwhelming to me.  I'll keep you posted.

First Chemotherapy Treatment

GREAT news........ my PET scan was normal, praise God.  I was really anxious and am so relieved, I needed to have some good news.  I am smiling ear to ear, can you see it?

My first chemo treatment went smooth as silk.  I didn't even feel it when she stuck my port for the infusion.  The oncology nurses are just super.  They are a wealth of information and encouragement.  It wasn't all doom and gloom there either, it was really kind of fun.  It was a huge room of recliners with patients receiving their treatments.  It was comical to watch the patients, you know I'm a people watcher.  Some of them (especially the little old men) were really funny.  I was there about 4 1/2 hours.  It didn't hurt or make me feel different in any way (YET).  We're off and running.......  My hair should start to "turn loose" in the next week to 2 weeks. 

Here is a picture of me receiving my first chemo treatment.  Life is precious people, enjoy every second.

Port and PET Scan

I had surgery yesterday morning to place my infusion port for chemo and it went well.  We were home by noon.  I find it interesting though that I had a double mastectomy without having any bruising at all, I had a little port inserted and have quite a lot of bruising..... go figure.  Pretty sore to boot.

I have my PET scan tonight at 5:30, I pray for good results that the cancer hasn't spread anywhere else.  I hope to know the results when I go for my first chemo treatment tomorrow.  I'll let you know how that goes, ugh......

I went back to work today after being gone a month.  It sure felt good to be back.  I walked into my office to find a dozen pink roses and pink balloons on my desk, my office door was decorated in pink with "welcome back" and every employee in the entire school wore pink for me.  Made me feel so loved.  I'm not really very emotional, but this really touched me.  I have the best friends in the whole world.