Yet Another Diet Post

Well, we're finally doing it. John and I have joined a gym. I'm so sore I can't stand it. I'm told this will get better. Seeing how I haven't worked out since before Grace was born I barely remember the soreness that goes with starting a new workout regimen. We are also dieting. No specific diet, just calories in verses calories out. The fitness center really saw us coming, they totally up-sold us on everything. We bought the body bug band that tracks how many calories you burn each day. The problem now becomes learning how to download that info into the online program that came with the membership to the gym. I wish I were more tech savvy. So far so good. They have a nice large pool that is never crowded and the girls love that we swim after I finish working out. They also have two kids classes each week that I'll take the girls to. I myself have not yet tried a class, I want to build my endurance a little before going into a class, collapsing, and being horribly embarrassed. But I'll eventually get there.

That's all that's going on at the moment. Madison is gone to San Antonio, she had just returned from Girl Scout camp. We'll have her post all about both on her blog when she returns. I miss her, she's growing up way to fast for my liking. Grace is being Grace, cute, sweet and her innocent little self. She keeps reminding me how unfair it is that Madi is older and gets to do "everything" and she gets to do "nothing". I swear though she is the busiest 6 year old I know, always spending the night with friends and going on play dates.

It's all good

Wow, so it's been over a month since my whole cancer scare started. Yes, it was very scary. I'm much better now, not crying at night or in the middle of the day or anytime John looks at me anymore. So that's good. First, I got great news from MD Anderson, NO RADIATION recommended!!!!! Let's see, the exact pathologist comment was, "no evidence of worrisome differentiation seen", not sure what that means, but I'll take it (half kidding). Then, I was scheduled for my PET scan just to make sure there were no other "worrisome" areas. What the doctors call "worrisome", I call holy shit I have cancer. The scans came back clean only showing mild reactivity in the areas where my surgery was performed, which is normal healing process taking place. Yay!!!! So good news all around. Now we just follow-up with the ENT every three to six months for a couple of years to make sure we do not have a recurrence. Good news all the way around. My incision is healed and I'm very glad I had the sinus work done at the same time. I used to sleep ALL THE TIME, no lie. Now I sleep maybe eight hours at night and then I wake up, and can't go back to sleep or take a nap very easily, well except for vacation, I did indulge in a couple of naps. It feels good not to be tired all the time. Sinus surgery is one of the best things I've done for myself in a very long time, until I opened the anesthesia bill. Seriously, I'm glad it was after we returned from vacation, I about had a heart attack. Good thing is, my deductible is met for the year after this and everything will be covered at one hundred percent. I'm sure with follow-ups and what not that will be pretty costly in itself.

I'm gonna start posting more about kids, work, my poor decorating and paint choices, and what not, we'll see, this is the third post this year, I'm hoping it won't be the last. I just never think of it.

I wrote this entry this morning and the oncologist, Dr. Barker, called me this afternoon. So I'm adding an amendment. Yes, on the fourth of July the doctor was in his office calling patients. What an amazing doctor! He said he just wanted to go over all the results with me. All the above information was supplied by his nurse while he was out on vacation. Basically, he said all the same things and reinforced how great this was. He also said the rate of recurrence is only 10-15% and would be within twenty-four months, but usually reappears by six months, so if we wanted to have a baby he said, wait the six months and if we're in the clear and healthy, go for it. We may just try for a baby boy after all. I don't know in six months I'll be 35, we'll have to wait and see where our heads are at at the time.

Thank the Lord for a good prognosis and great doctors!

The Waiting Game

Apparently I'm not a very patient person. I'm definitely not good at waiting. Every year at Christmas I would snoop around the house until I found my presents, or if I never found them, I would carefully open then rewrap those that were already under the tree. Yes, I'm that impatient. Pregnancy killed me, talk about a long wait, 40 weeks could not go by fast enough for me to get to hold my baby in my arms. In fact, for each I was able to con the ob into inducing a little early. Tears helped.

This week I've been awaiting the diagnosis of the mass that was removed Tuesday morning. Thanks to my wonderful doc, we do know it is cancerous. Let me say, I know I did not paint him in very good light, but he really is an excellent surgeon. I had worked with him in the OR at All Saints and knew full well what I was getting when I chose him. No personality, excellent skill. I'll take it. Anyway, we just are waiting to see what our treatment options are. I know these things for sure. God is in control, first and foremost. The surgeon was able to remove the entire mass with clear margins, and he removed lymph nodes in the area that were all clear. These are all very good things. We are waiting now to see if I must have any follow-up radiation. Which brings us back to waiting, my next appointment is Monday morning, unless my surgeons office gets a copy of the path report sooner and his nurse promised she'll call and get me in before the weekend if that happens. Well, here's the thing, just like Christmas, I couldn't wait. So I called in a favor and had a mole in the hospital leak a copy of the path report to me. So this afternoon I'm gonna call his nurse and beg for an appointment tomorrow so we can discuss treatment options.

My surgeon, mister personality, is soon to find out, I'm not good at waiting.

I'll share one last thing I've learned in the past couple of days. Well, I admit I already knew this professionally, but now I've learned the lesson personally as well. Dr. Google is not a friend. Even as a nurse and using reparable sites available to clinical personnel. I need to stop, wait, be patient and discuss with my surgeon. I'm getting ahead of myself with all the reading I'm doing.

Thanks for all the prayers and support.

My Yearly Post

I only post about once per year and each time it is about my weight and dieting. I contemplated either deleting the blog out of embarrassment or try to change both the yearly blogging and the obsession with weight/diet posts (that have clearly gotten me nowhere). So here we are, one year almost to the day since I last posted and I can't seem to come up with anything to blog about at the moment. Maybe I should just delete this blog. Well, here is a list of ten other things I also do yearly, in no particular order.

1. Spend way to much money on two little girls birthday parties, each year vowing we'll keep it simple next year.

2. Have my car inspected, usually three months late and only after getting a ticket. Thus the hassle of taking the receipt and the ticket to city hall and pay a twenty dollar court fee to have it dismissed, also vowing not to let it happen again next year.

3. Have a yearly well-woman exam, although it has now been three years and I keep reminding myself I need to call and schedule that exam, but never actually remember to when I have the time. (like now, at three am)

4. Change the oil in my car. I blame this on John. He really should step up to the plate and take care of the man chores; cars, bills and yard. But hey, he is a better housekeeper than I, so I'm saying nothing (to his face).

5. Have the girls pictures taken together professionally. I hate that I only get this done yearly. I'd love to do it seasonally, but it's really a pain to choose nice clothing that will compliment each other and that they'll agree to wear, not to mention trying to get them to cooperate.

6. Bake a cake, usually at Thanksgiving or Christmas. I buy all our birthday cakes and it makes me feel like a bad mom.

7. Actually cry at a movie, this year it was Justin Bieber's Never Say Never. You should see it.

8. File our taxes. This is a joint effort of John and I and we usually argue a little, especially when it's April 14th at 8pm. Thank God for online filing.

9. Have the car washed. Isn't that what rain is for?

10. Have another birthday, where I move even closer to no longer being a thirtysomething mom. Hopefully, there will be many birthdays in my future. I found out today that the mass I had removed was cancerous. Kinda surreal. Hopefully by having the mass removed that's all I'll have to do, maybe some radiation, but we're not for sure yet, waiting on lab analysis to find out what kind of cancer, then the treatment will be determined.

So if anyone still actually reads my blog, I'm sorry I just threw that in there, but really I'm trying to stay lighthearted and positive about it. Maybe putting it in blog form and trying to be funny isn't the way to go. Here is how it was shared with me. My surgeon, apparently having missed his bedside manner 101 class, stood over me as I opened my eyes in the recovery room and said, "well it's cancer, should be very treatable though, see you in the office next week" and turned to John and said, "excuse me" as he moved passed him leaving. Wow, I'm glad he makes up in skill what he lacks in personality.