# 25 coming up, 6 left!

Thanksgiving was wonderful!  My kids and grand kids were here and I think that we all had a great time.  Tired babies by the end of the evening. Mark and I were pretty pooped too :)  

This morning as I was doing my meditations and devotions, I was reminded once again how the Lord allowed me to go through these last months of difficult times but He never left me.  He let me experience His peace which is beyond my human comprehension.  My devotional said " this peace is not just for those that handle stress well...it is for everyone!"  

I think this is the week that they will add a 'booster' to my radiation.  I am not certain what that is exactly but rest assured, I'm going to ask.  My arm pit looks like a black ham hock!  I asked Mark if he thought that the radiation cooks the under arm fat faster than the rest of the skin.  He looked at me like I had 2 heads! HA!  I think that if I had fair skin, my under arm would be flaming red.  My skin is not cracked or peeling so am hoping that it will stay intact and whole since I am so close to being done.  

I am poking my fingers when I wake up, after breakfast, before lunch, 2 hours after lunch , before dinner, and before I go to bed.  I'm missing one in there somewhere because Mark and I counted 7 times in the day.  We start our diabetes classes this coming Thursday from 1-3.  I am looking forward to those so that I don't feel like I have not a clue what I am doing except sticking my fingers and checking glucose #'s. What does all of this mean? 

Another journey into new territory.  Road trip!!  But I am not alone :)  I will draw near to Him. Amen?

# 20, Week 3 over

I have no idea where the time has gone!  I have gotten a couple of e-mails and a few calls asking if everything is alright because I haven't blogged in the last 5 or is it 6 or 7 days!? 

Mark and I have been busy with my radiation treatments and walking after wards so that I can get some exercise in. It is part of my therapy to control the diabetes. 

Last week was my appointment with my oncologist.  He is pleased with how I have come through all of the treatments over the last 8 months.  My skin looks great (he said) even after the radiation treatments.

  I get my  port taken out on December 19 and I have been reassured that it will be a simple office procedure...mmmm, I am not so sure about that so I am a little apprehensive about that upcoming date.

My body has adjusted to the diabetes medicine and I don't feel nauseous after I take it.  That is a relief.  I bought  2 books to help me to understand this disease and one of them is a cookbook.  I really like some of the recipes ...surprisingly, most of the ones that I have tried are quite delish.  Summer suggested that I buy ' Diabetes for Dummies' and I am really enjoying it.   Really simplifies the illness.  I am finding out that much of what Summer tried to tell me years ago is true...we really are what we eat.  Mark and I are going to be so stinking healthy and we will be dang happy about it...(sic).

We ( Mark, Summer, Whitney and I ) are going to go to diabetes classes at the Doctors Plaza the first 3 Thursdays in December.  My doctor told me not to think about what I CAN'T eat but to learn how my body uses the food that I consume and that I really can eat what I want but it is all about choices. 

I am not a detail person and this smacks of detail!  Counting and exchanging grams of this and micro grams of that and I am already over it!  Oh please pray for me!  I gotta figure a way of making this fun!  No fun,  Julie no do : ( 
PS:  My blood pressure is now perfect and I have lost 5 lbs.   (maybe this is gonna be worth it :)

 

# 14 out of the way!

So, I don't know if  you read a couple of blogs ago that I had some blood work done...well the results came in and now I have diabetes!! Really?  Seriously?  I have no idea why this  hit me harder than the words " you have breast cancer".   Curious how I stepped right into the Twilight Zone.  I heard myself say " No freaking way!"  My good cholesterol is very good and I guess that is a very good thing.  All of the numbers that my doctor told me did not mean a thing but I guess that I can control it by changing my diet and taking a little pill.  I have pretty much eaten what ever I want and as much as I want all of my life so this is a very huge inconvenience for me.  It is now time to pay the piper.
Tomorrow is number 15 radiation treatment and so far nothing major has happened to my body except a little tenderness on my left side and arm.
Right now is when I get a couple of cookies and a glass of milk before I brush my teeth and go to sleep.  I am now in withdrawal ...HA!  I am such a whiner...WAAAAA....
BOO HOO : (
There... I am done...
God is good and I KNOW that I know that He loves me and will continue to guide me and protect me...period!
Good night. I will go to sleep tonight with a grumbling stomach because I cannot eat my cookies and milk.
OK. I am really done whining.
Good night Flash lights and Firefly.

# 12 coming up

Wow!  I cannot believe that it has been almost a week since I last blogged.  (What a strange word that is...blog) 

So much has happened in my life and not a whole lot of it concerns ME!  HA!

 Thursday of last week, Summer, Autumn, Dominic AND Dana came to visit.  It was such a treat to have Dana come along.  He and Summer raked their little hearts out in my big yard.  Such a gift!  The cousins all got to play for awhile until nap time and then Summer, Whitney and I bagged the leaves that were in piles.  Such a gorgeous day!
 
Whitney as some of you may or may not know was pregnant but not due for another 6 weeks.  She kept saying that she felt that he was ready to come out....and wouldn't you know, Jonah was born the next day :)  

We have been very busy since then. Summer came back to Great Falls to baby sit Julianna and Logan and to give us a break (because we are old and sickly ) HA!  We are very grateful that she could come to help out. Plus she has a great husband and in-laws that pitched in with her kids.
ANYWAY, lots of activity around here.

We decided that we weren't busy enough so we squeezed in a community concert and I hurt my left arm when I clapped my hands.  I forgot that I will always need to be careful with that arm because of the missing lymph nodes (or glands, I can never remember which it is).  I have had to wear a compression sleeve and I truly find it uncomfortable.
  
Too much activity and no naps have taken their toll on Mark so it is back to the taking it slow and making sure that he gets his naps.  I forget that my life mate needs my watchful eye on him.  

# 12 is this morning and I am almost half way through this leg of the race.  The Lord has had his watchful eye on me as well and I am ever so grateful to be alive and healthy ( well, sort of healthy ;)  

week 2 # 8 coming up

Wow the time goes by fast when I think that I am going to blog everyday. Of course it does not work  out that way because I am busy doing other things and it seems like there is nothing new to say.
Every time I go in there is something new to report and I think that I will remember when I get home.  My memory seems to have taken a little hiatus lately.
Monday I met a lady in the dressing room that had her last radiation and she was such a sweet lady.  She was very tiny and she was using a cane to steady herself.  She told me that she had rectal cancer and that her tumor was on her tail bone. When they removed the tumor they had to take her tail bone and more.  I assumed it was more bone than just her tail bone because she pointed to where they had performed surgery.  She was to use her cane whenever she went out where there were going to be lots of people in case someone bumped in to her.  She was very soft spoken and had an accent so I really had to pay close attention. We exchanged names and told each other we would pray for one another.  My list keeps growing. Curious how everyone that I have talked to and has shared their story with me, no matter how terrible it sounds, say the same thing....but I am alive! Some say it through tears and some just sound relieved.  Depends on the day for me.  I am alive :) YEE HAW!


All of the staff at the cancer institute had on costumes for Halloween.  Sitting in the waiting room someone said it was cute as long as we did not see one dressed like the grim reaper!  HA!  

Dr. S said that he did not see any cancer in the x-rays and to keep doing what I was doing.  He and his people are just the 'clean up ' crew he said :)  PTL!