Another Wonderful Night

April 12, 2012

I'm so happy right now.  Two nights in a row I've been out late, I've been with family, and I've had SO MUCH FUN! It's amazing that I'm finally out among others who are happy and loving life!  Tonight I was out with four of my grandchildren, my son, Ryan, again (!), his special wife, Marian, and three sweet members of Marian's family.  Oh, yes ... big Clark (my ex) was there, too.  We went to a music program for our granddaughter, Charlotte.  We all went to dinner afterwards and talked our brains out!  It was SO. MUCH. FUN.  Two nights out in a row and I did it.  

Here's a picture of my two granddaughters, Charlotte and Sophia, at dinner.  Awwwwwww.

Life Is Good.  

Thunder Up!!!

April 11, 2012

Tonight was one of the most fun times I've had in a long time.  My son, Ryan, took me to an OKC Thunder basketball game.  I've wanted to go forEVER.  Ryan got tickets for us as a Christmas surprise last year, but when the time came, I didn't have the energy to make it and man, was I disappointed.  Then he surprised me with tickets for tonight and it was perfect timing.  I had no problems whatsoever in terms of fatigue or anything else, for that matter.  OMG!  The excitement inside the arena.  The thousands and thousands of fans.  The music.  The people.  Oh, yes, and the Thunder players!  ha.  It was so much fun.  Ryan even took me down to the OPUBCO suite at halftime and we got something to drink and there was beautiful food there, too.  Oh, man!!  I was in heaven the whole time.  I don't think I ever quit smiling.  So, Ryan, if you're reading this, THANK YOU for the special night.  I loved being there and especially, I loved being there with you.  

Here we are:

(Oh, and by the way, we lost ... by only one basket.  Still loved the night, though)!

Hair Growth!!

March 16, 2012

I can't BELIEVE how fast my hair is growing!  It's so much fun to watch all this WHITE hair come in.  Here's proof:

Ten days after my last chemo which was November 14, 2011

Six weeks PFC (post final chemo!)

Nine weeks PFC

This is the back of my hair at 15 weeks PFC!

Two weeks ago with my son, Ryan, on his 40th birthday ... 

And here is my hair today, March 16.  It's getting kind of sassy.  I almost have a mohawk on top and no matter what I do with it, that hair will NOT lie down!  

People keep asking me if I'm going to keep it short or if I'm going to cover up all that white and gray and my answer is:  Who knows?  I've never wanted to be a gray-headed grandmother, but hey!  You just never know.  I think I need to wait and see what it looks like when it grows a little more.  But dang ... ANY hair is better than no hair at all!

So, enough about me!  Here is a recent photo of Sophia and my guy, Charlie.  He's the HAPPIEST baby.

This is cute, adorable Walt ...

Beautiful, adorable Charlotte ...

And the oldest of them all, my wonderful Clark.

Oh, my ... how I adore these kids!

I'M DONE!!

January 31, 2012

I took down my white flag and finished radiation!  My radiation oncologist let me take a week off, thank GOD.  It was amazing that after the week off, my skin had healed a great deal and the final four treatments didn't make my skin any worse.  I am beyond thrilled that both chemo and radiation are behind me.

I still have the miracle drug (Herceptin) infusions every three weeks until July.  One caveat, though:  Herceptin is hard on the heart so my doctor does a heart ultrasound every three months.  I've had two echoes that were normal, but the last echo showed my numbers had dropped.  If they get any lower, I'll have to stop Herceptin.  Of course, this concerns me a great deal, but I'm just going to believe that my next echo will be fine.  The doctor is ordering another echo in two months, rather than in three.  That makes me feel so much better!

Here are some new pictures of my guy, Charlie.  He's five months old now and is the sweetest little guy in the world.

And here is a picture of how much my hair has grown.  It's grown even more since I took this picture!  It's so fun to watch it come in because it's coming back really FAST!!  Just a few months ago I was almost completely bald. There's never a dull moment and as they say ... cancer is the gift that keeps on giving!

ouch, Ouch, OUCH!

January 15
OK ... I'm waving my white flag.  Enough.  Radiation is brutal and although I've had 20 treatments and 1 boost, I think I'm refusing the final 4 boosts.  I have open sores now.  Yuck.  They hurt and the thought of adding more pain on top of this pain is just too overwhelming.  There's something to be said about quality of life and right now, the quality of my life isn't that great.  I'm just not going to take it anymore!!!

I had a great Christmas and I hope all of you did as well.  The radiation drags you down, so I didn't have as much energy as I usually do and that part was a bummer, but still, I enjoyed most of it.  Here are some pictures from December:

My granddaughters, Sophia and Charlotte, on Christmas Eve.  I can't believe how tall Sophia is and she's only two years older than Charlotte!  She looks almost like a pre-teen!  Love these precious girls.

Walt had been crying because he couldn't have a candy cane.  Now he has his candy cane!

My guy, Charlie, is dreaming about asking a question.  Haha!

Clark went in the bathroom and came back with the toilet paper roll shaped like a heart.  It was his way of telling me that he loves me!  We laughed and laughed and laughed.  He's so creative!

All the stockings were hung by the chimney with care ... (and yes, I needlepointed all but three of them.  My mother needlepointed Jason's, Ryan's, and Emily's.)