June 5, 2011

Sunday 6/5/11

I woke up feeling a little under the weather today.  I feel like I may have caught some kind of bug.  On Friday I was told that I have a mild UTI and I started an antibiotic yesterday to treat it.  Long and short I thought the antibiotic was making me feel sick - but after calling the on call doctor I learned that my symptoms were not attributed to the antibiotic.  So the plan is to continue the medication.  

Matt and I went to the "Italian Fest" at the George R Brown today.  We were able to see our friends from Houston SuperBikes and Metric Motorcycles.  There was a fashion show that was pretty interesting, started with dresses made from trash, including trash bags and even a monopoly board - it was pretty cool.  The rest of the fashion was pretty normal for a runway.  We had lunch and it was overall a nice afternoon.  A couple of fun pictures from today below.    

Matt and I outside of the George R Brown
was hot and sunny today

Monopoly outfit - this model's top was made of the
Monopoly board and her hair piece was Monopoly money

Me on the Vespa -- still trying to convince Matt that it suits me :)

The New Fiat and I
(this car probably weighs less then my motorcycle)

Saturday 6/4/11

Today was a very active day.  Matt had another track day and hit the road very early.  This time I stayed back, because I had a bridal shower to attend.  The bridal shower was for Stephanie, she and Mark are getting married in a couple of weeks.  As most bridal showers go this one was full of games with Stephanie's family and friends.  Stephanie and Mark are good friends and have been very supportive through this difficult time and we have really appreciated it.  

Matt reported a good day at the track today - but it was very, very hot and I think this impacted how much time he was able to spend on the bike today.  He reported an overall great day and seems that he had a lot of fun.     

Matt and I ended the day with a movie "Hangover II".  It was a funny movie and I think they did a good job - but in my opinion not as good as the first movie.

Stephanie and I at the party

Friday 6/3/11

It's all about timing.  

So I am currently hanging out waiting for surgery and I have to have my port flushed / used once a month.  As it turns out they will not be using my port during surgery - so today I stopped into the clinic to have my port flushed.  It was great to see the infusion nurses.  I will always feel a special connection with the staff at Kelsey Seybold's Infusion Clinic.  I wished the crew of nurses a good weekend and will see them again next month.  

Wednesday 6/1/11

Today I went into the office and it was nice to see my co-workers.  So at this point more and more people at the office know about my diagnosis and treatment.  My friend Vera and I work together and today I was able to have lunch with her.  She said something interesting.  She said that while she is curious about what I have going on she has to remind herself that I am still just  "My friend Nancy".  I honestly have learned a lot about other people since all this began and it isn't until this moment that I realized that those who don't ask me about my treatment or the disease are working really hard to keep things normal.  I can really appreciate this but I also understand that no everyone wants to openly talk about Cancer.  I personally appreciate the value of sharing my story with others and I invite others to talk about it when appropriate.  That being said I don't want people to feel like I am the Cancer patient who can talk about nothing else but Cancer.  I have other thoughts and feelings and interests.  Vera's effort to keep things normal is appreciated and I totally understand that even talking about Cancer can be scary and can feel intrusive.  Let it be known that SuperMonkeys don't mind talking about it, I have always been known to talk too much and this is no different. :)

Monday 5/30/11

Happy Memorial Day!!

Just another track day ... or is it?

So today was another track day and it is pretty easy for these to start blending together but this one was different.  

I previously mentioned our friends Mark and Stephanie and the fact that the summer days are getting hotter.  Well Mark did something pretty cool - literally - he bought a toy hauling trailer that has Air Conditioning.  It is a pretty awesome trailer and they expect to get quite a bit of use out of the trailer.  Mark hauled up Matt's bike and was kind enough to share his trailer amenities with us today.  Matt and I couldn't let this type of kindness go unnoticed so we went shopping the night before and we found a few house warming gifts (aka: trailer warming gifts) among the gifts:  fake plants, pinwheels, flags in commemoration of memorial day and traveling gnomes.  Of all the gifts I loved the gnomes the most and I think they will get the most attention in all the trips that Mark and Stephanie take in this trailer.  

I played around with different photo angles the one below is my favorite (see picture below of Matt, with the bike and the gnomes)   :)

Matt and the Gnome :)

Matt in a corner at Texas World Speedway

Matt and Mark in front of Mark's new traveling home
Gnomes on the fake grass

Making Friends

Today while at the track someone recognized me.  Matt has been doing lots of things like informing forums when I post updates. 

Today I met Steve from a local motorcycle forum and I am reminded of how connected we all are.  He and I spoke of what is considered "the appropriate" response to a cancer patient.  I honestly don't think any one cancer patient knows the appropriate response to all cancer patients - I think it is different for everyone.  Steve actually greeted me by saying that he recognized me from my blog and advised that I keep up the good work.  To me positive words such as these are welcomed and encouraged.  

In talking to Steve he spoke of an article / author who had strong reaction to people saying they would "pray" for him.  I can't remember the authors' name but I will say this - people saying they will pray for me or that they will light a candle for me or that they are thinking of me ... these are all good things.  Whether it is God that decides who gets cancer and who doesn't it all happens for a reason.  I believe I have mentioned this before - that I haven't gone through Kubler Ross' 5 Stages of Grief (Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance) and now that I am here - facing a disease that is completely capable of taking my life now or in the future I don't feel denial, anger or a need to bargain for more time.  Instead I feel accepting of what Cancer has to teach me.  I have come to view Cancer as the best opponent I have ever known.  Cancer is not a joke - it should be taken seriously.  Cancer is pretty strong - so strong in my case (and many other cases) that my doctors are using poison (chemo) to kill it, conducting surgery to remove it and radiation to make sure it doesn't hang around in my body.  Cancer is recognized by most people in the medical community as being one of the "worst diagnosis" you can have.  In short Cancer is probably the meanest, biggest, most ruthless bully on the playground.  When I learned of my opportunity to fight this bully I embraced it as the most important challenge of my life.  I am by no means the strongest person to go up against Cancer ... but I have learned a lot from Cancer.  At the end of the day I am happy to say that I will never be the same.  I will continue to respect the disease and know that my strong spirit is more powerful then the medicine any doctor could prescribe.  My family and friends continue to feed my efforts and make this challenge a little easier.  

Sunday 5/29/11

Since we only recently decided to use the Xerox as a track bike Matt has transformed the bike with track fairings and we have had the carbon fiber fairings boxed up but today was the day that the fairings made it into the attic.  Perfect recipe for a little belated spring cleaning (our house is pretty small so any liquidation helps keep things organized).  

Saturday 5/28/11

Matt has always and forever loved Ducati Motorcycles but only within the last few years have we actually owned a Ducati.  Matt's Ducati love affair started with his Paul Smart - a bike that is styled to look like a 1970s race bike.  Matt recently decided to sell this bike and our friends at Houston Super Bikes helped him in this effort, Matt's Paul Smart has been sold and found a new home.  As of today Matt is the proud owner of his 2nd Ducati a Hypermotard which is currently in the shop getting a few things done prior to coming home.  Pictures coming later.  

Stay tuned for more Super Monkey Adventures,

Nancy

AKA:  SuperMonkey

"If you worried about falling off the bike, you'd never get on."

 - Lance Armstrong