Monday 7/25/11
Today was my first day back at work. For those of you who don't know - I work from home, so while the commute is short but the days can be very long. While it was clear that I still have a lot of emails to sift through - it was a great day. It is good to catch up with co-workers.
On a totally different subject Matt has had some foot pain that he has attributed to a bad case of "turf toe". He went into the clinic and upon his return told me he had a diagnosis - he had a little drawing in his hand - pictured below.
I asked, "Is this how they do X-Rays now a days?" he responded, "Yes".
He had a fancy name for his condition but basically it is a broken foot. It is a broken foot that he has probably had for many years - that is totally crazy. His options are as follows: Continue managing the pain as he had for the last few years or surgery. He is opting to manage the pain himself and he plans to do a long run this weekend. That sounds crazy to me -- but what do I know. :)
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| Matt's Doctor gave him this drawing of his broken bone (top is a healthy bone and bottom is a broken bone) |
Sunday 7/24/11
This morning Matt gave me a haircut, my last hair cut was 7/3 which was 3 weeks ago and while my hair growth is promising it is coming in a lot thinner then my hair was prior to chemo. I am hoping that in a few months I will have enough hair to get an actual hair style.
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| Top of my head (3 weeks worth of growth) |
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| Back of my head (3 weeks worth of growth) |
This afternoon we attended Ryder's Birthday Party -- he is 1 year old today. For a one year old - Ryder knows how to throw a party ... he had snow cones, food, a moon walk and a piñata (just kidding Vera - I know that you had to do all that because Ryder is only 1).
We were able to catch up with lots of adventure racing peeps and Ryder had a lot of little friends show up - it was a great time. I would have had a better time if I could jump in the moon walk but needless to say - that is probably not the best move considering I am still wearing the steri-strips to keep my stitches closed.
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| Ryder and his cousins cooling off before the party started |
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| Bounce House Rules My favorite is # 11 - Do not allow animals in unit |
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| Bounce House - yup that is a truck on the top of it |
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| Sadly ... This is as far inside of the Bounce House I could go |
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| Ryder inside the Bounce House with his Grandma |
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| Ryder taking down that pinata |
Saturday 7/23/11
Sade Concert
This evening Matt and I went to see SADE in concert. SADE's music is described as smooth jazz, soft rock or adult contemporary. I have a confession - I didn't really know much about Sade and having heard a few of her songs didn't know that much about her or much more about what to expect. Matt was the one interested in attending and I have been feeling a lot better in the last few days so I was happy to join him. A note about me and concerts or even music; while I appreciate music I don't love it as others do and definitely don't love it as Matt does. I have attended only a handful of concerts in my time: Dave Mathews Band, Gypsy Kings, Aerosmith and Prince (to date Aerosmith and Price were my favorites). But this evening was like nothing I had ever experienced. Sade is absolutely adored by her fans and after having attended this concert I am happy to say that I include myself in her fan base. Attending this concert is fabulous - it is a production much more like a play then a concert. She has a black screen as a backdrop of the stage and the entire time this screen is used to show videos and colors to show you the music. Her use of color and color changes were fabulous. The stage was changed several times and the band would either be lowered into the stage (making them invisible to the audience) or they were elevated into the stage. There was also a sheer curtain that surrounded the stage that they would lower throughout the concert that completely changed the experience.
Each of her outfits were very complementary and sexy. Her movement was incredibly controlled and intentional and made her even sexier. Sade is in her early 50s (52) and she looks much younger - she is very beautiful. Many of her songs are about love - but the power in her performance was remarkable.
As the concert ended she introduced every member of her band (super classy). The concert lasted quite a long time and in my opinion was a great experience from beginning to end. I really enjoyed myself and would happily go see her again. Thanks for a fabulous evening Matt ... and of course Sade :)
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| Matt and I in the Toyota Center Parking Garage |
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| Matt and I in Front and Sade in the back |
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| Sade - Looked like it was snowing inside (AWESOME) |
Friday 7/22/11
Another walk this evening with my neighbor Angela on the local bike trail. While I am pretty sure I wrote in this blog last week that we did 3 or 3.5 miles - I used my heart rate monitor today and it is actually 4.7 miles and I burned almost 500 calories during today's walk ... sorry for the lies Angela :)
We knew we might get rained on today - but we went anyway and we did get rained on ... but the showers were brief and in all honesty we missed the rain once it stopped, because it was really hot.
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| Ready for a walk |
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| Strange bruise on my middle finger Not really sure what happened |
Thursday 7/21/11
Back to visit the Plastic Surgeons' Physicians Assistant (PA) - my stitches are healing nicely. I will see the Doctor next week and hope to get a little more info about when I will be cleared for radiation. I have healed enough for the PA to give me the green light to start stretching, this is great news because I do not have full range of motion back from the surgery. Losing range of motion is normal because of the fact that I have less skin. If stretching alone does not help me regain all motion - then I will require physical therapy, I should know fairly soon. Radiation has a certain requirement for flexibility as well so I will spend the next few weeks limbering up. :)
I haven't made it a secret that I have gained strength from my friends and family through this process. I have made it my business to avoid cancer support groups ... the idea of sitting in a room with other people and thinking about what we have lost or the sadness we all feel is not appealing to me, especially when the other support persons are a lot older then me (average age of patients with this condition is 55-65). I am sure support groups work for a lot of people - everyone is different. But tonight I made an exception to my own "No Support Group Rule". I heard that a support group out of Sugarland - called Survivors Offering Support (SOS) was having a guest speaker to discuss Lymphedema, so I attended. One of the biggest complaints I have had to date is that this is a disease that strikes women much older then me so most resources are built for that demographic and most women want to and are encouraged to hide the disease and their treatment. Tonight I learned about a company called Lymphedivas - a company that was started by a young breast cancer survivor working to make the living with Lymphedema more tolerable with fun compression sleeves and gloves. I learned a lot of great information tonight about the topic and the importance of prevention (not only treatment), which is never covered enough while getting treatment. I advise you to check out the company and be aware that lymphedema is a very serious and painful issue and can often be prevented.
Wednesday 7/20/11
Celebrating milestones is more important now then ever. Today a friend of mine Susan had her final Herceptin treatment. This is a medication that I will continue receiving via my Power Port (liquid chemo medicine) for one year - this is called Herceptin maintenance. I haven't started my Herceptin maintenance yet, but I thought it was important to celebrate Susan's final Herceptin treatment so I went to the clinic to be with her as this medicine was administered. I have spoken of Susan before, she and her husband and such great people and Matt and I are lucky to know them. I gave Susan a hand made SuperMonkey Scarf and she loved it. We love you Susan and you look fabulous!!
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| Susan and I (yes she is wearing the scarf I made her) |
Tuesday 7/19/11
Today it was raining outside and I decided to wear my monkey booties as I made myself a hot chocolate ... by the way if you like Mexican hot chocolate or even if you have never had it there is a brand called "Abuelita" in individual packages and it tastes almost as good as the kind my mom used to make when I was young. It does run a little thick so don't try it if you prefer light chocolate.
Our friend Vera stopped in for a visit today and brought lunch... By the way she is also the friend that gave me the monkey booties post surgery. It was great to visit with Vera :)
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| Abuleita Hot Chocolate |
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| Monkey Booties |
Stay Tuned for More SuperMoney Adventures,
Nancy
AKA: SuperMonkey
"Luck is a dividend of sweat. The more you sweat, the luckier you get."
- Ray Kroc (the man behind McDonalds)
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