Birthday Lunch

My little shorty.

Brookie Cake

My daughter made me a Brownie/ Cookie cake. Yum!

Happy Birthday, Me!

Yup, the big day is here.  I'm 38... woo hoo!  Yes, I am excited to be 38.  I'm excited to be alive.  Excited to not have cancer.  No, I'm absolutely ELATED to not have cancer!

Not doing much today, just going to relax and continue to enjoy life.  Maybe I'll get really ambitious and do some cleaning.  Woo hoo, big crazy plans.  :)

Thanks once again to all that have emailed to wish me well.  Each and every email I get brings me such joy and comfort... so, thank you!

Never Give Up

Health Update August 14

Hello all,

Here is the latest update on the giant tumor in my belly:

I have had a battery of tests, including a biopsy of my uterus, all of which have come back normal!  Thank God, <taking a moment to actually thank Him>.  It is not cancer, and that makes me grateful beyond grateful.  I can handle anything with a smile on my face knowing I'm not battling the dreaded 'C' word.

Surgery to have a full hysterectomy and remove the tumor/tumors and my uterus was scheduled for this coming Monday, August 19th, but upon further testing, that has been postponed because my thyroid levels are dangerously low, and with good reason, my doctor will not perform the surgery until that is under control.  So, a tiny little pill every day to sort that out is all I have to do, and once I'm back to "normal" we will reschedule the surgery.

I am very excited to have this surgery.  I have wanted my uterus gone for many years.  These fibroid tumors run in my family, and I have known I have at least two for some time now, so I figured one day it would be a good idea to just have it taken out.  That day has come. 

It's nice to fully understand why I've been feeling so awful these past couple of years.  The weakness is explained by the tumor and my severe hypothyroidism.  Actually, all of my recent symptoms are explained away by both of these issues, and it's really great knowing that will be fixed.  My doctor is also referring me to a neurologist after my surgery to take a look at my condition and see if there is any way we can fix that too :)))

All in all, this is a good development in my life.  I have a lot to do, and will have some recovery time after the surgery, but that's a walk in the park compared to what it could have been.  I wake every morning with a smile on my face and thank God for sparing me.  I'm not done being a mommy to my beautiful daughter yet, and I want to see my grand babies and do a lot more in this life -- whether I can walk normal or not.

Thank you to all of you who have already sent me well wishes!  I appreciate it so much, and it's so nice to know there are so many wonderfully caring people in this world!

Never Give Up

It All Makes Sense Now

All of my dizzy spells, weakness, lack of energy, sugar cravings, back pain, wacky periods; it all adds up to this giant parasite in my body.  I've been carrying around this thing for God knows how long, and it's taking all my energy. It's draining the life right out of me.

I can't wait for it to be gone. I hope it's in my uterus and they take that too. I've wanted that gone for a couple years now. I feel like it just doesn't need to be there. I'm too old to have more babies, and my body too broken. So, let's pray this is a fybroid tumor in my uterus and they can just take out the whole kit and caboodle!

Never Give Up

Meet My New Friend

This is a picture of my abdominal area while laying flat on my back. That bulge you see is not fat; that is a tumor the size of my head. It was discovered by ultrasound and CT scan yesterday and was labeled more than once, and by more than one person and machine, as a "huge pelvic mass".

You know it's gonna be a long road ahead when the doctor examining you feels this bowling ball in your stomach and actually says, "holy shit". 
 

It's so big they were unable to get a clear enough picture to determine which organ, or organs, it's actually possessing, so they will have to open me up and go from there. Fun.
 

So, I will keep you all posted on this latest attempted hostile takeover of my body, and my subsequent fight to the death! ;-)
 

Never Give Up
 

Long Time Gone

Wow, I realized today that I haven't posted anything worthwhile in a very long time, yet again.  I don't know why I keep failing so miserably, but I would like to apologize again.  Life just seems to go by so quickly anymore.

I'm not sure how I'm doing, exactly.  I feel like I'm at such a stale-mate.  I am having a really hard time getting motivated lately, and I don't know if it's because of a little bit of depression, or maybe health issues, or both.  Whatever it is, I want it to stop, and I want to feel good and have energy and want to do things again.

I had an idea today for something that might work at getting me moving around more.  I've been addicted to Pinterest lately, and I have a board called "Food" that has upwards of 300 recipes on it so far.  I was thinking I would start with at least 1 recipe a week; make the dish, take a picture of it, post it here with my awesome wordiness attached, and then move it to a new board called "Finished", or something along those lines.  I think it might be a good way to get me out of the house to get the ingredients, then of course moving around the kitchen to create whatever fabulous dish is up for that week, and maybe even some more exercise if I decide to share it and bring it to friends so I don't end up 300 pounds by the end of it all.  And if I really got motivated I could do more than 1 a week, maybe even 3!  I don't know.  It's an idea.

What I do know is something needs to change for me, and I'm the only one who can make the changes.  So, I better get my ass in gear and figure out what I'm going to do.  I'm starting to get a little moldy like my apartment.