15 Down!

15 down.....quite a few more to go. Definitely seeing some pink, and there's a blistering area under my arm already. I went to see my Onc last week and my white counts are starting to fall, so I've got to start being a little more careful about not getting sick. I get tired, but over all I'm still feeling pretty good. Just hoping that will last a little longer so I can feel good for Tawnni's graduation. On that note, I think it's time for a little cat nap!

Green Envy!

I'm still feeling good! I'm headed out for number 11 in a bit and just a bit of a tan in the area they are radiating. I'm sure that will change, but for now.....all is good.

We went to Laughlin for a couple of days, thanks to our wonderful friends Lynn and Sam. We hung out at the river this time because their boat decided to quit. Everyone got to do a little jet skiing and Sam barbecued. It was nice to get away finally. I hadn't been away from the house overnight for about 9 months.....well, except for that 2 night stay at the hospital, but I'm not calling that a vacation.

Since I started feeling better, I've been trying to go out in the yard at least a few times a week to de-hillbillie the house. Of course, John has had to do some of the heavy stuff, but it's starting to pay off. My grass is green and starting to fill in. Large, shrub-like weeds are being eliminated. The fort/swing that the kids have grown out of is gone - sold it on craigslist. I think I had 25 people email me about that fort. Gotta love craigslist for that kind of stuff. John has to go clear weeds on the hillside this week for the fire clearance. I think he's really looking forward to that ;-)

Well, gotta go check on a couple of short sales, then I'm off to the art gallery (cancer center)!

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ..........

6 down, 29 to go! I'm in my second week of radiation and I'm already sooooo fatigued. I go in at 3 each afternoon for radiation and I do fine until then (I keep wanting to spell radiation with an extra I RAIDiation - you know, the stuff you use to kill bugs?). But, afterwards, it's like I had been at the beach in the scorching sun for 5 hours.....I get so tired. I scheduled the appointment late in the day on purpose so I'd have plenty of time in the morning and early afternoon to get work done. By the way, do you know anyone that's been looking for a bald realtor? I know one that's eager to work!

I've been going to bed around 7 alot lately. So, it's getting late.....nighty - night!

GRRRRR!

Good Morning! I haven't posted for a while because I've been so darn grouchy. I think starting radiation treatments made me feel a bit anxious and out of control. For a self-admitted control freak this whole cancer thing has been challenging, to say the least. At times, I've wanted to throw myself on the ground kicking and screaming in full on toddler tantrum mode! Nice mental picture, eh?

So, I went in Monday and they told me it was a "dry run". The technician used my neck as his personal etch-a-sketch. He actually used 2 different colored Sharpies and drew all over me. Of course, my it's luck that one of them was a red sharpie. The kids thought I was bleeding from my neck when I got home. It occurred to me that Sharpies, being permanent ink, must have some really great chemicals in them. Can't the medical field come up with anything better to "tag" their patients with? This is about the 4th time I've had a doctor draw all over me with a Sharpie. Did I mention that I had my surgeon's initials on each side of my chest for about a month? That was right before surgery, and I wasn't into scrubbing that area for quite a while, so the ink lasted a long time. Fun times!Yesterday I had the first treatment of my daily treatments through the end of June. Pretty uneventful, nothing to report.

While I was sitting here writing this, the phone keeps ringing. An Ondulando pool call, 2 real estate calls, mom, Janis, and the doctor's office just called to let me know my BRCA results are in. Negative. That's good news for Kyla and my someday grandkids. My cancer could still be genetic, but it's not one of the genes scientists have identified so far.

On another note, I'll be walking the Survivor Lap at the local Relay for Life this Saturday. Thank you to those who donated. Special thanks to Lynn at Boku Superfoods for pushing me over my goal!

Conspiracy Theories

Conspiracy theorists are having a field day with this one. A decision has been made not to release photos, they are just too graphic. There's a rumor swirling that all this is a big cover up. But, I can assure you, I was not one of the Navy Seals that took down Osama Bin Laden (Usama Bin Laden for you nutty Fox watchers). So, if you've seen me lately......please accept that my current hair style has nothing to do with joining the Navy....it's just starting to grow back!

On another related note, I got this huge survey in the mail called the American Community Survey. It asks a ton of personal information about the dwellers in our household. Here's some of the questions:

First and Last name, age, date of birth
Annual costs for utilities, insurance, and real estate taxes
Married, divorced, widowed, never married
How MANY times married and the year last married
What location did this person work LAST WEEK
What TIME does this person leave for work
For whom does this person work
Income in the past 12 months
Self-employment income in past 12 months
Interest, dividends, rental income, etc in past 12 months

Check out this question: Because of physical, mental, or emotional condition, does this person have serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions?

Did I mention that on the cover it says that all questions are required to be answered, by law? WTH? Why does my government need to know how many times I've been married? At first, I thought this was a hoax and someone with bad intentions was collecting information to use it in evil ways. But, it seems that it's for real. The evil doer is our government. Check out the website at http://www.census.gov/acs/www/
I don't think our government should be collecting information like this about me. There's a ton more things I think our government shouldn't be doing, but I'm feeling pretty strong about this one. So, call me a conspiracy theorist if you must, but that survey is currently in the round file.

So, I'm thinking....if it's required that I answer these questions, by law, what do you think they will do to me when they find out I chucked it in the trash and then wrote about it on the internet? Think it might be worse than cancer? Might get me out of a few radiation treatments......

Totally Rad!

It's been awhile. I've really been feeling pretty good this past couple of weeks......and I've really enjoyed it. I'm getting back to working, and I've been able to do some things that I enjoy too, like gardening, cooking, and seeing friends. Maybe that's why I burst into tears after I hung up the phone with the radiation nurse. She called to tell me they are ready for me to start and gave me a choice of Monday or Tuesday. I knew it was coming, but I guess I'm taking that live for the moment a bit too far right now. I'm so ready to be done with this cancer thing!

I also went for a follow up appointment regarding reconstruction. I'm being told that implants are not an option for me because of the radiation. The skin will get damaged and may not hold the implant. The alternative is a flap reconstruction that uses fat from another part of the body to reconstruct and I know I have plenty of that to spare...BUT, I like it where it is and don't really feel like swapping my full grown belly pooch for sweater puppies! That said, I think I'm going to look for a second opinion on this one.

On that note, I've got some work to get done on a couple of short sales. Did I mention how much I LUV short sales?