Families are Forever

Today Amy went with me to my appointment. It was nice to just have her there and to introduce her to some of the people that I am with everyday. I went a bit early so that I could give a card to one of the girls there. Today was her last day of treatment. She is a very young mom and has already been through chemo, mastectomy and radiation and she also still had a smile on her face every day. I am constantly amazed at the strength of many of these women. In her card, I told her now that she has beat cancer at such a young age, she can handle anything else that life gives her. I pray that she and her sweet family will be able to heal and go on to have a very healthy and happy life. That is the trick with cancer, not to let it ruin your life or destroy your dreams.

I had a friend yesterday come by and she asked me an interesting question. She said " when you get through with your radiation treatments is...your cancer cured? "  Well, that is the question of the year! I explained to her that no one knows if the cancer is gone or just in some temporary remission. One of the frustrating things about chemo or radiation there isn't a test afterwards that measures, or checks to see if you still have cancer or if your particular treatment got it all. There is way too much guessing when it comes to cancer. So if you ask me when I am done with my treatments...IS YOUR CANCER GONE NOW? I will say yes! You mine as well be positive!

Before dinner I had to go and dig out my flannel pillow and put it under my arm again. It really hurts to put my arm down at all now. When I took off the gel pad this morning after my treatment, more skin keeps peeling off. Gee, I found it hard to do much tonight because of the pain. The hard part is that they want you to stay active and keep using that arm so that it won't get too stiff and you lose mobility in it ,and yet they don't want you to do too much because the movement causes friction between your arm and your side and so...that makes it worse.

I was grateful that John came here after work and we were all able to have dinner together tonight. The only bad part is we miss Brad and Krystal. It's funny, when I get in a lot of pain or really down...I just want all my family near by. I guess because they bring the greatest joy in my life. I was able to talk to Brad and see how his classes are coming along and also Krystal to see what she has been up to? It is fun to be able to talk to her so easy, I am thankful that she is part of our family, she is an amazing girl and so talented and sweet. I only wish that they lived closer so that they could come over for dinner and do some family activities with us. So grateful for cell phones.

Well, I need to head to bed, thank you for being my friends and family. I really do feel your love and support and some days I depend on that MORE than you will ever know. I will leave with a photo of all of us at Brad and Krystal's reception in January. We meant to get more photos, but the evening went by fast, lots of people to visit with and Angie wasn't feeling well at all. But at least we are all together. Good night!

 

"In each family a story is playing itself out, and each family's story embodies its hope and despair."

___Auguste Napier

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family:
Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one."  ___Jane Howard

"To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right."  ___Confucius