Life: the good, bad & metastatic breast cancer

Dad

2008-08-13T00:19:00.004-04:00

My dad spent yesterday at the oncologist getting treatment for a blood disorder,(polycythemia vera he has too many red blood cells in his blood and his blood is like sludge causing organ problems) my dad is pretty sick sometimes but he never lets you know how bad he feels. He is always there for me and his grandson. He is a great man and I admire him so much although I probably don't tell him that often enough. I would be lost without him and all his help. Which got me thinking about the the Blogging for Blood Cancer. Remember Blogging for Blood Cancer Find the date and time of your Light the night walk!

2008-08-09T00:13:00.003-04:00

The first annual “Blogging for Blood Cancer” event will take place from August 11-18, 2008. This first time event will bring bloggers from across the United States together to raise awareness for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and its mission to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma society is a wonderful organization I have been involved with in the past. My dear friend has survived 2 bouts of Leukemia and she was a huge help when I was dx with breast cancer.

All bloggers participating will have the opportunity to be entered to win prizes donated by event sponsors by leaving a Mr. Linky link on the Goodies for Mom post for the event. The event post will go up on August 11, 2008 at 8:00am. Even if you do not have a blog, visitors to the Goodies for Mom and Friends of Heroes blogs during the week will also have opportunities to win as they learn more about the importance of LLS’s research and patient services in the fight against blood cancer.

Life is so good.

2008-08-07T23:28:00.003-04:00

Spent the last few days floating in the ocean letting the waves carry us. We are so lucky to live in a place with the Ocean at our doorstep. Got good news that my bone scan showed no cancer just osteopenia. Gotta finally start drinking milk. Still don't know what the pain is from but as long as its not cancer I will deal. My son finally jumped into the deep end of the pool without crying at swim lessons!!! Way to go. A great leson to live by sometimes you just have to dive into the deep end.

My friend's oncologist told her, he thought it might be possible for cancer to fizzle away in our bodies. I have been thinking about that a lot today. Am I wasting time waiting for the other shoe to drop? I think of it as a chronic disease. But no cancer even when the establishment tells us we are incurable. I can't quite wrap my head around that. Any thoughts?????

One of them nights

2008-08-02T11:48:00.002-04:00

I am not an expert in child development but my son is now 8 and has started to realise that bad things happen to people. Sometimes watching a news story about a storm and he will get upset that people had floods etc.. He has talked about what it means to die when talking about Communion in church and Jesus dying. Last night he walked in while a story was on my television about a man who may of died from a spider bite. He was very upset and once cuddled up on the sofa together, he started crying. He is afraid of dying and afraid I will die. I explained how if anything happened to me, he would be taken care of, that I would watch him grow up from heaven, we acknowledged how sad we would be, but I also tried to explain that small things like spider bites don't normally kill people, that a cut on his leg wouldn't harm him. I guess what struck me most is that he doesn't really understand that the cancer could kill me. Despite how upsetting the conversation was, How hard it is as a parent to see your child lose a bit of their innocence as they realise the real word can be an unfair bad place. I was happy to have this one moment where it wasn't about the cancer.

Welcome

2008-07-30T23:00:00.002-04:00

Hi,

I have tried keeping a journal over the last 6 years. Mainly for my son. The other night after losing another journal, my hubby suggested I just do it online. I have never blogged but thought hmmm maybe that is a good idea. (Don't let him know I think he had a good idea, I may never hear the end of it). I have decided to do this for 3 reasons really:

1. My son. I want him to know how proud I am of him and leave a legacy of words and guidance for him.

2. Lately a few friends have been dxed with breast cancer. I really enjoy helping others out during their cancer journey.

3. When I found out I had mets, I immediately thought I was going to die. In fact one doctor gave me 26 months but that was October of 2002. I would like to share some hope with others, that yes there are many of us living with mets.

This blog doesn't have a clear cut direction yet and it may never. I figure it will cover being a mom, family, breast cancer, friendship, fears and who knows what else. Oh yeah, one more thing. I am a sweeper a die hard enter contests sweeper, so there will be giveaways too!!!!!

So give me your ideas, input, suggestions.

Thanks,
Kelly