I got in! I got my acceptance letter in the mail today. I am one of 90 students accepted into one of the best nursing schools around this area. I started going to school in 2005. I finished up 2 years of prerequisites. During my final class in 2007 I was quite sick and just waiting for my diagnosis. I had made it to EVERY class up until the very last one which was the final. Their policy was if you missed the final you went down a full letter grade. It was an algebra class and I already had an A so if I missed I would get a B. I couldn't even get out of bed though. I couldn't hardly breathe so I called my teacher and told her the situation. She said "You know, it's not like you have a cold or something. I am giving you the A." So I love that teacher to this day! She didn't have to and I thank her. I truly would have just taken the B as all thoughts were just focused on breathing.
2007 was spent being pregnant, chemo treatments, and giving birth. Radiation began 2008 and then of course just living day to day, constant follow up appointments and Gabbi had her checkups too. I knew I needed only another Algebra class or two depending on the college I chose, and a Human Growth and Development Psychology class as a prerequisite. I had all the classes needed to apply for nursing school. So now that Gabbi was over one year of age, I decided to go for it. I have been SO nervous. We had to write an essay on why we wanted to become a nurse. I knew I wanted to be a nurse for awhile. I didn't know what field I wanted to work in. Then I got sick. Now there is no question. I am destined to be an oncology nurse. You see, on my first day of chemo a beautiful young nurse came up to me. I was feeling very sick, and very scared. She informed me she was 23....and a Hodgkin's Lymphoma survivor. I couldn't believe it. She didn't look like she had ever been sick a day in her life! She was beautiful, had all her hair and just was the picture of health. I asked if she had lost her hair (because she had the same treatment I was having) and she said yes, she had lost it all. She gave me hope that day. She probably doesn't have a clue...but seeing her standing there healthy at the end of all of this was just what I wanted to see. I am now ready to pay it forward! I want to be that inspiration to others. I am rambling because I am so excited. I tore open the letter very nervously and the first word was "Congratulations". The dancing and shrieking in my house could probably be heard for miles and miles!
*Do NOT forget to enter my giveaway!!! Read post below and comment to enter! It's not a hard one to enter...just leave a comment saying how you would use the 250 postcards you could win! It's so simple. Repost on your blog with links to gain a second entry...just scroll down or click here and enter!
http://pregnantcancer.blogspot.com/2009/04/my-very-first-giveaway.html
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Sunny Weather, Follow Up Getting Closer!
It looks like the weather is making a turn for the better here finally. The sun has been shining for 2 days now and they are calling for pretty nice temps this weekend. I am supposed to go out for a friend's birthday and quite frankly I am pretty excited. I am so ready to go out without needing a 10 pound coat and freezing to death. My birthday/New Years Eve party was awful. It was maybe 10 degrees outside. We walked about 2 blocks to a club that ended up having a $40 cover charge PER person so we laughed at them, told them they were nuts and turned around going back to where we were before....all with no jacket, no coat....just a sleeveless tank top and a skirt. Yeah I'd rather not do that ever again in my whole life. I am surprised I didn't get frost bitten. I am so ready for summer. I say it a lot. I actually say it so much that I wonder why I do not move somewhere warmer.
As the weather warms up it reminds me that May is drawing ever closer. My follow up appointment is May 8th. I am pretty excited and nervous at the same time. I know very simply that my chest and neck are not the same as they were before. I am thinking maybe I am starting to accept it. I always felt after I got better that I'd just feel exactly as I used to but I don't. I still have trouble taking in deep breaths sometimes. I run out of breath often when I eat. OK. I don't so much run out of breath as feel like I have to take a whole lot of deep breaths when I do eat. I am not sure why it happens more when I eat and my oncologist thought I was nuts when I told him this last time but it's so true. I feel the lump in my throat about 50 to 75% more after I eat a large meal. I also have to stop and yawn or take deep full breaths. Is this not insane? It's totally true though. I hate it. I really do. My hubby always notices the deep inhales when I eat. It's just how I am now. Those things and the occasional pressure, not to mention the very rare wheeze gets me into full on panic mode. I realize everyone will make a wheezy sound now and again but for ME it's such a scary thing. I wish I didn't live with the fear every day that it could come back. I think more of my beautiful family and my poor hubby who would have such a difficult time adjusting without me. So I must stay well for that reason alone. I hope this CAT scan and ECHO give me the peace of mind that I need and I can just start accepting the changes in my body and begin to just adjust and live with those changes instead of always thinking something is wrong or hoping it will get better. I can't hold breaths singing as well as I used to. The veins in my neck bulge and I despise it. I can't help it. The tumor was wrapped around the major veins in my neck. I will always have scar tissue in there forever. I wish I knew if that scar tissue was still on those veins. It would explain a lot. Regardless I doubt it will ever go back to "normal." I am accepting that perhaps this IS my normal now.
*Do NOT forget to enter my giveaway!!! Read post below and comment to enter! It's not a hard one to enter...just leave a comment saying how you would use the 250 postcards you could win! It's so simple. Repost on your blog with links to gain a second entry...just scroll down and enter!
As the weather warms up it reminds me that May is drawing ever closer. My follow up appointment is May 8th. I am pretty excited and nervous at the same time. I know very simply that my chest and neck are not the same as they were before. I am thinking maybe I am starting to accept it. I always felt after I got better that I'd just feel exactly as I used to but I don't. I still have trouble taking in deep breaths sometimes. I run out of breath often when I eat. OK. I don't so much run out of breath as feel like I have to take a whole lot of deep breaths when I do eat. I am not sure why it happens more when I eat and my oncologist thought I was nuts when I told him this last time but it's so true. I feel the lump in my throat about 50 to 75% more after I eat a large meal. I also have to stop and yawn or take deep full breaths. Is this not insane? It's totally true though. I hate it. I really do. My hubby always notices the deep inhales when I eat. It's just how I am now. Those things and the occasional pressure, not to mention the very rare wheeze gets me into full on panic mode. I realize everyone will make a wheezy sound now and again but for ME it's such a scary thing. I wish I didn't live with the fear every day that it could come back. I think more of my beautiful family and my poor hubby who would have such a difficult time adjusting without me. So I must stay well for that reason alone. I hope this CAT scan and ECHO give me the peace of mind that I need and I can just start accepting the changes in my body and begin to just adjust and live with those changes instead of always thinking something is wrong or hoping it will get better. I can't hold breaths singing as well as I used to. The veins in my neck bulge and I despise it. I can't help it. The tumor was wrapped around the major veins in my neck. I will always have scar tissue in there forever. I wish I knew if that scar tissue was still on those veins. It would explain a lot. Regardless I doubt it will ever go back to "normal." I am accepting that perhaps this IS my normal now.
*Do NOT forget to enter my giveaway!!! Read post below and comment to enter! It's not a hard one to enter...just leave a comment saying how you would use the 250 postcards you could win! It's so simple. Repost on your blog with links to gain a second entry...just scroll down and enter!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
My Very First Giveaway!
I am hosting my very first giveaway on this blog! I am very excited to be able to give my readers a chance to win an amazing prize. It is for 250 Postcards 4x6 14pt matte (color front, blank back)giveaway from MyPostcardPrinting.com! My Postcard Printing is an easy and affordable Postcard Marketing Solution. You can design, print and mail postcards from your own home or office. They offer high-quality printing at the lowest possible prices. Make sure you check them out!
To enter you must:
Leave a comment explaining how you would creatively use your 250 Postcards 4x6 14pt matte (color front, blank back)
To gain a second entry you can also:
Write a post on your blog linking the giveaway post here on my blog and also the sponsoring website My Postcard Printing.com.
Please note that shipping of prizes is free only in the US and Canada.
Please include your e-mail address so I can contact you if you win.
Another thing I thought of. Please let me know if you wrote a post to earn a second entry and link here to your post so I know to give you your second entry into the contest! Thanks.
Gabriella Being Her Cute Self
Gabriella just loves singing the Spongebob tune. She sings the chorus in her baby way and it's so cute to us all. I just grabbed my cellphone and took a short video of it. She usually wiggles the shoulders and hips but not this time. This time she almost seems to start talking or making up her own little language and ends with an unexpected raspberry. haha She is my little cutie.
Monday, April 20, 2009
For Those Who Haven't Seen It Yet
I massively changed my hair. Ok. It's massive to me. I put in all kinds of different colors. I have been pure blonde for oh....ever! haha So this is a big huge change for me. I felt it was time for a change. I needed to be brave. I am just glad that it didn't turn out awful. I love the cut. It's so much easier to style my hair. Everyone seemed to think I cut it a lot shorter on my other blog but I didn't. I got it trimmed only a bit. My hair has grown out a lot actually. If you remember my EC widget (for those with EC) it was very short! I had to cut it so short after chemo and now I am just ready for it to be at least laying on my shoulders. However I do love this cut she gave me so much. I told her choppy! I love choppy cuts with a razor and that's what she did. Here is the new hair!!
