My final results came in for my CT and my ECHO. And guess what? My heart is great...and I am still cancer free. They saw nothing in there. It's official. I am doing great!! What more is there to say? I think for today I'll just thank God for being cancer free, enjoy my family and my life. I move forward one day at a time. You never take a second for granted, knowing that you are cancer free you are scared to say it out loud. You are always afraid someone will take it away from you at any second. I just have to be thankful and live my life and not be scared. I need to just be me and not let it have control of my life. I beat it.
I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma just 2 weeks after learning I was pregnant with my fourth child. I was able to have chemotherapy while I was pregnant, deliver a healthy baby and eventually graduate from Nursing School. Class of December 2011! I am now 13 years in remission and my little girl Gabbi is 13 old. This blog tells our story.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
The Greatest Post Ever
My final results came in for my CT and my ECHO. And guess what? My heart is great...and I am still cancer free. They saw nothing in there. It's official. I am doing great!! What more is there to say? I think for today I'll just thank God for being cancer free, enjoy my family and my life. I move forward one day at a time. You never take a second for granted, knowing that you are cancer free you are scared to say it out loud. You are always afraid someone will take it away from you at any second. I just have to be thankful and live my life and not be scared. I need to just be me and not let it have control of my life. I beat it.
Farrah's Story, Bring on the Kleenex
I am sitting here reading her story located here Farrah's Story. I have known for awhile she had cancer. I am watching this documentary online and it's so hard. I can feel her pain and her fear. I cannot imagine what she is going through with all the added pain from the spread of her cancer and recurrence. I feel Ryan O'Neal's pain too. I can see my husband's pain in his eyes. It brings back much pain and memory and I sympathize with her as a person who knows at least some of what she is going through. I had wanted to watch it last night on TV but the hubby and I went out. I found it online today. Here is the link to the video: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/30772279#30773564.
If for any reason the links do not work, please let me know. I am saying here and now that my prayers and thoughts are with Farrah and all others out there that are going through the fear and torment that is cancer. That is to those experiencing it directly and all those that are affected by it. Because when a loved one gets cancer, it's like you have it yourself. The pain and uncertainty, the complete inability to help or to do anything for someone you care so much about is torment in itself.
Friday, May 15, 2009
It's Time I Posted About Adgitize
It's a great way to promote your blog. I normally do not do posts like this, especially on this blog which is centered on a topic close to my heart. I do however like to help out my fellow bloggers. I have tried a lot of ad programs to help advertise my blog. I have noticed a lot of my traffic is coming from Adgitize. I started out with them and got decent traffic and made a few cents a day. You get points for one article you write per day per blog. Then you can also earn 100 points a day by clicking on ads on other blogs. There are many ways to earn points. It is free but you can pay to be an advertiser for $14.00 per month. The funny thing? I earned enough to pay for it this past month. The month before I earned almost enough.
Payment Date: 4/8/2009 12:00:00 AM
Payment Amount: 13.62
Payment Type: PayPal
Payment Date: 5/6/2009 12:00:00 AM
Payment Amount: 20.75
Payment Type: PayPal
I realized I can always earn enough if I make sure I get all my points for the day and it's really not hard or very time consuming at all. I even profited a few bucks this past month. I heard one person got over $40 this month. The more people who sign up to advertise, the more those payments go up. I have used a lot of different things and SO far...I love Adgitize. I haven't had any issues. I am very pleased and have seen my earnings consistently go up. So try it out. Let me know how your experience with it goes. But if you want proof of the traffic you can check out my feedjit widget at the bottom of the page. Almost always you'll see that someone came from Entrecard or Adgitize. You can view the real time link and it will show you where everyone came from. I love that!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
More Thoughts on Healthy Eating
I want to clarify yesterday when I referred to no healthy diet will cure cancer I am referring to once you are already very sick there is nothing magical out there that will make it go away. If you have ever been that sick, you realize you will try about anything not necessarily even to save your life but to just feel better for 5 minutes.
I believe in healthy eating. I absolutely think many foods help fight the development of cancer. That is a great thing and by all means add those things to your diet. I just get a lot of spam ads. I get people trying to shove these diets down my throat (obviously thinking I still have cancer) like those teeth whitening ads you see everywhere. haha
Anyway I do try to eat healthy, but you know I am not going to stop living. It seems everything causes cancer these days. We can no longer enjoy anything. Every day we find out something else we did 25 years ago that can give us cancer now. You can't change anything. What's done is done. We can try to live NOW the best and most healthy as we possibly can but as I have stated before, I am not giving up everything. I will enjoy life and all it has to offer. If that means a cheeseburger every once in a while? I am having a cheeseburger.
I believe in healthy eating. I absolutely think many foods help fight the development of cancer. That is a great thing and by all means add those things to your diet. I just get a lot of spam ads. I get people trying to shove these diets down my throat (obviously thinking I still have cancer) like those teeth whitening ads you see everywhere. haha
Anyway I do try to eat healthy, but you know I am not going to stop living. It seems everything causes cancer these days. We can no longer enjoy anything. Every day we find out something else we did 25 years ago that can give us cancer now. You can't change anything. What's done is done. We can try to live NOW the best and most healthy as we possibly can but as I have stated before, I am not giving up everything. I will enjoy life and all it has to offer. If that means a cheeseburger every once in a while? I am having a cheeseburger.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Health Foods to Cure Cancer? I Don't Think So.
It's amazing how cruel some people are. Yes cruel. As soon as I was diagnosed with cancer it seems the ads came rolling in. I got them on my blogs. I got them in my e-mail. I got them from supposedly legitimate people. They would tell me to "open" my mind and try their diet to CURE my cancer. I have been told to stay away from the dangerous drugs and basically eat a diet of rabbit food and I'll be all better. What I have to say to these people is thanks for trying to kill me. No amount of juice, leaves, or anything else like that is going to destroy a tumor. At least not anything they have found yet. I had been given 3 weeks without treatment or I would have died. Should I have said no to drugs? Should I have said no to the medicine however harsh it may be, and eaten a diet that someone out there from God knows where created in hopes that the natural way would cure me? It's not going to.
I read recently about a young boy diagnosed with Hodgkin's whose mother let him have one treatment and is now making him change his diet in hopes it will cure him. She is killing him. There is no doubt. I do eat vegetables. My father is a gardener and always has been. I live in a small town where most people live off their gardens in the summer. My whole life I have been no stranger to vegetables. I love them. I love fruit. I love my bad foods too, but I do try to limit myself as anyone who knows me knows.
My point is if you send me a comment NOW offering your diet to cure me I know two things. Number one you did not read ANY of my blog because as I have stated in my tag line, at the top of my blog and everywhere else I am in remission. I have been now for a year. So that is the first turn off. Surprisingly I get these a lot. Number two, how can anyone in their right mind offer someone who is so sick and possibly dying a diet that is unproven and never cured cancer (or you would be rich and in every newspaper and magazine in the world for curing cancer). How can someone do that? You are no better than a murderer. You are doing it for a couple of bucks and taking advantage of someone at their weakest. So please, if I follow a diet it will be at my doctor's advice. I will follow the latest medical information if I need to. I won't be listening to your e-mails or comments that offer up some magical cure. All I can think is shame on you.
I read recently about a young boy diagnosed with Hodgkin's whose mother let him have one treatment and is now making him change his diet in hopes it will cure him. She is killing him. There is no doubt. I do eat vegetables. My father is a gardener and always has been. I live in a small town where most people live off their gardens in the summer. My whole life I have been no stranger to vegetables. I love them. I love fruit. I love my bad foods too, but I do try to limit myself as anyone who knows me knows.
My point is if you send me a comment NOW offering your diet to cure me I know two things. Number one you did not read ANY of my blog because as I have stated in my tag line, at the top of my blog and everywhere else I am in remission. I have been now for a year. So that is the first turn off. Surprisingly I get these a lot. Number two, how can anyone in their right mind offer someone who is so sick and possibly dying a diet that is unproven and never cured cancer (or you would be rich and in every newspaper and magazine in the world for curing cancer). How can someone do that? You are no better than a murderer. You are doing it for a couple of bucks and taking advantage of someone at their weakest. So please, if I follow a diet it will be at my doctor's advice. I will follow the latest medical information if I need to. I won't be listening to your e-mails or comments that offer up some magical cure. All I can think is shame on you.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Telling My Oncologist
When I saw my oncologist this past week I told him that I was accepted into the nursing school. He is a great doctor and helped to save mine and Gabriella's life. I was always so happy with how I was treated there and how promptly he got things done when it came to my health.
I told him I was going to be an oncology nurse. He seemed so happy and even said "Hey if you ever need a job!" Ha! That was great. I couldn't imagine working for MY oncologist. He said he thought I would be a great nurse because I have been there. He then told me his wife was a breast cancer survivor so he understands too. I really do think it makes a difference to be able to see both sides. I believe it gives me an advantage working in this field. I know what's it like to be the one with the cancer. Maybe I can give even one person hope some day.
I told him I was going to be an oncology nurse. He seemed so happy and even said "Hey if you ever need a job!" Ha! That was great. I couldn't imagine working for MY oncologist. He said he thought I would be a great nurse because I have been there. He then told me his wife was a breast cancer survivor so he understands too. I really do think it makes a difference to be able to see both sides. I believe it gives me an advantage working in this field. I know what's it like to be the one with the cancer. Maybe I can give even one person hope some day.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Happy Mother's Day!
I want to give a big huge Happy Mother's Day to all those mom's out there today. I will be taking it easy as I believe you all should too! My hubby is trying desperately to get our gas grill to work. It was fine. We have used it many times. The gas ran out so we bought some. Then it was leaking. We bought the part we needed and now we are having more difficulty. I have steak! I have brats and hot dogs and all kinds of good things to fatten me up. Wish us luck at getting this fixed soon!