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A Walk Down Memory Lane

10/17/2012

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Picture
http://www.clipartclipart.com/free_clipart_images/cute_cartoon_boy_car_at_the_car_wash_0515-1012-2914-4338_SMU.jpg
I had a lot of things I wanted to get done today.  Wednesdays are Rachel's late start days and she doesn't have to be at school until 9:30ish.  This means I have less time than I do on other days and today, my list seemed extra long.

My primary job right now (outside of family and home) is to get healthy.  I am trying to exercise six days a week.  I alternate running/walking and bicycling.  One of these days, I may add in some aerobic classes, but I'm holding off on those! 

Exercising is almost a full time job for me!  I thought I was in decent shape before cancer, but I can tell that not only did I gain weight with the chemotherapy treatments, but I also lost a lot of muscle mass. 

Today was a cycling day.  I went to a nearby trail and traversed along at a steady pace.  This trail has several bridges going over major roads/highways and let me tell you . . . it's hard work cycling up those ramps!  I feel like a slug and I had to walk up 1/4 of one of the last ramps.  I just couldn't handle any more.  I really need to learn some tips on cycling and how to work the gears on my decade old 18-gear bike.

At any rate, I came on home, showered and finished packing some boxes for the post office.  I then headed out the door to meet a friend for lunch.  That was definitely one of the best parts of my day . . . renewing a relationship and sharing life.

After lunch, I went to the post office in a Hallmark store to mail my four packages.  Ran into an old friend there and caught up with her life a bit.

Following that stop, I headed to a gas station where the price had dropped ten cents during the day.  That was a pleasant surprise!  Cash only, but I had stopped at an ATM next to the Hallmark store and was prepared.

I then went to the brushless car wash that is famous for its many coupons.  We've owned our minivan for almost three months now and I've been washing it myself when it needed it.  However, the windows were really starting to bug me as I never can get them streak free.

As I stood at this car wash, I was flooded with memories of going there when we lived here before.  Rachel and Michael LOVED going to the car wash and would ask to go as part of entertainment plans.  They loved watching the employees vacuum the carpets and they loved watching the car enter the "water hall" for the washing.  They would get so excited to see our car.  To be splashed by the mist was a great highlight for them.

This car wash offers popcorn and lemonade . . . just right on a hot day.  There is a penny pony ride and the kids loved riding on it together.  They would laugh and laugh and laugh . . . and ask to ride it again and again.

Going to the car wash was a big deal for them.  It seems like only yesterday that I had these two toddlers in hand, taking them on adventures of discovery and enjoyment.  I was a bit sad that I didn't have them with me today and I promised myself that the next time I got the car washed, I would take them as well so that they could share in the memories.  

It's little things in life that are worth celebrating.  Whatever we do now is the foundation for memories later.  When we left the United States seven years ago for a new life in China, I never imagined that I would get nostalgic over something as simple as a car wash.  It makes me wonder what things are we doing now that will develop into fond memories later?


I got everything done on my list.  While I had a few intense moments with Michael later in dealing with some of his homework issues, through God's grace (and through praying!), I was able to nip my frustration in the bud and not lose my temper like I did last week.  (Wednesdays are our roughest homework days.)  I stayed calm and had a good chat with Michael to get him on track to transitioning to homework.  We ended the evening with our reading together from a novel rather than from a school book.  More memories.

Good night, all.

Picture
http://img.geocaching.com/cache/003863e3-8a8e-40bc-921a-8d6a7ac37d55.jpg
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A month of everyday life

10/16/2012

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It's been a month since I last wrote in my blog and many people have been nudging me to write in it again.

Something I didn't put in the blog (but did send out in emails) is the news that my pathological (not crazy!) response to the chemotherapy is considered to be "rare" and "uncommon."  You see, when I met with my oncologist on September 18, I asked her, "Is it normal for a tumor to be cancer-free following chemotherapy?"

Her response was, "No, it's not normal for your kind of cancer (hormone positive, her2 negative).  Only 6 - 8% of women with your type of cancer have a 100% response like you did.  We always expect a partial response, but not a complete response."

I looked her straight in the eye and said, "I'm claiming the God-factor on this one, then." 

I have no idea if my doctor is a believer or not but her response was, "I think that's a good idea."

To be living in a cancer-free world again in the middle of the pink month of October (also known as Pinktober) is an unusual experience.  I won't go off on my thoughts about Pinktober and pinkwashing (most of you know how I feel!), so I'll say that I often feel overwhelmed in awe over what has been done in my life.

As I've often said, I don't understand God's ways.  I'm doing a lot of studying right now on various topics and am hopefully, pursuing God's ways with all my heart, mind, body and soul even if I don't understand them.  

I've been living a month of everyday life and I've been enjoying it quite a bit!  The area had its first autumn rains last week and I marveled at the sounds of raindrops hitting leaves outside my window.  It's been seven years since I've heard that sound!  While we did get rain where we lived in China, we simply didn't live near any trees to hear natural sounds like that.  We lived in a cement jungle.

I've been cooking, cleaning, organizing and reading.  All things I enjoy.  (Well, I don't really enjoy the cleaning, but I do like the instant results it provides.)

My legs and my lungs are beginning to agree with each other in my exercises.  I'm making progress and today, managed to run 3/4 of a mile before I walked a quarter.  Considering that when I started back up in August, I couldn't even run a tenth of mile, this 3/4 is quite a measurable improvement for me!  After I walked a quarter, I then alternated running and walking for a total of two miles.  My short term goal is to run the full two miles and to then increase it to three miles.

I go to the high school track three times a week and I bike two or three days a week.  I thought biking would be easier than it is!  However, I'm enjoying the variety. 



Picture
I do NOT feel like the top image!  I KNOW I look like the bottom image, but without the joy of bubbles.  Maybe that's what I should add to my workouts!

The kids are doing well.  They still comment about missing their life in China (I do, too), but are adding that they are enjoying their life here as well.  The adjustment is ongoing and it will take quite some time.  There are things here that we simply don't understand at a core level yet.

I return to "Cancer-land" on Thursday, the 18th, when I have my first radiation treatment.  I was successful in transferring everything to a medical center closer to my home, so I will not be going to San Francisco every day for the next six weeks.  I am a bit disappointed that these treatments did not begin earlier as now this means I won't be finished until the week after Thanksgiving.  I will have to have radiation on Thanksgiving Day!  Perhaps I should just bring the turkey with me and have them zap it as well!

However, this is the start of the final third of the physical treatments.  I will be finished on November 29 and will then start a hormonal treatment to suppress the hormones that fueled the cancer to begin with.  I'll write more about that later as I learn more about it.

I'll close on that note.  I'm an ordinary woman, living in extraordinary grace given by a God who can't be contained.  I have much for which to be grateful!



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    God's Story

    _I believe we all have a story. This blog records my story and how I've lived with breast cancer both as a primary disease and a terminal disease.  I believe this is all a part of God's story for my life. This blog unapologetically includes all areas of my life: my faith, my family and my advocacy for change in the metastatic breast cancer world.

      

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