Pictures

I added the some of the pictures of my surprise party and some of the tattoos. Will update when I get more. Enjoy!

Christmas, family, tattoos, and surprises. What a great combination!

Here it is Sunday night again and I've neglected to post since last week. So much has happened, too. What a shame. Let me recap the past week for you.

Shelley and Eric left early this morning to drive back to Colorado. We had so much fun while they were here. Shell and I spent the majority of our time together and left Matt and Eric to fend for themselves. While they were out playing golf and pool, we shopped, went to a movie (the last movie we saw together in a theater was Never Been Kissed circa 1999), baked cookies, got our hair done, gossiped and ate and drank lots. I have lots of pictures I intend on posting soon. Shelley cut off all her hair to donate to Locks of Love. I have all of those pics so I went ahead and posted them. This was also the first Christmas we've spent together in over 10 years.

I wrote last week that the plan was to get tattoos on Friday. Well...we did. Here's what happened: my dad and his wife, Olga, came over to my house on Friday for our Christmas. At the house were me, Matt, Shelley, Eric, Bryan, Melony, Mom, and my aunt, Karola. All of a sudden, our dogs start going nuts. I finally went to look out the front door and see 2 stray dogs standing in our yard. Shelley, Melony and Matt all want to open the door to see the dogs. I'm very opposed to this suggestion because of Phoebe, who plows at the glass door and usually manages to get it open. We've already had one bloody Christmas involving the dogs...I didn't want another. Finally, ignoring my logical suggestion, Shelley and Mel open the door and standing there (with their dogs) are my aunt, Marsha, cousins Lindsey and Travis and Lindsey's boyfriend, Troy. They drove down from Colorado to surprise me! Which, I might add, they did and did very well. I was told they came down to get tattoos with us. There really was another reason why, but I'll get to that. So we wrap up Christmas with Dad and head to Randy Adams.

Going are me, Matt, Mom, Melony, Shelley, Eric, Karola, Marsha, Travis, Lindsey and Troy. All were getting tattoos except Matt, Mel and Karola. You read that right, folks. Even my MOM got a tattoo!! She promised me 6 months ago that when I beat cancer, she would get one with me to commemorate my success. That's what happened in a moment of weakness. :) I have pictures of everyone getting tattoos, but somehow left out the final pictures of what they looked like. Duh. So once I get them all collected from everyone, I'll post them. All of us girls got a purple ribbon. All of them different, too. Troy got a star and Eric got an eagle (holding a purple ribbon).

So the next day, we go to Matt's parents house for a family get together. My brother told me he wanted everyone over for dinner that night at 6 so we left Matt's parent's house at about 5:45. We stop at Mom's house first for shots with Eric:I won't get into the whole "not going to Mom's house first, but going straight to Bry's house" controversary. This is shocking and you might want to sit down for it, but...I can be very stubborn sometimes. I know, right? Aren't you floored? ;) Anyway...after the shots, we walk over to Bry's house. When I open the back door expecting dinner, there are about a million people in his living room shouting "Surprise!!!" at me. Yep...a cancer free surprise party! Hosting are my mom and Melony, who've been planning this since the first appointment at my oncologist. That's the real reason for the surprise visit the night before. I couldn't believe it...I was speechless. If you know me, that's a very hard thing to do. All the food was either in the shape of a ribbon or purple. The first person I hugged was my brother and then Melony. I won't tell you what I whispered in her ear, either. Here's the video of my entrance: Cancer Free Party. Thanks to Mel's sister, Margie, for the video. I'll post pictures when I get them from everyone and upload them. I'm sure the look on my face was pure embarrassment. Everyone knows I'm a huge fan of being the center of attention. (Say that with sarcasm...)

Tonight was Lindsey's birthday. We went to eat to celebrate. I needed today to rest and then I'm all theirs tomorrow. I'm not sure what she has planned. :)

Sorry for the long post. Guess I can remedy that by writing more often, eh? Thanks for reading and goodnight!

I have a money tree out back. Don't you??

Just a warning: this is pretty much how it'll be from now on. I don't have much to update on here since my journey with cancer is at an end. My next appointment is in February, so until then, there will be lags in my blogging. But...that's a good thing. Right? Right!

I'm having some turmoil in the removal of my port. I thought about having it taken out now, but I wanted to have one holiday where I didn't have anything cancer-related. No surgeries, no chemo, no radiation. I wanted to enjoy this holiday...have fun and rest. I'm still terribly exhausted. Since I've worked full-time during all of my treatments, I haven't had much time to rest and fully recover. I'm hoping these 2 weeks off work will do the trick. Not that I'm complaining. I wouldn't have gone through this any other way. Off track...back to the port. My next thought was to have it out during Spring Break, but the superstitious side of my brain is overriding the logical side. I'm due to have a PET scan in 4 months...I want to have another all clear before I get the port out. I think...

I have a friend going through some health issues right now, as well. She mentioned in her blog about the cost of the procedure and whatnot. It sparked an idea...I'm going to total up the cost of my cancer treatment. I'm not sure of the total (and can't really even guess), but thank goodness for my insurance. I know off hand that the Neupogen shots were over $5700.00. For 20. I had over 30 shots. Yikes.

Off the subject...Shelley and Eric are here. We're having fun so far just visiting and lounging around the house. Mom, Bryan, Melony and I went to the Nutcracker tonight. Say what you want about the ballet, but I love the music. And the guys in tights aren't bad, either. ;) Tomorrow Shelley and I are going shopping. On Wednesday, we're getting our hair done. Shelley and my other cousin, Lindsey, started growing out their hair when they found out about my cancer diagnosis. Now Shelley's is long enough to cut and donate to Locks of Love. Lindsey's doing hers soon, too. I was very touched by this. They knew how hard it was going to be on me losing my hair (which I didn't!) and this was their way of helping me. And in turn, others. Very sweet. And now that mine has stopped falling out, I'm going to get it darker again. It's lightened a lot due to the chemo. They say your hair grows back differently after chemo. I'm anxious to see how mine will be. I'm hoping dark and thick. :) The plan is to get my tattoo on Friday. We'll see.

Better go now. Have to rest up to shop. Thanks and goodnight!

Hair, awards, and good weeks.

This has been a rare week in that it has been filled with so many good things. One right after the other, in fact. Here's a timeline to show it all:

Monday--declared CANCER-FREE
Tuesday--noticed that hair kinda stopped coming out
Wednesday--hair stopped coming out altogether...only a strand here or there. Looks like I'll be keeping it afterall...
Thursday--announced teacher of the month (December) at my school
Friday--announced teacher of the YEAR at my school

Wow, huh?? Who knew you could end such a tough year on some really great things?

I feel I can actually talk about the hair situation since it's finally stopped. I've mentioned recently how superstitious I am. I thought by celebrating my non-hair loss, it would most definitely come out. But now it's stopped. For good. No more potential baldness. Crazy...sometimes it pays to be a freak of nature. I've defied all the odds...everyone (doctors, nurses, wig experts, websites, cancer brochures, etc.) assured me a 100% loss of hair from the Adriamycin. Not just thinning, but gone. Gone like this:

But they were wrong. I've had a couple of the nurses tell me that they've never seen anyone not lose their hair. I guess that gives hope to some of the other Adriamycin victims. :)

Okay...just got done painting the laundry room (with Mom's help) and now it's time for bed. Have lots to do tomorrow. Shelley and Eric will be here next weekend (YEA!!!!) and I must make it cozy and comfortable for my special guests. (Really just need to straighten a few things...)

Thanks and goodnight! :)

Kim-1, cancer-0

Yep, that's right. I win! I was officially diagnosed CANCER-FREE today!

Here's what the doctor said:

My blood work was good meaning my blood count was good. Very important. Also, it didn't sound like my lungs were damaged from the Bleomycin. It's been known to have nasty long term effects on the lungs. My oncologist said that since I wasn't too burdened with the disease (easy for her to say...), I'm young and (generally) healthy, and my treatments went well, that my prognosis is good. Of course it's not 100%, but I'll take a good prognosis anyday. If I notice any new lumps or have weight loss or night sweats again, I'm to call them immediately. I see my radiation oncologist in February and I'll have another PET scan in 4 months. Until then, I'm to live my life again. Doctor's orders! Yea!!!!

With that said...here are some of the pictures I've been promising:

This is some of the hair I lost. One morning. Just by brushing it. This, again, doesn't include hair on pillow, brush, floor, shower drain, etc.

These are all my markings I had. And my mediport (the lump on my left). Sexy, no???
Here's the lovely rash I got from the mixture of the mask and radiation. It itches like CRAZY!

And here's my new hairdo!!

You can definitely see the thinning that's happened. Another wee bit of good news??? I think my hair isn't falling out as much. Yea again!!! My nurse and oncologist were both still amazed it didn't all fall out. Told you...I'm stubborn. I also have my mask, but haven't taken a picture of it yet. I'll try to do that tomorrow.

Anyway...I'm done! With posting (for tonight) and cancer treatments. Time to watch Christmas movies and relax. Finally!

Thanks and goodnight!

I HAVE CROSSED THE FINISHED LINE!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! My family did. There was lots of food, family, and fun this year. I love when family comes to visit during the holidays. We all sit around the table and eat and talk. And eat some more. Especially if you're my cousin, Jeff. I swear that boy is a bottomless pit. I don't know how he stays so skinny. Now for the good news:

I am officially done with cancer treatments!! I finished my LAST radiation on Tuesday. I even got to bring my mask home. I have lots of pictures I want to post and will include that with the rest. I haven't posted earlier for several reasons: 1) I haven't really had the time, 2) I haven't felt too great and 3) I've been extremely tired. I'm actually just writing this in hopes it will make me write more later.

I had blood drawn last Monday (a lot of blood drawn) and have a doctor's appointment today with my oncologist. I'll find out the results from the blood and what the next step is. I know another scan will be involved, just not sure when.

I shall post more after the doctor. Thanks for being patient.