Survivorship

I am now a cancer survivor. What a blessing to have had Love and Support from my family and friends. Excellent medical care. The blessings of the Lord. It is overwhelmingly wonderful. 
I have things that I have to do now.
Aerobic Exercise
I have to get enough vitamin D
I take Tamoxifen
I had to loose 10 pounds and I just reached my goal this last Sunday
Stay calm and be happy
Learn to sleep better
Eat lots of tomatoes, ginger, cruciferous vegetables, and turmeric.
I discovered they sell fresh turmeric at Sprouts. I really like it. It is more mild than the powdered spice so you can put it in more things without thinking you are only eating Indian cuisine. Turmeric is a great anti inflammatory and it has other healthy properties. You can learn more about how it is good for you at whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=78
I prepare it by scraping off the outside with a knife under running water. Then I grate it on an ultra fine grater. I then immediately wash my hands with Dawn dish detergent ot get the yellow off of my fingers. I tried wearing gloves and that just didn't work well for me.
And sadly no dairy, no beef, pork, lamb, or processed meat. It is much easier to leave the meat behind then the dairy.
So I am going to remain optimistic that in my life time they will have more sure cures for cancer and I will be able to in the future put Parmesan Cheese on my spaghetti.

One More Step

I finished the last of my chemo in July. We have been joking that I was going to be deported. Yesterday I had my port-a-cath removed. Its hard to say how glad I am that I have made it to this point. I am getting my old strength back. It feels good to be able to work hard. Of course I have to take it easy for several weeks because I also had a small repair done on my reconstruction, but I have a list of calm things to work on since I have been ignoring some of them. Over the last several months I have been working on major landscaping changes in my yard. Today they are coming to hydro seed and thanks to my family who spent several days helping me make the final push so I would have grass before the snow comes.

Better and Better

I am doing better. Its great. I met with my doctor today who said everything looks good.

My Head

My hair is growing back. I wanted to put a picture but the blog site seems to not be letting me. I will try to see if I can figure out why this is happening.
Often hair that rev rows after chemo changes in some way.  I was thinking curly might be fun but it is coming in straight, and much darker than before.

New Birth

My body has gone through a Winter with surgery and chemo but now it's Spring and time for a New Birth. It is a good feeling to know that I am Healing. Even though my body has taken a hit, I actually feel, I am the best I have ever been because of the things I have gone through have brought to me more strength, wisdom and peace then I ever had before. I love the this song sung by the Tabernacle Choir from the 23 Psalm

My Shepherd will supply my need:
Jehovah is His Name;
In pastures fresh He makes me feed,
Beside the living stream.
He brings my wandering spirit back
When I forsake His ways,
And leads me, for His mercy's sake,
In paths of truth and grace.

When I walk through the shades of death,
Thy presence is my stay;
A word of Thy supporting breath
Drives all my fears away.
Thy hand, in sight of all my foes,
Doth still my table spread;
My cup with blessings overflows,
Thine oil anoints my head.

The sure provisions of my God
Attend me all my days;
O may Thy house be my abode,
And all my work be praise!
There would I find a settled rest,
While others go and come;
No more a stranger, nor a guest,
But like a child at home. 

Keep Calm

Keep Calm
And Breath
Keep Calm
Be Mindfull
Keep Calm
Have Gratitude
Keep Calm
Exercise Faith
Keep Calm
Let Your Heart Be Filled With Peace
Keep Calm
Be Happy
Keep Calm
Find Joy and Share it
Keep Calm
Sing Songs of Reedeeming Love
Keep Calm
And Smile
Keep Calm
And Conquer

Wow! What Just Hit Me or Thanks! I Needed That X

Do you ever feel the same?
Some of my thoughts and rambelings.
Back in early December I had an appointment with my doctor to discuss my next steps in treatment.
She had a blank paper and at the top she wrote Survivorship. We proceeded to go through a list of do's and don'ts to continue my my treatment. Since then I have been led to examine the big you are here
X
So you realize you face a lot of choices.
We all have them everyday.
But how do you weight your choices?
I mostly listened to a show on  the history of airplane crashes recently. It was fairly interesting as I recalled hearing about many of them in the news. I was struck by a few things. The huge amount of money and effort to find out what had gone wrong and then the money and effort that went into fixing the problem.
Wow! That's just like me, kind of.
What went wrong and how am I going to try to fix it.
Choices
You know they say we all have cancer inside us and our body is usually able to distroy it. And if it's not cancer well then you know there's likely something, or things, else.
Taking care of a body is work.
Near the end of the airplane show they said something I had heard before.
The most dangerous part of flying, is driving to the airport.
So how is that like being a cancer survivor?
How does that apply to the choices that have to be made everyday?
Here is the you are here X again.
It can pop up when you least expect it.
X
Don't be afraid of the wrong thing.
Read the map.
Know where you are going and file a flight plan every morning.
Always do it by asking for and listening for the directions.
Apply proper safety measures and enjoy flying.
X
Little known facts, in high school I took ground flight school.
The worlds busiest airport for take off and landing is in Van Nuys, California.
Our high school went there to visit the control tower. That was cool.
I probably have to put this life long dream in the category of fantasy but I would love to fly in a fighter jet. That is such a wonderful thought, the speed, the view, the dives and rolls.
As the pig would say, "Sheer adrenalin."
This makes me think of two things.
Thing 1 - my life.
Maybe I should apply this to my life and recent experiences. I know I can imagine the good feelings I would have, and easily ignore the thought of having to wrestle with the force of gravity.
So another quote "Life is pain highness. Anyone who tells you differently is selling something."
Thing 2 - A quote by Elder Dieter Uchtdorf. Well I couldn't find the exact quote I was looking for, but since most of his talks have a flying analogy maybe you can get a idea of what I might be thinking about.
The thought of not having a little more to do than I can handle can actually make me a little panicky. So I guess I need a challenge to keep me happy. If life doesn't give me a challenge I tend to make one. I have to try to put the brakes on my brain, to not run too much faster than myself. . I will have to say though, that has not been accomplished yet.
Caren: Tower this is Caren I am ready for departure.
Tower: You are cleared for take off, enjoy the ride.