Blog Archives

IF

9/22/2018

DON'T SPEND YOUR LIFE WONDERING "WHAT IF" AND WORRYING OVER SOMETHING YOU HAVE NO CONTROL. WHAT'S DONE IS DONE. LOOKING BACKWARDS WILL CAUSE YOU TO MISS OUT ON NEW BLESSINGS AHEAD. MOVE ON.
Germany Kent

Okay. I have been a combo of Wendy Whiner and Debbie Downer this week. I've been mulling over what is ahead concerning my treatment. Monday I go to have my surgeon check out how I am healing. Fine. Do-able. Then next Thursday I will be having a fresh PET scan to see if there are any remaining "sparkles" of cancer anywhere in my body. Can do. But . . . I was informed by the oncologist that IF any sparkles are found in other locations, he would consider me a Stage Four cancer patient!!???!! I guess that means that new cancer is popping up (traveling) and, Honey, that ain't good. IF. That little word can mean a lot of things. IF.

So, I have been a bit down. It really makes you stop and think about your mortality and just how much time you really have on this green earth. I have a bunch of stuff I would like to do in my lifetime, but we all just have to play each day out and see how things go.

NOTE: My computer has been acting up, stopped working again, and I have been cut off from the world for a while. It is now October 2nd, and this is an update of what has happened in the last two weeks.

OCTOBER 2, 2018

Okay . . . I had my newest PET scan done last Thursday. Went to see Dr. Ghosh yesterday Monday) for the results. Honestly, I went into his office with the thought that there was still cancer in my lymph nodes, and possibly elsewhere in my body. Hubby and Jenna were both there to hear the results, too. It turns out that I am clean of any cancer, BUT have to have radiation treatments for follow-up. Yuck! So it's off to meet with the radiologist tomorrow. Anyhoo, I am so grateful for this wonderful news.

I was previously writing about how down and depressed I was. The word "despair" kept floating through my mind. Then really nice stuff began to happen.

My buddy, Steve Vanderhei, sent me some more photos that he took, along with a nice note. He is a really cool photographer. And I love the way he addresses the envelopes. I think I've said it before, but the envelopes are works of art in themselves. I also appreciate the fact that he addressed it to
THE FABULOUS JANENE. Gotta love him!

Then there was a beautiful baby shower for my great-niece, at The Woodbridge Building. That's Nina and my niece, Kayla's, best friend. It was really a great day.

Then two of my sisters came to visit me. It had been nine months since I last saw sister Sandy (on the left). Sister Judy (in the middle) lives closer, so I seen her every so often. We had a great visit and it was a beautiful day. By the way, nephew Rob was there, too.

Hi, Rob!

Sandy and Rob brought this neato picture to hang in the office at the building. Can't get it to rotate, so just turn your head to the left. okay?

So, you see nice things keep happening. Good stuff is all around us. I guess we just have to pay attention and appreciate when these special things come along, and remember to enjoy them to the fullest!

GOD BLESS YOU ALL AND GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY

0 Comments

42 YEARS AGO TODAY

9/16/2018

0 Comments

SURROUND YOURSELF WITH INSPIRING BEINGS.

What was I doing 42 years ago today? Actually . . . nothing much. But I remember what I was feeling.

For four days in a row, I had been sitting around feeling blue and sad and homesick for my two-year-old toddler. You see, my mother had swooped down on me on Monday and snatched my little son away and took him to the farm. I was 9 1/2 months pregnant and I was ready to deliver any moment. My dear mother hated the thought of perhaps having to drive to my house in the middle of the night to get Dan, if I went into labor. So, to be safe, she came and got him a "few" days early so she and Dad and my two little brothers could play with and enjoy being around my kiddo. But I was missing him so badly, I couldn't get the rest I needed. What a dilemma.

When Dan was born, there was no problem like that. He was our everything, and as long as I was with him, I was fine. There were no other little ones at home to worry about. Back in those day, the usual hospital stay for having a baby was five days! Can you imagine? Well, Baby Oliphant and I learned to get to know each other and rest and relax before it was time to go home.

Okay. So around Thursday, September 16th, I'm starting to feel like things were starting to happen. Oh joy! I was anxious to see my new son (I was 100% sure we were having another boy). Around 11 P.M. it was time to head to the hospital. So that is that is what was happening 42 years ago today!

The good part is, on Friday, September 17th, about 9:50 A.M., I got to meet the sweetest little girl in the world. I guess I was a bit off in guessing we would have another son. Looking at her little face and her mop of hair, I never imagined what an important person she would be in my life.

FYI My mom got Dan on Monday. Jenna was born on a Friday. After three days in the hospital, I insisted that they release me early because I was missing my son so badly. They did! But that was a long stretch without seeing Dan, since minors couldn't come to see patients back then. Now the whole family (husband, parents, in-laws, kids, friends) are standing around watching the miracle of birth. Uh, no thanks on that.

So, tomorrow my daughter will be 42. And as usual, her son will present her with a birthday card in which he has lavishly printed 'LUNCH IS ON ME" and in which he has put some money. Of course, his idea of taking Mom out for lunch is to his "favorite restaurant in the whole world" . . . Burger King.

So Happy Birthday, Darling Daughter. Life keeps getting better and better because of you.

One final note today. What does this picture remind you of?

I call this "The Kissing Tree" because every time I look at it, I see a couple sharing a kiss. Perhaps I have a titch too much imagination . . . ya think?

GOD BLESS YOU ALL AND GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY

0 Comments

GETTING BETTER EVERY DAY.

9/14/2018

0 Comments

LISTEN TO THE MUSTN'TS, CHILD
LISTEN TO THE DON'TS
LISTEN TO THE SHOULDN'TS, THE IMPOSSIBES, THE WON'TS.
LISTEN TO THE NEVERS HAVES,
THEN LISTEN CLOSE TO ME.
ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN, CHILD,
ANYTHING CAN BE.
Shel Silverstein

Morning! How's everybody? I feel pretty good this morning, especially since I found out that my drain is coming out today (hopefully). Yup, output is slowing down, so that means I am healing fast, and they want to remove it. Yay! No stinking month-long term dragging this thing around, draining and measuring twice a day. And I'll get to take a SHOWER! It' amazing what little routine things you do that become so important when you are denied them. That makes me think of all those people in shelters along the coast, hunkering down and waiting out Hurricane Florence. I am sure showering facilities are limited with the number of people who are in each safe-facility. Many of those folks are wondering if they even have a house that will still be standing when this is all over. So, let's all appreciate our blessings that we take for granted.

I am always saying that when you get cancer, you get jewelry. True fact. The other day my Nina (BFSILPIC ----Best Friend Sister-in-law Partner in Crime) brought me some things after I got out of surgery. They were from her and Zonna, my other sister-in-law who is currently in Canada. There was an absolutely beautiful piece of Willowtree --- and a necklace. Nina told me that when she purchased the figurine, she told the lady in the store why she was buying it (for me . . . cause I had breast cancer . . . and she and Zonna were celebrating that . . . well, I was alive!) hehehe. The lady replied that she was a breast cancer survivor and went into the store backroom and brought out three necklaces, one for each of us three women. On the necklace was the Bible verse Joshua 1:9, which had encouraged and helped her through some really tough times with her cancer and the death of her brother. What a special thing for her to do!

Nina has given me some very special Willowtree pieces over the years, but this is definitely the crown jewel of my collection. The name of this piece is "By My Side". Thanks you Nina and Zonna. Love ya!

As many of you know, I change the artificial flowers on my parents gravesite seasonally and send pictures to Sister Karen and Sandy since they don't live near. Bear with me as I post the latest pic for them.

Sisters, it's hard to tell but it looks much better in real life than from this pic. I put stems of fall leaves on the side, but put two wreaths together. The back one is a wreath of fall leaves and the front wreath is loaded with dark orange seed-like things that really look cool.

Speaking of fall displays, I finally located a bale of hay for m "lawn-scape" at the Woodbridge Building. I put it in front of the FOR RENT sign to draw a bit of attention. Here are also some shots I just took of the outside, before I start putting out more autumn type stuff.

Well, I must scurry off and get ready to head to the Doctor's office. Take care, y'all.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL AND GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY

0 Comments

IT'S OVER

9/12/2018

4 Comments

WHEN NOTHING IS SURE, EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE.

Okay. last few weeks have been hectic and busy. I had lots to do to get ready for this surgery, but fortunately . . . it's over.

My last chemo was two weeks ago (yay!), and the surgery was two days ago on Monday. Everything went quite well, I'm happy to say. Currently I am in very little to absolutely no pain. I do have to wear a drain (crap!), but it's only one this time. Remember my last two times with the mastectomy and reconstruction, I had FOUR drains hanging from me --- for a month each time. Yikes!

I wasn't a bit nervous. I guess this is something that I am becoming used to, so it's not that big of a deal. I had great bunch of people work on me. I got to see Keith again (a tech in the operating room) who helped put in my port four months ago. He said he remembered me, but I called BS on that since I don't look a bit like I did back then. I remember being a bit buzzed up and may have said some strange things in the op. room, like "I would like to see hands up from anyone who was out partying late last night!" That got a chuckle out of the group who were getting ready to work on me. But a girl can't be too uninformed on who is gonna be chopping on her bod! FYI none of them had apparently been whooping it up the night before. Aw come on . . . AARP magazine says that oldsters like me can't be too careful. ASK QUESTIONS!

As was told to Hubby by the surgeon while I was in recovery, the tumors had not shrunk in size, but rather, had gotten bigger! Huh? Four months of chemo and it didn't help much? They removed Tier One and Tier Two of the lymph nodes, but left Tier Three, which is very good, because removing the third tier is where complications and swelling of the arm come in. That was the main thing that I was worried about. I did not want to spend the rest of my life with an elephant-sized arm and being in pain a lot.

Anyhoo, I have three to six weeks of light duty. I tried getting as much yard work and trimming done before, as possible. One portion of our land got flooded a few weeks ago, and I didn't get in to mow it, so Hubby did that for me yesterday. Sweet.

I had my first gig at The Woodbridge Building. It turned out quite nicely. A lovely family rented it to have a wedding gift reveal party. They had their son's wedding and reception on Saturday night, but needed a smaller venue for the brunch/present-opening party. I took a few pictures the night before, but didn't have my camera with me when the caterer set up the food, but I'll show you what I took.

I spent last week having "sleep-overs" with my grandson, since my daughter was out of town. He was so good. It also helped that his regular babysitter was there for him right after school, so I didn't have to come too early in the evening. She also did some activities with him, like bowling, driving go-karts, etc. My specialty activity with him is going to our favorite haunts (Goodwill, Stuff Etc., and Salvation Army) to look for things we can't live without. It was a fun week. Love him!

Yesterday was September 11th. Yup, Nine-Eleven. Everyone seems to remember exactly where they were seventeen years ago. I was able to visit Ground Zero some years back, and have been to Shanksville, Pennsylvania twice. Very emotional experiences. Let's pray that something like this never happens again.

More thoughts and prayers for the people along the East coast who are currently anticipating Hurricane Florence arriving. Take care!

Well, I must go now. It's time for Hubby to "milk Bossy". Some of you might remember that this is where Hubby has to strip the tube clear that goes into the drain pod (which looks about the size of a hand grenade). We then measure the fluid (yuck!) and record it. I guess it's important to keep track of how much output I have. Whatever. This will be over in a week or so (God help me if I have to do it for another month!)

Tah tah. Keep the good thoughts going.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL AND GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY

4 Comments

IF

42 YEARS AGO TODAY

GETTING BETTER EVERY DAY.

IT'S OVER

Archives

Janene...