Jewelry

Can I call it a perk?  Maybe not, seeing as I buy jewelry regardless.  Anyhow, shopping is something I enjoy - let's just be honest.  And cancer doesn't change that, so I jumped at the opportunity to shop for a medic alert bracelet.  Why do I need one of those?  Well, once you've had a lymphadenectomy, there are some rules regarding the treatment of that arm for the rest of your life.  Since I had lymph nodes removed from my left arm, I am not supposed to have blood taken or given, IV treatment done, or blood pressure taken from that arm again.  The large scar on my forearm will remind me to say something when the nurses reach for that arm, but what happens if I'm by myself and unable to say anything? 

So, I will have a bracelet that will announce to a health care worker to "Protect the Arm".  And it will be girly and pretty because I want it that way.  I figure it's for a good cause.

Jon and I bought a little wooden toboggan for the boys for Christmas.  Yesterday, as we were getting the boys ready to go to Bev's for the day, Mom had the idea of putting them on the toboggan.  Well, you should have seen their eyes light up.  Mom says they had a ball... until they tipped and Owen got snow on his pants.  Apparently this is a big deal to him.  When I asked him last night if he wanted to take the sled over to Bev's again in the morning, he said, "No."  We found a solution.  Last year I had purchased a little raised toboggan (not for sledding down hill) to put William's infant seat in.  I had to check to make sure it was long enough for two little bums.  It was, so I asked Owen again.  He still said, "No.  Snow on my pants."  I suggested that I had a way to "make it better" - as he would say.  I didn't think that by simply showing him the sled he would understand why this one was better (because it's raised off the ground and has a railing).  I tried to explain before I showed it to him.  He wasn't buying it.  He complained and said, "No thank you," over and over until I brought the sled out.  Immediately he understood and was very excited to try it out this morning.  They both climbed in with no tears as they left home, and Mom says they BEAMED the entire way.  Making my kids happy makes my heart smile.  I know making them happy isn't supposed to be our primary goal, but when it happens it's great.

My darling mother and I spent many hours in the past few days organizing our boy clothes.  It was a big job, and it required 20 clear rubbermaid bins, but we are just about done.  That task has been looming around for a very long time and I'm so relieved that the pile of boxes and garbage bags full of clothes from the basement storage room are now clearly labeled and organized and stacked on the side of the room.  Whew!

I saw my surgeon again on Monday, and she seems to think things are healing nicely.  She did acknowledge what the doctors had been saying here - the area around the incision was a little red, warm, and hard (although redness and warmness has decreased to almost nothing), so she took a sample of whatever was in there and sent it away for tests.  (I don't think she's testing for cancer again, by the way.  She wants to know if there is infection in there, and if there is, she will modify the antibiotic prescription I am currently on to better suit what's happening.)

So that's about it.  I have been having some ups and downs these past few days - not really downs, even.  Just little "hits" of reality, or rather, what reality COULD be.  I think it's due to the fact that we are so focused on numbers and percentages and side effects as we choose our treatment plan.  Once we make the decision, we can put those aside and just LIVE.  God is continuing to show Himself to us as we struggle through - Jon and I have been watching Max Lucado's sermons that he has available on his website.  Some of them pertain so closely to what we are experiencing that it's almost scary.  I think we'll watch those videos over and over when we are feeling a little anxious or worried.  Once I watch them another time or two, I'll feel comfortable and confident enough to relay what sticks in my brain.

The weather is beautiful this week - right around zero and no wind, just big, fluffy snowflakes.  Maybe we'll go out for a walk this afternoon.

Oh... and we are praying today and tomorrow for old friends of my family.  The father will finally be having brain surgery tomorrow morning.  This in itself is an answer to prayer, but of course, we want to be praying for the best possible outcome and for the family as they travel to be together.