Only in Alaska

Yup, that's a bull moose tangled in Christmas lights in downtown Anchorage. For more, visit the Anchorage Daily News.

A Whole New "Awkward"

Remember Junior High School? Or High School, for that matter.....

Your body is doing weird things. It seems to change daily. You notice the boys looking at your chest (ok, this never happened to me... but so I've heard). Your hair is goofy because you really can't pull off the latest style, or you don't know how to use that curling iron. They make you shower in gym and you would rather die than take your clothes off.

Welcome to cancer recovery. It's like puberty all over again. With a twist.

On Thursday I knocked over a glass of water with one of the foobs. It took me 3 whole seconds to realize what happened, because I NEVER FELT IT. Suddenly there was just this glass of water all over the counter, and I was perplexed.

My hair has reached what I like to call the "Q-Tip" phase. It's about 4 inches long, and if I don't product it into submission after my shower, it sticks straight out.

Somewhere, God is laughing.

Happy Thanksgiving

Well I gotta tell ya', this Thanksgiving is about a million times better than LAST Thanksgiving. I could tell you stories...... but the low point of last Thanksgiving (and there were several crappy moments) was saying to Todd: "Hey, feel THIS! Is that a LUMP?" Yeah, good times. Good times.

So I have a lot to be thankful for this year. We're stuffed to the brim with turkey and sitting on the couch watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I love movie nights.....

Facebook

As if I needed more things on the internet to distract me.... I joined Facebook last week. It has been described as "Myspace for grownups," although that may depend on your definition of a "grownup." But anyway...... seems like a good way to network and find old friends. It's a little less creepy than Myspace, in my opinion. It's more about making the connections and a little less about how cute your page is.

Monday

BIG thanks to Jonathan and Lynn for coming over and helping with the kids yesterday. I'm still on a lifting restriction until Thursday, and Todd was working. Jon and Nathan built a super-cute snowman in the front yard (complete with carrot nose and raisin smile and eyes, and a shuttlecock hat!) and Lynn and I had a good chance to catch up. (I get to have lunch with Jon, but never with Lynn!) It's so fun to watch Anika warm up to new people. She wouldn't talk at all when she first woke up from her nap and saw Lynn (Lynn is a speech pathologist.... so of course I wanted Anika to TALK!), but by the time they left she was giving hugs and kisses.

For those of you who read my blog closely (including the comments), you'll recognize the screen name "hopeinalaska". Her 13 year old daughter had a nasty horse accident last week, and has had two surgeries on her foot. Please keep Maggie in your prayers.

Update and Lightbulb Moment

I was back to work on Tuesday. Got my stitches out Wednesday. Really no worse for wear.

My friend Jen had an epiphany: She figured out why we all have cancer:

So, do you guys get those emails like the chain letter from grade school? Pass this on to 7 people in 7 seconds or have bad luck forever? (A little disproportionate there huh?) Well, I do. All the time. And guess what? I NEVER SEND THEM. TO ANYONE. NEVER. EVER. NOT ONE. I never did that chain letter from Sue in the second grade either. Seriously, who wants to copy 10 pages 10 times? Whose mom came up with that to keep us kids busy?

So, the way I see it, THAT must be the reason I have cancer. Please add me to the bottom of the next one you get. "One woman failed to do this and was recently diagnosed with cancer."

There you go.

I HATE those forwarded e-mails. I find the ones that I have received SINCE my cancer diagnosis that threaten bad luck if I don't comply particularly annoying. As if my luck could get worse.

Saturday

Just checking in to let you all know I am doing really well. Pain is manageable. I'm taking Percocet at night, but am using just Tylenol during the day now. I slept great my first night at home (could have been the Percocet I took along with two Tylenol PM.....) Yesterday (Friday) Todd and I ventured out to Lowes and HOme Depot to look at new vanity cabinets for the master bath. That pretty much wore me out, so I had a nice long nap. Today we took Anika to get her hair cut, and then we all went to the grocery store.... again, wore me out. Napped.

It's snowing like crazy here. It's beautiful.

Everyone please pray for Lola in Scotland. She is someone from my young survivor's message board. She has just been diagnosed with liver mets, possible bone and lung mets, and also possible brain mets. She is resuming treatment, and her oncologist is not optimistic. She has a beautiful little girl about the same age as Anika. My heart breaks.......

Done!

I'm home. Everything went according to plan.... easy surgery... didn't barf (they put a patch behind my ear for nausea and it appears to have worked.) I'm a little sore but I've already eaten lunch and pondering what to do the rest of the day. I don't really need a nap..... Surgery was at 7:30 and I was home by noon.

So all in all, a BREEZE. Have I mentioned the nurses at Providence are all really really good? And nice? They are.

Lori arrived at 5 a.m. to watch the kids and put Nathan on the bus. Linda arrived at 8 to take Anika for the day. They went to a playgroup, and then to Linda's house to make bread! When I awoke from surgery, Todd and Stephanie were waiting for me. Many thanks to Stephanie for the lasagna and other goodies for dinner tonight. I can't wait! (Stephanie wrote on the calendar at work: November 8th, Ruth's LAST surgery!)

As some of you may recall, I always have the nurse read something as I am drifting off to dreamland. Today I had her read the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Here we go again

So everything is all set for tomorrow. I was waffling up until this afternoon... do I REALLY want to do this? But I might as well.

I saw my plastic surgeon this morning and we went over the plan for tomorrow. Through two 5 cm incissions, 600 cc high profile Mentor memory gel implants will be swapped out for the saline-filled balloons I have now. It should take about an hour. Based on the way everything looks on the outside, she said it should be a breeze. She also said that the result I have NOW is "a homerun" in terms of reconstruction, "but I still think we can make it even better." Wow. Better than a HOMERUN?? This all gives "getting to second base" a whole new meaning....

She said I could go back to work Monday. Lucky for me Monday is a holiday, so I plan to go back on Tuesday. I am on a lifting restriction for two weeks - no lifting the kids. So......... I'm looking for volunteers for Sunday and Monday next weekend to help me with the kids while Todd is at work. For your troubles, I will reward you with the joy of my company.

Thursday surgery moved up

My nice cushy 11:30 a.m. surgery time got bumped up to 7:30, requiring me to be there at 6 a.m., which requires me to leave my house at 5 a.m. Apparently they don't care that I have two little kids.

So I sent out an SOS to local parties to see who can come and watch the kids in the a.m. before Nathan goes to school and Anika's babysitter arrives. Let me know if you can help.

Thanks.

UPDATE: Thanks to Lori for volunteering (I swear I didn't lay a guilt trip...) to come over at 5 am and stay until the babysitter arrives at 8 before she heads to work.

Pictures

I'm way overdo on pictures. Here are some of Todd and the kids with one of his giant cabbages, Todd and Anika's trip to Minneapolis for his cousin's wedding, and Halloween. The last one is Kayla and her mom.

Kayla went back to Seattle today to prepare for her bone marrow transplant scheduled for 12/8. Please keep her in your prayers.