Not Again?

I clearly remember my Oncologist telling me at my first visit to him that 1 in 3 people will have some type of cancer in their lifetime. At the time it shocked me. However, having been exposed to a lot of wonderful people in Oncology wards I became used to the idea.
And of course having lost two very dear and very young friends in less than 6months has also been devastating and at the same time verifying the statistics.

Today I found out that another dear friend of mine has breast cancer. Terry is the bravest woman I have ever met. She is in her early 3o's with two beautiful young daughters and a very supportive husband. In fact if you are ever in Thrift Park at Mentone you may have seen Terry. Terry is in a wheel chair and often manages to get to the shops at Mentone because it's close to her home. Often you will see her giving one of her daughters a ride with her.
When Terry was 12 she had a tumour in her back. Surgeons operating severed her spinal cord and left her a paraplegic. She still had to endure a great deal of radiation and chemotherapy as well as coming to terms with never being able to walk again.
Over time she met her husband and amazingly had two beautiful daughters. Not without complications...but everything has been going really great for them.
And now...another hurdle.
One of Terry's problems is that Oncologists are reluctant to give her any further radiation because of the amount she has already had in the past. So she is having some very radical surgery on friday.
At Church, our entire congregation have been asked to fast and pray for her and for the success of her operation.
This was all done for me too, when I was having my hurdles and I felt the power of prayer so profoundly throughout the journey. However, there is always the fact that perhaps what we are asking for isn't meant to be and our faith and trust in a loving Heavenly Father needs to allow for those possibilities. Not our will, but thine.

Today has been one of lots of reflection and pondering for me. And I hope that in whatever way I am needed I can be there for Terry, like so many were for me.

Cards for a friend part 2

So here are the other three cards that didn't upload before.

Cards for a Friend

I wanted to give a gift to a very dear friend of mine, Roxanne. Roxanne is a chiropracter at the clinic where I used to work and she has been such a wonderful friend to me. She is such a positive person and has the kindest and caring nature whilst at the same time very bubbly and lots of fun. She is leaving the Clinic next week and I wanted to give her a little gift and decided that I would make her some cards that she can use. So...that's what I've been doing today. I'm not sure if they're all going to come up on my blog or not. There should be 7 cards. So will wait and see what happens

Celebrations all round

And Sahnie turns 3!!!!!!!! I can't believe the time has gone so fast. This little princess is growing up...getting taller....and very determined.
We had a lovely party for her. Don't know if Sahnie enjoyed the actual party. She falls under the autism spectrum (although she needs to be re-evaluated again to see just where she does fit) and a classic symptom of autism is a distate for personal space being violated. So she was very happy doing her own thing. Playing with balloons, on the trampoline, in the sandpit. However when it came to singing 'happy birthday' and having a cake she wasn't so happy. We decided to bring the cake to her, outside. Now Sahnie is not a silly little girl and has seen many a birthday cake (lots of cousins!!!) and she knew what that meant. Everyone gathering around and singing (well noise, actually) and she wasn't going to have a bar of it. The picture of her near the steps was the end of her 'escape strategy'. She took flight and left us holding the cake!!! Even giving her her presents we had to do very carefully and try to keep her cousins at a distance so she could enjoy the experience of opening her pressies. Which she did get to do and had a ball.

We have had so many birthdays in the past couple of months and still 3 more to come in the next three weeks. Monty turned 8 on saturday but his party is going to be this coming weekend. Then it's my birthday and then Tambi's. Phew!!! And in the New Year we start it all over again. Lots of fun though, and lots of excuses to get together and enjoy each others company.

I decided to have a look through all my photos, both printed ones and on my computer to see which birthday photos I havn't scrapbooked yet. I only found 19 birthdays!!!!!!!!!! So, I printed and sorted and edited etc. Then found some layout designs I liked, matched the photos to pattern papers and put each into separate bags....ready to scrapbook. 19 double page layouts sort of ready to go!!!
Thinking I will have time to get started on them, I walked into my scrap room and my clip-it-up had fallen over!! Not a surprise because it was way overloaded and had a terrible lean to it. So, began a clean up....and a re-think of how to organise my still increasing stash. No my clip-it-up only has small things hanging on it....and I have yet to organise the big things. I still want to have easy access and I don't want things to get buried. I still have 'stuff' I bought 6yrs ago that I am sure I will use one day?????!!
Will need to keep my thinking cap on. I used lots of the little stacked drawers but I have to open each one to find what's in there, I forget to look in any of them and they seem to be taking up more room for the value I get from them now. What to do!!!!

We had an unplanned practise run for Carolina having baby. She is 36weeks now and could go anytime. I had already been looking after the boys till late on Friday night. Finally getting home, and settled in bed ready to sleep...the phone rang!!! it was 12.59am so I knew it had to be Daniel. And it was.....Carolina believed her waters had started to leak...she was getting some pains. So, I got dressed and drove back there. They took off for the hospital and I climbed into bed. Not getting much sleep at all through the remainder of the night only to find out that nothing had really progressed much and she was coming back home.
The practise run was good. I need to be a bit more prepared. Like...I need a bag packed with some things for me, pj's, toothbrush, phone charger etc. And I am going to organise the food side of things a bit.

You know how it is...you go into some else's kitchen and see what's in the pantry and have no idea how to make a meal of what's in there. I have a book called Make A Mix Cookery. It has master mixes which are the base for lots of yummy recipes. So, I'm going to make a few master mixes for main meals. Freeze them and then have the recipe of what I intend to make from the mixes ready. That way...cooking meals whilst looking after the 3 boys (did I say 3? how am I gonna cope with that??) won't be a burden.
I'm actually looking forward to being organised for this!

So, I had another cancer treatment last thursday. And I got the results of my CT Scan and blood tests. All perfect!!! My Oncologists words!!! I was so relieved I burst into tears! For some reason this time I was obviously more tense about the results than before.

Again, I feel so very, very blessed. There is so much joy and happiness around me right now and I know that I am in a good place mentally and emotionally. In fact I feel stronger now, and happier now than I can recall ever feeling. I sure can't complain about that!!!

My Angels

I have finally finished my cancer journal and was so keen yesterday, to do a 'normal' scrapbook page that I grabbed the first photos I could put my hands on and went for it.
I copied some of the basic design...but that's OK...we all scraplift a bit here and there. I so enjoyed doing this page. My daughters Sara and Andrea and my daughters in law Tambi and Carolina were my absolutely perfect angels during my cancer treatment. They did everything for me...not only the physical help but emotional and spiritual strength as well. I really honour these girls!!!!

Monty and Harrison.....they played together at the park for half an hour and it was so lovely to see Monty taking care of his little 2yr old cousin.
Monty and Joshua......two cousins enjoying some time together scrapbooking. It was Joshie's first time making a page and he wants to come back everyday to do another one!
Cool dudes......Josh and Monty at Mini Golf. It was so interesting to see how they both played this game. Joshua counted every single stroke 15,16,17 he didn't care how many he had. Monty is more competitive and concentrated much more on getting that little ball in to the hole in the least amount of strokes.

Another busy and funfilled week has passed. Had little grandchildren staying here nearly all of last week.

Took some to see Beverly Hills Chihuaha....so funny! The children really loved it. Although I must admit I have spent a fortune these past two weeks on childrens entertainment. Will have to make some changes there for future hols.

Thursday we all went to Myuna Farm in Doveton. It was such a gorgeous day. The weather was perfect and the farm is very, very clean. Can't find the photos so will have to post another time.

I have 'nearly' finished my Cancer Journal. The last four pages only need some stamping on them. Then there are some bits and pieces I want to add and it will be finished. Thank goodness. I am sick of working with the same paper range. I am eager to clean up the 'mess'. I have had the same things out on my desk for months because of using them throughout this album.

I am looking forward to doing some photo pages, and also doing my timber letter tray. Not sure what to use as my topic. Will I do it about me...the things I love and enjoy doinig. Or about my family????

Earlier this year I subscribed to an American craft mag. I went for the 6month option and have now been receiving snail mail to remind me this subscription is just about finished. I havn't decided it I am renewing or not. Then lo and behold I check my bank statement and notice a large withdrawel amount by this Craft Company. What the..? I emailed them and had no response so I gave them one more chance before taking the matter to my bank.

This morning I get an email to say they will gladly refund the money if I am not interested in the automatic renewal option!!!!!! I never signed up for any automatic renewal. And I am concerned that my credit details are on file there. So, just a warning to anyone out there...this seems to be a common practise in the US. Check your credit statements carefully!

I had to have a CT Scan yesterday which started out OK with the usual drinking of a litre of yucky liquid. Then it was time to put in the needle so I could be hooked up to the contrast drip. Could not find a vein.......two nurses tried.....then the Doctor tried....no luck! So, the scan was done with the contrast. My GP told me later in the day that this is not the ideal way to have the scan done because little things may be missed. I can't afford for little things to be missed so will have to call my Oncologist this morning and see if he is happy with that result.

I have always had bad veins for blood tests etc. Hence having a picc line put in for all my chemo treatments. And the chemo can wreck your veins....and that is a permanent situation. So this could become a problem for further tests etc. More stuff to work out!

Have been to the gym a couple of times now. Although.....I get really,really tired by mid afternoon and that was explained by my GP yesterday. Having been/am still being treated for Lymphoma that is going to affect my energy levels. So I am not allowed to do anything too intense because I will just be wasted later. Guess that's what's happening....so will have to take it much slower at the Gym. (not that my efforts are intense by any means....everyone else there goes like a train)

Jumping in the shower now......going to Paper2 and out for lunch with a good friend....so better get myself moving.