MR. BROWN, THE SKINNY MAN, AND A HAIRY BATHROOM

I had my 5th chemo treatment today. I have been very blessed to be one of those who isn't having major side effects. A few minor things that are not bad at all to deal with. Thank God for people who are praying for me because I know it's helping!!

When you get chemo you meet a lot of different people. Lots of nurses, of course, but also lots of other chemo patients and their family members who come with them. I love the people where I go for chemo. The nurses are all wonderful and Tommy and I love to talk to the other patients.  We are not shy about striking up conversations with people we don't know and often times they start the conversation before we can.

Some of the people I have met have really made a big impression on me and I leave with them heavy on my heart and mind.  I pray for them and several have told me they are praying for me also. 

Recently I met Mr. Brown.  In talking, we found out that he is from the same city we live in. He is a Christian man and works very hard spreading the word of God and encouraging others to serve God.  I really like Mr. Brown.  He is such a sweet man and I was blessed to see him just today and he is doing well.  (He was having his very first chemo when I met him last week.)  What stuck with me about Mr. Brown is something he told me when his family had stepped out to get breakfast.  

He told me that, even though he couldn't say it in front of his family because they didn't want to hear it, that he is ready to go if this is his time.  He's confident of his eternal home in heaven and that makes it so much easier. He said his only regret if this is his time is that he still wanted the opportunity to help others come to know God and find salvation in Him. He just feels like he has more work to do here.  

The reason this struck me so hard is that I can honestly say I haven't once thought of those I needed to witness to since I found out I had cancer. My thoughts have been on my kids, my husband, my family, my church, myself.  How would my kids get through this?  How hard would it be on Tommy?  Who would do everything I do for the church if I couldn't?  How would chemo make me feel????  Not once have I thought of helping others come to know the God that is so very good to me!!

I commend Mr. Brown so much because his thoughts have, somewhere along the way, turned to those who need to know God. God Bless Mr. Brown and I pray his treatments will be kind to him. 

Today I met a man and his wife.  I didn't get their names but he was so sickly looking. So very skinny and he was there getting fluids because he's so dehydrated.  He has no appetite and won't eat or drink because it makes him so very sick, even though he's on 3 different anti-nausea medicines.  I was so saddened by this and I talked to his wife right much because he slept most of the time.  I am praying hard for this skinny man today.  It was tough to see that he is having such a hard time with his chemo, while I sit next to him, feeling very well indeed.  

I have learned that every person's situation differs based on their type of cancer and treatment, so it's not like the skinny man is getting the same treatments as me.  But my heart hurts for him because of what he is going through. He did perk up just a bit today after getting some fluids and ended up eating a bit of apple sauce.  I pray his situation will improve.   

One of the minor side effects I'm having this past week is my hair is thinning.  It's not very noticeable to those who see me, but it is to me.  Every time I brush or comb my hair I pull out handfuls and have to sweep lots up from the floor and off other surfaces.  I can feel that it's thinning and it doesn't take as much shampoo to wash my hair.  

As I've told lots of people, I'm not going to whine (too much) about this.  Especially after meeting the skinny man today I won't complain about my minor situation.  

I can still feel well with thin hair or a bald head.  Thank God!!

Woman up!

Recently I came across this post online.....

and I like it!!! There are many, many things going on in our society that I don't like, but one that is very troubling for me is the idea of gender equality.  Not equal in that one gender is more important than the other, but society trying to make us equal in our roles. 

Thankfully, when God created us He did it with such thought and perfection that we do each have roles that we were designed to do perfectly.  Society is trying to turn women into money making leaders who don't need men!! But we were created to be help mates to each other. 

Without talking out of both sides of my mouth I want to explain that I realize there are some women who are doing just fine without a husband. In some cases, they have been cast into the roles of leader, father, supporter, worker, disciplinarian, etc.. because they had to be. My hat goes off to you ladies!! 

But I'm talking about the fact that it has become a 'BAD' thing in our society for a woman to be a housewife, taking care of her home and family and not earning any money and letting her husband be the head of the family and the leader of the home and making choices for them. 

Instead, our society seems to be pushing women into making career choices, like they 'SHOULD' be earning a living and trying to get women into almost every role that used to be reserved for men.

I, for one, don't see why it's such a bad thing for a woman to be treated as a delicate flower, a princess, a jewel!!! I think it's wonderful when a man opens a car door for a woman, warms her car up for her when it's cold, earns the money to take care of her so that she can care for the home and family, makes sure the car has gas, makes sure the bills are paid, and I could go on and on here but you see what I mean. When did it become a 'BAD' thing for women to be treated with grace and respect and love and concern???

It doesn't make us useless, or less important, or not able to do things. It just means that we have a man who takes on those things for us so WE DON'T HAVE TO!!

Some people won't agree with me but I believe it makes for better wives, better mothers, better relationships all around when we do respect our given roles. When a wife/mother has to do all the things she must do like grocery shopping, cleaning, laundry, carpool, homework help, dishes, kids baths and bed routines, etc... and do all that after working a job, she is one tired cookie!!!

I just believe she doesn't have as much time and energy to do and enjoy things like intimacy with her husband, quality time with the kids, fixing meals for sick family or church members and the list goes on. 

I think society would be much better off if women were more able to care for their home and families and not have to concentrate on making money. 

I do know that one reason this shift has taken place is that more money is needed and not a lot of men can earn enough to take care of all the bills on one income and especially the way we live. We want nice houses, new cars, trendy clothes, expensive shoes, extravagant toys.....I understand because my family is there too. 

By the grace of God we have been able, through the years, to conform our lifestyle so that I can be a housewife. And I thank God that it is important to my husband as well. He sees the benefits of having a wife that is not too overworked.....because it can make us into grouchy people to live with. He sees the benefit of me being able to handle days out of school and sick days with the kids and arrangements and schedules don't have to altered around that. He appreciates that it means I can do school drop off and pick up and piano practice and tutoring and daytime school functions and grocery shopping and all those things that can be handled without his involvement.  That gives him more time to enjoy his time with the family in the evenings because we aren't having to cram all those things into the time after he gets home from work.

I know there are women who want to work and our society wouldn't be the same without them either. We do need women in the workforce!  But, if a woman desires to be a housewife/stay at home mom, let's cut her some slack society.  She is making a choice that is also good!

So I say woman up!!!  Be a woman!! Not a man!! Take on your role of womanhood and all the wonderful things that should come with it, whether you work a job or not.  

I hope one day when my daughter is reaching the age of choosing a career that she looks back on growing up with a mom who didn't hold down a money making job and that she sees the benefits our family had because of it.  I will be proud if she chooses to follow in my footsteps in that way!

Of course, she may choose a career and I will support her and applaud her and encourage her to still be a woman;  a woman with a career, a woman who was created to do certain things and to leave other things to the men in her life.  

THE DREADED PINK RIBBON

You see that pink ribbon there?  The one above?  Yeah, that one.  I don't like it. Let me tell you why.  As the pastor's wife, I have put those pink ribbons on many a person as they were coming into church in the month of October, as we celebrated Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  I've added pictures of it to power point presentations during that same month and done special programs during said month to promote Breast Cancer Awareness.  I've also given gifts with this symbol on it, and oh, how I wish now I hadn't.  I've given them to women who were fighting breast cancer and it seemed like a good idea. I thought it was the right thing to do.  Well, now that it's me in the chair, I know better!!

Not long after being diagnosed with breast cancer, I received a couple of gifts with this symbol on it. (It was near Christmas so gift-giving season was upon us :-)  And I resented it so much at the time. I felt like all of a sudden I was supposed to wear this pretty pink ribbon upon my chest to proclaim not that I was bringing awareness to breast cancer, but that I HAVE breast cancer. Much like Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter, I felt like it was a blazing symbol on my body to say, look at me!!  look what I have!!  feel sorry for me!!  pray for me!!  I have breast cancer!!  

And I didn't like it ONE BIT!!!

Pink ribbons belong to October right??  Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Oh, I'll gladly wear one then to show support of raising money for research, to show support for those fighting it, to encourage others to get their mammograms and do their self-checks.  But wear one all the time?? No! Somehow to me it seemed like it went from the ribbon being a symbol of breast cancer awareness to a symbol of breast cancer victim!

I wouldn't use my gifts. Wouldn't wear them! I was retaliating!!!  I would not pronounce to the world that I had this disease and make them look at me with pity. I just wouldn't.  And it had nothing to do with who the gifts came from. I knew those people meant well. They gave them to me as a show of love and support and thank God for those people.  But, not the gifts!  Not that pink ribbon!

Thankfully, as I've gone a little further into this life with breast cancer, I've mellowed about it a bit. I've worn one of those gifts and there's another I'll wear soon because it is jewelry, which I love, and it's beautiful!!  In my mind I'll try to say I'm wearing it with pride to express that I'm fighting breast cancer and I'm winning the fight so far. I will want to wear the pink ribbon like Superman and pump out my chest, arms stretched to reveal it, and feel like a superhero.  

But, I won't. 

I just know somewhere in a tiny corner of my heart that I'll feel like it's just a blazing symbol of what's going on in my body, displayed for all the world to see. 

WELL, THAT HURTS!!! AND THE LEARNING CURVE

Yay Me!! I made it through my surgery for breast cancer. They took out all of the cancerous lump and found nothing in the lymph nodes that they removed and tested.
And in place of it they left me with wounds that are quite painful. The first one to bother me was the port! I was thinking that it must be more painful to 'put' something in than to 'take' something out.
After a week I can say that I was wrong. The spot where the lymph nodes were removed has by far been the most painful. It has limited my mobility in my 'main' arm, the right. But we aren't going to fuss with minor details that are temporary. We are going to thank GOD for the wonderful results and move on.....

this may seem a strange picture to put here, BUT my tumor was 1.7cm, this will give you some idea....not very big to the cancer world but giant to me!

Turns out that when you find out you have breast cancer, cancer takes on a whole new form. There were so many things that I thought about CANCER and the people with it that are just not true. One thing I've learned is that the doctors aren't very concerned about the breast cancer they find. They can deal with those tumors by taking them out rather quickly. It's the chance of cancer being somewhere else and coming back...the cancer they don't know about....that they are concerned with. And it turns out that's what all the treatments are for after you have surgery.

The chemo and the radiation, all for things that may happen down the road. I thank God there has been research into what is the best way to insure women survive and don't have a recurrence. And I pray they one day will be able to find a cure for all cancers!!

Although the docs don't expect the kind of treatments I will be getting to make me very sickly, they have said I will probably lose my hair. I can honestly say that is not a major concern for me. Only that I hope is my hubby and kids won't think it's too strange. My hair will grow back and if it's the most major thing I lose from having cancer, then I am blessed.

One thing I hope I don't lose is my peace of mind. God has given me a peace about everything I have been through and will go through with this, but I mean after I'm 'cured' of this breast cancer. I hope and pray I won't spend the next 20 years of my life being scared it's coming back somewhere else. That's why they're putting me through treatments in the months to come, to avoid that right???

I was diagnosed with cancer just before Christmas and even though it's a sentiment that I've heard all my life, I can tell you it took on a whole new meaning for me this past year.  "Do not be afraid, I bring you good news!"  The angel told the shepherds this in the Christmas story and it seems like everywhere I turned this past season, there was that line. In Christmas cards, on Tv, in plays, in songs, lots and lots of places.
"Do not fear!!! I bring you good news!!"  He indeed brought me good news and so I must obey Him.  DO NOT FEAR!!

OK, God, if you say so!!!!

CANCER

Boy, it has sure been a long time since I've blogged. I went through and deleted a few of my posts too because I deleted a bunch of pictures from my google account, which caused them to disappear from my blog too. What fun is a post without a few pics right?? :-)
I'm writing today about something that I found out just before
Christmas.....I have breast cancer!
And shame on you for thinking what you are right now!!! Oh, I KNOW exactly what you are thinking because I was you, not so long ago.
When I heard someone had cancer I thought it was the beginning of their end. That they would be sickly all the time and that even if they got through it, it would come back and eventually kill them. Yes, you are thinking that too, aren't you.
Well, I have learned otherwise and quite frankly, this may be one of the reasons I'm going through this. I have already learned a lot and they haven't even done my surgery yet.
Cancer is a scary word. You don't EVER want yourself or your family to have it because it brings up awful images of frail people, with no hair, bad skin color, looking down in the mouth and just sickly!!! It brings up that scary topic....DEATH!!!
But, things are not necessarily that way anymore. I'm not saying it's good. I don't want to have cancer, but I'm also not going to let cancer become who I am. It's a sickness, a disease I must deal with, like others who learn they have diabetes, or heart trouble, or a cavity. I have it, I must be treated for it, and then I will move on with my life from it.
I don't know what's ahead but I know my cancer was caught early and it's small and the doctors don't act like it's much of a big deal. They see so much worse on a daily basis, sadly. I didn't get all good news so far, but it's not been all bad either. I've been blessed in a lot of ways already.
God has given me a peace about this and it's because I've learned through the years that I can trust Him. I'm in His hands and there are no more capable hands than His.
I've just begun this journey through cancer and it's a bump in the road I don't want to go over, but I have to.
It's a dark tunnel and I'm not sure what's ahead because I can't see. And I'm not positive of what's on the other side of the tunnel either!!! But, God is in the driver's seat and I'm strapped in and I'm smiling, because He's a great driver!!

Cleaning up the YUCK!

SORRY!! I HAD SOME PICS OF THE PRODUCTS I USE, BUT I DELETED THEM BY ACCIDENT :-)

Let me warn you that this post today is going to be a bit yucky!! So if you happen to be eating right now, you may want to stop.  It's going to deal with an issue that all parents must go through, but one that we do not like!!  If you have children you will at some point experience the gross task of cleaning up their puke :-(....yuck, gross, ewwwww! 
Whatever you call it at your house....puking, vomiting, throwing up, hurling.....it's all gross! 
And most parents have dealt with a kid who didn't make it to the correct area to dispose of their last eaten meal. My kids have puked on the carpet, the mattress, themselves, me, the floor, the shower...yes, it happens. And my kids don't even get sick very often, so I know some people have been through much worse because some kids seem to stay sick. 
So, whether it is a stomach virus or last nights mixture of burritos, watermelon, and ice cream....we must deal with it at times. Almost always at my house, the first thought when someone gets sick on something is to throw it away, burn it at the stake....jk. But seriously, what can we do when something that can't just be thrown out gets something so gross and smelly and germy on it???
I have discovered through the years some very helpful products that I'm going to now share with you. It took some trial and error and sometimes multiple things are needed for me to feel like the item in question is now CLEAN (yes, I'm a teensy bit of a germaphobe), but to me, it's worth it.

CLOTHING and/or other WASHABLE items (stuffed animals, pillows, etc...)
                   Quite by accident I have discovered a product that works great for anything that can be thrown into the washing machine. It is something that all parts of the country may not have accessible at the local store but here in these "huntin'" parts, we do! It is hunter's laundry detergent. The kind that men get to use on their clothes to remove the "human" smell from them. This supposedly helps when you're hunting, but I wouldn't know. My husband was given some of this and not long after I had some gross covered sheets to wash from a sick child. I decided to try this stuff since it removes all human smells and IT WORKED!!! YAY!!! Really, it did. Most of the time, with regular detergent, even after one or two washings, the smell of vomit would still linger some. It is just a really strong smell. But I noticed with this stuff it doesn't. Sometimes I will still run the clothes through a second time on hot with our regular laundry liquid just for a sanitizing and freshening up effect. I'm sure this type of laundry detergent can be purchased online if you don't have it locally and I'm sure there are different brands too. I'm not sure of the price because I haven't had to buy any yet. Still using what my husband was given. But because it works so well, it would be worth it to get some to keep on hand. It is super concentrated so you shouldn't have to use much and it would last a long time unless this type of thing happens very frequently at your house. 

Non-machine washable items (carpet, mattresses, furniture, etc...)
                       Not all things can be picked right up and thrown into the washing machine. That can present a problem. But I have some solutions for you. You would of course need to remove as much as you can before cleaning. I would recommend gloves or a plastic shopping bag over the hand if you have no gloves, some paper towels, and a garbage bag. Get these items out of the house asap to prevent odor issues. My next step is to get my bottle of KIDS n PETS (seen in the middle above). This is a great product that I always keep on hand. It is good for a multitude of messes and really does work. It sounds super gross, but it apparently has an enzyme in it that eats away at any remaining yucky stuff.....( I told you to stop eating:-)....I give any soiled areas a good spraying of this and just leave it alone to work it's magic for a while....30 minutes or more. The directions state you can just let it air dry or use a wet towel to blot it up. If there is a stain I will use a towel and water and work on the area. If not, I use a dry towel to blot up any liquid I can and then spray the area with a good dousing of a disinfecting spray. This is to help with the germs and again, I let it do it's stuff for a while....30 minutes or more. Usually this has taken care of the smells but I will spray another light mist of the KIDS n PETS and then let it air dry, just to make sure anything that soaked way in can get taken care of. That's the good thing about this product, whether it is puke, pee, or other accidents, this stuff will actually get rid of anything left instead of just covering up a smell. Again, you will have to look for this at your local store or order online. It's great stuff. 

OTHER TIPS
         1. If you are sensitive to the smell of vomit, it is a good idea to get some face masks. These can be picked up at a dollar store in a pack of about 10 and will help if you have to clean up something really gross and smelly.
         2. Febreze (seen above)...this is something great to use on furniture, mattresses, stuffed animals, carpets, and any other soft thing that need freshening up.  Sometimes I will use this the next day or a few days later on spots just to make sure it doesn't smell.
          3. Some would think it's over-kill but remember I'm a bit of a germaphobe, so I will get out my steam mop and use the carpet attachment (just let's it roll over surfaces) and steam any mattresses, furniture, or carpet that has been thrown up on. Yet another way to deal with germs!!!
           4. If needed I use my carpet cleaning machine  on carpets, furniture, and mattresses. Just an extra step of cleaning if I feel it needs it. 

When someone is sick, it's a bad thing. My kids always apologize for getting sick on anything, when it happens because they know I don't like to clean it up. But, as a mom, I understand they can't always help it. For me, once my child is cleaned up and doing better, the next thing is to get the germs and smell out of the house as fast as possible. The products I use work and I hope if you try them they will help you too.

Now, gross talk over for a while...you can get back to your snack!

The Games we Play

Our house is a fun one. We like to play! My daughter prefers dolls and Polly pockets, my husband...sports, and my son...games! All kinds of games...board games, sports, and especially video games. We have a Wii and a Wii U at our house, along with all the attachments and gadgets, and of course....Wii games...lots and lots of Wii games. At last count, we have about 50 games! 

Without proper organizing, those games could really get out of control and it would be really hard to find the one you want when you want it. We found all too soon in our Wii ownership that placing the game discs neatly back in the cases after playing them was not going to happen very often. 

So, I came up with a system to organize them and still have them easy to find and easy to put away. I purchased a zip-up CD case that was able to hold lots of discs, about 100 I think. Next, I gathered all our game discs and a permanent marker. I removed the discs from the cases and went to work numbering each one. I numbered the disc, the case, and the CD slot with the same number. Assigning each game disc a number makes it easy for us to know where to put the disc back when we're done with it. It also makes it easier to locate the case if it's needed. 

Game #12 looks like a fun one!

In addition to marking the front of the case, I marked the edge of the case with the number also. Because I opted to keep our game books in the original cases I wanted to file them away where we could get to them if needed.  

This system has worked very well for us and kept the games in much better shape than just throwing them in a basket (which is what was happening before :-(  

Neatly arranged on the shelf :-)

                             Easy to flip through and find the game you want!

Of course, we had to jazz up the front of the case too :-)

There you have it....a better way to organize all those game discs. This system would work well for any collection of discs that needs organizing....computer games, CD's, DVD's. And it's a great way to save space. This nice little case that zips up and files neatly away is much smaller than all those cases. 

Now, if you will excuse me...#27 is calling my name :-)