Happy New Year!!!!

Wow, another year has come and gone. In the busy time between November and December with advancing cancer, new chemo, new side effects, hair loss and just holiday life, the new year was suddenly here. I even helped get a group of friends together for a NYE celebration at an amazing venue and it still seemed to come out of nowhere! Holy crap its NYE ahhhhhh. 

I love NY’s more every year. Mainly because I am still here to ring in another new year. But I always feel like it’s a clean slate and a fresh start. It’s a time to take a look at what’s happening in my life and around me. It’s a time to re-focus and commit to something new, good and positive. I am not making resolutions per say this year. But I do have some goals:

1.      be more present in everyday

2.      meditate regularly

3.      stretch my body daily

4.      STOP procrastinating (its become an issue)

5.      Take a deep breaths and count 1, 2, 3 before reacting

We also started a daily gratitude/thankfulness jar. Every day we each write one thing we are thankful for in that day. When we all three have dinner together we also do a “what’s your new and good”. What new or good thing happened today?  We started that last year and it’s been fun and a great positive why to end the day and encourage dinner conversations. I definitely want to keep this in the regular.

I would love to hear what you goals or resolutions are. Comment below!!   

Quick Cancer Update:

This latest chemo is going “ok”. After the first treatment my ANC really took a hit which required a two week break. They reduced the dose by 50% and I was able to get treatment for the two weeks in a row as planned. I am on an off week this week and then hopefully we are able to do another two week plan. I feel pretty run down after treatment. But it took me some time to get use to the previous drug and for my body to adjust. I am hoping this will be similar and my body will adj. I have been trying to really listen to my body and rest when I need to which is more often. The good news is nausea isn’t nearly as bad as the last drugs. It’s more of an issue with fatigue and low energy.  

I am having a newer issue with my right shoulder/humerus which does have cancer in the bone. I started having pain right after my lymph node surgery back in Nov. I think the position they put my arm in during surgery really did some damage. It’s been well over a month and I am still in quite a lot of pain in this area. I have and MRI scheduled and then a radiation simulation planned. We are hopeful radiation to the area will reduce the pain and return some of the mobility lost. This was a good reminder for me to be really vocal about my bones being compromised. I sometimes just assume everyone at Hopkins has read the details of my stage 4 cancer and know the extent within the bones. I need to be better, especially when I am being put under, to tell the entire team in the OR to be careful with placement. I can easily sustain bone fractures if we are not careful. I learned this lesson learned the hard, but lesson learned. The radiation treatment on this area should be easy with little issues. I already had similar treatments on the left arm so I know what to expect. I have an AMAZING radiation oncologist who is just such an amazing person. I love her and all the staff at Greenspring. She is on top of my case and is ready to take action with limited notice. I had not seen her in probably 10 months but she greeted me with a huge hug and genuine tears. Although we were there to talk about my shoulder she had read my latest brain scan and was so happy to see no cancer progression. Her brain radiation plan saved my life and I know 100% I would not be here in this capacity today without it. Yes, it took a big toll and was a challenge to recover, but there is no doubt her plan was effective for my cancer and my quality of life. I am so thankful and grateful to her for challenging me on my reservations because I was not going to go through with brain radiation. It is so important to have a good team when dealing with cancer regardless of what stage you may be.  

I hope everyone had a great holiday and a very happy new year. I had a great time with friends ringing in the New Year Monday night. We danced and celebrated the end of 2018 and the start of 2019. There were some tears and high emotions as we struck midnight. Why is the song “Auld Lang Syne” so emotional? It sure hit my heart strings and I had a hard time keeping it together. Steve accidentally caught a video of me and my bestie Erin right at that time….it’s a tear jerker.      

It’s going to be an amazing year; I can just feel it in my bones!! Embrace this year and make it the year you do something great. Do something good, positive and rewarding for yourself!! Live the life you were meant to live, love and embrace the ones you care about every day!  

Shine Brightly, Live Happily & Smile!

Erin   

Pink Hair for NYE