I'm back! Those two weeks flew by! I'm a bit jet-lagged...so I need to unpack, get a bit of rest, spend some quality time with the pups, and then I'll be sharing an obscene amount of pictures with you and telling you my favorite things about England vs. my favorite things about the USA. :-)
This weekend, I decide that a little "mom and me" time was in order. I love my mom; she's one of my best friends, and there's very little that I can't tell her. That said, there are just some things you don't share with you mom.
Let me elaborate! Mom and I decided to go see Spy, the new Melissa McCarthy movie. It looked funny in trailers and it definitely was! For those of you opposed to using the word "f*ck" as a verb, noun, pronoun and adjective all in the space of approximately two minutes - SKIP THIS MOVIE. The mom with the two pre-teen daughters sitting in front of me had her hands full trying to cover her girls ears (unsuccessfully) most of the movie. However, the expletives were nothing compared to a scene (OK...more like 30 seconds to a minute) where Melissa McCarthy finds a camera that has pictures of male genitalia on it.
Sitting next to your mom while penises flash across a giant screen is...well, awkward at best. Like I said, there should be a warning! Part of me felt really bad for the woman with the two pre-teen daughters. Then I remembered that the movie is rated R and she opted not to listen to rating guidelines and brought her daughters anyway.
On the bright side, at least I didn't bring my dad to the movies!
Today is my mom's 65th birthday! She may never see this post (she doesn't realize yet that I'm blogging again)...but I want you all to help me celebrate with her!
I've been blessed to have this lovely lady as my mom! She's the reason I'm so fabulous...hahaha! No, really. Mom was a public elementary school teacher for 30+ years and a large part of my love of the written word, my respect for animals (fine... obsession with dogs!), the joy I find in travel and my moral compass whether I needed one or not.
Here's mom, with her older sister Janice, when she was about 9-10 months old.
And here's my mom on her recent cruise to Alaska.
Mom, I love you and I'm so proud of the strength you've shown through some very trying times in the past few years. I hope this is your best year yet!
As everyone is aware - October is breast cancer awareness month.
Most of you know that my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2009 (even though I didn't tell you all about until January). Well, two years have passed. She's lost a breast. Had a port put in...and subsequently taken back out. Gone through chemo, HER2 treatments, nausea, exhaustion and a week long hospital stay for a pulmonary embolism. But, SHE'S HEALTHY!!!!
Breast cancer runs in my family. Mom had it, grandma had it, multiple great aunts, my second cousin and based on geneological research - a whole crap-load (yep, technical term) of other women in my family have had it. Most beat it. Some didn't.
That makes me and other women that I love a whole lot high risk. But here's the good news...I go to all my mom's check ups with her at the Dana Farber Cancer Center. Heck, I even tweeted how much I want to steal one of the love seats in the radiology waiting room!! I have a great relationship with the doctor who I'd choose to be my oncologist. Hopefully, I'll never need to use that info! But it's a comfort to know that I have it.
In the meantime, I'm adamant that people try to find a better cure. Something that doesn't involve the over a year and a half of active medical treatment that my mom went through. But that takes money. I'll never have the millions that it takes to fund research. But I can do my part to support the cause.
I'm happy to announce that anything in the "THINK PINK" section of my Etsy store has an associated donation to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. It's not a lot...but it helps!! And every woman needs a little pink in her life. Right?! :-)
Today was Father's Day (duh!), and my mom decided to give dear old dad a Kindle as a present. (FYI...this was supposed to be his BIRTHDAY present, so I didn't have the accompanying cover delivered yet.)
*Before I complete this story, let me preface it by saying I LOVE them both.*
Like the dutiful daughter, I spend most of the day with my parents. About 10 AM, my very flustered mom informs me that all the promos that came as part of Kindle "don't work". What I didn't know is that my mom had already tried to force the promo codes into places they didn't go, and ended up accidentally buying a few gift cards in the process.
So, I step in. Taking the Kindle, promo codes, and control of the computer. What resulted was a hysterical conversation with Amazon's customer support team. In the span of our 20 minute chat (cuz, I'd rather do that than call them), they let me know that "someone" has tried to input the promo codes over a dozen times - effectively locking my dad's Amazon account from using further codes FOR. A. WEEK! At that point, I give up all pretense that I know what the heck my parents did before I took over. I explain who I am, ask them to walk me through all the *interesting* buttons pushed, etc. and beg their help in undoing the damage.
All I can say is - Amazon.com is AWESOME!!!! They applied a back-end credit for the promos that my dad won't be able to take advantage of on his own, as well as a "extra" credit to get his first book. Single handedly, they made themselves and me look good!
What companies do you always have a good experience with?
I survived surgery. We all knew I would!! If you follow me on Twitter, you already know that it was a bit of an ordeal though.
I got to the hospital and had the following people descend on me all at once: the pre-op nurse, the surgical nurse, the surgeon, two of his residents, the anesthesiologist and one of his residents. I don't know what the deal was...but they had me into the surgical suite before they even put my IV in! I've seen how smoothly things are supposed to run while there for my mom's surgeries.
It seems that I threw up while unconscious in the surgical suite. Luckily, I didn't aspirate anything! However, I did throw up again in the recovery room. Go me!!
Despite antibiotics, and a host of other meds - the surgeon was unpleasantly surprised by how bad my gallbladder was when he got in there. I was blessed that they still did the procedure laparoscopically - but they had to open up one of the incisions a lot wider than normal to get the organ out. That means that I am at risk for a hernia. No shoveling or picking up anything over five pounds for a couple of months (and I have to be careful bending over), and my recovery is going to take longer than I had hoped.
I look forward to getting back to normal...but in the meantime, Percocet is my friend!
And...while I was having surgery....
My mom is in London and tripped over a cobblestone and fell. She ended up breaking her shoulder (she swears she feels fine now) and chipped a tooth. Then, my great uncle passed away. We all knew it was coming; I just wish that our family hadn't had such a colossally bad day!
Ladies, today was mom's last day of chemo! I'm so happy for her. I always knew how strong she was - and making it through multiple surgeries, pulmonary embolisms & chemo treatments has made me appreciate that strength all the more.
From here, she needs to go through HER2 treatments every three weeks for the next year. In one way - these treatments are going to be a piece of cake in comparison to the chemo cocktail she was on. But, these treatments come with risk and her oncologist says that heart problems are something that she keeps her eye on during this time.
I will be so relieved when she makes it through her HER2 treatments and is one step closer to being in remission! Plus, that means she can go visit her friends in England - something she's been looking forward to for MONTHS.
Andrea just sent me a tweet asking how mom is...and it occurred to me that I really haven't shared too much about her lately.
Mom spent a full week in May in the hospital. Multiple pulmonary embolisms, bronchitis and another low-grade infection later, she got to come home. Unfortunately, she had to come home with oxygen. She's still using it a bit...but her need for it diminishes more and more all the time. In the meantime, she's using a spare bedroom downstairs because she isn't allowed to go up the stairs more than once a day, and she has to rest more often. We're all watching her like a hawk!
She's back on her chemo schedule, but the little hiatus she has to take and the decision to give smaller, more frequent doses means she won't be done until mid-August - about six weeks later than she had hoped. It's a little bit of a bummer, but she knows it will be over soon enough...
Despite all that, she's doing really well! She is very comfortable now showing her bald head out and about. :-) Of course, she had to buy dozens of hats before deciding she'd rather be bald than wear hats all the time! Ha!
Now, if we could just get my grandmother out of the hospital for more than a week at a time...life would be GOOD!!
Sorry I’ve been MIA lately. I miss blogging and I miss all of you. It’s been a rough couple of weeks…
My “girls” decided to have a little fight. Carmella bit Meadow’s ear and tore it close to in half lengthwise. Their jostle for Alpha status is an extremely rare occurrence and despite my mom running towards them, she didn’t see what started the problem. Meadow is a tough little cookie – and after then went to their separate corners – we thought everyone came out unscathed. Not so, unfortunately. A few minutes later Meadow ran up to her Grammy with blood dripping quickly off her ear. I was called home and the little princess had to have emergency surgery to sew up the ear. She’s been in an Elizabethan collar since then (just over a week) and I bring her for a re-check tomorrow night. To make her more comfortable (and to limit her jumping off my bed), I’m sleeping with her on the couch. I miss my bed!
A few of you lovelies have seen my job tweets. I try to keep where I work as shielded as possible, but I do need to share my utter disappointment here. I have been performing a job function (in addition to my normal job) for about 2 years now. Well, this project is getting off the ground and it’s time to hire a permanent person to perform this job function. As the person already doing it – and LOVING all that it entails- I applied for this position a six weeks ago. A month and one day after going through four interviews for said position, I found out that someone else was hired to assume my role. I’m sad. I’m disappointed. And, frankly, I’m a little ticked that I need to train the person taking my position. However, my boss has told me that my hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed. (HURRAY!) I have yet to see the job description, but it seems a new job is being created for me. As soon as I know more, I’ll let you all know.
This weekend was hospital-centric. Mom has been experiencing side-effects from chemo. Saturday she went into the hospital with a fever, racing heart and shortness of breath. Right now, it looks like these symptoms are all part of moderate dehydration. Darn chemo!! With any luck – she gets to come home today. Not to be outdone by my mom – my grandma has been admitted to the hospital too. Grandma passed out in the parking lot of a restaurant yesterday after breakfast and had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital. This freaked out my poor Aunt and Uncle! Anytime an 88 year old woman passes out, it causes concern. Both of these lovely ladies are now in the cardiac care unit.
As soon as life settles down a little, I’ll be back to blogging with a vengeance. I know I said it before – but I MISS YOU GUYS!!!! Please let me know what I’m missing. :-)
Thanks to all of you that have emailed or tweeted me asking about my mom. I love you for that!
Mom is keeping her positive attitude. Chemo started yesterday and quite frankly - she's exhausted and nauseous. But, we know that given some rest and good anti-nausea meds that she'll feel better in a few days.
I'm sure that the next four months will hold some ups and downs. Mom is already starting to talk about doing the Avon Breast Cancer walk next year though. She's something else! Our next landmark will be the loss of her hair. I'm told that there's a chance it won't fall out, but it's highly likely. To prepare for this, mom has spoken to our hairdresser and Ed is ready and willing to shave her head for her. I'll be there to cheer her on (and take pictures)!
Hi Gang! Thank you all so much for your words of support over the past few days. They mean so much to me.
Mom is doing well. Really well. Like "holy crap" well. Surgery went off without a hitch on Thursday and she woke up from anesthesia talking. Friday morning we discovered that her drain had a leak. That sucker got fixed quickly!
Saturday morning she came home, and is resting comfortable.
Now, let me share something with you that struck me funny. Our hospital is a teaching hospital. It's not uncommon that you get asked the same question by 5 or 6 different people (nurse, surgical nurse, nurse anesthesiologist, head anesthesiologis, surgeon & surgical resident). Mom's fabulous surgeon - Dr. Nimkar has a new surgical resident. She's so new that she didn't remember what Dr. Nimkar looked like, took the chart out of Dr. Nimkar's hands (presuming that she was the nurse; not that it makes it right!!) and proceeded to ask if we had seen Dr. Nimkar yet. Dumbass!!
Hello, lovely ladies. It's Thursday; surgery day for my sweet mom.
I know it sounds weird...but I'm kind of excited! This mastectomy - while painful and invasive, will mean that margin revisions are all over with and mom can move forward with her other treatments. One more step to being cancer-free. :-)
She's ready. No second thoughts. And I'm proud of her!
I've already threatened my brother and father that if they drink or eat in front of her (you think it's funny - I've seen the nastiness that occurred the last time my dad did it) pre-op - that I will kill them. Or throw them out into the waiting room. My choice. Or mom's. Whatever works.
I also have two books, knitting and my Nintendo DS ready for what is going to be a very long day. I'd like to bring my computer... but I know that I have a hard time sitting still and don't want to lug my laptop with me on walks. I will be tweeting though - so feel free to distract me from time to time.
If you are so inclined, please keep my mom in your thoughts/prayers. I appreciate it, and I know that she does too.
Last week I did a post about my mom having breast cancer. I did it "for me", thinking that I wouldn't get much response.
I was sooooo wrong, and it made me realize just how much I love you guys. From the bottom of my heart - thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thank you for letting me share; thank you for being supportive; more than anything - THANK YOU for every single comment, every single email, all the prayer and positive thoughts. You are all amazing! You shared your thoughts, your opinions, and your experiences. YOU MADE ME CRY(in a good way)!! I am so proud to know each of you. If you lived closer, you'd get hugs and baked goods as tokens of my appreciation. Let me know if you move closer - both the hugs and baked goods offer are open invitations. :-)
And now, for a status report....
Mom has heard from her surgeon with some not so great news. The margins still aren't clear. Her breast surgeon is fantastic and very informative about the three available options.
Proceed with chemo and radiation & see if that kills the still cancerous cells.
Opt to have another margin revision.
Move forward with a mastectomy.
After some careful thought, mom has decided for a mastectomy. She is sure of herself and her decision...and we are sure of her. Surgery is next Thursday. It's still up in the air if reconstructive surgery will happen now or later. Either way - she wants her boob job! Come on. If you're maintaining a positive attitude through all these procedures - you've earned a boob job! :-)
I'm trying hard to do bright, cute posts lately... but today is not one of those posts. Back to our regularly scheduled "happy" tomorrow.
Instead, I'm going to share with you something I wish I could have shared with you in October and should have shared with you in December. My mom has breast cancer.
My mom is amazing. She's always been healthy - in fact she never even felt this lump. Why you ask? Because it's right along her chest wall. I credit my mom's diligence in annual mammograms for finding this problem so quickly. In a way - she's really lucky. The breast cancer is between Stage I and Stage II. Totally treatable. However, it's Grade III - the cells are irregular and grow quicker.
My lovely, fabulous, upbeat mom has been through a lumpectomy and three margin revisions now. In the process has also had a port put in, had a punctured lung and aspirated bile on the surgical table. Through it all, she has managed to smile. Last Thursday was the lastest in margin revisions, and we now have news that the margins still aren't clean.
Realistically, I know she's going to be fine. It means either another margin revision or (likely) a mastectomy. I'm joking with her that she gets a free boob job if she opts for the mastectomy. But every now and then - I have "holy crap" moments.
What would I ever do without her? How can I best support her through another surgery, chemo, radiation and HER2 treatments? Why won't these cells just STOP growing?!?!
Thank you all for letting me get this off my chest (I know... NOT funny). I'm totally ok is you don't comment, want to comment but don't know what to say, etc. I'm stressed. I'm optomistic. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't just a little scared.
I just appreciate you letting me share. And a big thank you to Kirstren, Jane and Tiney. They did know and have been awesome support as I support my mom.
Saturday, I did a lighthouse tour with my parents. As I've mentioned before - I love being on the water. It was so much fun, especially after the fog lifted.
After being on the boat for a little over four hours, I took my parents out the Legal Seafoods for a late lunch. A good time was had by all.
The only downside to being on the water this much was that I am lobster red. Yep, I'm a super pale Scottish girl...and despite putting on SPF 70 twice (which should have protected me from everything short of actually walking on the sun!), I'm paying for the fun now. Ah, the joy of a fever and impending blisters.
Today I was supposed to go to the beach, but seeing as that would be BAD idea, had to settle with laying low and hanging with the dogs instead. I love 'em, and they haven't killed any more birds THANK GOODNESS!
You all might have seen this one...but I'm just amazed by the ability to organize over 200 dancers (in only two rehearsals, no less!) to take over the Antwerp Central Station for their rendition of "Do Re Mi" from the Sound of Music.
Thank you all for the birthday wishes!! Darn, you all know how to make a girl feel special. :-)
My birthday was great!! Friday, the girls at work did cake for me. I'm kinda surprised that they remembered because I didn't mention my upcoming b-day. My dad's birthday was Friday, so we did dinner for him and then a super yummy tiramisu cake.
Saturday, I went and got my hair trimmed. I would have liked to get a mani/pedi too... but it was a busy day, so I'll have to do that some night this week. Then, I played on the computer for a while, and did a little window shopping. Next up was lunch with my parents - and my dad's first time in Cheesecake Factory. I LOVE that place, but I don't think he was too impressed. Ah, at least he can say that he's been there now.... Following lunch were a few more errands, then cake with my parents and off to my cousin Kirstren's house.
Yep, I spend a fun-filled evening with Kirstren (aka my other sibling) and her little highly energetic little boy. I'm pretty sure that everyone in Massachusetts knew it was my birthday; he's GOOD at getting the word out to passersby! :-) A few errands, out to dinner and then back to her house for a fire pit! YAY!! There's nothing like a good fire pit and glass (or two) of wine with someone you enjoy hanging out with. Her man-friend graced us with his presence and we capped off our night watching the Food Channel, listening to a thunderstorm and playing on CrackBerry.com. It may sound tame to you...but I had a blast!
My new obsession is True Blood. I'm reading the second Charlaine Harris "SookieStackhouse" book and have made it through the entire first season of the show. For some reason, I really like the theme song. :-)
It's another lovely Monday ladies. What makes this Monday particularly awesome is that I don't have to work! Woohoo! :-)
I hope you all had a fabulous 4th of July - filled with friends, family, BBQ, fireworks and fun! I had an awesome weekend.
Friday I ran around in the morning to gather stuff for JC's latest care packages, (you read that right - multiple packages. What can I say?! There's only one of him and if he wants it - I'll find a way to send it.) then went over Kirstren's house. I gathered her, her darling son, and a batch of cupcakes up for a fun filled Friday. We went shopping (it's one of our favorite activities...heeheehee) and then dropped said adorable son off to spend the night with his Nana. That left Kirstren and I to meet up with one of her besties (who I think is awesome too) and head off to a cook out. A great time was had by all...despite a wee little asthma attack I had!
Saturday I went to see "My Sister's Keeper" with my mom. Great movie; just don't go in there expecting it to be like the book, cuz it's not going to happen. Then since I live in the Boston area, met up with a few friends to watch the fireworks "in town" (yes, we really do refer to Boston as "in town").
Sunday has been a lazy day. Just hanging with the dogs; so relaxing! The highlight of the day was talking to JC! Unfortunately, I had to give him bad news - one of his good friends passed away. There is nothing worse than making him cry and not being able to hug him.
OK, on to the music. These guys came on the scene about a year ago, and are finally starting to make some big waves. They rock!!
Tell me about your weekend...and remember to enter my contest, mmkay?
After a particularly stressful week, I was thrilled to have chaperoned a field trip today! Despite the fact that the constant rainfall in the north east means we'll be rowing to work soon instead of driving and the kids being keyed up (the last day of school is Monday) - today was a BLAST!!
This was my mom's last field trip as a first grade teacher; I'm honored to have been there. (For all you moms out there - NO parents were allowed. I went in the place of one of the school Aides/Paraprofessionals.) The last field trip I chaperoned was during the school system's trend of discovering the tidal pools at the beach. Quite fun... but as the trip nurse - I came home with one child with a broken arm and two others that needed stitches. I can HAPPILY report that no one got injured with anything more serious than a muddy knee on this trip!
The kids were very well behaved, the farm guides were amazing and it was great seeing some endangered/rare animals so close up & get to see the children's reactions too. Their perspective on things is a joy to behold. :-)
Sorry I didn't get to take pictures. Between the torrential rain, keeping the kids moving/paying attention/fingers out of animal pens, and trying to discretely deal with work emergencies - I didn't have a free hand to take pictures. Here are a few from the farm's website.
Pepper the Nigerian Dwarf Goat was the biggest hit with the kids. She was very gentle and the kids got to feed her. :-)
Gypsy hid from us...but there were Peacock feathers to be found around the farm!
I don't remember what breed of goose the white one here is, but apparently, she lays GREEN eggs!
I have a theory - the full moon brings out the "stupid" in people. People who are ordinarily smart, articulate and NORMAL become susceptible to the full moon lunacy...
Case in point: One of my repeat customers called me this morning. She wanted to know if she really needed her computer for a web session. It took a lot of self-control not to laugh. I explained to her that we use Microsoft LiveMeeting and that I would email her the link along with one of our conference call numbers. She seemingly understood this process. At end of going through all their logistical info - she asked me AGAIN why she'd need her computer for training. CUZ MY BAT SIGNAL DOESN'T REACH THAT FAR, PRINCESS!
One of my friends works in a veterinary hospital. She passed along today that someone called in for an appointment for their animal and then asked if said animal needed to be present for the appointment!! UM, DUH!
Unfortunately, I had a stupid moment today too. I stood in the elevator for over a minute wondering why it didn't move before I realize I neglected to choose the floor I wanted to go to....
Sigh; the full moon doesn't happen for anther 4 days. Does that mean it's going to get worse before it gets better?!?!
And my second thought of the day... Tomorrow night is my mom's retirement party. HURRAY for her! After 32 years as an elementary school teacher, she's going to hang up her "I've got my eye on you, Buster" stare and say good-bye to the smell of industrial cleaner and glue sticks. Mind you, there are still 15 more school days - but she's excited! And I'm excited for her!
I perused my closet last night and realized that I have nothing summery, cute and party appropriate to wear. That means I need to get my tushie out of the office and go shopping tonight. Not that I need an excuse to shop; but this is a good one! It's all her fault I'm shopping. Heeheehee
I heard a rumor that Bath & Body Works is having their semi-annual sale, so I may need to head over too. :-)
During September - 10% of your purchase will go to Little Paws Dachshund Rescue! Purchase and be entered to be the mystery hostess and get all the fun rewards. :-)
Pepper the Nigerian Dwarf Goat was the biggest hit with the kids. She was very gentle and the kids got to feed her. :-)
Gypsy hid from us...but there were Peacock feathers to be found around the farm!
I don't remember what breed of goose the white one here is, but apparently, she lays 
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