A few weeks back, I wrote a blog post titled, You’re Probably Not Going to Believe This, then I blogged about how much crazy stuff was continuing to happen in our life and with our family over these last few weeks, months. In that post I think I eluded to the fact that there were other things going on too, but no one would likely believe it, so I left it at that. On that post, I received one my favorite comments ever. Denise – “OMG from California! Your life is a miniseries drama that would win an Emmy ! Just remember in six months this will be behind you! Best wishes for your surgery and keep your chin up!” ……………… Me- “Denise, I actually laughed when I read your comment. I often feel like a bad sitcom, but I’ll take miniseries with an Emmy too! You are right. We just […]
The Oncologist
I met with the oncologist this morning. It all still sounds so strange coming out of my mouth. I met with the oncologist this morning. Yep, still strange. I blogged about the fact that we met a few weeks ago, but that’s about all I had to say. The first half of our appointment a few weeks ago was fine, informative, interesting. The last half of the appointment a few weeks ago was odd. He made it very clear to me towards the end of my appointment that he thought that I should not tell many people about my cancer or my surgery. He said that I would be surprised at what people would say to me. Unwanted advice and comments. He basically advised me not to talk about the fact that I had cancer. I told him that it was too late for that. (so did Mike). I told him that I write […]
Pumpkin Yumpkin!
Well, it’s happened. The “Pumpkin People” in my life know how I feel about it, and they have delivered. Literally. It all started a few days ago with the Pumpkin Balls from Becky. They were delish and I paired them with some Pumpkin Spice flavored coffee that Tess picked up while she was here last week. The mug was a gift last year. Love it too! As requested, here is the recipe that Becky used for the Pumpkin Balls and a text to follow that tells me how she made them. I’m not really focused on counting SmartPoints right now, so you’ll have to put these into the Recipe Builder if you’re needing to know points. (Sorry) It is a nice clean recipe, but foods that are naturally high in fat, so one or two of these should be plenty per serving! (Easier said than done!) A friend […]
It’s Me! Julie
Let me first start with this. My breast surgeon called yesterday to tell me that the pathology report did show breast cancer markers of a different type of breast cancer in BOTH of my breast, so I feel really good about my decision to have a double mastectomy. I was certain that was the route I was going to take in the beginning, but I am feeling even better about my decision now. This increases the chance that I may have to have some chemo after all, but I won’t know that for certain until my appointment with my oncologist. Please remember, if deciding to have a lumpectomy, a mastectomy or a double mastectomy is a decision that you or a loved one is facing, this is a very personal decision that only the patient can make, and the best thing that you can do as the patient is to […]
Post-op Update from Tess
This is Tess! If you’re one of the newer readers, I’m Julie’s 26-year-old daughter who lives in Dallas. Mom wanted me to share a post surgery update with y’all from my point-of-view. Want to know more about me? Check out my blog here. Yes, we’re a mother-daughter blogging duo, adorable, huh? This really isn’t how I saw out first guest post going, but life had other plans. Thursday Surgery was fast. Mom was all done and in recovery in less than 4 hours! Lymph nodes came back negative, GREAT NEWS! Still TBD on if she’ll need chemo or not. When we got to see her I joked that she looked like she always does (something she tells me whenever I say I look like crap and she’s trying to be sweet and say that I look fine, except mom really did look great, perfect hair and all). Mike and I went […]
Feeling Great!
Edit: Jan 4, 2020. This post was the day after my double mastectomy! So far so good!! (Posting from my Phone, so I hope it works.) Tess will fill you in later, but I wanted to say that these drugs are great 😜and I feel really good. I get to home today! No nausea, pain is under control, incisions look good. I even feel good enough to post this little blog! “Love the life you live, live the life you love”
My Breast Cancer
Tomorrow I will have a double mastectomy and begin the steps for DIEP Flap reconstructive surgery. How did I get here? Let me tell you. June 28th, I found a lump in my left breast while I was putting lotion on after my shower. July 7th, I went in to see my doctor for an exam and she confirmed what I already knew. I needed to schedule a mammogram. I’d had a mammogram in January and everything checked out fine. July 11th, I went in for a 3D mammogram. They then wanted to do an ultra sound that day, so I did. After the ultra sound. The tech told me to stay put and that she would be back to let me know if she needed to do anything further. I laid there on the table in my gown, my head full of thoughts. Do I have breast cancer? If they come in and […]
Dark Clouds, Silver Linings
Here is a mini update….. Our daughter Kate’s house flooded and their family of six moved into our empty nester house about a month ago. The kids are 9, 4, 3 and 3 months. I am having surgery on Thursday and our goal was to help them get their house put back together so that they could move in this past weekend and I could do what I needed to do to prepare for surgery. Hours (okay, days) were spent cleaning up from the flood (mostly my husband and Kate’s fiancé), replacing dry wall and insulation and painting. Then, Tuesday morning, the day the carpet was scheduled to be installed, we had another hard rain and the house flooded all over again. Worse this time. I had a meltdown on Wednesday. A complete and full blown 12 hour meltdown. I woke up Thursday with a new burst of energy and only […]
You’re Probably Not Going to Believe This….
Remember just a few weeks ago, when I basically blogged about food and activity and fun stuff?? The week was going great. We were making huge progress in getting our daughter and her family back into their home after the flood just a few weeks ago. We even made waffles on Sunday morning and I counted steps at least one day in the past week. Things were feeling good and there was a light at the end of the tunnel. We cleaned really good on Sunday (right after our waffle feast!) and wrapped up a few things on Monday. The carpet was to be installed Tuesday and Mike was going to finish up the new trim. They just needed a few furniture pieces and we could move the kids and grand kids back into their home this coming weekend. Nope. The house flooded again Tuesday morning. 26 days after the first flood. […]
Oklahoma Visit!
This post was going to be all about surgery fears. My double mastectomy is in 10 days! I went to a concert on Thursday night with some girlfriends and then had a full weekend with family. I forgot all about my fears and enjoyed myself. I don’t have time for fear anyhow. Exciting News Before I chat about our Oklahoma visit, I’d like to welcome my new readers that found my blog via Prevention Magazine. Welcome and thanks for subscribing to the blog! To my new readers….these last several post are not typical of my blog post, but I hope you’ll stick with me through these next several weeks as I will be anxious to heal and get back to a daily blog post of what I’m eating and what type of exercise I’m doing while having a little fun along the way. Yes, I was excited about being in a magazine so […]