German Chocolate Cake

My Daughters friends all call me Mom. Once I found out i was sick many of them have been great at supporting me and what not.

Last night I had two of them bring dinner and desert. I have not had anything so scrumptious as the desert in almost forever!

I love German chocolate cake. but even if i make it, it comes out of a box. She made this from scratch. And let me tell you , you could really taste the difference! When you find a good recipe you hang on it it. I need to get his recipe from her because i have to make this for myself!

Thank you to Lyssie and Shoe for a wonderful dinner and an excellent desert!

Take time to be silly TODAY!

I cant do this. Or rather I never could. My family got together last night, and my sister stuck a spoon to her nose. this is something that i have wanted to do for years... Now don't ask me WHY i want to stick a spoon on my nose.. that im not certain of why maybe because it was something i had tried to do and never really managed.

I did however do it last night! and did it quite well! all of us girls did and you know we had a great time, just being silly! it was good for my soul.

So I say to you today TAKE TIME TO BE SILLY!

Happy Birthday

Today is my 39th birthday. This pic was taken when I was 10 months old.

Looks like being bald didn't bother me then either!

"My Favorite Things"

Yesterday was Chemo #4. The "infusion Suite" where I get my chemo, is just a beautiful place. there are 6 chairs set up in a half moon across from a set of windows over looking a garden with trees and bushes and a fountain. Behind the half moon there are 2 chairs on either side which give a bit more privacy, and three private rooms that are allotted for first timers and the very sick.

After you have gotten through your first time there they give you the option of the back row or the first row. It take me a while to "warm up" to a situation so yesterday was my first time in the front row.

I took my daughter with me. She is a good amount more out going than me. but she has a way of making me more out going as well. I like myself better when she is around, she makes it easier to be me.

Well the two people to my right got to talking about their favorite show tunes, and then they would sing a bar or so of them. My personal favorite is, "my favorite things" from "The Sound of Music" in a lag in conversation i quietly said "raindrops on roses" and that is all it took for a stirring rendition of the first verse and chorus.

After that was done our baritone's chemo was done so that broke up our little party. but what a memory!

Through out the day my mind kept coming back to the lyrics of the song. "I simply remember my favorite things, and then i dont feel so bad!"

Isnt that what all of us do there? Keep our ind focused on the prize? How many more years of our favorite things do we want? Isnt that why we were all sitting there? we want to keep that stuff?

This is now my theme song and now you know why.

Prayer Shawl

This is a beautiful prayer shawl that was made for me by a woman in my mothers church. This should help to keep me warm during my chemo treatments.

I have been trying to find a shawl pattern much like this one for quite some time. I was quite surprised to find out that there was no real pattern to this. The woman who made it for me just sat down and started doing it.

I also have this shawl featured today on my craft blog

Cards of encouragement

I recently received a card from my niece & nephew with a picture of the newest addition glued into the inside of the card. If you cannot make out what she has written it says simply "Aunt Krista have you smiled today?"

What a great Idea! I smiled when i read it. I loved it so much i cut that part of the card off and put it in a frame on my desk so that every day i can look at this little one and remember I need to smile today.

Smiles and laughter is something that everyone needs a good diet of, can you make someone smile today?

There is a web site that i really feel that is really good for anyone who is going through Hodgkin's disease, or even newly diagnosed.

or even if you want to learn more about what i or someone you love is going through, you should really check it out.

here

Cancer Cannot

I was popping around the internet today and found this list I thought it needed to be here.

WHAT CANCER CANNOT DO

Cancer is so limited....

It cannot cripple love,

It cannot shatter hope,

It cannot corrode faith,

It cannot destroy peace,

It cannot kill friendship,

It cannot suppress memories,

It cannot silence courage,

It cannot invade the soul,

It cannot steal eternal life,

It cannot conquer the Spirit!

--Author Unknown

What to do when you feel not so good

Chemo makes me really tired. But after a day or so I start feeling better and then I love to go on rides in the car.

I really would rather be on our motorcycle, but that's too hard in my first week after treatment. So we settle for the car.

The last ride we went on I drug my camera along and happened to catch this deer watching us on our way.

Found a home for it all!

My dresser used to be an area that collected. Collected this stuff and that stuff. now it is my personal Lets do Krista's hair area.

what you see in this organized mess is:
(sorry flylady its actually not clutter yet)

five wigs, assorted colors and styles
five hats, (actually, six but I wont wear one it was Grandma's)
four head scarves/do-rags I have a fifth but its in the wash.

So as you can see, I have LOTS of options in the morning as to "who will I be today?"

Chemo treatment 3

I just had my third treatment of chemo.

to date Chemo is treating me ok with only a very small amount of nausea. a few aches and pains, and of course the sacrifice of my hair. very small compared to what chemo is GIVING ME.

I thought i would share what Chemo has given me mainly to keep me focused on the positive aspects of my recovery.

Chemo has taken away:

• Very high fevers (103+ deg)
  
• a continual cough
• incontinence (brought on by the cough)
• night sweats
• body shaking chills
• body positioning pain (can't lay a certain way)
• dizziness
  
• vision issues

all of these issues took my independence and nearly my life. which is why I felt it important to remind myself, here in print, chemo isn't all that bad.

as a post script:

My Pet scan Came back with NO hot spots except for a tiny bit that was as he said "warm" at my shoulder. But it also showed that i still have active cancer cells. He said we will do another after a while. probably closer to winter. I was also told that I have been staged at "stage 2 B" it really does not matter to me. what matters is that I feel better and the chemo is working.

Unfortunately my white count dropped again, so much for the blueberries... they freeze well! and i can bake with them. better than to get sick

Gift from Casey

My daughter has a friend that, in my honest opinion, I never got to know well. Well enough to know who she was and her personal beliefs. So i guess i know her well enough, but she wasn't the constant teenager eating out of your fridge. (wouldn't have minded is she was) But her family moved to Texas a few years back and we were all sad to see her go.

We knew she still had family here so she would come back for visits. But hearing her name in day to day conversation and what was going on would be limited.

When My daugher told her that i was sick, she asked to be put on my mailer list. I didn't think much of it i has requests from alot of people so i just added her and went on with things.

Yesterday, she showed up at my house bearing this wonderful gift box that she had made herself! A blanket to take to Chemo (the air conditioners there can be bad depending on where they sit you) One of her personal teddy bears (that was so cool) a new bandanna for my head, a pear of big chunky earrings (the bear is wearing both of them) a pink and purple feather boa (which a crafter that is a bit excentric will go nuts for!) And a whole lot of little stuff you would find in a christmas stocking.

I know how much $$ teens have these days. and this really isnt about the money I know she spent like $20 on it or so and like I said it sint what she spent it was the thought she went into about it. She had to bring the bear from home, then take the time to go to the store, wrap it all up, and take taime out of her visit with her friends here and her family to spend a half hour or so with me.

I could not have been more touched by this kindness.

I was always told that it isnt the gift, or the cost of a gift, it was the thought that counted. I understood the meaning, but today I understand the truth to the meaning.

I cannot thank her enough for being another person to restore my faith in the humanity of this world, and what it could be. Keep it up Casey! You are on the right track!

Blueberries

Yep these are blueberries. a whole mess of them.

I have my mother - in - law to thank for these. she ordered a case of them to split with me. she told me the day my white count went down and i couldnt eat them.

Who would have guessed they would come in AFTER my white count went back up??

Whee ha! blue berries on my frosted flakes!

A big thank you going out to Mary for Getting them for me and Praying that my white count would be up in time for this!

Day 14

Well Its day 14. we all know what that means right? yep tomorrow is Chemo. I am glad I am going, but i know its gonna be followed with a few not so good days. But on the bright side I also know that by day 11 i will feel great again. so if I am learning anything by this is that you have to take the good with the bad.

not such a bad lesson to learn i guess.

ON the up side MY dear Husband is taking the day off to take me to Chemo. Brave soul. sitting for hours while we wait for the meds. it would be so much easier if you could walk in and you could just take a pill. but what is 8 hours of a doctors office in exchange for another 50 years?

Fresh Fruit!

I called my Dr.'s office this am. I found out that my white count is back to a normal level. Which means I have been granted back to Fresh and Raw food!!!!

This nurse could have told me I won the lottery for the excitement I had!

My Darling Daughter went right out and bought me a whole watermelon, (what on earth am i going to do with a WHOLE watermelon?) and a mango.

I have never had a mango before. Honestly, i don't know even now after eating half of it if i even like it. it is certainly a different type of fruit.

Happy 4th

Life Training & America the Beautiful @ Yahoo! Video

A truly moving and inspirational video that makes you remember what is so wonderful about living in the USA.

Watch the whole video and learn the second verse to our national anthem.

A huge thank you to all of our Military men and women and their families that keep our country free. Freedom is the best gift anyone can have.

Hair on its way

Well, after so much of my hair just falling out everywhere I went and had my beautician shave off what was left. Oddly there still is a lot of stubble to fall out, but now I can adjust to the "no hair" state.

After 2 days I can tell you I wont adjust in public. I just need hair to feel like myself. I am ok here at the house, but not out and about.

So my dear Husband has ordered me a wig. I think it will look much the way I wear my hair and will be very close to one of the many colors I dye my hair....

A big thank you Going out to my sister in law for funding this purchase!

The prices were very reasonable. If you need a wig this is the site I used.

radioactive

Radioactive @ Yahoo! Video

I had PET Scan today. They injected me with a Radioactive Isotope that will "light up" any cancer cells in my body.

When I left my scan, they told me I had to stay away from small children and pregnant women because I was "radioactive" and I could hurt the children. After that all I could think of was this song!