Thursday, November 24, 2016

Check Your Colon

I'm sharing this text message with permission from one of my besties from high school. I've actually kept a list of the people that have told me they went and got a colonoscopy because of me. This text made me cry.


This is one of the main reasons I share my story. If it can help one person get detected early, it's worth it. The surgeon told me my tumor has likely been slow growing for 5-10 years. (Hello? That's when I was 35 or 40!) And how lucky am I that I've spent the past year and a half working on my health so I can fight this disease. I've read that colorectal cancer prevalence at an earlier age is increasing drastically. The screening age should be much earlier than 50. So don't forget to check your colon! Oh how I wish I had done it sooner! 14 people have told me so far that they have scheduled a colonoscopy because of hearing my story. Who else?! I continue to be amazed by God's hand in this.

Have a great day and thanks for visiting!

xoxo

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Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Ring the Bell - Radiation DONE!

Ahhhhhhh! I did it! I'm all finished with radiation!! Tears! Last chemo pills will be with dinner! In a couple of weeks the side effects should subside and I'll feel more like myself again. My Radiation Oncologist and his staff were amazing!


I had to give the techs a little gift - silly socks to remember me by and hand sanitizer because they had to touch my butt. They had a good laugh over that! My crafty friends will appreciate my handmade tags:



When I finished my last treatment, the staff all lined up in the hallway and I got to ring the bell! I had no idea there was a bell to ring! I walked past that thing 25 times - how did I never notice it before?! Oh and I had my handsome chauffeur again today which was awesome. 

I'll have another scan in January to hopefully show this ugly thing has shrunk down to nothing. Now I have 8-12 weeks of rest and recovery before surgery. I'm going to enjoy this next phase and try not to worry about what's to come. God's got this.

Thank you again to all of my prayer warriors. Your prayers and sweet messages help get me through!

Oh happy day!!

xoxo

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Monday, November 21, 2016

The Radiation Table


I had a handsome chauffeur to radiation today. I had to start taking some pain meds so figured maybe I shouldn't be operating a motorize vehicle - safety first, lol. They let my son come back and see the radiation machine. So of course I had to take a picture. Only two more times on that thing! Woot!!


When I first found out I needed radiation I wanted to know what this thing looked like beforehand. So maybe someone will stumble upon this little blog and find some comfort in it. The actual treatment is quick and painless. I lay on there and the amazing radiation techs get me all lined up (by my bum tattoos - yep, haven't mentioned that to y'all!) Once that's done I lie there for maybe 4-5 minutes. On my stomach, with my naked bum in the air, with a full bladder (to push my healthy colon out of the way to prevent a future bowel obstruction) trying not to move at all. That's it! The machine rotates, makes some noise and does it's thing. I just lay there repeating, "By His stripes I am healed", over and over in my head. I know God's got this!

Ok one more picture:


My other son was out and about and texted me this photo! How funny is that? Someone had a fists up for Cori decal on their car!! Crazy! People are awesome!

Have a great day!
xoxo

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Wednesday, November 16, 2016

My Happy Face


Several people have texted me that they get nervous when I'm quiet. (How cute is that?!) So here's my happy face post! Just finished radiation treatment #20. Some days are better than others but I'm surviving the side effects. The doctor seemed happy yesterday that I'm getting through without lowering the chemo dose. Wait... was that an option?! Maybe I should've complained more. hahahaha. Oh, and I'm getting our money's worth out of Xfinity. I'm pretty sure the definition of couch potato has my name somewhere on it. I now know what it means to binge watch a tv series. I cannot wait to get my energy back! Only 5 more to go y'all! Whoop!! #countingdown #fistsup 

Ok, going to go nap now! 

xoxo

Signature - Tree

Sunday, November 6, 2016

Best Golf Tourney Ever!


Wow! Eddie and I were blown away yesterday! Our dear friends hosted a golf tournament fundraiser in our honor. To walk outside and see all of those golf carts lined up was unreal. 94 golfers y'all! Tears. Thank you Fred & Monica! Thank you to all of our hole sponsors, the businesses that donated raffle items and to the golfers. Thankful for the gorgeous Saturday afternoon. And thankful for my friends that came out just to hang out with me!


I'm not going to lie, the first time I was told the cost of just one my tests needed, I had a little breakdown. What if I fight and fight and leave behind a huge mound of medical bills for my family? My hubby looked at me and told me not to worry a second about that. To only focus on beating this. And that God will provide. And boy was he right. God has prepared us for this journey and filled our lives with wonderful people. I cannot put into words how blessed, humbled and grateful we are. What an emotional day filled with love!

Here are some more photos from this special day.













Oh and I should mention that my hubby's team came in 2nd place. He was smiling pretty big about that!!

xoxo

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Friday, November 4, 2016

Puzzles and Penguin Slippers


2.5 weeks of chemoradiation DONE! Three more weeks to go! So far it's not too bad. I've had fatigue and some other side effects I won't mention. I do not like feeling tired. But I'm really trying to listen to my body and rest more. I have a big Friday night planned:



Puzzles and penguin slippers. I think this will make it all better. My hubby is a lucky guy. haha! The place where I go for radiation has puzzles in the waiting area. I was so incredibly scared that first day as I sat there waiting to get called back for my first treatment. I found the puzzle to be therapeutic - so relaxing. We used to do puzzles a lot when we were first married. I forgot how much I enjoyed them. So, I stopped on the way home and picked up a couple of puzzles. And when I passed by those penguin slippers, I couldn't resist!!


Here's one of my sweet boys sporting his #fistsupforcori t-shirt! I just love him.

Have a great weekend! I hope it's filled with warms slippers and lots of happy!


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