Crazy Days

Every day, I want to post.  Every day, I have a post running in my head.  But every day, I run out of time to get it written.  We all have busy days.  Good days, but busy days.  Now imagine taking 3 hours out of that day to rest.  And then imagine being in bed by 10:00 every night.  I am not complaining, just explaining.  I should only be concentrating on healing, so this is all good.

I took a picture of my kitchen only two hours after we had woken up.  I make the boys their breakfast.  Then I have to take my supplements.  Then make my breakfast.  Then a wheat grass shot.  Here is my kitchen after all of that:

Then, if the boys are occupying themselves, I have dishes to do.  And now my kitchen looks like this:

But most of the time, I don't do dishes until after lunch.  And my kitchen is ALWAYS a mess.  It used to really bother me.  Now I look at the mess and smile because it means my family is eating well and are healthy.

If I could redo my kitchen, I would not include a microwave, but have TWO dishwashers.  And my dream would be to have a chef who also does those dishes.  Wouldn't that be nice?

And now it is only 2 or 3 hours before rest time.  The boys come first.  More often than not, that means I am playing with them.  Don't get me wrong.  I LOVE it.  I now slow down and play with them more.  But that means nothing else gets done.  Once again, we are in the kitchen cooking for lunch and cleaning up after that.

Before I know it, it is rest time.  I get done with that at 5 and now it is time to start cooking again. I was someone who RARELY left dishes unclean at night.  I didn't sit down and relax until the kitchen was clean.  Most nights now, the counter is full of dirty dishes that sit there until the next day.  And yes, you guessed it, I only have about an hour of "no boy time" to look at email, pay bills, straighten up the house, etc, etc.

I will say that lately, it hasn't seemed as crazy.  Things are starting to get easier and my time is being used more productively.

I wanted to explain all of this because I have felt like I have been in a cave.  I would love to write thank you notes and respond to everyone's texts and messages, but it is just hard.  Please know that I love you all and will get back to functioning somewhat normally soon!

One thing I would like to get out is this great video that C sent me.  I feel like this video will get you really thinking about the food we are putting in our bodies and our family's bodies.  Her comment about "How many sippy cups did I fill?" really spoke to me.  That is how I think now.  It is less than 20 minutes.  I hope it gets you researching what you are eating.  I believe that prevention is the cure.  And this should, hopefully, get you thinking that way also.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rixyrCNVVGA

Blog Rewind - Last Day of Radiation

One week from today (Tuesday), I will have a MRI to find out that we are ALL CLEAR.  In honor of that, I wanted to post about my last radiation treatment.

I headed down, scanned my card, waited to be called, walked back, told them my name and birthday, got on the table, and started meditating.  Again, I felt so many people with me.  I finished and they handed me my mask.  I took a picture with my techs and asked them to take a picture of my shirt.

I will wear this shirt next Tuesday when I get my scan.  You will be with me.  Let's do this!

Thermography Addition

I sent my last blog to Dr. Gamba and this was her response:  

Good blog, but before you post please correct two things. Thermography does not find cancer and neither does mammogram.  Thermography is looking for excess activity and changes. Mammogram is after a lump that has formed as is SureTouch, which is not ultrasound. It is tactile and feels a lump with no radiation at almost half the size that a mammogram will find it. It enables you to see what you sometimes can not feel yet.

Thermography

When we started this journey last November, we quickly came to realize that we had to advocate for my health.  We have doctors that we trust, but there is not one doctor that we have not decided to go against something they said.  We quickly learned that my oncologist made some mistakes and I had a gut feeling about them, but didn't push it.  I now push.  I now ask questions.  I now know we need to research EVERYTHING.

A friend of mine from high school told me about thermography.  I filed it away until I could look into it.  I was finally able to do that about 3 months ago because I was due for a mammogram.

Before I tell you what I know about it, let me tell you about my first interview hoping to become a teacher.  I was asked all kinds of questions.  I knew the answers, but didn't use the "big" words while talking about them.  I left there thinking that I sounded like I didn't know what I was talking about.  (I did get the job!) I tell you that because when I explain thermography, I will not use the technical terms, but will tell the basics.  If you feel pulled in this direction, then please do your own research and make your decision.

Mammograms are not the best way to detect cancer.  I think that self exams are just as important.  Mammograms can cause cancer.  Mammograms have more radiation than we are led to believe.  Look at several different types of resources.  You can find five articles saying one thing and five articles saying the exact opposite.  Look at the resources and then listen to your gut.  Here is just one article.  We love Mercola!

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/03/03/experts-say-avoid-mammograms.aspx

Thermography.  This is where my basic explanation will come in...

Thermography uses heat to detect activity.  Cells that are multiplying quickly show up.  The negative is that EVERYTHING will show up.  Arthritis, old injuries, etc show up as red.  Your test is sent off to doctors who read it.  But they don't always know what is causing the redness.  It is up to you to investigate and figure it out.

But what I found out about thermography is that it can detect changing cells 10 years sooner than a mammogram.  That is not a typo.  10 YEARS SOONER.  There is no radiation.  NONE.  I think that is enough to know, don't you?

It is not covered by insurance.  But it is anywhere from $250 - $600.  My first PET Scan was $1500 out of pocket.

The first question I usually get asked is: Why aren't doctors doing this then?  Because they cannot make money off of them.  I know I sound like a conspiracy person, but I have done research and have been told things by doctors and nurses.  And I will leave it there.

I will no longer be doing mammograms.  I will only do thermography.  I had my first one 2 months ago as a baseline.  I will have another one in a month to see how my cells are changing.  Then I will do one every year.  I did mine with Dr. Rosalind Gamba in Roswell.  She also offers Sure Touch.  I understand it as a ultrasound of the breasts.  Hard spots will show up immediately.

http://www.thermographyatlanta.com

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  I have posted about my thoughts on this month already.

http://raiseyourheads.blogspot.com/2013/10/pay-it-forward-breast-cancer-awareness.html

Please don't take that post the wrong way.  I am thankful for all the awareness.  But what got me writing that was that I have two friends who are Hodgkin survivors.  They cried to me as they shared that there weren't programs out there for them.  I got free wigs.  Free housecleaning.  Free lawn care.  Free make-up and help on how to apply it.  Etc, etc, etc.  We need to share the wealth so all patients of all illnesses/diseases can be supported.  I felt guilty as they shared.  My chemo experience was drastically different from theirs.  And it shouldn't have been.  Everyone should feel good during chemo.

Yes, this month is great to get young people and, others who don't know, to become aware of their bodies so they can hopefully escape this horrible disease.  We are bombarded with messages to get mammograms.  The message this month should be to get your breasts checked.  Whichever way you choose to get that done - mammogram or thermography.  Research and listen to your gut and take care of those breasts.

*I sent this to Dr. Gamba and she responded with this:  Good blog, But before you post please correct two things. Thermography does not find cancer and neither does mammogram.  Thermography is looking for excess activity and changes. Mammogram is after a lump that has formed as is SureTouch, which is not ultrasound. It is tactile and feels a lump with no radiation at almost half the size that a mammogram will find it. It enables you to see what you sometimes can not feel yet.