My Theme Song....or two

Today's post will be short.  I don't have a lot new to report.  I'm playing the waiting game until my surgery, but I have called and left a message that I want to be put on the list (if there is one) to be called should there be a cancellation before November 15th.  I am ready to get this surgery done and over with and start whatever treatment needs to be done.

I had seen this video before, but ran across it again this morning and it truly is my theme song....(and LOL...knowing me and my love of motivational T-shirts it will probably be my next shirt)  

I'M AN OVERCOMER!

http://gma.yahoo.com/video/mandisas-overcomer-music-video-world-124400300.html;_ylt=AthPpIcsmbj_znWtFlQoXXSo6.d_;_ylu=X3oDMTE2ZGx1dWc1BG1pdAMEcG9zAzMEc2VjA01lZGlhQkNhcm91c2VsTWl4ZWRMUENB;_ylg=X3oDMTBhYWM1a2sxBGxhbmcDZW4tVVM-;_ylv=3

The singers name is Mandisa and I think you'll recognize most of the people spotlighted in this video.

Another song I love and that will get me through this is "Blessings" by Laura Story....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CSVqHcdhXQ 

WHAT IF TRIALS OF THIS LIFE...ARE YOUR MERCIES IN DISGUISE?

Make it a wonderful day and remember to be thankful.

The Chicken or the Egg?

October 26, 2013

Ever hear the question, "Which came first the chicken or the egg?" I'm sure we've all heard that from one time or another.  

Well I've come across another great question that I find so appropriate to my blog.  I found it on a WordPress blog written by Jinjee Talifero.  It's a site that talks about the advantages of eating raw.  You can find it at  http://jinjeetalifero.com/

She wrote that her husband, Storm made a comment that I just so related to....and it's become my favorite comment of the day...maybe the week...maybe till I'm 99...

"DO WE STOP MOVING BECAUSE WE GROW OLD 

OR 

DO WE GROW OLD BECAUSE WE STOP MOVING"

Read that again and think about it.  I think the answer is most definitely the latter....I truly believe we grow old because we stop moving.  I can't tell you how many people I see in the fitness center of the community I live in that are living proof of people who are aging, but not getting old.....because they keep moving.  Some of them move slowly, but as the motivational poster says:

  

I cannot begin to tell you how different I feel now when I do not exercise.  I feel sluggish and old.  But when I exercise and when I eat healthy my whole world is different.  I feel energized.  My body functions the way it is suppose to (in ways you probably would rather not hear me talk about).  And when I exercise, I always remember my trainer saying (and I've mentioned this in other posts).  We all age, but OLD is a box we put ourselves into.  There's no doubt, just like everyone else, I am aging.  But I am going to fight growing old with every fiber I have in me.....just as much as I'm going to fight this second round of breast cancer.  

I have to laugh at myself sometimes, especially when I see people's eyes rolling at my over exuberance of healthy eating and getting fit.  I sometimes feel like one of those people who used to smoke and quit and now can't stand to be around smokers....or those people that are referred to as "they got religion". I used to be one of those "everybody on the couch".  I've always been a walker...walking is and always has been my favorite means of exercise, but it wasn't until I lost my husband to emphysema and had my first encounter with breast cancer that something clicked in me that getting fit physically and mentally wasn't just a whim that you talked about doing and never really followed through on. 

Getting fit by eating healthy and exercising is a real thing....it's a real important thing.  Did I fail at part of it and as a result got cancer for the second time....maybe.  I'll admit even though I'm a cheering fool now for fitness, I am sometimes my own worst enemy.  Way too many times I give in to the chips and sweets ......as Edith Ann on Laugh In (ugh I just dated myself) said "And that's the truthththth"

So if ever there was a red flag thrown up....if ever there was a "Here's your sign"....it's this discovery that once again I have breast cancer.  One of the first questions I ask the Physician's Assistant and the surgeon was, "What can I do proactively to prevent this from happening a 3rd time?".....the answer.... 

"Eat healthy, lose  weight and exercise"...HELLO!  

Do we stop moving because we get old....or do we get old and bring illness on ourselves because we stop moving.  

I'm facing this new round of breast cancer with this thought in mind.  I've started taking care of my body, I've worked at eating healthy (but slipped up along the way) and I've embraced exercise as though my life depends on it...........and guess what.....it does.

  

 Keep moving with me.....let's age together....but let's not jump in the OLD box!

"You're Gonna Hear Me Roar"

October 23, 2013

Today's appointment was pretty simple.  I checked in got weighed and my blood pressure taken.  Got taken to a room and instructed to disrobe from the waist up. And as is usually the case in almost every doctor's visit for anything....you wait.....and you wait...and you wait...

The doctor came in with his assistant.  I had met the assistant last week and it was the first time for me to meet the surgeon who would remove this malignant tumor from my body.  I am and have always been a "first impression" person.   ...  
I  felt  comfortable with Dr. Watson from the minute I shook his hand.  I think it's real important to feel comfortable with your doctor; comfortable and confident that your best interest is what is important to him/her.

He took the time to tell me all the possibilities, everything they were planning on doing, all the pre-surgery things we needed to do (like the Sentenal Node Dye Injection) that shows them where the first lymph node is where the cancer might spread (if it has spread).  Then during surgery they remove that node and possibly two to three others and run careful and complete pathology on them to make sure there are no minute cancer cells in those nodes.  He said the MRI showed no swelling in the lymph nodes which indicates they are probably cancer free....but he made me no promises and I appreciated his straight forwardness.  They simply don't know until they get in there.  I had a long list of questions and he took the time to answer and talk to me about each one.

I had to then go and talk with a scheduler and pre-register for the surgery.

I am scheduled to have the Sentenal Node Dye Injection done on November 14th and the actual surgery on November 15th.

It was music to my ears to hear him say that my tumor is relatively small and that we caught it early and that on first look of the MRI, there is a big possibility that I may not have to have chemo....just radiation.  But again we won't know that until the surgery is complete and the pathology reports come back.  Either the chemo or the 6 weeks of radiation will begin approximately two weeks after the surgery.....so sometime in the first week of December.  If I have to have chemo, that will be done first.  11 years ago when I had the cancer on the left side, I did both chemo and radiation.  Chemo was administered once every 21 days and I had 5 sessions....so I started in April and had my last chemo treatment in August.  Then started the 6 weeks of radiation in September.  I remember the last day I had chemo and I remember the day I had my last radiation treatment.  It is such a feeling of exhilaration to know the treatments are finally over and you can finally begin your true healing.

And so now I begin the waiting game.  If they would have said I could do the surgery tomorrow, I would have done it.  I think when most people find out they have cancer, they want it out  NOW!  They don't want to wait 3 weeks.  But there's a lot of sick people out there and doctors are busy.  So I'll just have to be patient.  Here's how I'm looking at it.  That's gives me 21 more days to hit the gym and eat healthy and get my body in the best health and fitness it can me before it has to go through a trauma.  I'm not going to let this be an excuse to not exercise.  One of the questions I asked was how quickly I could get back into the gym.  The answer was use common sense (I laughed to myself when he said that....because I remember my fitness trainer asking me "Peggy, do you not know what resting means" :)  The doctor said about a week to 10 days after my surgery, I can start exercising again....probably not lifting weights or doing any strenuous upper body work, but certainly spinning and walking .  

So yes, Shepherd, and Dr. Watson, and John, I'll use common sense and I'll certainly rest after surgery and get back into my fitness routine s-l-o-w-y.  After all, I'm still recovering from the Achilles Tendon surgery.....
....and John will take my tennis shoes away from me if I don't behave!

So that's where we are right now. I'll try to get some other thoughts written on this blog in between now and the surgery date.  Life goes on and I've got to keep moving forward...

Katy Perry has a new that's just recently been released called "ROAR".  I just love it....it's how I feel about getting fit, it's how I feel about recovering from my Achilles Tendon tear, it's how I feel about this cancer and beating it....  the part of the song I love the most:

"I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire
‘Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar"   

(I hope those lyrics are correct...I got them off the internet)

and today...this is my favorite motivational poster:

 

THINK PINK!