SpruceHill

I am going in for round two with my cancer kicking boots on.

 
  
In late February I found a lump in my neck under my collar bone. I didn't think it was anything but went to the Doctor to get it checked out. I had an ultrasound after I came back from my trip and because of the location the doctors did not want to biopsy it. Last Friday I went in for a PET scan which basically is a full body scan with a radioactive contrast that lets doctors see cancer with out having to have surgery. My scan revealed that my cancer has come back. It started behind my implant and has spread.

This Monday I will have surgery to have my chemo port put in and to get a biopsy to make sure the cancer is the same as it was last time. Then Next Friday I will start my chemo. My chemo will go on a three week cycle and I will have two weeks of chemo and one week off. The drugs that my Dr is using are new drugs and he is very encouraged that they will work for my triple negative cancer.

Our Family is standing strong and being very brave, my girls and my husband Paul are so incredibly supportive and loving. I can not begin to tell you the love that I feel from them every minute of every day. I am truly blessed that they are mine.

This is not something that was even on my radar. I have been feeling a bit of pain in my chest but just thought it was my lymphedema bothering me. So My head is spinning and I have so many questions rolling around in my head, but for right now I am ready to fight. I am coming out with my pink boxing gloves on and my cancer ass kicking boots on. Cancer has picked the wrong chick!

Our family asks that you pray for us and that we can overcome this hurdle and come through the other side with a clean bill of health.

Sarah

 

It's a boy! Meet Finn

Yesterday we went to a farm to look at puppies, and we came home with a little short haired border collie puppy. He is 12 weeks old and his name is Finn.

 
It was love at first sight! The girls have been so excited. I had learned from my brother on Friday about the puppies and told the girls we were going to go look at them on Sunday. So Saturday we puppy proofed the house. Let me tell you your kids will clean if you tell them they are getting a new puppy!

 
  
Before we left Little E kept asking me if we were really going to bring one home. I am not sure she believed me.

 
They had one other boy puppy left and a lab girl left. We just loved his color and markings.

This is his Mama Bonnie. She is a working border collie, she was very sweet.

He did really well on the ride home and was very happy to just sit with the girls.

It was really warm outside and we were able to spend the afternoon getting acquainted in the sunshine. He was quite busy and he and Sadie got along very well with just a few growls from Sadie.

By dinner time he was tuckered out and took a long nap.

 He was very tired and he did well last night and only cried for a little while then he slept all night. It's really fun having a new puppy around he smells so good and makes the cutest little puppy sounds. We are looking forward to all his puppy adventures, well with the exception of the accidents and the chewing.

   

Finally Walking

After almost a month and a half of cold weather and waist high snow I am finally back to being able to walk. The weather is warming and the snow is melting and I can feel spring right around the corner.

Sadie came along with me and kept me company, following all the deer tracks in the woods and on the trails.

We took a long walk and got lots of fresh air and exercise. While walking back by the creek I found a treasure poking up out of the snow. Something I have never found before.

 
The antlers were just sticking up out of the snow. I couldn't believe my luck.

We get a lot of deer traffic through our place because of the creek so near by. If you look closely you can see the scratches on the tips where the deer has rubbed them on a tree.

I picked them up and brought them home to show everybody so they would believe me.

After Sadie and I did our exploring we went to visit our friends in the paddock

They were very happy to see us. There is a small corner in the field that is void of snow. The animals all have been enjoying the afternoon sun here in this spot.

Miss H's Tempest is back.  She is getting along well with the goats. I was not sure how she would do with them but they seem to be getting along just fine.

Which makes feeding time a bit more relaxed to say the least. We are expecting more warm temperatures this weekend and we are looking forward to spending lots more time outside exploring.

Happy weekend!  

   

The 10Th Annual Conference For Young Woman Affected By Breast Cancer

Well I made it home. No plane crash or traumatic incident! After not flying for 13 years I was a bit worked up about traveling. Thank goodness for anxiety meds. All aspects of my traveling experience went smoothly (with the exception of an overlooked bottle of cranberry juice in my purse, oops)

The 10Th Annual Conference For Young Women Affected By Breast Cancer was so much fun, I even met two survivors on my plane ride down to Atlanta. We were all in the same row! It was so cool.  I went down a day early and was able to spend time with two of my Hubby's Sisters. We had a nice girl time. I don't often get to visit with them without 12 kids running around. 

They kept us very busy at the conference. We had lots of time to network and I met so many wonderful inspiring young women who face the same things I do everyday. Some of us were post treatment and some still in treatment proudly wearing their wigs, hats and scarves. All with bright eyes and beautiful smiles. One of the things I was really looking forward to was meeting some folks I had never met in person. One of the ladies I blog with over at Mothers With Cancer was there all the way from Canada. Laurie has a blog called Not just about cancer. I love Laurie's writing and I have also read her book Not Done Yet. It is about her journey through cancer diagnosis and treatment. It is a great read and I highly recommend it even if you are not a woman facing breast cancer. I wish I had more time to talk and hang out with her. She is such a great person and I am inspired by her. The first time I saw her she happened to be raising her hand in a lymphedema workshop a few rows back from me. I knew it was her the moment I turned around. When we had a short break I went right over to her and introduced myself to her. She is as wonderful as I thought she was. We found a little time to chat here and there, and I am so happy that I got to meet her face to face.

There were some really good speakers at the conference. Dr Julie Gralow, professor of Medical oncology at the university of Washington school of medicine, Julia H. Rowland PhD from The National Cancer institute, and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. They were very informative speakers and I enjoyed listening to all of these woman speak about cancer and survivorship.

I was able to go to several workshops. I chose workshops on lymphedema, triple negative breast cancer, both of which I found very informative. I was very encouraged to hear about some new drugs that are about to come out that will target triple negative breast cancer. Us triple negative cancer patients do not have any target treatments like most woman do that have hormone receptive cancer or that are HER2+. This is wonderful news for triple negative breast cancer patients. I learned so much new information that I did not know before. One quote I heard during the conference was "Cancer happens to a person not a body part" Sometimes some of us feel like our bodies are treated but our whole person is not treated.

We also had some fun at the conference. I was lucky enough to be traveling with 4 other woman from my support group. We had so much fun hanging out and just having fun. We had lots of opportunities to let loose a bit and have a great time, laughing a just goofing off.

 
There are so many good things I carried away from the conference. But, best of all was the friendships and camaraderie between breast cancer survivors. There is always a conversation to be had between two breast cancer survivors. We all have our own cancer stories and our own treatment issues that we go through. It was a wonderful feeling to be surrounded by woman that knew about where I have been on my journey through cancer. It's something that is very hard to put into words, but we all get it. There is always a nod and a Yes! Sometimes we feel alone with our disease, but we all have a very strong common bond. It's a sisterhood of sorts. I felt bonded with complete strangers I had never met before. I am so glad that I was able to attend this years conference and I am looking forward to going again next year.