SpruceHill

Going Pink For October!

 

 

Tomorrow is October, breast cancer awareness month here in the US. I am turning my blog pink for the month. Up at the bottom of my banner on the right hand side is a tab that you can click on and make a donation to Susan G Komen. Last October I raised over $1500 for the race for the cure, and $1200 for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. This year I am not doing the race but thought this might be a good way for me to raise money for a really great cause.

For my new readers I am a 1 1/2 year breast cancer survivor. I was diagnosed at the age of 41 after a routine surgery for benign cysts in both of my breasts (My Story is here). During my surgery the doctor found a tumor under the benign cyst on my left side and removed most of it. I was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer a rather invasive type of the disease. Three weeks after my diagnosis I had a bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction. During my surgery the found that the cancer was not in one spot but I had three tumors and it had spread to one lymph node under my left arm. Three weeks after my mastectomy, I went in for my third surgery and had 12 lymph nodes removed and a port put into my chest to make chemo easier. The cancer did not spread past that one lymph node. I dodged a huge bullet. All my doctors said that If they had not found the cancer when they did it would have been too late. I went through 8 rounds of dose dence chemotherapy. I lost all of my hair 11 days after my first chemo treatment.

 October is about celebrating life for me, a birthday of sorts. Join my celebration of life after breast cancer and make a donation to my page. Susan G. Koman does so many wonderful things in breast cancer research, and they are on the ground at the community level helping breast cancer patients every day. Recently our local hospital received a very large grant form Susan G. Komen and any breast cancer survivor that lives in my county is eligible for FREE services. Yoga, acupuncture, healing touch, counseling and many many more things. Your dollars do work to help us survivors. Every penny counts! I know these are lean times, but there are so many of us in need of a cure!

Settled In

Arial is all settled in and is happy to be home.

She has been getting lots of love and attention.

She is back to being our watch dog. If someone drives up or walks out the front door she whinnies out a welcome.

I could stay out with her in the field all day taking pictures of her.

as long as I am touching her she would stand there all day.

Unless she has an itch to scratch.

After her peppermints she always is very thirsty.

I am so happy to have her home!

The Valley

I live in a little valley. At this time of year the fields of soybeans look like they are on fire.

The colors of fall take my breath away.

 

Walking......

I took a walk today in the woods. It was so quiet.

I saw lots of deer and the birds seemed loader then usual.

You can really see the seasons changing down by the creek. There are lots of leaves in the water.

Acorns falling all around me. I felt as though I need to duck and cover.

It always seems to clear my head, and allow me to slow down. If only for just a moment.

She's coming home!

This morning I went out to walk the fence line to make sure there were no new holes. Arial is coming home in the next two days or so. I wanted to make sure all was well for her in her field. It was so beautiful out this morning. Everything so full and heavy with dew.

I was lucky to have my camera in my pocket. I had gone back to the house to get it after finding a little snake underneath the water trough. When I got back out to take his picture he had already slithered away.

This morning glory took my breath away.

I am excited about Arial coming home and I look forward to giving her love and attention.

Oh and peppermints :) She will be getting a new friend too. Not a pony, can you guess?