A story of motherhood, love, life, and breast cancer
See how we got here buy a hair or start at the beginning.
Now that we had an induction date and a wig picked out, we spent the weekend preparing for That Baby girl to arrive. Friends near and far had sent us things to let us know that they were thinking of us! We had a weekend with a fresh flower delivery, a fruit arrangement, food to stock our freezer, and cupcakes!
Peony delivery from a friend across the country!
You may have seen me tweet recently that I was headed to a mediation class. I have not been able to find one that focuses on curing or a disease type healing meditation. There is a local studio that offered a free meditation class, so I had nothing to lose. I asked a friend to go with me, and off we went.
Since this blog sat on my to do list for a while as I was busy living this life and journey, I’ve started out writing about the past. Most of it is pretty ugly. Breast Cancer isn’t really very funny. Parenthood, however, I will admit can be really really funny. And I do try to laugh at myself as often as possible. When you combine That Girl, That Guy, and My Girls, you get a pretty Wacky life. When I was a child, probably when I was learning to read, one of my favorite books was “Wacky Wednesday” by Dr. Seuss. Since we constantly talk about how wacky my oldest is, my Wednesday posts will be sharing what I think are pretty Wacky stories, quotes, and silliness from our lives. Enjoy!
So it is not a secret to those closest to me that I enjoy a good shopping trip. Over the years, I generally shop the same places and have become friendly with long time employees there. Like most expectant and then new moms, I wasn’t out shopping much during that time. About one month after my treatments started, I decided to ditch what had passed for casual office attire for some more comfortable stay-at-home mom type clothes now and again when running here and there. So out I went to find some that were a little bit more presentable than what others might mistake for pajamas. I also decided to get over my fear of having to try on clothes in public with a wig on.
During the week to remember, I had to start sharing with those at work who needed to know sooner than later. I was lucky enough to have some flexibility to work from home to field phone calls from my medical team and get my work done and hours in while I could around all the appointments. I started taking steps to wrap things up and making lists of what needed to be done for me to take some time off. I sat in on a monthly meeting to present information to leadership and there was the normal pre-maternity leave joking about how quickly the mom would be back. There were sympathetic looks from those who had heard the entire story through the grapevine that exists in offices. Since it was common knowledge I had been high risk throughout the pregnancy, no one beyond that really questioned why I might be going out so early. I spent what seemed like forever trying to figure out short term disability and how that would work with two different causes. Eventually, I realized that was for them to figure out. They did. Again, I found that people are caring and naturally well meaning. [Read more…]
Since this blog sat on my to do list for a while as I was busy living this life and journey, I’ve started out writing about the past. Most of it is pretty ugly. Breast Cancer isn’t really very funny. Parenthood, however, I will admit can be really really funny. And I do try to laugh at myself as often as possible. When you combine That Girl, That Guy, and My Girls, you get a pretty Wacky life. When I was a child, probably when I was learning to read, one of my favorite books was “Wacky Wednesday” by Dr. Seuss. Since we constantly talk about how wacky my oldest is, my Wednesday posts will be sharing what I think are pretty Wacky stories, quotes, and silliness from our lives. Enjoy!
When you have a daughter like my oldest, you just never know what wacky thing might come out of her mouth. Shortly after our second daughter was born, our preschool aged daughter had a dental check up. Since she is still in the baby teeth world and dentist appointments are pretty quick deals to get them accustomed to going and get over any fear, they allow the parents to go back with the kids. The practice she goes to is the same one I went to as a child and somehow the hygienists are the same ladies. If you are reading this ladies, let me note that they have not aged a bit. Seriously. Also, they are sweet women who claim to remember me. [Read more…]
Read Path and Personality to see how we got here. Or just start at the beginning.
Once we left the surgeon’s office, it felt like the longest week ever began. Yet somehow with a holiday, in reality it was a short week just packed full of constantly changing information, appointments for both the baby and I, meeting new doctors, seeing my current doctors, and trying so hard to get an understanding of options available. Oh and just go about our daily business as best we could. My husband and I came out on the other side emotionally and physically exhausted, yet I know I was unable to sleep. [Read more…]
Read What Happened Next to see how we got here
So what does one do when waiting? You go on, but barely. You get your kid dressed. You get dressed. You try to eat so that your baby grows. You go to work. You hug your husband. You hug your daughter. You cry when people ask what is going on. No one believes it is going to be bad. They all think you are exaggerating and dramatic. No one can understand how they can be so sure without results. But you saw the faces. You will never forget those faces. You hide so that you don’t have to tell anyone. [Read more…]
In case you forgot where I left off start here
On Monday morning, the clock was too slow to make it to eight. Finally, I could call. I was lucky to get in the very next day. During the test, I just knew. I cried. I cried alone as the tech did what she needed to do. It felt like forever. And I just kept crying. My husband was sitting in the waiting room for me. After she finished, she didn’t have me get dressed, just told me to go into another room and my husband would be there. “Someone will be in”, she said. [Read more…]
At thirty-mumble years old and more than 7 months pregnant, I had an ache. It was strange. I was laying on my side in bed. The sensation was concerning, but really, who thought it wouldn’t be a milk-duct developing. [Read more…]
All About My Girls 