Am I really going to blog?: June 2011

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Just a few weeks left.....

before the 1st Annual Cam & Sue Cancer Sucks 5K. Things are coming together much better than I had hoped. Now, I am only going to worry about weather and hope that people actually show up!

If you are interested in participating, email me for a registration form @ lori.a.brown1@gmail.com or download one at https://sites.google.com/site/camsuecancersucks5/

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A few pics from a birthday party:

Sam & her cousin like to whip their hair! That song is enough to make me run screaming from the room!

With Granda Charlie:

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Mileage update: 14.15 this week for a grand total of: 392.79!

Plan to invest in a GPS-type watch as my $7 Walmart stop watch has stopped running (imagine that!). Any suggestions? I've read that Garmin & Polar are both good brands, but there are so many choices and if I am going to spend that much $$ I don't want to make the wrong choice.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Has it been 2 weeks??

A lot has happened in the past two weeks.

First, my dad had quintuple bypass surgery. I didn't even know that was possible. I thought quadruple was the most you could have. He came through it just fine. Luckily, he has never had a heart attack so his heart muscle is very strong. So glad they were able to catch it before he did have one. He is looking forward to getting his 200 staples out on Tuesday.

Because he had done so well & because we had already paid, we went on our beach vacation. Here are some pics of that:

Me & my little hula girl:

Sam enjoying the ocean:

Braving a boogey board again -first time in 2 years:

She LOVED those goggles!

Exhausted after days of staying up too late, lots of time in the water & eating junk! Getting ready to leave for home:

It is good to be home! Too bad I have to go back to work tomorrow.....

***** List updates *****

2 weeks of mileage: 15.5 + 12.1 (got in 3 runs on the beach!) for a grand total of: 378.64

Items completed: 17/38

#1, #2, #3, #5, #7, #8, #10, #13, #14, #15, #19, #20, #22, #23, #29, #34, #38

Items in progress: 10/38

#9, #11, #16, #17, #18, #24, #28, #31, #35, #36

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Just mileage today.....

20.68 this week for a total of 351.04.

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I HOPE....

I hope you never have to hear the words, 'Your child has cancer.'

I hope you never have to hear, 'The prognosis is not good.'

I hope you never have to prepare to undergo radiation or chemotherapy, have a port surgically inserted into their chest, be connected to IV poles. Look at you with fear in their eyes and say, 'Don't worry Mommy, everything will be okay.'

I hope you never have to hold your child as they vomit green bile.

I hope you never have to feed them ice chips for lunch.

I hope you never have to watch the 'cure' you pray for slowly take away their identity, as they lose their hair, become skeletal, swell up from steroids, develop severe acne, become barely or unable to walk or move, and look at you with hope in their eyes and say,'It's going to be okay, Mommy.'

I hope that you never have to stay in the hospital for weeks, months, or years at a time, where there is no privacy, sleeping on a slab, with your face to the wall, where you cry in muffled silence.

I hope you never have to see a mother, alone, huddled, in a dark hospital corridor...crying quietly, after just being told, 'There is nothing more we can do.'

I hope you never have to watch a family wander aimlessly, minutes after their child's body has been removed.

I hope you never have to use every bit of energy you have left, with all of this going on around you to remain positive, and the feelings of guilt, sorrow, hope and fear, overwhelm you.

I hope you never have to see a child's head bolted to the table as they receive radiation.

I hope you never have to take your child home (grateful but so afraid) in a wheelchair because the chemo and radiation has damaged their muscles, 35 pounds lighter, pale, bald, and scarred. And they look at you with faith in their eyes and say, 'It's going to be okay Mommy.'

I hope you never have to face the few friends that have stuck beside you and hear them say, 'Thank God that is over with,'...because you know it never will be. Your life becomes a whirl of doctors, blood tests and MRI's and you try to get your life back to 'normal'. While living in mind-numbing fear that any one of those tests could result in hearing the dreaded words...'The cancer has returned' or 'The tumor is growing.' And your friends become even fewer.

I hope you never have to experience any of these things... Because...only then...Will you understand...

(author unknown)