Hello People,
Can you even believe it is already October? Time is just flying by so fast for us. It is the most beautiful Autumn I have experienced in years. Mostly because most of my family is together. But also because it is such a beautiful time of year here in Knoxville, Tn. There is so much I want to share with you. So, I have put together a picture slide show and video update.
Let me know what you think and what sort of things are going on with you.
Leslie
Friday, October 4, 2013
Saturday, September 21, 2013
T.E.E Test.
Okay People,
This is not my normal Tuesday or Wednesday post. But so much is going on in life right now with moving and upacking and establishing myself with the new oncologist. It is all a bit crazy. I wanted to update you before life swept me away with distractions. Here is a quick little video to update you on how things are going. It isn't a whole lot of new info, but it has me a bit stressed out.
I will talk to you again on Wednesday of this week.
Leslie
This is not my normal Tuesday or Wednesday post. But so much is going on in life right now with moving and upacking and establishing myself with the new oncologist. It is all a bit crazy. I wanted to update you before life swept me away with distractions. Here is a quick little video to update you on how things are going. It isn't a whole lot of new info, but it has me a bit stressed out.
I will talk to you again on Wednesday of this week.
Leslie
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Testing, testing, 1,2,3!
Hello People!
Oh my gosh!!!! This has been a crazy busy week for me. What with moving, unpacking, and doctor visits. How has your week been? I'm hoping you are all doing well and are happy. I'm surrounded by boxes. There are only a few things I am allowed to do with all this moving and unpacking. I am not allowed to carry over 10 lbs. So, I only get to carry small, light boxes. I can unpack like a fool! Our current town house has a lot less cabinet and storage space than our previous home. So there is a lot of things that had to go back into their boxes and get put in storage. Right now we are in the process of unboxing some of the larger boxes and deciding what to keep and what to store. My mom drove back from the Colorado portion of this move with Mo. So she has been here for the past 4 days helping move, unbox and arrange! Wow, she is a hard worker. So is Mo. He drove me from my apartment in Texas and unpacked my stuff. Then turned around and went to our house in Colorado, packed and drove back with my mom. Now he is flying back to get all the stuff that wouldn't fit in the moving truck and driving back. All so that our house can be cleared before Oct 5 when it will sell. Whew!!!!! So crazy busy!
While all of this has been going I have gone to my new TN oncologist. I really found her to be a very straight forward Dr. She ordered a lot of tests after talking to me and examining me. She really really listened to me, and took a detailed, exacting history. When she examined me, I told her "I am concerned about all the swelling in my body" I have so much swelling in my feet and hands. That is a side affect of the avastin/taxol. They have been causing me to spill protein in my urine for a while off and on. This may be causing kidney damage. I showed her this picture that seemed to make an impact on her.
This in an image of the impression Sadie left on my very swollen leg after just a few minutes of standing on my leg in the car. Now keep in mind that she is a mini dachshund that only weighs 8 lbs. Not heavy enough for a dent of her paw print to be left in anyone's leg. So I was pretty dang swollen. The oncologist took a look at this and got very concerned. She examined me and felt that my swelling was excessive. She could hear fluid in my lungs and found that to be concerning. She spoke with my daughter Anna and I in a private conference room and explained that she felt the swelling could also be a result of the protein spilling situation. It would cause a build up of fluid around my heart. So she ordered an echo cardiogram, a bone density test (since it has been 3 years since I have had had one) a mammogram, and my Pet scan. I have had all of those tests done, except the Pet scan. I go for that tomorrow morning. The oncologist will speak with me at my next appointment to discuss test results and let me know what course of treatment she recommends based on those results. She did mention possibly discontinuing taxol/avastin and just keeping me on hormone suppression. It is her experience that it is better to treat chemo and hormone suppression separately to better determine which of the treatments are causing your body to go into remission. I am currently taking all three. ( taxol/avastin and femara) Yay! I would love to go off of chemo and only take hormone suppression.
Based on my previous Pet scan, I am in remission. Or as Doc Costa put it, "My cancer is under control" But he wanted to keep me on chemo because previously I went off treatment during a brief remission. Going off chemo caused the cancer to come back a short six weeks later. Honestly I can see both doctors reasoning. I just want to be a cancer patient that feels well enough to function through normal routines, without swollen body parts, excessive fatigue and shortness of breath. I will have that scan tomorrow. As soon as I know the results and my treatment plan, I will let you all know.
Thank you all for reading this super long and excruciatingly detailed post. More video blogs will be coming soon!!!! See ya then.
Leslie
Oh my gosh!!!! This has been a crazy busy week for me. What with moving, unpacking, and doctor visits. How has your week been? I'm hoping you are all doing well and are happy. I'm surrounded by boxes. There are only a few things I am allowed to do with all this moving and unpacking. I am not allowed to carry over 10 lbs. So, I only get to carry small, light boxes. I can unpack like a fool! Our current town house has a lot less cabinet and storage space than our previous home. So there is a lot of things that had to go back into their boxes and get put in storage. Right now we are in the process of unboxing some of the larger boxes and deciding what to keep and what to store. My mom drove back from the Colorado portion of this move with Mo. So she has been here for the past 4 days helping move, unbox and arrange! Wow, she is a hard worker. So is Mo. He drove me from my apartment in Texas and unpacked my stuff. Then turned around and went to our house in Colorado, packed and drove back with my mom. Now he is flying back to get all the stuff that wouldn't fit in the moving truck and driving back. All so that our house can be cleared before Oct 5 when it will sell. Whew!!!!! So crazy busy!
While all of this has been going I have gone to my new TN oncologist. I really found her to be a very straight forward Dr. She ordered a lot of tests after talking to me and examining me. She really really listened to me, and took a detailed, exacting history. When she examined me, I told her "I am concerned about all the swelling in my body" I have so much swelling in my feet and hands. That is a side affect of the avastin/taxol. They have been causing me to spill protein in my urine for a while off and on. This may be causing kidney damage. I showed her this picture that seemed to make an impact on her.
This in an image of the impression Sadie left on my very swollen leg after just a few minutes of standing on my leg in the car. Now keep in mind that she is a mini dachshund that only weighs 8 lbs. Not heavy enough for a dent of her paw print to be left in anyone's leg. So I was pretty dang swollen. The oncologist took a look at this and got very concerned. She examined me and felt that my swelling was excessive. She could hear fluid in my lungs and found that to be concerning. She spoke with my daughter Anna and I in a private conference room and explained that she felt the swelling could also be a result of the protein spilling situation. It would cause a build up of fluid around my heart. So she ordered an echo cardiogram, a bone density test (since it has been 3 years since I have had had one) a mammogram, and my Pet scan. I have had all of those tests done, except the Pet scan. I go for that tomorrow morning. The oncologist will speak with me at my next appointment to discuss test results and let me know what course of treatment she recommends based on those results. She did mention possibly discontinuing taxol/avastin and just keeping me on hormone suppression. It is her experience that it is better to treat chemo and hormone suppression separately to better determine which of the treatments are causing your body to go into remission. I am currently taking all three. ( taxol/avastin and femara) Yay! I would love to go off of chemo and only take hormone suppression.
Based on my previous Pet scan, I am in remission. Or as Doc Costa put it, "My cancer is under control" But he wanted to keep me on chemo because previously I went off treatment during a brief remission. Going off chemo caused the cancer to come back a short six weeks later. Honestly I can see both doctors reasoning. I just want to be a cancer patient that feels well enough to function through normal routines, without swollen body parts, excessive fatigue and shortness of breath. I will have that scan tomorrow. As soon as I know the results and my treatment plan, I will let you all know.
Thank you all for reading this super long and excruciatingly detailed post. More video blogs will be coming soon!!!! See ya then.
Leslie
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Welcome to TN, boomsday fireworks.
Hello People,
I hope this post finds you all doing well and having enjoyed this past three day weekend. It has been quite a busy week for me. I had chemo on Tuesday. Then on Wednesday my family caravanned from Texas to Tennessee. It was a LONG day. Then on Thursday we moved into our town home. In between unpacking and getting settled, we have driven around to explore. We discovered downtown, and market square. While there, we found out that there was going to be a giant fireworks display to celebrate Labor day. Well heeeeeeey, we had to do that! So, the next day we went back downtown and got an awesome parking spot on the top floor of a parking garage, ( the better to see fireworks from ) and then set out to explore. We took our doxie doggies with us. They did great. They had such a blast and so did we. There are so many cool stores on Market street. I can't wait to explore other streets in downtown Knoxville. It was 6 hours of time spent there, but it went super fast. The longest part was the long wait to get out of the parking garage when it was over. First ones to park, last ones to leave. Hahahah. Seriously, If you are ever in Knoxville on Labor day, I highly recommend going to Booms day. It was UH-MAY-ZING!!!!
Now we are mostly unpacked, and starting to feel settled. I have my first oncology appointment next week on the 11th. You can be certain I will blog about that. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy these photos of our first few days here in Knoxville.
Thanks for stopping by,
Leslie
I hope this post finds you all doing well and having enjoyed this past three day weekend. It has been quite a busy week for me. I had chemo on Tuesday. Then on Wednesday my family caravanned from Texas to Tennessee. It was a LONG day. Then on Thursday we moved into our town home. In between unpacking and getting settled, we have driven around to explore. We discovered downtown, and market square. While there, we found out that there was going to be a giant fireworks display to celebrate Labor day. Well heeeeeeey, we had to do that! So, the next day we went back downtown and got an awesome parking spot on the top floor of a parking garage, ( the better to see fireworks from ) and then set out to explore. We took our doxie doggies with us. They did great. They had such a blast and so did we. There are so many cool stores on Market street. I can't wait to explore other streets in downtown Knoxville. It was 6 hours of time spent there, but it went super fast. The longest part was the long wait to get out of the parking garage when it was over. First ones to park, last ones to leave. Hahahah. Seriously, If you are ever in Knoxville on Labor day, I highly recommend going to Booms day. It was UH-MAY-ZING!!!!
Now we are mostly unpacked, and starting to feel settled. I have my first oncology appointment next week on the 11th. You can be certain I will blog about that. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy these photos of our first few days here in Knoxville.
Thanks for stopping by,
Leslie
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
The long and winding road
Here is a blog post I wrote from logger for I-phone. It was default uploaded to Leslie's beautiful life. You can Check that post out by following this link. Sorry for the inconvenience!
Thanks for stopping by,
Leslie
http://lesliesbeautifullife.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-long-and-winding-road.html
Saturday, August 17, 2013
XKCD a webcomic about romance, sarcasm, math and language.
Hello people,
I am so sorry for being absent from the blogging world last Tuesday. I will explain all about it in a special video message I will be posting this week on Tuesday. In the meanwhile, I wanted to share the comics of a very talented, witty, artistic, funny and ironic web comic. My daughter shared with me some of the very funny charts this man draws on his webcomic. In a few of his comics he has shared a very personal and private part of his life and battle with cancer that he and his love have gone through. I hope I am not infringing in any way by sharing it. I am sharing the comic as well as the link to the page where you can find his series. Feel free to visit and laugh at his very original humor. Follow the link below. Feel free to leave a comment here or there.
Thank you for stopping by,
Leslie
I am so sorry for being absent from the blogging world last Tuesday. I will explain all about it in a special video message I will be posting this week on Tuesday. In the meanwhile, I wanted to share the comics of a very talented, witty, artistic, funny and ironic web comic. My daughter shared with me some of the very funny charts this man draws on his webcomic. In a few of his comics he has shared a very personal and private part of his life and battle with cancer that he and his love have gone through. I hope I am not infringing in any way by sharing it. I am sharing the comic as well as the link to the page where you can find his series. Feel free to visit and laugh at his very original humor. Follow the link below. Feel free to leave a comment here or there.
Thank you for stopping by,
Leslie
Sunday, August 4, 2013
A love letter to my daughter.
Hello people,
You should probably settle in with a cup of tea or a snack. This post is going to be a long one. The relationship between mother and daughter is a magical and beautiful thing. There is a tie that goes directly from my heart to hers. It cannot be broken, torn or tattered. We have been through many emotional storms in her short twenty years. I will never forget the day I went to parent teacher night. All the students in her class had work they had done laid upon their tiny little desks for all of us proud parents to view. There were pictures she had drawn and assignments she had completed. But it was the short story she had written that made the tie between our two hearts vibrate. She had written a story, ( so eloquent for an elementary student ) about cancer. It explained how her dad had leukemia, and her mom had breast cancer. It explained that she had cancer too. Worry cancer that is. I wanted to sob. To wrap her in my arms and protect her from every hurt that could come her way. That day, I realized my sweet child no longer held childish concerns. In fact, she was a tiny adult, trapped in a child's body.
Years have passed since that day. She has always been more adult than her years. Despite my battle to allow her to be young and carefree, she has had to deal with more than she should ever have had to for her youth. Just yesterday I saw the transition of the parent taking care of her child, to the child taking care of her parent. I was ill again yesterday. She cared for me like a pro. With medical knowledge beyond her years. She gave me nausea medicine. She ran me a bath, made me dry toast. Better than any nurse could ever be to me, because she cared for me with love and tenderness. Today I am feeling better. So, I sit here and ponder the mystery of love between a mother and a daughter. I reflect on how I told her " she has had to grow up to fast and shouldn't have to take care of me on her day off" She said " she would rather take care of me on her day off than know I was sick and have to be at work and not be able to care for me" To my heart those word are beautiful. It is her actions that show the world her love.
I pray that from now through the rest of her life that she knows how much she is loved and cherished by me. I want to see both of my children happy and doing well in life. I want them to know and never forget that I love them. I pray that there is more joy than there is pain. Yes, My husband has leukemia, and I have terminal breast cancer. But the thing that I have discovered i share with my daughter, is I have worry cancer too.
I love you daughter, I will slways worry, hope and pray for you.
Mom
Leslie
You should probably settle in with a cup of tea or a snack. This post is going to be a long one. The relationship between mother and daughter is a magical and beautiful thing. There is a tie that goes directly from my heart to hers. It cannot be broken, torn or tattered. We have been through many emotional storms in her short twenty years. I will never forget the day I went to parent teacher night. All the students in her class had work they had done laid upon their tiny little desks for all of us proud parents to view. There were pictures she had drawn and assignments she had completed. But it was the short story she had written that made the tie between our two hearts vibrate. She had written a story, ( so eloquent for an elementary student ) about cancer. It explained how her dad had leukemia, and her mom had breast cancer. It explained that she had cancer too. Worry cancer that is. I wanted to sob. To wrap her in my arms and protect her from every hurt that could come her way. That day, I realized my sweet child no longer held childish concerns. In fact, she was a tiny adult, trapped in a child's body.
Years have passed since that day. She has always been more adult than her years. Despite my battle to allow her to be young and carefree, she has had to deal with more than she should ever have had to for her youth. Just yesterday I saw the transition of the parent taking care of her child, to the child taking care of her parent. I was ill again yesterday. She cared for me like a pro. With medical knowledge beyond her years. She gave me nausea medicine. She ran me a bath, made me dry toast. Better than any nurse could ever be to me, because she cared for me with love and tenderness. Today I am feeling better. So, I sit here and ponder the mystery of love between a mother and a daughter. I reflect on how I told her " she has had to grow up to fast and shouldn't have to take care of me on her day off" She said " she would rather take care of me on her day off than know I was sick and have to be at work and not be able to care for me" To my heart those word are beautiful. It is her actions that show the world her love.
I pray that from now through the rest of her life that she knows how much she is loved and cherished by me. I want to see both of my children happy and doing well in life. I want them to know and never forget that I love them. I pray that there is more joy than there is pain. Yes, My husband has leukemia, and I have terminal breast cancer. But the thing that I have discovered i share with my daughter, is I have worry cancer too.
I love you daughter, I will slways worry, hope and pray for you.
Mom
Leslie
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