Update...How is it Going?

We were sitting around at Mom and Dad's last night and my sister pulled up an email from the high school principal. He was talking about coming back from spring break and finishing the year strong. We were actually giggling about some of the wording but it was the main point of the email that hit me. We are closer to winding down this year than we are from the beginning.

I was just at registration wasn't I? Didn't I JUST pay the textbook fees and the instrument rentals? Didn't we JUST buy school supplies? Not fair...this year flew by. It flew by while I was busy taking care of me. That is by far not my favorite thing. I think of last year at this time...a bomb was ticking and ready to go off. This was about the time when I knew something wasn't right. I just wasn't convinced yet that it could be something all that bad.

But let's not focus on all of that. Here is the good news if you want a few tidbits...

• I wore my wedding ring yesterday and today for the first time in months. I still have to take it off at bedtime because of the claustrophobic feeling it gives me, but I will take it!
• Piggybacking off of the first point there, the swelling has gone down a lot and I really only feel extra fluid in my right arm where the lymph nodes are gone.
• I walked up the huge staircase from the basement to the main floor of our church this morning after I taught KBF (Sunday school) and only had a slight stretching feeling in my legs and did not feel like I couldn't catch my breath or that I had to sit down and rest. I am thankful that I have been able to teach most of this year despite the chemo and radiation. I love the little people who come see me each week!
• Matthew has changed his bedtime prayer once again. Now he no longer prayers "God, please help Mom with her radiation" but instead prays "God, please help so Mom doesn't have cancer EVER again!" I can definitely say a hearty AMEN to that prayer each and every night. Zachary is praying "help Mom feel better from her radiation". Another hearty AMEN.
• Speaking of Zachary...he let me take off my scarf Saturday night during prayer time and he saw my head without a covering. I have a good bit of hair growing back and although it is not at a length where it can be styled, he approved. For those who didn't know, he has not seen my head without a wig or other covering since we shaved it back in August.
• My fingernails are slowly growing back! Woo Hoo!
• I have been on my new hormone pill for well over a week and received my first injection last Thursday and so far no hot flashes or anything troubling. I hope it stays that way...that would be a plus!
• How is the armpit you may ask? EXCELLENT in comparison to the last time I talked armpit! I am sure that there will be some more peeling over the whole area but for now, it is just the scar area that is peeling, burning, raw and hurting. I would like to thank my sweet friend Jayna in second grade Sunday school who has had a year and a half of her own surgeries and healing after major burns (in her armpit area too) for testing all of the possible burn creams. Her mom has given me a couple of samples and recommendations that have worked for her and they are helping me a lot too! The area of major peeling and pain currently is my cleavage where the 7" scar is that was treated the last week of radiation.

Ready to put away for good the "doctoring" supplies on
my bathroom counter!

Let's just take a minute for a funny story here now that I have mentioned the burn cream. I have a prescription from radiation for cream. The pharmacy gave me three little tubes. There is a lot of area to cover so I slathered it (because it feels really good) in the morning and before bed. I went through a little tube every day and a half. So last week when I went in to refill it they said "you can't get a refill until the 17th" Ohhh! They wanted me to use it sparingly. Hmm...so you are saying that I have "overdosed" on steroid cream? At the time it was six days before I could get it refilled and I used it twice as fast as I should have! So, the sample creams came in handy. All last week I used them and felt better. Friday I got my refill. My rationing skills are much better this time around. (Love my steroid cream at bedtime!)

I am closing my post with the happy thought of less posts about me to come. Sitting last night with my calendar going through the numbers of email reminders of this, that and the other coming up in the next couple months of school (and now even into the summer), I am blessed. It is crazy the difference a year makes.

Psalm 139:14 "I will praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows very well.