Ready to roll...

That is right... I'm still kicking cancers arse. Cancer has not had the best of me! I have had a wonderful week! I felt great all week. I worked all week. I enjoyed my family all week. Things were great. This week, fighting cancer was easy! PIECE OF CAKE! This next week...will be a fight. It comes too quick for me. Right when I start to feel great...whamo... it is time again for the fight. I am up for it though! I have been rejuvinated and ready to roll!

Yesterday I begged my husband (I really didn't have to beg too hard) to take us for a day trip into St. Louis so we could enjoy a fun day. I wanted to do something as a family while I felt good. I wanted to have fun. We did! We enjoyed a few hours at the Children's Museum/Magic House. We accomplished our goal of wearing out Charly and we were home shortly after lunch. It was a quick trip, but we had a blast.


(It would have been a much better picture if we were ready for it...)

Also this week, we had a lesson on just how short life really is. Andrew's uncle passed away after suffering a massive heart attack while he and his wife were visiting their daughter. After being in a coma all week and fighting for his life all week, it was his time to go. Life is short. Enjoy every day. Smile as much as you can, and love the people around you.

Although I am not dying of cancer today, and hope I am not dying of cancer in the coming years, there is always a fear I have that because of this diagnosis my life will be greatly shortened. I read a statistic that 40 percent of people diagnosed with colon cancer will make it to 10 years. I don't like those odds. I do not like cancer statistics! I will always fear that it will come back. I want to see my baby grow up. I want to live, and because I want to live so bad, I am fighting now!

I was asked this week why I have to do the chemo. It is a question that I have asked as well. My only answer, and the answer I get from my oncologist, is that I fight now and take the chemo to have a better life insurance policy on my future. I am fairly confident as well as the physicians that have been taking care of me and following me, that all of the cancer was removed and did not spread. The only concern that they have, is that when I had my emergency surgery, Dr. T did not remove enough lymph nodes to determine if the cancer had spread to my lymph system. In order to determine this, they have to remove at least 20 lymph nodes. This will be done at my next surgery. When they go in to reverse my colostomy, they will remove lymph nodes as well to determine if the cancer had spread or not. When I did my PET scan the results were good and did not detect any cancer in the lymph nodes at that time, but unless the lymph nodes were larger than 1cm they would not show up. This is why I do the Chemo. This is why I fight. Just to be safe. Also, I am only 32 years old...I have a lot of years ahead of me. I want to kick any tiny cancer cells arse that happens to be floating around my body! And so the fight continues...

Tuesday will be chemo treatment #3! Moving right along. Until then...

~I smiled today because we made it to church!

~I smiled today because we went to brunch with my sister and her friend. I love my family!

~I smiled today because I made my husbands day by letting him go fishing at the lake while I stayed home to hang out with Charly and clean and get ready for my week ahead. He needed a break and some rejuvinating as well!

~I smiled today because life is fun! (Sometimes a struggle...but it is a fun journey!)

~I smiled today because it is BEAUTIFUL outside and I still have 1 1/2 days till my next chemo!

Today was a great day...tomorrow will be even better!