Touched Lives... continued...

So we found out that M's lymphoma has made it to her brain. I'm not sure where she goes from here, but our household is pretty bummed. She's a special friend of our family. All 3 of our children have special gifts they got from her when they were babies and the older 2 see her on a regular basis as she works at their school. Prayers all around. What is supposed to happen will happen, but I'm not going to lie, we're all pretty sad.
Then my old pal Skittle is facing a scary skin cancer. She has had 2 surgeries already and we are hoping to hear some good news soon. She's a pretty brave girl, if I do say so.
She has a really fun blog where she has recently been venting and dishing out the frustration she's feeling. She's getting Boss Lady household prayers all around too. DH has a soft spot for her, but don't tell him I said so. We've known her since she was a wee lass. Ha, ha! She hates that!
Anyway, I hope you all have a great weekend. No pomp and circumstance on this post, just wanted to update.

Touched Lives

When you are a part of a circle of friends you are touched by whatever touches the lives of those in your circle. The larger your circle becomes, more life events touch yours.
In our circle of friends, we have been touched by new love, old love, births, illness & death. We have celebrated, prayed, and mourned with our friends. And our friends have celebrated, prayed and mourned with us.
The illness part is what is really on my mind at the moment. Our lives have been touched by cancer a lot in the past few years. I used to think it was odd how often cancer had touched our lives in some way or another, but then I realized, as I said earlier, it was because our circle had expanded so.
Of course, we have probably all someone to sickness or possibly a tragic event. Death is hard, no matter who it is, how old they were or what happened. But when it is a "younger" person, seemingly with a lifetime ahead of them, it seems even more tragic.

Of course, cancer isn't a death sentence; it is often a second chance at life. A chance to re-evaluate what is important and a chance to get reacquainted with the special relationships in your life, the human ones and the spiritual one.

DH had a cancer scare about 3 years ago and it brought about some rearranging of priorities for our family. I can remember thinking, "How in the world do people who don't have a relationship with Christ, or even for that matter believe in God, get through something like this?" That's another blog for another day, however. About the same time this was happening to DH, 2 of his college buddies were diagnosed with cancer. The Cute One (affectionately named so by one of my bridesmaids) has been in remission for 2 years and E lost his battle last year. Uncle B recently had successful surgery to remove his cancer and M has recurring lymphoma which we continue to pray about. And I recently had my first mammogram (see Breast Cancer Awareness post) which was prompted by the discovery of a lump.

I have a friend who was recently diagnosed with a very aggressive Her2 positive breast cancer. Rosabella had a bilateral mastectomy and will begin her chemotherapy soon. She has been an inspiration to me. Did you hear that? To ME, I said. She has 2 young children, the same age as Number One Son & Queenie. And she is sending out humorous updates on her progress. I don't mean I smile and tilt my head to the side when I read them. I laugh out loud and shake. She's bringing sexy back to breast cancer treatment! I want to be bald too! You think I'm kidding, but I'm not.

So, our circle is all the more rich for knowing E, continuing to pray for M, celebrating with Uncle B & The Cute One and for knowing, celebrating & praying for Rosabella.

My prayer is that your circle has only been touched by love & celebration, but the reality is, I know it hasn't. I do hope that you grab every opportunity to celebrate your love, celebrate your life, celebrate your family, celebrate your friends and celebrate your God. He has a plan and that circle is a part of it.

I'm trying to win a pink vacuum! And why not?

I visited a fun blogger and she has introduced me to a fun contest! Before I forget to mention it, go visit her her blog.

The Domestic Diva has partnered with Dyson for a great give-away. Dyson and The Diva want to give away (to me hopefully) a free PINK Dyson Vacuum! For those of you who don't know, these vacuums retail for about $400!

Number One Son, Queenie and The Flying Monkey, along with our pets, do keep our vacuum cleaner quite busy so this would be GGRRREEEAT! Not to mention, I do love me some pink.

You can enter too! Just go to The Diva's blog post to find out how to enter. The contest ends October 31, so enter soon!

It's Breast Cancer Awareness Month

I had my first mammogram last week. And since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I wanted to take a moment to talk about it.

• Do you sometimes forget to do your monthly self breast exam? An easy way to remember is to pick a date and do the exam every month on that date. Or even better, choose a buddy and remember to remind each other! It's easy!
  

• If your insurance will pay for you to have a mammogram, schedule one. If you think you are too young, you're not. If you don't have insurance, most health departments will do them for free or at a discount. Early detection, my friends!
  

• Please take charge of your own health. If you THINK you feel something, tell your doctor. Don't worry about bothering them or being a pest. It's your body and we must REQUIRE our health care system to work FOR US! Be persistent. Again, don't apologize, it's their job.
  

• Are you familiar with "The Mammogram Myth?" Well, let me enlighten you. No, it does not feel like your breast is being slammed in the door of a freezing filing cabinet or like lying on the ice cold floor of a garage while a car is being backed over your breast.

Scene - Boss Lady at stage right, Mammogram Technician at stage left
BL: (looking at the tech) "Is that it?"
Tech: "That's it."
BL: "Really?"
Tech: "Yes."
BL: "Really?"
Tech: (laughing) "Yes."
BL: "Wow!"

It was mildly uncomfortable. And very brief. Moms, compared to pushing a large child through your birth canal, it's like a mild punch to the boob. Non-Moms, it's like a mild punch to the boob. Yeah, I know everyone's pain threshold is different, but really, it's not all that's it's made up to be!

So, to sum up what we know about Breast Cancer Intervention, Do your monthly self exam, Get a mammogram, Be in charge of your health, and BE BRAVE!