My siblings were leaving Seattle Thursday night and headed to California to help me celebrate my birthday with me, which is July 29th. They left at 7pm and were driving straight down. In the car would be 3 of my sisters with 2 of their spouses and then 2 of my brothers. I kept in contact with them Friday morning as they neared the Bay Area. I had an appointment at Kaiser that morning at 9:45am so I delayed leaving the apartment as much as I could so that I could greet them. They made it in at about 9:20am and I got my hugs in but had to leave shortly afterwards. They stayed behind at my apartment with my parents who had flown in on Tuesday night.
Enjoying some coffee and Aredia!
My close up!
Feeling like a statue and all fancy!
I had another infusion of Aredia (my bone treatment). I am not sure what number this is but I think this is my 6th or 7th Aredia treatment. I no longer have any bone pain. I just go in, Aredia is infused for about an hour and then I go home and that's it. I don't wake up the next morning in any type of pain. I figure this means that Aredia is working and my bones are a little stronger now. My cousin Delia drove me in to my appointment and I checked in. I was feeling great. I decided to dress up a little and wear a dress and some wedges that made me 5'11". I felt like a statue in those shoes but I love them. When I checked in, I gave the receptionist a heads up that cupcakes would be delivered at 11am for the whole staff.
Since my birthday is July 29th, I ordered some cupcakes from a cupcake shop and had them delivered to the chemo nurses that Friday during the time that I would be in the chemo chair. I won't mention the name of the cupcake shop because I did take one home for my sister to sample and she didn't give it a great review. I chose vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry cupcakes. My sister had the vanilla and she said that the cake had a cake donut consistency and the frosting tasted a little bit like Crisco. I met this vendor at a local fair and when I saw her cupcakes, they were decorated all pretty so I was disappointed that mine only had a little cinnamon on top. I don't think I'll be ordering from them again. But I will say that the best place so far that I've ordered cupcakes from that have been very good is from Sibby's Cupcakes in San Mateo, CA. I didn't eat any cupcakes on Friday because my appetite has been small and I had drank a cup of coffee that morning.
Vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry cupcakes.
Close up of vanilla.
After Aredia, Nurse Gail changed my dressing on my midline and she set me free to go! We arrived home shortly and my siblings and I jumped into my sister's SUV and we did some thrift store shopping. We went to a couple of Goodwills and I go a few outfits for $15! Later on that evening, the whole family went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant a couple of blocks from my apartment. We had a great time!
My family at dinner!
Finally a little later, the last of my family arrived from WA State. My brother and his wife and two kids arrived and they would be staying with me in my apartment along with my parents. The rest of my siblings would stay at a hotel down the street since my apartment is only a 1 bedroom.
The next day, we headed out to the San Jose Flea Market with everyone. Since we would be doing a lot of walking around and the flea market is huge, I decided to bring my wheel chair and have my mom push me around so that I wouldn't get fatigued or dizzy. I bought a floppy Summer hat while I was there to protect me from the sun and picked up a couple of items. The flea market was a real treat for my family as it isn't something we typically visit. I noticed that people were very nice to me and got out of my way when I was in the wheel chair. Apparently some people had asked my sister what was wrong with me after I had rolled away and she told them I had cancer. Looking at me in the chair, you couldn't tell what my disability was. It's a miracle what make up and a red lip can do for your appearance.
Rolling around the flea market.
After the flea market, we headed on over to my sister's condo in Fremont where she had prepared a lunch for us. I was feeling tired so I took a nap while everyone headed down to the pool. When they got back, they did some shopping at the Fremont Hub and I stayed behind. It was finally at about 8:30pm that my cousin offered to drive me back to San Mateo since it was getting late and everyone wasn't back yet. I also had to do my nightly shot and final meds for the evening.
Goofing around at my sister's.
I put on my jammies once at home and readied for bed. I was having such a wonderful weekend thus far with my family there and it made me sad. I cried for a few minutes. They were tears of sadness and of happiness. I had to savor these moments because I didn't know how many more I was getting.
I must admit that I did a lot of crying when I was alone. I was so touched that my family made the effort to come out to California to celebrate my birthday with me. The only one missing was my little brother who is 22 and couldn't get out of work. While I am optimistic that I have many more birthdays to celebrate, I also have to be real about the fact that my cancer is aggressive and unpredictable. I do want to share very briefly without sharing too many details about my best friends mom who had been battling uterine cancer for the past four years. I met my friend 6 years ago through work and although we went our separate ways, we always kept in touch. On Monday the 23rd, he had told me that his mom was in the hospital and she was too weak to do chemo. Doctors had told her that she had 3-6 months left. My heart broke for them. When i was out and about on Friday the 27th, I received a text from him that his mom had passed away Thursday evening. I shed a few tears. It was totally unexpected. He is such a good friend to me, watching my back all of these years and more recently, taking care of me in my cancer journey and now it was my turn to be there for him. I tend to have survivors guilt when someone passes away. Why am I still here? I don't get it? Will it be my turn next? Cancer is so unpredictable and so unfair. I hate it.
I know my family cares about me dearly. It's hard for me to accept help from them as it's a sign to me that I'm losing my independence but at the same time, I welcome it as I want them to be a part of my care. I manage my pain meds and treatment program with my doctor and I'm slowly letting my sister (who has been my primary care taker this summer) in on this so I'm teaching her about my meds, why I take them, how and when. I'm also letting her know more about how my treatment is going, where as before I was protecting them from my prognosis. These things I keep private between me and my family. I am an open book and share my journey proudly, but I do reserve some things just for me and my family. Everything I write here is from my point of view and when the time comes that I can no longer write for myself, I will have guest bloggers that will communicate to my supporters for me. But let's think years from now. I love writing and sharing my journey so I don't expect me to take a turn for the worse for a while. I am feeling great and just thank God for giving me another day and for these blessed feelings.
I am excited to write my next blog which will share tons of pics and memories from my 31st birthday party. It truly is my most favorite and best birthday ever. These past couple of years, I've been working 2 jobs so my birthdays consisted of working on job then heading straight next to the other. I'd get home too tired to do any celebrating. And weekends were reserved to me and some quiet time so my past few birthday's were uneventful. But I was always grateful to receive birthday cards from my family who alway remembered to think of me.
I also wanted to let you all know that I have co-founded a new FB page with another warrior, Tiffany Schwantes, about creating awareness for young adults with cancers. Check it out when you can! It's called "Young, Fabulous, and Cancerous."
I just wanted to write a quick update about how I have been feeling lately. It seemed to me that I was having more bad days than good lately but I think all the prayers, positive vibes, and warm thoughts are working. Friday, July 20th, my cousin Delia and I headed in to Kaiser so I can get the dressing changed on my midline. I was feeling great. Afterwards we went shopping at Ulta and Target. I decided to treat myself to whatever I wanted, within reason. I bought a new dress and some nail polishes. I also put together a care package for one of my cancer sisters. I had a lot of fun doing that. The next day, I had a funeral to attend up north and my good friend Mimi drove. Afterwards on our way home, we took my cousin to the Golden Gate Bridge (she is from Los Angeles and had never been there before). We then went to Boudin's at Fisherman's Wharf and had a delicious lunch. I even surprised myself when I ate the whole salad I ordered! Two thumbs up for the bistro shrimp salad.
Goofing around with bread.
Trying on a new hat!
My feel good streak continued on Sunday and I invited my friend Mariya over and her kids so we can go swimming at the pool. We spent several hours splashing hours before they left just before dinner time. Monday was my lazy day and I spent the day lounging in the apartment but I was still feeling ok. Later on that night, my parents flew in from Washington state to visit. Since my 31st birthday is on Sunday, they were here to help me celebrate it. Tuesday we decided to venture out and do a little shopping but right as we were about to leave, I felt some nausea coming on and then I started to vomit. I didn't let this discourage me and I just took some anti-nausea medication, took a barf bag with me, and we headed out. I showed my family this awesome sno-cone place down the street, Snowee, where it's like eating fluffy, snow capped clouds! So good! I had asked my doctor if I could have a wheel chair just in case I got tired and needed to be pushed around since I have been having lung issues lately. She set me up with one and they delivered it Tuesday. Hopefully I won't need to too soon or often, but I like the idea of it.
Today, Wednesday, I started to feel a little under the weather and stayed in bed very late. My cousin asked me if I was having any pain and I felt a little bit so I took some liquid morphine. That did the trick! Within minutes, I was out of bed and getting ready for another outing. Morphine is my miracle drug. It does not make me feel high or drugged up. It just takes my pain away and it does this quickly. We stopped by Ross and did a little shopping and I saw a few old faces as this is where I used to work part time up until I stopped working in January. We had lunch at Red Robin, which was a treat for my family since they weren't used to eating at places like that. Everyone enjoyed their meal. I stopped by Toys R Us to pick up a True Hope doll for my giveaway that is ending on Sunday. Remember (US residents), if you want to enter, just email me! Lastly we went to Target where they had an awesome selection of cupcake theme party items. I love cupcakes! They are just so pretty and cheery and fun to look at.
I am truly blessed to wake up each and everyday. And I am so thankful that right now I am feel very good. I don't like being in pain or feeling sick so I am living it up while this feeling lasts. My siblings up in Washington are driving down tomorrow with an arrival date of Friday. They will be here to help me celebrate my birthday. Please keep them in your prayers as they make the drive down. I am so excited! I know my tiny 1 bedroom apartment will be packed, but it's going to be great! Everyone will be here except for 2 of my brothers who are unable to make it. This birthday is very special because we just don't know how many more I will get to celebrate. Hopefully I get many more. But for now, I'm taking things day by day and savoring these sweet moments. I can't thank everyone enough for supporting me along my journey. I can really feel all of you cheering me on and not letting me give up. For that, I truly thank you!
