Wednesday, July 31, 2013

So happy together


Imagine me and you, I do, I think  about you day and night, it's only right.....so happy together...

Very thankful that NED (no evidence of disease) has decided to stick around for a while!  My tumor markers are good, and have even gone down a little bit from 3 months ago.  We will definitely do another PETscan in October along with tumor markers since that will be the 6 month point. For now, I can breath a huge sigh of relief and enjoy the next 3 months. I didn't even realize just how uptight and worried I was until after I heard the voicemail from my doctor and started crying. She offered that we could repeat the tumor markers in 6 weeks if it would make me feel better, but she doesn't think it is really needed.  After my reaction to her call,  I knew that it would be better mentally /emotionally for me to just stick with doing them in 3 months and avoid the extra anxiety. 

I appreciate the continued prayers, and feel very blessed & so thankful for them and these results!

Saturday, July 27, 2013

An eventful week

The last 8 days have been very eventful with a combination of both ups and downs.  Last Friday, I left North Carolina to come home and was making great time until my car seemed to lose power and started decelerating.  When you are between Atlanta and Macon with traffic that is going 70mph+, that is a very scary thing.  Thankfully the tow truck came quickly, and the Honda service center in Macon was able to figure things out quickly and get me back on the road fairly quickly.  It was a sensor that controls the fuel and engine that apparently sent my car into a "safe mode", but decelerating on the interstate sure did not feel safe. This little adventure had me running about 4 hours later than planned and $300+ lighter, but at least I was still able to make it home.   Unfortunately, when I got home at 10:30 PM my A/C had gone out due to water backing up, but thankfully, my A/C company had it flushed out and running well the next day.  At least, I knew right away what that issue was, and it was covered under my maintenance plan.  I share a pipe with my upstairs neighbor and so it  normally happens a couple of times a year. Isn't it amazing though that things all seem to break at the same time?!?

On Sunday, I placed membership at Temple Terrace church of Christ.  I love my church family at University, but due to personal reasons felt that this was a move I needed to make. It was a very hard decision for me, but  I am excited about the change for many reasons also.  One of those reasons was just born on Tuesday.

Jon & Ashley  had their beautiful baby boy, Drew Grayson, on Tuesday night. He has had a little bit of a hard time regulating his blood sugar and bilirubin which has lead to spending some time in the NICU, but those things do seem to be getting better.  They are hopeful that he won't have to spend too much more time there.  He is absolutely adorable, and I can't wait to spend even more time with him.

On Wednesday, I had an interview and was hired to teach an on-campus class at HCC's Southshore campus.  I am very excited about this opportunity, and I hope that it might lead to more opportunities with them in the future.

On the downside, I have had to deal with more craziness from medical billing offices this week.  I don't understand how a bill that doesn't even get mailed until May 1st for a surgery the past December could be sent to collections by the end of May, especially when you've never been given an actual itemized bill that you've asked for.   I was basically told that it didn't matter that it doesn't make sense, and that their office won't talk with me about it anymore. Apparently, the date from service is all that matters not when the actual bills go out to you according to this office.  I don't have a problem paying what I owe if I owe it, but at least, explain to me why & how my bill showed nothing owed for 5 months then suddenly something was owed even though I've received no explanation of benefits indicating that.  Because they refuse to discuss it with me, I'm stuck with it on my credit report too.  Honestly, I think dealing with billing and the finance part has frustrated me more than anything else during this time with cancer.  I wish I could just throw the bills in a box and ignore them until I was having a day that I could deal with them, but sadly, that would probably just lead to more frustrations like I described above.

It was especially hard to deal with that this week.  I had heard other people describe it, but didn't really understand how much going for your  3 month, or whatever, check-up makes you anxious, nervous, and scared for a week, or more, before the appointment until being in the situation.  My appointment is on Tuesday, but I am just doing the bloodwork that day & meeting with the Dr.  I won't have any types of results until a few days later, which just makes it worse.  People have told me that it will get easier the further out from it I am, and I just hope that I get the opportunity to test that theory by staying NED for a while.    Here's to hoping that the only big event next week is the good one of  bringing baby Drew home!

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Take that cancer stat

Today is my 1 year cancerversary, and all I keep thinking is "take that you silly cancer stat" regarding the average lifespan of stage 4 being 18 months.   It was right about this time last year that I got the call that put my sister & I on the road heading home from NC so that we could make the appointment that was scheduled for the next day.   I don't know what my bloodwork on the 30th will show, but I'm at least 2/3 of the way to beating that initial stat hurdle. Unlike then, when I had a gut feeling that I would be getting that cancer call, I feel at peace.  I have my side effects from the meds now, but I don't have that crushing fatigue that I had previously and now know was a symptom of the cancer.  I ask for your prayers that that will continue to be the case and the cancer will stay in remission for a long time.

I've been traveling the last week and a half, first with friends in Charleston and Myrtle Beach and now with family in NC. We've hiked to several waterfalls and to a beautiful mountain view, but I plan to take a "me day" today while the family goes hiking some harder trails.  A couple of possible adjunct opportunities have presented themselves in the last few weeks, and I have a phone interview with one of them this afternoon.   When adjuncting only, it is good to have multiple schools that you work for, as I do, because  each school may not always offer the class you teach or have enough students for it to make each time.  This summer has been much lighter on classes, and after this week, I will only have 2 online classes that I'm teaching until mid-August. This is quite a shift from the 5-7 classes that I usually have during the regular school year. While a little break is good to regroup, get some housework done, and get caught up with things, I'm really hoping that these opportunities will work out if they would be a good thing for me.  I'd appreciate your prayers on that as well!

It is always good to travel and see both friends and family.  I have always loved having this trip to NC with my nephews, and it is a wonderful bonus that my niece Lylah, & her parents, got to join us for a few days also.  Once I get home, it won't be too much longer, probably, before baby Drew will be born, and there will be a new nephew to enjoy.  Blessed to be able to spend time with all of them! Here are a few pics from this trip so far: