Sleepy Monday Morning

2014.03.31

Awoke before my alarm clock again. I slept pretty well though. It was time to get up and defrost my shot before injection time. Some pills, a quick shower and then I was ready.

 By 9 a.m. we are home again. I make some omelettes for my parents and I. They were good.  I am feeling a little tired and just lay down on the couch with the tv blaring in the background. Well, I woke up at 12:30 p.m. - I think I was tired. It felt good to rest.

Although waking up and realizing I almost slept the day away was a little stressful for a minute. Then it was time for lunch and plans. My parents last day and they wanted to sight see and do some shopping here. So, we drove in so my mom could stop in at NK. Due to the risk of infection, I took a walk around Kungsträdgården and enjoyed the brisk weather.

We stopped at the pharmacy and the supermarket for some quick supplies on the way home. Tonight's dinner was fettucine alfredo because the kids had requested it. I learned how to make it too so the kids can eat when my parents have left.

Dinner was great. We sat around and laughed and ate and laughed some more enjoying the last night of  my parent's visit. We all went out for a walk after dinner and the kids ended the night by challenging Grandma to a few games of Rummikub.

Now after a long day it is time to sleep. Good Night.

FAMILY. LOVED. KICK CANCER'S ASS. FRESH AIR. GRATEFUL.

CELEBRATE LIFE

2014.03.30

We changed the clocks for daylight savings time last night. I was tired and slept about 6 hours anyway. I texted my nurse and took the shot out of the refrigerator to defrost it before it gets injected in me. Hopped in the shower and it was a quick one- easy with no hair. Got my shot and got ready.

It was 8:30 a.m. and it was time for a walk with Anna. The morning was warm and the air fresh. It felt good to get out and move around. Thanks ANNA.

Lego friends Erik och Madeleine had this on their wedding cake yesterday! Congratulations!

Back home again and it was time for breakfast and then spent the morning finishing building the new EV3 Mindstorms robot. It was good to get it finished and then programmed to use later this afternoon.

I was very excited for this afternoon. It all started about 3 weeks ago when Melvin's mom contacted me about doing a LEGO birthday party. I had been forced to put my business on hold during the chemo treatments but I knew that this party had to be done. Melvin will be undergoing a bone marrow transplant at the end of April and his sister is his donor. It was now or never for a good time with LEGO and to celebrate his birthday. GRATEFUL.

Why do I love doing LEGO birthday parties ?? The kids are always so creative and their fantasy knows no bounds. Today was no exception. Building a city on an alien planet resulted in many fantastic buildings, contraptions and even an alien swimming pool. They then built a giant alien which was taller than them with large soft blocks. Then they got to meet Everstorm, an alien looking robot that could be controlled by the app on my iPhone. This robot can walk, skate, shoot and attack. The kids enjoyed trying it out and aiming him to shoot at each other. It was a pleasure to do this party and I had Jim, my employee with me to make sure I didn't overdo it. Thanks JIM. 

Home again and a quick snack before I felt really tired and laid down on the couch for a quick nap. TWO HOURS later my kids woke me up and it was time for dinner. FOOD.

I feel more of the side effects coming on now like dry mouth. Right after finishing eating my mouth felt really dry and uncomfortable. I have now researched a little bit and will have to change some of the things that I eat. The chemo effects the salivary glands and they have decreased saliva production. "The  saliva helps maintain a healthy balance of bacteria in the mouth. Without enough saliva, the bacteria and other organisms in the mouth grow too quickly, causing mouth infections and sores. Saliva also washes away acids and food particles left in the mouth after eating, which means that a lack of saliva can cause cavities (tooth decay) and gum disease."  Who knew saliva was so important?

Life is about celebrating all the good things we have and I have so many that each day is a party!

LOVED. CELEBRATE. LIFE. KICK CANCER'S ASS. FOOD. GRATEFUL. PARTY.

Lint roller on head works......

2014.03.29

Woke up early but stayed in bed anyway. The day is too long if I get up when I wake up.

Then after two more hours it was time to get up and take those pills and then hop in the shower. Now because there is stubble left on my head that is only 3 mm when I wash my head my hands are covered with small pieces of hair. Not as shocking as when it was long but still an interesting experience. I decided to try and use the lint roller to get the hair off my head. It worked. Peter had fun rolling it on my head.

Lint roller works to get hair off of head.

Our first order of the day was to get the ladder and the long pole and take down the mapgpie nest again. Those two birds do not give up at all. They have now rebuilt the nest 3 times. Peter used the pole as my Dad held the ladder and I stood out in the street supervising. Of course the neighbors came out to enjoy the fun too. No one likes those two birds and we are hoping they get the hint soon they need to find a new tree.

Then Peter and I went to get his watch fixed but of course the store was closed today. Luckily, we were near his brother's house and could stop in for a quick cup of tea. We even got to take some bakery "semlor" home with us. They are a Swedish specialty of a bread bun with almond paste and whipped cream in the middle. They were so good. Thanks Anders.

Stop at the supermarket on the way home so we had everything we needed for tonight's dinner guests. My Mom and Dad prepared the dinner and we helped them. It is fun to have such good food every night. Thanks Mom and Dad.

Martin and Petra arrived and we could sit down and eat soon after the boys had finished grilling the chicken outside on the grill. We laughed, we ate, and ate and ate and then laughed some more. I even had some wine with dinner tonight. Dessert was 3 different sorts of girl scout cookies and some of the semlor. Mmmmmmm goooooooood.............. 

We even facetimed with my sister and brother in the US. My nephew Jackson, got an "A" on his Bravery paper from school. Well, done Jackson. Both of my brothers have shaved their heads for me. Amazing. 

The clocks are being put forward one hour tonight here in Sweden for daylight savings time. I hope I can sleep a bit tomorrow.

Enjoying life each day and living in the here and now. I am seeing progress as I continue my journey to kick cancer's ass.

LOVED. FOOD. KICK CANCER'S ASS. GIRL SCOUT COOKIES. FRIENDS. LAUGHING. GOOD FOOD. SOUL.

Fabulous Friday

2014.03.28

Couldn't fall sleep last night even though the day was a long one yesterday. It is those steroids. So only 5 hours of sleep but I was not too tired today. Took the pills, went out with the dog, got the kids up and off to school just like usual. I looked in the mirror and almost didn't recognize myself this morning with the hair gone.

This morning was spent preparing for our lunch guests. My Mom worked hard on her Lemon and Basil chicken and we were not disappointed when we ate it. I chose the vacuuming of the house because it really needed it.

Finally, Ann and Hans were here. My parents and I met them almost 24 years ago in a youth hostel in Kalmar when we were all making dinner in the kitchen. It is amazing to think that life is a bunch of random events that can result in new friendships from a chance meeting somewhere. Is it FATE?

We all had a great time and it was fantastic to have them here today. We laughed, ate, laughed again, ate dessert, laughed and enjoyed ourselves immensely. We spent the whole afternoon together. Grateful to have them in my life and for all the support and love they show. THANKS ANN AND HANS.

It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm. Spring is here. FINALLY.

Peter is on his way home for the weekend. It will be good to have him home. Family time is precious.

Friends and Family are the energy of LIFE. I am full of ENERGY.

GRATEFUL. LOVED. FRIENDS. KICKING CANCER'S ASS. 

Shaved Heads and ABBA

2014.03.27

What a day! Awoke at 4:30 a.m. thanks to the steroids. I got up out of bed at 6 a.m. Took my pills, took my shower and my hands were worse than gorilla hands as more and more hair fell out. Got the kids up and got them to the train on time.

Today was a day of excitement because I decided to shave my head and the whole family was going to be in on it. And after that some of us were going to the ABBA museum.

My Mom, Dad, youngest son and I get in the car to head into town to the world's best hairdressers. SOUL. We arrive at 10 am and the two older boys leave school for a little while to get this family event going. We are greeted with hugs, we take a before picture and I sit in the chair to go first. Ulrica gives me a big mohawk to start and then makes it a little smaller. That was fun for 5 minutes. Then all of it is gone. The boys are watching intently, and a little nervously of course. Ulrica washes my head and then I put my glasses on and holy crap my hair is gone and there is just a little peach fuzz left. Feels good but still surreal.

Then its my oldest son's turn. Ulrica shaves it and he is brave and looks great. Then my middle son takes a seat and shaves to 6 mm. He is also brave and has a great bald head. Then my youngest sits down. He has not cut his hair since August 15th of last year and had hoped to get it cut when the school year was over so today was a big deal for him. He got an awesome mohawk that really highlights how handsome he is. As my youngest is getting his head shaved my Mom comes over and says that my Dad is also going to shave his head. I am shocked and honored. So then it is my Dad's turn. He looks great with a bald head.

 

We take the after picture after almost two hours of shaving. What a joy to be in a family like this. Lucky for all of the others who shaved their heads today is that their hair will start growing back right away mine will be a few months behind them. When my youngest brother got the pictures of us, he went right out and shaved his head too. AWESOME.

Ulrica and the girls at Soul made today so special by shaving all of our heads. I really appreciate all you guys have done for me. GRATEFUL.  THANK YOU ULRICA.

The girls from SOUL and ME.

So, not to let the rest of the day go to waste I had booked a visit to the ABBA Museum for 1 p.m. We drove to the museum, got a quick lunch and then headed in to the museum to have the ABBA Experience. We were there almost two hours and had many laughs and sang a few songs. 

Time to head home and make some dinner before my walk with Annica. I have energy and feel good and need to keep up the routine of going for walks. During our walk Peter calls and sends pictures of the house he had just looked at in London. We got the low down and started to make some plans. Everything works out for a reason and maybe the house buying will work out. The walk was refreshing  both for my physical and mental status. THANKS ANNICA

Well, the leftovers are gone so my Dad and I headed to the supermarket and bought a bunch load of food and then headed to my mother-in-law to pick up the dog. Finally home at 9:30 it was time to have a chat with my hubby on facetime. Technology makes it easier.

A long day to say the least but it feels good that so many people care. I feel loved and now there won't be hair falling out at all and getting in the way. What fantastic family and friends I have. BLESSED.

BALD. LOVED. FAMILY. KICK CANCER'S ASS. GRATEFUL. SOUL.

Gamla Stan....

2014.03.26

Awoke early but that's OK because I felt good. No sick to my stomach, no headache and full of energy.
No shot today either and this will give my stomach a reprieve and maybe a chance to heal.

I got the 2 oldest kids up, they went into their morning routine and I drove them to the station so they could go to school. My youngest had today and tomorrow off for parent-teacher conferences. It was 7:45 and I had energy so I texted Caroline about a walk at 8:15. YES, her and Monica would come and get me. THANKS GIRLS.

But first I needed to take a quick shower. The hair was falling out in droves even though I have thick hair. I lightly blow dried it and put in the hair gel to get my mini Mohawk in place and my hands were covered in so much hair it was like gorilla hands. So that freaks me out a bit and I start tugging at it. Even bigger clumps are coming out but you can't see it yet because my hair is so thick. There is hair everywhere. Time to shave it sooner than later.....

The walk was invigorating and I can't believe how lucky I am to feel so good. Back home we got ready for the days activities. A telephone conference with the teacher for my youngest. Then right after that a drive into Gamla Stan (the Old Town of Stockholm) for lunch with Mia and then a walk around town.  We needed to drive and that was fun to find a parking place in town near where we were going. We finally parked about a half mile away and walked in the brisk wind and sunny day. Quite good actually.

We met Mia and had lunch at Cafe Kladdkakan. We laughed and enjoyed our food. It was great medicine.  THANKS FOR LUNCH MIA. 

I let them pull out some of my hair after lunch. 

Me, Mia and Mom after lunch.

Then it was off to pick up my hard drive that couldn't be repaired although I did get the name of another place that might be able to perform a miracle. And then the two older boys met us and got a ride home.

All through the day my friends are checking in on me and that keeps me focused. GRATEFUL.

Dinner was a hodgepodge of different foods, but it all tasted good. Now it is time for American football practice for my oldest and then some sleep tonight cause many "fun" things planned for tomorrow.


LOVED. GRATEFUL. FRIENDS. ENERGY. FEELING GOOD. KICKING CANCER'S ASS.

Teresa 2 - Cancer 0

2014.03.25

Good Morning! Eyes wide open and ready to go. Shower, lose some hair, towel off, lose some hair, put gel in hair, have hands covered in hair. Cool in a weird way. I read that the medicine kills the hair follicles which means when I pull the hair out or it just comes out and there is no follicle attached nor does it hurt. OK, sorry to gross anyone out but the human body is quite a fascinating machine.

My last morning jab of the blood thinning medicine was today. YEAH.

Kids dropped off at school and train station and I got a message from Digital Inn that my data on the hard drive could not be recovered. So that is a bit of a bummer to lose all those pictures. I needed to focus on the activity of the day - treatment number 2. After a few minutes of sadness I focused and then we were off to the hospital for Chemo #2. Traffic was heavy but we made it in time.

Today my nurse was Fia. She has been working there 13 years and I met her last time during Annas lunch break. So I gave the cookies to Fia and told her to share with Anna. It is a small thank you. Well, pretty soon Anna came in and asked for the recipe and said I should open up a bakery with chocolate chip cookies, New York Cheesecake and cupcakes and she would be there every day. I have now promised to make cookies for each cycle - they cheered in the personnel room. These girls not only administer the chemo, they give comfort and listen when we talk. You couldn't ask for a better experience. GRATEFUL.

Today my dad was with me. He came prepared with his expert SUDUKO puzzles so he could pass the time and keep his brain in order. Fia spoke English with him and we had a good time. The first medicine is the R och R-CHOP and it took 4 hours today and no allergic reaction from me. That means next time will only take 2 hours for that drug. Then it was three more drugs and I was done at 15:30 which was only 6.5 hours as compared to 8 hours last time. CHEMO

I passed the time listening to music with my headphones, talking to my dad about his childhood and growing up. He had some great stories to tell about him and his buddies through the years.  I also chatted with friends on FB and Facetime so I didn't feel so lonely. I drank apple juice a lot, ate a sandwich and finished off the three last cookies from home. YUM YUM

Dinner has been served and all have eaten. Mom and Dad out for a walk. Me getting ready for bed. I hope that I feel good tomorrow. That would be awesome. 

My next treatment will be in 15 days instead of the usual 14 because they are going to operate a line in during the morning and then chemo in the afternoon and the 15th day was available. So that will be a fun week. Now it is time to take one day at a time and get through this. FOCUS.

Sunset from our balcony. One day closer.

I really appreciate all the comments here and through all the other channels of communication (email, calling, texting, chatting and facetime). They give me energy and support which helps me immensely. Thanks for caring.

LOVED. GRATEFUL. FOCUS. KICK SOME BUTT. YUM YUM. CHEMO #2

Good News......

2014.03.24

What? I got to sleep in until 5:56 a.m. I am lucky. Then it was time to get the day going.

I hopped in the shower and as I started to wash my hair.............yes, it started falling out. My hair is so thick that I have a lot so it was more hair strands than usual that were in my hands. Even though I knew it was coming, this will be a challenge to handle this mentally. I blow dried my hair lightly just to get the damp out. Then when I started to put the styling gel in......my hands had a lot of hair stuck to them. OK, so how long will I hold out until I shave it?????????


I do find it fascinating that the if I grab a chunk of hair and pull gently it comes right out and doesn't hurt at all. The average head has about 100, 000 strands of hair, so it would take me about 16,000 pulls to get my hair out at the rate I was going today.......   (ok, just an unnecessary calculation on my part)

I continued with my morning routine, FB chats and we got the kids to school and went right to the hospital for the lab tests and the doctors appointment. The lab male nurse had no personality at all. He said 5 words during the short process and left a blue mark on my good arm which will be hooked up for chemo tomorrow. (Thank God my chemo nurse is excellent at putting the needle in my arm.)

The appointment with the doctor was about 2 hours after the lab so we hung out in a waiting room. During that time I went through the blog and wrote down all the quotes in my journal so I could have them saved all in one place. It will be comforting to read them tomorrow sitting in that hospital bed. The other thing I did was to deliver the chocolate chip cookies. I went to see the nurse and saw that she was out of the office until next week so I went into the other nurse who had helped us last time. I said Annika, it is your lucky day because Therese is not here. I made her some cookies but you will have to eat them instead. She was overjoyed. Even the doctor wanted a cookie.

The doctor came out and called my name. Peter and I followed him to his office. It was all good news. He liked my t-shirt.

The blood tests were excellent so I am ready for chemo tomorrow. He said the tumor had pretty much disappeared compared to how big it was when we started. And it means that the blood thinning shot every morning can be discontinued after tomorrow mornings shot. YIPPEE. He said I could stop taking another pill. It was confirmed that I have Stage 1a. Which is also good news. I am probably going to only need 6 cycles to get rid of this cancer instead of 8 cycles. Even more good news. So we were relieved. Finally.

We came home happy and ate some leftovers for lunch and then I took care of some of the loose ends with my company before I took a short nap before dinner. Time for dinner and some more leftovers...(thank god we have eaten all of them now). FOOD.

Time then for me, accompanied by my dad, to drive Peter to the airport for his work week in London and drop off the dog at the in-laws before stopping at the supermarket to get some food to make sandwiches for our fun day at the hospital tomorrow.

Now it is try to sleep and be rested for tomorrows event of hanging out in bed getting some drugs pumped into me to kill and kick this cancer's ass.

LOVED. GRATEFUL. RELIEVED. HAPPY. LIFE. KICK CANCER'S ASS

Super Sunday.

2014.03.23

Wide awake at 5:30 a.m. as usual. Luckily there were people to chat with and news to catch up on FB.
By 7 a.m. I really want everyone else up too. When Linda came over to give me my morning shot, Peter was still sleeping. Lucky him. 

The beautiful morning was spent with me making a double batch of American chocolate chip cookies. I did it with love and purpose. Tomorrow I am bringing a plate of cookies to my contact nurse in the Hematology department who has been so helpful and good and explaining everything to me. On Tuesday I am bringing a plate to my chemo nurse who was also fantastic in explaining everything and very good at administering all the drugs into my body. I don't think they get enough recognition for the job that they do. THANKS

The rest of the cookies were served tonight at our dinner party. More on that later.

After my cookies were made it was my mom's turn to do some cooking in the kitchen for the dinner guests for tonight. The menu consisted of fettuccine alfredo, Swedish meatballs (American style) and the best asparagus ever.

In the afternoon I took the dog out for a long walk and then came back and tried to lay down a while. Just when I was about to doze off my sister facetimes me and it was just to get up and let her talk to everyone. We laughed a bit as she got to see all the dinner preparations as they were progressing.

After waiting all day, it was time for our dinner guests. Mia and Stina and their families came over. We were 15 people all together. The kids are old enough now that it was quite fun for the adults to be able to sit and enjoy the dinner in the dining room while the kids had their own fun at the kitchen. It was great food and my parents outdid themselves as usual. We laughed, laughed, ate, looked at old pictures, laughed some more and had a great time and ate the rest of the cookies. LOVED

Mia, Me, Stina, Mom after a great dinner.

Grateful for all my friends. I am so thankful for the support and caring words that people shower down on me. Sometimes it is overwhelming how much love is out there. GRATEFUL

Tomorrow it starts again - blood tests at the lab and doctor's appointment to check how the tumor is doing before the chemo treatment number two is done on Tuesday. I CAN'T WAIT.

LOVED. GRATEFUL. LAUGH. KICK CANCER'S ASS. FRIENDS. 

BE HAPPY.....don't worry

2014.03.22

It seems that 5:30 am is my time to wake up these days. Then I have the urge to wake everyone else up too. The others in the house do not respond well to this and continue sleeping despite my best efforts. By 7:00 I had texted my nurse that I was awake. Not long after she came over to give me my morning jab. Then she suggested we take a walk to the bakery and get some fresh bread. Excellent idea. A refreshing walk and home with fresh bread before 9 am can't be beat. THANKS LINDA.

Then we drove into Stockholm and had a morning walkabout. We stopped at the world's best hairdressers, Soul, so my mom could get her favorite hair infusion stuff. Then we walked down Kungsgatan and ended up looking in and buying some stuff at Lexington. And we ended the walk at Digital Inn so I could leave my hard drive in to hopefully recover the data. (Won't know for a week and that will be tough.)

Home in time for a quick lunch of yesterday's leftovers which tasted just as good as they did the day before. Right after lunch we got a great visit from Peter's Mom and Kenneth who brought some delicious home baked goods with them.

A short walk was in order and then the obligatory nap before I started to do a bit of searching on the Internet for a possible house purchase in London. It is fun to look at the properties available. It will be hard to buy a house though until I can travel to London myself and that is probably not before June at the earliest.

I am feeling good and I am surprised but happy. I realize it won't last through the whole treatment of 6 or 8 cycles but I can hope. I am starting to have a bit of a dry mouth and sore lips and I need to take care of that.

Dinner was prepared tonight by Peter and my Dad. A great meat and potatoes dinner and we played "would you rather" during dinner. Many laughs ensued. Dessert coming up soon.

My friends checked in on me during the day and that continues to comfort and amaze me at the same time. LOVED.

GRATEFUL. LOVED. FRIENDS. SOUL. LAUGHS. FAMILY. KICK CANCER'S ASS.

"I LOVE LUCY"

2014.03.21

Happy 1st Day of Spring!

It was a windy evening and morning with our wind chime playing incessantly the whole time.
Awoke at 5:30 a.m. after having been awake between 1:30 and 2:00 a.m. so it was time to get up and go out with Sophie. I had a bit of a headache and fixed that with some drugs.

I spent my time in the wee hours chatting with my sister-in-law Nicole. She sent me a copy of the paper my 10 year old nephew Jackson wrote about Bravery. He better get an "A" from his teacher because it was good and it was about all the things that he could do if he was brave. He would start by getting on a plane to come and see me. I am looking forward to that. BRAVE

One of my favorite scenes from I Love Lucy.

After my pills, morning jab and getting the kids off to school, I went for a walk with Annica. It was a brisk walk and we talked and laughed which felt good. THANKS ANNICA. Of course a nap was needed after the walk, especially because I have been sleeping a lot less than I am used to. It was only about an hour but it was what I needed.

Right after lunch it was time for my dad and I to head to the Apple store to try and rescue my external hard drive. They took a look at it and tested it but because it is not an Apple product I have to drop it off at another place tomorrow. We got some food shopping done and came home to find my mom finishing up making two different soups. It was potato soup or a french onion soup that was on the menu.

I read an interesting article today in the USA Today about LAUGHING. Here is an excerpt:

True laughter is unique to humans. Babies begin to smile at two months old and laugh around four months old. Laughter is built in for a reason - it's good for us. The areas of the brain that produce dopamine, endorphins and growth hormone are all stimulated by laughter.

Dopamine is the "happiness" hormone and its release, as anyone who's been rendered hysterical by something really funny can attest, can make you fell euphoric. Laughing also releases stress, eases tension, decreases blood pressure and bolsters the immune system.

My Mom brought me a season of I LOVE LUCY and I have watched some classic episodes today which resulted in a lot of laughing.

Dinner was served when Peter arrived home from London.  FAMILY

It was quite warm today and all the snow from two days ago has melted and is gone. Now the spring flowers are blooming again in the garden and Spring is on its way. 

LOVED. BRAVE. FAMILY. LAUGHING. KICKING CANCER'S ASS.

Laughing all the way........

2014.03.20

We are one day away from the official start of Spring and it could have looked better.......

This might be what I get as my tattoo.

Morning routine works pretty good now. Dog walk in pajamas, get kids up and ready for school, needle jab in the belly, pills to be taken, deliver kids to school and train station, go for a walk, eat some breakfast.

I did some research on the treatment that I am receiving. It is an interesting science how these different drugs work. Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is my type of non Hodgkin lymphoma. Doctors often treat DLBCL with chemotherapy called CHOP and a drug called rituximab. This combination is called R-CHOP. Rituximab is a type of biological therapy called a monoclonal antibody. It targets a protein called CD20 on lymphoma cells. The antibody sticks to the CD20 protein. Then the cells of the immune system pick out the marked cells and kill them.  

So the drug rituximab finds a certain protein, hangs a ride with it and goes in and kills the cancer cells. That is pretty cool. Thank you to all the scientists that persevered and found out that this works. It will be one of the things that will save my life.  Left untreated the cancer that I have would be fatal quite quickly because it is so fast growing. That is what is so amazing - this treatment of R-CHOP will kill the cancer and save my life.  GRATEFUL

We need to get more kids interested in the sciences and research so that they can develop even better drugs and medicines. Playing and building with LEGO from a young age is a great start to understanding how things fit together in a system and why certain pieces can only be used in certain ways. BUILD SOME LEGO TODAY.

OK, so lunch was some soup. Then it was an afternoon of tv, laughing, eating, sneaking a few Twizzlers and cleaning out the food pantry where we found a few exciting items and taking a walk with my mom. The mailman brought a great surprise from Clara - a t-shirt that I will wear for chemo #2. It says "Life is about kicking ass, not kissing it" THANKS CLARA.

from a company called bravelets.com 

The walk with my mom was a bit exciting. My mom and I were nearing the end of our walk and were walking down a residential street in our neighborhood. Walking in the other direction on the other side of the street was a young women who I did not know or recognize. As we walk past her my Mom tries to practice her Swedish and says loud and clear to the young woman loud:  "Hej då" which means GOODBYE. I quicken my pace and then start laughing thinking of the expression on that girls face. It was classic.

Dinner was chicken with rice-a-roni and broccoli. YUM YUM. Then it was a game of rummikub which Marcus won and all the kids got to share a big bag of American candy that they had been longing for. 

I am getting better at passing the time and living in the moment. My friends are amazing. I don't think I can say it enough. LOVED.

KICKING ASS. GRATEFUL. LEGO. CANCER RESEARCH. LOVED. FRIENDS.