Whiplash

Springtime in the Rockies...sandals on Monday and wool sweater on Thursday. Wyoming Weather Whiplash!

When I read the NPR My Cancer blog this morning, I thought about another sort of whiplash. Leroy had been told that a tumor had shown up in his brain. The next day, they told him they were wrong. I remember that whiplash. Last October they thought the cancer had spread. I was sent for a different type of scan, and it showed stable.

Luckily, I have had "positive whiplash." Bad news changed to good. Considering the the last two years of medical tests and prognoses, I am surprised we are not all in neck braces!

All I know to do is to light the candle that has been given to me.

Fred Rogers a.k.a. "Mister Rogers"

Have a wonderful weekend.
hugs,
chris

Looking back

I was reading some of my early posts. I went there looking for ideas and experiences to share with a friend who was just diagnosed with acute myloid leukemia. Hang in there, Tim! We are pulling for you!

It was wild to re-read them. The days after Taxol and Carboplatin were not pleasant. I feel so darn lucky to be taking the Alimta- a newer drug that attacks the cancer cells and does not wreak so much havoc with your healthy cells.

So much to be thankful for...drugs that are working, doctors and nurses who really care, family and friends who provide my solid base. There was a time in all this that we did not think I would be here to see this spring. Wow. Let's all go out and enjoy it, enjoy each other, make time, take time.

Live each season as it passes;

breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit,

and resign yourself to the influences of each.

-Henry David Thoreau

Love to you all.
hugs,
chris

Fundraisers to kick cancer

Happy Friday!
There are a couple of fundraising events coming up. I hope that you can join us as we help in the fight against cancer. Thank you so much...for all you do.

If you are in Cheyenne, our Relay for Life team is having another yummy soup lunch. Homemade soups and breads for $5. It will be Wednesday (21st) from 11:30-1:00 in the Hathaway Bldg. basement.
(More Info: Ask Katie (kjones@courts.state.wy.us or Meg (mmartin@courts.state.wy.us))

On April 15th we will once again be having our Yogathon. 108 Sun Salutations. Here is a bit from Shareen's email message:

"Everyone is invited. The cost at the door is $50.00 OR more. The sky is the limit. So, If you want to participate, you can donate the $50.00 OR more yourself, or you can get pledges. Last year we raised about $3500.00. Our goal this year is $4000.00. But we can't do it alone. We need your help. "

This money goes to the American Cancer Society, as part of our Relay for Life fundraising. I can send you her email message, if you would like more information. (or give me a call)

On April 22nd, our Relay for Life Team will be holding a spaghetti lunch, silent auction and jewelry sale. It is from 12-2 at Triumph High School in Cheyenne. Mountain Avenue will be there with awesome jewelry for sale. 25% goes to our team. We will have pictures of silent auction items on our web page. I will let you know when they are up. Our team website is: http://wyomingweb.net/relay/.

It has been a great week-lots going on, good weather and I feel great! Amy and I saw daffodils in bloom on our walk Wednesday and I wore sandals 2 days this week-here comes spring!

Have a wonderful weekend!
hugs,
chris

Friday--yahoo! (and a guest blog)

I am so happy it is Friday and the weather is spring-like. Ahhhhhhhh....

I finally started feeling better on Wednesday morning. Had the squishy, alien body thing going for days. Once I started feeling better I just kept thinking up things I would rather be doing outside. We are having a wonderful spring week. Sunny, warm, calm(er) wind. Looks like it will last for the next week. I need a road trip!

The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.

Rabindranath Tagore

Several folks have mentioned the confusion/difficulty they have had with making a comment on the blog. I asked Des (she always has to deal with my lack-o-tech-skills!) if she would line out how to do it. So, here it is:

To add a comment to Chris's blog, which doesn't accept anonymous comments, you will need to either use an existing Blogger or Google account or create a new account first.
Do you need an account? Start here: http://www.blogger.com/start Have questions about setting up an account? http://help.blogger.com/bin/topic.py?topic=8939
Because Google has consumed Blogger, you will need to create a Google account if you do not have an existing Blogger account.
So, if you want to add a comment while reading this blog, simply click on the link at the bottom of the post that says (number) comments. [e.g (0)comments ]
This will open a form where you can type your comment, enter in the squiggly characters so that Blogger knows you're human, and then supply your username and password. You can preview your comment first as well.
It's that simple!
If that all sounds like too much - you can also just email Chris and she can copy any of your comments into her next post.
-des ;-)

Hope that helps! I know I resisted the additional steps when you had to do the Google acct. bit. And, of course, I went to Des to walk me through it! Thanks, Des!

I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend. Time to buy daffodils and break out the flip flops!
hugs,
chris

Taste of Spring

Yesterday was wonderful! A taste of spring....the wind was calm (for a brief moment!), the sun was out, the birds were singing....ahhhhh! I pulled a chair and cushion out and sat in the sun on the patio and read. I am reading Three Cups of Tea. I also washed my car. That may have been the best part! We need those moments, that hope. For spring, for health.

Chemo went well on Thursday. Worked on Friday, but was tuckered by the end of the day. Took 3 naps on Saturday. Sheila made me a lovely dinner Saturday night. Jep came through town Sunday morning and we had breakfast (salmon from my brother and my cousin Daymond in AK--yum!).

Looks to be a beautiful week-hope we can all get out and enjoy it a bit.

Take a look at my friend Kay Van Norman's online newsletter, http://www.kayvannorman.com/, and the article The Power of Intention. She writes, "..to change your life for the better you need to first become truly grateful for what you already have in your life and then focus on what you want your life to be like. Consciously visualizing your best life attracts positive energy your way and allows you to make the conscious and sub-conscious decisions to move you in that direction."

What great advice. I think that we are all pretty good at this, but some days we need a reminder, a nudge. There are notes around my house, "start the day with a grateful attitude," "live life like you mean it." I am so grateful for you all and your friendship-reminding me how wonderful life is, and for the power of the positive that you send my way, and to Andrea who always reminds me to set my intention on healing.

hugs,
chris