The tired housewife is now retired. I feel that I need to look ahead to better days and stop thinking of myself as a tired housewife and more like a full of life woman. So to new beginnings and new blog postings. Hope you still want to stick around for my new changes.
~S
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Friday, April 20, 2012
Guest Blog from Heather: A Special Village
A Special Village
People often use the saying "It takes a village" when speaking to new parents. I heard that saying quite a bit when my daughter was born on August 5, 2005. My pregnancy had gone very smoothly and without any complications. As soon as Lily was born, we were surrounded by all of our loving family and friends; these people made up "our village". They all came to meet our daughter and send their well wishes. Everything was going so perfectly, that we had no idea it was the calm before the storm.
I had not even been back to work for a month before things started to take a turn for the worse. I began feeling very tired and fatigued, didn't have any energy to take care of my young child, and was having trouble breathing at times. I knew that all of my symptoms could be due to the fact that I was a new mother dealing with the demands of a very small infant. However, I still felt like something was wrong, so I went to visit my doctor.
After a vast series of tests, I was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma, or cancer of the lung's lining, on November 21, 2005. Mesothelioma is primarily caused by exposure to asbestos, which I found out had happened to me as a young child.
My first reaction, after hearing the diagnosis, was that my child was only 3 1/2 months old and I didn't want her to have to go through life without her mother. My doctor told me that if I chose to do nothing, I would only have 15 months to live. I knew right then that I would have to fight to survive, and nothing would keep me from beating this disease for my family.
Mesothelioma prognosis is not usually very optimistic. My husband and I, therefore, chose to take drastic measures, to battle this deadly disease. On February 2nd, my husband and I flew to Boston, where I underwent surgery to remove my left lung. I remained in the hospital for 18 days before returning home to recover for an additional two months prior to starting my chemotherapy, followed by radiation.
We would never have been able to fight this battle without the love, support and prayers of our village. There were people who helped us through our battle that we never expected to be there. Likewise, there were people we thought would be standing by our sides that decided to abandon us instead. Cancer had a way of showing us who truly mattered in our lives and who did not.
While we were in Boston, my parents in their home raised Lily. My parents had their own village to support them and help them care for her. Girls that I used to baby-sit for when I was younger were now grown up, married, with kids of their own, and offering to baby-sit my little girl. Members of my parents' church offered them constant love and support.
We never would have been able to survive this battle without the love and support of the people around us. They were what kept us going each and every day. My fight with cancer was not something that I would wish on anybody. However, I don't regret the people that I've met during my battle or the hardships I had to endure, because it has helped mold me into the person I am today. I have learned to appreciate everything that life has to other and to take nothing for granted. I am thankful for the chance to do that.
People often use the saying "It takes a village" when speaking to new parents. I heard that saying quite a bit when my daughter was born on August 5, 2005. My pregnancy had gone very smoothly and without any complications. As soon as Lily was born, we were surrounded by all of our loving family and friends; these people made up "our village". They all came to meet our daughter and send their well wishes. Everything was going so perfectly, that we had no idea it was the calm before the storm.
I had not even been back to work for a month before things started to take a turn for the worse. I began feeling very tired and fatigued, didn't have any energy to take care of my young child, and was having trouble breathing at times. I knew that all of my symptoms could be due to the fact that I was a new mother dealing with the demands of a very small infant. However, I still felt like something was wrong, so I went to visit my doctor.
After a vast series of tests, I was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma, or cancer of the lung's lining, on November 21, 2005. Mesothelioma is primarily caused by exposure to asbestos, which I found out had happened to me as a young child.
My first reaction, after hearing the diagnosis, was that my child was only 3 1/2 months old and I didn't want her to have to go through life without her mother. My doctor told me that if I chose to do nothing, I would only have 15 months to live. I knew right then that I would have to fight to survive, and nothing would keep me from beating this disease for my family.
Mesothelioma prognosis is not usually very optimistic. My husband and I, therefore, chose to take drastic measures, to battle this deadly disease. On February 2nd, my husband and I flew to Boston, where I underwent surgery to remove my left lung. I remained in the hospital for 18 days before returning home to recover for an additional two months prior to starting my chemotherapy, followed by radiation.
We would never have been able to fight this battle without the love, support and prayers of our village. There were people who helped us through our battle that we never expected to be there. Likewise, there were people we thought would be standing by our sides that decided to abandon us instead. Cancer had a way of showing us who truly mattered in our lives and who did not.
While we were in Boston, my parents in their home raised Lily. My parents had their own village to support them and help them care for her. Girls that I used to baby-sit for when I was younger were now grown up, married, with kids of their own, and offering to baby-sit my little girl. Members of my parents' church offered them constant love and support.
We never would have been able to survive this battle without the love and support of the people around us. They were what kept us going each and every day. My fight with cancer was not something that I would wish on anybody. However, I don't regret the people that I've met during my battle or the hardships I had to endure, because it has helped mold me into the person I am today. I have learned to appreciate everything that life has to other and to take nothing for granted. I am thankful for the chance to do that.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
With a little help from God all things are possible
Spring has sprung and finally after spending most of the winter on my ass watching old episodes of Grey's Anatomy, I have moved into a better place emotionally. I have recommitted to spending time at the gym and renewing a relationship with a healthier me. This is a constant struggle when it seems like many people are needing something whether I can give it or not. To learn to step away and put myself as a priority is not an easy thing when you grow up with always being a people pleaser.
Last year I quickly lost a significant amount of weight, the emotional blanket the kept me from talking to others and my trusty food companion that was my friend. As time has gone on, I battle not falling into the trap of letting the food demons come back and steal away my success. And let me tell you it is not easy at all.
I have taken up running and plan on participating in a 5k race in May. Never could I have imagined running 3.1 miles without stopping prior to WLS. But here I am, doing it and moving forward into a new reality. I have to make short term goals to keep me going but that is OK.
Constantly, while I am running in the cemetery I have an inner conversation of (please get me to this part of the road and then I can stop, then I get there and I say ok just get to the next part of the gate a few hundred yards ahead.) Luckily this has kept me on the path to running with a purpose and not quitting before I get to the finish. And just because I am breathing heavy doesn't mean I have to hold back, it means I am alive and living my dream of being the girl that I wanted to be, a mom that can run with her kids and play until they drop.
Life is a gift and I plan on living it to the best that I can. Have a great day
~Sheri
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