A Scare

I wasn't sure I wanted to write about this on the blog, but I guess anything that is said that could raise awareness is good. About 6 years ago now, my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was fortunate that it was found at Stage 1, and after removing the tumor and radiation therapy, she has been cancer free. At the time it was found, she had genetic testing and was told there wasn't a genetic component to her cancer that would increase the probability of me or our younger sister of getting breast cancer. Of course we did all grow up in the same environment, so that is another issue. But I have yearly mammograms, and I felt pretty safe.

Last week, out of the blue, when I was getting into the shower, I had a little talk with myself. I said, "You have a sister who has had breast cancer, and you don't even take the time to do monthly breast exams. Are you nuts?" So I did an exam and found a small lump. This was a week ago Monday, and I had so many things lined up to do each day last week that I didn't get in to the doctor until Friday. (This is retirement?!)  The lump wasn't easy to locate all the time, so before I went I marked the spot  with a black permanent sharpie marker. It all got a lot scarier when the doctor felt the lump, too.

My doctor ordered a diagnostic mammogram and a sonogram, but I couldn't get an appointment until Wednesday. If any of you have been through this, I'm sure you know what it was like waiting for the next step. I knew not to look at any of the forums on the internet, but I did look at many legitimate sites - Susan Komen, The National Breast Cancer Foundation, etc. I found out that lumps are much more likely to be cancerous after menopause, and that by the time women are in their late 70s, one in eight will have had breast cancer. I'm 63, post-menopause, have a sister who has had breast cancer, and am overweight. I check off a lot of the risk factors.

In the five days I waited for the test, I lost 5 pounds. I had a knot in my stomach almost constantly. I had a hard time concentrating on anything. I'm extremely anxious to begin with, but this really wound me up. Pete was wonderful. He just kept saying that it was probably nothing, but if it was cancer we would do whatever we had to do and we would get through it together.

The results of the mammogram were looked at immediately by the radiologist, and when he didn't see anything, I started crying with relief. Then I had the sonogram, and the technician did find a lymph node that was what we were feeling. But it is absolutely not a problem and everything else looked good. I had to hug her (after I got dressed!) W hat a tremendous relief!

I haven't stopped feeling thankful yet. I loved just sitting in the living room watching TV with Pete and reading last night. I woke up this morning and absolutely enjoyed feeding cats, dogs, bird, cleaning cat boxes, taking the dogs out and cleaning up after them - all the normal morning chores were a pleasure! I loved taking my Mom to the audiologist today and then to do a little shopping. Loved every minute.

I know how fortunate I am. I hope I remember each day to be more thankful for what I have and all the blessings I have been given. And I'm definitely going to do a breast self exam each and every month.

Retirement

I don't know quite what I expected from retirement, but I didn't really think I'd be quite so busy! Not that I'm complaining by any means. I like to get out and tend to get very morose if I can't. It has also allowed me to be able to be "the wheels" for my Mom since she gave up driving last year. I usually spend part of two or three days a week with her, as well as taking her to church on Sunday mornings. Last week I was busy every day. Taking my Mom shopping and doing all the usual things, plus some fun! My best friend, Donna, has a beautiful 3-year-old grandson named Alex, who calls me Grandma Sue. His baby brother is due to be born in the next couple of weeks! Guess where we took Alex last week? 

Yes, that's the Count! We saw Sesame Street Live in Albany, NY. We let his mom come too! He enjoyed it and we enjoyed watching him. We couldn't believe the prices of the things they were selling. A plastic wand that lights up and blows bubbles was $30! A little plastic Cookie Monster basket with tasteless chocolate chip cookies inside was $15. Of course price was no object to the "Grannies," but it really was ridiculous. 

Another day, Alex decorated the tree at his grandmother's house for Easter. Never too early to get ready! Since he's expecting a new brother, they've been reading a lot of books about big brotherly behavior and about families. So when he put the eggs on the branches he insisted on making an egg family on the branch. That certainly wasn't going over well with Donna's interior decorating, so we had to convince him to spread them out. 

Speaking of eggs, our hens are the best egg-layers! I wish we had an outlet for them, as we are getting between 16-18 per day. So far we've been able to give all the extras to friends and family, but it would be nice to get a dollar or two a dozen just to put the money back into chicken feed. 

Finally, we have some green poking up through the ground! After all that snow and ice this year, this couldn't be a more welcome sight. Daffodils and tulips!

This will be another busy week. I've got plans for every day but Friday - but there are a couple of fun options for Friday, too. What do you have planned?

A Little of This...

It's absolutely beautiful out today! The sky is a beautiful color blue without a cloud in sight. It's not really warm - only 40 degrees for the high temperature - but some snow is melting and the sun feels warm on my shoulders. I went in to Saratoga to take my Mom to the grocery store and even opened the window in the car on the way home to get some fresh air. Tonight the clocks move an hour ahead. Unfortunately, we're supposed to wake up to 1-3 inches of wet snow, but it won't last long I hope! Pete's daughter, Donna, saw a red-winged blackbird on her feeder this week. That's the definite sign of spring that we all need. 

Only one cat missing from the above photo. I think there were some birds in tree outside the window.

This is one of our two aquatic African side-neck turtles. They get their name because they can't withdraw their head and neck into their shell when threatened, but lay it along the side of the shell instead. We got them free from our vet when another client didn't want them any more. They were only free for about 24 hours. They needed a new, much larger tank. The tank needed a large stand to sit on, and a large heater and canister filter. Don't want to even write what it all cost. But they are so cute and fun to watch. They even like to chase a laser light around the tank trying to catch it. Turtles are a lot of work though and I would caution most people who want to keep them inside. Even with a large canister filtration system, the tank needs to be cleaned often. Isn't that a cute little face though? They always look like they're smiling.

Do any of you have aquariums? They are one of Pete's hobbies, and we have 5 tanks. This guy is in a big tank we have in our bedroom. He's a Plecostomus and about 10 inches long. He's sucking algae off the side of the tank and keeping everything clean. We've had him about 11 years now.

One final picture today of Dixie. We prefer to play the songs on the jukebox in the living room - she prefers sitting on it. 

We're on our way now to our regular Saturday dinner date! A buffet - hope I can control myself.

Have a safe and happy weekend.

Changing the Bed

Such a simple task - changing the sheets on the bed - turns into a circus and takes twice the time it should at my house. I just throw up my hands and laugh! Every time I move a sheet it gets attacked.

But I finally got the fresh sheets on and the bed all made up. It's like this every time I change the sheets.

I took a walk around the yard today looking for bear tracks and didn't find any fresh ones. Thank goodness! Did find lots of rabbit and squirrel tracks, as well as what are probably coyote tracks, and tracks from a cat that Pete has seen a couple of times. I don't know if it's someone's cat that lives in the neighborhood or a feral cat, so we've put out some dry cat food just in case it's hungry. We have an old dog house in the yard that hasn't been used for many years, and I have wood chips in it and a blanket and an old dog bed, but it doesn't look like anything has used it.

On Saturday afternoons Pete and I always go out for an early dinner. We have 5 or 6 places we like all within 20 minutes or so of the house. Then tomorrow morning I'll take my Mom to church in the next town over, Saratoga Springs. On Monday, if we don't get too much snow overnight, I have plans to go out to breakfast with a few women I used to work with who are very close friends. We'll eat and then do some shopping.

Hope you have a great weekend whatever you are doing.