My ex-sister-in-law had a knee replacement of February 17th. She and I are still very close. As a matter-of-fact, since we're the only daughters in our respective families, we consider each other our 'sister'. I've known Joan since I was a child. She and my brother, Jack, were married when I was about seven years old. I was the flowergirl. I grew up with Joan as my sister, so even after she and my brother parted ways, we've stayed very close. She has been here for me in so many ways since I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her moral support and prayers have meant so much to me, so when she had to have a knee replacement I wanted to be there for her, too. She's staying in a rehab center right now, so I've tried to spend at least one day a week with her, taking her a fun treat and just visiting. She's working really hard with her rehab, so she can get home and be with her daughter, Cynthia, and her family.
My niece, Lisseth, had her 50th birthday on March 1st, and my daughter,Erin, had her 33rd birthday on March 3rd. That was a very busy week. Lisseth's husband, Glen, and her daughter, Cristina, planned a big surprise party for her. They had it a local hotel and her brother, David, and his friend, Rick, supplied the music. There were at least 70 people there and it was alot of fun. Lisseth was totally surprised. She was even in tears for awhile.
Lisseth has been my #1 advocate since the very beginning of my cancer fight. She has given me so much help and advice, and I love her dearly. She has helped me with alot of my nutrition questions and has gotten me herbal medicines that have helped keep up my strength and energy, which is so important in this fight. I'm so thankful Lisseth and I are such close friends and family, and I'm thankful I was able to help and support her on her special day.
Erin's birthday was two days after Lisseth's and it was a much quieter affair. Pat and I took her and her sister, Amy, and their children out for breakfast at Ihop. Then, Pat and Erin went shopping for a new car radio for her, and her son, Colin, and I went shopping for a gift from him. He knew exactly what he wanted to get her. It was the second and third books in the Twilight series. We had to check out a couple of stores to find them, but we were successful, and he even found her the perfect birthday card. That night we took the whole gang, all ten of us, to The Cheesecake Factory, for the official birthday dinner, and after making gastronomic fools of ourselves, we opened gifts and blubbered our ways home. It was a relaxed, but fun birthday.
Pat's sister, Pam, had her birthday the day after Erin's, and the rest of March looks much the same. It's the busiest birthday month in our family. Now that I've made my excuses for not writing on my blog for some time, I'll try to make some sense of my title.
This is all about being bald. I've decided the good part about being bald is there's no worry about if my hair looks good or not. It sure makes getting ready to go somewhere 100% easier and faster. I can get a shower, put on my makeup, get dressed and be out the door in forty-five minutes. The bad part about being bald, is being bald. I have a really difficult time not having my head covered around people. I know some women are comfortable with being bald, but I haven't gotten there yet. I can go with my head uncovered when I'm by myself, but I even have to have a hat or cap on around Pat. He thinks I'm crazy, but I can't help it. Everyone has always told me that I have such beautiful hair and now to have it GONE, it really is a blow to the old ego. The ugly part of this whole thing is when I look in the mirror, I think, "how ugly". It isn't a pretty sight. I know this is all temporary, and everyone who's gone through this has said your hair comes back even better, but it's long ways off, and I'm still having problems with the bald thing. Maybe I'll get over it sometime soon.
Yesterday, I went for my fourth chemotherapy, the last in the Adriamycin/Cytoxin series. YAY! Anyway, while I was there, someone who had been going through chemo brought in a big basket of homemade chocolates in cellophane bags with a little poem attached, and I want to end this post with that poem, because it expresses so much of how I feel about this whole journey.
What Cancer Cannot Do
Cancer is so limited...
It cannot cripple Love
It cannot shatter Hope
It cannot corrode Faith
It cannot destroy Peace
It cannot kill Friendship
It cannot suppress Memories
It cannot silence Courage
It cannot invade the Soul
It cannot steal Eternal Life
But most of all...
Cancer cannot conquer the Spirit!
Hi Connie; I was waiting for your update this week. I truely love reading all about what you're going through as you and only you can express your thoughts and feelings. I think the writer in you has come out and it helps others to understand the fears, anger and acceptance you are going through. No one wishes to go through cancer, but it finds us and tries to break us. Keep up your courage and strength, I'm here for you.
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