Concert for the Cure

I am a self-proclaimed concert junkie. I've been to well over 100 concerts. I've seen everyone from Reba, Dolly, Shania to Train, Hinder, and Maroon 5. And met several artists along the way as well. It's just my thing. Some of my friends that have been with me to concerts insist that I have the touch when it comes to these things. I don't know what to tell them. Luck? Chance? Fate? Whatever you want to call it, plays a big part in it.

When I heard Jason Aldean was coming to Roanoke to do a "Concert for the Cure" and donating the proceeds to the local affiliate of Komen, I was THERE. However, as much as I tried to get tickets... it didn't happen!! For the first time EVER, my magic touch didn't work! So I resigned myself to the fact that I would miss the concert event of the fall.

However, Komen had the opportunity to go ahead and register for the race and you could win tickets... Sure enough, about 24 hours before the concert I got a call that I had WON!!! I called one of my concert buddies and we were on!

The concert was awesome. Jason Aldean raised over $315,000 for the VA Blue Ridge Affiliate of Komen. Which is HUGE! He told about his friend who was 29 when she died of breast cancer. The entire crowd was dressed in pink... it was incredible.  I was in tears at this point in the show. I was so glad I could be there. It was a great event to kick off October and breast cancer awareness month.

Chemo-versary and checkup

The first day of fall has always been a favorite time of year for me. It reminds me of walks through the woods, going to school, a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils... Well it did. Now it is also my anniversary of when I had my first round of chemo.

This year I had my checkup with Dr. Ojomo. It actually went quite well. Everyone from the receptionist to the nurses, and Dr. O herself, made quite a fuss over how well I looked. They had seen me at my worst so they know, from post chemo to the radiation blues to chickenpox covered. This was a vast improvement.

My mammogram report came back good. The nurse asked me how it went, which I thought was odd. But I was honest and told her that it was very painful. So painful, in fact, that I cried through the entire mammogram. She said that many women have that happen after radiation. Geez! Another thing I wished I'd known before I went in! She said it gets better after a couple of years. Years?!?! I go back in six months for another mammogram and then to see Dr. Ojomo again.

Overall the best part was the fact that Dr. O. was more excited over my new boots than anything. :) She examined me then had to go get another lady while I changed to show her my boots! It was great. That's how you know your checkup went well.

Moving on while remembering...

I guess it's appropriate that I attempt this blog today. A day when all of America is remembering. Where were you 10 years ago? I remember, of course. Zooming in to New River Community College, hearing some strange news report on the radio. Not enough to process it before running to psychology class. A class that I can't remember today, not even the professor's name. Sitting there wondering if I should have been concerned with the news I barely heard. Getting out of class, walking in the cafeteria and witnessing the stillness while all the students watched the towers collapse. I still remember the rest of the day, going home with my best friend. Later working at Chick-fil-a, all of us wondering what the future held. It was hard to imagine a week from then, and here we are 10 years later.

Last year at this time, I had my port-a-cath placement and my lung collapse. I was in the hospital with a chest tube. It was one of the few times that I literally thought I was going to die from the cancer experience. Between the suffocation of a lung collapse and the stabbing pain of the lung reinflating, that was beyond excruciating. I really don't think there are words to explain... other than I really thought I was going to die.

So this isn't necessarily a fond remembrance for me. I'm grateful for life. Extremely. But I may not say a lot about it otherwise.

And I do hope to be putting some happier, non-cancer related blogs up soon. Just to put a little more random into the mix. :) Life does go on. Thankfully.

A weekend away

My family and I had wanted to take a quick weekend trip to the beach. We've had to cancel beach trips the past several times due to Dad's health issues, or Granny being sick, or then of course, my illness. For once, everyone was healthy. Then came a hurricane. So, I rescheduled our beach weekend for October. Realizing what a FOUL mood I was in not being able to get away, I checked the weather for TN and quickly made reservations for a shopping weekend in Pigeon Forge. :)

In front of the Smokey Mountain Cat House- a favorite stop

Sometimes you just need to get away! It was in the 80s and sunshine the entire time. Gorgeous. Mom and I shopped at the outlets on Saturday. I got some new clothes for work and new shoes. On Sunday, I noticed bugs in my hotel room... hmm... So being firm but polite, I asked for a refund for our last night on both rooms so we could change hotels. We moved to the Inn at Christmas Place and wow! I highly recommend it for anyone going to Pigeon Forge. The entire hotel is decorated with Christmas trees, lights, everything. The rooms are incredible. I've already booked our stay there again over Christmas. (Yes, Christmas!) It was that magical!

We also went to Gatlinburg on Sunday and just strolled the streets. There are SO many little shops there! We ate dinner at Bubba Gumps Seafood Co. Oh, it was so good! Everyone loved it. Every morning we ate at the pancake house. Normally I'm a cereal and coffee for breakfast person, but these pancakes were fluffy with scrambled eggs and bacon... yum! So basically it was a shopping and eating vacation. :)


I think that was the happiest I've been in a while. The bugs and switching hotels didn't bother me, it didn't phase me that we weren't at the beach... it was a great weekend. Just what I needed to get refreshed before fall.

Finding a cause

By now, if you've followed this blog much, I'm sure you've heard me mention the Bosom Buddies. Otherwise known as the gals who've been through breast cancer and encouraged me through it. Well, one of the BB, Christine, was Operations Chair of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure last year in Roanoke. I did my small part in passing out some postcards and signed up to participate and raise funds. Wow. What an incredible event. It not only honored the survivors, but raised awareness for breast cancer. The event raised over $300,000 for breast cancer and 75% of that stays in this area.

I knew that I wanted to be more involved with Komen but I wasn't sure how. I told Christine to let me know if they could use me. So she told me of the Komen committee training this past weekend in Roanoke. There were three people there from the national Komen office to give the local affiliate pointers and suggestions and train the new committee members. It was a lot of information since I didn't know where I was going to be working in such a huge event, but it was all good to hear, it just reassured me that Komen was an excellent cause.

After two days of training, I met with Lauren, the Teams Chair. She is leaving on maternity leave at the end of August and has no one to take over for her while she's out. I wanted to find a place where I could be useful and hopefully this is it. I am now the Teams Co-Chair (I'll still be in touch with Lauren, she just doesn't want to be overwhelmed with contact from participants while she's out). My duties include: recruiting teams, team captain communication, team incentives/fundraising/competition, organizing team tailgating on race day, and team photos. Whew! I'm overwhelmed already - in a super-excited kinda way!

I'll need a sub-committee of volunteers to help me as we draw closer to April so if you are interested in any of the above, please let me know! :)

First Cancerversary and beyond

Wow, I am so behind in updating my blog. Is anyone even still out there? Hello? This past month has gone by and I really had every intention of writing. I did. But... oh, then I just didn't.

Well, July started off with my first "cancerversary" ~ the anniversary of my diagnosis. It was strange to think back that a year earlier life had been much simpler. I hadn't known the different types of breast cancer, what it meant to be triple negative... I had to work on July 2, my anniversary, so I didn't get to dwell on it too much. Honestly, that's a good thing. The thought that it's been a year since my first surgery and a month since my last surgery... wow.  But, weekend after that I celebrated with Mom and Dad, we went to see a movie and out to eat. AND I updated my phone to an android and bought a Nook!!! I'm such a techie now... HA! But I have been playing with all this fun stuff which is probably why you haven't heard from me in a while. ;)

Other updates... Work is work. It's rough. I must have some PTSD from cancer or something because I really do not handle criticism well. I feel like I do my job as well, if not better than most of the people here and then to get criticized for some of my ideas... ugh. I'm hoping I can find a new job, even if it is away from this area. If I could find one that would allow for some forward thinking and team work, that would be great.

And finally... dating. I've been on match for about a month or so. Oh lord. It's definitely interesting. I've had several guys email me. I talked to one guy for a few weeks and we were going to meet but he started emailing me WAY too much and I couldn't tell if it was a needy or a controlling thing. Either way, I cancelled. So back to square one. I don't know if I'm cut out for this! I really enjoy my days at home, just reading and relaxing. But I would like someone to travel with... *sigh* Guess I gotta get back out there!  ;)

the Single Life

When I was a Junior in High School, my guy friends said I was the Perfect Woman. I was funny, pretty, had great hair, the whole package. Even down to great hands and nails. Seriously, these are their words. Did they date me? No. They dated my friends.

Fast forward ten years. Dating was still impossible. Whether it's the fact I'm in the middle of nowhere. Or the only guys I see are the eighty year old men that come into the library every day. Or the fact that I never really understood why I was so "perfect" and yet, my friends got the guys... who knows?

Now a year later, add to that the fact that I've been through breast cancer... a fact that I think makes me a stronger person. Definitely a different person than I was. That probably doesn't make me the most appealing girl out on the market. I mean, if guys weren't ready to run before, they would be now. The blond locks are gone, leaving... me.

Cancer self-help books tell you a lot. They tell you how to tell your partner, your kids, picking your caretaker, how they can help with your needs, sex after cancer, life after cancer, having kids after cancer, etc. But seldom do they ever touch on dating. Because you are not supposed to be in your 20s when you get breast cancer. Most women are in their 60s or over already having a partner and family.

So where is all this going? Well, I took the plunge and joined match.com. I have a couple of friends that have met their husbands there. This may go somewhere or it may be that I'm destined to be a singleton with my books and my cat. But hey, there's worse things! Just know, there may be some stories coming from this adventure, hopefully good ones!