Call of the Wild Workout Posse

Since Breast Cancer made me into a worker-outer, I spend quite a bit of time at the YMCA getting and staying buff! At the beginning of the year, my Workout Posse (Robbie & Katie- BFFs forever!) and I signed up for the The Trek: Call of the Wild Challenge put on by our very own Caleb Johnson (our LiveStrong Buddy!).
For the past couple months, we have been tracking our workouts in hopes to complete our 20 hour Trek. It was hard work but we all made it! Way to go us!!!

Here's what the information the Y sent out:

Stay active this winter and you could WIN!
GRAND PRIZE = $3,000 Vacation Package
This fitness challenge is designed to keep you motivated to stay active during the harsh winter by recording a virtual trek across the Yukon in search of gold!

Through your own strenuous efforts, you can retrace the journeys of Jack London or Martha Black. Jack London, the author of The Call of the Wild, was inspired from his 1887-1898 journey for gold in the Yukon. Martha Black, a determined pioneer and business women, journeyed the Yukon in 1899 in search for wealth and adventure. The trail will be challenging, but with a little grit and perseverance, you yourself will be inspired, find adventure, and strike it rich with prizes and improved wellness.

WHAT ARE THE PRIZES?

PARTICIPANT PRIZES: Prize #1: Travel bag
Prize #2: Dry Fit Shirt      

GRAND PRIZE:
$3,000 VACATION PACKAGE -
Choose Your Own Destination!

ADDITIONAL FINISHER DRAWINGS: $50.00 Gift Cards

HOW DOES IT WORK? After registering an d submitting the $25.00 entry fee, each participant will receive an official map of The Call of the Wild. Participants will choose ONE of two possible routes and have eight weeks to perform 20 or 30 hours (depending on route chosen) of aerobic activity to complete the Trek. For every 15 minutes of aerobic activity you complete between January 11 – March 8 you will earn ¼ mile. As you progress through your journey, you will be rewarded with individual prizes at specific check points and will also be eligible for the Grand Prize Drawing and additional finisher drawings upon completion.

CHOOSE ONE ROUTE: The Dyea Route (Jack London) (20 hours) is the basic route that will qualify participants for the participant prizes and the grand prize drawing. For the exerciser in search of a challenge, the Skagway Route (Martha Black) (30 hours) adds 10 additional hours to the Trek. Upon completion of the Skagway route, you will qualify for additional gift card drawings to celebrate your heroic efforts.

Please Note: Although you do not need to be a YMCA member to join, participation in this challenge does not include a YMCA membership or access to the YMCA for participants who are not members.

For more information, please contact Caleb Johnson, Healthy Living Director at 701.356.1447 or caleb.johnson@ymcacassclay.org.

P.S. Robbie won a couple extra things at the end. Fun for her!!

Aloha! We're Celebrating!

Not wanting to get our hopes up, we hadn't got around to planning a ParTay for my last day of treatment. But since it turned out that we are officially DONE today, we decided to take our little family out for dinner to celebrate our success!
Recently, Brett and I had gone to Texas Roadhouse with our good friends, the Cooks for a double date. We loved the sweet potatoes and rolls and well.... everything, so it was the perfect opportunity to go again and not feel guilty. LOL
Our waiter was from Hawaii and he was awesome! Every time he came to or left our table, he said "Aloha!" And of course, Brett (and eventually all of us) would respond back rather loudly. He had a fun, tease-y personality just like us and we had a blast! And the food was just as good as last time.

{SIDE NOTE: One of my favorite parts of blogging for me is coming up with fun titles to use. I knew for this one that "Aloha!" would be part of it. But I wanted to know exactly what it meant. I did a little searching and guess what I found..... Using Hawaiian language grammatical rules, aloha translates literally as "The joyful sharing of life energy in the present" or simply "Joyfully sharing life" or "To consciously manifest life joyously in the present." Oh my heavens!!!! How perfect is that????? I love coincidences like that! AWESOME!!}

Of course we didn't want the night to end without documenting our new friend and our little ParTay so we asked for a picture. He was a little nervous because he didn't want it to end up on facebook. (See once again a perfect coincidence since we are not face-bookers. LOL BUT he must have jinked it because every picture we took with him in it- the flash wouldn't work. Too funny! The last one, he ended up taking and it worked perfectly. Go figure!)
Once he had agreed to allow us to photograph him, he ran to grab someone to take the picture. He came back with not one but two people. One to take the picture and the other to be in it. She was way fun and bubbly but we were confused why he had brought her until... we found out she was the Owner. How fun is that? She had stopped in to pick up dinner for her family and since he was excited for our celebration he invited her to be a part of it. After the picture, she stayed and visited with us for a bit. Then she told the kids she was going to go get them a gift. She came back with some fun Texas Roadhouse toys. They were so excited! She also brought back a gift certificate for a free Dinner for Two so that Brett and I to come back for a date night. How extremely generous! Thank you so much! Fargo has such amazing people. What a great Celebrate my Last Cancer Treatment ParTay! Wahoo!

Ringing the Bell

The sound of a ringing bell has different meanings in different circumstances. Often they're rung for religious reasons, at times to commemorate a momentous event, or in remembrance. At the Roger Maris Cancer Center, the ringing of a bell signifies that a patient has completed treatment.

Ring this bell

Three times well

Its toll to clearly say

My treatment's done

This course is run

And I am on my way!

*Brett had only stayed with me for my doctor's appointment today so I was alone when I finished my last Herceptin. I hadn't really thought about that in regards to saying goodbye to the Infusion Center. However, when I got unhooked from the machine, got bandaged up and collected all my things and we were walking out, my nurse Theresa announced it was my last time back in the Infusion Center and all the Nurses cheered and congratulated me. I got hugs from Theresa, Carrie and Katie. They are all so nice. As far as the tradition of "ringing the bell", I had pretty much decided NOT to do it. I felt kind of silly to go out and ring it without anyone that cared. But some of my Nurse friends- Theresa, Carrie, Lexi and a couple other nurses came out to celebrate with me. What amazing women! They video-ed it on my iPod and took a picture and of course, they cheered. In the end, I'm glad I did it. You know how I love to celebrate things and document it. So...

DING!! DING!! DING!!

I'm done!

Herceptin #16: DONE FOREVER!

Brett came with me for my appointment with Dr. Panwalker this morning. Which was way nice of him since I admit that I had a mini-freak-out this morning, ended up crying and told him I would just go by myself.  Going to bed late, getting kids up and off to school, making breakfast, getting Glory ready, shoveling part of the driveway (yes! It snowed AGAIN this morning), getting myself ready, trying to do something with my ugly hair, driving in the freezin' cold and snow-swept roads to drop Glory off to the Gills (in the opposite direction and in a truck that isn't running well lately), picking up Brett at work on the way and making it to the RMCC by 9:10 AM (not to mention that I am so tired of treatments I could scream) was a little too overwhelming for this non-morning-loving Cancer patient. So... a big apology and thanks to my amazing Hubby for putting up with me and coming anyways. XOXO. Luv ya, Honey!

Honey- Are you "leaning"?
You must love me! LOL

Our appointment with Panwalker, our Oncologist went well. I was not as melancholy as last time so I didn't freak him out as much. [My old tease-y self made a semi-comeback] The doctor did his regular questioning, examing and discrediting any of my symptoms. (I like to tease him because the things that I feel I have as side effects like my brittle nails, my heart racing for a couple days and my urine smelling like mouse ovaries I guess are NOT real symptoms. What do doctors really know anyways? LOL)
He did say everything is looking great! Well, except that my weight is up by 5 pounds. Grrrr! Not that he cares or is worried about that [In fact, I'm the one that brought it up] but I did inform him that it is because I did Pilates yesterday and it's ALL muscle. He completely agreed. LOL
Then, we discussed how my treatment is almost over. I told him that today was my last Herceptin that I had scheduled and was wondering if I needed to set up one more. OR..... If this could be my last one? He totally surprised me but he said it could be. WHAT???? You mean I can be done? Hallelujah! Today is my LUCKY DAY!!!! [I told him I actually wore my "LUCKY" shirt today, just in case it would help. Looks like it did! Wahoo!]

* It looks like for follow-ups we will meet with him every 3 months until next year and then every 6 months after that until the 2 year Cancerversary from my surgery. But no more infusion so I am so ecstatic!

Back in the Infusion Center, Theresa was my Herceptin nurse for today. She was awesome! I have been really lucky to have some amazing nurses on my journey. I actually feel bad that I didn't do anything BIG to celebrate my last day. You know, gifts for all my nurses or throwing a party or something. LOL But then, the fact is that I was trying not to get my hopes up just in case I had to do one more treatment. {This is a first for me that things have gone my way so I was completely caught off guard!} So... perhaps I'll have to do something and take it in sometime. Any ideas?
I did think it was ironic because I actually forgot my camera today. Can you believe that???? Figures! It's my last day and I am without a way to document it properly. Grrrr! Thanks heavens that I decided to throw my iPod in my bag. Crappy pictures are better than no pictures if you ask me!
Despite my lack of preparedness for this momentous occasion, I sit here in my own little, secluded room at the Roger Maris Cancer Center Infusion Center for my final Herceptin treatment, taking inventory of all the things I will do for the last time. Nothing bitter-sweet about it but for the record, this will be the last time that I...

Borrow an iPad to blog during my visit. And get a hole
poked in my left hand to insert plastic tubing.

Get a warm blanket and a treat bag
of Chex mix, pretzels, cheesiest and m&ms.

get hooked up to an intravenous (IV) infusion pump
in a Cancer Center 

Get my blood pressure taken with an IV 
in the same arm. Ouch!

 walk down the hall connected
to a machine to use the bathroom.
And have to flush twice!

Wrap my Hand up like a Boxer so I can go home!

Also (without photographic evidence), it will be the last time that I:

* sit alone in an Infusion room for hours.
* tell the Nurse that I didn't have lab work done because Dr Panwalker says, "I'm fine!"
* spend a week having my urine smell like mouse ovaries. [You can't even photograph that anyways!]
* whine about having to take drugs that may or may not keep my cancer away.

Good riddance to all of that! Wow! What a year! No words can say how happy I am to be done with Herceptin FOREVER! Farewell you stinky, icky mouse ovaries!

Freedom from Treatment!!!

(In my latest bout of blog-stalking other Cancer patients, I found these thoughts from a blog called The Funny Thing about Cancer. Every word was exactly how I am feeling so I changed the amounts, took out what I didn't experience and added a few of my own thoughts. Thanks to Cynthia Ericson for putting my feelings perfectly into words. I've been saving this post for a LONG time. I'm so excited to be able to finally share it.)

Tomorrow is possibly my last Herceptin.

It is my sincerest hope that tomorrow will be the last time I:
- ever visit an infusion room.  For any reason.
- see a nurse in a special gown that is supposed to protect her from the poison she is about to pump into someone.
- have to wait (and wait... and wait) for the lab to release my meds.  Seriously.  Takes forever sometimes.
- have to pull an intravenous (IV) infusion pump down the hallway to use the restroom.
- have to wrap my hand like a boxer with a cohesive bandage so I don't bleed all over the floor on my way home.
- spend my Friday morning in an infusion room.

Bottom line is that I hope tomorrow is the end of my cancer journey.
Sure there will be follow-up visits. But even with those future appointments, tomorrow FEELS like the end of all of this craziness.  It feels like the chains are coming off and I'll finally be free!  Free from the appointments and the waiting rooms.  Free from the physical annoyances that are "side effects".  Free from the constant scheduling that all the appointments require.  Free from the insurance forms telling me the price that they think mouse ovaries cost.  Free from ALL of that.

Did you know it's been THIRTEEN months since I've gone more than 3 weeks without a doctors
appointment of some kind?  For the last year, I have seen a medical professional at least once every 3 weeks.  Prior to cancer, I saw a doctor exactly once a year (except for when I was pregnant) and even less after my little one hit 3 years old.  I am so unbelievably excited for that to be over.  

After tomorrow, I won't have to go see my oncologist for THREE MONTHS. By then I am hoping that God will let me in on his plan for the future and I will officially put this part of my life behind me.

Now, I know I will never be truly free from cancer... any survivor will tell you that cancer will forever be a part of your life, even when you're "cured".  But to be free from the responsibility of the constant appointments and treatments will be divine.  I can't possibly tell you how exciting that is for me.

So here's to celebrating the end of treatment and ALL the freedom that comes with it :)

Feeling Unspectacular and Unanswered Prayers

It's been a rough couple of weeks for me emotionally. I'm sure it's partly a Winter Blues issue but it's also an "angry at cancer" thing. I should start out by saying that I will probably be struck by lightning for my bad attitude since I have been blessed more than my fair share through this past year. But regardless of my fear of being fried to a crisp by 300 kilovolts---these past few weeks I have had a hard time not focusing on all the things cancer has robbed me of and the frustration of unanswered prayers.

As most of you know, my family had big plans to have a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Long story short... Cancer robbed us of that! Many have said that perhaps giving us that opportunity was the only way that we would have found the Cancer in time. But I can't agree. There was lots of other things that could have happened to help us "discover" the cancer. I wish I could say that I understand why they would say that but we had prayed so long & so hard and had turned the issue completely over to God and everything was starting to fall into place when we were diagnosed. I know without any doubt that God had told us to go. Even after the diagnosis, we prayed with open hearts (although heavy at the time) that if this was all for finding out about the cancer that we would give it up. But time and time again more things fell into place. Then after EIGHT long months of continuing down the path we felt we were directed to go-- CANCER made our Dream and Big Adventure over. Why?? What happened to all the answers to prayers we felt we had received and how do I get past that???

I am NOT doing a very good job, I'll tell you that. I have tried to make CANCER my new Adventure. After my diagnosis, I worked hard on making it a positive experience for our family and having some fun along the way. It worked for a while. But after finding out we were staying stateside, I really don't see the point. My point was to beat the cancer and then go on an amazing Adventure. But NO!!!!!!!! Instead, I may never even get out of Fargo! {Where it  feels like Winter 11 months of the year!!!} Grrrr! While we were fighting our way through chemo and surgery, we passed up opportunities to go other places because we were sure that Bogota was where God wanted us. And now we don't have any clue where we should go or where God even wants us. None of our prayers seem answered as of late. I actually torture myself by having the temperature for these other places on my iPod. I check it every morning. [I know it's pathetic but that's how I roll these days] So like this morning at 7:30 am when it read- SLC: 39 degrees, Helena: 43 degrees, Bogota: 54 degrees, Fargo: -6 freezin' degrees- I almost wanted to swear. You gotta be kidding me!!! "WHY do I live here????" has become a question I ask myself a zillion times a day lately! What is the purpose of me being stuck in this frozen place?

In the past couple weeks, I also started reading a few Cancer blogs- perhaps for a little sympathy or to get some perspective. That has backfired! One blog was such a fun-loving positive blog. I felt like I connected to her words and her spirit but then she died suddenly! A complication from the drugs or something. Man! Cancer sucks! Another lady has made her cancer diagnosis into a business. She started a foundation and travels all over the world promoting awareness and making a zillion friends. So... I pretty much hate her! LOL A few have posts about how family and friends rallied and threw big, huge fund raisers in their behalf to help them offset their medical bills. Did I need that? No. Brett and I worked really hard for the last several years to save for a rainy day. We were prepared!  Does that change the fact that it hurts my feelings a little that no one did that for me. You bet. Cancer sucks! Most of the cancer blogs that I read have tons of followers. At the conclusion of each post, a handful of friends leave comments and words of encouragement. Me? I'm not sure that anyone reads mine at all. Guess that's my unspectacular cancer life. Oh well! Two other blogs I read are of women who are on their SECOND time through cancer. Both did drastic measures to "take care" of it the first time but years later, it's back and it's fatal. What the.....ll?? Cancer SUCKS!!!!!

So what is the purpose of all this dramatic and pathetic whining?? I don't really know. But that would be a really sucky way to end a post.
So... the other day on a most unspectacular day of mine, my little family was doing some scripture study when we came across this quote. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with it but I am trying to make it speak to my heart. Perhaps by typing it here it will sink in a little.

"Not everyone is going to be .... fill in the blank with some important responsibility. Not all are going to be like ...fill in the blank with some more-than-amazing leader... catching the acclaim all day every day. No, most will be quiet, relatively unknown folks who come and go and do their work without fanfare. To those of you who may find that lonely or frightening or just unspectacular, I say you are "no less serviceable" than the most spectacular of your associates. You, too, are part of God's army."- Howard W Hunter

So is that my answer???? Who cares if Cancer sucks, Shay? Who cares if you use all your savings to pay off your medical bills? Who cares if you want to leave this crappy, freezing place??? Who cares if you are boobless and have a really ugly hairdo? Who cares if you feel like your life is NOT the Adventure you want it to be? Just be serviceable, woman!!!!! Is that my answer?? ..... Perhaps.

P.S. As I was being my whiney, pathetic, unspectacular self these last couple weeks, I did receive this email from an old friend. Funny how people can do/send things when they have no idea how much it will mean to someone. Thanks, Heather! You'll never know how much I needed it! XOXO

I was checking out your blog today.  (It has been awhile since I was on.) I am truly amazed by your out look and attitude.  You have always been an inspiration to me and I miss talking and sharing with you.  I have thought and prayed a lot for you and your family.  I am truly blessed for this experience.  I know it can't be easy and life is difficult on its own, then to add such an illness makes it more difficult. I hope you know of my love for you and that I miss you terribly.  Thank you for sharing your journey, I love hearing about it.  You have a great sense of humor and it is always entertaining to read.
Keep your chin up and know that you are loved,  Heather Parry