The Truth About Cancer Series

Some years, like my last few, I feel like I kind of float through life. Nothing too terrible happens and nothing extraordinary blesses me either. That is how I have felt about my last couple of years. It hasn't been easy, but I am floating along and managing.

Honestly, that isn't how life goes all the time. Some years are full of life-changing/world defining experiences. Those things set you off on a different course. I am talking about positive experiences like getting married, having a baby, buying a house, moving across the country, having a religious awakening, taking an international trip as well as awful experiences like the death of a loved one, battling cancer, a horrific car accident, getting raped, etc.

For me, the years 2005 and 2006 were definitely life changing. 2005 started off with lots of promise. My husband (at the time) and I were house hunting. We found one that we liked and bought it. We also started going to a fertility specialist. We'd been married about 2 years and pregnancy was apparently not happening on its own. Right after we moved into our new house, my mother-in-law informed us that she was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. About a week or two later, I discovered that I was pregnant (during the testing process of fertility). About a week after that, I got a call from my sister informing me that my dad had terminal brain cancer that was extremely aggressive.

Talk about BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM. Of course, the joy of having a baby on the way definitely lessened the blow for me of the cancer news. I just kept thinking about the circle of life.

My dad passed away at the age of 56 when I was about 7 months pregnant. He suffered through numerous surgeries to remove multiple brain tumors along with chemo and radiation. He couldn't communicate when the tumors were taking over, so they would cut them out. That gave him about a week of talking before he shut down again. It got to the point where the surgeries were taking place every 2 weeks. I would definitely say it got fairly ridiculous. I finally called all 5 of my siblings and talked to them about just letting him be done with this life. It wasn't an easy conversation, but we are all religious and believe that much better things lie ahead for him. We were spread out over the US, but were able to visit him for Thanksgiving right after that decision had been made. He couldn't talk to us, but he definitely knew we were there. His eyes and hand squeezes said it all. When we headed home, he stopped eating and drinking. A week later, he was gone.

My mother-in-law lasted a year after her diagnoses. She also had surgeries, hospital stays, chemo, radiation, and all that. Our experiences with hospice and difficult decisions with my dad made it easier to navigate through her end of life. It was still heart wrenching, but we knew more about how it should be handled and what everything meant.

There are lots of lessons I learned from those experiences. One of them being that I didn't want to subject myself to all that cancer patients go through. If given a terminal cancer diagnoses, I would simply thank them and head home to live the best I could. I may do a surgery or two to remove huge tumors, but that would probably be it.

Since then, I definitely am interested in information on holistic methods of dealing with cancer and all that entails. Healthy eating, juicing, supplements, essential oils, reducing your toxic load, exercising,  ...Why not try?

This week, I have been enjoying the online series called the Truth About Cancer. So far, my favorite episodes were Day 2 (essential oils) & Day 3 (juicing). Obviously, those were things I already have an interest in. I do not buy everything they say hook, line & sinker, but there is definitely lots of tips and things to consider. When it is all over, I may type up a few things that I learned.

5K Miracle

On Saturday, I ran a 5k.  I know lots of people do this and I have done it in the past, but I am in complete shock that I did.  I stopped running several years ago.  Every time I tried, I could push myself to 20 minutes and then I'd be hobbling around for the next few days.  My knees have been a huge problem.  I decided it was time to give up on running.  So how did this 5k happen?

There was a Blood Drive/Fun Run activity through a regional area at church (a.k.a. Stake).  My ex decided he wanted to take the kids for the day (VERY RARE OCCURRENCE).  Since I wasn't sure that he would actually come, I decided that we would go to the activity and run/walk the 1 mile if we felt like it.  I also planned to donate blood.  That morning, the kids went with their dad and I headed to the church.  I felt silly doing the 1 mile without the kids, so I decided just to give blood.  When I got there, I found out that they were not able to schedule the blood donation portion.  I basically had nothing to do and no real reason to be there.  Several different people told me that I had a few minutes to sign up for the 5k.  For no real reason, I just did.  I pinned the number on and went to the back of the group (about 250 people).  I had no strategy or plan other than realizing I'd be limping for the next few days.  I thought I'd regret it.

The race started and I had my phone in one hand and my car keys in the other.  That shows how unprepared I was. I just started running and weaving around all of the strollers/families with kids.  Right before the first mile was done, I heard someone I was passing say "Hi Stephanie."  I looked back and it was an acquaintance/friend from church.  I quickly decided that I liked her pace and would just start running next to her.  She is really into yoga and even teaches it, but has been running the last few weeks to prepare for this.  We chatted and stayed together.  I think running with her made both of us continue on without any breaks.  Our official time was 32 minutes and 11 seconds.  It isn't a great time, but I am happy about it.

I am most happy about my knees.  I haven't had one ounce of pain.  This is incredible!!!  I can't say the same about my thigh muscles though.  They are quite mad at me.....  I guess I can start doing this more often.

60 Days of My Fitness Pal

A little over 60 days ago, a friend on Facebook mentioned an app called MyFitnessPal.  It is basically a calorie counter.  I have always heard that people who keep track of what they are eating tend to eat less.  That is a decent idea, but had always seemed like a pain.  Keeping track with an app sounded interesting, so I downloaded it. Almost every food item imaginable is on there, so you rarely have to calculate calories of what you are eating.  It only requires a simple search. Also, you can log into your account using their website if you would rather not use an app.

Once the app was downloaded, I added my current information like weight and height.  I also entered how much I want to weigh.  I put about 10 pounds less (thanks to the 5 lbs weight gain over the summer), which is my ideal weight.  If I had entered my dream weight that would be an additional 5 lbs.  I didn't really have a plan, but decided to start with that.

It also gave me the option to link with other friends (I could search for them or use ones from Facebook).  It is the community thing so we can encourage each other.  That may seem intimidating, but it really isn't.  It does not announce how much you weigh, what you are eating, or even if you gain weight in a week.   It does let them know things like "frecklefacegirl burned 237 calories doing 60 minutes of walking" and "frecklefacegirl completed her food and exercise diary for 11/12/13" and "frecklefacegirl lost 0.2 lbs since her last weigh-in!"  Yes, these are all recent posts. Notice how exciting that last one looks with the exclamation mark and everything!!!  Yeah, 0.2 lbs!!!  Pretty silly since a whole week had gone by, but it is something.  I have about 5 friends on there and they all seem to be progressing at similar rates.  I have read that the slower you lose it, the longer it stays off.  I hope that is true.

Sixty days have passed and with very little effort, I am 9.6 lbs lighter.  While I completely realize that losing almost 10 lbs in 60 days is no bragging matter, I'm glad that I am doing it.  I have eaten things like Halloween candy, a donut, and even gone out to eat.  I just make adjustments during the day to allow for it.  It also tracks Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium, and Iron.  

If any one reading this wants to join, go ahead & add me.  I am using the name "frecklefacegirl." We can celebrate staying the same weight or losing 0.2 lbs together.