Florida Trip & Health Updates

Lee, Logan, and I took a trip to Florida to visit family at the end of May. We had a great time seeing family and friends. My best friend's parents had a party at their house on the Saturday night while we were in Port Charlotte so we got to go to that and had a lot of fun. We went to Tampa and visited Lee's grandmother, and saw his aunt Peggy and close family friend, Linda (like an aunt or another mother to Lee.) Overall, the trip was wonderful. Logan did excellent in the car both on the way to FL and on the way back home. We borrowed a friend's portable DVD player and he watched his kid shows and movies so he didn't get bored. He never got fussy or whiny and was such a good boy. Heck, he wasn't just good during the car rides... he was so well-behaved the entire time we were away. Never once did he throw a tantrum or have a "terrible 2" moment. It was definitely an enjoyable week for us all!

We took a lot of pictures in Florida, but I don't feel like uploading all of them so I am going to post just a few here, and if you would like to see more, HERE is the link to many more of our Florida pictures on my Facebook account.















UPDATES ON MY HEALTH:
I met with my oncologist on Monday (June 8th) for my first post-cancer visit. They did blood work, and EVERY single thing they look for came back within a normal range... my white blood cell counts, red blood cell counts, platelets, etc. are ALL within a normal range for a healthy person! This is great news! As you may recall, back when I was first diagnosed with Hodgkin's, a major indicator that something was wrong with me was that my white blood cell counts were extremely high each time I had blood drawn. This time they are not super high, and they are not super low (they were really low during chemotherapy since chemo suppresses the immune system so much.) This blood work result in itself gives me such peace of mind!

My doctor wants to see me again in August and is having a CT Scan done on me in August as well. He said generally with a stage 1 Hodgkin's patient they will do a periodic scan every 6 months to be sure there is no recurrence. So August will mark 6 months for me since being declared in remission and that's when I will go for my first scan. I feel confident that the scan will be 100% clean, but just for extra insurance, prayers and good thoughts would be appreciated!!!

Oh, I had mentioned a few posts ago that I am still getting hives every so often. They have not completely subsided, but do seem to be lessening more and more all the time. I asked my doctor about this and he said that often times cancer patients can see these weird "b" symptoms/side effects for several months even after the cancer is gone. He said the immune system takes time to fully recover after all its been through... and he said some patients do have things like this that never fully go away. Honestly, if these hives stay the way they are now I can live with that... I only get them if I get really hot for a long period of time (like if I exercise for more than an hour which I rarely do) and they are always intensified during that "time of the month" since I think my core body temperature must be higher during that time and/or it's hormone-related. The weirdest thing is, I still can't take antihistamines... they make me break out in hives something fierce! I'm hoping that eventually my body "fixes itself" because not being able to take antihistamines is a real pain in the butt when your nose and eyes are runny during pollen season!!!

Whew, now that the cancer updates are out of the way I can move on to the next "health" update: I hit my weight loss goal about a week or so ago and that made 25 pounds lost! I am still maintaining my exercise routine, and still being mindful of my eating habits, but just not watching that nearly as closely since at this point I really just want to maintain my weight and am not really concerned with losing a bunch more. I would love to lose 8 to 10 more pounds so if that happens, it happens, but if not, I'm happy with where I'm at now. Despite not watching my diet as closely, due to the exercise I do and the fact that my metabolism is probably boosted, I *still* managed to lose 2 more pounds after my goal weight bringing my total weight lost to 27 pounds!!! I started out at 172 pounds and now weigh 145! This puts me in the healthy BMI range for my height (I was in the overweight category before.) I'm so psyched and feel so fit and healthy. It's amazing to feel this good! I'll even be brave and share my bikini body pictures with you all if you promise not to laugh!!




I hope I didn't just make anyone puke on their keyboard!!! :)

This morning Logan was feeling like a ham and wanted me to take his picture and he even learned how to smile for the camera so here are a couple of cute shots of him in his pajamas! There's also a picture of Logan's little buddy, "Teddy"... Teddy goes EVERYWHERE with us and Logan doesn't sleep without him... I think Logan thinks this thing is alive... seriously... he makes it talk and talks TO it. He wanted me to take Teddy's picture, so here's Teddy, too!!

Me, Hair Growth, Radiation, Exercise, & Updates on Logan

Apparently my hair is growing, even though to me it seems it's not doing much of anything. I just took a new growth progress picture at roughly 6.5 weeks since finishing chemo and I am starting to look less and less like a Q-tip and more like a girl with actual hair... it's still got a bit of a "fuzz" look to it, but I definitely see changes in length... yippee!

Here's a little collage shot I did starting with the picture we took the night I shaved my hair off near the beginning of chemo, next is 2 weeks after finishing chemo, then 4 weeks, then 5 weeks, and then 2 of the most recent at 6.5 weeks since chemo. (Click on the collage photo to see it larger.)

I only have 7 radiation treatments left... this next full week of Monday through Friday and then the following Monday and Tuesday... that's it, then I'm done as of April 7th! I sooo can't wait. I don't mind the radiation, but I do mind the 30 minute drive each way. I won't miss having to do that every day.

I'm still doing well with my diet and exercise plan... I got a great workout DVD called Jillian Michaels: 30 Day Shred and let me just say, it is really kicking my butt... in a good way! It's only a 20 minute routine, but it's a pretty intense 20 minutes jam-packed with strength training, cardio, and ab muscle work. The first day I did it, I could only make it through about half... then I did it on Friday and did the full 20 minutes, then today I did the whole thing again. My muscles hurt so I must have done something right! I also used my exercise bike in addition to the DVD so I feel like I did really good with my exercise this week. I've lost about 6.5 pounds so far and my goal is to lose about 19 more to put me at a healthier weight for my height. Right now my BMI is putting me in the overweight range and I'd really love for it to be back in the "normal" (a.k.a. healthy) range!!

That's it for news about me. I haven't updated about Logan in a while and I really should. My little guy is getting so smart! He says SO many words now and repeats EVERYTHING he hears. We are really having to watch the things we say around him now!! He amazes me each day with the things he knows. I completely see now why everyone always says kids his age are like a sponge. He picks up so many mannerisms and things without us even realizing it. For example, his latest thing is LOVING the Nintendo Wii bowling game. He's seen us play countless times and one day, out of the blue, he starts raising his arm and holding it like he's just released a bowling ball. It's so cute. The first time he did it I was like, "Logan, what are you doing?" and he said "bowl" and then I knew: my kid was bowling. Too cute!

To show Logan what bowling is really like, we took him to the bowling alley last weekend. He loved it and we snapped a few shots of him having a grand time with Mama and Daddy! The highlight of the night was right after Lee let Logan roll a ball down the lane, Logan took off after it down the slick, waxed floor! Lee chased after him and fell on his butt, but Logan never fell. It was the funniest thing I've seen in a while. This first picture shows Logan doing his signature, "pretend bowling" move with his raised arm:






He's growing like a weed, too. I kind of figured his 3T clothes I've been buying for him for spring and summer would be really big on him still, but I put him in a new outfit today and it fit nearly perfect. He's weighing in at a hefty 34 pounds. I'm not sure how tall he is as I haven't measured him in a while, but I know he's definitely getting taller! His hair also grows sooooooo quickly (I wish mine did!) He needs a haircut so badly... he had one a while ago now and his hair is completely grown out and getting in his eyes again... we're thinking of getting a bit shorter of a haircut on him this time around so we can go longer without having to have it cut. We'll probably take him tomorrow to get it trimmed. I'll post some pictures of him if we get his style changed up a bit.

I love watching Logan grow and learn new things. He brings me so much joy. Without him, life just wouldn't be the same and would not be nearly as exciting and noisy, ha ha! :)

Quick update on radioactive me!

12 down and only 9 more radiation treatments to go! It is grueling to have to go all the way down to Memorial Hospital EVERY weekday, but I'm more than halfway done with radiation. I know my grandma is getting tired of coming over to watch Logan every morning, too. I can't wait 'til it's over so we can all have a break!

In other news, my diet and exercise plan is going well. I'm feeling healthier and more in shape already. My "start date" for my diet plan was March 5th, and since then I have lost 6 pounds. I am still keeping my food diary and counting calories and fat grams and trying to get on my exercise bike every day for at least 15-30 minutes.

I have had a horrible cold this past week and even lost my voice this weekend, but my voice came back yesterday and I'm starting to feel like the cold is almost gone. I forgot how crappy colds can make you feel since I hadn't had one in a while.

I hope all my friends and family are doing well. Diane and Aunt Nellie, thank you so much for your constant prayers and kind words. I so appreciate the cards and emails from you both!!! Love you all!

Feeling great today!

I had my 3rd radiation treatment this morning... quick and painless, of course. After that, I went to Wal-Mart and bought a stationary exercise bike for days that the weather isn't great to go walking outside (too cold like today or too hot like it soon will be in the coming months) or for days I just feel like working out inside. I put it together all by myself which was a job in itself and took me quite a while... but after I was done it seemed to work great and not make any funky sounds so I think I tightened all the bolts well enough.

My new work-out buddy:

I did 30 minutes of it while watching "The View" this afternoon. I love it... it's great for exercising during Logan's naptime and catching up on my shows I've recorded. Heck, I can even get on it while Logan's up and about because he loves watching Mommy biking!! Yay for getting fit and healthy!!