Grandpa Toci

I really haven't been posted much recently because I kind of figured no one was paying attention any longer BUT my mom says she checks.....so I am going to start doing the "blog thing" more often.

Saturday Mom, Aunt Sherry and I headed down to Grandpa Toci's to be with him before getting his new, right hip and start packing up the house. Grandpa is moving to Grants Pass at the beginning of September, which will put him much closer to Mom and Aunt Sherry and make visiting family easier for us (kind of a one stop thing!). We had a lot of fun going through photos, looking at old family documents (we found my great grandmother's diary) and sorting through Grandpa's stuff.

Since I am interested in genealogy and have done a great deal of research, I am going to be the keeper of the diary (going to scan it into the computer some rainy weekend) and other historical family records. We also found the original photos of my great grandparents on canvas, but they are not in good shape.....some kind of restoration will need to be done.

I really missed Eddy but it was good for me to get away with my mom and aunt. At night we would cook dinner, Sherry would clean up then we would play Mexican Train (very fun game). Grandpa's surgery wasn't until Tuesday so we had a few days with him.

Time to look over the bills. Chat at you later!
Cheryl

Dr Jerri Nielsen

Dr Jerri Nielsen is the doctor that treated her breast cancer while stationed at the "Pole".....she passed away and with Michael Jackson and Farrah's deaths, not much attention is being paid to the loss of yet another woman to breast cancer.

This is a quote from an interview Dr Nielsen did with Psychology Today "The things that make you strong, and make you feel as though you've accomplished something, are not the easy ones; it's the things you had to work and struggle through. Those are what give us our depth -- that make us not gray and plain and nothing but give us depth and texture and longing. The quote captures my feelings exactly on my journey over the last year or so and what I am still working through.

Just wanted to share.
Cheryl

Relay for Life

I am going to do the Survivor Lap at the American Cancer Society Relay for Life on July 17th. The event is being held at Cabrillo College the 17th and 18th.

My funding raising goal is $100.00 (more would be nice but I'll take what I can get). Here is the link to my official page on the Relay for Life website http://main.acsevents.org/goto/CherylGorham. If you can donate, great....if you can't that is okay too.

Eddy is celebrating his 14th year of sobriety today! I am so, so very proud of him for his committment to living the clean and sober life. Three cheers for Eddy!!!!
Cheryl

Too Young

This is a link to Hannah's website....she is 10 years old and was diagnosed with breast cancer.

http://www.ourlittlesweetpea.com/

Nice Weekend

What a lovely weekend! Brennan, my nephew, was here for a sleep over and cake baking fun. I dropped one of the cake pans on the counter, which does not make for a very beautiful finished piece. Bren and I decided cake still tastes the same whether it is in good condition or a pile of crumbs....frosting fixes everything. The cake was so delicious we had a piece after breakfast!

Brennan and I also went on an hour and a half walk in the park. It was so cute, he kept asking me if he was walking too fast. I had to laugh....he doesn't realize I practically have to run to keep up with Eddy!!!! Brennan and I talked the whole walk about everything under the sun....being bald was one of the topics. Brennan thinks it was "better to be bald than dead" and he is absolutely correct.

While I was making scrambled eggs for us this morning, Brennan vacuumed the living room and kitchen for me (there was a monetary reward). It was certainly nice to get a bit of help. Too bad he wasn't interested in cleaning toilets!

I went to water aerobics four times this week (Tues, Thurs, Sat and Sun)! Getting a ton of new freckles even with sunscreen on and a we bit of a tan, well, actually more beige than white. Today I wore my rash guard since I did get a little sunburned yesterday (not supposed to get sunburned on the lymphedema side....could cause an infection).

Learned about using Kinesio take at my lymphedema support group on Wednesday. Amazing stuff....you probably saw it on the during the Olympics on the female volleyball player. We did some practice runs with the tape during the meeting, then I did a full taping from my right underarm to the left to help drain the lymph from my right arm. I swear I could actually feel the fluid moving! Underarm swelling is virtually gone but my hand is still a bit puffy. Now that I see how well the tape works, I need to order a few rolls.

Off to do a little house cleaning and laundry before Monday rolls around.
Cheryl

The weekend

Eddy worked on our back deck this week....we now have finish on the surface! I can't wait to put the chairs, table and loungers back out. Wish I could put potted plants out but that is a no, no.

I did water aerobics on Saturday and Sunday....I just love it. Completely addicted to the pool and I even dream about swimming. An added benefit to swimming, I am getting my vitamin D and exercise all at the same time.

On Friday we had dinner with Lionel, Jen and Amara. We hadn't seen much of the Hall family since Lionel was busy studying for his contractors exam over the last several weeks. Amara is fun, fun, fun! While Jen was putting together dinner, Amara and I scooped dog poop (her idea, not mine), checked out the snails (we didn't touch them) and ran around on the stone path in the yard ("lets run").

My mom and Ron are due to stop overnight before heading home to Oregon tomorrow. It is a short stay since they have been away for almost two months and Ron's back is bothering him. It is too bad they aren't staying longer since I wanted to show them the new shop.

I feel stronger and more powerful every day! Watch out world, 'cause here I am come!
Cheryl

Best I've Ever Felt

I can say without a doubt that this is the best physically I have felt in years! With cancer growing in my body for around nine years it is no wonder I used to wake up feeling under the weather a great deal of the time but now I feel great everyday.....that is how I know the cancer is gone!

Thought it was time to post a recent photo or two so everyone can see how much hair I am sporting now. My hair is not growing as fast as I would like but at least it is coming back in....just a little more bang would be nice. As you can see I seem to be getting more freckles due to swimming and yes, I am wearing sunscreen in the pool.

On top of swimming twice a week, I am working on getting my vitamin D each day (15 minutes with no sunscreen...ok per the dermatologist), going for acupuncture once a week (for the hot flashes) and taking vitamins on top of eating a healthy diet. I feel sooooooo good!!!!

That is all for today.

Cheryl