Home again, Home again....

Just wanted to update you all that Pam is back home from the hospital. I'm sure she'll check in soon!

Chris

Pam's back in the hospital....she'll be back soon! We hope!

The Margins Are Clear!

We got the word today, the margins are clear on the biopsy of my mom's breast tissue. This means that they got ALL of the cancer! No radiation.

No better Christmas present than that!

F. U. Breast Cancer!

What is hopefully the worst part of my mom's breast cancer is behind us. Her mastectomy was successful on Tuesday and the cancer

has not spread to her lymph nodes!!

She has truly been more amazing then I ever even knew. The only pain medicine she's taking is Tylenol, not even prescription Tylenol!

She spent Tuesday night in the hospital and came home yesterday. I went over and helped her take her first shower today.

She does not need any chemo & we find out on Friday if she will have to have any radiation.

This has brought my parents closer together and also our family as a whole.

My gastroparesis is still in full swing, leaving me with literally no appetite. 30 lbs. gone in 3 weeks. All of those times I was dieting, feeling so overweight (about 50 lbs. when this started) and I wished to just not be hungry, well I've learned to be careful what you wish for, lol! Some days all I can force down for the whole day is a yogurt and a handful of crackers.

I'm struggling to find foods I can force down and also with with *icky detail to follow* constant diarrhea, but today I was able to eat more than usual and I bought some Ensure drinks to try to keep my calorie count up. (Just typing the words "keep my calorie count up" is so weird for someone who has struggled with being overweight!)

There are so many of you who have been there for me and my mom with notes, cards, prayers...I am amazed and blessed and she is so surprised at the kindness that my blog readers have shown her. She has never read my blog (probably a good thing!) & her and my dad say they "just don't get the whole blog thing", but are thankful and greatful for the many of you who sent cards and prayers.

I could never have known, when I started this blog, the kind of love and support I would find here, but I am thankful for it every day. I have survived many dark days knowing that you are out there.

Hello Again!

Hello friends,

It's Mimi here, not Chris this time. I have been in & out of the hosptial a couple of times, but now I have a new diagnosis. Gastroparesis. I made that a link so you guys can check it out, but it mainly means that I have a lazy stomach that does not process the food when I eat it. The stomach muscles don't contract nearly as much as they should, so food just sits there for too long and causes pain. This is usually associated with diabetes, which I don't have, but probably will in the future.

The good news is that I've lost 25 lbs. in 3 weeks, the bad news is I'm never hungry and eating makes me want to barf. I don't know how many times in my life I wished "just make me stop being hungry!" Well this time it took and I'm finding out that I need to be careful what I wish for!

I had botox done on my pylorus (the muscle that moves food from your stomach to your intestines) this morning and that's supposed to help. There's only a 50% success rate with the botox though and it could take up to 2 weeks for me to notice if there's a difference.

Tomorrow is my mom's mastectomy, so I may not be posting a whole lot again in the next few days, while I help to take care of her.

I'll keep you updated as much as I can.

I want you all to know how much your comments, prayers, and love have meant to me and my mom. It really is more than I can say. Hopefully I'll be by to see you all soon!

Pam is Sick Again

Pam's husband here. Pam went in the hospital last Wednesday- not sure when she'll be out. She can't wait to get back to reading all of your blogs.

A Great Giveaway From A Great Friend!

My beautiful friend Jenn is giving away a pashmina on our new blog MacGyver With A Purse.

Since I just announced that my mom has breast cancer, it's going to be a lovely pink pashmina with your name monogrammed on it.

Jenn has been a true long distance blog friend to me and I appreciate all of her support and prayers over this past year or so.

Drop by and leave a comment on MacGyver With A Purse for your chance to win!

I want to thank all of you for your support since I blogged about my mom's cancer. All the prayers and well wishes are more helpful than I can tell you. I'll be sure to keep you all updated on her progress and will taking the next 2 weeks before her surgery to get my head together so I can be the best support I can be.

This is an opportunity for my family to come closer together and really remember what is important this Christmas. I'm going to work my best to surrender my worries to God and pray that he will work through me to know the right things to say & do.

Cancer For Christmas

My mom called my husband and sons & I to her house today to announce that she has breast cancer.

She will be having a mastectomy on 12/15 and will hopefully not need to have chemo or radiation.

As an only child it's time for me to step up and take care of my parent. I'm scared as hell.

All prayers and good wishes are appreciated.

Thanks To All Of You

Today besides being thankful for my family and all that we have, I just wanted to let my blogging friends know how thankful I am for all of your love and support throughout the years.

I wish you all many blessings.

Fake It Till You Make It?

Blogging used to be something that I loved doing. For the past week I haven't loved doing anything.

Whatever made me sleep a million hours a day has sapped all of my energy & interest in doing anything and everything.

Right now blogging feels like something I have to do, so I probably won't be doing it much for awhile. It's not really something you can pound out if you don't feel it.

This doesn't feel like a swing of my bi-polar, because I'm not particularly depressed. I just don't want to do anything that I used to love doing. I have no interest in food, reading, blogging, crafting or any of the other things I used to enjoy doing. It's like it all slipped out of me last Thursday and I can't figure out what the hell is going on.

Nothing significant happened, there's been no change in my meds, just some type of exhaustion, a funk.

I really just keep hoping to wake up in the morning and feel like doing something, anything. Hopefully tomorrow will be that day.

Sorry NoBloPoMo!

Whew, I feel like I dropped off the face of the earth. I had some sort of virus or something that put me on the couch for 4 days. No fever, I just slept for about 16 hours a day.

I also have no appetite which can be good, but I've lost 10 lbs. in about 7 or 8 days. Now don't get me wrong, I need to lose the weight, but I know that not eating isn't the way to do it.

I've missed all of my bloggy friends & will be catching up soon.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Chloe

Please Join Me...

Today I have the honor of being the guest blogger for Good Mourning Glory's Coexist week.

Diane has set up a great week of bloggers sharing what they love about the holidays along with prizes every day. Click on the button above to check out my favorite part of Christmas, and click every day to see the rest of the awesome guest bloggers.

Musical Monday

*There are 2 Musical Monday posts this week. This one I scheduled ahead and forgot about & the one below this, I did for the Coexist celebration, so go ahead and listen to both of them!

I just did an 80's post last week, but I came across this Culture Club song that I just love. I don't think it was released as a single so you might not have heard it. Check it out.



Boy George may be off the rails in real life, but he's got some great pipes.

Check out more Musical Monday with Diane and Jori.

Musical Monday

Since my great friend Diane at Good Mourning Glory is kicking off her holiday celebration

there was only one song that came to mind for me. Elvis Costello, Peace, Love & Understanding.




Stop by & see Diane for Musical Monday and her Coexist celebration running all this week.

Reach Out

"A sad soul can kill you quicker, far quicker, then any germ" John Steinbeck

This was quoted by Dr. Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler) on the show Criminal Minds.

For people suffering from depression or any kind of mental illness, I think the quote is so real, so true.

If you know someone who is depressed, shut-in, or just lonely, why don't you give them a call, drop them a line or even invite them out for lunch. They may say no, but I guarantee you, they'll appreciate it.

My Newest Endeavor

I have been invited by my friend Jenn from {delightfully. cliche} to contribute to a new blog,

MacGyver with a Purse
a blog dedicated to finding the beautiful things in life...

I just did a post over there about a great Etsy shop that sells beautiful wooden pendants at a great price, so hop on over to MacGyver With A Purse and take a look.

Jumpstart Escape from Adventure Island Review & Contest

I'm so excited to be able to tell you about the newest Wii game for kids, JumpStart Escape from Adventure Island. They're also holding a great contest, details about that are at the bottom of the page. I've had the opportunity to review for JumpStart before and their games are truly fun and educational with adorable characters.

Here's what JumpStart has to say about the game: Escape from Adventure Island is designed for children between the ages of 5-9. It’s an action-packed game that invites players to use their explorer skills and brain power to find a way to escape the mysterious island that they crashed landed on. As players race to collect the pieces needed to repair their blimp, they will navigate 3D worlds both above and below the water. Along the way, players will practice over 150 math, reading, and critical thinking skills all while having fun!

This game starts out cute Punk Punk creature that pops up to look at you from the Wii start menu.

Once you start the game you get to make your own Jumpee person with tons of choices for eyes, smiles, skin tone and all kinds of clothes. My testers loved making their Jumpee as goofee as possible. Next we made a tree house with a polka dotted roof!

We danced a little at the Foot Frenzy shack

and then headed over to my testers favorite part, the Goon Lagoon where we got to squash Punk Punks.

Once we were worn out we headed to the Scuba Hub where the kids has just as much fun practicing math skills at Manta Ray as they did in the Secret Caverns finding missing items.

We practiced reading with Bubble Trouble and then we finished with a Fashion Show before lunchtime.

This game was a blast for my testers, the sound and the graphics are awesome and I really couldn't find one thing that they didn't like.

Here's the information about this huge contest:

The contest will be live from 11/2/09 to 11/16/09.
Each person will be allowed two entries into the contest (details on contest page)

The theme of the contest is “Time to Escape!”

We want to hear how your family uses imagination to escape the everyday and turn life into an adventure! Tell us your story for a chance to win.

Prizes
50 winners will receive a copy of JumpStart Escape From Adventure Island
3 GRAND PRIZE WINNERS will receive a family Escape Pack (over $1000 value)!
1 Nintendo Wii Console
1 copy of JumpStart Escape From Adventure Island
$250 in spa gift certificates
1 JumpStart branded flip camera
3 lifetime JumpStart memberships (1 for winner, 2 to share)
500 virtual coins for JumpStart.com
4 JumpStart pirate hats & 4 JumpStart kids T-shirts

Hop on over to JumpStart to enter to win one of these great prizes!

*Thank you to JumpStart for providing me with a copy of Escape from Adventure Island to review.

Oops

My blog designer has a problem with her photobucket account, so please excuse my mess until it gets fixed!

Great Giveaway!

Look at all that great loot!

To celebrate her 200,000th hit Debbie at Passion for Crafts is having a huge giveaway. If I don't win I hope you do (and that you share!)

Click the link above to enter for yourself.

This Is It, Hooky Day

Friday I decided that my youngest son & I needed to spend some time together. I knew they weren't doing much in school that day, so I went and picked him up at 10:00.

From there we went to see the Michael Jackson movie, This Is It. We both left the movie theater feeling sad, but the movie was, IMHO, quite good. It brought things back to him as a performer and let me tell you the moves and the voice were still there. I don't see how he could have possibly been on all the drugs they say he was on and still come across as well as he does on screen.

The his singing and his dancing really take the focus off of his messed up face and showed him as a great performer. In the end we were sad that his life had been cut so short. (In case your wondering, I do not believe he molested children, I think he was a weird, emotionally warped man.)

Anywho, after the movie we went to K-Mart and bought Jack some new pajama pants & his favorite for dinner, Spam! We got some chili dogs for lunch, picked him up a video game from Blockbuster and came home. Now he's on the couch playing his game in his new PJ pants just waiting for his Spam feast later (gag).



In case you can't tell, he didn't want to have his picture taken, lol!

If none of you have never had a hooky day with your kids I highly recommend it. It's great special time that Jack knows I set aside just for him and him alone. My friend Mimi at He & Me + 3 does a weekly "You're Gonna Miss This Post" about things she's going to miss about her kids. Every single week what she posts is something I already miss with my boys both being teenagers, so I'm taking as much time as I can to be with them now, before their completely gone!

Please Help

*My Musical Monday post is beneath this one, but I wanted as many people as possible to see this.

Your mission is to send a Christmas Card to Noah Biorkman in Michigan. He is a 5yr old boy who is in his last stages of neuroblastoma cancer after a 2 1/2 year battle. He is celebrating Christmas next week and all he wants are Christmas cards. Can you pop one in the mail to him?

Noah Biorkman C/O Scott Biorkman 3480 Petoskey Way, Milford, MI, 48380.

By the way, snopes has checked and this is not one of those email scams, it is true.
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/medical/biorkman.asp

There is more of Noah and a picture of him in the Detroit news:
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2009/11/thousandssendearly_christmas.html

Thank you!

Musical Monday

This week's theme for Musical Monday is best & worst of the 80's.

For the worst I have to pick Get Out Of My Dreams, Get Into My Car, by Billy Ocean. Just terrible.

For the best is one that I'm sure I shared here before, but it is one of my favorite songs of all time, not just the 80's. The Cure, Just Like Heaven. Best. Song. Ever.

The Cure - Just Like Heaven- Watch more Music Videos at Vodpod.

To play along go visit Diane or Jori.

Breaking News

A couple of days ago I opened my e-mail to find an US Weekly magazine update. (I've tried to unsubscribe, but no luck.)

This was the day after the horrendous Ft. Hood shootings and during the Orlando office shootings. Here is their headline and picture:

EXCLUSIVE: See Jon Gosselin Do Yoga!





Am I being punked? They sent out a mass e-mail so people could see this pasty, pudgy, loser, skeez bag do yoga??



*sigh* I have no words.

Hospital Stories ~ Part 2

My post about making my husband give me his under wear in the emergency room was only part one of that night's adventure. I promised the ending, so here it is.

After realizing that I had rushed out of the house without my underwear and forcing my husband to give me his boxer briefs, I got to meet the Doctor who would be taking care of me in the E.R. I guess these are mainly interns or residents or some such thing.

Imagine my delight when mine came in looking like a dark haired Doogie Howser. Now at 42 years old I have a son who is 17 years old, but believe me when I tell you this Doc looked young enough to be my son.

I was sitting proud in my hospital gown and hubbies undies when he walked in. He seemed nervous just putting the stethoscope on the front of my chest, and then mortified when he had to lift up my gown to push on my belly. He then proclaimed, in a wavering voice, that he would have to take a look at my "lady parts". LADY PARTS! Was this man a real doctor or some gurney pusher slapped into scrubs? Do they not teach proper language in medical school? I thought next he was gonna ask to look at my hoo-ha!

With hesitation he got some type of lighted probe and proceeded to spend 3.5 seconds inspecting my lady parts. I can't even verify that he found the correct spot, and am somewhat concerned for any future girlfriends he might have.

He then told me he was going to send me for an ultra sound of my, you guessed it, lady parts. I just wanted to yell, "vagina, vagina", but I knew I had pushed my husband to his limits as it was.

This ultra sound was somewhat like someone shoving a Mr. Microphone into my lady parts and wrenching it around for about 45 minutes. Dr. Doogie may not have been thorough, but Ms. Ultrasound saw places that my children never even saw when they were living in there.

Once I had completely violated, I was sent back to Dr. Doogie where he pronounced nothing was wrong with me and sent me home. Since I was admitted to the hospital 2 days later for 4 nights, we now know that the problem didn't lie in my lady parts, but I swear the next time they send me a Dr. who's voice isn't done changing, I'm taking my husbands underwear, my lady parts and getting the heck out of there, once I get my drugs that is!

Iron Chef ~ Mimi Style

OK, I guess technically this is Iron Chef, Heidi style, but hey it's my blog, right?

The awesome and beautiful queen of motherhood and sarcasm, Heidi of Sacred and Profane, hosts a monthly Iron Chef contest.

This month the category is Holiday Side Dishes. Well I have what I have been told is the best sweet potato recipe ever created and I, Mimi, am willing to share it with you, my faithful readers. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas I am required to make this recipe. My family doesn't even care if I show up, as long as I get the Sweet Potato Crisp to the dinner table on time.

Mimi's Famous Sweet Potato Crisp

1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 40 oz. can cut sweep potatoes, drained
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup chopped apples (I usually use granny smith)
2/3 cup chopped cranberries (I usually used the Ocean Spray cranberry Crasins)
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup old fashioned or quick oats, uncooked
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup margarine or butter
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat over to 350 degrees.

Beat cream cheese, potatoes, 1/4 cup brown sugar and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl at medium speed until well blended.

Spoon into 1 1/2 quart casserole or 10 x 6 inch baking dish.

Top with apples and cranberries.

Stir together flour, oats and 1/2 cup brown sugar in medium bowl; cut in margarine or butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Stir in pecans. Sprinkle over fruit.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Makes 8 servings.

*I ususally double this recipe and use my Kitchen Aid mixer to mix the cream cheese & potato mixture, then bake it in 2 dishes.

This is really a nice change from the usual sweet potato, marshmallow side dish.

Iron Chef Mimi, signing off!

More About Bi-Polar

I was talking to my wonderful friend Joy from Joy To The Blog about having her make me one of her beautiful ATC's for my bi-polar. She has a daughter who suffers from mental illness so she really understands, plus her ATC's and altered OOAK art are amazing. You can check it out here at her shop Endearing Ephemera.

Joy asked me what my bi-polar felt like and when I wrote the answer back to her it seemed like something I'd like to share in my ongoing quest to remove the stigma from mental illness and educate people about bi-polar.

My bi-polar (type II) feels like a constant struggle of one part of my mind against the other. Like there is a black vortex that is pulling strongly at me all the time, and even though I know it's the worst place to go, I'm usually not strong enough to fight against it.

I am sane, therefore I know most of my bi-polar feelings are irrational, but they are usually stronger than the rest of me, leaving me frustrated logically and somewhat crippled emotionally. Paired with my social anxiety disorder, which keeps me from being comfortable around people, it leads to a really lonely life.

Many people I know say, "Well you know me, so it shouldn't be a problem to be around me", but that's exactly the problem. Even with people I know I'm rarely able to go out and interact with them. I'm able to go to the grocery store, or library where I'm anonymous yet I'm unable to go to church, where the people know and care about me.

You can imagine how frustrating how frustrating this would be for a person logically. If you're interested in reading more about my type of bi-polar you can check out this post.

When thinking about this post, I wanted to find the ribbon for bi-polar. You know how all illnessess have a ribbon like the red AIDS ribbon. Well I found 3 or 4 different ribbons, so I don't know which one is real. I guess since we're bi-polar we can't make up our mind one only one, lol!

National Blog Posting Month

I thought I'd try NOBLOPOMO this year. You make a goal to post every single day in the month of November.

If you're interested in joining me, just click on the button in the sidebar.

Wish me luck!

Jack Daniel's Spirit of Tennessee Cookbook by Lynne Tolley & Pat Mitchamore

I recently had the opportunity to review the Jack Daniel's Spirit of Tennessee Cookbook from Thomas Nelson Publishers. I love cooking and have collected cookbooks for years, so I jumped at the chance to review this book.

I was somewhat concerned about the recipes all having whiskey in them, but I was delighted to learn that there are many recipes that don't call for Jack Daniel's.

Not only is this book full of great recipes, but it's got great anecdotal information about Jack Daniel's and Lynchburg, Tennessee where Jack Daniel's originated and is made.

This book has great simple recipes such as Campfire Trout (there is a whole outdoor cooking section) that calls for only fresh trout, bacon & lemon cooked over a campfire right alongside full page instructions for how to do a pit barbeque make this book unique and right for any level of home cook.

Tipsy Sweet Potatoes that features Jack Daniel’s is one I have bookmarked to try for sure along with Onion and Apple Bake that calls for onions, apples, bacon, bacon drippings bread crumbs and chicken stock. How mouth watering does that sound?

In addition to the usual cook book sections like entrees and appetizers the Jack Daniel's Spirit of Tennessee Cookbook includes recipes for drinks, breads, cakes and pies, desserts and even accompaniments like Fruit and Vegetable Relish, Special Pimento Cheese and Tomato Gravy.

My concerns were all gone after flipping through this book one time. The Jack Daniel's Spirit of Tennessee Cookbook would be a great addition to your collection or make a perfect gift for a cook in your life even if they are not an alcohol drinker.

Baby Talk, Doggie Style

O.K., I realize that my title seems slightly pornographic, but it makes me laugh so it's staying.

I think all of my friends out there in bloggy land know about my dear little dog, Oskar. Say hello, Oskar.



I just realized that when I talk to him, I talk the most embarassing baby talk! Do you guys do this too?

The phrase, "Did you get that squirrel, what a good boy to get the squirrel", comes out as "Deh ooooo dit da SK-werl, wha a goo bouy do dit da SK-werl" in an abnormal voice with way too much emphasis on wrong syllables.

Now I'm sure my husband and sons are used to it, but I just realized that I yell these things out to Oskar when he's in the yard. I just realized that I yell these things out to Oskar when he's in the yard and my neighbors are out in their yards. Neighbors with no pets of their own to baby talk to. No wonder they all think I'm nuts!

Now in the "Feel Sorry For Me" category, will you look at my arm??



Good grief, it looks like I was in a gang fight instead of the hospital!

Home Again!

Well I was released from the hospital on Wednesday and had to return on Friday. Chris & I splurged and went out to Red Lobster for dinner on Friday and got a big platter of fried fishy goodness. Well I knew that alcohol irritates pancreatitis (I can never drink again), but I didn't know that grease, or more specifically greasy & fried food also irritate pancreatitis. So back to the hospital I went. No real fun stories this time, just lots of sucking!

I was bored last night, halloween, so I took pictures to share with my friends. This first one is hideous, but I promised myself I would post it no matter how bad it turned out & it turned out BAD. My hair isn't greasy, it's wet from a shower.



The view from my bed, the TV and my little board telling who my nurses, etc are for the day. The TV is supposed to work as a computer, but the system was down while I was there, so no crazed dilaudid induced posts for you!



"Boo" the stuffed kitty that Chris brought me, because he knew I was sad.



The mess of stuff on my bed to try to keep me occupied, since I couldn't use the hospital computer thingie & I didn't have a book to read.



My I.V. painfully taped to my arm.



My bed. That's the one thing I love about the hospital, besides the fun drugs. I love those beds that you can make go in a zillion different comfortable positions.



That's about it, now you can feel like you visited me in the hospital. I'm sure you all wanted to, lol. Not a very exciting post, but it is what my life has been like this week and the blog is about my life, right?

It's good to be home & I'm going to spend this evening catching up on all of my friends blogs & seeing what you guys have been up to!