2005 ROCK-TOBER CHEMO GIRLS
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no...i had it done on a friday, so i just took off that day. i was fine going out, but the bandages for the first couple of days are a bit weird looking because they are like this shield thing...most of my shirts are tight, so it was hard to find something to wear. but, i felt fine.
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TaDah, if you go back to work on Thursday, just tell them you are in a lot of pain, take lots of Vicodin and pass out on your desk. And then tell them you're just fine.
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Brenda, glad you are going back to your job!
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OK, you girls are like family to me so please let me complian and rant for a minute, OK?
I could sure use a HUG and a stiff drink.
You have heard me talk about Aquafest, our community festival that we had in July. I am currently the incoming President.... Last night we had a meeting to discuss some proposed changes to the Corporation's By-Laws. These changes are kind of controversial and the community has been "gossiping" about them for the past week--without knowing the intent or the content of the changes (and it was the headline in our community newpaper on Thursday). At the meeting last night, the current Pres and Secretary quit as did the chairman of our Food boths. This leaves the festival without 2 Exec Board members, Food, Arts & Crafts and Sponsorhip chairs which are the largest event functions and those that bring in all of the money to support the festival.
The meeting was a nightmare - a lot of animosity from the city, the public and general board members toward the Exec Board. Our newest Exec Board member left the meeting in tears. The rest of us were just totally dismayed at what was happening. Very ugly, unprofessional and childish. Of course, the fact that I am incoming President kept coming up throughout the meeting and it seems that this HUGE mess has been dumped right into my lap. Everyone who is quitting came to my house last night and gave me their keys and all AF related information.
In addition, I am in charge of the picnic today. The President will not be there to give out the awards. The person who reserved the shelter only reserved 1/2 of it - so we have 120 people coming and only room for 50 to sit.....
What in the world am I going to do? UGH!
I have written my resignation letter and will be mailing it tomorrow, as I have no desire to try to fix all of the damage that has been done by this situation, but first I have to figure out how to get through today--make the best of a horrible situation (which is going to give everything even more bad publicity), smile and be pleasant in order to thank all of the people who work very hard to make the festival happen, many of which have no idea that all of this hate and discontent is going on.
Oh yeah and it is Sunday--the liquor store is closed. We drank all that I had in the house last night (ha! 3 beers). I have never experienced anything like this before and I am really wondering what I did to warrant all of this? I was just loving my community and doing what I could to make it better..... I know there is a reason this is happening, maybe it is just because this part of my life has to come to and end as well. More important things to focus my time and energy on..... Also, we all have learned that we need to rid our lives of "toxic" relationships and there are alot of them associated with Aquafest right now.
Think of me today and send some hugs, my way--OK? Thanks for listening--I'm glad you all are here for me. WHAT A MESS!!! -
Tracy, Awwwwww, I don't know what to say except that I am so sorry and I feel so bad for you. Couldn't these people have waited to quit until after today instead of dumping this all on you, especially at the last minute. That wasn't very nice. Unfortunately, I am reading this after the fact so I hope someone had a change of heart and came to your rescue. I'm sorry I live so far away or I would have been there in a heartbeat to help you.....Just know I am thinking of you and I hope everything worked out for you today....I am sending LOT'S of HUG's your way.........Graycie
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Graycie! You are so sweet, thanks!
The picnic was a success, at least all of the volunteers that it was for had a good time.
Several people took me aside and talked to me about staying on as President.... They all are wanting me to take over and they are hoping that having someone that is not focused on how big the festival can be or how political it could be would be a welcome change. Many people have offered me their total support....
I hate being in these situations. My heart is too tender and I hate to see anything that I love be put into jeopardy.
I am probably going to stay and see if I can make it better. What a wishy washy SAP I am!!!
Love you girls, thanks for letting me complain for a while... Hope you all had a great weekend! -
Tracy--What a horrible situation to be in but we all know if you decide to hang in there you have what it takes to turn it all around and make it all bigger and better and brighter--I know just reading your posts help make my world that way
Sherry -
so, tonight i went to my new home-to-be with my husband and in-laws to show them the place. there is a couple in their 70's who are the neighbors and we always see them when we go past the house and talk to them. i found out tonight that the woman is a 11 year survivor. i told her i would be a year survivor this weekend to come and she said, "we're sisters." i almost cried. she's really involved in breast cancer action, so i'm excited to have her as a neighbor. you find breast cancer everywhere, which is terrifying, but the sisterhood is amazing.
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A picture with our mascot, The Dragon. My Dragon Boat festival was this past Saturday. Our team placed third in the BC survivor category. It was amazing. I felt proud to be with this group of women. They are a fine spirited bunch. The conclusion involved a ceremony where we remembered those who are struggling or have died. We paddle to the middle of the river and threw pink carnations. One of our team members is too sick to paddle but we picked her up and took her out for the ceremony. The whole boat was crying. It was very moving.
I am back to reality tomorrow. Start back to work and picked up kids today. I am looking forward to a little routine again. Too much vacation...I am exhausted!
The festival raised money for BC, prostate cancer and the special olympics. -
Mary-Anne, you look wonderful!! Congrats on your dragron boat race. I am crying just reading your story about your teammate.
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Mary-Anne: Thanks for sharing your boat trip story.
Tracy: Sorry you have to go through all that. I think it's good you're taking over. Or is it?
I have so many groups of friends. No kidding. I have friends from when I was four or five (yes, we still communicate, and one of them is visiting). I have friends from when I was a teenager. I have very close friends from college. My church friends are always there. And of course, my teacher friends. But my BC friends are my most special friends!!! Rocktober girls, you hold a special place in my little heart. -
tracey - what a horrible situation to be in. But then again, we believe you can do it, and did you really want to be dealing with people who were prepared to do something like that? Think of it as a 'good prune!'
Maryanne - wow - what a day that must have been. I cant see the pics, maybe i will be able to when i come on next time.
Amy - it sounds like the neighnourhood is just waiting for you to arrive. PM me your new address when it is imminenet so i can send you a new home card.
I remember my first house. We bought it when i was 18 and Roger was 20. It had no gas, 2 electric sockets which hung on cables from the ceiling, no inside toilet, no bathroom at all and one cold tap which came out of the wall into a bucket. It had horsehair plaster on the walls, dry rot, rising damp and woodworm. We worked night and day on it for 2 and 1/2 years and moved in the day after we were married. I loved that little house!
Here is Roger in Lauras T shirt. He wore it all day yesterday . We are doing the sponsored 10k walk again this year so we can all wear them atthe same time!
I have been reading everyones posts about school starting and realised i am not sure when i start work again! I THINK its about the 5th September school starts here - should really find out i guess!
Debbie -
maryanne....you look sooooo great
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Hello everyone! Gee, take a day away from the computer and look at all the messages. I loved hearing about everyones adventures. I want to comment and catch up with everyone so here goes. I hope I dont miss anyone.
Paula: Are you still taking your trip to Russia? If the answer is YES then I wish you Godspeed and may all be well. I know once the flying is over you will have a fantastic time! I dont think it will be part of your trip but I am doing some charity knitting for a group that takes warm knitted items to children in orphanages in the former soviet countries and Eastern Europe. I just finished a pair of purple socks for about size 6-year-old feet and I keep thinking about them ending up on a kid in Russia somewhere.
TaDah: You are so entertaining and right on the money about cheap flights once things have settled down and the airlines want to get customers back. I wonder if it will ever get to the point that you have to do what astronauts do and basically wear the clothes that the company gives you. Can you imagine all of us showing up 3 hours before flying so we can get into the suits they give us that are safe and have nothing that could be contraband? What a world!!
Debbie: As I have said before, what a great mum you are! I think I would love being your kid. Tell your husband I think he is a dish and if I were only 20 years younger Id be after him. Nah, just kidding. You are a very lucky lady! Legoland sounds like fun. Even though I am long past the age of taking kids to parks like that, I still like to go to them for myself. Good luck on the balloon ride!
Brenda: I have listened to Eve Cassidys music. It is beautiful. Good luck with the return to the classroom. The summer is closing fast and well be back into education mode again.
Tracy: I agree with everyone else that if anyone can be a healing force in that mess it could be you. I think you are a wise-woman and could probably be a great force for good with this bunch. Perhaps it is for the best that the bad apples took themselves out of the barrel, so to speak. I wish you well in this endeavor to spread good will. I also want to say how much I appreciate you efforts to let us all share the pleasure and inspiration of music. You are so special to all of us!
Rosemarie: You are right in the thick of normal life, arent you? It is nice to have emergencies that do not require health care. Keep up the good work and your sweet spirit.
Amy: Your new neighbors sound like very friendly folks and they are probably thrilled to have your and your husband joining the neighborhood. Yes, let us know when you are going to move in so we can give you housewarming wishes and gifts.
MaryAnne: You are looking great! What a fun festival and for such good causes. How wonderful that you included your sick teammate. It is inspiring.
Im doing well. Had a nephew visiting town this weekend and we took him to the local AAA baseball game with fireworks afterwards. Im getting a cold (a co-worker shared her germs with us last week) so I tried to get a lot of rest this weekend and drink lots of fluid. Hope it will be short-lived. I start vacation next week and I dont want a cold on my vacation.
My one-year anniversary of finding the lump occurred August 6 and I completely didnt even remember it. The anniversary that has been more on my mind is August 22, the day I was officially diagnosed. I have been remembering how I was so anxious last year at this time because I knew in my heart that it would be cancer but I hadnt yet had the mammograms and the biopsies and the diagnosis. Now, I do not have that feeling. I feel older, wiser, and more open to anything life has to offer. I also find I have more patience that I used to have. I read an article about Cheryl Crow and she said lying under the radiation machine forced her to meet myself and accept whatever will come. I could relate to much of what she had to say. I know myself a lot better and like much of who I am. I also feel so much gratitude for people, you all included, for little pleasures, for days without pain, for nights of sweet sleep, for blue skies, for a new crop of curly hair, and for the gift of hope.
May blessings reach you all today,
Mary -
Rodsemarie - i forgot about your washer! That happened to me at the old house when the kids were younger. only, true to form, ours leaked from the BACK so we didnt see it happening. One day Roger was stood in the kitchen and as he moved water oozed out from under the lino all around the edges. Not only was yje washer broken but the floor was warped and it soaked up the units. The woman at the insurance company was gob smacked!
Courgettes - what do i do with a glut of them? The kids may mutiny if i dont get a new recipe soon!
Debbie -
What are courgettes?
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I think they might be the vegetables we know as zuchinni, which almost always produce more than any one family can eat! Debbie, have you tried grating them into a tea bread? (That is...if courgettes *are* zuchinni! Probably wouldn't work so well if courgettes are what we call eggplants!) LOL
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YOu know how the joke is that people who have mounds of zuchinni can't give them away? I don't know anyone who has any and I love zuchinni in many forms, zuchinni nut bread, etc. There's a farmer's market on Sat. mornings in my town, just down the street, but it makes me crazy to buy what I know people are just dying to give away.
Mary -
I love zucchinni!!!!
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LAURA - got a t-shirt, thanks!!!! and the pic of you three is sooo nice.. you ladies all look spectacular. i love the hair on everyone!!!
MARY - good on you, i am sure there are lots and lots of kids in Russia that could use whatever help they can get. Unfortunately, child poverty is not unusual there.
my news - very busy at work, leaving for my trip next week, so not much time to post, but always time to lurk! I can't believe how quickly the time has passed, 7 september will mark the anniversary of my diagnosis. I've been feeling a bit sad lately, i wonder if thats why? This has been an incredible year for all of us - i am not sure if i want to cross it out of my life, or cherish it forever? Theres been a heartbreaking diagnosis, hellish surgeries and treatment, but I've learned so much, and i met all of you!!
love you lots,
Paula -
Welcome back Chumfry!
May have lost something in translation but whats a tea bread? Had some great ideas off of the garden forum , now will just have to learn to bake.
Mary - i would post you some if i thought they would go through customs!
This October section keeps going strong - have we lost anyone along the way who needs rounding up?
Paula - goog luck on your trip- let me know if you are anywhere near the UK.
Debbie -
paula...i want to see new pictures of your hair!!! i was feeling kinda sad about my year anniversary coming up (this saturday) because it makes me feel all those raw emotions from that week, recognize how scary it was, the kind of year i've had, but now...i'm feeling very excited and proud of this year. it's such a mixed bag of emotions all at once!
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Well, Friday is fast approaching! My oopherectomy is scheduled for Friday and I hope it all goes as planned.
Debbie, your hubby looks great in his pink shirt! -
Kelly - good luck for Friday. Even i couldnt mess that op up. I was concerned when they made me sign all sorts of disclaimers because of my ectopic operation but it was all hunky dory - they even used the same scar.
My advice - big pants and elastic waists! No seriously big pants so they dont sit over your op site and elastic waists because i couldnt fasten my trousers to come out - good job i had a long top on!
They sais i could come out the same day or stop overnight. the nurses who were looking after me were the same ones who cared for me after my lumpectomy and after my haemmorrage. They advised me to stop in so that if all of the fluid that they pump in leaked out it wasnt on my home sheets. Fair comment - especially as they changed the sheets 6 times overnight! By all accounts it is usual for the fluid to give you a bad stomach and on rare occasions to come out through the holes.Well - what else do you expect from me?????
I will be thinking of you - its plain sailing after what you have been through.
Who is having Teryn? We will all keep a long distance eye on her!
Take Care
Debbie -
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Well, Friday is fast approaching! My oopherectomy is scheduled for Friday and I hope it all goes as planned.
Do they have to cut you wide open for that or can they fish what they want out through your navel? These surgeons are quite good at what they do these days, aren't they? Mine was chatting away while he sliced my neck wide open and took my port out!
Good luck Lollipop, I will put you on my prayer agenda. -
Kelly:
Oh, I wish I could come and sit with Teryn while you have your surgery. She looks like she is cute as a bug! Good luck!! I hope you will not feel too bad and that recovery for you is swift. I will add my prayers to TaDah's.
Mary -
Thank you so much for your prayers! Teryn is cute as a bug, I have some new pictures of her to share with you guys. She just started kindergarten and looked so cute!
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Kelly good luck with your surgery I will be thinking of you.
MaryAnne - you made me cry--what an awesome thing you all did.
I am in the middle of the Aquafest mess, but I have friends and community members coming out of the woodwork to help me. You can read the latest (about the meeting on Saturday) which appeared today on the Front Page of our community newspaper at: www.lakestevensjournal.com.
I am in a rush, but wanted to drop in and say hi and let you all know that I am thinking about you! -
Yikes Tracy--what a mess! I think I would bail out, who needs all that stress?
Your surgery will be fine Kelly. After chemo all else will be a piece of cake.
I will write more soon. Had two hellish work days and have to go to bed.
Fists up!
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