2005 ROCK-TOBER CHEMO GIRLS

Wow - great pictures everyone. Its nice to see the sunshine in the background of them all - its raining here - again!

I have packed all of the summer clothes away - big shock when i realised that the kids have grown out of all of their Winter stuff - Mark has grown an inch since we saw you all , hes like a weed.

Heard from my thyroid consultant today as i contacted him as i was having trouble again and i didnt see him again till Dec ( now they have cancelled my radioactive isotope treatment for a while). My bloods have come back and i have swung back to the overactive side again. Its like being on a see saw! They have fiddled with my meds again - lets see what happens now!

On a better note , plans are underway to drag my 1970s bathroom into line. I arrived home yesterday to find my new bath in a crate at the end of the drive - it had arrived before my FIL got here to house sit, and my big curved glass panels for my walk through shower lent up rather precariously in the conservatory (hint - never let my FIL take in a delivery for you!!) You would have laughted to see me and Roger getting the big bath into the house (i didnt laugh but i would have done if i was watching and not lifting!) I do think its a beautiful thing - especially since we got it for £400 instead of the £1200 it retails at!! The delicate ones amongst us ( Deb , Laura and Brenda (LOL) would be able to swim in it - its awesome) That is now sat in the conservatory too. Well , last night at 9 seemed the ideal time in Rogers eyes to start taking out doors and door frames and taking out brick walls. I was ideally suited in my dressing gown and flip flops to act as builders labourer. Thankfully , the fact that i havent chosen a toilet or a sink yet, and my taps are still in a store in Canada ,  brought his plans to a premature halt.

Debbie.

P.S - can you use my google address for  group mails - thanks

Hi Debbie -

You crack me up! I can totally picture you and Rog moving the tub! OMG - LOL - That reminded me of when Roy and I had our slot machine delivered. They left it by our deck and he and I had to move into the basement...it weighs 300 pounds...it took us about a week...we did it a little at a time. LOL Mark is going to be really tall - does he have growing pains? I hope not...but I've heard they can be a bully! LOL I hope you got my response e-mail with Shelby's address...did you? Good luck with the Thyroid meds...Take care.

Debbie...moving a bathtub? wow.

Good luck with your thyroid meds. Are you feeling okay?

Kelly..that sounds like fun. When I was in the States I was browsing the Halloween aisles at Michaels and turning on all the spooky sounds, like a little kid. I sure love that store! I used to love Halloween when I was a kid. I still like the candy corn and had to stop myself from buying it when I saw it!

I've got a Michely project I may be doing this year...renovating my studio..actually moving my studio to another locale in my house. Once I figure out where, I plan to alter my studio into an apartment...big plans and this may never happen but...I'm on the road to Michelyhood.

We don't have Halloween in Israel.

But..Debbie..in the States they always start things going long before the actual holiday. Tons of marketing causes this... By Nov 1st, the Christmas trees will be up, I'm guessing...

Laura & Jan Clare - you two are going to look AWESOME!!!   Jan Clare - way to go with the coat!!!  Please have someone take pics of you both so that we can see our Rocktober Models.

Today is my "Divorsary". One year ago today my divorce was final.

Loved all of the pics - Kelly, I remember that pic of you and Grace from last year.  How fun that you found each other.

I am in the midst of planning for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk which is Oct 14.  Today I addressed invitations to all of my local Survivor friends.  The invitation is a letter that I wrote inviting survivors to the Making Strides walk - the Cancer Society folks made it into an invitation!

I will be setting up and volunteering at the Survivor's Tent during the walk.  My friend, Tammy and I are making a large sign with the word HOPE.  The survivors will be able to pin a pink ribbon on the word to represent themself.  The plan is that the word will get all filled up with pink ribbons.  Caregivers will select a bead to pin to the background around the word.  It is hard to describe, I will take a pic of it.

Ravdeb - the stores already have Christmas stuff out - can you believe it???  It isn't even Halloween yet!  Time already goes too quickly, it is sad that they make it move along even faster!

Kelly - Your decorations "sound" great. Photos please...LOL   GIRLS  - This morning at 5:30 am, Shelby and Sydney and their mom (my sister Leeann), left for a Carribean cruise. My sister's best friend is a travel agent and she paid for all 3 of them to join her and her 2 sons. One of her sons, he's 9 years old, is in remission due to Leukemia. This is good for Lee...she hasn't had a vacation in 10 years! I just want all of them to have a safe and happy trip. I talked to Shelby last night and asked her if she wanted to join me and dh for the 5 mile MAKING STRIDES AGAINST BREAST CANCER walk, here in Chicago in 2 few weeks. I explained that it's 2 miles longer than last weekend's walk...she is so sweet...she didn't answer with a "yes or no", instead, she starting singing: "Ain't no mountain high enough"...in her very own, incredible voice... OMG I lost it! Need I say more of this most precious little one? I'm so glad that you met her...it's easy to understand why she is so special to me.

jmo...I would like to stay here.

OMG - we just got back from the drag strip! I got an almost perfect RT - reaction time! Roy was shocked...my best RT was 0.12 a perfect one would be 0.00! Mine was better tonight than some of the most experienced race car dudes there! LOL I raced three times...it was awesome. My best time was 12.5 seconds (1/4 mile). That time is good for a "street car" but my goal is to be in the low 11's. I'm exhausted - AND we remembered to bring the camera - Roy got a few good shots, which I will post tomorrow, but there was a professional photog there and he got some too...so I have to get them from him via - e-mail. Hope you are all having a great Friday...isn't it nice to have the weekend ahead of us! I'm still walking on cloud 9! btw...during the races you have to wear a long sleeve shirt, so I brought my Komen RACE FOR THE CURE shirt to put on...maybe it brought me some luck...those words fit me very well tonight!

TaDah -

I've been wondering about you...glad you checked in. Good luck with your projects. I just got my sewing machine back from the "shop"...I had it tuned up! I "drive" it as fast as I drive my Goat! LOL

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Here's some pics from last night's RACE FOR THE CURE:

I lost BY 1 SECOND to the purple car!   But...he's been racing for many years, and my RT WAS BETTER! lol

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STRENGTH for today, HOPE for tomorrow!
Dx 7/21/2005, ILC, Stage II, Grade 2, 1/11 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2-

LOL Yeah...solid black is quite boring. Bummer! I needed my helmet for last night, so I had to go get it from the place that will be painting it. But good thing I did! The track said it wasn't Snell approved... meaning I need a better quality helmet for the times I running. So last night, I had to wear Roy's...it was WAY TOO BIG and cumbersome. I just ordered a Snell/DOT helmet and as soon as I get it, I'll drop it back off there so it can be painted/airbrushed. Good thing it hadn't been painted...that would have been quite a waste of money.

mary-anne..all that work you are doing in the house..you are probably using different muscles than from dragon boat racing! It must be that!

I wish that my sons uniforms were just for Halloween. Although I'm okay with my older son's service in the army (he has less than a year til he's released) my youngest goes into the army next month and I'm a teary eyed, nervous wreck. His best friend goes today. It just means it's getting closer to my own son's date. This week we shop for army things..backpack, T-shirts, socks, toilet article bag, etc...

My daughter has college orientation this week! This is a good thing!

Have a good week y'all. Ours starts today and I know you still have another day of weekend...

Oh..Laura...nice job racing..or did I say that? I would never race. You'd never get me to do THAT!

Yes, I'm Bklyngal.  I couldn't get my old screen name back when they did the switch over.  I went shopping yesterday and spent what I hadn't planned to.  I bought a cream duvet cover with brown banding, not in a stripe but little spots.  I got sheet set that went with it and they got soaked with a bottle of rose linen water that broke in the bag.

The storage process is underway. I did pack for Barbados and found that clothes I had bought to wear to St. Maarten that were a little snug are now fitting.  I bought a new bathroom scale (I ruined the other one trying to change the battery) and discovered that I've lost about 9 lbs since I last weighed myself.  Sweet!!

One of my staff asked me to walk the Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan and back three times a week with her.  I'm giving it some thought. I want to get skinny like Laura and Maryanne!!

Tracy, glad about your 9 pounds!  Don't forget to take pics in Barbados! You know I love that place!

We haven't had a lot of activity here, because we have been communicating through e-mail.

One of the girls in our group prefers a less public forum for discussion. I still check in on the other forums and try to keep updated on bc issues, etc. And I check in to see how everyone's doing here on the other forums. This place will always be a part of my life...everyone was here for me when I was dx'd and I will never forget that. Perhaps I'll "see" some of you at the Tea Party on Oct. 26th!

The Rocktober Girls are doing well! We're all living life to the fullest. We are still together and will always be together. Our Rocktober Girl get-together this past August really strengthened our bond.

So...for anyone checking in here...just wanted to let you know we're doing well! And, of course, I hope you're all doing well too! I know the past few weeks have been filled with losses here. I'm so sad from it all, but we must keep going. 

We must remain hopeful.

Be well...make the most of every day!

Laura

Glad to see you Amy, know that we all think of you often!!

Even though we have moved on, my hope is that we will keep our Rocktober Thread alive here so that others might benefit from our story.  I have told people our story and I hope that they will visit here and read our thread.

bc.org will always hold a special place in my heart.  I can't say how wonderful it was to find all of this information and support right in my computer at anytime of the day or night.