EVEN GRANDMAS GET BREAST CANCER ...

We all have a journey to travel … No two journeys are the same … This is my journey … But where did it begin … I guess it began back in June this year when I received an email from Breastscreen reminding me my bi-annual mammogram was due Two years ago I'd thought I'd had my last mammogram as I was over 70 which I thought was the cut off point, now I discover that reminders are sent until age 74 and then its over to you to continue if you wish … memories of mammograms gone by flashed back not really pleasant memories but not really painful memories either - having dense boobs had always meant suffering discomfort as they were squashed this way and that way … was it really necessary to go through this again … Being a Libran I tend to take a long time deciding, will I? won't I? I consult my diary and find the first suitable date available and book on-line (so convenient) for Tuesday 13 August - I reason that will be easy just pop in on my way to the pool for my hydro exercise group, will be in my swimmers under my tracksuit so that means less hassle getting undressed and dressed again -after all it is winter in Sale. No-one in the waiting area … so I'm attended to immediately … there seems to be a problem scanning my right boob, there's a crease in the image I'm told, second take is good so I'm told. Life continues on … the following week Bill (my beloved hubby) needs hospitalisation due to pneumonia, my brother loses his six and a half year battle with mesothelioma and Robyn one of my besties who is suffering metastatic breast cancer has been taken to hospital in Melbourne. Amidst making arrangements for Bills siblings to come and care for him whilst I fly to Qld to be with my sister-in-law and attend my brothers funeral, I get a phone call from Breastscreen Traralgon informing me I need to attend for a re-screen as there is a difference showing up in my recent mammogram compared to my previous one … now those who know me well know I'm a highly emotional person at the best of times, I tear up at the drop of a hat, I've even been known to cry watching Home & Away!! … up till then I'd been holding things together pretty well I thought, but this phone call 'threw me for six' amidst my blubbering we arranged an appointment for Tuesday 10 September. I ring one of my other 'besties' Elaine who calms me down - immediately saying 'I'll take you and be your support but remember positive thinking, its probably just a bad scan'. My week on the Gold Coast was pleasant, Pete's funeral was an amazing tribute to his life (67 still too young though) - caught up with all the family, those big welcoming hugs from our great grandies was so heartwarming, spent an afternoon in Brisbane with my eldest grandson and very special sister-in-law moments with Carol. Sale hospital rang me to say Robyn was back from Melbourne and was looking forward to visitors. On my arrival home I rang Robyn and her daughter answered advising me Robyn wasn't expected to last the weekend … far out fruitloops! life just keeps on delivering curved balls … I was able to spend several hours next day with my beautiful, brave friend for whom I'd been a support the past three years the one who had encouraged me to try new adventures, who shared the same passions, who'd shown courage in the face of adversity, we'd laughed, goofed about, walked, talked and now at age 58 was about to be re-united with her Dad. On Sunday September 8 at 3.38am I received a call from Sale Hospital advising me Robyn had passed - she'd named me as her second next of kin. I felt so humble and so numb - RIP beautiful friend. I remember saying FU CANCER Monday 9th was Bills 83rd birthday and I'd planned a trip to Melbourne to experience The Rain Room which was here for a short season and fully booked out however due to the freezing weather and him still coughing we had to cancel … Surely life must start providing us with lemonade and not lemons soon. Tuesday 10th off to Traralgon - so positive nothing would show in my re-screen …. Wrong again!!!! Mammogram first, followed by ultrasound, followed by consult with Dr Pav and nurse/counsellor Lee who informed me two small lumps had been discovered - OMG the floodgates opened but not for long as the tissue box only contained one tissue!! Somehow I explained this was just the final straw to what had been a 'shitty' month (please excuse language but how else do you describe it) they then explained to me what the next steps were … firstly a fine needle aspiration which is to draw cells from the offending lumps (in a later blog I'll detail what each of these procedures entail) unfortunately this was unsuccessful, I was then examined physically by Dr Chan who could not find any lumps or swelling in lymph nodes which meant I now faced a core biopsy under local anesthetic on each lump - I felt more discomfort lying with my arm above my head as this was the shoulder I'd torn the long ligament in last year and still was unable to stretch fully - another nurse Emma held my hand and chatted to me - telling me how strong I was … these three amazingly kind caring and compassionate ladies did all they could to make the procedures as pleasant and pain free as possible - two markers were inserted to show in future procedures or mammograms. The wounds were dressed and a further gentle mammogram performed. Results of biopsies would be known next Tuesday and a further appointment was made. How better to digest this news than with a yummy lunch at Eviva Italian restaurant! Telling Bill was not easy - we've been down the cancer journey with him in the past - telling the 'girls' was relatively easy yet talking about my boobs to my son Rob was not something I felt comfortable with luckily I have an amazing daughter in law who was able to tell him. Getting through Robyns funeral was hard - although I kept telling myself my lumps would be benign I couldn't help wonder what lay in store for me if I was wrong. The weekend flew by with a birthday luncheon for a friends 80th on Saturday and family dinner on Sunday evening. Whilst I was calm and positive Bill was really edgy and I wondered if he felt the need to come with me on Tuesday - he said no but he was restless on Monday night and neither of us had much quality sleep. Tuesday - a cool but fine sunny morning Elaine picked me up and we were both upbeat and positive, planning what we were going to do after my appointment - Elaine came into the consulting room where Breast nurse/counsellor Ges explained what would take place in that Dr Tan would come in and speak to me about the biopsy results - still feeling positive - not expecting the 'Libran effect' one negative and one positive lump, even my boobs can't make up their mind - would the results have been so upsetting if I'd not been so positive in my thinking, deflated, shocked, sobbing, disbelief, annoyance yet not anger all these emotions came spilling out - Elaine was visibly shaken as well. Dr Tan went on to explain the offending lump and some surrounding tissue will be removed including a central lymph node, this will be done under general anesthetic usually in a day procedure then around 3-6 weeks later between 15-25 sessions of radiation therapy followed by a hormone blocker Tamoxifen for some years. Dr Tan made an appointment for us to see our GP at 4pm. One positive is I'm now relinquished from Breastscreen - no more mammograms (happy dance) ongoing care will be by my GP, surgeon, oncologist etc. I'm not sure but I think both Elaine and I said the F word several times once we were out of the building … no shopping today … I just needed to get home and tell Bill - however we did stop at Rosedale bakery for coffee and cream bun - yeah that helped. Elaine offered to go and talk to Heather & Shell … giving Bill and I time to digest the news - although we'd heard the C word several times before it still manages to take the wind out of ones sails. Heather rang saying she was now in charge and would be with me every step of my journey. As I'd had several best wishes/thinking of you today messages we decided to go to the pool and meet up with our wonderful hydro friends and tell them in person over coffee and hot chips. Heather drove us to the medical centre and sat in on the discussions with Bruce (Johnston our GP) - next step to gain an early appointment with Mr Paul Strauss the surgeon who has removed several skin cancers for Bill and in whom we have great trust. Coffee with Rob to brief him on what is going to happen .. home for dinner and lose ourselves watching TV before bed. Wide awake at 3am .. so many thoughts running through my head … keeping a journal whilst Bill was at Peter Mac from operation till end of radiation was so therapeutic for me hence I got up at 5am to begin 'blogging' My Journey in a hope that my musings may in some way help other women particularly older women in the future …. I plan to make a 'hard copy' also where I can add some personal touches …. I am truly blessed to have a wonderful support team in family and friends led by my children. My goal has been and still is to live past 90 years and 6 weeks … the age my darling Mumma was when we lost her. I still have so much living to do …. this 13mm little sucker isn't going to beat me -

THE JOYS OF BEING A GRANDPARENT

Being a Grandparent is one of the greatest joys in life .... we are fortunate to have 13 grandchildren plus three 'surrogate/foster' granddaughters and four 'surrogate/foster' greatgrandies ...



Nowadays, many families live far away from their grandparents, or parents have children later in life and the grandparents are either too old to help with raising the children or have already passed away. Therefore, an additional attachment figure for the children as well as support for the parents, is missing. Parents notice this particularly when they have difficulty finding the time between their jobs and household duties to take care of their children in the loving and patient way they would like. But there is a solution: finding a surrogate grandparent. 

A new organisation has emerged which links 'surrogate' Grandparents and families .....www.findagrandparent.org.au.  There is no charge for Grandparents registering however you are required to go through the National Police Check to be approved - for families there is a small fee, but the rewards would definitely outweigh the cost. 

QSkin Survey

I recently received an invitation to participate in the Q Skin Study .... what is the Q Skin Study you might ask - well its the largest medical research study every conducted in Queensland.  The Q Skin Study needs Queenslanders aged between 40 and 69 years from all backgrounds to take part.  A very large study group is needed to be able to find the rarer causes of skin cancer and to be sure that the findings apply to as many people as possible.

What do you need to do .... just visit www.Qskin.qimr.edu.au and fill in the survey form and two consent forms .... doesn't take long 15-20 mins .... lets all do what we can to prevent and cure melanoma and skin cancer.

LAZY DAYS....AND NOT SO LAZY DAYS!

It has been a while since I 'blogged'......thats because my life has been so full ..... 
Christmas was wonderful, its been a few years since we had a child in the house on Christmas morning ....having Rob, Shell and my Princess Lilly here made for a very memorable time - now I need to find time to scrapbook the memories.....had an enjoyable though very wet day at Movie World and not just from the Wild West ride, it was the wettest day of the holidays but it didn't dampen our enthusiasm or fun.  Our love of cricket has taken us to the Gabba three times this summer ....we witnessed some great innings and wins by the Aussies, Cameron Whites century in the one dayer against Pakistan was brilliant, as was Ricky Pontings hundred last Sunday against the Windies.  Once again we were spoilt at Christmas and received tickets to Le Grande Cirque.....absolutely awesome, loved it.  
And they said it wouldn't last......Bill & I celebrated our silver wedding anniversay with a trip to Darwin....the weather was very hot and steamy, can't believe I didn't shed kilos with all the perspiring I did!  The Katherine Gorge was all I had imagined and more.....and we had a wonderful cruise until a tropical storm suddenly appeared, the blue skies suddenly went dark, wind gusts blowing the heavy rain straight at us.....we got thoroughly soaked - yes even wetter than day at Movie World! my socks and sneakers were waterlogged, even my underwear was wringing wet and we had to sit 4 hours in the bus back to Darwin.....even a dinner stop at Adelaide River didn't help dry us out.....Barrumundi was on the menu, and those who know me well know I am not a fish eater, however I tried the Barra and must admit I thoroughly enjoyed it....even pinched an extra half piece off Bills plate - not really he being the wonderful hubby he is gave it to me....
Its taken almost a year to set up but my Pandora style jewellery business is starting to take off....had lots of internet sales www.oztion.com.au/shop/RV-Designs.aspx and next Friday have the first Party booking...
My life was blessed late November when I met Juni - this zany, enthusiastic lady has a heart of gold, gives all and expects nothing .... on Friday came round and revamped our little front garden.....complete with a birdbath from her own backyard.....amazing how you just click with some people.
Had planned to go down to Tweed Heads today but its overcast and raining....a good lazy Sunday for staying home .....Big Fish -Big Fish Games Homepage have some great new games out, might have to try them....love being able to play them for an hour FREE.....I have bought quite a number of them.....
Yes, football is back.....and the mighty Dogs had a win over Brisbane at Canberra last Sunday....I'm looking forward to this season......maybe 2010 will be our year...........GO DOGGIES.....
Till next time......

Time Waits for No One!

I can't believe it has been so long since I was last here!  Wow, so much has happened in that time......once again my beloved Doggies were beaten in the preliminary final, and as its now history I'll refrain from mentioning that a certain St Kilda player received special treatment from the umpires and a match turning free kick in front of goal......bring on season 2010 - with Big Bad Barry now a Bulldog our forward line with have the height its been lacking....2010 will be our year!  With my doggies out of the GF I was supporting Geelong, just know Dad was 'up there' cheering them on too!  Next day was my great nephew Ethans 5th birthday which was celebrated with a party in the park, Jen forgot the music for pass the parcel, so Pete just had to sing and guess what, he only knew one song  that day - We are Geelong, greatest team of all.....it was a fun day....just love kids parties and fairy bread!

In September we had a fabulous weekend at Maroochydore celebrating Al's 60th birthday, it was fantastic catching up Jan & Al's boys, Darren, Glen & Corey hadn't seen them all together for 18 years.  'The Party' was a cruise up and down the Noosa River, great food and those blue vodka daquiri's certainly went down well!  Jan & Alan have now moved on from Aquavista and between management jobs they spent a couple of weekends here with us......Jan, Al & I were lucky enough to go to a special matinee session of Outback Spectacular, I'd been to the original show but must say I really enjoyed the new tribute to the Lighthorse Brigade so much, Outback Spectacular provides great value, a three course meal which includes, beer, wine, soft drink, tea and coffee, a spectacular show of horsemanship and history lesson....if your'e on the Gold Coast its one theme park not to be missed.
In between then and now I celebrated another birthday, started with a family breakfast at Northcliffe surf club and then the day was mine....Bill had suprised me with a spontaneous gift - a Coles Myer gift card, to some this may be nothing exciting but to me it was as he usually gives me someting I've hinted at, chosen or bought myself.....so we went shopping, he was flabagasted that I bought a blender with some of my $'s....yes, but its an ice crushing blender, mmmm now I can make my own daquiri's! The following week we celebrated with Pete Carol & PJ our birthdays for the year....somehow it took us from March to October to organise!!.....at Mario's at Broadbeach, the best Italian Restaurant on the coast and not just because Paul Dimatina played for the Bulldogs! never had anything but superb meals there.

Nelson Samuel BP was scheduled to enter the world on October 16 and I had a great time the previous Saturday at Kellie's baby shower.....Melbourne Cup Day we called in to meet him and of course I just spent about an hour nursing him....guess it won't seem anytime and he'll be running round helping Dad & Mum at BP Johnson Street.

Bill & I have been taking RV Designs (http://www.oztion.com.au/shop/RV-Designs.aspx ) jewellery to a couple of the Sunday Markets, getting up at 4am does'nt seem too bad, but its the following day I was exhausted yesterday I ended up having a Nanna nap.  On Sunday at Labrador we were next to Tracy, who had a lovely array of handmade gifts and all at really cheap prices, I bought a bookmark for ????? which fits on the corner of the page, very pretty.....hoping to set up next to Tracy again this week at Ashmore.  Tracy also has an on-line Scrapbooking & Craft supplies - yes....I'm excited....I've checked out the website and the prices are spot on! ....yes, there will be an order from me......check out her website for yourself www.my2angels.net  and also Tracy's blog for some great ideas .....I've just gotta try the tissue idea, thankfully I get an enforced though unpaid month off from around December 17 and I'm planning to do a few scrapbook pages then - last touched at Easter! 
Bill and I are currently going through our old music tapes and vinyl and trying to replace them with CD's......lots of them are compilation tapes of various artists and many single tracks are available as MP3 so it looks like we might need to invest in an Ipod for our Christmas gift to each other.....also starting to have our home video tapes put to DVD, the Family tape will need to be edited......not censored....just edited we did sort of tend to go overboard filming when the video camera was a new invention!!!  
Unfortunately this year I had to miss tripping to Sale to witness Dylan in the school play as it clashed with Al's birthday bash which we'd RSVP'd to months before and to be truthful flights were just too expensive (week before school hols) was really disappointed to miss him particularly as he won the Perpetual Encouragement Award, which has encouraged him to continue with drama next year when he enters senior college....this is D receiving his award from Dr Marshall.

The Princess had her 7th birthday last week - Rememberance Day - and had a cooking birthday party, seems like they had a great time.....we are counting down the sleeps 'till Lilly and her Mum & Dad arrive in Qld for Christmas....36 to go.

Gosh its almost time to get ready to adopt out a few more penguins........so 'till next time, take care .......Go Doggies in 2010 with Bazza & Akka....woof woof!!

DREAM....DREAM....DREAM

'Dreams are like rainbows: always in sight but not always within reach'

What a great win by the Doggies again on Friday night....my brother was spared listening to the Bulldogs theme song as the match was on Friday night and it was a little too late to call him and Saturday I had to be at Varsity Lakes by 9am so it was a little early to ring him, so I simply sent him a text saying 'woof woof'. My dream of a Bulldog flag just may come true in 2009!

Have spent the past three days at the new Mater Hospital Prize home at Varsity Lakes - and it was great to listen to people and their dreams, 'now when we win I'd ...not if i win.....wouldn't life be dull if we didn't dream! There were some really lovely people who came to view the villa over the weekend - a couple of memorable ones were a 9 year old girl who wanted a ticket (Dad had to put it in his name of course) and used her left over lunch money, another was a little boy who was so dissappointed that the bedrooms only had big people beds. Now if I won, I could easily live in the furnished villa and if H & boys would move up to Qld I'd give her the unfurnished villa......yes another of my dreams.

Mater Prize Home lottery tickets are still only $2 which is amazing - just imagine winning two Gold Coast villas for $2 (valued at over $1.2million)....you can check them out on-line or visit the house at Azzura Drive in Varsity Lakes.....now come to think of it the Hope Island property isn't drawn till Friday.....so that dream is still alive!!

Speaking of dreams its time I prepared for dreams of the subconcious type....ie its bedtime.

Till next time, may the Doggies keep on barking!

FOOTBALL FANATICS

If asked to describe myself with one adjective I guess it would be Passionate
I'm sure that 4 of the 5 meanings listed in the dictionary apply to me - I'm definitely passionate about my family, my friends, scrapbooking, my political beliefs, social justice, the envioronment, the colour pink and my football team the Western Bulldogs. My passion for the Doggies is well known among my family....I'll miss family dinner on Sunday nights to watch 'my boys' play in twilight games, I know I become very vocal - in fact some may say bordering on 'ferral'....not real proud of that, but sometimes I hear words I really don't think came out of my mouth but there's no one else around! (lol)

Last night we went to the Gabba to watch the Doggies and the Lions, had great seats behind the goals (Lions Cheer squad end) surrounded by many families sporting Red, White & Blue but outnumbered naturally by Lions fans.....the Doggies showed us the tenacity that they have been showing earlier this year, yes I yelled and cheered and jumped up etc like a true footy fan, enjoyed the delight of the two young boys (who probably were amused by an old lady getting so fanatical) behind me and didn't mind how many times I got knocked on the head by their flag....

No matter how passionate and fanatical I am about my Doggies I could never resort to the low antics of the Brisbane Lions female supporter who threw beer over Brad Johnson.....I hope that today after seeing herself shown on TV that she is ashamed of her behaviour.....sure it didn't hurt him, but next time her anger overpowers her at a sports match it may not be just liquid she throws.....compared to other codes of football AFL supporters and players bring less ill-repute to their code, lets keep it that way.

pas⋅sion⋅ate
Pronunciation [pash-uh-nit]
–adjective
1. having, compelled by, or ruled by intense emotion or strong feeling; fervid: a passionate advocate of socialism.
2. easily aroused to or influenced by sexual desire; ardently sensual.
3. expressing, showing, or marked by intense or strong feeling; emotional: passionate language.
4. intense or vehement, as emotions or feelings: passionate grief.
5. easily moved to anger; quick-tempered; irascible.

Have been busy this week adding more shopping links to my other blog and more beads and bracelets to our Oztion Vshop
hope you find time to have a look.

Till next time
Go Doggies!