A long update...

Well...sorry it has been a while since my last post. Many things have kept me busy, including being back at school. Yes...I went back to school at the beginning of March and I am so thankful for that! That has been one of the best things for me- it just got us all back into "normal routines"! I will try to recap the last few months as best as possible! At the beginning of March we had some snow- ironically school was closed on the day I was supposed to return to work! The kids had a blast and Mallory Kate loved making snow angels!


Graham has been busy with Cub Scouts, soccer, and school. He had his first Pinewood Derby Race. Graham decided he wanted a Gamecock car- from Greg's influence! His car had a little "engine trouble" when his weights on the bottom dragged the track a little. But next year we'll know! Soccer just recently finished up! Graham scored 1 goal this season! He has a lot of speed and he really hustles on the field! He is finishing up his 1st grade year- so hard for me to believe! He is doing very well in school, but he is really looking forward to summer! (Aren't we all?)


Mallory Kate has really come out with her little personality in the last few months! She is very demanding and a daddy's girl, for sure! Funny story...the other night I was trying to put her to bed. She insisted for daddy to do it, and I said that I wanted to put her to bed. She started to pitch a fit and told me " I don't like you Mommy!" Greg heard her and he came to the rescue! So I went downstairs to get Graham ready for bed. He was so concerned and asked me if Mallory Kate had hurt my feelings! He had heard "our tiff" through the monitor! What a caring little boy! I explained that hopefully this is just a little stage she is in right now!


I finished up my 37 radiation treatments during Spring Break and celebrated with a well-deserved beach trip! Our family went with some of our friends, the Columbia's, and we had a great time! The weather was PERFECT and we had so much fun hanging out and doing nothing!



Last weekend I took the kids strawberry picking for the first time. Mallory Kate put 1 strawberry in the basket and ate the rest! I thought she was going to get sick from eating so many fresh strawberries! Graham enjoyed it too and made sure his little sister was picking the best ones!


I can officially now call myself a cancer SURVIVOR! It really hit home last week when I attended a Relay for Life Cancer Survivor dinner. It was an eye-opener to be surrounded by so many survivors! What an inspiration it was! Our Relay for Life is this Friday, May 15th at JL Mann High School. Come out if you can and support us!

I met with Dr. Gococo a few weeks ago for my first appointment post-treatments. My lab work looked good and I have started a daily medication called Tamoxifen. This is a hormone receptor blocker medication. I will have a mammogram and breast MRI in September and see my surgeon for a follow up appointment then. Dr. Gococo suggests a hysterectomy later in the year- I think maybe in December. This will stop the estrogen production, since my ovaries will be gone. I am completely at ease with this decision-the only concern I have with this is that I cannot take any hormone replacement therapy. I hope that I will not be too "moody"! So now on to more important things...hair! I have hair now- and my first appointment is May 26th for a cut and color. I still am wearing my wig right now, but my hair is about 1 inch long. It came back in all gray, so I thought I would fix that! Well...not such good results! I bought a wash-out hair dye at CVS that said it covers gray hair. Let me tell you...false advertising! It covered "some" of the gray hair and left my hair splotchy! Oh well, thank goodness for the wig still! My hairdresser will fix it in a few weeks! My goal is to be without a wig by June 5th- the last day of school. I just couldn't imagine going through the summer having to wear this hot wig! So, I'm not so excited about a short new doo, but I am ready to put the wig back into the box!


Oh, and one more thing, I have started running. I would have never thought I would say "me" and "running"together in the same sentence, but it is true! I have a great friend that I teach with who is "coaching" me and a few others. We have been running 2 miles, 3 times a week. I want to get up to 3 miles hopefully in the next month! I have decided I am going to run a 5K in November- Rachel's Run. A run dedicated to a precious little 2 year old who lost her battle with cancer. Graham has also decided to run in this race!


So that's what we have been up to in the last few months! Happy Mother's Day to all moms out there! What a blessing it is to be a mother! XOXOXO