My Prayer of Thanks for being a Five Year Survior

Dear Heavenly Father,
Today, through your blessing and grace, I am a 5 year survivor. You gave me the strength and courage to survive my cancer journey. The glorious feeling of exhilaration that I am feeling today is beyond description--I feel like I have scaled a mountain. Today I realize that this experience and my walk with you has given me an inner peace and richness that I may never known had I not gone on this journey.

Thank you, Lord, for the out pour of love and kindness I received from family, friends and strangers. Often we forget that we need to let people help and that most people are kind and giving. It has taught me to look for the goodness in everyone instead of judging. Open your heart and they will come. The prayers and encouragement offered me hope, strengthened my faith, and helped make me the person I am today.

Please bless all those that have touched my life and please help me find ways to give back to those facing a breast cancer diagnosis. Please give me the initiative to offer hope and inspiration to others going through breast cancer treatment.

As I continue to face struggles in my life please guide me and help me embrace the changes in my near future.

And Lord, please make me walk on the treadmill so I can look awesome in that little red dress for Heart Disease Awareness.

In Jesus name- Amen

Tomorrow I will be Five Alive

Tomorrow I will be a 5 year cancer survivor!!! Go Katy!! Go Katy!!

Here is some great information:
Reach to Recovery on the American Cancer Society's website, www.cancer.org...is a great tool for information. They offer services and support for breast cancer patients and survivors (any kind of cancer). It is a great website so visit it, there are also volunteer opportunities. :) For me personally, they just opened a new office in N Fort Worth so I am going to volunteer. :)

Last week when I was invited to have 5 hours of tests done at the Cardiologist I found out they really really liked me as they have invited me back for 3 more hours of CT scans of my heart. It is so nice to be liked--only I am paying them they are not paying me. So remember if the doctor's title ends in "GIST" they act like they really like you BUT they charge you even when they keep inviting you back. I pose for them, they take pictures but I don't get paid. Maybe it is age discrimination! LOL

Next week I will be "Five Alive", a 5 year survivor

I should rename my blog "The Saga in a Survivor's Life". So please if you have a loved one that is going through breast cancer I would love to offer them support. If  you want to leave a comment in "loving memory" of a loved one or friend please do so. I would love to offer hope and encouragement to anyone needing it. It can be a difficult battle and it is always nice to talk to someone that has been through treatment and surgeries for reconstruction. Then my blog would not be all about me, I feel so selfish. :)

Today I spent 5 hours having an array of tests done at a Cardiologist. I was feeling sorry for myself and was starving after fasting. One of the employees told me that the doctor's wife, in her 40's, was going through breast cancer for the 2nd time and it had spread to her bones. Oh my gosh, it sure put my tests and pity party into perspective! I felt so bad for her and the family. Please say a prayer for my cardiologist's wife and family. Thanks for your support.

Turning the page to a new chapter

Hello, today I am realizing that the home owner chapter of my life is about to end. I am so sad (but somewhat relieved) but medical bills and unemployment have not been financially lucrative for me.  I look around my yard that needs to be mowed, the house that needs to be painted and I just can't do these things myself anymore. SOOOOO, on a brighter note I will not have to worry about replacing the fence, heat pump failure or flooring. I never found that person that longed to do these things for me. My father lives too far away. LOL

I have been so blessed, as I got to raise my children  in a nice home. The kids went to decent schools and we always felt safe and secure. That is what we hope for as parents--for our children to feel safe and secure. After my divorce the kids and I had this house built and been here for 10 1/2 years.

If  I only look at my patio I see beautiful flowers that bloomed all winter long. It was my first experience having pansies that do well in the Texas winters and even on the cold dreary windy days I had a ray of sunshine on my patio. :) So no matter why I end up I will always have a patio for plants and flowers. And I can't forget the mean little dog that goes with me.

So pray for me as I pack and prepare for a new chapter of my life's journey. I have so much to thankful for so life is good!!

I look so bad when I cry....

My cousin gave me one greatest compliments that I could receive. She said my positive attitude was contagious. :) That absolutely made my day. We all have adversity and struggles in our lives. Trust me...I have had many pity parties; days of being sad and negative BUT, I found, this takes so MUCH energy that it just wears me out. I look so ugly when I cry.....it just isn't worth it.

So think of adversity as something that enriches other parts of your life and who you are. The struggles we survive don't rob us of joy, wonderful memories or appreciation. It helps us to realize how precious life is.
So today, if you haven't already, go outside and enjoy the trees in bloom or the robins chirping (in TX anyway). The important things in life don't cost anything you just have to take a minute and see the world through the eyes of a child.

Being positive is invigorating. Smile, laugh and hope that my basketball team, the Mavericks, win tonight!

Friendships.....

I never thought I would be using social media internet sites but in the last few weeks I have reconnected with 2 wonderful friends that mean so much to me that I had lost contact with. I have had lots of time on my hands on and off over the last few years so I started  thinking  about what and who is really important to me. I decided to look for 2 friends that had touched my life with their friendships.

Both friends I have known since  1979. I won't use their names but Mrs T and I are friends again. She is local so we will get to meet for lunch and a forbidden Dr Pepper. I have missed her and am so blessed to get to  have lunch with her. :)

Then.........a guy I used to work with that was my best friend. We have reconnected and it is awesome. He is happy in his life and lives with a wonderful woman. :) I feel like since my children are raised and taken care of I have more time for my friends.

Being a survivor intensifies the beauty of what is important in life. Find an old friend and do a random act of kindness --your life will be so enriched.

Needing more backbone.....

One thing I did not get from my cancer journey: The ability to confront someone that I have an emotional attachment to. I get so mad at myself but I just avoid confrontation like the plague or cancer. lol

There are so many people that come in and out of our lives over the years; some just for a short time, some like an angel help you through hurdles and move on. Some you swear you will keep in touch with but you don't. Others you become you long time friends. And others you lose track of but never stop thinking about them.

Then there are friends that you need to confront but I just can't SO pray for me to have more backbone so I can get this issue resolved.

It is such a beautiful day in Texas! Love it!