Friday, August 23, 2013

From mother to mother

This is a rare type of post for me to write so a lot of it may seem like rambling. I never understood the impact of ones health had on their loved ones until I had a baby. I have had lots of ppl around me sick, I have an auto immune disorder myself, I've had people pass away suddenly or to sickness or old age. However until I became a mother I never really got how important being healthy and fighting for ones life really is. I always said if I developed another illness I'd refuse treatment and just give up. Until I had Alexander. That is not an option now. I spent a lot of time angry with my best friend for passing away. She died of cancer, she had two small boys. She left them, she left me I was mad. However now as a mom I realize she fought her hardest. I was approached by a reader to bring awareness to her cause. Heather is a mesothelioma survivor, she is a mom. I can not imagine the strength she had to muster in order to beat this horrible disease. Her daughter was 3.5 months old. I know how hard it is to have a new born. I know the daily struggle to figure out what to do with this little human. I could not imagine having to fight for my life at the same time. I did not know much about mesthelioma. I have since read a lot on it. I listened to Heathers story. She developed this cancer because her dad worked in construction and was exposed to asbestos fibers daily. An innocent bystander. She managed to pull together the strength to fight and survive this horrible disease. Here is a little background on her story: 
I am a wife, mother, and a mesothelioma survivor. When my daughter was 3 ½ months old, I was diagnosed with this rare and deadly cancer, and given 15 months to live. My prognosis was grim but I knew that I needed to beat the odds for my newborn daughter, Lily. It’s been 7 years now and I feel that it is my duty to pay it forward and inspire others. I clung on to hope throughout my whole journey with mesothelioma. When you have hope, it makes the battle easier. I want people to be inspired by me, I want to make them fight; give them something to hold on to when all else fails. That is why I do it. If I inspire one person, I've done my job. I'm using my personal story to help raise awareness of this little known cancer, and to provide a sense of hope for others facing life’s difficult challenges. Here is a video of my story that I am hoping to use as a tool to raise awareness. I would love it if you would be willing to share it on your blog with your readers! Here is the link: www.mesothelioma.com/heather 
Cancer is a horrible horrible thing. My hope is that in the very very near future all cancers have a cure. Everytime I think of the possiblities of something happening I hug my child. Please hug your child today/tonight. Say a little prayer for every mom/daughter/son/father who is fighting today. Pray for strength for them. I will. For those family memebers and friends who are their support system ask for strength for them as well for they need it too. Heather, I am very glad you found your strength and was able to beat this monster. I am very glad that every day you find your strength. Thank you for sharing your story. Please give Lily a hug! She is a very lucky girl to still have her mom.

Monday, August 12, 2013

Vacation is over :(

La boo my 2 weeks vacation is over.. not cool :( I told Jon I wanted another baby so I could have another year off (so kidding.. sorta). We had a good vacation it was so nice to see him and spend time with him. I've missed him a lot. Our first week we just kinda hung out, went on a drive to St John area and then out to Amherst a couple of times. Family time was fun! Then we went camping with his brother and his wife. They have 2 little kids who Alexander ADORES! He thinks the world of them and they love him just as much. We took Alexander swimming a few times which was fun. I have realized though I am NOT a 5 day camping person. I believe our vacation next year should be spent in a hotel. With a working bathroom (3 out of 5 mornings the toilets by our campsite was closed!!) A hot shower (showers 5 minute drive away from our site) and lots of room. 2 adults a play pen and a dog crate in the tenting trailer leaves very little space. I told the husband if we get a camper we are getting a full size camper with slides! Not a tenting trailer. But generally the vacation was awesome. We went hiking, swimming in the lake, visited Port royal and upper clements park. We had campfires every night (mmmm roasted marshmallows) So I went cold turkey on junk food. No more pop, chips or sweets. I'm going to go back to my after bypass diet (what I can remember of it anyways) I'm very determined to get this weight off. I'm starting off 10 minutes a day exercise commitment I'll try my hardest to get atleast 10 minutes every day of exercise in. My weight was 252.4 this morning. It's a start. This week is a pretty relaxed week ahead I have to get an oil change tomorrow and take penny to the vet for a booster but other then that the rest of the week is opened. YAY! Hopefully I'll get out for a walk. Jon and I went for an hour walk yesterday around Moncton. It was nice til we went to sit out on a patio for supper at a local restaurant. We had Penny with us. Their patio was on the sidewalk, we were told (which ppl have to walk through even with their pets to get by the restaurant) that we could not have penny on the "patio" she had to be on the other side of the fence (right beside the cars in the direct sun.) Penny is a black dog. Putting her in the sun for an hour plus is not a good idea. We left. It's very sad how undogfriendly Moncton is. :( I'd love it if they had more outside areas that allowed dogs. hmmm that's about all that's been happening the last couple of weeks. Hopefully I'll find time to post again tomorrow.