Heigh ho...heigh ho....it's off to work I go........

I can't believe how quickly August is flying by.....

We have been having lots of fun with all the company we have been getting. It's hard to imagaine that next week the kids will be back in school and I will be back to work. I had my meeting last month with my boss and my CPP coordinator to plan out my back to work and it went very well. I will return on a gradual return to work program that will go for 5 weeks so I am not returning full time right off the bat. I am both very excited to get back into the swing of things and also very nervous about how things will go. I have been feeling great the past several weeks and hope that my returning to work does not change this. I am looking forward to seeing everyone there again and hope that I can just jump back into things and be normal for a while.

I went for my planned brain MRI last week and so am a little nervous as I wait for these results to come back. I go for a CT scan tomorrow where they are scanning my abdomen, pelvis, chest and neck and then I see my oncologist the following week when I will get all of these results back. I have to admit that I am really nervous about this and hopefully will be super relieved after this appointment. I feel a little bit like "Could life really get back to some sort of normal after all this or is that just wishful thinking?"

I wound up with a stitch abscess in my arm from the wide excision I had done several weeks ago. I guess my body rejected these stitches that eventually are supposed to dissolve on their own. My incision opened up and the stitches started coming out but things are finally starting to heal again and now it looks like it will heal up nicely.

While planning my return to work I have also been getting the kids ready to get back to school. What a job that is!! Glad the boys are getting old enough to help label all their stuff!! It will actually be so nice to get into a regular routine and see how that feels. We are all so looking forward to this.

We have really enjoyed these past few weeks visiting with friends and family. We had a great time at Quarry Days. The supper to welcome home the troops this past weekend was so much fun! We danced and sang and laughed all night!! Jeff and I had an absolute blast!! I havn't danced like that for such a long time! It felt really good!

So although there is still alot of uncertainty, right now it feels good to be able to make plans for the future (something we havn't been able to do for the past year and a half) and look forward to seeing how life will be. It is sometimes not easy living with so much uncertainty and fear of what will happen but we have to focus on everything good in our lives.

Weekend of Fun!!!

So, we're back from our weekend of fun in Kenora and it was awesome! We all had a really great time. It was a nice balance of fun and relaxation. We took the famous hike up blueberry hill and it was so neat to watch the kids picking blueberries and having fun with their cousins. It so reminded me of when I was little, and what a beautiful view when you get up there. We also had an outdoor movie night every night that we were there. Popcorn and everything. The kids loved it! We even had surround sound thanks to Chris!! The big blow up slide was such a hit during the hot afternoons and we spent lots of time at the beach in the water! Our last day there the kids went tubing and had an absolute blast!!! Then it was time to pack up and head home. It was a really fun weekend although we did really miss the two families that couldn't make it this year. Next year! A few of us ended up coming down with the flu while we were there but we carried on and tried not to let this put a damper on the weekend. Thanks to the Lindsays for another really fun and memorable weekend!

It was so nice to get away and not have cancer right in our faces for the weekend. But of course when we got home I had to think about it once again and went into Cancer Care yesterday to get my staples removed. It was actually a great day and much, much better than I had expected. We (my big sis and I) went into Winnipeg a little early and did some shopping. Then we headed over to the doctors and although we had to wait for a little over an hour it was well worth the wait when we finally got in! My pathology report was back already and it was good news!! NOT metastatic melanoma!!! Yayyyyy!! I am very relieved to have gotten this removed now as there was a definite nodule there 4.2 mm in size. Pathology showed that there were some very rare cells shown and it is possible that this was a metastatic (cancerous) lesion that had healed (possibly because of the treatment I was on or my immune system working overtime). We are very relieved and happy with this news!

While sitting in the waiting room I got a call from my GP and my ultrasound results were back already. They came back normal along with my pap test so I'm on a roll!! I love that as soon as my GP gets my results she now just gives me a call on my cell to let me know right away. Makes me feel like we are staying on top of things. I don't have another appointment scheduled for anything for the next 2 1/2 weeks so will be taking full advantage of this freedom.

I feel so grateful for all of the blessings in my life every day! Most of these blessings are the people that surround me! Love to you all!!