Comments on some comments

So as my hubby reminded me recently..it has been a while. He threatened to remove me from his bookmarks! Can't have that. Luckily I was kinda inspired the other day by some comments/facebook statuses.

When it comes to my experience with cancer (and I know I said I was gonna move a bit away from that yet here we are again...sorry) I have gotten some interesting comments made to me. One is the comment made after being upset about something. The "be happy you're here and alive" type comment. There have been a few statuses I've come across too that were thought provoking. Here are my thoughts:

If anyone is to know how happy and lucky I am to be here it is me. If you think I don't realize that you are off your rocker. I deal with that though about a thousand times a day. Every time I get a new bruise, a headache, feel a bit off for no apparent reason. I know  and am reminded that I am lucky to be here. When you come that close to not being here...you don't forget it. HOWEVER I am still a human being. I am going to feel frustration and sadness and all that comes with that. It doesn't mean I am taking my life for granted. It means I am choosing to live it and telling cancer to kiss off, it can't control me. And what's more 98% of the time I AM positive and happy. Probably annoyingly so LOL.

Also, just because you know me and I went through this thing (and yes I'll be the first to tell you it was probably my version of hell) doesn't make things going on in your life any less sucky. Use my story to inspire you? yes please! That makes it all worth it. But don't stop living your life and feeling things because someone out there has/had it worse. Someone will always have it worse. We can't live our lives this way and I refuse to subscribe to that philosophy. Should we keep perspective sure but should we refuse to feel rough when we're sick, or when our car breaks down etc...no. We're human. Crappy situations happen, we have to feel them!

Lastly I was inspired by a friend's status the other day. It was along the lines of how sometimes life feels like it drags out and how is one supposed to live when that happens. This got under my skin a little. Like I said, something bad happens...sure, feel it. But don't regret an entire life. You push through, set goals, achieve them, then set new ones until you're cold! Because you owe it to yourself! Maybe it's my life philosophy/religious views (or lack there of if you prefer) that set me a bit heel on this, but I think...this is it. We get one shot. Nothing gets better from here. So why not make the most of it. Be you (be damned of what others think), be happy, change the world for those here after you go. That's all we got so we have to make it count. ESPECIALLY when it can be ripped out from under us so fast.

I feel like I may have rambled here a bit. I hope you'll forgive me. I woke up at 5:30 this morning ;) haha. But I hope there is a message here you can take away. Live your life so you regret nothing. That includes feeling things that aren't always positive, but don't dwell in it. Keep perspective, keep moving, and be inspiring. Love you guys and thanks for reading : ) ~H

Speaking at the light the night celebration

Hey everyone :) I hope life is treating you and yours well. I am sitting here shivering. The heat just kicked on and I am fighting the urge to get grumpy because I don't live somewhere warmer ;) LOL Some of you may recall me talking about the Light the Night walk put on by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society that my family and I did this September. This past Tuesday night I had the honor of sharing my story at the celebration dinner. I am so happy and proud to say that the Springfield City team raised $1600! Woot! Thank you to all who helped in a cause that's so close to my heart.

There are SO many causes and ribbons and philanthropies out there one can support and not a single one is less important than the other. It all comes down to finding ones that touch you and bringing awareness about that subject to others. In that similar vein, I wanted to share with you all what I said at the dinner:

Over the course of this whole journey I have heard several times that I am inspiring. I always think in my own head...huh? Because I like me. I am all for anything that is going to preserve me. SO when the doctors said all you have to do to stay around and enjoy your family and life a bit longer is let us fill you full of poison and then you can move about your day. It was a no brainer! And on top of that throughout this whole thing I have come across so many patients and their families and those stories..those are inspiring. Those people really had to fight. One day I was heading out for a walk and passed my neighbors room. She was older, but was doing well. She looked good and looked happy. That night as I slept there was a code blue called and in the morning her family was there to collect her things and say good bye. Things can happen in a split second and so I am just happy to be here. So thank you for giving me the chance to share my story with you. 

My journey starts out by admitting to you all that my husband and I are nerds. We are wrestling fans. In April of this year Wrestlemania...that's like our superbowl...was in Miami. We thought it would be really cool to go enjoy the wrestling as well as the beach and the typical FL type stuff. A couple weeks prior I started having some symptoms, but chalked it up to stress. While vacationing, the got a lot worse. The day after we flew in I called the Dr. and was lucky enough to get an appointment and had routine lab work done. I thought at worst it will be anemia, I will be told to take some iron and move on. The next morning I got a phone call from the lab with a laundry list of things that were wrong with my blood, that they had a room waiting for me, and that I needed to go the hospital right away. Once my husband picked me up off the floor we went in. The Dr. said it could be anything from minor anemia to leukemia. They ran more tests and then Dr. Khanna came in. He had a sad look on his face and I didn't need to hear him say it to know. It was leukemia. That night I was sent to OSU medical center. I don't think there has been anything harder in my life than to see my daughter crying as my husband and she left. She didn't understand why I wasn't going home with them. The next morning I had more procedures done and was left with a bunch of questions, most of which started with why. Being the nerd that I am I wanted to know everything so I hit Google. 

What I found was the LLS website. It was invaluable  It had a community support page, facts, statistics, on an on. It was also talking about this Light the Night Walk. I looked more into it, saw pictures, and thought I want to do that. That became one of my goals. Get better in time to walk that with my family. And I did. In early September I had my last chemo treatment and in early October I was pronounced leukemia free. In late September my family and I walked in the Light the Night Walk. It wasn't just a walk to me. It was symbolic. I made it. Not only that, but how cool was it to see everyone from our community from all walks of life there. Because this isn't a black/white..old/young..religious/nonreligious issue. This is a humanity issue. We are all dealing with this monster. And so many people were there to so no more. THAT was inspiring. I gave me hope that if we all keep banning together one day so that the Dr. comes in with a happy face and can say "this is no big deal. take a couple of these and call me in the morning". SO no more will we have to watch our children cry, be away from our families, or hear our neighbors coding in the middle of the night. That's why this cause is so important. And I believe we can get there. And that is why Light the Night was so amazing to me. Thank You.

I know I've said this before, but thank you to everyone who has supported me. I wouldn't have had the strength to do it all without you. What an amazing night that walk was. This year the hubs and I are going to do our own team! "The Orange Cranes" Oh and I am so excited because I have my survivor tattoo all planned out and I will share it with you as soon as it happens! 

What causes are important to you and why? Have you been touched by a blood cancer or even any type of cancer. Feel free to share in the comments below :) Thanks for reading. Love~H

Health and Fitness:Goals and cool finds.

Hey everyone =) Hope all is well in your worlds! I am getting in and cleaned up from my workout. This was week two with the trainer and so I thought I would take this time to do a fitness/health blog. I have been consistent in my nutrition and exercise so I am really happy about that. I have been keeping track of my weight and measurements but I will wait to let you all know how much was lost at the end of the month. My workouts have been in a strenth, cardio, strength... pattern focusing on upper body one day lower the next and total body the next. I have been taking the dogs on runs too around our neighborhood and already I have noticed a difference in my endurance. Long way to go but I love it!

I have some finds that I think are really cool so I would like to share. 1st: One thing I have noticed in my on and off attempts at getting healthy is that the more water I drink the easier it is to stay on track.  We were actually talking about this at the gym today too. But it's so easy to go throughout the day without drinking. You just don't think about it, or at least I don't. I was on pinterest yesterday (that thing is SO addictive, it's crazy) and saw these really cool water bottles. They are so simple but really effective. One of those "why didn't I think of that" type deals. She labeled them with the times she wanted to drink the amount of water by. I couldn't find glass see through bottles so here is my verssion:

  Morning, Night, and the middle is for the noon hours. I couldn't think of a noon picture and then I thought, what is more inspiring to me than the journey I have been on and to never go back, so the ribbon and "fighter" in Japanese. You could do your own pictures. I think this is a cool idea.

2nd: Croc Pot Salsa Chicken. If you have days when you are too busy to cook or even days when you know you won't feel like cooking this is a super yummy healthy recipe that I stole from someone who stole who... LOL

Ingredients

3 large chicken breasts

1 container low sugar salsa*

1 can low sodium tomato sauce

2-3 Tbsp taco seasoning* 

Mix well in crock pot and cook for 8 hours on low. Once cooked you should be able to pull the chicken apart easily with a fork.

You can put this stuff on whole grain flats, with veggies and rice, plain, whatever..it freezes as well as packs in lunches nicely too! *To have even more control you could make these ahead of time to have around the house for use.

Last find: The "motivate me" app on play store. It's free and I've had some fun with it the past few days. It has motivational quotes, wake up calls, diet and exercise motivations. You can set them to go off whenever you want. 

Even though it's not New Years, with all that has been going on I want to end this blog with my goals for the future. It's important to me to get to a healthy place and stay there. To never go back to where I was. I can't do it, won't do it, and refuse to put my family in a place that we were these past few months. I encourage you to share your goals with me in the comment section or on facebook and we can help each other stay focused :)

1. Lose weight
2. Become healthier and more athletic 
3. Run a 5k
4. Try to ski
5. Stay consistent with working out and eating right. 

Those are just a few of mine. What are your top 5?  The bean and I are gonna have some pumpkin ravioli for lunch and then off to the library. Hope you enjoy your day and weekend!