minutes

Minutes – December 23, 2013

Angela Pea5 Comments

::faithful – praying for my kids, especially my youngest son; for Jane who is recovering from back surgery; and praying joyful thanksgiving for Emily and her family as they come into full communion with The Church today!!! 

::news from the cancer battlefield – Nothing new, other than the last of the super duper surgical glue is FINALLY gone, and I am still astonished at the outpouring of love and support from everyone we know. I had no idea – absolutely NO IDEA – that so many people even knew I existed. LOL!!

I have an appointment the day after Christmas to get a wig fitted. The girls are going with me to help pick a style…and a color.  I’ve already been told that I can’t have a lavender, hot pink, blue, glitter or iridescent  hue a la Dame Edna. Dangit.

Dame Edna

::creative – Looking at patterns for hats. Refinishing an old picture frame to repurpose. Staining the legs of the pool table where they’ve either been gnawed on (Bad Dog!), nicked with the vacuum cleaner or whacked with who knows what. Hmmm….while I have the stain out and a paintbrush wet, I should just go around the entire house and touch up all the furniture.  What a great idea!

::pondering – Not much.  I’m taking a break this week from extremely deep thought, other that the little bit about storm drain system models, floodways and integrated storm water management that is necessary for productive working hours.

::delicious –

  • Spaghetti and Meatballs!
  • Leftover Meatball Subs, Cauliflower Salad
  • Dinner at Taverna
  • Ribs, Cheese Potatoes and Green Beans
  • Clam Chowder, Cheese biscuits and Broccoli Slaw
  • Garlic Lime Chicken, Brussels Sprouts, Something with Rice
  • Tacos again because the last batch was so.o.o.o good!

::fun – Mr. Pea and I went to the movies yesterday and then had dinner with our daughters.  Dinner was fabulous – Tillman’s Roadhouse Venison Chili and Butternut Squash Lasagna.  And of COURSE we had the famous s’mores!  Marshmallow flavors of the day were peppermint, maple and rootbeer.

::fashionable –  Sassy attitude again today with a tweed skirt (teal, fuchsia,black and lime green), bright fuchsia sweater, black tights, and black cuffed booties with buttons up the side.  The entire outfit is set off with ginormous puffy silver hoop earrings. 

::looking ahead – Wrapping presents sometime before Christmas morning, Drafting a Happy New Year letter to all our family and friends to tell them we love them (we’re just saving this years’ Christmas Cards for next year because we didn’t get to them), shopping for new boots for the kids, FINALLY remembering to pick up contacts from the optometrist, grocery shopping, relaxing at home with the family.  Maybe another bonfire, since there were lots of graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate left over from the party!

Linking up at Plain Grace– come join us!

  Keep the Faith.

angela pea

Uncategorized

Minutes – December 16, 2013

Angela Pea8 Comments

::faithful – praying for my kids, especially my youngest son; for my and Mr. Pea’s discernment on the ‘next step’; for my friend Angela’s Mom.  

::news from the cancer battlefield – Week Three is amazing.  I can now walk at regular speed, touch my toes and I even climbed four flights of stairs on Saturday evening.  Whoot!!  I’m getting more restful sleep, and I’m back at work.

I had my follow-up visit with my oncologist last Thursday, and we reviewed the nitty-gritty details of the pathology report.  (The earlier information that lymph nodes were clear was delivered by phone.)  All in all, it was good, as good as one can get with a ULMS diagnosis – Stage 1A. The only troubling marker was the density of the cancer cells.  When samples are studied for pathology, technicians count the number of cancer cells in a 10x field area under the microscope.  Normally, (Ha!  as if cancer can be called ‘normal’) classification is based upon 5 cells per 10x; 5-10 cells per 10x; more than 10 per 10x; or too many to count.  My count was 25 cancer cells with ‘multiple and bizarre nuclei’.  Now we are tasked with deciding on a follow-up plan.  I have two choices:  monitor like crazy and pray that it doesn’t come back; or embrace a round of chemotherapy, monitor like crazy and pray that it doesn’t come back.  There aren’t any clear-cut studies to show that chemotherapy significantly decreases the risk of recurrence.  Why?   Because most women with ULMS don’t discover it until it has progressed to Stage II or higher, and they die…there isn’t a big pool of survivors to study.  (BTW, as I am now a statistical anomaly, I will put myself in the registry of survivors for tracking and further clinical studies.  I have nothing to lose by helping the doctors and scientists figure out a way to kill this beast!)

Mr. Pea and I are studying all the information we can find, praying and asking a million questions. The one important question I FORGOT to ask Dr. Cloven after she explained the alternatives is what she would recommend.  Can you believe I forgot that?  I’ll call her this week to ask.  We will meet with Dr. Cloven again on January 2 to make a final decision.  My inclination is to hedge my bets for long-term survival and rock a wig for several months until my hair grows back.

::creative – More Christmas Surprises!! Knitting, knitting, knitting.  It’s soothing.

::pondering – Parenting.  It’s sometimes very, very hard.  And time goes by so fast.

::delicious – Easy does it again this week.

  • Hamburgers, Broccoli Salad
  • Grilled Chicken, Mixed Veggies
  • Macaroni and Cheese, Spinach Salad
  • Chicken Spaghetti and some sort of Veggie
  • Tacos, Black Beans
  • Out for Dinner – Italian!!
  • Something I will Figure Out Later in the Week

::fun – Mr. Pea and I visited Sundance Square Saturday Night.  The Fort Worth Jazz Orchestra had a free concert – Duke Ellington’s renditions of “The Nutcracker”.  It was so wonderful to sit outside in the crisp air, see the Christmas lights, enjoy the music and watch all the little kids visiting with Santa.

::fashionable – I have on HIGH HEELS today!! Oh Joy! I’ve missed my sassy shoes the past three weeks.  Black pencil skirt, cardigan and a cheery, Christmas-y green shell. And a jangly, sparkly crystal bracelet.   I’m getting my hair cut this week.  I’ve let it grow out considerably over the past year and it’s well past my shoulder blades now.  I’m going to get it cut much shorter, so that when it gets REALLY short (ha!) in a few months, it won’t be such a shock to everyone.

::looking ahead – Wrapping presents, mailing cards (maybe), The German Club Christmas Party on Saturday.  A house full of 50+ teenagers, bonfire and lots of good German food.  Don’t worry – it won’t be a stress on me.  Teachers and students bring all the food, set up and clean up.  All we provide is the house and firewood.  We’ve been hosting this shindig for years and it is always so much fun!! 

Linking up at Plain Grace– come join us!

  Keep the Faith.

angela pea

minutes

Minutes – December 9, 2013

Angela Pea3 Comments

::faithful – praying for my kids, for my husband, for friends and for the intentions of many.  Praying especially hard for my Mom because my Grandma died yesterday.  She was 98 years old and her health has been failing for a long time.  While this does make her passing easier to understand, it doesn’t ease the pain of the loss, especially for my Mom.  

::news from the cancer battlefield – Week Two has been much better.  I am getting stronger every day and am off of the pain medications. The last bits of the super glue are slowly coming off of my skin and the bruises are fading quickly. I am still incredibly tired at the end of the day, but it’s a GOOD kind of tired and not just a sore kind of tired.

::creative – More Christmas Surprises!!

::pondering – Still awestruck at the grace and gift of clean pathology.  How will I use this gift of life? (In addition to someday being the Coolest Grandma Ever.)

::delicious – I’m BACK!!  Oh yes.  Simple menus with lots of help, but I’m happily putting meals on the table for my family again along with reheating some of the food that friends have brought over.

  • Another Batch of Turkey Vegetable Soup, Biscuits
  • Ranch Chicken Casserole from the freezer, spinach salad
  • Baked Ziti with Zucchini
  • Grilled Ham and Cheese with Tomato Soup
  • Pizza – frozen – with a tossed salad
  • Breakfast for Dinner – scrambled eggs with ham and cheese, pancakes
  • Swedish Meatballs (frozen), mashed potatoes and broccoli

::fun – We’ve been housebound for several days from the ice storm.  Fun has included playing outside, chopping firewood and teaching the boys how to drive on ice, none of which I actually participated in.  I just watched from the warm coziness of the sofa. 🙂  Not much other fun this week as we are up to our eyeballs in preparations for finals.

::fashionable – I’m still wearing pajama pants during the day, as they are warm, soft and have a relaxed waist over the incision sites. I have graduated from the fuzzy bathrobe, though, and have been putting on a clean tee-shirt with the pajama pants.  I even ventured into makeup application, a hair style other than a pony tail and freshly painted toenails this week!

::looking ahead – More follow-up appointments with the oncologist, maybe back to work when the ice melts.  Christmas Shopping! 

Linking up at Plain Grace– come join us!

  Keep the Faith.

angela pea