Thanks for the Mammories....

     We all know that chemotherapy causes hair loss, but did you know that it also affects your nails?   Many patients are often surprised by the effects some chemotherapy drugs have on their fingernails and toenails. The good news is that this doesn’t occur with every type of chemotherapy, and it doesn't necessarily happen to everyone.         So what happens? Chemotherapy tends to cause the nail beds to become discolored. N ails often become brittle and dry causing them to break and crack easily.  As you can see on the right, this is happening to me. Five of my finger nails have starting cracking much lower than I would like. They get caught on everything, and I can't scratch, which makes my skin itch all over just thinking about it!      Lines can also develop in the nail related to each cycle of chemotherapy. Beau's lines occur as you nail temporarily stops growing. The lines then grow out with you na...

I no longer have to go to IU Simon Cancer Center every three weeks, so I can do some of my infusions at our local hospital.  During Treatment #8, I got to spend time with my dear friend Becky. Luke & Lydia also walked over after school to join me.      Do blonds have more fun? Well, I decided maybe it was time for me to find out!  I tried some platinum hair just in time for a fun little vacation with some amazing friends!        So you know how you and your girlfriends talk about going on a girls' trip, but that is all you end up doing, talking about it? Well we did it! Stupid cancer started throwing curve balls at me, so we stopped talking about it and planned it!   We decided on Key Largo as our destination because while searching breastcancerfreebies.com , I found something I had always wanted to do. Oma's Dolphin Swim Program at Dolphinsplus had a free opportunity for me to swim with dolphins. I ab...

I am a little behind on posting!  Life got busy after my last post with Christmas and some traveling.  So let's get up to speed.  A fun Christmas Day tradition...goofy picture This Christmas Season was so very special to me. Christmas gifts and time with family take on a new meaning when you have been diagnosed with Stage 4 Cancer.    New Year's Eve at IU Simon Cancer Center With the kids out of school for break, I was so excited that they could go with me to Treatment #7.  Sadly, when we arrived, we found out that they could not go back with me.  Flu season had hit, and they would not allow children in the infusion area.  But they were troopers, hanging out together in the waiting room for over three hours while visions of Cayman danced in their heads. Two days later, off we went for a week's vacation in Grand Cayman.  I cannot explain what a blessing this trip was for Ben and me.  I have wished for a long time tha...