On Saturday, it will be ONE YEAR since I finished all treatments.  This is my so-called first "cancerversary".  Hallelujah!  Thank you God!  Some of you may be confused and think I've celebrated my "one year" anniversary before this - but that was actually my one year in remission on Dec. 2.  So, I've got two big days that I can celebrate each year.  Which is fine by me!  I love celebrations, especially when they are about kicking some cancer booty!  

So, what's changed in a year?  Well, this time last year I was eating mashed potatoes and milk shakes, and I was battling a sore throat from radiation.  BLECH.  Yeah mashed taters and ice cream are good and all, but not really what a diet should solely consist of.  Lately I've been pretty focused on clean eating.  What's clean eating?  Well, my definition of it is that you are always alert about what you are putting into your body.  Check out Clean Eating Magazine - I LOVE this magazine!  I have been trying HARD to buy only organic meats, eggs, milk, and some vegetables.  I've also been trying to only eat whole grains.  I've been doing pretty darn good.  I am trying not to really eat as much meat anymore, but that's difficult when you have a carnivore for a husband.  ;)  Love you Ben, and don't be sorry about it - you're a guy for crying out loud.  That's what you love.  Why am I doing that?  Well my Mom gave me a book called "The Kind Diet" by Alicia Silverstone.  It's pretty tough to read, and it made me tear up a bit just because I am such an animal lover.  It's just awful what they do to animals that will be used for food these days, actually it's downright disgusting. If you read it, I bet you won't eat much meat anymore either.  I try to only buy meats that have the organic label, and there's certain ones that say "raised ethically" or "cage free".  The "Kind Diet" is pretty tough to follow though (it's Vegan, aka hardcore), so I'm trying my best to eat sensibly.  I can definitely feel a difference, especially in my digestive system.  Of course I let myself go crazy with food during the Holidays, but who doesn't???  If my Mama's dressing is in front of my face, you better bet your money I'm gonna eat it, and A LOT of it.  Gah that stuff should be illegal it's so flippin' good.  After the New Year, I got back into the gym (with the millions of other people, thank goodness they've fallen off the wagon and I can actually get a machine now!!!).  I have been going full force at least 3 times a week, every single week since then.  Ben has been running like a mad man too.  He can run 6 miles without stopping now - my goodness!  Way to go Ben!  I guess that's what 15+ years of intense soccer training will do for you.  His legs have no problem whatsoever running that far.  Hmmmm ME?  Not so much.  I'm not a runner by any means.  I stick to my elliptical machine and run/walk interval training.  So, we both are doing good with our food and exercise routines.

Other than that - I'm more mentally stable now.  Not like I was ever looney or anything, but if you can imagine going through cancer treatment...it's not the easiest thing on the mind!  I still have those thoughts that linger in the back of my mind about cancer, but they aren't as "loud" as they used to be.  Of course they ring loud and clear when a scan is on the horizon, and sure enough another one is just around the corner.  Scanxiety ahead...UGH.

Can yall start praying for me now?  Pretty please?

Hope all of you are having a fantastic week!  I can't believe it's almost March 1st...and you all know what that means?  Daylight savings and spring temps are on the way.  YAY!  Have a great weekend!!

Love to all,

I have just returned from a check up at my oncology office and everything looks fantastic!  My blood counts are perfect, and my thyroid levels are even perfect.  YAY!  I was pretty worried that I would have to go on thyroid medication there for a while, but I'm in the clear for now.  This is great news!  He prodded around in my neck and armpits, and didn't feel anything suspicious.  I told him that I already do that myself, and that I would know something way before he would.  ;)  Remember how I was really worried about the added radiation of CT Scans?  He said there is nothing to worry about.  The study that came out was for unnecessary CT scans that hospitals are doing now.  They are pretty much protocol, and he said that is what becomes dangerous.  He said CT scans show an unbelievable amount of radiation in babies, but not as much in adults.  He said because adults aren't growing anymore that it doesn't pose an increased risk of leukemia like it would in children.  It still makes me uneasy, but I won't require that many more scans so I'm sure I'll be fine.  He wants another CT scan on May 14th of the neck and chest, then I am hoping he'll push them back some more (once a year would be great!) but we'll cross that bridge when it gets here.

I wish I had my camera with me because I got some awesome pictures, but here is one from my blackberry of the beautiful snow we had on Friday night!  We got around 4 inches!  My parents and brother said they got almost 6"!  I hear Columbia, SC got around 8". That's insane!


I haven't seen anything as beautiful as the sky on Saturday morning in a while.  It was the most brilliant shade of blue, and it made the snow look like a scene out of a painting.  So, I've had my snow fix.  Time for warm weather...seriously, spring - quit playing around.  Hurry up!

Hope you are all having a great week.  I'm slammed at work, but that never seems to change anymore!  I guess that's a good thing!  Ben, Matt, Kristen and I are driving to the Noke this weekend to visit my sister-in-law Stephanie and her family.  Noke = Roanoke, Va.  They had some serious snow recently too, but it looks like we are in the clear for this weekend.  We haven't seen Steph, her husband Mike or our niece and nephew in so long...we're excited!

Thanks for the prayers everyone!  Thank you Ben for going with me today, love you sweetheart!

Love to all,

"Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own." -Robert Heinlein

I love Valentine's Day. Some people do not, but I personally do. If most of you haven't noticed by now there isn't a holiday that I don't enjoy. I love chocolate, champagne and most of all going out with my husband. We do something nice every single year. This year will be no different. We are going out to a nice dinner tomorrow night in downtown ATL.  I hear it offers the best seafood in town.  I can't wait!  Of course we had to make reservations over a week ago because in Atlanta you can forget it if you try to call the week of Valentine's day. Everything will be booked, it's insane in this town. That's why I laughed when I saw this online:


Hilarious!!  So true!  We actually are going at 8:30, not too bad.  Anyways, just wanted to say Happy Valentine's Day to you all.

They are calling for snow in Atlanta today...I will believe it when I see it!  I wish it would dump a few feet on us so we didn't have to go to work for a few days.  That would be so nice!  Our family and friends in Virginia and Maryland have been covered in snow for over a week.   It looks pretty, but I'm sure it's getting old by now.  So, we'll see what happens tonight!

I have my next follow up appointment on Tuesday at 11:45 am.  I already had blood work done yesterday so glad that's over with!  I'll let you all know how it goes!

Once again, HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Sending love to all you!

This past weekend 10 of us went out for Nicole's bachelorette party!  It was a BLAST, and it was great to see everyone.  I am paying for it today, but times like that are worth it.  Here are some pics!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Love to all,

This was posted on my forum yesterday - if this doesn't make you want to do something better with your life I don't know what will.  It has a few choice words that I apologize in advance about.

She's amazing.  This is motivation.  RIP Gabrielle Bouliane!


Gabrielle Bouliane (Austin Poetry Slam)

ELEVEN MONTHS.  Wow.  Who knew time could go by so quickly?  This time last year, I was just getting ready to get "beamed", aka radiation...Yikes!  Yes it was around this time last year I was at my wits end with chemo, and that chick was about to rip the hair out of my head making the radiation mask.  Oh my goodness I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy!  So, here I am - 11 months later.

I recently watched a presentation online that was very helpful and for the newly diagnosed I feel like it would be a fantastic resource.  The title was "Lymphoma in Your Teens, Twenties and Thirties: Coping After Treatment and Through Long Term Survivorship".  If you want to listen to it, click here.  The speaker is a long term survivor of Hodgkin's.  It spoke about how your life is before cancer, and how much it changes when you are diagnosed.  Here are two images from the presentation that really show how many things actually change in one's life:





That's a lot of new issues for someone to deal with, much less someone in their twenties.  It talked about how you are thrown into the world of hospitals, blood draws, scans, constant meetings with doctors, and how you are told where to be and when.  It really helped me realize how much time and effort went into my diagnosis and treatment.  It helped me realize that I am not alone in how I feel pretty much all the time.  It spoke about the 2 faces of cancer which is spot on:  1.  Celebration and Hope   2.  Uncertainty and Fear.  Well I feel like I am those 2 faces all the time.  I celebrate, but then I worry.  This is all just part of it.   I can't expect to move on and forget about the mind-blowing nightmare that happened 16 months ago.  It will take time...and I get that.  It seems as though each day that passes it gets a little easier.  But then I read about someone relapsing on my lymphoma forum, and it makes me extremely anxious.  I wonder if I should quit reading the forum, but then I realize that those people need encouragement and help just like I did, so I stay.  Anyways, I just thought I'd mention my thoughts...that's what this blog is for right?!  This time next month it will be one year since I finished treatment...YAY!  Can you believe it's almost February???  Crazy!

If any of you are wondering how I'm feeling these days I must say that I feel fabulous.  Ben and I both have been working out and eating right (most of the time!) and I feel like we are taking good care of ourselves.  We are both really looking forward to warmer weather so we can go exercise outside again!  I am still trying to lose my chemo weight...man it sticks like glue!  Or, it could be the fact that I am pushing 30...OMG did I really just say that?  AGGGHHHHHH!  Whatever, I'm curvier than I was before...Ben doesn't seem to mind at all and as long as he thinks I'm still smokin' hot that's all that matters right??!?!?!?!  ;)  My hair is looking good these days.  There are still a few of those scraggly hairs left on my head, but no one notices but me.  I think I might grow it long again - just because I can.  I hear a ponytail calling my name!

My next follow up is in February for blood work only.  Then, I am scheduled to have another scan in May.  Well, I'm not so sure about that.  Have any of you seen the news recently about the dangers of CT scans?  Turns out the give off A LOT more radiation than they originally thought.  That makes me SO angry.  How could they not know that from the beginning?  They are messing with peoples lives here, and that makes me furious!  I've had 5 total including my PET/CT's.  It's scary to think about.  There are many people out there who've had 50...even 100 scans.  I am very uncomfortable with that fact that I've had 5.  But, you have to think that it might be even more dangerous to not do scans.  So, I don't really know what to do.  We are going to talk to my oncologist about it in February.  I'll let you all know what we decide!

Hope you are all having a good week - and I don't know about yall but I am sooooooooo ready for spring!

Love to all,

Today is my niece's 16th Birthday...oh my goodness how time flies!  I remember when she was just a baby, and now she's driving...WOW.  She's a sweet, talented, beautiful young lady - and I just love her!

Lauren, I hope your day is fabulous...can't wait to celebrate in a few weeks!  I LOVE YOU!

Happy Friday everyone!


I wanted to post this.  I copied it from Fantabulously Frugal's website...and thought it was a great idea.  These people really need some help, and everyone has 5 or 10 bucks to spare.


1. Text "HAITI" to 90999 and donate $10 to the Red Cross.  This was set up by the U.S. State Department, so you know it's legit.  The $10 donation will be added to your next cell phone bill.

2. Text "Yele" to 501501 to donate $5 to Yele Haita, a charity set up by Wyclef Jean to help those people in his home country of Haiti.


3.  I can't do either of these because I have a company owned phone, so I donated through this website:
Doctors Without Borders



I hope all of you have a fantastic weekend!  Love to all,


Kerri

Gosh, I don't know what's going on but this is the second celebrity in 6 months to be diagnosed with Hodgkin's.  He is one of my favorite actors, and he was on my all-time favorite show Six Feet Under.  I literally cried when that show went off the air, it was so awesome!  I am hopeful that he will be as strong of a voice that Ethan Zohn has been.

Michael C. Hall has Cancer

Whew, after a busy Christmas and New Years, Ben and I are trying to get back into the swing of things. It's tough after having two full weeks off of work. I really was spoiled there at the end. We had a wonderful Christmas with my side of the family this year! We spent a lot of time at my parents house and at my Brothers house too. We had some really, really good food courtesy of my Mom and Dad - mmmmmmm they can cook! And it was nice just to relax, and spend time with them. We saw some friends as well, and went out a couple of times which was fun. Santa Claus was good to both Ben and I - I guess we were good last year! I had a blast until the Sat after Christmas when I started to feel weird. I knew it right when it hit me - I was getting sick. UGH. I HATE being sick. I honestly don't remember the last time I was sick. It was WAY before treatment last year. Anyways, I came down with a pretty nasty cold that Sunday, and it lasted well into the week. It made me miss the Lady Gaga concert - I was BEYOND upset. I love her music, and Kristen and Abbie said it was one of the best concerts they had ever seen. UGH thanks a lot stupid cold! So, I finally started to feel better on Wednesday and never made it into work that week. Ben and I left for Hilton Head Island on Thursday morning which was New Years Eve. We stayed at Kristen's parents condo, which is beautiful and so convenient to great restaurants and places to hang out. We went out that night with Kristen, Matt, Abbie, Steve and our friend Matty C who used to live in ATL, but lives in Hilton Head now. It was so much funnnnnnn!!!!!!!!! We had a meal of lobster tail and filet, then went bar hopping. We rang in the New Year at a place called Remy's - fun times! It sure beat the heck out of last New Years!  We had a great time in Hilton Head.  We stayed through the weekend and on Saturday we all went to Wild Wings to watch the Gamecocks play in the bowl game. Whatever the heck happened to them I don't know - they played terrible! Oh well! So, after the game Ben starts feeling bad. I was like OH NO! Yep, he got my nasty cold. He's still got it - he's been down for the count since Sat night.  I feel terrible for giving it to him, and I hope he feels better soon.  Say a little prayer for him!

Overall we had GREAT break and I am still wishing it wasn't over yet!

Here's some pics of Hilton Head!







Hope all of you are staying warm - it was 17 in "Hot"lanta this morning...What the heck? I can't stand it!

Happy New Year everyone, may 2010 be the best year ever!!!

Love to all,