Pre-Surgery Update

Hello world! Here is another quick update about the medical fun stuff I've been working with lately! My surgery is scheduled for next Tuesday, August 30th.

I had to go to my primary doctor yesterday for an EKG, just to make sure my heart is healthy before surgery. And it mostly is! The last time I was at the doctor, he said that I have a heart murmur. He thought it was just because of how severely anemic I am, so he wasn't concerned. I asked him if the murmur pointed to an aortic aneurysm, because I have a biological father and sister who both passed away from an aortic aneurysm fairly young. He said no, a murmur isn't a sign of that at all. He said high blood pressure is a sign, and my blood pressure is great! But he went ahead and referred me to a cardiologist for an echo (ultrasound of my heart), to look for an aortic aneurysm, just in case! And the cardiologist will also look for a reason for my murmur, to make sure it's only from my anemia and low blood count. But the actual heart function is great, very healthy! I am good to go for surgery on Tuesday! I also had some blood drawn today, but I can't imagine anything they're testing will come out poorly and prevent me from having my surgery.

Just another explanation on what my surgery actually is, since I've been getting more questions about it lately. It's called a D&C, dilation and curettage. Basically, they are going to dilate my cervix and cut away part of the tumor/uterine lining for further testing. They'll also measure it to see how much the tumor has shrunk, and gauge my progress with my cancer shrinking pills. My doctor mentioned that the best case scenario would be for the tumor to have shrunk so much that when he goes in to take part of it, it will be small enough that he can just remove the entire thing. It's not expected though, so we'll see! We'll get to the doctor's office at 10am, my surgery is at noon. I'll be under general anesthesia, the procedure is supposed to take about 30 minutes. I'll have to hang out at the doctor's office for a few hours after, to come off the anesthesia and they will monitor me for excessive bleeding. I took the rest of the week off work, since I'm not sure how much I'll be bleeding and I don't want to deal with that at work. But then I'll be good to go! If they aren't able to just remove the whole tumor then, I'll stay on my cancer pills and most likely have another appointment in another couple months. 

All your thoughts and prayers are appreciated! I'll post another update after I have my surgery, to let know everyone know how it went! Thanks for reading! =)

Medical Progress Report

Hello again everyone! I'm back with a little progress report. =)

General update - I saw my primary doctor this morning, after getting some blood drawn and tested last week. My iron levels are still very low, but they are higher than the previous test. Good progress there. My thyroid function is still low, but higher than it was previously. Good progress there too. My cholesterol is fine, in the perfectly normal range. I also had my sugars checked, for diabetes. Sugars were great! Not diabetic, not even pre-diabetic. Awesome news there! Especially since diabetes runs in my family. I will continue to stay on all my current medications, and I'll go back for more blood work in 3 months.

Cancer update - I have an appointment with my oncologist for the last week of August. At that time, I'm going in for a minor out-patient surgery. It's called a D&C, dilation and curettage. Basically, they are going to dilate my cervix and cut away part of the tumor/uterine lining for further testing. They'll also measure it to see how much the tumor has shrunk, and gauge my progress with my cancer shrinking pills. My doctor mentioned that the best case scenario would be for the tumor to have shrunk so much that when he goes in to take part of it, it will be small enough that he can just remove the entire thing. It's not expected though, so we'll see! We'll get to the doctor's office at 10am, my surgery is at noon. I'll be under general anesthesia, the procedure is supposed to take about 30 minutes. I'll have to hang out at the doctor's office for a few hours after, to come off the anesthesia and they will monitor me for excessive bleeding. After that I might be off work for a couple days to recover, but then I should be good! If they aren't able to just remove the whole tumor then, I'll stay on my cancer pills and most likely have another appointment in another couple months. 

Besides that, I'm working on losing weight and being healthier. We're hoping that I'll be cancer free at the year mark, and that we'll get the all clear to try to start having babies then, and I want to be healthier when that time comes! Thank you guys for reading and keeping updated with my crazy health stuff! 

Until next time! =) 
#notallcancerispink

Health Problems..

A little back story – My husband and I have been trying to get pregnant since we got married in March 2010. We stopped using any sort of prevention, but didn't have any luck. A year after we got married, I decided to go to a doctor, just to see if anything was wrong. My monthly periods had been all over the place since before we got married, never regular, never normal. I saw a doctor who just told me that I needed to lose about 150lb, and then I'd be able to get pregnant. He didn't examine me or run any tests, was rude and mean. It turned me off from going to another doctor for a while.

About 2.5 years ago, I went to visit an ob/gyn for a normal pap smear, and to talk to him about why we hadn't been able to get pregnant after over 4 years of trying. That doctor told me that I had PCOS, polycystic ovarian syndrome, meaning that my eggs were turning into cysts in my ovaries, instead of dropping down to be fertilized. He told me to focus on losing weight, even though it would be hard with PCOS, but after I lost some weight we could focus on helping me get pregnant. He didn't run any tests, told me that my pap results came back normal, and just told me to work hard at losing weight.

We moved to Corpus Christi about a year and a half ago. A few months ago, I decided to find a new ob/gyn. I had lost some weight after seeing the last doctor, but then I'd gained it all back after we moved down here. I decided I just wanted to see a new doctor, since it had been a while.

I went to the doctor at the end of April. She was really great. I told her that my previous doctor had diagnosed me with PCOS, but hadn't done any tests to confirm the diagnosis. She told me that it was stupid and lazy to not confirm a diagnosis, so she'd run some tests to try and find out what's going on with my body. My periods had still be completely random, longer than they should be, more frequent.

She gave me a pap/pelvic exam, and told me that I had polyps on/in my cervix. They're small growths, fairly common in women of fertile age. She said she wanted to schedule another appointment to biopsy the polyps, just as a precaution. She also told me that my uterus was large for someone who had never had children, so she recommended an ultrasound. She made a joke that I could already be pregnant! She had my blood taken, first to check for pregnancy, and to check me for anemia, check my thyroid levels. With my weight, and my difficulty in losing weight and keeping it off, she was actually upset that none of my previous doctors had ever thought to check my thyroid.

I went in just a few days later to get the polyps removed and biopsied. She also had the results of my blood work back. I'm not pregnant, but I am anemic, and I should start taking iron supplements immediately. She also says that my thyroid level is off the charts in a bad way, so I need to start taking thyroid medication the next day. But having a crap thyroid is one of the reasons my weight has been hard to control and hard to lose. This thyroid medication isn't a weight loss medication, but I should have an easier time being healthy and active once it levels out my thyroid. I was so excited to finally have a doctor who was taking me seriously, who wasn't just telling me to lose weight and all my problems would be fixed!

They scheduled my ultrasound for week later, a Friday. The Wednesday before my ultrasound appointment, my doctor called me and said she had the pap and biopsy results in, and she wanted to see me the next day. She said the results were concerning. They moved my ultrasound appointment for the next afternoon, since I was already going to be coming in to talk to the doctor about my results. Brian took off work to go with me, because he is awesome. We go in the next afternoon, and my doctor decides to do the ultrasound first, and then go over the results after. First, she tells me that she doesn't think I have PCOS. Then She tells me that I have a mass in my uterus. It's a rather large mass, and the reason my uterus is larger than it should me. She also told me that my pap and polyp biopsy results came back, and they aren't good. I have AGUS results, which are atypical glandular cells of undetermined significance. Those results only show up in 0.18-0.74% of all pap smears. The biopsy showed that the mass is stage 1 adenocarcinoma, endometrioid type. Meaning, the mass in my uterus is a tumor. And it's cancer.

My doctor recommended that I go get an MRI done immediately, and scheduled me for the next appointment they had, the following Monday. Once she got the MRI results, she'd call me back in. I went to the MRI, and saw my doctor the next day. She had bad news, and a little good news. The bad news – it's definitely a tumor. It extends from my cervix all the way to the back of my uterus. And the results definitely point to a malignant tumor. The good news – it hasn't spread. It's completely contained in my uterus. She said that she believed I'd either have to have my uterus removed, or they would remove the tumor and treat me with chemo or radiation. Both of those options pointed to us not being able to have children in the future.

She referred me to a gynecological oncologist that she knows in San Antonio, who would be able to get me in soon. I had to wait and get a referral from my primary care provider, but they were able to get me in the Monday after I called. He wrote up my referral right away, and said he'd expect the oncologist to give me a full hysterectomy within the month. Not really what I was hoping to hear, but thanks to his immediate referral, I had an appointment with the gynecological oncologist this past Friday.

We drove 2.5 hours away to see the gynecological oncologist. He was great. He looked over the biopsy results, and the MRI results. He said the MRI results were a little confusing, so he also examined me and gave me an ultrasound. Just so he could also get a sense of what was going on in my uterus. He said that I DO have PCOS, polycystic ovarian syndrome. And one of the problems with PCOS is that it limits my body's production of progesterone, and gives my body too much estrogen, which caused this cancer and tumor. But his first concern is taking care of the cancer, and then we can start treating the PCOS. He said that, with women my age, he's had great results with treating this type of cancer without surgery, without chemo, without radiation. I start taking a pill twice a day, and if everything goes right, this medication will shrink the tumor until it completely rids my body of the cancer! It usually takes about a year of taking this medication, but at the end, I should be cancer free and maintain my fertility! Short of them telling me that this was all a mistake, this was the best possible news I could have gotten!

I started taking this new medication Saturday, and I'm scheduled to go back to the oncologist in 3.5 months. At that appointment, I'll have a cell biopsy test and they'll measure the tumor again. Hopefully, it will have already started shrinking. Now, there is a chance that it won't shrink on this medication, and if that happens, we'll discuss other options like surgery at that time. But in my oncologist's experience, a woman taking this medication has never had tumor growth or spreading. So, that's where we're at right now. I'm living with cancer, taking my medications, and going back in 3.5 months. I'm going to focus on being healthier and losing weight, and kicking cancer in the ass! =)

30 Day Plan

     It's been a while, little blog. I haven't been in the mood to blog lately. I don't even know why, actually. I wanted to start off the new year with a better attitude on eating right and working out. And I didn't, not really.. I didn't take it seriously. I want the weight to fall off on it's own. And it didn't. Unfortunately.. How awesome would that be though?? And then, I was in vacation mode! My husband and I took an anniversary to New York City! It was AMAZING! I might write a post about it soon. We have some wonderful pictures, it was so much fun. =) We're already planning on going back at some point, and we're already excited about it!

     So, back to weight loss. It sucks. Haha! When we got back to real life, after vacation, and my hubs and I got serious. We have committed to a year without. He is doing a year without alcohol, and I'm doing a year without sweets. It's a big commitment! And it hasn't been easy so far, but we're doing it! We started right after we got back, so it's been a month so far. For the first two weeks, I stuck to my diet and walked with the baby while I was at work. And I lost 6lb in those two weeks! After that, I wasn't as serious as I should've been. Luckily, my weight stayed the same. But I decided to try again! It's not failing if you keep trying!

     My little sister and my best friend are both graduating in May. My sister is graduating high school on May 14th, and my best friend is graduating college on May 16th. So, I'm road-tripping to Albuquerque and then Tucson next month. I have two weeks (and a couple days) until I leave! Sadly, hubby can't come with me. He's way too busy at work. I'm bummed, we love to road-trip together. 

     Anyways, yesterday I made a plan! A 14 day plan and a 30 day plan. A workout plan, with some eating goals. I'm alternating cardio and strength training. The 14 day plan is for the next two weeks until I leave for graduations. The 30 day plan is for right after I get back from the graduations.

     For the first 10 days, I'm doing 30 minutes on the treadmill and 10 reps of 21 different strength exercises. For the second 10 days, I'm bumping it up to 45 minutes on the treadmill and 20 reps. And for the last 10 days, an hour on the treadmill and 30 reps of each strength training exercise. After my 30 days, I'm going to reevaluate my plan. Make changes, maybe mix up the workout. I'm not sure. But that's what the 30 day plan is for, to see how things go!

     I'm also going to be following a low card diet. I'm not eating bread/pasta/rice/potatoes/etc, except with dinner. Breakfast is eggs with meat and cheese. Lunch is either salad or leftovers. Snacks can be fruit, cheese, nuts, etc. And then dinner is whatever I make for dinner, as long as I keep my portions correct.

     I'm 75lb away from my goal weight. Last Christmas, I told my hubby that by next Christmas I either want to be pregnant or at my goal weight. So, I need to get to it! =) I can't really do anything to get pregnant, unless I lose some weight. I can control one of those things! Also, my uncle is getting married the weekend of Thanksgiving. I don't want to be at this weight the first time I see my extended family in over 5 years. I don't want to be this weight now, so I definitely don't want to be this weight in almost 7 months from now.

     I feel like my 30 day plan is a good start. Today was day one, and I feel pretty good! I walked 30 minutes on the treadmill, and I guess all the walking when did on our vacation to NYC helped me kick up my walking pace a little. I used to only be able to keep pace at 2.5 mph, with sporadic bursts of 3mph. Today, I walked the full 30 min at 3mph. That might seem like a big deal to anyone else, but it's a change for me! =) I weighed myself this morning, and I'm not going to weight myself again until my 2 weeks are up. I'm hoping to lose 5lb! I guess I'll update my blog again after I weigh myself again. Yay!

New Year, New Me - Blah, Blah, Blah..

Everyone talks about starting new and starting fresh in the new year. Like it's a automatic do-over or restart button. And this year, for the first time, that's exactly how I'm going to treat it! I'm not saying I'm going to magically be a brand new person when the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Day. But I'm going to start making changes. I want 2015 and to be a better year for me, for my husband, for my family. We have all these plans, all these dreams. And unless we make changes, and stick with them, we're going to be in the this same boat at the beginning of 2016. So, I'm making changes! I want to lose weight, I want to be healthy, I want to get pregnant, I want to be a mom, I want to be out of debt, I want to have money in savings, I want to start living a better life. And it's going to happen! =) I'm going to try and post on this blog more often, updates on life and crafty things. I'm still knitting and have a couple big projects that I'm working on. They're gifts, but neither person reads my blog, so I should be able to post about them. And I might use this blog as a place to vent about dieting and budgets.. haha! We've moved twice in 15 months, so we're having to work our way out of debt. I might bitch about it here. Pardon my French.. And I have to go back to low carb dieting, so that might come up too.. But when I look back on the year 2015, I want to be proud of the changes I made this week. I don't want to look back and think about how different things would've been if I had stuck with my changes. I've done that before. And it sucks. So, not this year! I know it will be hard, I know I will want to give up, I know I will try to make excuses. But with my strong will (believe me, I'm a bit of a pain) and my wonderful husband to back me up, this is going to be our best year yet! =)

Nerdy Baby Hats

Hello blogging world! I know I have been pretty absent lately. I got sick of blogging about my diet and exercise, especially since it seemed to plateau recently. I took a break from blogging and focused on crafting. A few weeks ago, a friend announced on Facebook that he is going to be a dad in January! My wonderful husband had the idea to talk to my friend about making a bunch of nerdy baby hats for him to add to his baby registry. I talked to my friend and he liked the idea, so I go to work! I just finished a couple days ago, and posted all the hats in my etsy shop. I actually hadn't been keeping up with my shop, so I'm excited to have things for sale again. I'm actually going to clean out all the things I've made over the last few years, and post a bunch of stuff fairly cheaply, to free up some space! I have scarves, hats, a couple baby blankets, and cowls.. I need to clean out my stash! =] But I also want to share the adorably nerdy baby hats I made.

First, a Link hat from Legend of Zelda.

 A very cunning Jayne hat from Firefly.

 Aang from The Last Airbender

 Kirby from Pokemon, with felt eyes and cheeks.

 A Pokeball! With felt detail on the front. 

Yoda hat! This might be my favorite, I used a seed stitch to make it thick and "knobbly".

And then a boobie beanie, for breastfeeding mom! My future kids will wear these, I think they're awesome! 

Check out my Etsy Shop to see all these, and message me if you'd like one! I also plan on posting a bunch of stuff, so keep an eye for that too! We're moving and I need to downsize the amount of stuff we have! Plus, we're moving farther South again, into the heat. Not much need for a lot of knit items..

Tulle Wreath Tutorial!

      Last year, I made my grandfather-in-law a patriotic tulle wreath for his door at the home he lives in. He loved it, and his daughter pulled it out to put on his door again this year. One of the lovely workers at his home asked for instructions, so her boy scout troop can make wreaths. I'm more than happy to oblige! The tulle wreaths are fairly simple to make, and it's kinda hard to mess them up, a perfect craft for a first time wreath maker, back when I made my first one. Here we go!

Tulle Wreath Tutorial

Supplies -
One Styrofoam wreath form, 3 wooden stars (painted white), red tulle, white tulle, blue tulle

 Simple Instructions -

-Cut your tulle into long strips, depending on how big your wreath form is and how large you want the tulle to "fluff" out when you're done. Don't be afraid to cut your strips too long, it's very easy to trim your wreath after you make it! Hobby Lobby sells spools of tulle, I recommend buying that. It's very easy to cut your strips of tulle as you unwind the spool. Try a few different lengths, to find what size you want on your wreath, and then cut all your strips that same length. I don't really have a set amount of tulle to have on hand. I bought one spool of each color, and cut the entire spool into long strips, and used almost all of them for my first wreath. It all depends on how big your wreath forms are and how long you cut your strips of tulle.

-If you are making a flag wreath, it helps to use a sharpie to mark the one quarter of your wreath that is going to be blue. It doesn't have to be perfect, tulle is very forgiving and covers many mistakes! =]
You don't have to mark where your stripes are going to be, it's easier to just count how many strips of tulle you are using for each stripe. You can always go make and add more tulle strips to make your stripes thicker and even them out.

-Take one strip of tulle (I always start with the blue and make my blue quarter of my wreath first) and tie it around your wreath, then knot it. I've tried a bunch of different ways to tie and knot it, and honestly, it doesn't matter. =] After you've tied a few strips to your wreath, you're going to squish the strips together. That's the best way I can think to describe it, slide the strips together so the squish next to each other and you can't see the color of your wreath form through your tulle strips.

-Keep going! Keep tying and squishing your tulle together!

-Once you've finished with your quarter of blue, switch to red or white. At this point, I found it most helpful to count how many strips of one color I used to make one stripe, so I could use the same number for the next color stripe. That helps keep your stripes even and consistent.
With the first flag wreath I made, I didn't have a set amount of stripes in mind, so I just switched back and forth between red and white until I ran out of room. With the second wreath, I wanted 13 stripes. So I started with five strips of tulle for each stripe, and then added for tulle to each stripe until they were all thick and I didn't have anymore space.

-Now that you've added all your tulle and you can't see any wreath form between your strips of tulle, you can judge if your tulle is too long, or too full around. If it is, don't worry! Just take some scissors and "trim" your tulle around the outside, to your desired length. =] Hopefully, most of your strips were about the same length and you don't have to trim it too much! (Above, you can see the difference between the two wreaths where the strips are different lengths. One long, and one short.)

-Then, you're ready to add your stars! I painted wooden stars, but you could also cut stars out of foam board. With an adult, use a hot-glue gun to attach your stars to the blue quarter of your wreath. I found it best to add a thin layer to both the tulle and the star, and then press them firmly together. Move quickly, so your glue doesn't dry before you have a chance to attach your stars. I used three stars for my wreath, but you'll have to decide what you like, based on the size of your wreath and your stars.

-While your hot-glue is drying, grab on strip of each color of tulle. Knot one end and braid the colors together and knot the other end, for a quick and easy way to hang your wreath. After your stars are dry and secure, flip your wreath over and hot-glue both ends near the top of your wreath. Once the glue is dry, you can hang up and enjoy your tulle wreath!


I hope you enjoy my tutorial! I think this might be the first one I've ever written. =] If you have any questions, or if you noticed a mistake, please let me know! And enjoy!!