Pink October

So, it's Pink October once again.  Once upon a time, I would have acknowledged the month and moved on with my next thoughts.  Now, October has a whole new meaning for me.  At one time it was about me walking for "the cure" as a generic term. Now, it's walking "for the cure" for me and my family.  It's amazing what a year will bring.  The first time I walked my first breast cancer walk, it was for a "good cause".  Now when I walk a breast cancer walk, it is for my Mom, my Grandma, my Great Aunt, and for Myself.  Who knew what a difference a year or two would make.

I do not necessarily support all of the foundations that claim to "support breast cancer", but I do try to do my part to show support where I can.  I do not actively donate to breast cancer organizations, mostly because I have yet to find one that genuinely gives to the cause at hand.  I do participate in Dirty Girl Mud Runs and some Komen Walks, just because it is a cause I believe in - but not necessarily because it's a entity I support.  At any rate - the month is upon us.  I will not ask anyone to donate to any specific organization - but I do ask that you do your research before you donate to ensure your money donation is going to the best possible place it can go to.  Your money does not need to go towards advertising and "swag".  It needs to go towards research, donations to those that can't afford mammograms, and awareness.  Without awareness, there is no initiative.  Without initiative, there is no prevention.  Without prevention, there is no cure.

Ducks and Stuff

I may have mentioned before that we had a wild mallard pair visiting the backyard pond on a daily basis.  Momma Mallard decided the floating duckhouse would be the perfect place to lay her eggs.  Last Wednesday Momma Mallard emerged with 14 ducklings in tow!  A week later they are starting to explore a little on their own, but still sticking really close to Momma.  We can expect them to be here for a couple of months before they grow their wings and fly off to do their own thing.  It's so awesome!  Here is Momma Mallard with 10 of the babies (the other 4 must have been on her other side):

I am now 3 weeks out from surgery and feeling great.  I'm pretty much back to normal aside from some remaining sensitivity, but my oncologist says that should go away within the next couple of weeks.  The pathology report came back good and they think they got everything.  I start radiation treatments next week to zap anything they  may have missed.  It's every weekday for 5 1/2 weeks.  The kicker of it is I drive 45 minutes one way to get a 2 minute treatment - ha!  Luckily there aren't many side effects from radiation, so the only things that might happen is a sunburn like area at the treatment location and possibly some fatigue towards the end of the treatment rounds. I start on Tamoxifin next week as well, which I will be on for 5 years as a preventative to the breast cancer recurring.  All in all, I'm pretty good to go!

I did make a good accomplishment last month regarding my Flickr Photography Scavenger Hunt.  For the first time in the 2 years I've been playing I actually completed a round!  And my challenge photos got the most votes, to boot!  A silly feat, but a fun one.  You can see all of my photos and the scavenger hunt list if you want.  :)

And now that we have our first day of no rain in I don't know how long, I'll try to get some updated duckling photos to post.  :)

Spring is in the Air!

Ahh spring is in the air!  In the last week I've actually been enticed enough to pick up the camera and snap some shots (see below). We had our first good thunderstorm of the year today and the grass is more green than brown again. Jason has been prepping the mower for his 6 acre mowing sprees and the garden is partially tilled.  This is, by far, my favorite time of the year.  New life, fresh smells and porch dwelling becomes the norm over tv watching - bliss!  I even sat on the back porch swing for a couple of hours yesterday reading and got quite a nice sunburn on my arms and face.  And finished a book too - on a windy day in broad day light - have I mentioned how much the Kindle rules?!

To regress a bit, at the end of February, one month after my 35th birthday, I had a routine mammogram.  The results landed me back in the Women's Diagnostic Center to do maginifactions due to microcalcifications that were found.  The next day led me to a breast biopsy.  And then the next day led me to a diagnosis of breast cancer. What?!  Yeah, that was exactly my reaction.  Fast forward two weeks later after an MRI and meeting with my surgeon and it was confirmed. Though I'm very lucky.  Diagnosis of DCIS grade 3 at a size of 3.1cm, which basically means non-invasive and caught at one of the earliest stages possible, much to my relief.  So I'm scheduled for a lumpectomy and sentinal node biopsy on April 14th, out-patient sugery, with 33 days of radiation and 5 years on Tamoxifin as a preventative.  All in all, not bad for what it is.  At this point I'm just waiting for the surgery to be done and recovery to begin.

In the meantime, I'm embracing spring!  We're making our summer plans, deciding what we are going to do with the yard, expanding the back deck and looking forward to our first spring and full summer at the new homestead, which we so love!  We see so much wildlife here it's awesome. And the peace and quite, compared to neighborhood living, is rockin'!

Speaking of wildlife and our awesome new homestead, here are a few photos to get a peak into our world.  :)