It's been busy around here

I have had friends visiting from back home the last 10 days. The kids had a blast and the adults did too.

I'm off tomorrow for a visit back to Winnipeg. The girls and I will be gone until August 10th. So I will be back then, hopefully with lots to tell LOL. I am bursting with excitment getting to see family and friends PLUS I scored some Nickelback tickets WOOOOHOOOO!

See you in a few weeks, have fun everyone.

A must read.

We hear a lot about breast cancer these days. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetimes, and there are millions living with it in the U.S. today alone. But did you know that there is more than one type of breast cancer?

I didn’t. I thought that breast cancer was all the same. I figured that if I did my monthly breast self-exams, and found no lump, I’d be fine.

Oops. It turns out that you don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer. Six weeks ago, I went to my OB/GYN because my breast felt funny. It was red, hot, inflamed, and the skin looked…funny. But there was no lump, so I wasn’t worried. I should have been. After a round of antibiotics didn’t clear up the inflammation, my doctor sent me to a breast specialist and did a skin punch biopsy. That test showed that I have inflammatory breast cancer, a very aggressive cancer that can be deadly.

Inflammatory breast cancer is often misdiagnosed as mastitis because many doctors have never seen it before and consider it rare. “Rare” or not, there are over 100,000 women in the U.S. with this cancer right now; only half will survive five years. Please call your OB/GYN if you experience several of the following symptoms in your breast, or any unusual changes: redness, rapid increase in size of one breast, persistent itching of breast or nipple, thickening of breast tissue, stabbing pain, soreness, swelling under the arm, dimpling or ridging (for example, when you take your bra off, the bra marks stay – for a while), flattening or retracting of the nipple, or a texture that looks or feels like an orange (called peau d’orange). Ask if your GYN is familiar with inflammatory breast cancer, and tell her that you’re concerned and want to come in to rule it out.

There is more than one kind of breast cancer. Inflammatory breast cancer is the most aggressive form of breast cancer out there, and early detection is critical. It’s not usually detected by mammogram. It does not usually present with a lump. It may be overlooked with all of the changes that our breasts undergo during the years when we’re pregnant and/or nursing our little ones. It’s important not to miss this one.

Inflammatory breast cancer is detected by women and their doctors who notice a change in one of their breasts. If you notice a change, call your doctor today. Tell her about it. Tell her that you have a friend with this disease, and it’s trying to kill her. Now you know what I wish I had known before six weeks ago.

You don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer.



P.S. Feel free to steal this post too. I’d be happy for anyone in the blogosphere to take it and put it on their site, no questions asked. Dress it up, dress it down, let it run around the place barefoot. I don’t care. But I want the word to get out. I don’t want another young mom — or old man — or anyone in between — to have to stare at this thing on their chest and wonder, is it mastitis? Is it a rash? Am I overreacting? This cancer moves FAST, and early detection and treatment is critical for survival.

Thank you.

This is written by a woman WhyMommy who discovered IBC while b/f her DS. Her strength is amazing to say the least. This is her link she is always looking for supportive comments and survivor stories. http://toddlerplanet.wordpress.com/
I still have not figure out how to insert a link, I try to no avail :-(

Footsteps In the Night

So I'm up a little late tonight. As I sit here at the computer playing that darn iLike Music Challenge on Facebook I hear footsteps. I can hear them trod across the living room floor as I am in the basement, they go to one side and come back. I then hear these steps come thru the kitchen and down the stairs into the basement. I look to see Kamryn hands full of blankie, her baby, Simba and Chicka Chicka Blue. So I said to her what ya doing? She flashes me her toothless grin and says "nothing" she then mumbles something I'm still not quite sure of what it was, sits down on the couch all la-di-da. Ya know it's only 1:15am LMAO. So I go and pull back the covers on my bed call her and she climbs in and goes to sleep.

I guess my sleepwalking genes may have been passed on? I use to have conversations with my Mom and her B/F all the time in the middle of the night. The most famous was when the B/F was sitting on the "throne" late one night. I was none the wiser come the next day, B/F learned to lock the door even late at night.

So we will see if Kamryn remembers any of this LOL, and with that note I'mm off to bed.

Infertility is not a word I ever thought I would associate with myself. That was until 7 years ago. I will admit Morgyn was my oops baby, not planned but certainly not unwanted. When I met Bruce, Morgyn and I were a package deal and he took us lock stock and barrel.

It wasn't until we decided to add to our family that it became apparent that something was wrong. Things had never really been right after Morgyn, but my GP chalked it up to breastfeeding. I had not had a regular cycle in 5 years, I started to gain weight and I had all these odd little things going on. I had switched to a new GP and it became apparent for lack of better words she was as useless as tits on a bull. I bugged her for almost a year that um we have not used any sort of birth control in 3years and nothing was happening. She finally referred us to a fertility clinic, my 1st visit with Dr. Lee was uneventful but interesting. This was a man who had no qualms about wearing a pink sweater, funky pointed shoes and carrying a "purse" of sorts. Little did I realize that this man would work miracles on my screwed up body. A diagnose was quick to come PCOS, or Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (if I could figure out how to link I would but alas I haven't). When I read up on it, it all made sense, that was ME.

I took us 3 months which was relatively short after 4 long years of trying to get pregnant with Kamryn. I had to use Clomid/Metformin and Basal Body Temperature. When that stick showed 2 lines I was in shock. Our experience getting pregnant with Jillian was easier since we knew what the problem was and what drugs worked. I did conceive on my own but sadly we miscarried. That was one of the hardest times of our lives.

Lately I have been reading of others who have had infertility issues. When I read their stories I think I almost had it easy. We were fortunate that after 3 months of pills both times we were able to conceive 2 great girls. I think at times I stop and go WOW can I consider myself in the same books of those that have spent $1000's on IVF to achieve their dreams.

I can only say that without Dr. Lee I don't know where we would be today. I left my appointments with him feeling hope and that he truly cared. When we lost our angel baby he comforted us and made a promise that it would happen again. My only wish it that all couple out there end up with a Dr like we had, and that they end up with a precious baby in their arms.

A Big Scary

ANT!!! Yes ant. The girls and I went for a walk the other day with my Aunt, she lives right by the River Valley and it's a nice albeit gruelling walk when you are out of shape but I digress. My girls LOVE their Great-Aunt and what we discovered on our trek is they do not love ANTS!!

As we walked Morgyn was riding a bike and the chain came off, so as we stand there trying to fix it Kamryn looks down to discover she is standing on an ANT hill! To say the kid went ape shit is an understatment. OMG I have never seen her freak out like this. So we get her calmed down and continue on. As we head back up the hill to come home I figure it would be easier to let Jillian walk rather than push her, she was game and doing quite well UNTIL she saw ants. Well I guess it was a case of monkey see monkey do. UGH. She freaks on me. Kamryn then again has another freak out when she discovers another ant on her leg. I guess the 1st time I have to give her she was standing on a ant hill, the 2nd time it was just one. It was to say the least a very long walk.

The next day we were helping my Aunt with yard work. All was going well until Jillian spotted ants! Well she goes ape shit again on me. I'm sure the neighbours thought we were beating her or something. I had to feel bad for the poor flowers she was standing on. So needless to say by this time I'm ready to kick some Kamryn butt since basically until this weekend Jillian had no problem with ants.

So there we have it my kids are scared of ants and I am never going walking with them again.

My Graduate

Sure it is only from kindergarten but it was a nice day for the kids. The cap and gown was cute, they had an assembly and got their diplomas and now Kamryn is done her 1st year of school (sniff sniff). I don't think this year could have went any quicker? Time moved doubly fast this year. One started elementary school another Jr high. Kamryn thoroughly enjoyed her 1st year of school, she has waited for quite a few years. Watching her big sister go every day made it even more of a "want". We lucked out in having an awesome teacher, Mrs. A rocked. It has been 3 days and Kamryn already misses her. I hope next years teacher is a good one, I had heard rumors of the teacher who could possibly be teaching 1st grade and was scared. But it seems we have a new one coming in so I am hoping all will go well.

Our long weekend has been very quiet. There are Canada Day fireworks tonight, unfortunately they don't start till 11pm which is a little too late for Jillian. It stays bright very late these days. But we had a yummy bar-b-que, my Aunt makes the best potato salad. Tomorrow I am off to see if I can get a patio set, the picnic table that was here when we moved in is a little rickety looking well that and my cousins dog thought it quite the chew toy last summer.