December 30, 2008 - Looking Forward to a Healthy 2009

Happy New Year (almost!). Well, it's almost the new year, a time to reflect on the past year. 2008 was both good and bad. I continue to feel blessed that I have a loving, giving husband, and my family is simply awesome. I'm happy I've finally learned that I should pursue my passion for photography and get past the need for the use of only point-and-shoot cameras. I'm happy I was able to fight breast cancer with an 'it is what it is' attitude. I'm just a little sad that when I feel like my post-treatment days should be getting better, they seem to be getting worse. I wake up at night in pain from my back and shoulders, especially my left shoulder. I'll see the doc on Jan 5th, and hopefully he'll have an explanation, or he'll send me for an MRI on my shoulder(s). I had started working out, and of course I was sore. So I did a few workouts, and then I stopped to let the soreness go away. It hasn't gone away. It's been a week, so I guess it's not the workouts that are causing the soreness. More info for the doc!

Christmas was great. It was quiet. We were planning to celebrate with just my immediate family and my sister and her two boys, and my brother called on Christmas day and said he and his wife were coming over. Fortunately we had enough food, because Costco was closed. :-) My brother brought his new wife, Shauna. She is from China, and what a doll she is. We had a great day. Great food, too! We went to our daughter Jennifer's house a couple of days after Christmas and were able to spend time with our grandsons, Joe and Ryan. They are so darn cute!

Remember when I said my friend gave me a Macintosh G5 computer? Well, it's going to be set up in the next day or two, and I am SO EXCITED!!! My next update may be from my Mac. I can't wait to claim that I'm a Mac girl!

Cheers to the New Year. May yours be happy, and may you and yours be HEALTHY. Do those self checks, and encourage your loved ones to do the same!

Hugs,

Sandy

December 19, 2008 - Oh Meeya, Oh Maya

My animated workout partner, Maya, is killing me. I'm so glad I've finally found a groove and am working out nearly every day, but my arms are so sore that I still don't know whether to work them or rest them. I use my arms in my workout, of course, but I certainly don't push past pain. I remember stretches feeling great, not painful.

Maya expected me to do some yoga poses this morning. Ummmmm.... chemo seriously interrupted my balance, and it sucks. I guess I need to work on my core strength quite a bit more before I can attempt yoga again. I have a lifesize picture of me calling into work saying I broke my clavicle because I fell over while attempting the half moon pose on my living room floor!

Me, Clayton, and my buddy Lauri started a Dale Carnegie course last night called Managing Stress and Accelerating Success. It was pretty interesting. There are 4 four-hour courses, and I'm looking forward to the rest of them. I am so grateful to our Company for offering these courses (and for paying for them!). What an opportunity.

Thanks for your continued interest in my blog. I'm hoping full recovery after a tough year comes very soon.

Hugs,
Sandy

December 15, 2008 - Photograph What?

So I'm three months into this photography learning curve... I'm learning, but not fast enough for my taste. Fortunately I'm volunteering to take pictures wherever I can. I took photos at a few Christmas parties for some friends, and I got to volunteer at the Kids Konnected Holiday party. Once they see the pics, I'll post them here, too. Their website is www.kidskonnected.org.

I find that I do pretty well on the close-ups, but I really need help with my camera settings when transitioning from outside to inside, daytime to nighttime, etc. Time to see Todd at Bill's Cameras again! The most important thing I've learned is that I FINALLY found my passion! I really enjoy taking pictures.

I have a sweet, sweet friend who has given up a Mac G5 for the betterment of my photography career. I can hardly believe it, and I want to pinch myself to see if it's for real. I'm touched, to say the least.

I'm still extremely fatigued, but I'm still hanging in with Maya, my animated X-Box fitness partner. She pushes me, and it's just what I need.

We had a big family gathering on Saturday, and we did the Huntington Harbour Cruise of Lights. What a great time. Three years in a row....I guess it's becoming a tradition.

December 11, 2008 - Weakness isn't a Sign of Weakness

I'm getting through my days as normally as possible, meaning that I get up early, go to work, don't take many naps (only about 1 per week), etc. But I am so weak that sometimes it hurts to just hang my arms at my sides. I wake up in the night with my muscles aching, especially in my shoulders.

I pulled out my favorite workout partner and dusted her off today. Her name is Maya, and she hurts me. Maya lives in an interactive X-Box workout video called "Yourself Fitness". I spent 45 minutes with her today, focusing on my upper body. I thought my arms hurt before. Now they really hurt. I'll visit her daily, if not for only 15 minutes minimum.

Working out at home works much better for me when the weather is chilly. I'm much more motivated to get moving.

Still can't come close to doing the splits, but I try.

Later gators. Thanks for your continued interest in my blog. It means so much!

December 4, 2008 - Commit to it!

I set a goal to work out on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

I missed my workout Tuesday because I had a cup of coffee Monday night. When I finally got to sleep that night, it was 3 am. I couldn't function too well on Tuesday with just 3 1/2 hours sleep. I just quit coffee again!

I missed my workout Thursday (today) because I didn't go to the gym at 5 am, and I was really busy with work all day. I had my final photography class at 6 pm.

I can use all the excuses in the world, but the bottom line is I DIDN'T commit! Dang! Is there a commit pill I can take? "Doc, I have this problem. I can't commit." Doc says, "Here, take this!" Kiddin.

Let's see what Saturday brings!

December 1, 2008 - It's All Over But the Pain

I was so looking forward to being on the mend by now. I slept a lot this weekend, and I don't feel any better. It's time to quit whining and get serious about pushing through the pain.

I had felt so good about having a positive outlook during my treatments. It seems now that I'm always whining. I realized today (thanks Tino!) that during treatments I had a definite date to reach for. Now that treatments are over and I have no specific 'feel better' date planned, I'm getting impatient.

Here's my 'feel better' plan:

• Planned Completion Date: January 30, 2009
• Exercise Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays for at least 45 minutes
• Take vitamins
• Eat right
• Measured by: No shoulder/arm aches. Go up 2 flights of stairs without having fatigue in my legs. Do the splits. (Quit laughing! I'll post a photo of me doing them on 1/30/09!)

Had a great Thanksgiving. Had 19 folks at the house, and 13 of the 19 prepared food. Not a bad plan. :-) I highly recommend it.