MONDAY MENTIONABLES - A Humbling Experience

Now that the "big event" - our 5K fundraiser - is over, let's see if I can start to keep this blog up a bit more! :)  I just finished writing to my missionary son (who is serving an LDS mission in Veracruz, Mexico, and whom I haven't seen in over a year!).  I write to him weekly, and this letter was filled with details about the event.  If you'll indulge me, I thought I'd share what I wrote to him.  This group is a breast cancer group, with members from different religions, and some from no religion at all, so I hope this doesn't offend anyone - but, my whole involvement in this group is a spiritual experience for me, so that's what I'll share.  Also, if things are unfamiliar, I'll try to put in parenthesis the explanation...

Michael,

My heart is full today, as I look back on the week I've had.  The help of Heavenly Father was manifest in so many things.  It was a week that all of the work we've done to prepare for our 5K culminated in a wonderful event.  I'm just now realizing how blessed we were.  About halfway through the week - as more and more people signed up to come and participate in the 5K, I began to worry that we could really pull this off!  There were 1001 things that had to be done before Saturday.  I really didn't think we could do it.

Two days before the 5K, we found out that the gifts that we had ordered for the survivors would not come until after the event, so I had to scramble to find something, order it, and have it shipped overnight.  Friday, Colette and Bethanie came over to help put the gifts together. I had a LONG list of items that had to be done that day, and my visiting teacher (in my church, women are assigned to visit each other once a month) showed up at my front door.  She looked at my list, got on her phone, and called her husband.  Within just a few minutes, many of those critical items were crossed off because they took care of them.  I was so humbled.  I still didn't get to sleep until 2:30 Saturday morning, but as I went to sleep, I asked Heavenly Father to please let me get 2 hours of restful sleep - I really needed it.  2 hours later, I woke up to my alarm, and got ready to go.  I had slept wonderfully.  Amazing really!  We got over to the park to set up at 6:30 am, and there were about 30 Walmart employees who came to help.  They just started to unload and set up, and again I was humbled by their willingness to help.  Registration was insane and I was super stressed - being pulled all different directions by people asking questions.  Again, the Walmart employees took over, and things got done.  So many people showed up!  I don't know what the final count was, but I think it was around 500!  Can you imagine that many people, coming together to raise money and awareness for our tiny little group??  Even now, I can't think about it without tears streaming down my face.  I so wish you could have seen it, Michael.  The weather was perfect, the people were happy, no one complained about anything, the survivors were happy, and everyone helped.  Those things just don't happen with a huge event like this - it's really a miracle.  And I'm so humbled and grateful.  Heavenly Father wants this group to grow and be able to help many more women - I can just feel His love and support.  It's SO amazing. :)

I hope everyone who attended the 5K felt our love, and enjoyed the event.  Thanks to all of the sponsors and vendors who worked so hard and were so generous.  And a HUGE shout out to everyone who helped in any way - the Board of Lifting Hearts, our kids and spouses, the members - everyone!

I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve this amazing group of women.  It has added meaning to my breast cancer journey, and is something good that came out of something bad in my life.  Serving others is absolutely the way to happiness and fulfillment in this life.

MONDAY MENTIONABLES - We Need Your Help at Michael's Eagle Project for Lifting Hearts!!!

I'm super excited to announce that we have the opportunity to help a wonderful Eagle Scout candidate with his Eagle Project - Rice Warming Bags for our Lifting Hearts support group!  He will be working on chemo blankets, heart pillows, and eye pillows as well.  Here is the information:

Julie Thurman is one of our Lifting Hearts members.  Her son Michael is doing the Eagle Project and wants to donate the items made during his project to Lifting Hearts to give to breast cancer patients.  (How sweet is that?!)

Time:  Come help any time from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.

 

Place:  LDS church. 1050 N. 600 W., Orem

 

Also, we are constantly in need of these items, so if you want to donate either money, or supplies to Lifting Hearts, we'd be grateful.

 

Supply list:

rice, flannel, fleece, thread, cardstock, ribbon, flax seed, MONEY, etc. ;)

 

I hope to see all of you at Michael's Eagle Project on Wednesday!  It should be fun!!!

 

Thanks! :)

MONDAY MENTIONABLES - Titles We Give Ourselves

Last Thursday, at our support meeting, we heard from a breast cancer survivor - a member of Lifting Hearts. And there is something that she said that has caused me to reevaluated my life, and my priorities. As she introduced herself, she listed all of her titles, some of which were... Wife ~ Mother ~ Sister ~ Friend ~Psychologist ~ Cancer Survivor. Then, at one point in her talk, she acknowledged that we were all survivors, and that is a great thing. But, then she cautioned us to not let the title of "survivor" be the first title we give ourselves.

The next day, I saw this quote by Goethe: "Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least." Now, I'm not saying that some of the things we do in our lives - some of the roles and titles we take on - are the "least", but they definitely are less important than other roles.

I've done a lot of thinking this week, and I've made some pretty heavy decisions:

1. I'm stepping away from a charity I've been volunteering at - Four of Hearts. I was on the board of directors - their financial director - and now... I'm not. It took up a tremendous amount of time, and although the things I did with this charity were good, compared to time with my family, they were the "least".

2. I've also decided to get a part time job. This is a hard decision for me - although I'm feeling so much better after dealing with breast cancer, and I can now work with no problem, I've enjoyed the time I've had at home, working on things that are important to me. However, my family needs the extra income, and so... I'm going back to work.

The one thing that I can't, and won't, give up, is my time spent on Lifting Hearts. This group, with all of the wonderful survivors I've met, is my lifeline. I am happy when I'm helping the women in this group, and I don't ever want to quite. These decisions are going to change my life a bit - the efforts that I put into Four of Hearts will now be directed at producing an income for my family that will go to college tuition and funding LDS missions for my kids. I'll have to arrangement my time a bit differently, depending on the job I get, so that I'll have time for my family (first) and Lifting Hearts (second). All of these changes are making me a bit nervous.

However, I'm happy with the changes I've made so far. I'm happy to focus more on my family. I'm still a survivor, but that title has moved down on my list a little bit. And the more important titles are at the top - I'm a wife and a mother first. It's time to move the "survivor" title down the list, take the things I've learned from being a survivor, and apply them to the rest of my life.

-Kara

MONDAY MOTIVATION - Tell Your Story

In the past few months, I've been getting ready for a conference that is being held in March in Salt Lake City. It's called Story@Home, and I'm on the planning board. In fact, I'm in charge of SWAG - those cool bags that you get when you go to conferences like this (full of lots of fun stuff). The conference is for anyone who is interested in STORY... family historians, bloggers, story-tellers. If you would love to learn to tell your story, you should come!

Because of this conference, I've been pretty immersed in the whole "STORY" theme lately, and so I thought I'd just throw out a reminder about how important it is to record your cancer story. I know for myself, it was very therapeutic. I kept a blog for a few years, and it became a place where I could just dump everything that was happening to me, sift through it all, and make sense of some very crazy things. I was able to vent to my blog, and it felt good! I had a few followers - people who read my blog. And I'd like to think - at least, I hope - that I helped someone besides myself.

There are so many ways to tell your story... blogs, journals, scrapbooking, published books, voice recording, etc. Just pick one, and DO IT! I promise... it will make you feel better, and help to get those cancer monsters to take a vacation.

If you can't figure out where to start, or if you think you can't remember everything, just ask for my help. I've got a wonderful little tool called a Story Starter that has tons of questions especially designed to bring those memories to the surface.

Oh, and if you are interested in attending the Story@Home conference, here's the information... I hope to see you there!

Story@Home Conference
March 9-10, 2012
Salt Lake City, UT
Hosted by Cherish Bound (online publishing company, with a full line of story-telling helps), Family Search (LDS Geneology website), and the Ashton Family Foundation.

Day one: Main Stage - we will welcome several national story-tellers, some pretty amazing (and famous) bloggers, and some genealogy experts to speak. Also, that day, you'll get to go through a full story class taught by experts from Cherish Bound. Main Stage will be held in the LDS Conference Center Theater.

Day two: A full day of classes - pick whatever you'd like to hear. Again, we'll have guest presenters who will blow your socks off! You'll love it, I promise. The classes will be held in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (formally, the Hotel Utah).

Here's the website for registration: https://www.cherishbound.com/blog/storyathome/

SUPER IMPORTANT: If you register by February 14th, you'll be entered to win an extra ticket for a friend! AND... if you register before the 25th of February, you'll get an extra special SWAG bag. :) The conference is $79 for both days. WHAT A DEAL!!!

If you are going... let me know - I'd love to talk to you there.

Just learning HOW to tell a story will help you with your cancer story. Your cancer journey is an important time in your life. I'm sure, like me, you learned lots of lessons, and recognized many blessings. Your children, and your children's children will want to hear about your journey. Don't let them down!

MONDAY MENTIONABLES - Embracing Pain

I've been thinking about the idea of pain for quite a long time. I've had lots of surgeries in the last 3 years, and I know how my body reacts and how long it takes for me to feel better. It's the pain during recovery that I've never been able to gauge.

I had a surgery last Wednesday, and I knew ahead of time that the recovery would be painful. And, actually, the day after surgery wasn't too bad... I was sore, but that was no surprise. The surprise came in the afternoon when a wall of pain slammed into me. It really hasn't let up since then. So, I've been trying to figure out how to deal with the pain. With this surgery, the pain is from the bruising. Imagine your worst bruise ever, and then multiply that by 1000. No, really. That's what this is like. I have to wear a compression garment as well, so that's just like someone pushing on the bruises. So, with all this pain, it's easy for me to become overwhelmed. If I started to think about what will happen when the pain pills wear off, I start to panic.

That's what got me thinking about embracing the pain. What I mean is this: if I really concentrate, I can focus on just the parts of my body where the pain is - and that helps me realize that the pain is really only in a few different spots. And yes... it really hurts in those few spots, but the rest of me is fine. I know it sounds weird, but it seems to work. If I embrace the pain in just the few spots where it really hurts, then my mind is forced to focus and it doesn't panic me as much. Publilius Syrus, a Roman author from the 1st century said this: “The pain of the mind is worse than the pain of the body”. Maybe he didn't mean it exactly like this, but I believe it's true - the mind can easily enlarge the pain of the body if we don't control our thoughts.

I've Googled Embracing Pain During Healing, and there isn't much, but one person said that when we embrace the pain, then suddenly it's not so painful. I'm trying to decide if that's true, or if it's just that embracing the pain helps to control how I react to it. Another quote I read: “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.” I guess that says it all - yes, there will be pain from recovering (and other things in our lives), but we don't have to suffer from that pain - or, at least, our suffering can be minimized.

Anyway, I'd like to get your thoughts on this - have any of you ever tried to embrace the pain during healing? If so, has it helped?

MONDAY MENTIONABLES - The Act of Returning To Normal

I'm BACK! I've been recovering from a surgery I had last Monday, and I promised my family that I wouldn't do ANYTHING but rest and recover. So, this blog, along with everything else, was set aside for a week.

In that week, I've gone through an interesting recovery. My surgery was to remove my Gall Bladder and my Ovaries. It was done laparoscopically (this is a hard word to spell!), and so I've got 5 small incisions on my abdomen. The first 2 days after the surgery, I was in so much pain, because of the air they used to blow up my stomach so they could work on it. The air had to go somewhere, and it came out through my shoulders, arms, and neck. Talk about pain! Wow. Then, my throat was damaged quite a bit from a scope I had done, and then from the air tube during the surgery. So, my throat has gone from painful, to congested, to scratchy, etc. After those first few days, the aches and pains lessened, but then the incisions started to hurt. Everyone says that day 3 and 4 are the worst, and those are the days that I just felt all around yucky. After that, I spent the next two days very sick to my stomach. After that disappeared, I had the bowel problems that come with every surgery. So, each day or two, it's been something completely different. It's been a week, and so I've got people asking me if I've recovered yet. How do you know when you've recovered from surgery? Is it when you can get up and move around for most of the day without problems? Is it when your bowels have recovered their normal functions? Or maybe when your bruises have faded to that awful yellow color?

My recoveries (I've had a "few" - from 14 surgeries in the last 3 years) have been interesting. I've learned that when the doctor tells me that I'll feel ok in 3-4 days, that I've basically got to double that. So, I'll feel "better" in around 7-8 days. But "better" doesn't mean normal, at least for me. The pain might be mostly gone, along with the bruising and bandages, but I'm not usually back to normal for quite awhile. Normal for me means feeling all the way better, and being able to do whatever I want to do with no side affects. It always takes some time for me to feel like I'm back to my normal self. Today, for example, I woke up with some pain, and took a pain killer early this morning. I had something to eat, and then got ready for the day. I felt pretty good. I didn't do much today - just some computer work, some reading, some visiting, etc. But, by about 4:00 pm, I was back to being exhausted and hurting. So, no... I'm not back to normal yet.

If there is one thing I've learned from all of the surgeries and recoveries, it's this... listen to what your body is telling you. Make sure you take the time that is necessary for your recovery, and REST. If you don't, and you try to push things along too fast, you won't bounce back as well, and that can cause problems. The dictionary defines recovery as "the act of returning to normal". All I'm saying is the returning to normal takes time, so be patient.

MONDAY MENTIONABLES - Fostering Miracles, Molding Character

This last Saturday, our Lifting Hearts group held a breast cancer awareness fair, in cooperation with Fresh Market in American Fork. It was a busy day, and I had a great time talking to women about breast cancer. What made it even more enjoyable were the "sister survivors" that I spent the day with.

I've been thinking about those women who shared the day with me, and how much I admire their attitudes, their courage, and their perseverance. It's not easy to deal with a cancer diagnosis, but it is possible. To get through cancer with hope and patience is also possible.

Zig Ziglar once said: "You cannot tailor make your situation in life, but you can tailor make your attitudes to fit those situations."

This is what I see in almost every survivor I meet. They are women who have taken a bad situation - one that can be overpowering, terrifying, and way too big to handle, and they've turned that situation into something that will foster miracles, and mold their characters.

I so admire those qualities that these women hold - love, charity, patience, courage, sisterly kindness - the list is almost endless.

Thanks for sharing the day with me, and helping me remember what watching out for each other means.

Here's to you, my fellow survivors!

"Crises refine life. In them you discover what you are." - Allan K. Chalmers

MONDAY MENTIONABLES and TUESDAY TIDINGS - Supporting Each Other

I hope you all had a great long weekend, and a fun Labor Day. Today's post is kind of a combination for yesterday and today. This week, at our support meeting, we will be announcing our NEW NAME and NEW LOGO for the support group. Most of you can see that we've changed names, since the name of our blog is different, but this is our official little "kick-off" for the "new" group.

A little background here... 15 months ago, Colette, Bethanie, and I, along with Dr. Jon Bishop and his staff, created a breast cancer support group called Sister Survivors. We've had a great year of monthly support meetings, activities, and service projects. We also launched, as part of our group, a one-on-one mentoring program, called Bosom Buddies. Over the last year, our numbers have grown to over 75 survivors, and we've tried to provide a support group that can help those survivors to get through their treatments, and move beyond that - to find health, and joy in our lives again. It's been a wonderful thing for the 3 of us to be involved with other survivors in our quest to help and give back after our own cancer journeys.

Earlier this year, Dr. Bishop and his new office staff decided to split from our group, and form another group here in Utah Valley. The reason for the split is simply our differing ideas of what a survivor needs to "move on", and get her life back in order. There is no right or wrong answer to that, but as survivors ourselves, Colette, Bethanie, and I felt like we had a unique perspective and would be able to really connect on a very important level with each survivor. Our doctors and other medical personnel who help us through our cancer journeys play a VERY important and vital role in our lives for the short time that we are going through treatments. However, at some point, we as survivors, must step away from that team and take back control of our lives, and move forward. Moving forward can be a challenge, though. It isn't easy to get past the tests, treatments, surgeries, and check-ups. But, it is necessary. We can't rely on those things forever. Cancer is a traumatizing event in our lives, and we know from experience that being able to talk to other survivors is key to our recovery. So, it seems that a support group for cancer survivors, run by survivors, is best. We do stay in contact with doctors - oncologists, surgeons, radiologists, and plastic surgeons - so that we can provide the best support and information to our members.

So, after having run Sister Survivors for so long, we found ourselves without a name or identity, but still supporting over 75 women with monthly meetings and one-on-one mentoring. We've continued to run "the support group" since the split in February. We had a very difficult time coming up with a new name - we went through literally hundreds of suggestions. Over and over. Nothing clicked. And then, one day I was listening to the song Bethanie wrote last year for the big kick off of Sister Survivors support group. As I listened to that beautiful song again, the words had a big impact on me, and a few of those words stood out. When I mentioned those words to the other members of our board, they all got excited - we had finally found our new identity!

I thought today, I would post the words of Bethanie's song here, and give you a chance to read through it. This song has special meaning to all members of Sister Survivors - now Lifting Hearts breast cancer support group. Enjoy! (these words and the song are copyrighted, and all rights reserved. Please do not re-post, or share, anywhere else without asking our permission. Thank you.)

WISDOM'S SISTER

In the twilight of the evening,
On a dark and starry night
Walked a woman with a candle,
Spreading dancing trails of light
Her hand stretched out to succor
All those touched by cancer's call
When the words that shatter senses
Make kinswomen of us all

Wisdom's sister, take my hand,
Give me grace to understand
Wisdom's sister, walk beside me when I falter,
On a path I never planned

With the dawn, the light spreads outward,
Granting warmth and light to earth
Lifting hearts and hands together,
Giving place for a rebirth
Share the walk and share the wisdom,
Of a road both long and real
A simple gift, a sweet renewal,
Comes with trusting we can heal

Wisdom's sister, take my hand,
Give me grace to understand
Wisdom's sister, walk beside me when I falter,
On a path I never planned
Sister, help me understand
Wisdom's sister, take my hand.

As you can see, the words of Bethanie's song really support our ideas of helping other survivors. Anyone who is a member of this support group - or any support group - is automatically put in the position of succoring other survivors. (The light spreads outward, granting warmth and light). What a gift!

Please join us for our monthly support meeting - this Thursday night, Sept 8th, at 7:00 pm, at our regular meeting place - the law offices of Fillmore Spencer attorneys. 3301 No. University Ave. (Jamestown area), Provo. If you have any questions, please call me @ (801)360-4666.

Have a great day!

-Kara

MONDAY MENTIONABLES - Chemo Suggestions

Recently, a acquaintance of mine started chemo. Her husband asked for some help, and so I came up with a list of chemo suggestions - things that I learned while being on chemo. These are pretty basic. There are plenty more, but I didn't want to overwhelm them on their first chemo appointment.

I thought I'd include the list I sent them here. I'd like to compile a list of suggestions from other people too, so please, if you have a minute, make a comment on this blog post, and leave your suggestions. Or, email me with your list at kara(dot)liftinghearts(at)gmail.com.

1. Make sure the patient eats something before she goes. It's best to not eat greasy stuff. She'll be there for quite awhile, and you don't want her to get sick to her stomach from lack of food.

2. Most chemo places have drinks and snacks, but take something just in case - water bottle, and snacks (crackers or cookies).

3. Make sure the patient sucks on ice during the chemo treatment - the nurses told me that it would help me to keep from getting sores in my mouth.

4. Take a blanket - not too heavy. But, something that will keep her comfortable. A fleece lap blanket is perfect. They should have those at the chemo center, too.

5. Take a book, or your laptop - whatever you need to keep you busy. You'll be there for awhile. My treatments took about 5-6 hours.

6. The patient needs a "chemo partner" - someone to stay there with her, especially on that first visit.

7. Remember, they'll give her anti-nausea drugs before the chemo drugs. They should help a lot. I think I took 4 different drugs - two through the IV, and then two more when I got home.

8. Keep a journal of everything that happens. When she gets sick, how she feels, when she takes drugs, etc. That journal will be helpful when you go to her next chemo appointment, because the doctor will want to know how the chemo affected her. That's how they know to adjust it if it's too strong. So, write down everything.
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What can you add?

MONDAY MENTIONABLES - The Healing Power of Music

"When griping grief the heart doth wound, and doleful dumps the mind oppresses, then music, with her silver sound, with speedy help doth lend redress." -William Shakespeare

A few weeks ago, as I was waiting in a doctor's office for my son, I read an interesting article in a magazine called "Healthy Utah". The article was about the healing power of music. It was called "The Sound of Music - Health and Healing" by Sarah Sanders

I thought I'd share some of that article here...

Ms. Sanders sited a study at Tel Aviv University that "found that premature babies who listen to music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart may gain weight faster than those who don't." There have also been studies on the effects of happiness - laughter can open up blood vessels, allowing better circulation, and music also can impact your blood pressure and stress levels. Dr. Mike Miller, of the Maryland Medical Center said: "Turns out music may be one of the best de-stressors - either by playing or even listening to music. It gives us an overall feeling of good, well-being, a sense of euphoria in some cases."

"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." --Berthold Auerbach

In addition to this article that I read, I watched a NOVA episode on music. It was really amazing. The episode was called Musical Minds, and showed how the power of music can make the brain come alive. It followed 2 different people, one with autism and one with Tourette's syndrome. I watched in wonder as the individual with severe autism was able to play the most beautiful music on the piano. I'm a pianist, and I know how much work goes in to playing well. This man is able to listen to a highly complex piece of music once, and then play it back perfectly. During the time that he plays, he is the master of his universe. The man with Tourette's syndrome found that if he plays the drums, he isn't affected by Tourette's. He shakes and jerks severely until he picks up the drum sticks - and then he plays perfectly. And for the time that he is playing, he is the master of his universe.

Back to the article by Ms. Sanders... she talks about the "place music has with patients who have brain damage. Psychologist Ted Rubinstein said music is so complex that it's the only experience that activates almost every part of the brain. Music can simply bypass the brain's damaged language centers and create new pathways to the part of the brain that processes the music."

The fact that music can help us be healthy and heal intrigues me. I've noticed that, for years, whenever I'm upset, just about the only way I can calm down is by sitting down at the piano, and playing. And, my family knows that I'm upset by the way I play. I try to play songs that help me destress - they start out fast and furious, and finally I end up with soft, beautiful music. I've never wondered why I do this, until now - this article and the NOVA special can perhaps explain why.

I was taught as a child to enjoy and appreciate all kinds of music. I'm grateful for this, because different kinds of music affect me in different ways...

Rock music is what I listen to when I exercise and lift weights - it seems to get my blood pumping and keeps me going. Give me Yellowcard, Cold Play, All American Rejects - anything that has a strong beat.

When I'm walking in the morning - and the world is still and quiet - I listen to hymns played on the piano and violin. It calms my soul. I love Todd McCabe and April Moriarty's CDs.

When I'm in a romantic mood, I listen to jazz and blues. Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Frank Sinatra are some of my favorites.

When I'm feeling nostalgic, I turn on the Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, or James Taylor - there is nothing better!

Every once in a while, I'll listen to the soundtrack from a favorite movie - Harry Potter, Pirates, Lord of the Rings, Phantom of the Opera - these take me right back to the theater and the excitement of seeing those shows for the first time.

In a play called "The Mourning Bride" from 1697, Almeria says: "Music has charms to soothe a savage breast". I've heard it this way - "Music calms the savage beast". My son, Alex, knows this. Whenever I get angry with him, he picks up his guitar and just starts playing. I get quite distracted when he does this, and he knows it. He knows how much I love to just sit and listen to him play. Smart kid.

What about you? Have you noticed the effects of music - can it calm you, make you feel better? What is your favorite music? Before you leave the blog today, check out the playlist at the bottom of the blog - these are songs that our members chose to share - these are the songs that help them feel better.

Have a lovely, musical, day!

-Kara

MONDAY MENTIONABLES - A Restorative Retreat

Why is it important to talk with other breast cancer survivors? Well, I've learned over the past year that there are times when I just simply need to talk things over with women who have been through what I've been through. And I've had that opportunity several times.

The most recent opportunity I had happened this past weekend. I was invited to go on a breast cancer retreat, put on by a wonderful non-profit group here is Utah, called Image Reborn. (Even though it is head-quartered here in Utah, I believe their retreats are open to anyone - check out the information on their website: imagerebornfoundation.org)

This particular retreat was for young survivors - those 45 years of age and younger. I just barely slipped in there at age 45 (and counting). I'm glad I was able to attend and talk to younger women - I can relate a little bit more with the issues in this age group.

Let me tell you how we were pampered this weekend...

The setting was lovely - a beautiful home in the mountains near Park City. The weather was perfect - warm and sunny during the day, with those cool Utah nights. Each morning, we woke to see hot air balloons in the sky.

We watched with fascination the family of deer in the back yard the first night. The home with just incredible.


The food was good - it was nice to not have to worry about cooking meals for 3 days! There was fruit, yogurt, and sweet breads for breakfast. Lunch in the restaurant at the clubhouse - we ate next to the beautiful pool!

Dinners included different veggie pizzas, and Chicken Tetrazzini (with green chili peppers - YUM!). We got super good deserts, and I had dark chocolate stashed in my room for late night cravings, of course. ;-)

The activities included 3 things I've never experienced before...

1. Facials. Yes, you read that right. I've never had a facial before. Now I'm completely hooked.

Having a facial is what I call being pampered. The feel, the smell, the relaxation! Oh my!

2. Art Journaling. I've always wanted to try this. I know the importance of journaling, especially through your cancer journey, and this is just an unusual (but fun) way of doing that.

I worked on just one page in my art journal. I focused on what I was thinking about at the time - that even though cancer changed me a lot, I'm still me. It was fun to decorate the page, using quotes, and images. I made a list of things I've lost and gain. This is what it said:
Kara... minus boobs, hair, nails, veins, lashes, brows, and stomach. Plus implants, rest, wrinkles, scars, and love. Eguals - ME. A few of the quotes I used:

To thine own self be true - Shakespeare
Dare to be remarkable - Jane Gentry
For a long time, she flew only when she thought no one else was watching - Brian Andreas
I am just too much - Bette Davis


3. Restorative Yoga. This is something I've always thought I should try, but I've been too scared to take a class. And I have no idea what I'm doing, so I didn't think I could do it at home. I'm so glad I learned this wonderful exercise.

It brought my body in tune with my spirit - it was just incredible. We learned how to breath deeply and slowly, how to focus on each part of our bodies. Some things were hard for me, but it was mostly just wonderful, and just what our teacher claimed it would be - restorative.

Those three things will change my life, I think. I'm glad I got to experience them.

The company was made up of survivors - there were six of us. I got to meet the most fabulous ladies.

Beth, Jeni, B-Jo, Tonya, and Marci. This is the main reason I think I went to the retreat. I wanted to meet other survivors, and just take time to talk about issues we all face. I learned so many things, and hopefully helped someone as well. It was good to network.


When I got home, there were some neighbors visiting my family. As I told them about the retreat, I tried to explain WHY I felt like I needed to attend. It's hard to pinpoint the exact reason. All I know is that I feel better physically, and emotionally. It was a good thing for me. Survivors are the most amazing people - I'm so glad I was able to meet these ladies. They helped me so much.

MONDAY MENTIONABLES - The High Cost of Beauty...

Last night, while I was getting ready for bed, I realized that I've added some things to my "beauty" routine since I was diagnosed with cancer - things I don't think I EVER would have added if I didn't have to...

1. I'm using Latisse eyelash growing/thickening solution on my eyelashes at night.
2. I'm using LiBrow eyebrow growing/thickening solution on my eyebrows every day right before my makeup goes on.

These two items are a must in my routine now, because my eyelashes and eyebrows have not grown back like I wished. It's depressing. But, I will say that these two items really do work! I'll continue to use them.

3. I now have to use a concealer under my eye, because of the dark circles chemo gave me (thanks chemo).

Besides the dark circles under my eyes, I also have very uneven skin tone. I don't like to wear liquid foundation, but I do use a powder concealer that works pretty well. My favorite face makeup is Mary Kay Simply Flawless - I've been using it for years.

4. My skin looks much older now, so I am using two new (to me) products on my face - one in the morning and one at night...

Day: Olay Regenerist Regenerating Serum. My skin just sucks this in - I love it.

Night: Olay Regenerist Night Recovery Moisturizing Treatment. This smells so yummy. It's a little bit heavier than the Regenerating Serum, though.

5. I now have several scars, and I'm using Palmer's Cocoa Butter Oil on those. It's amazing.

6. To thicken my hair, I'm trying to remember to take vitamins and drink a whey protein shake. It does help.

Phew! ALL of that is added to what I normally do each day (makeup, hair care, etc.) I'm pretty high maintenance! And, the older I get, the higher the cost to keep me happy! Haha!

What kinds of products do you use now, since your cancer diagnosis? What is your #1 favorite product?