Joey is Moved In!

Joey is officially an NAU Lumberjack! This weekend was move in weekend for NAU. Pam, Joe, Joey, and I drove up Friday night and stayed at the Embassy Suites on campus. Saturday was move in day! I was four days out from my chemo and did amazingly well. My stomach would get upset, but it seemed like I was able to keep it under better control this time versus my previous treatments. Maybe I'm just getting more used to the chemo or maybe I was just so excited about helping Joey move in that it was below the surface. At one point, Joey and I were walking through Target together and he gave me a hug and said, "I love you Mom. I'm glad you're here." Of course the tears started flowing. Any thought of a sick stomach was far from my mind at that point. I did get tired out pretty easily and had to take breaks, but overall I did great.

We had so much fun! Moving your child out from home for the first time is sure an emotional time. I was missing Joey before we'd even started moving him into the dorm and yet at the same time was feeling so excited for him. The dorm room seemed really nice. I'll post a couple of pictures Joey took below. His roommate wasn't there yet while we were moving in, but Joe went back in the evening and got to meet him. He seemed really nice and Joey has said they get along well, but he is planning on moving out to a fraternity in a week or so. I guess it might be nice for Joey to have the room to himself, but I would have preferred if he had a roommate to hang out with.





We did not buy that refrigerator! It comes with the dorm room. We have Skype set up on our and Joey's computer and he already called and checked in with me this morning. He seems very happy.

Not much change on the cancer front. I've been pretty wiped out today, but it is probably just the weekend catching up with me. Today is also the day my blood counts are at their lowest before they start rebounding. I had my repeat ultrasound and MRI last week and am awaiting the results. The ultrasound radiologist was certainly not encouraging. She had a technician in with her who was training to do breast ultrasounds and said things to her like, "You should never see skin thickening like this" and "This tissue looks very abnormal." UGH. I just told myself that she wasn't comparing it to the original ultrasound, so even though she didn't think it looked good, it could be an improvement over the first one. The doctors' appointments in Tucson were rescheduled for Wednesday. This was the first day both doctors could see me on the same day. We are taking reports and films from all the procedures I've had done and they will be able to tell me what direction things are going in. Good thoughts and prayers for positive news are greatly needed and appreciated. Every time in the past when we've worried about test results, they've been good. I hope the trend continues!

I went to a first meeting of a physical fitness program for cancer patients today. It is a program that was started by a personal trainer who had a client diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She worked with that client all through her treatment and really saw the need for and role of keeping physically fit for cancer patients. She and another personal trainer researched and found a program in California and have modeled theirs after it. It lasts for ten weeks and is held at the Mountainside Fitness Center here in Gilbert. We meet twice a week and they help you develop a personal fitness plan that you can continue with afterwards. Mountainside Fitness gives you a free membership for the ten weeks and the program is funded through grants and donations, so there is no cost to the people who participate. I was really excited about going. Before I was diagnosed, I used to go to the gym an average of three to four days a week. I haven't been at all since finding out I had cancer. I feel run down and tired a lot and am anxious to start doing something positive to change that. Plus, I got to meet six other women who have been battling cancer a lot longer than I have and they all had such positive attitudes. I think participating will not only help me physically, but emotionally, too.

Janaya plans to be home from work early tonight and Michael is off after working the playoff games all weekend, so we're planning a nice family dinner. It will be weird not having Joey at the dinner table, but nice to spend time with Janaya and Michael after being gone all weekend.

Bookclub tomorrow night! I've been looking forward to it for weeks!

That's it for now. I hope all is well with each of you. I'll update when we get back from Tucson.

Till next time,
Love you all tons!
Martha