So I just got done baking oatmeal raisin cookies, and now I‘m watching Criminal Minds. DeAndre is napping, so I’m just lounging around before I have to cook and unpack our clothes. We went to Houston this weekend, and had such a great time.
Friday morning I had an appointment at MD Anderson. It was like a ten minute follow-up psychiatry appointment. Just making sure I’m not depressed anymore and such. I have to go back for my actual brain cancer follow up in a couple of weeks. I always dread those because I never want to hear that the tumor has grown back and I have to do chemo. Ugh.
Anyway, I don’t really remember what we did the rest of the day Friday. Probably just hung out at my mom’s house. Saturday we went to record this video that Just So You Know is allowing all of the brain cancer survivors who registered for the run to do. They were at a brain tumor conference I went to last year, and it was explained to me as basically a video that you record, either alone or with your family, and you answer questions or just talk. And when you die, your family will always have that to remember you, which I think is really cool.
It was thirty minutes long, and I swore I wasn’t going to cry… But I was so emotional. lol. I don’t know, sometimes when I talk about everything that I’ve been through, think about how the tumor almost always grows back, and think about how it will affect my family and close friends… It just makes me cry. It really sucks.
Anyway, after we recorded the video I went to visit one of the ladies from my support group in hospice. She is one of my favorite people in the group. She and her father were so kind. I also found her so amazing because she has the same grade and type of tumor that I have, and she lived 30 years with it! She had 4 or 5 brain surgeries, but she still worked, got married, had a family. It just always made me feel like I still have a lot to look forward to. Unfortunately, her tumor stopped responding to chemotherapy and there was nothing else doctors could do.
I wasn’t sure if I would be okay visiting because I knew there was a possibility that I’d be freaking out and thinking, man this is what my tumor is going to do to me and my family one day. But she is such an awesome woman, I didn’t want to be selfish. And I was mostly okay. We stayed for like 15 minutes before I felt like I was about to start crying. She was to the point where she wasn’t walking or talking, and always on morphine because she was in so much pain. Her parents were there, and they were super sweet. I’m definitely keeping her in my prayers. I can’t imagine how hard that is.
On a less depressing note, after that we went to H.E.B. and bought stuff so my mom could make me shrimp macaroni salad. I asked for some for my birthday. lol. It was delicious. I made some Jiffy cornbread, and DeAndre wanted to eat the whole box. He’s just like my brother… obsessed with bread. Weirdos. lol.
Saturday morning we went to Run for the Rose. There were over 4,000 people! This year my team was my mom, Al, and me. I ran the 5k in 39:36 minutes, which isn’t really good but now I have a time to beat for the next run. It was so cool. There were so many people who had lost their loved ones, but still made a team to run for them and donate to brain cancer research.
The run is actually really awesome. There was a woman named Dr. Marnie Rose, and after she died her mother started this run and to date they have raised over $4 million that has gone toward brain tumor research. That’s incredible. I had hoped to run into some of the people from my support group, but I didn’t 🙁 I did run into my old nurse, and that was awesome.
We went to the zoo for two hours after the run, and needless to say… my thighs still burn. lol. We had fun though. We met up with one of Al’s friends and his family. They were really cool. They had two kids and their boys were so cute and funny!
Any who, this past weekend was really amazing. I’m just so grateful for my family. Al is such an incredible husband, and my mom such an incredible mom. I love them so much. They are so supportive. Like, even though they don’t experience cancer in the same way that I do, I know that I’m never alone and that’s pretty cool.
My birthday is in a couple of days and my mom is coming to Fort Worth to visit… Really it’s to see my nephew and not for my birthday. lol. Either way, she’s coming. We’re going to see Captain America and go to dinner. I didn’t want to do much because our one year anniversary is next month, and I’d rather spend money on that. I think for our anniversary, we’re going to get tattoos together. I’m super excited.
Welp, DeAndre is up. Gotta run!
