Saturday, October 31, 2009

Wed Oct 28 to Fri Oct 30

These have been good days. I've spent time with good friends and talked to others on the phone and via e-mail. I very much enjoyed the time with my special small group on Thursday and we laughed a lot. I also attended a leaders meeting at church, which may be my last for a while.
Friday turned out to be a very good day. I had the opportunity to teach at school, on the new campus. This was fun and it was the first time I have worked there. I also was able to go to the staff morning tea at the original campus, followed by "drinks" after school. It was a great way of catching up with heaps of friends and I am grateful to all those lovely people at school, for being so supportive and caring. They gave me plenty of hugs and wished me well. I am only doing that one day of relief. I am glad I did it.
Even though I have to wait another week for surgery, it is finally feeling closer. I think the coming week will go quickly. Is this actually happening? Maybe to someone else!
I am very fortunate to have such lovely friends and family.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Good results - October 27

The results: I found out today that all my body scans are clear. This is great news.
I stayed home in the morning and then I spent some time with my friend Lee. We visited her mum in hospital. It was a good day.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Pre-Op tests October 26

How appropriate.... today is Pink Ribbon breast cancer awareness day. Rick came with me for two scans. I had to have a full body CT scan (to check organs) and a full body bone scan ( to check... you guessed it.... my bones.) The results have arrived at the specialist's office, but I need to wait until tomorrow for the results. More waiting involved. Waiting is a big part of this journey!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Moruya Jazz Festival

October 23 to 25
Rick and I travelled to Moruya for an enjoyable time at the Jazz Festival. Rick sang three times with his Choir. They were very well received.

While we were at the Jazz Festival, almost 40 of my school mates were competing in the "Dragons Abreast" regatta. Both teams made the finals. Such skill and fitness! Leanne kept in touch to give me updates. I am sure they all had fun. It was good to feel part of it, even though I was far away.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

October 21

Today is Stuart's birthday. He turns 24.
We can't be with him to celebrate, but we know he is well and happy in Seoul.
Rick sent him this image as proof that this is his birthday! This is how cute he was 15 years ago!
He is now more handsome than cute.


My friend Bev ( from Floriade flower arranging competition fame), took me for a drive "down the coast" today. We visited the year 5 school camp. I paddled in the ocean and got a little sunburnt, even though it was cool and overcast. We had a lovely day.

Myrtleford, Victoria

White waratah, Myrtleford



Sun 18 to Tues 20 October
We arrived at our little home away from home, outside Murtleford township, at about 7:30pm. What a lovely spot! The self- contained cottage house, we stayed in, was perfect for us. It was on a lush green farm, complete with frog noises. it was a very cute, cosy and comfortable cottage with everything we needed.




The next morning, after a leisurely start, we made our way to the bike track and commenced our 60km return ride... from Myrtleford to Bright and back.



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We thought of Jeni when we reached Porepunkah. What a beautiful place!

It was a lovely place to ride. All flat and sealed for many kilometres. The whole track is 96km long. We did the last 30km portion that ended at Bright. After a good rest and a lovely lunch at Bright, we started on the journey back to Myrtleford. I thought 60km was a bit long! Maybe 40kms would have done me nicely! All in all, a lovely day.


Resting on a bridge over the Ovens River


On Tuesday morning, we took our time to pack up and drove to Beechworth for lunch.




From there, we travelled home to Canberra. We stopped at Gundagai. I thought it was a very long way! My sister-in-law has family down that way. What a long drive she has from Sydney, to visit them!

Sunday, October 18, 2009

October 18

I am writing this from a fast food outlet at Yass! Wonderful wi fi.
Rick and I are on our way South to the Victorian high country , to ride our bikes on the murray to mountains bike track. We are staying near Myrtleford for two nights. This weekend has been fun.
Yesterday ( Oct 17) we had a relaxing day at home and went on a bike ride around the lake. This morning early, I had a wonderful time training with school pals in a dragon boat, on Lake Burley Griffin. It was a treat to be on the lake. the weather was perfect and the company was delightful.

Then on to church, which was great too. Then lunch with Cameron at our usual cafe.
Now we are heading off South, with our bikes on the back of the mighty Jazz.

Will be back home late Tuesday afternoon.

Friday, October 16, 2009

October 16

Rick's birthday - Friday 16th October
After some tests I needed to get done, we enjoyed lunch and a movie. What a lovely time we had and I enjoyed thinking about other things for a while. I am feeling more settled today. Lots of things are become clearer for the next step. This is good! We had dinner at home and I even cooked a cake. Nice to concentrate on more simple/mundane things after so many days of waiting for and then hearing results, contemplating the options for surgery and having to make decisions.
I had some good conversations with friends today. I am also appreciating many good wishes in e-mails and offers of prayers from many lovely people.
All in all, a very good day.

October 15

Thursday
I enjoyed spending the morning with friends and in the afternoon, I was able to ask more questions of the surgeon and also talk to my GP. Both valuable conversations, that provided me with more information about the surgery to come. I slept better that night!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Visit to Surgeon - October 14

October 14
I now have a date for surgery. It's going to be November 6. It's good to have a date. Now just have to work on not waking up so early each morning! I was given more information to read and there are very helpful trained people available to talk to if I need to ask more questions.
All in all, a useful day. It provided the next step in this journey.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

October 13

Resting and waiting. Today I am at home and taking it easy after the busyness of yesterday at school. I've realised already that there's an awful lot of waiting involved in this journey.
Today is a waiting day. It's been nice to have the chance to rest a bit. Tomorrow is the day of the appointment that will lead to more information and an operation.

October 12

Monday 12th October
A busy but very worthwhile day at school. I said goodbye to my great class and to the very supportive staff. They are a wonderful bunch of people. I did a handover with two very capable teachers and packed up as much as I could.
I am very happy that the children will have a great time this term. My mind is still buzzing with thoughts of school and whether I have forgotten to pass on things to the new teachers.
That will pass, I am sure. Now it's time to rest, relax and think ahead.... but only a little ahead! One step at a time. Wednesday's appointment, with the surgeon, is the next step.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

October 11

Sunday 11 October
We are off to church soon.
I am relieved about handing over my class to two very capable teachers.
The school has been very supportive.
Over the weekend I have talked to some lovely friends and family, which has been great. I am very lucky.
I will teach on Monday and that will give me a chance to say goodbye to the children and the staff. That will be my last teaching day!
The future is unknown as yet . Wednesday should help with the next step.
My brain is very busy, thinking about everything!

Friday, October 9, 2009

Farewelling Ma, Pa and Deirdre

Freezing October weather, even for Canberra!


Thursday October 8

We farewelled Mum and Dad and Deirdre , as they left for Sydney about 9:15am. It was a farewell marked with confusion. It was amazing that we had a garbage truck trying to turn around in the culdesac as Mum and Dad were arriving and getting out of the car! You had to be there to really believe it! Somehow, only the garbage was collected and Mum and Dad have survived to tell the tale.



Only minutes after their departure, I got the call from the specialist to say I had an appointment for Wed 14 October at 12noon.

GP visit - October 7

Deirdre came with me to the GP. We discussed what would happen next and the doctor faxed the relevant papers to the specialist. Hard for me to choose a name off a page!
We returned home to await the call from the specialist. None came. That was an unsettling time. In the afternoon, we joined the rest of the family at Hawker. That evening we had a lovely dinner with everyone.

Results - October 6

Tuesday October 6 at 2:30pm
I found out that I had breast cancer. Wow! Big news. Both Rick's and my reaction seemed to be a bit of shock, but a sort of disbelief really. We were calm and they explained the results and what would happen next. I actually needed an operation! There was the realisation that life would change now!
I felt really positive though. I didn't mind the fact that I would need an operation. I wasn't keen on thinking about the possible follow-up treatment though!

Mum and Dad and Deirdre had arrived from Sydney about noon. It was lovely to have them here. They all got a shock when they they heard the news.

Waiting - October Long Weekend

Friday October 2 to Monday October 5
These days were pleasant. I was kept busy with good things to do and supportive people to be with. I had a biopsy wound to take care of, which also kept my mind off the waiting for results!
On Saturday night, I ate lots of curry with friends. Church on Sunday and lunch with Cameron.
We went to Floriade on Monday. The flowers were wonderful. Rick's choir sang, while Bev and I had fun trying to win the flower arranging competition! We got to take all the lovely fresh flowers home, but somehow I don't think either of us win! You can't be good at everything, can you?

Start of a new journey, October 2009

Thursday, October 1
The day started with me going to ACT Breast Screen to have follow- up tests after routine mammogram results, from September 18, came back a little questionable. I had been rung on Tuesday 29 Sept to tell me of the need to clarify the initial findings. This was my first real day of the school holidays!
I took plenty of stuff with me to do as the tests and waiting around would take 4 hours.
I got my Spelling lists done for the term, which was a good start.

The tests involved extra mammograms, ultrasound, examinations by a surgeon and a nurse and then a biopsy ( 3 samples). Everyone was so efficient and caring and the sandwiches were nice.

At the end of the 4 hours, I was told that the results of the biopsy would be available the following Tuesday. They suggested I keep myself occupied with fun things to do and being around supportive people, while I wait! This seemed a long time.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Fun at Floriade 2009


Bev and I had fun entering a flower arranging competition today. We are both sure that we will get the necessary votes to win! Friends need to log in and vote. Looking around, after completing my creation, I couldn't help but notice a few others that may just beat mine!