Almost ready to Re-open Shabby Sheep Wool!

Mickey has been on to me every day for working so hard.  But once I get out all of the dyeing stuff, I might as well dye LOTS of wool!  Especially when I'm trying to get my Etsy shop opened again. http://www.shabbysheepwool.etsy.com

 

Solids...

Spot dyed...

 

and Textures...

Tomorrow I'll be doing the photography for the shop and hopefully by the end of the week I'll be OPEN for BUSINESS!!!

I'm Back!!!

I know in my heart I couldn't have done this without your prayers and well wishes.  Thank you again.

Peace,

Sheri

p.s. On shabbysheepwool I'll be donating a percentage of my sales to the American Cancer Society by the way of the Etsy group TeamEPE, Etsy Project Embrace.  Please see http://team.etsy.com/viewteam.php?id=685 to learn more about the group.

Making some progress on antique rug and

the mat for Jimmie Dean's little chair that sits at the front door so he can see out!

First, here's the antique adaptation.  It measures 19" by 42" and there's really not that much more to do.  Just sit down and Do It!!!

I think this shot depicts the colors the best.

Very muted from my usual color palette.   (That's why I think I totally lost interest in it right in the middle of the rug.  When we hooked at JoLynn's a couple of weekends ago, it was my intention to get all the red diamonds hooked around the border.  That made it seem like there's not so much more!  Just fill in some lines now~~~LOL.

And this little mat for J.D. has been what I've been doing while I lost interest in the big star rug!  He sits on this little chair every day and watches the children walking to and from school.  I think he likes his little mat!

Had some not so good health news over the weekend.  I spent all of Saturday night in the ER.  I had seen my MD two weeks earlier for what I thought was asthma.  He gave me an inhaler and it did nothing.  So my radiation oncologist said her husband is a pulmonary specialist and sent me to his office that very minute!  He gave another inhaler, which also didn't help.  That was last Wednesday.  Well, by Saturday afternoon I Could Not Breathe and told Mick to take me to the Urgent Care Clinic.  They did tests that showed a suspected pulmonary embolism (from the surgery)  He said go to the ER immediately!  Your husband can drive you~I don't think you need an ambulance!  Scared the shit out of me!!!  Got to the ER and thank God I was expedited and didn't have to sit in the waiting room with sick babies that don't have health insurance~~~totally another story,  don't get me started on that.  But that's just not right for a mother to have to go there to get treatment for her sick child...

The ER physician comes in and checks the EKG and chest x-rays from the place I had just come from and suggested "congestive heart failure" especially since my breathing was almost impossible when I tried to lay down.  He explained that the left side of my heart showed damage and inflammation~~~ probably from the chemotherapy!!!!

He called my oncologist who said it Was Not from chemo, it was from radiation.  The ER doc was ready to admit me and start running all the heart tests and hook me up with a cardiologist.  Looking back, I wish that's what had happened.

He did, in the hospital start an IV with Lasix and Prednisone to try to get rid of some of the fluid on my lungs.  Then prescribed Prednisone for eight days.  I dread that.  Last time I took it I gained 20 pounds overnight and it took over a year to get it off.  Guess that's the least of my troubles right now though.

Yesterday I saw both oncologists/ the regular one and the radiation one.  Boy are they protective of their special fields of medicine!!!  Again the radiation doctor said it wasn't possible to have any heart damage from only 10 treatments (which makes since to me) but the regular oncologist keeps saying the chemo I took doesn't cause heart problems.  WRONG..... Now I should have known better than this because before I could have the chemo I had to have a MUGA(sp) test to make sure my heart could handle these drugs.  (This is what Tammy does all day in her job in nuclear medicine).  Of course me being me, I came home and read every thing I could find out about the drugs I received.

1. Adriamycin: side effects:  COMMON:

Damage to the heart with the symptoms of:

swelling of the hands and ankles 

shortness of breath

difficulty breathing

2. Cytoxan: side effects: Rare

Damage to the heart muscle.  Symptoms include difficulty breathing, swelling of the legs and feet and tiring easily.

I was supposed to have a radiation treatment today, but just can't do it right now.  Although the RA Dr. PROMISED ME this wasn't the problem.  Yesterday she said, "do you want this cancer to come back?  Then march down that hall and get your treatment!"  Which I DID!!!  But I just couldn't do it today.  How are you gonna know what's the right thing to do?  I will always question myself now.  what if.....what if...

Good news~~~This Thursday at 4:00 p.m. I am scheduled for an ECHO cardiogram.  This will answer all the questions about my heart.  Even congestive heart failure can be treated with medicine and the breast cancer is gone! Please send out some positive vibes my way!  I truly believe in  Prayer and Positive Thinking.  And I promise to keep you guys informed.

Peace and love,

Sheri

 

You have breast cancer

Those are the words I heard on Monday October the 12th at 12:05 p.m. I had felt a lump in my right breast two weekends before and had been to my MD to check it out. He sent me to the Breast Cancer Center at St. Johns Hospital for a diagnostic mammogram. The same day they did an ultrasound and that doctor told me she wouldn't believe it if the results came back negative. What? Me? No one in my family has ever had breast cancer. In fact nobody that I know of has had Any kind of cancer, except for my sister with melanoma.

Then on that Monday my doctor called and gave me the news. I really already knew what he was going to say, from the ultrasound doctor. But I didn't really expect to hear this news ON THE PHONE! I had left a message with the nurse earlier in the day saying that my husband and I would come over to discuss the results. My doctor told me he had never had to do that before! That's because it Shouldn't be done on the phone!!!

From there he scheduled me an appointment with an oncologist. Dr. Raju, a woman. I liked the fact that she was a woman. She actually has breasts. (Not that men don't. But you know what I mean.) Mickey, and my mom and dad went to this appointment. The nurse seated us all in a tiny examination room. Again... I expected to meet with her in her office, with her sitting behind her desk and explaining everything to us. NOT....
She put my chart up on her laptop and began reading the test results. She said, "You have advanced ductal carcinoma and it's bad". Then she just looked at the floor and shook her head. I can't count the times she did this. Talk about freaking you out!?!?! Hadn't I felt anything before now? Why didn't I know about this sooner? How could this be at least a stage three cancer and me not know it? I thought I was the one who was supposed to be asking the questions. She did an exam and then immediately called the surgeon, who is just a few buildings down. He was in surgery at the time, but agreed to meet us in 15 minutes. Can you believe what I was thinking by this time? I talked my parents into going home before we went to meet with him. They looked so pale and fragile. I assured them we would call the minute we left.
This guy was all of 30 years old~if that... I like that too. I think young doctors are so much more informed than the older ones. Sorry, doctors. But anyway he said the same thing. This cancer is bad and at least a stage three. He said I must first do chemo and then he would see me in the spring for surgery. A mastectomy and reconstruction at the same time. This new procedure is called a something flap. It involves taking fat from your lower abdomen and making a breast out of it. I thought he was kidding when he said you get a tummy tuck too. He scheduled a CT and PET scan to see if the cancer had spread to my bones or other organs. Those tests were on Thursday the 22nd also at the hospital.
And on Friday the 23rd I met the surgeon again. This time in the "holding cell" awaiting the surgery to put the chemo port in.
My life has been in S L O W motion since all of this happened. It honestly feels like the diagnosis was a month ago. I have to keep looking at the calendar to have it all make sense. Actually it was only 16 days from diagnosis to putting the port in.
Tomorrow Mickey and I go to "chemo class" at 4:00 and they will schedule the first treatment then. It's not really a class as I would have assumed, it's a one on one with us and a nurse. Explaining what to expect, etc.
In just these few short days I have bought two wigs. One blond, the other red. And yesterday evening I had my hair cut short. Razor cut at the nape of my neck and then coming down longer to my chin in the front. Again....it's like slow motion, but has happened so quickly.
I started keeping a journal on that Monday. And I am seriously thinking about writing a book and maybe titling it, "You have breast cancer. Take two aspirin and don't call me, I'll call you." Do you know that I didn't receive as much as a pamphlet at the oncologists office and I have had Several times where the doctors offices haven't even returned my phone calls! It is absurd. I thought that maybe I could write a sort of instructional manual for breast cancer.
So that's what I've been doing and why you haven't heard from me in so long.
And THANK YOU to all of my friends and family who have sent cards, flowers and well wishes my way. I'm astonished to know the number of people all over the country who are praying for me and my family. Again Thank You.
I'll write again soon.
Say a little prayer please. And please go get your mammograms.
Peace,
Sheri