Another Year of Blessings!

I had been meaning to update this blog, not sure if anyone still reads it but it does seem to carry on "our story", and can't believe it's been almost a whole year. A year of great blessings again. Kids are all doing well, Jim and I continue to get good checkups. Jim did have to take another hormone shot this past year, as he does every 6-9 months or so, but the shot continues to keep his PSA down, and this last one didn't seem to be so bad with side effects. So he continues his "elevated PSA, no sign of active disease" status, and they continue to say there are new treatments coming out of clinical trials when the hormone shot DOES stop being as effective.

I had a bit of a scare in November, when the routine mammogram turned NOT so routine with those dreaded words "We noticed an abnormality. Likely nothing, but we need to check it out". Couple days of anxious waiting for a biopsy report before the GREAT news (received the day before Thanksgiving!) that indeed, it was nothing! Just a reminder to never take those things for granted! I did manage to loose 15 pounds this year, which I am really proud of - turned out a low thyroid level was lurking there unnoticed, and once that was addressed, all the calorie counting and exercise finally started to pay off - I'm pretty happy about that, not quite done though.....

So this Christmas finds us counting our blessings once again! Here's to a Happy and Healthy New Year to all!

WAAYYY overdue for an update!

I've been meaning to reflect and update on what's new since the last time I blogged, but didn't realize it had been 3 months! It's good news in that there's not much news, as opposed to three years ago when there was lots happening on the cancer fighting front.

For me, the finetuning of the "Build a New Boob for Teri" project continues. I had a little cosmetic touchup in early December, with one more coming later in February. A tattoo, to be specific :) Making the rebuilt part look a little closer to the original version. 

I also had a couple of OTHER implants - two cataract surgeries later, I am contact lens/glasses free for the first time since I was about 9! It's so wonderful to be able to not only see again (didn't realize how foggy those darn cataracts had gotten), but also have my vision corrected internally instead of with something I have to wear - I can wake up at night and see the clock! I am just now getting used to NOT reaching for my glasses first thing in the morning.

We had a great holiday! All the kids were back home, at least for awhile, both Thanksgiving and Christmas. How blessed are we!  We were able to stay home this year, no soccer tournament out of town to hurry away too, went skiing together and saw some Christmas sightseeing in Cincinnati, before the kids started to go their own ways again.

Jim started the year with a visit to his oncologist. Not surprisingly, since it's been last Feb since his last hormone shot to keep the prostate cancer volume low, his PSA was elevated, and so he was given another shot. But the doctor said that therapy is still working, since the PSA is rising as his testosterone rises, and NOT ahead of the testosterone, which is good news. He continues to run and work out and feels good, except for the hot flashes that will likely return in the coming weeks from the shot.  We are both happy we are able to get around, and (mostly) keep up with the kids, at least for awhile longer!

Happy 2014!