Hello sunshine! I did it!

Yes, I did it!  

It's been a long journey.  
Now I plan to get on with my life   
finally....
My last day of radiation was Friday.  Jen, my daughter and my granddaughter, Maddie, came along.  Galen was with me too, as always.  By the way, I got to hit that gong behind us!  Then I was officially discharged.  

My family has been with me and supported me through all of this and I know I couldn't have made it without them.  

We had a nice celebration afterward at a nearby restaurant with more family (that's my sister and me and Galen in the photo).  Check out that piece of chocolate cake!  

After a few days and time to settle in, 

I have found that little things mean more to me than ever before....like my old routine.  

I have a new appreciation for life.  

I'll have more time to spend with these guys.  

And to all my dear blogging friends that followed me during these last ten months of this long journey, I want to say thank you again for all of your thoughts and prayers that kept me going.  I appreciate and love you all.   

Count down...

Three days to go! 

then I'm finished with radiation (for good).  

Three weeks down, three to go....

I'm halfway through!  

Tomorrow I will start my fourth week of radiation.  It seems to be moving along pretty fast.  The radiation itself only takes about ten minutes.  I started getting a little bit of a burn on my skin and some swelling under my arms but everything is normal so far.  

Galen and I are trying to make the best of the long trip to and from the hospital.  We usually stop at Starbucks in the morning for coffee and occasionally a breakfast sandwich, and after my radiation we might visit my sister in Chapel Hill, or we might stop somewhere for lunch.  We occasionally will go to the mall bookstore and relax with a good book and a cup of coffee.  

Soon this will be over and I will look back and realize what a really long journey this has been, 

and I might even be amazed how I ever got through it.  

Color

You know how much I love color, right?  
This is why I had so much fun putting together a 750 piece puzzle recently, with the help of Galen of course.  Isn't it great?  
Love, love, love the color!  

And speaking of color, 
let's take a walk around the garden to see the last of the season's color.  

And I am enjoying the color of the leaves as we travel the long distance each day to and from the hospital for radiation.  

This time of year is a beautiful sight!  

North Carolina State Fair

After radiation on Friday, Galen and I stopped by the NC State Fair.  
He was interested in our Whimsy Two Marble Roller Toy that we entered (to see if it won any ribbons), and I just wanted to eat some fair food!   

Well, we won third place in the Toy Professional Division this year!  Yay!  Last year we took first place, but considering what all we've been through this year.....we'll take third.  
A pretty white ribbon.  
And we had our share of fair food too.  From Italian sausages and fries to funnel cakes and ice cream.  
Here are a few photos we took of the fair.  We had a great time.  

(above) The Wiener Mobile!  Just had to get a photo of that.  

Autumn chill and rain

Hello everyone!    

Today is a cold and rainy day here in North Carolina and I am soooo yearning for some warm sunshine.  

We just returned home from radiation treatment # 6 at UNC hospital.  Driving for an hour and a half each way in the rain is not a lot of fun in my book, but we are safely home, happy, warm and dry.  

Radiation is going well, 6 down, 24 to go.  Am I counting?....Yes!  This should be the last big hurdle that I have to go through and I can hardly wait until it's over.  

As I sit here and type this I can hear the pitter patter of rain drops outside.  

The garden will be happy.  

Hope you are enjoying this Autumn day wherever you are.  

Talk to you later!  

Time for Radiation

Monday I start radiation.  It's been several weeks now since surgery and my body is slowly healing.  I still  have some pain and tingly numbness but evidently that's normal.  

The radiation treatment will be every day, Monday through Friday, for the next 6 or 7 weeks.  That means this treatment plan will take me into mid November.  Ugh... 

The side effects from radiation are fatigue and some burning, like sunburn.  Not too bad.  There are others, but I choose not to think about them.  

After this I should be nearing the end of my long journey.  

Thank heavens!  

In the meantime, I am looking forward to enjoying this wonderful fall weather!  

Crisp chilly mornings, coffee on the porch, puttering in the garden, and taking walks with Otis and Riley.  

Be back soon,