Charlcie

I watched the movie "Funny People" last week during the epic Northern Virginia/Washington DC snowstorm. We had LOTS of time on our hands. Of course, I should have finished up all of those lingering projects, but I didn't. Mainly just watched movies and enjoyed the family. !!MOVIE SPOILER ALERT!! Funny People was, well, kinda funny, but I was blindsided by Adam Sandler's charater who was diagnosed with cancer. Specifically, Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). Two things "got me" about the portrayal of his cancer: 8% chance of surviving on experiment drugs...and it worked. Sandler's character talked to his doctor about test results in one of the early scenes, and I believe he said AML, stage 4. Definitely said he had an 8% chance of survival but only if he tried this experimental drug regimen (I'm thinking this is a clinical trial). At this point, he starts getting his affairs in order, take a mentor under his wings (Seth Rogen), and starts taking the experi...

Folks, I can't even tell you the amount of snow that we have here in Northern Virginia...BEFORE the blizzard that hit last night. Picture to the left was before the the latest round of winter weather hit. Now, probably eight inches more have fallen since 5:30 PM lastnight plus a 40 mph wind. And it's still snowing. Crazy is all I can say. I'm grateful that we have power as many in the DC Metro do not...thousands, in fact. As a result, my thyroid cancer testing has been rescheduled for the last week of February. I'm fine with that. All of us here need to focus on staying warm and safe.

I've been somewhat pleased with January 2010...cruising along, doing my own thing, staying on pace with life in general. Keeping things fairly in order. Haven't quite tackled all of those resolutions with the vim and vigor I had planned but have had good intentions and made headway in general. But I feel it coming...I have several things creeping up. First on the docket, my round of thyroid cancer follow-up shots and scans the week of February 8th. I'm not freaking out about it like I used to, especially since I'm keeping with my New Year's resolution of no more thyroid cancer in 2010 . But it's a process - physically, emotionally, logistically. It's a pain in my routine. But you know, if that's all I've got to contend with in regards to thyroid cancer, I'll take it. So here's the schedule: Feb. 8 - thyrogen shot (preps me for the scan) Feb. 9 - thyrogen shot Feb. 10 - small dose of radioactive material given (no glowing green will occur...I...

I'm asking a question today to which I have no answer: Why are we, as a society, so fascinated with shows like " Hoarders " and " Intervention "? Specifically, why am I so fascinated by these two shows? I "DVR" (yes, it does seem to be a verb these days) both of these shows. I started watching Intervention a few years ago and then quit recording it because....I felt guilty? Had thyroid cancer and was dealing with that? It was too voyeuristic? Let me back up a second and give you a quick synopsis of each show from the A&E website: Each 60-minute episode of Hoarders is a fascinating look inside the lives of two different people whose inability to part with their belongings is so out of control that they are on the verge of a personal crisis. Intervention™ is a powerful and gripping television series in which people confront their darkest demons and seek a route to redemption. The Intervention Television series profiles people whose dependencies on dr...

Last week I made my way back to Dr. Pun 's, my endocrinologist, for my somewhat quarterly blood draw (checking thyroid levels in general) and to talk about recurrence monitoring. I told him what I had decided on New Year's Eve , that I was going to speak positively and not have thyroid cancer again in 2010. I had it in 2008 and 2009....I WON'T be dealing with it in 2010. He liked this plan needless to say! And then told me a really bad joke, thus, the name I have given him, Dr. Pun. :) The other topic of discussion: it's almost time again for shots and scans. Two days of shots, one day to take the low dose of radioactivity, one day for the scan and the last day, blood work: a full week of fun! The last time I did this "week of fun" was April 2009 , and everything came back relatively clean. It was the first time since all of this cancer business had started that I had any cancer test, scan, etc. come back with any sort of good news. My "fun week" isn...

Wow, how can that be, the last day of the decade? On Twitter today, there was this trending topic "#10yearsago" that really got me to thinking....Here was my tweet about that: #10yearsago my kids were in preschool & elementary school. Now....teenagers! Oh yeah, and I didn't have cancer then either. That came along in 2008. However, my life has evolved so much more than that in the last 10 years. Biggest events in my small world: Great decision to marry Chris in 2004, Pepa passed away in 2005, and thyroid cancer in 2008/2009. The girls have grown into amazing kids....plus, added Christian by marrying Chris. And so much more that I'm sure I will think immediately after posting this, "Dang! I forgot about __________!" I'm really looking forward to this new year....a new beginning, a new decade. I've got some personal goals/resolutions to tackle that I'm actually pretty psyched about. Plus, I am thrilled to see the kids grow into adults....hmmm,...

For some the holiday season begins when they put up the Christmas tree. For others, it might be the shopping the day after Thanksgiving. For me, it is when we receive our first Christmas card, which this year is today (thanks, Beneventis!). Yes, we've been buying/shipping/receiving presents already, but something about the Christmas spirit and season for me starts with a Christmas card. Whoever sends me/us the card has chosen a card design that they like, added us to their list, and decided to use one of their increasingly valuable postage stamps to send the card. That means something in my book! And something about getting the cards via "snail mail". Granted, I'll send an e-card from time to time, but I love getting the cards in the mail as how often do we really get letters or cards from anyone these days? If you are friends with someone on Facebook, you don't even have to remember someone's birthday AND can wish them a happy birthday online! Now, I'm no...