Songs make me happy and I love to dance to songs and sing out loud to them, They make me feel Alive and they also reduce the stress in my life,
When I have a candle burning next to the stereo the flame seems like it takes on the characteristics of the song it flickers to the beat of the music.
I'm the type of person that has 2 different radios on or different CD's in each radio set to different songs to set the moods in each room, that way it also gets my mind really working to keep up with what is going on and it makes me concentrate more on what i'm doing that how i am feeling and that is important.
Share with me what makes you take your mind off your daily stress.
About Me
- terry
- Euclid, Ohio, United States
- My name is Terry I am a stage 3C OC survivor aside from having other blog posts I wanted to add the Military Families in Ohio becuase I also have a son in the Army and I want to Invite other Military Families in Ohio to join me on this blog and share your experiences with me and the other families in hopes that we can support each other.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Living within your means
Meaning of course Living within what you can afford and not afford to do or buy, It's difficult to change your spending habits when your accustomed to being able to go out and just buy and not worry about what your spending or what you have spent, I know what that is like first hand just like i'm sure there are many others out there who are in the same situation were all trying to budget on a smaller budget than we had before we lost our jobs (due to lay offs, medical reasons or whatever the case may be), Having a smaller check is very stressful, most people can or are able to find another job but most aren't for those that aren't it can be a major strain on you and your relationship.
There are a lot of things that I have had to cut back on, and there are things you can't cut back on it's one of the tricks that they taught a group of us that went and had filed for the "B" word, they taught us in the group that you have to figure out what a need is versus a want and also if you need it and can't afford it that particular month then you will have to wait until the next month, and also if you can pay cash instead of using credit your better off too.
I'd like to hear about how you had to change your means of living when you lost your job, got sick, or whatever it was that happened. Maybe you can share your ideas and maybe we can see if that works for us as well.
There are a lot of things that I have had to cut back on, and there are things you can't cut back on it's one of the tricks that they taught a group of us that went and had filed for the "B" word, they taught us in the group that you have to figure out what a need is versus a want and also if you need it and can't afford it that particular month then you will have to wait until the next month, and also if you can pay cash instead of using credit your better off too.
I'd like to hear about how you had to change your means of living when you lost your job, got sick, or whatever it was that happened. Maybe you can share your ideas and maybe we can see if that works for us as well.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Accepting Your Limitations
I have for the longest time always gone above and beyond what I felt I was capable of doing...If we were having a party I would clean the house until it was spotless, I'd make the deserts a day ahead of time, I'd start making the food early the morning of the party, I'd get the tables, chairs, baskets for the food, the trays, etc... ready early so I didn't have to rush too much once everyone got here. I actually enjoyed the hustle and bustle it gave me a major rush and I had a ton of energy and I looked forward to seeing everyone and just seeing the look on everyone's face was all I needed .
It seemed only right to throw a party on any occasion and have the family and or friends over to help celebrate with us, no one expected to see so much food prepared or laid out ready to snack on but it was there they would even offer to help with the preparation if everything wasn't done yet. I pretty much had no limits as to what I could or would do.
Even when Mike & I worked together on the road I was always running into the buildings weaving my way in and around people to get to a certain place and pick up or drop off a package, I would take the steps 2 at a time I was very fit during that time in my life I had a strategic way of getting out of the truck even before it had stopped (which it never did) but I had my feet firmly planted on the ground and was off running.
Now over the past 2 1/2 years a lot has changed just like it changes for everyone only for different reasons, we all have had to change our habits or our way of doing certain things, what we once could do without sitting and resting we might now have to rest after a short period of time or we might have to force ourselves to sit and relax for a short period of time, and that is even if we don't have any type of disease or illness.
Accepting my limitations was and still is very hard for me to do as I'm sure it is for everyone but for me it is extremely hard, I don't want to face the fact sometimes that I can't do it all and that I can't be everything to everyone I have to learn to let others do things for me or just take a little longer to do something if no one else is around to help me.
I have accepted the fact that I have Cancer! But I'm not sure if I can ever accept that I need to limit my activities both physically and mentally, I have watched Mike go from being able to walk without help to needing to walk with assistance, I have watched him go from being able to stand in the shower to now have to sit because of a fall he took many years back which has left him permanently in a chair forced to move backwards or to sit in his mobility unit and answer phones and take orders,and my mother has had to make changes in her habits and physical limits as well I have watched her go from walking and working and driving to not being able to do any of those things anymore all due to a leg removal and now she is also in a wheelchair, although neither of them are housebound they both have had to accept their limitations as well
and I have slowly started to follow suit but I know in my heart and in my head that if I don't fully accept my limits and rest when needed I will drain what ever is left in me and I won't be any good to anyone including myself.
It seemed only right to throw a party on any occasion and have the family and or friends over to help celebrate with us, no one expected to see so much food prepared or laid out ready to snack on but it was there they would even offer to help with the preparation if everything wasn't done yet. I pretty much had no limits as to what I could or would do.
Even when Mike & I worked together on the road I was always running into the buildings weaving my way in and around people to get to a certain place and pick up or drop off a package, I would take the steps 2 at a time I was very fit during that time in my life I had a strategic way of getting out of the truck even before it had stopped (which it never did) but I had my feet firmly planted on the ground and was off running.
Now over the past 2 1/2 years a lot has changed just like it changes for everyone only for different reasons, we all have had to change our habits or our way of doing certain things, what we once could do without sitting and resting we might now have to rest after a short period of time or we might have to force ourselves to sit and relax for a short period of time, and that is even if we don't have any type of disease or illness.
Accepting my limitations was and still is very hard for me to do as I'm sure it is for everyone but for me it is extremely hard, I don't want to face the fact sometimes that I can't do it all and that I can't be everything to everyone I have to learn to let others do things for me or just take a little longer to do something if no one else is around to help me.
I have accepted the fact that I have Cancer! But I'm not sure if I can ever accept that I need to limit my activities both physically and mentally, I have watched Mike go from being able to walk without help to needing to walk with assistance, I have watched him go from being able to stand in the shower to now have to sit because of a fall he took many years back which has left him permanently in a chair forced to move backwards or to sit in his mobility unit and answer phones and take orders,and my mother has had to make changes in her habits and physical limits as well I have watched her go from walking and working and driving to not being able to do any of those things anymore all due to a leg removal and now she is also in a wheelchair, although neither of them are housebound they both have had to accept their limitations as well
and I have slowly started to follow suit but I know in my heart and in my head that if I don't fully accept my limits and rest when needed I will drain what ever is left in me and I won't be any good to anyone including myself.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Sharing with Friends
In my neighborhood specifically on my little corner of the street 3 of my neighbors and I share a common interest we all 4 have cancer all of us have different types but we all have it just the same, Me & my neighbor across the street have started talking more and more lately we get along real well he made the comment to me today that we understand each other and when you sit down and you think about it we do. We fully understand each other and what we have gone through I have said it before only someone who has gone through pretty much the same thing that you have gone through can fully understand the pain, agony, the good days and the bad days that we have.
My B/F understands to a point but that is it, because he isn't going through the same things I am he does have some of the same pains that i have because of his MD but after that he can't understand the other non Dystrophy related pains that i have. Even my mother whom I have gotten closer too since all this has happened doesn't completely understand what I'm going through.
But when were lucky enough to find someone who is going through this or who has gone through this we tend to latch on to them like flies to honey and we just share and share away because it's what we do and if you can't share your troubles with someone who knows what your troubles are caused from then who can you share them with, it sure is better than keeping them bottled up inside.
My B/F understands to a point but that is it, because he isn't going through the same things I am he does have some of the same pains that i have because of his MD but after that he can't understand the other non Dystrophy related pains that i have. Even my mother whom I have gotten closer too since all this has happened doesn't completely understand what I'm going through.
But when were lucky enough to find someone who is going through this or who has gone through this we tend to latch on to them like flies to honey and we just share and share away because it's what we do and if you can't share your troubles with someone who knows what your troubles are caused from then who can you share them with, it sure is better than keeping them bottled up inside.
Living with Fear
I have had since i was little a huge fear of planes, there was a point in time that i didn't even want to go into the hanger if there was a plane in side, I had this wild imagination that the plane would suddenly start and it would just take off.
There came a time when I worked with Mike that we had to make a delivery into the hanger and of course there was a plane inside, empty of course but my fear overtook me and as i entered the room I had to put myself up against the wall and walk sideways until i was in the clear and then I had to battle the steps. Now under normal circumstances steps didn't bother me but these were old wooden ones and they were narrow so of course i felt i was going to fall through and die, did i ever get over that fear? No i didn't and that is just one of many fears i have and i have yet to over come.
My fear of dying however i have overcome having Cancer has given me a whole new outlook I used to tell myself that i was invincible that nothing bad was ever going to happen to me but in 2008 that changed when I got the DX of Cancer and the Stage that i was in i would read everything that I could get my hands on and I would print it out I was getting myself so worked up that it wasn't funny, finally I had to stop doing that and I had to put my fate in Gods hands. Now I do know that I'm going to die but as far as I am concerned it will not be because of Cancer.
There came a time when I worked with Mike that we had to make a delivery into the hanger and of course there was a plane inside, empty of course but my fear overtook me and as i entered the room I had to put myself up against the wall and walk sideways until i was in the clear and then I had to battle the steps. Now under normal circumstances steps didn't bother me but these were old wooden ones and they were narrow so of course i felt i was going to fall through and die, did i ever get over that fear? No i didn't and that is just one of many fears i have and i have yet to over come.
My fear of dying however i have overcome having Cancer has given me a whole new outlook I used to tell myself that i was invincible that nothing bad was ever going to happen to me but in 2008 that changed when I got the DX of Cancer and the Stage that i was in i would read everything that I could get my hands on and I would print it out I was getting myself so worked up that it wasn't funny, finally I had to stop doing that and I had to put my fate in Gods hands. Now I do know that I'm going to die but as far as I am concerned it will not be because of Cancer.
Reflecting back on your life
It is always good to take a look back in time and remember the good and bad and just reflect on how far we have come with our lives, what we have said, done, conquered and what we have learned from our past.
Sometimes reflecting makes us smile and sometimes it makes us cry but the fact that we can reflect upon the past is good for the sole.
Maybe it was the old corner store, or the old album that we once danced too that is no longer around, or it's a song that you suddenly remember and haven't heard in a long time those kinds of things always put a smile on our faces and make us feel better inside and when we share those thoughts we find that there are others out there who have had similar reflections in their past and they want to share those with us.
Sometimes reflecting makes us smile and sometimes it makes us cry but the fact that we can reflect upon the past is good for the sole.
Maybe it was the old corner store, or the old album that we once danced too that is no longer around, or it's a song that you suddenly remember and haven't heard in a long time those kinds of things always put a smile on our faces and make us feel better inside and when we share those thoughts we find that there are others out there who have had similar reflections in their past and they want to share those with us.
Living With a Positive Frame of Mind
It at times can be very difficult to have or keep ourselves in a Positive Frame of Mind with everything that we are going through on a daily basis with our lives, But keeping ourselves in a PFOM is essential otherwise all the negativity will bring us down and cause other problems that we don't need or want.
There are some way to stay in a PFOM like going out and doing work in the garden, going for walks, talking to a friend, doing something constructive really keeps the mind from thinking negative thoughts and having negative actions.
There are some way to stay in a PFOM like going out and doing work in the garden, going for walks, talking to a friend, doing something constructive really keeps the mind from thinking negative thoughts and having negative actions.
Living in the Normal way
People who don't have any type of disease or illness don't seem to understand that when someone does have a disease or illness their life is never going to be "Normal" again...and even if they live with someone who has a disease or illness unless that person has it themselves they as well do not get what the word "Normal" means to us.
Normal living BC, was I think in my opinion a lot easier than it is now I could do so many things and while doing them or after being done with them didn't cause me any problems, going for walks with the dogs around the block, going up steps, parking in the back of the parking lot and walking to the store and then all through the store, picking up items around the house, carrying laundry, doing dishes, working in the garden, unpacking the car after going shopping...these are just some of the things that change for some people when they get Cancer or any disease that slows them down, they can and do get back up to speed but their life is never the same "Normal" that it was before, they get tired out more easily, and if their just starting chemo or if they are already way into the treatment or if they are just finishing the treatment they have a long road ahead of them to "Normal", this I know from experience I was well on my way back to "normal" when i got hit with a brick that the fluid to make the tumors was present I had surgery again to have a mediport put in and now I go to the Dr. every 2 months, I go for a port flush every month and during the same week i see the dr. i go in for bloodwork 2 days before. when i am at home it is a struggle to go up the steps, its a struggle to keep up with the laundry, house work, the cleaning of the flower beds. etc.....And I am reminded every day that I have cancer i just have to look down on my left breast and there it is the port. I don't even have to look down when i rub my breast or do my breast exam for breast cancer i feel the port..But with all the negative in my life I for myself try to make Living my life as normal as possible I just take my time doing what i have to do and i rest or nap when i am tired....When I go to the Store I park in the handicapped spot for I have a Handicapped plaque, otherwise I am out of breathe before I even get to the door, I have a hard time holding things and when i'm lucky enough not to break a dish (because it slipped out of my hands), or drop a bottle, or when I am able to type on the computer that is when I really love my life
and when i get the energy i do take the dogs for a walk around the block...or maybe its that they take me for a walk around the block I love my life then too.
Normal living BC, was I think in my opinion a lot easier than it is now I could do so many things and while doing them or after being done with them didn't cause me any problems, going for walks with the dogs around the block, going up steps, parking in the back of the parking lot and walking to the store and then all through the store, picking up items around the house, carrying laundry, doing dishes, working in the garden, unpacking the car after going shopping...these are just some of the things that change for some people when they get Cancer or any disease that slows them down, they can and do get back up to speed but their life is never the same "Normal" that it was before, they get tired out more easily, and if their just starting chemo or if they are already way into the treatment or if they are just finishing the treatment they have a long road ahead of them to "Normal", this I know from experience I was well on my way back to "normal" when i got hit with a brick that the fluid to make the tumors was present I had surgery again to have a mediport put in and now I go to the Dr. every 2 months, I go for a port flush every month and during the same week i see the dr. i go in for bloodwork 2 days before. when i am at home it is a struggle to go up the steps, its a struggle to keep up with the laundry, house work, the cleaning of the flower beds. etc.....And I am reminded every day that I have cancer i just have to look down on my left breast and there it is the port. I don't even have to look down when i rub my breast or do my breast exam for breast cancer i feel the port..But with all the negative in my life I for myself try to make Living my life as normal as possible I just take my time doing what i have to do and i rest or nap when i am tired....When I go to the Store I park in the handicapped spot for I have a Handicapped plaque, otherwise I am out of breathe before I even get to the door, I have a hard time holding things and when i'm lucky enough not to break a dish (because it slipped out of my hands), or drop a bottle, or when I am able to type on the computer that is when I really love my life
and when i get the energy i do take the dogs for a walk around the block...or maybe its that they take me for a walk around the block I love my life then too.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Changing of the Weather
With our weather starting to go into fall and then winter, it has gotten slightly cooler outside and it has made it harder for me to function, I am still able to but it's just more difficult to even assist Mike with his daily needs.
there are so many things that need to be done now that the weather is changing, need to prepare the yard for the season change, need to get the front yard prepared as well, need to get out and pull what weeds there are while its cool and that should help my fingers get some exercise.
But at least I was allowed to wake up again today to get done what needs or has to be done and for that I am thankful.
Even the change of weather affects the dogs too, they seem more playful their both adult dogs but Misty who is 9 acts like she is 3-4 she bounces around the house like a puppy, Mike grabs her tail and she tries to bury her head in his lap like she's playing hide and seek with him, Cuddles comes up to him and uses her nose to get him to rub her head or her undercarriage, they are just fun loving animals and they do in their own way make me forget about my pains ....at least for a little while.
there are so many things that need to be done now that the weather is changing, need to prepare the yard for the season change, need to get the front yard prepared as well, need to get out and pull what weeds there are while its cool and that should help my fingers get some exercise.
But at least I was allowed to wake up again today to get done what needs or has to be done and for that I am thankful.
Even the change of weather affects the dogs too, they seem more playful their both adult dogs but Misty who is 9 acts like she is 3-4 she bounces around the house like a puppy, Mike grabs her tail and she tries to bury her head in his lap like she's playing hide and seek with him, Cuddles comes up to him and uses her nose to get him to rub her head or her undercarriage, they are just fun loving animals and they do in their own way make me forget about my pains ....at least for a little while.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Another Day to Love
I am thrilled that I was able to get another day to express my love to my family and my friends....I have so many things that I am thankful for and getting another day to show my love is awesome.
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