Sanity and Happiness??

For those of you who may have been wondering why I have such an odd title to my blog... Mark Twain once said "Sanity and happiness are an impossible combination". I found that to be both amusing and enlightening. Consider that. .....One cannot be happy unless one is insane. That cracks me up. So therefore I found I simply had to post my statement to the late, great Samuel Clemens that there is, out there somewhere, a family who is both sane AND happy, as impossible as that may be to believe. :)


On to business matters. Thanks to all of you who sent emails for calendars. This has been a ball getting all these notes! They are done on my end, I just wasn't able to get to town to price them until recently where I found out they're pretty spendy to make here. But all is not lost, we're still pressing on and I ordered from an online company. They aren't perfect - - they don't have my comments or the beautiful borders and matching calendar pages I painstakingly added on my original, but they should be just fine. It'll come to $22.00 apiece to help me with shipping them out to you folks. I shall send emails to each of you, giving you our address and you can mail checks anytime. Then I shall need your addresses, of course, so if you could email that info back asap (if you haven't already, of course), that would be splendid. They shouldn't take long to make, so hopefully you all with have them by March 1st. Keep your fingers crossed!

Now for a cancer note. Do you remember those doctors in Denver saying they were sure I had a separate kind of cancer and they wanted to send samples of all my tumors, from first diagnosis till now, on to a famous research place for study? Well we did all that and this is their report: They cannot tell me whether or not I have breast cancer or ovarian cancer, but it is all the same. So what does that mean? It could all be ovarian, metastasized to the breast, which would be bad news as it's very rare and very hard to work with.
OR... [drum roll please]... it could have been breast to begin with that metastasized to the ovary and grew faster there, so it's the first thing they saw. They never even considered looking for breast cancer at the beginning, but those Denver doctors feel my cancer acts and looks much, MUCH more like breast than ovarian. Plus my risk factors place me in a far more likely group to get breast cancer, NOT ovarian. Such weirdness!!!

It doesn't really change anything at this point - we just need to be sure my chemo is good for both (which it is) and keep watching numbers and CT scans (which we will). My first chemo went well a week ago - - knocked me flat for a couple days (see the picture of me after surgery 2 posts ago for a visual), but I'm up and going now. Slowly, I must admit, but at least I'm moving.


It's been cold here again, so I've posted a few photos for you to "feel". Especially those of you in warmer climates... you can look on in envy at our beautiful winters. :)

12 comments:

Mimi/Susan said...

So do we moan or cheer? You should write suspense novels! Really, I hope that you are feeling positive about this...who ever thought they'd be happy to learn that they have brest cancer...but a better alternative to ovarian. I assume that you were able to figure my email address. Let me know if not..I hate to put it out there for the spammers. I'll send you a check and my mailing add. as soon as I hear from you.

Anonymous said...

GO FIGHT WIN!!! MICHELLE YOU'LL DO IT!!! WE ARE TRUSTING IN THE SAME FAITH! LOVE YOUR SISTER IN CHRIST!

candy said...

Wow! you DO take beautiful pictures. Maybe the Wyoming Board of Tourism could hire you to put a nice spin on Wyoming winters.
Thank you too for the update...we appreciate being able to understand where you are in your journey! Our thoughts are often there with you.
Aaron, Candy, and Amelia

The J's said...

I sent an e-mail for the calander, hopefully it will have my return e-mail on it. Somthings funny with my writing part, Can't write, but can send!! Thinking of you.

Jake's family said...

Michelle- I don't know you personally, but I have to say that I am so encouraged by your upbeat attitude through all this! You are such a trooper! We know where the ultimate source of strength is... and thankful that God knows best. Best wishes to you!
Hugs....
Jill and Ethan Klepzig
(I am Candy's cousin) :)

Traci K said...

Goodness, you've really had a time with all the diagnosises (sp?). Glad the chemo you're on will cover both of them! We're keeping our fingers crossed that it works quickly and attacks those cancer cells! Glad for an update. I sent you an e-mail for the calendar, so just let us know what to do. Excited to see the snow! If you ever need a break and want to see the sunshine, come visit!:)

Traci K said...

Oh, I forgot to mention, Hannah B. says "hi!"

Anonymous said...

Hey guys,
You are right, we actually do envy the winters. On one hand, it is nice to be ralatively warm all winter. On the other, we miss the great things about winter and are glad to look in on them on northern blogs!
I'm sorry that you are such a mystery to figure out! I wish it were all very straightforward and consistent in what everyone thinks about what you have or don't have! We hope for the treatment to be effective even if we aren't sure what it is fighting!
Thanks for the update and the beautiful pictures.

Anonymous said...

I love all the snow too! Those pictures are beautiful! I'm finally checking your blog Michelle...I haven't been on it for a few weeks! Interesting update...it sounds like pretty good news.

Leilani said...

And believe me, I am envying you your gorgeous weather!! All our snow is melting, though I won't complain even the slightest bit about the sunshine. But really! It /can/ be cold and sunny both at the same time. Honest!
Thinking of you

Anonymous said...

Michelle, I sure loved your beautiful outdoor pictures. I can't wait to see the calendar when it arrives! Hopefully I remembered to include my address, I usually do. What an interesting rediagnosis! I'm praying for you and know that in time your prayers will be answered, you have such a wonderful view of things. Take care and remember to be patient and rest as needed. Chari Martin (Jen's mom)

Anonymous said...

Andy-Michelle:
so now I know how to put stuff here: a cool way to drop notes,etc.
we are really impressd with the calendar(we like big squares to write in) and the picture collection is good & homey; that snow & icicles looks too cold for us sunny CA. softies. we're think ing of you..
Love,
Russ & "Sawon"