Humpty Dumpty....

...sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the kings horses and all the kings men couldn't put Humpty together again. What a stupid egg...why would an egg sit on a wall??? And why can't I remember who actually put that stupid egg back together? And why do I care? Hahahaha I have no idea, but when I opened my blog page, that is the first thing that came to my head....so there you have it! No, I have not lost my mind....although I am going a bit stir crazy sitting in this house! Sure am glad I am not an egg...

Anyhow...Not too much to report other than a few little random things. I chopped 2 more inches off of my hair on Sunday morning. Now, just because the first haircut looked professional, does not mean that I am in any way qualified to cut hair...seriously! Thank goodness my mom came over on Monday and fixed the hack job that I did. I actually only did bad on the back, the front and sides were actually pretty even. Here are a few pics...




On another note...I finally took the steri-strips off of my stitches where my port was placed and I was happy to see that it does not stick up very much. I was worried that it would be raised more and be way more noticeable (yea, like me running around bald as a billiard ball isn't going to be noticed...ha ha). The only thing about it is that you can totally see the wire that runs from the port up into my jugular..through my skin!! EWWWWWWWW Me no likey that look, but it could always be worse! I think I have already mentioned that the port is used to give me chemo and draw blood, it goes right into my bloodstream. They do have to poke through the skin to access it, but it is better than using my arms (which in my case, are shot). Also, a little bit of info for ya...they can either put ice, freeze spray or a lidocaine shot in/on the port site before accessing it so the needle is not so bad, but I think I am going to try to wear my big girl panties and just do it - hell I have been through a lot worse than a little needle stick! (I will let you know how tough I actually am next time I get poked...LOL) So....here is a picture of that...check out the wire above the tape - nasty!!


I think I forgot to mention previously...they finally told me what stage cancer I have, which is officially Hodgkin's Lymphoma, nodular sclerosing type, Stage 2B. The reason for stage 2 is that it is on both sides of my chest and the B is because I have other symptoms (such as night sweats and itching). Nodular sclerosing refers to the arrangement of the cells under the microscope. Even though I am only stage 2B, they have to treat me as though I am stage 4 because of the recurrence, therefore the transplant. So, that's that!

Sooooo, I just got an email notification that Light the Night is doing contests over the next week and the first one was announced today. The person that gets the most donations from 7:00am tomorrow until 7:00am Friday will get a special prize at the walk. Well, with my competitive nature, you know that I will be hitting it hard...so get those $5.00 bills out kids!! BUT WAIT until tomorrow to donate them....ha ha!

Tonight is wig shopping night with my mom and Allison...just like we did 18 years ago. The only difference is this time I am excited...last time I was a total bitch and would not try on anything...I was not happy about it and I was not going to cooperate. I made Allison, Kim and my mom try on wigs and I refused...finally I put one on and said "fine". Sooo...we shall see what color and style I come up with tonight...this is gonna be FUN!!! Of course, I will send pics!

Lastly, I am still on Baby-Watch 2010!! For those of you that don't know, my "person" (yes, she is the Christina to my Meredith - and vise versa sometimes) Kelly is due to POP any minute now. So I am just waiting for the call and I will be there as coach Joni on "Team Kelly's" to help get my little nephew into this world of ours. I can't wait....so I better go take a shower!

xoxo - Joni

Today is a good day!

Today is my actual birthday and I feel pretty darn good - YAY!!! I am actually tackling laundry and maybe even mopping the floor! If I feel extra frisky, I might even vacuum and dust...but lets not get ahead of ourselves just yet! ha ha ha

So, I am obviously finding out that chemo is a lot different than it was 18 years ago, and it took me 3 days to feel somewhat human again after my first treatment. When they said that they were going to bottom me out for transplant, they were not messing with me! I mean, I understand english and I heard what they were saying, but evidently I did not compute the information in this brain of mine....because if I didn't know better I would swear that my mind processed the information as "don't worry, you will feel shitty for a day or so and you will be back on your feet, lickity split" ha ha ha Yea....NO!!!

It took me until yesterday to feel okay enough to get out of bed and of course, I over did it! I was able to see my son's (stepson, you all know that though, right?) soccer game and it was a complete slaughter - kill kill kill!! Go Gaucho's! We won 14-0 :o) Then we came home and I rested for a (long) while because the simple act of getting in and out of the car wears me out. And then I got one of my not-so-brilliant ideas...."Hey Bret, I want a margarita, lets go to Jose's for dinner" Seriously Joni, what the hell!! I am taking like 20 medications - all of which say do not drink. I have read all over the internet that alcohol irritates the cancer cells and may cause pain and still my dumb ASS decides I feel halfway good so I deserve a margarita?? Oh brother!!! Needless to say, this was NOT a good idea! We went to the restaurant, I ordered a pomegranite margarita....took 2 sips and I was DONE! I had pain in my chest, stomach and back. I ate 2 bites of salad and told Bret it was time to go...I felt really bad for rushing him out, but he was really good about it. About an hour after getting home and taking an ativan, I felt better..but was down for the night. Note to self: Don't drink moron!!!

I don't have to go back for chemo until October 12th, which I am sure is going to be just as lovely as it was this time so I am going to be sure to rest up and take care of myself so I can tackle round 2!!!

And of course, my Light the Night update:
The team has raised over $1500.00 - so we met and exceeded our initial goal...soooo I upped it to $2500.00!! I know we can get there, with all of the support that Team Joni has generated, this should be no problem! If anyone wants to give me a birthday present this year...$5.00 toward the walk would be AWESOME!!! Here is the link, if you are interested (yes, I just pulled the birthday card hehehe)

http://pages.lightthenight.org/ocie/InlandEm10/Teamjoni

Take care kids!!

xoxo-Joni

Not gonna sugar-coat this...

So, today is the second day after three days of chemo, and I am still feeling pretty crappy. I don't know how I went to high school on this day so many years ago, I can barely get out of bed. I am still positive, I just feel like crap and I figured that this is my blog to get stuff off of my chest, so I am not going to sit here and lie and say that I feel fanfukkintastic - because I don't. So far, I just feel nauseated and super tired. Most of you are probably thinking, "Oh that is good, she isn't getting sick" then you take a minute and realize who it is that you are thinking about...LOL For me to be down like this is just not normal, I am so use to pushing the limits that I think I would rather be throwing up, as long as I could get up and do stuff! Okay, well puking is not on the top of my list, but you know what I mean.
BLAH!!!


Today we were suppose to go wig shopping, but I started feeling sick again and those plans went out the door. Going to try again Wednesday, I should feel a lot better by then...I hope!

This medi-port thing irritates me. I can feel the wire through my skin and it grosses me out. I feel like I can't lay on my side because it feels like it pulls, so here I am...flat on my damn back! Ohhh the joy!

I don't have anything too witty to say today - sounds like just a bunch of complaints....and well, it's gonna happen sometimes :o) I will put my positive pants back on tomorrow!

xoxo - Joni

So far, so good

Got the medi-port thing put in on Monday and it was not so bad. I was awake for the procedure and the worst part was the sticking with the lidocaine needles. All I really felt was some pressure and moving of the port for placement. I did get some Valium and morphine so I was a little loopy, but still talked through the whole thing...yup thats me! Then....I got home and the numbness wore off and that son-of-a-gun started to hurt...damn! I took a vicodin and that hardly did anything and was pretty miserable for the rest of the night...oh well it is just another step in this getting better process.

Chemo finally started yesterday and it was a piece of cake! I got one chemo and a steroid and anti-nausea meds. Came home and relaxed the rest of the day, just in case. Went to bed and slept okay, the port is still pretty sore though so every time I had to get up it was difficult. I have to drink 2 liters of fluid daily to help my kidney's and bladder, so needless to say, I get up a LOT! Had chemo today which consisted of three different ones, one of which is attached to me right now on a 24 hour pump. I am feeling really tired today, but trying to be a trooper and hang with the family a little bit...this is not going to last very long :o(
GRRRR gonna go kick cancer butt!



Monday night, Kris came over with a care package for me that was put together by her and a few of her friends. It was amazing and I was totally speechless (which we all know does NOT happen too often). Thank you to all that were involved! Once this is over I want to pay it forward and help someone else!! Here is a pic of all the goodies that they brought to me :o)


Me & Kris ♥

Light the Night is AMAZING! We have raised over $1400.00 and have over 20 walkers on Team Joni!!! This is great, keep up the good work friends and family. I can't wait until October 16th!! Please keep passing the word along and keep up the momentum for our team :o)

http://pages.lightthenight.org/ocie/InlandEm10/Teamjoni

I will give you another update soon!!!

xoxo - Joni

Birthday Bash!

In 8 days I will be officially in my late 30's - haha I will be 36...aka 29 again! We had my birthday party last night and had a great time! I got to see my cousins that I have not seen in a few years, it was sooooo great to hang out with you Amber & Misty!! Old friends, new friends, family and my Hawaii family were all here! Ty let us use the margarita machine and it was a hit! Whew, thank goodness we don't own that thing, it is dangerous!! haha Polly and Joey went from the maybe list to surprising me and coming - YAY!! There was even a little reunion between Joey and Michael who worked together years ago...small world huh! Bret played the clown for all of our entertainment and had a thing with high fives and super powers...I don't know what was going on there, but he was a crack up! We did have a lot of people RSVP that didn't make it so Sharon got a HUGE cake and now I will be eating cake for a week!! I expect you people to all drive out here and get yourselves a piece of cake dammit!! :o) And with that party, my drinking days are officially over - no alcohol while on chemo! So, if anyone is in the market for a bald and barfing designated driver - I'm your gal! Here are some of the pictures from the party...
Me and Kris
Gene and Lucinda
Joey, Patty and Polly
Krista and Matt
The Kohlers
Misty and Amber
Erin
Silly!!



Tomorrow I get my medi-port put in and I am not looking forward to that one bit! It is a surgical procedure and I will be AWAKE while they install it - WTF!! A central line put into my freaking chest and they want to keep me awake..these people must be on drugs!! Speaking of drugs..they had better give me a bunch of them! The damn insurance company took a week and a half to approve the port, so I am getting it put in the day before my first chemo. This means that it is going to be sore as hell the first time a needle has to be poked into it the next day. The nurse said I can have some numbing stuff or ice so it doesn't hurt so bad, but I am still not too thrilled about it. Oh well, it is what it is and if this is what it takes to get me better then, that is what we do! Gotta put my big girl pants on and suck it up!

Next Saturday Allison, my mom and I are going wig shopping....just like we did 18 years ago! Hopefully Kim can come too and it will be just like old times - haha Bretty might be joining us, which would be cool as he is going to have to see me the most with this horses tail stuck on my head for a while, so it would be nice if he liked what we pick - hahaha

Light the Night is still going strong! We now have $1265.00 as a team...AWESOME!!! I think I am going to bump the team goal up to $2000.00, I know we can do it for such a great cause!!! I did find out that I will have chemo the week of the walk, so I will be in the market for renting a wheelchair because I don't think there is any way that I will be able to walk 2 miles, 2 days after 3 days worth of chemo...BUT I WILL BE THERE, even if I get pushed in that damn chair the whole time!! Here is that link again for anyone interested in donating, volunteering or joining Team Joni as a walker http://pages.lightthenight.org/ocie/InlandEm10/Teamjoni

My Steelers won again today - with a 4th string QB (just wanted to throw that in there since I am sitting here in my Steelers shirt next to my Terrible Towels :o)

That's it for now, gotta go clean this huge mess of a house! Party's should come with a cleaning crew!

xoxo - Joni

Mushrooms??

Yesterday I had to go in for my PET scan which was interesting, as I have never done one of these before. First, I had a late appointment and had to fast all day, which totally sucked because all I do is eat, sleep and watch TV all day now! So, this was a challenge in itself! Then, I get there like 45 minutes early because I totally misjudged the time it would take to get to Corona from Yucaipa. They had me sit in the waiting room until like 2:05..really there was only like 2 people there..lets get this party started!

As I sat in the waiting room, there was an older man talking to a lady (who I am assuming was his wife) and she was totally not listening to him. I was though and he was talking about Lady Gaga's meat suit, and the bible and all sorts of stuff that obviously was not interesting to wifey as all she kept saying was "uh huh" while flipping through her magazine. He sure was a chatty feller with a weird voice to boot!!

So, they call me back and I go into this room that has four separated areas that are separated by a curtain. Each little room has a recliner (the most uncomfortable recliner in the world, by the way) and a table. For the PET scan they check your blood sugar and then start an IV....So me, being me, asks the girl doing the IV how long she has been a nurse and she tells me that she has been a medical assistant for 13 years. I totally did not know that medical assistants can start IV's...can they??? Well, either way - she did! Then the tech came in and put the tracer in my IV - the tracer is going to go to all of the "hot spots" in my body and let them know where all of my cancer is. And now - I get to kick it in that dark room and wait 1 hour before I can do the test!! I brought a book, but since my night vision skills are not totally honed in, I could not read it!! They gave me a pillow and it was freezing cold in there! Wonderful - note to self..next time wear socks and tennis shoes!

About 20 minutes into the longest hour of my friggin life, I hear "I can't sing anymore, otherwise I would entertain you"...HAHAHAHA it is the old man from the waiting room, behind curtain number 1. I don't say anything and a few minutes later he says "This has got to be the most boring part of this test", I still say nothing because I saw how chatty he was in the waiting room and I certainly do not want to spend this hour chatting it up with Sir Talks A Lot through curtains in the dark - creepy!! I figure he is done...oohhh no! 5 minutes later he says, "I don't know about you but I am starting to feel like a mushroom in here". I just stayed quiet but was cracking up on the inside. Looking back, maybe I should have humored him and talked back....naahhhh!!! Finally, they call him back for the scan and I have 20 more minutes in time out. Once he is done, they call me and I have to pee like nobody's business so I ask if I can go before the scan...and lo-and-behold, he is in the only potty that patients are allowed to use! So, I waited patiently for 3 minutes and he comes out...I go in and of course - he had peed all over the seat!! Really??? Come on now! I don't even deal with this shit at home and I am surrounded by men...now I have to wipe up old man pee before I can go!! Jeeezzzz!!

Once I finished cleaning the bathroom, I went in for my scan..yet another freezing ass cold room in this building! The scan is going in a tube and slowly coming out of it over the course of 20 minutes...with your arms above your head...enough for them to freeze into that position! They finished it up, gave me a granola bar and sent me packing....all the way to McDonald's for a 6-piece chicken nuggets and a diet Dr. Pepper!!! Ahhhhhh FOOD!!!

Other news:
Still waiting on the authorization for my medi-port to be installed...time is running out, and it is looking like my first chemo might have to be in the old veins!! I hope that works out since all of the ones in my arms are completely shot! I am going to look stupid getting chemo through a vein in my foot or my forehead!! hahaha

Light the Night:
Light the Night is in full swing! The team has raised $1000.00 so far!!! I am so grateful to everyone involved, you have no idea!!! We have 18 walkers and a ton of people that have donated. I would like to thank those of you that have donated:

Debra Black
Sue Paez
Lana and Tom Frederic
Sharon and Chris Ronca
Joni McKamey
Kim and Jim Vanderham
Kim and Justin King
Will Campos
Lauraine and Kevin Grishow
Norann King
Delfina Fernandez
Stephanie and Joe Ciaglia
Jennifer Kleinert
Rick Denson
Ron and Brooke Parongao
Sue and Nick Gomez
Sandy Hinkle
(if I put you down as a single person and you are married, I apologize - it just means I don't know your spouses name so let me know and I will correct it :o)

And thank you to those of you that have joined Team Joni as walkers:
Denise Brant
Abby Brant
Jacob Brant
Bret Kennedy
Landon Kennedy
Daylon Kennedy
Chris Ronca
Sharon Kennedy-Ronca
Kris Piepenhagen
Taylor Piepenhagen
Jim Reinhardt
Missy Telles
Lisa Velasquez
Daniel Velasquez
Daniel Velasquez III
Allison Waymire
Nicole Cerezo
and ME!! :o)

I know that I will have people to add to both lists, but I just wanted to get some recognition out there for those of you that have already signed on - THANK YOU!! If you want to take part, here is that link (again hehehe)

http://pages.lightthenight.org/ocie/InlandEm10/Teamjoni

Also...we have someone donating t-shirts to our team!!! They will say "Team Joni" on the front and "No Surrender" on the back! A special Thank you to Nicole's friend Stephen for this!! I hope to meet you in person to say thanks and give you a hug!! :o)

I think that is enough rambling for one morning...I'm gonna go clean something now! Oh how I miss work and school....this stay at home crap is for the birds!

xoxo - Joni

One big step down......a million to go!

Tuesday I was told that I had to do a bone marrow biopsy and, although I kept my game face on, I was not happy at all! I had one of these done 18 years ago and it was, to say the least, barbaric! Back in the day, they doped me up pretty good and then went to town with attempting to nail me to the bed via my back hip! At least that is what it felt like. They were unable to get a piece of my bone, so they tried 5 different times..while I screamed, pulled my hair and nearly yanked my moms hand off...finally they left me alone. So...with this experience in my back pocket, you can imagine that I was not too excited about having to have this done again.

So...Thursday night I get on the internet to look up isolation after bone marrow transplant, I just wanted to see what it was going to be like. This took me to a youtube diary that I watched a little of and to the side, there is another video that is showing a bone marrow biopsy being done - and I click on it like a dumbass! I watched a little of it, got sick to my stomach and turned it off. Then I took a vicodin a little earlier than I was suppose to and went to bed...the vicodin did not help my pain that night, nor did it help me sleep...I was up a lot freaking out.

Friday morning Bret took me to meet my sister-in-law Missy, as she was to be my chauffer for the day :o) We went to the oncologist office and Kelly met us there. Missy was to be the driver and Kelly was to be the hand holder - since she is a nurse we figured she could handle it the best. They call my name, my stomach drops...then they inform us that no one can be in the room during the surgical procedure..WHAT!!!!! Now I am picking my stomach up off of the floor..and I think Missy and Kelly were too! They did let Kelly go in there while they were taking my blood and prepping me though...like that was going to get me through this right?

Soooo we are sitting there and there is the tray of tools that they are going to use, they are not covered up. I see a needle or something that is about 8" long...thank god I do not have a weak stomach, or I would have been on the floor right there! Kelly told me later that she saw it too and was just hoping that I had not looked at it...DUH that was the first thing I did!!! hahahaha After the nurse, Henry, took my blood I asked him "So, you are going to give me drugs to dope me up, right" and he said "no, we just numb the area and then number deeper, near the bone" my first reaction was "SHUT UP!!!" hahaha I think he was stumped, he just smiled...Kelly laughed. Now is the time where they make Kelly leave and they get me ready...I am semi-freaking out, but it is gonna happen one way or the other so I had to put my big girl panties on and deal with it!

A girl named Raquel did the procedure and I am now in love with her!! hahaha I am not going to say that it didn't hurt, but it was nothing like I remember and it was not nearly as painful as I was anticipating. There was a lot of pressure and when she was getting the tool into my bone, there was some pain down my leg..but overall it was mainly a lot of uncomfortable pressure and it was done very quickly. I am no longer afraid of bone marrow biopsies (as long as I can have Raquel do them when I need them - hahaha). When it was over, they let Kelly back in while I had a 5lb weight on my back to control any bleeding, then they cleaned me up and I was free to go. I was hungry so we went for burgers!

Missy took me to a couple of other places and then brought me home, just in time for the pain to kick in. I got to lay down for about 2 hours and then we had to go to opening ceremonies of soccer for Daylon. I should not have gone, and I was pretty much miserable most of the time, but I want to be able to do these things before I can't for a while...so I did - and don't give me shit and tell me I should have rested - I know this hahaha!!!

So, that is the story of the bone marrow biopsy!

Light the Night - we now have 10 walkers and we have raised $550.00 for the cause...I am so grateful to everyone that is walking, volunteering and donating! Remember, every $5.00 counts, so if you can...please donate to my team - Team Joni!

http://pages.lightthenight.org/ocie/InlandEm10/Teamjoni

xoxo- Joni

This and that......

Just some random junk that is going through my head....

1. Got my staples out on Wednesday and although I still feel like I was hit with a sledgehammer, it feels better without them and all of the bandages. Here is a lovely photo of what they did to me...And these are the people that are trying o HELP me!! haha


2. Dyed my hair red on Sunday (I may have already told you that) and thought it looked cute for all of 3 days. I am thinking that I will go with brown this weekend...the red is fading already and looks funny. So..here is a picture of that (don't worry, this isn't picture pages, this is the last one for this entry - hehe)


3. I asked the nurse the other day if this chemo that they are giving me is going to make my hair fall out. She kind of gave me a sad face and said "yes, it is" I think I may have shocked her with my answer of "good, because I better not have cut off 6" and colored it red for no reason - I am not a redhead" She laughed and said that she liked the color :o)

4. I have a new FB friend that shares mutual "real life" friends with me..haha..that is going through the same thing as me. Bret kept coming home and telling me about Eddie's buddy Chad that is going through this too and had the same thing as me. Then yesterday I got a friend request and the first post I see is him telling the story of MY life (not really, it was his...but it is exactly the same). As I read more, I saw that he said he could be in isolation for up to 45 days with the transplant! Ummmm I was NOT ready for that at all - BAM I am hit with a sledgehammer - AGAIN! So, I didn't sleep much last night, neither did Bret...and I looked it up on the internet this morning and sure-as-shit it says right there that the patient can be in isolation for 4-6 weeks!!! OMG!!! I was already in shock...now I am more in shock! I better read up more on this crap so I am ready for the blows before they hit me...at least I can brace myself!

5. I think I will finish the laundry and clean the living room today (these are my random thoughts...they can't all be that interesting - LOL)

6. I would like to Thank everyone that has donated to my Light the Night walk - you are awesome!! If anyone else would like to donate, please make your donations to Bret until he reaches $100.00 and then donate to my other team members, as we all need to raise at least $100.00 and so far I am at $350.00 so I have met my goal. I am so excited to be captain of Team Joni and can't wait to see those of you that are going to walk with me!!! And those of you that cannot make it, but were able to donate - again THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! Here is the team link:

http://pages.lightthenight.org/ocie/InlandEm10/Teamjoni

7. I like the number 7

8. There are 18 more days until my birthday!!! Bret wants to have a party before I start chemo, we are thinking about September 18th, but not totally sure yet. I will let you know, because I want everyone there!! Holy crap - that is like one week - we better get our crap together if we are going to have a party!

I think that is it for now. I have had a lot of stuff buzzing around in my head so I will probably have some more random posts like this....it helps to clear my head a little. Thanks to everyone that has been supporting me with positive thoughts, words and your prayers - it means a lot to me!

xoxo Joni

There's good news and bad news...

People usually want to hear the good news first, right? So...here it is. I signed up for the Light the Night walk as captain of "Team Joni" yesterday and I have already met my donation goal of $100.00 thanks to one of the best guys I know (besides Bretty)- Ricky D :o) from Louisiana!!! Thank you Rick - you rock!! If anyone else wants to donate to the cause or join the team and walk with us, I will post the information at the bottom of this here little update.

And now for the bad news....I found out today that I have to have a bone marrow transplant. Completely shocked the shit out of me!!! Completely!! Evidently, it is part of the protocol for a recurrence of lymphoma...ain't that just friggin dandy! So over the next two weeks I have to get my staples out, get a bone marrow biopsy, get a PET scan, get blood work done, get a medi-port installed and take a class on the effects of chemotherapy. And then on September 21st, I start ICE chemotherapy..which is a 3-day process that I will be doing. I will have chemo Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and then have 2 weeks off and do it again. Once the chemo shows that it is working, then they will get me ready for the transplant, which will take place at UCLA. I am NOT looking forward to this, BUT I can handle it and will get through it with my gloves on fighting the whole way. There may be some kicking and screaming and hair pulling...but sometimes you have to fight dirty! And with Team Joni on my heels...this cancer better be scared!!

Thank you all again for all of the support and prayers...You guys inspire me to keep up the good fight! Here is the information on Light the Night...

Light The Night Walk is The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's evening walk and fundraising event. It is the nation's night to pay tribute and bring hope to thousands of people battling blood cancers and to commemorate loved ones lost.
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) funds lifesaving research that has contributed to major advances in the treatment of blood cancers and treatments for other types of cancer, such as chemotherapy and stem cell transplants. New targeted therapies that kill cancer cells without harming normal tissue are providing drugs and procedures that are improving quality of life.


And here is my page - you can either donate or sign up to walk with me on October 16th :o)

http://pages.lightthenight.org/ocie/InlandEm10/JKennedy

xoxo - Joni

Team Joni...

I thought I would take a minute to say Thank You to all of you that have joined "Team Joni"!! Everyone is saying that I am an inspiration, when I think it is you all that are. Even though I am the tough chick, it means so much to me that you all have my back! I take you on this journey of mine because it helps me get stuff out, and also it helps you understand just what it is that is going on...I mean you can't really support and pray when you don't know what it is that you are supporting or praying for :o)

For those of you that don't already know, I got the news on Thursday that I definitely have Hodgkin's Lymphoma again. The pathology report confirmed Hodgkin's and that there is no indication of Non-Hodgkin's - which is great! Non-Hodgkin's is more unpredictable than Hodgkin's and has a worse prognosis. So, this is actually a good thing in the grand scheme of things.

I have also been thinking that I want to participate in a cancer walk again this year. Two years ago, I was the captain of "The Rack Pack" at the City of Hope Walk for the Cure. I would like to either participate in that walk again this year, or Light the Night, which is a fundraising walk for blood cancers. Either way, I will need to act fast to get "Team Joni" going since both walks are coming up in the next two months. Even if I have to be pushed in a wheelchair, this is pretty important so I would like to do this! If anyone wants to join me, let me know and we can figure out which walk and start a team :o) If I am not able to participate, I will definitely donate and will put a link on my page in case anyone else wants to as well.

Here is a pic from a speech I did at school after the walk, it was a informative speech and I was attempting to convince my class to support breast cancer research....I got an A+ :o)


Today has been a pretty good day, I washed my hair and my body (by the way sponge baths suck!!!), shaved and even put a little make up on! Bret and the boys did a lot of housework and the house looks nice. I have moved to the couch, since I am making a hole in the bed, and I folded some laundry. I feel human today and as long as the vicodin works, I am superwoman again!! haha I think I am going to have the boys give me my first hair cut later on today...just a few inches to start..we will get crazy when it starts to fall out :o)

Off to find a movie to watch...have a great day everyone!

xoxo- Joni

Update 9-2-10

It has been 3 days since my surgery and I am still only comfortable laying flat on my back. The surgery was not nearly what I was expecting - at all! From what I was told, they had to collapse my lung in order to work around in there and get the pieces to biopsy. I woke up with a chest tube coming out of my side and a few other holes with staples in them. I also look like Shelby in Steel Magnolias....you know the part where they say she has been driving nails up her arms...LOL I have bruises up and down both arms! Good thing I am stuck at home for a week, people would probably freak out over these bad boys!

Haha - that first picture was in prep for surgery, I thought it was going to be a walk in the park - look at that stupid smile!




So, the next step is that I see the oncologist on Tuesday and they will have my results. Basically what we are finding out is what type of lymphoma I have, because it is pretty obvious that I do have lymphoma. The surgeon pretty much said it, as well as the radiologist that read the CT scan. I am sure that I will end up having some more tests and stuff, but at least we are moving along and taking steps to getting me better again.

On a lighter note....
You all know that I had cancer 18 years ago (or at least you should know that by now! lol). Anyhow, back in the day my friend Allison, her sister Traci and I thought it would be funny to put my wig on Traci's 2-year old daughter Katie and take pictures of her. Well...Traci found them the other day and sent them to me!! OMG they are so cute! I also asked Katie if she would be up for another photo shoot in a month or two...I am sure she will be just as cute at 20 as she was at 2!!!



Well...that is about all I have for now and I can't stand to sit up any longer! So, I'm gonna go pop a pill and fall asleep while watching Maury! hahaha I can't believe I am saying this, but I wish I was either at work or stressing over some homework right about now!

xoxo - Joni