Each New Day and Finding Your Peace

Hi all, my blogs are getting fewer and fewer but when I'm moved by something or someone, I have to blog about it. So here I am again speaking with a little 'peace' of my heart.

Each new day brings something new. Each new day can be a good one or it can start out to be a bad one. Typically, you can choose which way that day goes. Some days when it starts out not so good, I either wallow in my misery and I'm pissed off at the world. Or I open my eyes to the beauty around me by enjoying the simple things.

Most recently, meaning this past summer, I have discovered a new love. A simple love. I always thought it was the love of the beach. But this year we decided on vacationing at a lake. Keuka Lake to be specific. And while I was not happy because I would be missing the beach, I was blown away by my reaction to it. The lake took my breath away. It gave me such peace. I realized that my love isn't so much the beach vs. the lake. It's the water. The ebb and flow. Some days it can be calm much like ourselves or it can be crashing waves and tumultuous just like our lives. It truly represents the ebb and flows of life. And no matter how those ebb and flows come, they give me great peace. My love isn't beach or lake, it's being out in nature and experiencing the beauty of water. No matter what form that water comes, it provides a sense of peace. I can be on the beach all day, just sitting in a chair while the waves play at my feet, or I can be on the boat and be soothed by its rocking motion. In either scenario I'm either trying to absorb all the natural beauty of the water around me or I'm closing my eyes and being content with where I am. Water is my natural therapy. Being in or near water has such a calming effect and is my escape. Is my peace.

With all the chaos cancer has created in my life, I have finally found my peace. I truly believe we all have something that brings us peace. Don't hold yourself back from new experiences. I almost said no to something that gives me the peace and joy I crave. Being on the water, especially at the lake, is not like anything I have ever felt. It feels as though I found my home. It's my place.

The warrior in me is finally ready for some peace, and of course, it will keep rockin on!

So go and allow yourself new experiences because you just may find the peace you've been looking for.

Lucky To Be Alive

Wow, the cure is out there. And we keep getting closer.

Statistics say that there is a 1 out of 4 chance of a sibling match and a 1 in a million chance of matching with a total stranger.

So let me just day, in 2010, there were 4 million donors in the U.S. and not one was a match for me. My brother was not a match either. The odds were stacked against me. My transplant team decided to seek an international match and my chances of finding a match were becoming less and less. Fortunately, my SCT team  found two (2) 100% matches.

It seems like a miracle that I'm here.  I'm so truly blessed. Thank you Andrea Wanderer, your gift of life will never be forgotten or unappreciated. You have given so much more than life, you have given my children their mom, my husband a wife, and my family a friends a lifetime of building more memories.

God Bless!!! Make the most out of each day. Accentuate the positives and rid yourself of the negative because life really is too short and you never know what's around the corner. Make the most of it!!! And ...keep rockin on 🤘

Click on the link to read the article
https://futurism.com/?s=Lab+grown+stem+cells

Becoming My Own Champion

I'm back!!!

It's been a long time since my last post. Life has been so busy that I just haven't had the time to sit and write but I'm taking the time now.

I finally decided to go back to Weight Watchers to try and get some kind of control on my weight. Since my stem-cell transplant, I began having issues with my thyroid and had gained 30lbs in just a year. I seem to have stabilized but I'm just not happy with my weight. 

I finally decided the time has come to do something about this extra weight.  Even though I am scared, because what if I can't lose it? I'm afraid of failure because when I put my mind to something, I want to see it through. But my body is so completely different than I was before cancer that I'm almost scared it's not possible.

But no one else can do it for me. I need to be my own champion and use all my warrior strength to achieve my goal.

So here's to health and fitness!!! Rock on! 🤘

My 6th year re-Birthday

Six years ago tonight I was given another chance at life. A complete stranger from the other side of the world, selflessly, donated her stem-cells in order to save someone's life. 

In a way I feel special because I am blessed with two birthdays, my actual birthday and my re-birthday.

My re-birthday signifies a new life, a new journey, a new beginning. It is a reason to celebrate. There is no shame to recognize and speak of it. Because without it, I would not be here.

This day does not signify grief or sadness. There's no doubt the journey to be where I am today was a long one and there were times the outcome was unknown but there was always hope. And that hope went minute by minute, to hour by hour, from day by day until it has become year by year.

For me, my re-birthday is a day to celebrate and recognize the importance of this monumental miracle.  It's a day to celebrate life, to embrace it, to love, to laugh and to appreciate each other and know how blessed we truly are. ❤

God bless and Rock on!!!

Time to Reflect and Be Thankful

This is the time of year that I always reflect on the year 2010 and where  I was on Thanksgiving day.  Six years ago, I was prepping for my stem-cell transplant. Laying in my hospital bed, eating my dinner by myself, while my family had their dinner in the hospital cafeteria.

The memory of that day really puts things in perspective. It has taught me to cherish each day, treasure every moment no matter how big or small, to love hard, and to be thankful for family, friends, and to my selfless donor who gave me another chance at life.

Happy Thanksgiving and God Bless!!!


Image source:
http://thedoubter.org/977/thanksgiving-eve-service/

In Limbo

I'm stuck.
I'm not regressing.
I'm not moving forward.
I'm just there.

I feel like I'm at a crossroad. Do I move forward and leave all of cancer behind me? Or do I go left or do I go right? Will I encounter something new as a result of cancer or will I awaken something or somethings that have been dormant, only to battle and conquer again?

I know what I cannot do. I cannot and will not go back. I can't even make myself turn around. I can't even take a peek. Because what you think would be an innocent peek, would be like an innocent peek at Medusa. In just that fraction of a second, your life could end. It could turn you to stone keeping you stuck in a time you never want to relive.

I think that my path is becoming the one where I choose to move forward. But even when I move forward, somewhere on that path, I am faced with another and the only option is left or right. I need to choose because going back isn't an option. Whichever I choose it leads me to moving again to choose yet again.

This has become my new normal. A life in limbo. A life of moving forward. A life of walking in circles. But never, NEVER will it be a life going back.

Image source
http://www.meahrobertson.com.au/crossroads

#MakeItAGreatOne