Summer time! And it's rainy?

Hello everyone!

 I am back from being sick and finally almost 100% better. I was brought down by a sinus infection (thanks Kelly! :) ) and with the help of anti biopics, steroids, tissue, my doctor and Cassidy, I have been able to get back on my feet and resume working. I had to take a couple days off from work but this past week went well for me and I'm almost done with all my congestion! Just a lingering but persistent cough that won't go away... This sickness definitely lasted longer than my first bout I went through a couple of months ago and I am going to be more careful. It is easy to get caught up with being healthy and I forgot that my immune system is still weak and can take longer to get better if I do get sick. Luckily I am fine and happy to be back to my normal routine.

 All week Cassidy has been going to work at 9:30 and since I don't work until 1:30 I have been taking Zoe to Kapiolani Park which is just down the road from where I drop cass off every morning. It is so beautiful there! With diamond head in the background and a huge field with beautiful banyon trees, it has been the perfect spot for zoe to run around and chase her ball. We usually hang outside for an hour before going back home for lunch :) I'm happy to be playing outside with her and running around! It is such a great way to start the day and it makes me feel accomplished knowing that while I'm at work Zoe is conked out for the afternoon :) love my baby girl!

As summer begins I have now finalized my appointments for my 2 year check up at MD Anderson this August. I am hoping to be there for a week (8/14-8/22) and be with Kelly, the Boyd Family and other various friends! I hope jan and Janet will be in town but they might be in Canada :( :( :( either way it will be great seeing everyone again! My dad told me while I was on Kauai that he and my nana were going to try and make it to Houston but my dad just told me he won't be able to go with me. Maybe nana can escort me to my appointments again like she did last year! Hopefully we won't make as much noise as we did last time...bringing Zoe into the Rotary House AND MD Anderson (yes, we had security chasing us down and trying to kick us out...but we had no where to put Zoe!!) this year Zoe is staying home with cass and staying OUT of the hospitals hehe. Oops! My flight has been made for the 14th of August and I am staying until the 22nd! So if you want to meet up while I'm there give me a call!

 It has been hard being away from my Houston family but I knew coming back to hawaii for a short time would be worth doing in the long run. Finishing up my degree with in-state tuition and not having to stretch it out for who knows how long because of the amount of classes Uni of Houston wouldn't transfer over could have potentially put me tens of thousands of dollars more in debt. Did i mention that the Houston heat was unbearably uncomfortable since my body wasnt able to handle the heat anymore? well that is no longer an issue now that I don't break out in hives everytime it gets a little warm out. I have to say that I will miss Hawaii's trade winds and I am grateful for them to help cool me off when my own body couldn't. Plus being back on Oahu and working at FSPT is giving me direct access to my first step into the BASI Pilates program. Working has helped me with my recovery and strengthening my posture/body. I feel like I have more control of myself again and I feel like my body is finally regulating itself normally again. Yes, my hot flashes are finally cooling off!

I can't believe it has been two years since my diagnosis because I feel like so much more time has passed from June 8th, 2011 to today! I have grown so much and discovered more about myself than I ever thought I would know. I feel more confident about my actions and being back on Oahu, being financially responsible for myself (with the help of Cassidy) and finishing up school has made me more of an adult. It has been tough but I am proud of where me and Cassidy are today and our plans for our future. I can't wait to be done with school, get started with Pilates and move back to Houston! It feels good to have plans for the future again; it was hard to let myself think too far ahead because I kept remembering that I used to have plans and they were changed due to my cancer. I was afraid to make future plans even for the next month because I knew nothing is ever set in stone. But I feel good looking into the next year and a half and looking forward to my next step in life. Moving (permanently) away from Oahu to Texas and setting down roots there in Houston and Austin. I know this detour through Oahu was not in the plans when we first moved away for my treatment but I have benefited from it in more ways than I can explain. And I couldn't have done it without Cassidy and Zoe by my side 100% of the time! I love what our little family has become and I'm so excited for our next step to make it bigger! Baby fever has set in...haha! I am guessing that is a good sign for my body! I am still waiting on the wedding plans (though still working on the bridesmaids dresses) until me and Cassidy can start saving some money. I think once we actually start saving then we will have a better idea of when the wedding will be. Since we are still stressing a lot on finances (even though Cassidy told me not to worry about them and leave it for him to stress about) I don't think we should be stressing about how to pay for a wedding until we can actually have plans to afford it. I know we will find a way to have the perfect evening for us all!
Thank you all for being patient!

We are going to see World War Z tonight (Brad Pitt and Zombies?? What could be better?!?) and I plan on furthering my relaxing weekend by healing and doing nothing! I hope everyone else has a relaxing weekend and I will write again soon!

Let's all pray this cough goes away ASAP! I'm using up all of the tissue at home and at work. :/ haha

My 2 year cancerversary

I am pleased today knowing that I have come so far in my treatment since June 8th 2011; chemotherapy that got me into remission, moving 5,000 miles away from my home with my bf and mom to a new city, meeting all the wonderful people who surrounded me during my stay in Texas and those who I consider like family now (Jan, Janet, Kelly, Boyd Family, etc.), harvesting my eggs and fertilizing them (I got 3!), surviving Bulsofan chemotherapy and its side effects and mouth sores, a stem cell transplant thanks to my donor, Travis (my brother!), having amazing nurses including my very best friend Kelly to help me through my mouth sores, constipation, doubts and worries, pain and boredom, finding Zoe who has been by my side to help me with my recovery, to getting engaged last year on this day to the most amazing man who has stayed by my side and almost killed himself with worry every step of the way through my treatment but never showed it on his face; who brought me to the ER two years ago today because I was sick; who stayed in the hospital for about a month as I went through my frist round of chemotherapy; who worked tirelessly so that I had a nice place to stay near the hospital and would come running if I ever called; who loved and cared for me 110% everyday no matter how hard it got and for making me laugh and smile through the bad days, telling me that its going to be fine and that we will get through this, and, finally, staying sick and infection free for almost 2 years! Unfortunately within getting sick the first time (about 2 or 3 weeks ago) I got sick again (possibly from having too much fun when Kelly came to visit) and am stopping to take breaks from writing this to cough. But never worry! I have been to my doctor here and he has given me anti-biotics to help with my possible sinus infection and I have been at home resting while Cassidy keeps my glass filled with POG (passion orange guava juice). I took off of work yesterday because I had a low fever of 100.58 degrees but today I have had only a temp of 99 degrees. Hopefully I will be all better by Monday to go back to work!

My boss is in California doing a Pilates conference and getting more information about the BASI Pilates Teaching certification that she will hold at her clinic on Oahu and which I am planning on taking this fall. She said that they have some scholarships available and she will get some more information about them so that I won't have to pay for the certification classes. I am so excited about my first step into the BASI Pilates world and the amazing doors it will open for me to further my learning in Pilates. Thank you Linda for helping me find my new path and for getting my foot in the door with BASI Pilates! Im sorry I got sick and had to miss work while you were gone :(

I am so fortunate to have continued support throughout everything I have been through. I don't know what I would have done without you all praying for me, thinking of me and sending me positive vibes to encourage me to always fight! Thank you for sticking with me and putting up with my flaky blogs and for continuing to read them! As I look back to 2 years ago I never would have thought what amazing people I would meet on my way to recovery and how, if given the chance to do it all again, I would. I look forward to this next year and all that encompasses it (my first Pilates certification, graduating with my BS in Kinesiology and Rehab Science, moving back to Texas) and never knowing what the future holds for me but I will continue to go forward with my head held high (and good posture) to take on whatever new challenges come my way.

Sun kissed and tired legs

Hello!

So I know on my last post I said I would be writing more often but let me just explain the craziness of the month of May.

I have been living in Kailua on the island of Oahu with Cassidy and 3 other roommates. It is a pretty large house so even with 5 people under 1 roof it wasn't all that crowded. One of my roommates is my old roommate's father who is recently divorced and needed help finding a place since he had just moved here from Maine. Cass found this house back in October and we moved in and found 2 other roommates to help make the rent cheaper since the house cost $3,300 to rent (yes, I know...extremely expensive!). It has been lovely living in Kailua because it is away from the city and only a 10 minute walk away from the beach! Zoe and I have had many good walks and runs to the beach and it has been a big help to getting my legs stronger again and getting active. In this household me and Cass have been being the ones that send the rent checks to our landlord and sending in the checks for the bills. Ever since October it has been a stressful event every 1st of the month to collect rent and utilities money; and every month someone always paid us late. My ex-roommate's dad is 50 years old and always gave rent money and utilities money late, drinks way too much alcohol and has a negative energy about him. He is a very bitter person and holds grudges against anyone even over small things. He was pretty much the reason why me and Cassidy decided to move out of this house. Zoe has had accidents in the house and we have been doing much better lately with her being potty trained. However, Zoe doesn't like this roommate very well and one night she pooped in his room. This roommate of mine FLIPPED OUT and was acting like a child over something so small (Zoe is a 10 lb dog so her poops aren't very big at all). We are also tired of taking care of everything in the house and feeling like we are coming up short for bills every month. Also, we lived about 30 minutes away from work and have been driving around 50 miles a day so we have been spending about $200 a month on gas. This crazy outburst pretty (combined with other stupid things that I don't have the time or energy to explain it all) was the last straw for us so we found a replacement for our room and moved out of the house in Kailua and found a small studio apartment right in town. It will definitely save us some money and with all the drama behind us we can live comfortably and quietly in our new spot :)

Unfortunately it took over a week for Oceanic Time Warner Cable to come by and set up our internet so I couldn't update my blog until then!

And then, of course, I have been so busy hanging out with my best friend Kelly Lang! For all who don't know Kelly she was my nurse at MD Anderson and is my age. Right from the start we felt like we had known each other for years and she not only helped me through my chemotherapy she came by on her days off and hung out with me. After I moved back to Oahu we made plans for her to come out to visit this summer. Since May 24th we have been having tons of fun with her showing her the island of Oahu! It has been so much fun and I am going to miss her so so much when she leaves tomorrow :( :( We have been hiking 4 times and going to the beach almost every day! Don't worry, I have been wearing 85 SPF and hanging out under the umbrella :) We hiked the pillboxes in Kailua that over looks Lanikai (beautiful view!), the Stairway to Heaven (1.4 miles roundtrip and 2,800 feet above sea level with an average incline of greater than 45 degrees!!), Koko Head trail (1,048 stairs in .8 miles and 1,200 feet elevation) and then ended with the Hanakapiai trail on the northshore of Kauai (4 miles up and down the Napali coast to a huge waterfall and then 4 miles back and a total of 25,000 steps taken!). I think it is safe to say that I am good for hiking for a little while and ready to rest my legs! I had a blast and I know Kelly did too. She saw the most beautiful parts of Kauai and Oahu and I can't wait for her to come back in December (I hope!) so that I can show her more of Kauai (2 days is not enough!) and also take her to all the best places to eat here (we didn't have time to go to my favorite places :( ). I love this girl so much and I am so thankful to have her here with me!

Right before we decided to move I got sick for the first time since my transplant. I was at work and had a headache and wasn't feeling very well so I went home early and as soon as I got into the car I got a fever. I got home and my temp was 102.5 degrees. I wasn't throwing up or coughing so I just took some tylenol and went to sleep. Cassidy was freaking out (my poor baby) and I told him we could go to the ER if my fever went above 103 degrees of didn't break by the morning. Luckily it broke and didn't go above 102.5 degrees. For the next couple of days I had a headache but other than that I was fine :) I got lucky! My first sickness since the transplant (1 1/2 years!) and it didn't get me down! I have been feeling great since then and have had no problems since :)

I am going to mess around with my blog and try to figure out how to put pictures on here. I would love to post the pictures we took of all of our hiking adventures.

I hope you all had a wonderful month of May and wasn't as crazy as mine! We finally have wifi at my apartment and won't be showing the island off to anyone soon so I will have a lot more time on my hands to keep up with my blog. Thank you everyone for your continuing support! I know I am not the best at keeping up with my updates but I promise to try harder to keep up. I don't know what I would do without all of your positive energy and constant love and support. Thank you Thank you! Aloha until next time!