Moments in Sarcoma
If you have been touched by sarcoma, you have a moment to share with theworld. If you were to share just one moment on your journey with sarcomawith others, what would it be? Imagine a collection of moments from peoplearound the world who have dealt with all kinds of sarcomas. What insightswould surface? What would we learn? "Moments in Sarcoma" is a new project that will publish moments from thelives of patients and their families, doctors, researchers, and friends.Submissions are invited during the month of February. Then one submissionwill be published daily on the Team Sarcoma Website starting in May or June,continuing through the International Sarcoma Awareness Week in July andending when all chosen moments have been published. As a part of this very special project, one patient or survivor who submitsa Moment by March 1 will be awarded a sponsorship of at least $2,000 (theremay also be the possibility of some travel assistance) to participate in the2009 "Core" Team Sarcoma Bike Tour during July 18-25, 2009. Everyone who has been touched by sarcoma is invited to participate in thisproject. Learn more, and share a moment today at http://moments.team-sarcoma.net Bruce S.Liddy's dad
I HOPE
I HOPE...
I hope you never have to hear the words, "Your child has cancer."
I hope you never have to hear, "The prognosis is not good."
I hope you never have to prepare to undergo radiation or chemotherapy, have a port surgically inserted into their chest, be connected to IV poles.
Look at you with fear in their eyes and say, "Don't worry Mommy, everything will be okay."
I hope you never have to hold your child as they vomit green bile.
I hope you never have to feed them ice chips for lunch.
I hope you never have to watch the "cure" you pray for slowly take away their identity,
as theylose their hair,
become skeletal,
swell up from steroids,
develop severe acne,
become barely or unable to walk or move,
and look at you with hope in their eyes and say,"It's going to be okay, Mommy."
I hope that you never have to stay in the hospital for weeks, months, or years at a time, where there is no privacy, sleeping on a slab, with your face to the wall, where you cry in muffled silence.
I hope you never have to see a mother, alone, huddled, in a dark hospital corridor...crying quietly, after just being told, "There is nothing more we can do."
I hope you never have to watch a family wander aimlessly, minutes after their child's body has been removed.
I hope you never have to use every bit of energy you have left, with all of this going on around you to remain positive, and the feelings of guilt, sorrow, hope and fear, overwhelm you.
I hope you never have to see a child's head bolted to the table as they receive radiation.
I hope you never have to take your child home (grateful but so afraid) in a wheelchair because the chemo and radiation has damaged their muscles, 35 pounds lighter, pale, bald, and scarred.
And they look at you with faith in their eyes and say, "It's going to be okay Mommy."
I hope you never have to face the few friends that have stuck beside you and hear them say, "Thank God that is over with,"...because you know it never will be.
Your life becomes a whirl of doctors, blood tests and MRI's and you try to get your life back to "normal".
While living in mind-numbing fear that any one of those tests could result in hearing the dreaded words..."The cancer has returned" or "The tumor is growing."
And your friends become even fewer.
I hope you never have to experience any of these things...Because...only then...Will you understand...
Author: Carol Baan
I hope you never have to hear the words, "Your child has cancer."
I hope you never have to hear, "The prognosis is not good."
I hope you never have to prepare to undergo radiation or chemotherapy, have a port surgically inserted into their chest, be connected to IV poles.
Look at you with fear in their eyes and say, "Don't worry Mommy, everything will be okay."
I hope you never have to hold your child as they vomit green bile.
I hope you never have to feed them ice chips for lunch.
I hope you never have to watch the "cure" you pray for slowly take away their identity,
as theylose their hair,
become skeletal,
swell up from steroids,
develop severe acne,
become barely or unable to walk or move,
and look at you with hope in their eyes and say,"It's going to be okay, Mommy."
I hope that you never have to stay in the hospital for weeks, months, or years at a time, where there is no privacy, sleeping on a slab, with your face to the wall, where you cry in muffled silence.
I hope you never have to see a mother, alone, huddled, in a dark hospital corridor...crying quietly, after just being told, "There is nothing more we can do."
I hope you never have to watch a family wander aimlessly, minutes after their child's body has been removed.
I hope you never have to use every bit of energy you have left, with all of this going on around you to remain positive, and the feelings of guilt, sorrow, hope and fear, overwhelm you.
I hope you never have to see a child's head bolted to the table as they receive radiation.
I hope you never have to take your child home (grateful but so afraid) in a wheelchair because the chemo and radiation has damaged their muscles, 35 pounds lighter, pale, bald, and scarred.
And they look at you with faith in their eyes and say, "It's going to be okay Mommy."
I hope you never have to face the few friends that have stuck beside you and hear them say, "Thank God that is over with,"...because you know it never will be.
Your life becomes a whirl of doctors, blood tests and MRI's and you try to get your life back to "normal".
While living in mind-numbing fear that any one of those tests could result in hearing the dreaded words..."The cancer has returned" or "The tumor is growing."
And your friends become even fewer.
I hope you never have to experience any of these things...Because...only then...Will you understand...
Author: Carol Baan
Sugar Bust!
I am going to try to go off sugar (obvious processed sugar). I started yesterday and will go until Thanksgiving. then on Thanksgiving I will eat all the pie I want and then the day after I go back off sugar unitl Christmas Eve. Anybody want to join me and some friends on this sugar buster quest? If you do, here is some advice to help you to conquer your quest! (these tips are from the lazy organizer blog)
I know steering clear of sugar is a difficult thing for most people. If you are really serious about going cold turkey I want to tell you how to do it. First I'll tell you how and then I'll tell you why.
Have a REASON to do it and then DECIDE to do it. Really. Stop saying you're going to start tomorrow. Start right now!
Stop eating sugary foods, soda, juice, everything. Cut it all out of your diet and get it all out of your house.
Tell your family what you're doing and ask them to please not bring any sweets into the house or to eat them in front of you. When we went to a Chinese buffet my family moved to a different table to eat their desserts!
The first week will be difficult. All you will think about is dessert. All you can do is just suffer through it.
To make it through the first week, make a meal plan. That way you will know what you are going to eat for every meal. Don't skip meals or you will get overly hungry and vulnerable to falling off the wagon.
Next, buy every kind of snack food that you could possibly want that's not sweet. Chips, crackers, nuts, popcorn etc. You're not trying to eat healthy the first week. You're just not eating sugar. If you have other snacks available then it won't be such a hardship.
Buy lots of fruit. I know it's sweet and it has lots of sugar in it but it's good for you and for some reason I can eat all the fruit I want and it doesn't make me crave sugar. It just doesn't. Buy a box of strawberries and tell your family that this is dessert. They might complain at first but they will secretly like it and get used to it. I go to Sam's club and buy watermelons, cantaloupe, bananas, boxes of kiwi, strawberries and plums. So, fruit juice, no. Fruit, yes.
If someone offers you a brownie say, "No, thank you." A soda, "no". A candy bar; "no". A jelly bean, "NO!!!" "But thanks for asking".
The second week on will be easier. You will have that sweet taste out of your mouth and you will stop craving sugar.
You will start yearning for healthier foods. You will stop thinking about eating junk food. If you do eat junk food, it won't taste as good to you. Go with the flow. If you want to eat salad for three meals a day, do it.
Don't start eating sugar again. Remember how hard it was this time? It will be even harder the next time you try to stop. When you tell your brain you are going to stop eating sugar again it will say, "Ya, I've heard this before. I'll believe it when I see it." And then you will have visions of sugar plums dancing in your head until you give in and eat one. What is a sugar plum anyway? They sure sound tasty. I found this about sugar addictions. I haven't read her book and I don't know about her methods but I thought her website was interesting reading. Stop eating sugar for all the obvious reasons. It rots your teeth, it's bad for you, it will make you fat, etc., etc.. Here is a reason you might not have known about because I sure didn't. I only found out from my own experience. Once you stop eating sugar your food cravings will stop. Seriously, you will eat less of everything. Even foods that I normally love, I have to force myself to eat. I don't think about food like I used to. Sometimes I even forget to eat or I have to make myself stop and prepare something to eat when I'm busying doing something. Does this sound depressing? It's not. It's liberating.
I know steering clear of sugar is a difficult thing for most people. If you are really serious about going cold turkey I want to tell you how to do it. First I'll tell you how and then I'll tell you why.
Have a REASON to do it and then DECIDE to do it. Really. Stop saying you're going to start tomorrow. Start right now!
Stop eating sugary foods, soda, juice, everything. Cut it all out of your diet and get it all out of your house.
Tell your family what you're doing and ask them to please not bring any sweets into the house or to eat them in front of you. When we went to a Chinese buffet my family moved to a different table to eat their desserts!
The first week will be difficult. All you will think about is dessert. All you can do is just suffer through it.
To make it through the first week, make a meal plan. That way you will know what you are going to eat for every meal. Don't skip meals or you will get overly hungry and vulnerable to falling off the wagon.
Next, buy every kind of snack food that you could possibly want that's not sweet. Chips, crackers, nuts, popcorn etc. You're not trying to eat healthy the first week. You're just not eating sugar. If you have other snacks available then it won't be such a hardship.
Buy lots of fruit. I know it's sweet and it has lots of sugar in it but it's good for you and for some reason I can eat all the fruit I want and it doesn't make me crave sugar. It just doesn't. Buy a box of strawberries and tell your family that this is dessert. They might complain at first but they will secretly like it and get used to it. I go to Sam's club and buy watermelons, cantaloupe, bananas, boxes of kiwi, strawberries and plums. So, fruit juice, no. Fruit, yes.
If someone offers you a brownie say, "No, thank you." A soda, "no". A candy bar; "no". A jelly bean, "NO!!!" "But thanks for asking".
The second week on will be easier. You will have that sweet taste out of your mouth and you will stop craving sugar.
You will start yearning for healthier foods. You will stop thinking about eating junk food. If you do eat junk food, it won't taste as good to you. Go with the flow. If you want to eat salad for three meals a day, do it.
Don't start eating sugar again. Remember how hard it was this time? It will be even harder the next time you try to stop. When you tell your brain you are going to stop eating sugar again it will say, "Ya, I've heard this before. I'll believe it when I see it." And then you will have visions of sugar plums dancing in your head until you give in and eat one. What is a sugar plum anyway? They sure sound tasty. I found this about sugar addictions. I haven't read her book and I don't know about her methods but I thought her website was interesting reading. Stop eating sugar for all the obvious reasons. It rots your teeth, it's bad for you, it will make you fat, etc., etc.. Here is a reason you might not have known about because I sure didn't. I only found out from my own experience. Once you stop eating sugar your food cravings will stop. Seriously, you will eat less of everything. Even foods that I normally love, I have to force myself to eat. I don't think about food like I used to. Sometimes I even forget to eat or I have to make myself stop and prepare something to eat when I'm busying doing something. Does this sound depressing? It's not. It's liberating.
Family Photos! 2008
We tried to get family photos taken but Hudson had to be a little bit of a stink. unfortunately I didn't get one with all 4. I will have to try again sometime.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)