My Breast Cancer Story, Eleven Years Later...here I go again.

Here are some pictures of baby Jeffrey. I love the one of him looking at the tree! I framed it for my mom and for Jeff's dad for Christmas. I haven't been on in a long time. I have been so busy with Christmas and doing stuff on Ebay. We had a wonderful Christmas and it was so much fun watching Jeffrey open his presents. He loves all his toys and hasn't stopped playing since Christmas. I had a great day with my family. We went to Pam's to open presents with the family and then had a wonderful dinner. I drank an Irish coffee that day and about a half bottle of wine. By the time I got to my in laws I was pretty much wasted...lol. I had so much fun and got to catch up with everyone. It was a great day! I had a little scare right before Christmas. I went for my three month check up and I told the doctor that I have been getting muscle spasm and cramping in my chest and rib cage. I also have some pain on the right side of my abdomen. He was as he put it very concerned. When h...

I have some good news about my sister Sue. She had the MRI on her brain and the doctor called today and told her it is a benign cyst and that they will check it again in 6 months. Thank god! I was really scared that it was going to be something bad. Thanks for all the prayers for my sister. I have been getting ready for Thanksgiving. I realized I forgot a few things so off to the store I went. It was a madhouse! People standing over the frozen turkey bin trying to figure out what size bird they wanted. There were a lot of men on cell phones with confused looks on their faces. The funniest thing I saw was two guys looking at spices with blank looks on their faces. One if the guys asked his friend what they were supposed to use on the turkey and he said he was looking it up on google. Who knew there would be a day you could google from your phone in the grocery store. I was going to step in and help but who knows better than google right? lol Tomorrow will be a busy day. I am making cher...

Geeesh. I am a bad blogger. I have not been on in a while. One of the reasons I wanted to post today is to ask everyone for prayers. My sister Sue has been having trouble - headaches, tingling on the left side of my her head, numbness by her temple, some minor vision problems, high blood pressure, and disoriented. Well she had a CAT scan and they did find something. They said it was about 1/4 inch spot that showed up. We aren't sure what it is but they want to do an MRI on Monday. This is freaking me out! She tells me not to worry but how can I not worry about something like this? Please keep her in your prayers. I was pleasantly surprised to sign on today and find that Sugar from The Sugar Shack Passed the Marie Antoinette award: Real Blogs - Real People on to me! Sugar thank you so much I am honored! You are so sweet and it means a lot to me. Now it is my turn to pick some of my friends blog to pass it on to. First is Stephanie from Freshly Squeezed . She is also a breast cancer...

Here are some pictures from our trip. A lot has gone on since my last post. We took a trip up north to look at the colors. It was so beautiful. We left early Saturday morning and then stayed the night in Tawas Michigan. For the most part we missed the peak color, but the trip was still nice and we did see some nice color. We had a great time and it was nice to get away just the two of us. We stopped at Frankemuth on the way home and then we stopped at the famous "Tony's" to get something to eat. My dad always took us there on the way home from up north. They give you so much food. Jeff blew his diet for one day but it was worth it. There is a picture of the BLT we ordered above. It had more than a pound of bacon on it and it was gooood! We have been working at the haunted house for the little league. We did it every Friday, Saturday and Sunday for about 4 weeks. We have so much fun scaring people and laugh so hard when we get "screamers" that come through. My si...

I have been going coupon crazy the last week or two. Sue has been my partner in crime. We hit all the stores that have the deals that match up to the coupon and we are saving a ton of money. The other day I bought 12 bags of Recees and KitKats for Halloween and 4 big bottles of Tylenol for about 20 bucks. Today we went to Super K and they had double up to $2.00 and I stocked up on shampoo, hair color, and lots of other things. Some of the stuff was even free after the coupon. It is well worth the hunt! I am stocking up on everything. Jeff and I decided to go away this weekend and do our own fall color tour up north. I am excited to just get away and look at all the beautiful scenery. Oh and I am sure we will be bringing the game we always play...it's called UpWords. We are in a major battle. Whoever loses has to keep score the next game. I was on a winning streak for a while, but he won the last 10 games in a row..that was until the other day when we went to the beach and I fina...

Ok I did it. I transferred my journal over from AOL. They made it really easy too. They did say my pictures would transfer but I don't think they did. Maybe when I am bored I will add some of the pictures that went with the posts. OK an update on me. I am doing really good. I am a little bit lazy though I have to admit. I used to be such a go getter and now I dread doing simple tasks. I think I had more energy when I was going through treatment! lol. I think it's just being home all day and not working. When I worked I had a reason to get dressed and get out of the house. I started to do eBay again. I have three things on and already have bids on 2 of them. We want to buy a new camper so that's what I am working towards so I better get going on that!! Little Jeffrey is so cute. He is getting so smart too. I love watching him and he is such a good boy. His favorite thing in his toy box is his little books. I will be at the computer typing away and he will swing the chair ove...

Ok. This is going to be a learning experience. AOL journals was so easy that I could do an entry with my eyes closed. I was in a total panic today when I found out they were shutting down. I saved every journal entry I every made along with the comments and I am going to print it out just to be safe. (I think I better go buy more ink) lol. I think aol is going to try and transfer all my entries here. We'll see if that happens..lol. The part that gets me is all the pictures I had to go along with my entries. I don't think they will be able to move those here too. Oh well. I'll write more later I just wanted to test this out and get the link out there to everyone. The next couple posts might just be some experimental posts to see my way around. See you soon!

OMG! I found out today that AOL will be closing all journals. I am looking for a new place to go. I spent all day saving my journal onto my hard drive along with all the comments. When I find a new place to write I will let everyone know with an email. If you still want to get my journal please email me at gosso23@aol.com and put in the subject line..YOUR JOURNAL and I will send you the link when I get it up and running. I am just running into a few snags. I am so sad. I loved it here. : (   I know I haven't done an entry in a while but I have been so busy this summer. Take care everyone. Trish  

I haven’t written in my journal in so long! There is so much to talk about. I have been spending my summer babysitting and going to the beach! We went camping for 10 days and had so much fun. It was Jeff and I, Pam and Mike, Sue, Steve and Brad. Brian and Kaitlyn were there a couple days and so where Chris and Erin with the kids.  It was so relaxing and refreshing.  We rode our bikes everyday to see the sunset on Lake Michigan.  We ate until we couldn’t eat anymore. And we played jokes on each other because it’s a camping tradition.  Last Christmas, Jeff kidnapped two of Pam’s turtles off of her porch. We took pictures of the turtles doing random stuff with us and then while we were camping we gave them the turtles back with a photo album of their adventures with us…it was so funny. Pam and Mike played all kinds of jokes on everyone.  Jeff always says how he has a black cloud following him around so they made a giant black cloud and hung it at out campsite. It ...

We have a big weekend ahead. The Relay is Saturday and I plan on staying there fro m 7 a. m . Saturday until 10 a. m . Sunday!  I made all the lumanaria bags and they look so nice. We are having a fresh squeezed lemonade stand this year. The stand turned out so cool! I even thought of a slogan for it. "When life gives you cancer, make lemonade!" Sue painted it on the front of the stand and she did a great job. One problem we ran into was the cost of lemons. Sue went to the grocery store to check it out and lemons were 8 for  5 dollars!  I called around and found a wholesale produce company and they gave us a great deal. He was so nice and by the time we left he donated  2 cases! We got a megaphone for Jeff and he is going to round up customers.  He is so funny so this should be good.  I think my husband is falling apart! When I took him to the doctor for the Bell's Palsy we found out he has high b lood pressure. He has been on medic a ti...

                           WOW!! I haven’t been on my journal in a while. Jeff is feeling much better and his face is back to normal. What a weird thing to happen to him. I’m just glad he is back to himself because he was very self conscious.  His dizziness is gone too.  He hard a hard time with that especially at work.  Thank goodness he's better. I went for some blood work after taking thyroid pills for a month and the doctor said my thyroid is still functioning very low so I have to take the pills for a couple more months and we will see what’s happening.  I have lost about 5 pounds though even with my thyroid out of whack!  I still have about 20 lbs. to go to get back to the weight I was before cancer. I call it my B.C. weight.  lol I also went for a breast MRI Thursday. . It wasn’t nearly as bad as the previous two that ...

We just found out that Jeff has Bell’s Palsy. The right side of his face is paralyzed. He can’t blink one of his eyes and his speech is slurred. This all started when he went to the dentist. He went for a cleaning and they said that he needed some work done under a crown. He went and had the work done and was doing ok until about 4 days later. He started having severe pain in his jaw. It hurt so bad that he didn’t sleep that Saturday and into Sunday. He was awake for 24 hours in PAIN! I called the dentists emergency number and he called a pain killer and antibiotics in to my pharmacy and said he wanted to see him at 9:30 the next morning. Jeff stayed up all night again because the pain medicine didn’t work. By the time we got to the dentist he was pretty bad. They did X-rays and found nothing wrong so they gave him a shot and sent him home and told him to come back if the shot wears off and there is still pain. He finally got some sleep and woke up a little before 5:00 and was in pain...

I went to the oncologist yesterday for my four month check up and everything looks good. I have to go for a breast MRI just to keep up on the lump in my right breast. Even though I had the mammogram and the ultrasound, he thinks it will be best if I have a MRI just to be sure. I really hate that test. It doesn’t hurt, although I do have to have an I.V. those don’t bother me. It is just going into that tube and being still for 30 minutes that kills me. Laying on my stomach and my arms out like superman. I will just take my mind somewhere pleasant during it. Last time I just kept thinking about our camping trip that was coming up and it helped me get through the last 10 minutes of the test without getting up and bolting out of there.  I had blood work and he also checked all my lymph nodes and he said he didn’t feel anything to be concerned about also he said my liver felt good and my other organs. He must know what he’s feeling for I guess. I just wonder how he would know if someone...

OK time to vent! The refrigerator repair man just left and the news is not good. This is the third time my fridge has broken, Last time it broke was only about 8 months ago and this time it is the exact same thing!  It’s the motherboard!  Who knew refrigerators had motherboards in them anyway. Why can’t they just make things like they used to? They ran just fine without all that computer stuff in them before.  It is going to cost another $200.00 to get fixed. I think we are going to just go buy a new fridge. This one is only 4 years old. I am just sick over this. I am writing to GE to complain about this. I did some research and some of the GE motherboards are recalled but not mine. There has to be something going on that causes it to blow. The sad thing is I know I can call and complain all I want but they aren’t going to do anything. I already went through this with them last time it broke. OK vent over…….

Happy Birthday Megan! Nineteen years ago today a miracle happened. I had my baby girl.  It was a very scary day for me and my family because she wasn’t supposed to be born until mid April. The morning before she was born, Jeff left for work and everything was fine. I fell back asleep only to be awakened by a feeling like my water broke. I got up and went into the bathroom only it wasn’t water, it was blood and a lot of it. I called my sister Sharon right away and then Pam and Sue. They were all over so fast. My mom and dad lived up north then but when they got the call they made it here in record time. They called an ambulance and off I went to the hospital not knowing what was happening to my baby. I was bleeding but I didn’t have any labor pains. At this point they told me I would be staying in the hospital until my baby was born which was one and a half months away. That evening I started to have labor pains. They gave me medicine to stop the labor but Megan wasn’t having it....

I have a funny story to tell. I went to my cousins daughters wedding shower last Saturday.  When I was getting dressed I picked a jacket that had a breast cancer pin on it. Well, I put the jacket on and decided to take the pin off. I took it off because for over a year I have lived and breathed breast cancer. My hair is back, I don't look sick anymore, and I just wanted to go and be me. Not that I don't like to wear the pin. I'm very proud to wear it. I just wanted to have one day to go have fun and not think breast cancer. Well my sister Sue was sitting next to me and I told her, "ya know, I had a breast cancer pin on but I took it off because I just didn't want to be the BC girl today. So she passes me the basket of bread, and I grab a piece and hand it to my sister Pam who was on the other side of me.  I look down at my piece of bread and this is what I see.... We laughed our butts off. It was so funny. Next thing you know Sue is running over showing it to ev...

I am so sad today. I lost another journal friend. She was such an inspiration and a wonderful lady.  Although she was fighting her own battle she had a prayer request on her journal for many people including me.  Irene from  Meet Me At The Breakfast Table  lost her fight with ovarian cancer today.  I just went back and read her very first entry in her journal and it brought tears to my eyes.  In her first entry she explained why her journal was called Meet Me at the Breakfast Table.  It is from a song by Chris Rice called Breakfast Table.  She said it was a song that reminded her sister of her.   Here is the chorus to the song. Save me a seat at the breakfast table. Save me a dance around the Milky Way. And save me a thousand years to whisper in your ears. All I've wanted to say. Save me a smile and an angel's feather. Save me a walk down the streets of gold. And baby, we'll change our minds just like old ...

I have good news. I got a letter in the mail today from the breast center and it says my recent films and ultrasound show no signs of cancer! I had to wait to hear something because the radiologist had to compare my films with my previous ones from 3 months ago. It also says see you in 6 months! YAY!! So now I guess the lump I have is just a cyst so that’s wonderful. I can live with that diagnosis! What I like even better is I don’t have to go have that MRI! Yippie! My moms colonoscopy is next Wednesday. So much for them putting that rush on it that we asked for. We wanted it done and over with this week. I will just be glad when it is done and we have the results. She is feeling much better. We even went shopping yesterday and then had lunch. Jeff came home with flowers for me for Valentines Day. They are beautiful. Happy Valentines Day!!

My mom is doing much better. I took her to the doctor last week and they ordered a colonoscopy, and some vascular tests. She will know tomorrow when she is having the colonoscopy. I told the doctor we want it as soon as possible and he said it would probably be this week.  He checked her Carotid artery and he said it sounded sluggish, so she is having it checked. She had surgery on her leg years ago to fix a problem in her leg and and they are going to check that out too. She was feeling really bad on Wednesday, we were supposed to go out to lunch and she said she just didn't feel right. Sue went right over to take her temp and blood pressure. It turns out she had an upper respiratory infection. She is on antibiotics and is finally feeling good. I went for my mammogram Monday. Ouchy wowwa . It usually doesn't hurt me but with all the surgery on my left breast it was not pleasant. Please don't let this scare anyone off from getting a mammogram. It is worth the discomfor...

                                          When I stared this j ournal I did it to keep my friends and family informed of my o ngoi n g breast cancer treatment. Little did I know I would make so many journal friends. Terri from You think you know , but you have no idea ...picked me for the Nice Matters Award .  Now I have the opportunity to pick five people to pass it on to! Than k you Terri you are such a sweetheart. I enjoy reading your journal and yo u have been here for me through everything! You are such a good journal friend and have given me so much support. So here are my five..this w as really hard to do because there are so many of you out there! Stephanie from in perpetual motion ...She is a grea t lady who is a mother to twin boys. I love reading abou t their adventur...

Thanks everyone for your concern and prayers for my mom.  She is finally home from the hospital. She is doing much better and she is able to eat without getting sick now so that is a good sign. She has to follow up with the surgeon this week and they are going to do another test. She got by with no surgery so far so we are thankful for that. When she got home yesterday she called work and told them she would not be coming back.  She loves to work but she said it was time to quit. It kept her busy and she really enjoyed working there. I told her she can come over my house now and help me watch little Jeffrey. lol I have to go for a mammogram tomorrow. I am not too worried about it. I just hope checks out ok.  Little Jeffrey is so cute. He got his first tooth! He knows it's there too. When I say "you have a tooth" and I put my finger on it, he puts his little tongue on it and smiles...Too cute!!!! Today is the Superbowl . Jeff is going to watch so I am going make him som...

My mom is still in the hospital. As I write this they are doing a barium test to see what the heck is going on. She started to get better and they took the tube out of her nose and they started her on a liquid diet and then eased her into a soft diet. Well last night right before we left she started getting sick again. Something is just not right. The doctor said they are doing this test and if she is not better they will most likely do surgery. She is really upset because with this surgery you usually have to have a colostomy bag for a few months to prevent infection. I told her we will deal with it if it happens and not to get all worked up over it. She is just miserable. Just wanted to update everyone on my mom. Jeff just got home from work so we are heading up there right now.

My mom went to emergency early Sunday morning. I got a call on my cell phone from my sister Sue. It was about 3:30 a.m. so when it rang I knew somthing was wrong.  Her stomach was hurting and she was in a lot of pain. This happened in the fall too and she spent time in the hospital for diverticulitis. She had a CAT scan and they said she has a blockage in her lower bowels and it is not diverticulitis. I went up there yesterday and she was in so much pain and getting sick. The surgeon was in today and said if she is not better in a couple days then she has to have surgery. Today they put a tube in her nose and it is draining her stomach. She hates "that damn tube" as she puts it. When I left they were taking her down to X ray.  I just hate seeing her like this. I really hope this is nothing to worry about. I have to go have a mammogram February 4th. Ugggg. Not looking forward to it. To many bad memories there. It will be the beginning of all the tests that I wil...

I started a diet and exercise program. I have been trying to exercise every other day. I have two 5lb. weights so I  have been working out my arms too. The left arm isn’t cooperating too well but it is getting stronger. I just have a hard time lifting it over my head.  These little chickies on the workout videos I do have been doing are getting on my last nerve…”come on, you can do it, smile, you will be in a bikini before you know it”, yeah right, a bikini? I don’t think so. I have a hard time keeping up with their fancy little moves. I use to to be able to keep up now I look like a cheerleading tryout reject.  I use to have rhythm! Then just when they say..”come on, only 5 more minutes to go”, that is when I collapse on the couch in a heap. Then I look over to see baby Jeffrey is bouncing like a maniac in his bouncer. I wish I had his energy!! The other day I got up had my coffee, made a slim fast shake in the blender, and I was feeling gooooooood. I’m thinki...