My Very Special Thanksgiving

I said I would get around to posting to update about my surgery sometime before Christmas, but I thought I'd add a little cheer to the subject. Most of you are spending this day stuffing yourselves with turkey, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, and of course stuffing. Although I will be doing the same (except I prefer dressing to stuffing and if you're southern you know there's a difference!) I will also have a little something extra to celebrate besides the glorious time of year we remember the Pilgrims and the Indians by eating and planning a shopping extravaganza for the following day.

This Thanksgiving Day, I celebrate ONE YEAR CANCER FREE!!!!!! That's 365 days, people! A full 365 days without cancer cells in my body on a silent advance to take over. I'm a bit excited to tell the truth. Well, more than a bit, really. I'm stoked, I'm flabbergasted, I'm overjoyed, I'm ecstatic, and that's all without pulling out the thesaurus! So, I'm warning you now: If you see me on Thanksgiving Day, be prepared to see a goofy grin and sparkling eyes, and lots of peeps, heehees, and hahas out of me. This moment is the most monumental of 2013 for me. Try saying that 5 times fast!

If I'm posting about this moment, I guess you kinda figured out on your own that I'm doing well after my last surgery. You're smart that way, right? :) I knew you were. I went in for surgery on September 18th and after quite a few hours waiting because they called us in too early, I was taken back and had my right breast ripped out of my body had a skin saving mastectomy on my right side and my port removed, since I haven't had chemo in over a year and the port wasn't working correctly anyway. My memory of my first mastectomy in September of 2012 is kinda hazy, so I was pleasantly surprised to have this thing called "bear paws" to wear while I waited for surgery. It is a gown like thing with a hose attached. At the wall end of the hose, you can turn on air to hot or cold or anywhere inbetween. Of course I had it maxed out at hot for a while (why are hospitals so cold?!) but I kept having to turn it off so I could hear the people talking to me in the room, since I didn't even take my hearing aids for fear of losing them. I did get to enjoy my sister and niece's company along with my hubby's and I don't think I was grumpy from lack of food until right about the time they came to get me for surgery. Don't tell, but one of the nurses let me have ice once after I told her I was getting parched since I normally consumed about 64-70 oz. of water in a day. I liked her, a lot!

A couple of fun things happened that day, and by fun I mean not so fun. First, was the I.V. thing. Normally, I have no problem getting the I.V., just a problem with the I.V. getting in. I blame my mother. She had tiny, rolling veins; I have tiny, rolling veins. Anyway, I was supposed to get the I.V. in my right arm per my doctor's instructions, even though I was having surgery on the right, because I've had lymph nodes removed from my left. My right is a little easier to get needles in, but barely. The nurses were so nice and apologizing for what all they were having to do to me after my vein rolled on them the third time. I don't usually look at what they're doing if it hurts and this time I'm glad I didn't, because when I glanced over, blood was pouring down my hand and puddling onto the floor. I don't mean just a few drops, I mean like someone stuck a pig (oink!oink!) or squirted ketchup on the floor. It took both nurses to clean me, them, and the floor up. I have never bled like that before, but at least on the fourth or fifth stick they got the I.V. in.

When I woke up from the anesthesia, though, I was dismayed to find that the I.V. had been put in my left foot. Um, can you say OUCH! That was the most painful place I've ever had one. The reason for it being there was something to do with the risks of it being in either of my arms because of the whole lymph node thing, but I remember most the pain and discomfort of the thing being in the top of my foot. The nurses wanted me going to the bathroom on my own, which was fine and I was able to do, but walking on the foot with the I.V. was horrible. Especially when I was groggy, about to pop, and snagged the I.V. line on the corner of the bathroom door because the pole wouldn't roll into the bathroom. Yep. Lovely it was. And one of the pain meds they gave me had to go in the needle in my foot and it burned and was cold all at the same time, so bad I teared up.

The other not fun part was when I woke up from the surgery. When they wheeled me back, I was joking and laughing with the nurses and fine. However, when I woke up it was to "I'm going to throw up" being said by none other than me. I won't describe the part that followed, only to say that has never ever happened to me in all of the surgeries I've had. It was not pleasant. Apparently my usage of essential oils has become ingrained because the next thing to come out of my mouth is "I need ginger. My husband has it." The amused male nurse fetched it and let me put it on, while I answered his questions about Young Living essential oils. The Ginger certainly made me feel better and eased the hurling.

I didn't get sick after that, didn't have to have morphine, and relied on percocet and my essential oils to help with the pain and discomfort. And like last time, I couldn't get enough to eat. The kitchen didn't like me much...

I had hardly any drainage from the surgery this time, even though they put in two drains. I ended up having the drains taken out early because there was no drainage to drain, and the lines were pushing on a nerve in my upper chest causing a low grade fever and lots of pain in that area. Oddly enough, I had hardly any pain at the incision site, especially when compared to the pain the drain lines were causing. I was able to go home the day after surgery, once again like last time. However my foot hurt like, well, you get the idea.

This time I knew what might help, so I was using Frankincense and Sacred Frankincense for my cells and tissue, plus ice packs, pillows, etc. Getting the plumbing working again wasn't fun, but a little bit better than last go around. The not so fun part was getting a stomach bug when I went for my post-op appointments with my doctors. I didn't wash my hands as much as I should've while I was there, and a day later "boom" and I lost eight pounds over the next two weeks.

It took me more time to heal up from the stomach bug than from the surgery. Keeping my energy up and the mental fog at bay was and is hard. But, each day I do get a little bit stronger. Just not as fast as I wish, because I had to work hard to get to where I was. I also will only have six months before the next round of surgeries, so part of me struggled with even trying to get back to where I was only to go through it again. There were some dark days mentally, I'll be honest with you. Thankfully, I had some great prayer warriors interceding for me and the dark days passed and praise music was the light shining the darkness dim.

Now, you see why I'm back to the whole giddy, celebratory attitude that a major milestone is under my belt and that I get to celebrate it with family and eating till I burst! Happy Thanksgiving everyone and remember we all have something in our lives to be thankful for, even if it is just the lives we are living. God bless you and yours.

In The World Of Us

Wait! Wait! Wait a minute! You mean this blogging thing, I'm actually supposed to do it?! I can't just think in random moments throughout the day what I want to jot down, only to never get around to it? That sucks. I'm clearly not cut out for this. Maybe I should just go back to procrastinating. It is not nearly as much of a bother...but then I think of all the crazy good things going on in our lives that could just change yours for the better if you but knew about them, and I find myself back here like a hungover sot needing a drink. Maybe I should come up with a better analogy, that one didn't look as nice in print as it sounded in my head...

I come back around to blogging because I'm like that annoying little kid you used to have living down the street from you that would come around only to tell you what they were doing, what their dog was doing, what their hamster was doing (ok, I don't have a hamster, sorry), what they had for supper and all about all the stuff they know that you don't really give a hoot about, but your Mamma taught you right so you're being polite cause you know she'll bust your butt if you're not nice so you listen till you're bored to tears. In case you couldn't tell, I was that kid down the street that just turned into a taller kid with the same issues. That is okay, though. I can still annoy you with all of the things I know that you don't know.

Just so you know. Ginger, the puppy, is still alive. Our other dog hasn't eaten her yet. If you've ever seen our big hound, you will know that was a sincere possibility. She likes to pounce on things, which can be bothersome sometimes, for instance when small children and little babies are in the house and the parents get all antsy and peculiar about our lovely, giant dog/small horse trying her shenanigans near their child. Parents! Honestly! She hasn't ever, like, eaten someone's child!

Now, Ginger has been a spice to our lives for sure. She is adorable, she is cute, she is affectionate, she is cuddly, but she is also, well for starters: a puppy. Need I say more? She is inquisitive about every little thing, from the sound the air conditioner makes to the moth flitting about the lights. She learns commands well. Already, she recognizes her name, comes when I call her, responds to the word “no” (she might actually think her name is NoGinger, by the way the kids say it), will fetch a ball, play tug of war, sit (sometimes) on command, and chew everything in sight, even if that something happens to be your hand, your face, your toes, or in my case your breast prosthesis. I do have to admit that was laugh out loud funny to look down at her playing my lap, to see she had her whole mouth clamped down on the prosthesis I was wearing. Yeah, that might not be so much fun when I have surgery again in the next couple of months...

What is going on with us? So glad you asked! If you didn't ask, read anyway!

I have officially been a cancer survivor for 6 months now and believe it or not, it has been a whole year since I finished chemo. It is so freakin' wonderful to me, that I've been telling everyone! I'm not one of those people to keep quiet about personal matters, which my husband regrets at times. But this particular one isn't TMI, it is to bring glory to God's name, cause I sure didn't have anything to do with stayin' alive. (Que song!) I hope to have many more months and years to keep telling people about how God was and is my strength through it all. Let's face it people, if it had been up to me to handle it all, I'd be partly six feet under and partly dancing up in heaven. Thankfully, it wasn't up to me, since Christ bore it all for me on the cross. Not only is He my Redeemer, but He is my Healer, too. If you don't know Him, He wants to know you, too. I'm not special in that regard, but He loves me and you all the same.

My square foot garden has been planted, and hopefully I will feel up to taking care of it this year. Don't count on me blogging about it in my other blog, www.growingseedsplantinglife.blogspot.com. I planted tomato plants, banana pepper plants, carrots, onion sets, basil seeds, carrot seeds, spinach seeds, squash seeds, cucumber seeds, green bean seeds, eggplant seeds, okra seeds, and corn seeds. We will see what happens. Prayers please!!!!

It has been two months since essential oils (by Young Living) changed our lives. I'm constantly amazed by what all these oils can do! Sometimes I think, they couldn't possibly fix such and such, and of course they go and astound me by fixing such and such. Never say never!!!

Here are a few examples:

Sunburn- John got really sunburned the day before going to kids' camp from staying out in the pool too long. His face was burning and hot because of it, so I rubbed some Lavender essential oil, diluted in olive oil, onto his face (staying clear of his eyes) and he felt much better with the addition of something cool on his face. When he came back from camp three days later, he was sunburned again, so I rubbed more Lavender oil (diluted) on him. The next day, you couldn't even tell he was burnt, he was just dark. Tim got sunburned after working out in the yard; his upper arms and shoulders were very red. When he came to bed, I lovingly and thoughtfully (hahahahaha) rubbed some diluted Lavender oil on his arms and his the back of his neck. He slept fine and the next day was just slightly pink, the day after that, he looked tan and no longer burnt.

Wasp Sting- oh, this one was fun! Not! Tim and I had been out doing errands while the kids were at camp, and while we were in one store, I noticed my foot was hurting some. When I took my shoe off, I realized why it was hurting. My big toe on my left foot had swollen to more than twice its size and there was an open sore on it. Apparently, I had been stung by a wasp at some point, although I don't know when, because I don't have good circulation in my feet and they are numb a lot. Anyway, I only had Lavender essential oil with me, so I put that on it neat (undiluted). Lavender is good for allergic reactions, and this was certainly an allergic reaction! I don't know that I've ever been stung by a wasp before. Bees and yellowjackets, yes. Wasps? Not so sure. As soon as we got home, I put Purification on the place and applied ice to bring the swelling down. That night and each day after, I put more Purification on, covering it with a bandaid since my shoes all rubbed against the spot. Now, its fine. No swelling, or itching, or anything.

Bug repellent- Oh yeah! We live in the South, where mosquitoes outnumber people, probably 3 to 1. Every year I end up eaten up with mosquito bites, that swell and itch for days. My son has the same reaction, only a little worse. A friend posted about a bug repellent recipe to make at home and spray on before going outside. Go here to get the recipe for yourself: http://thelemondroplounge.com/blog/chemical-free-bug-repellent-recipe It smells so much better than the nasty OFF! Or other commercial things, like Bug N Sun. It also has no ingredients that have been reported to be possible carcinogenics and for me that is a big deal. I don't want my kids ever having to go through cancer! I mixed up the recipe and have used it several times now. I didn't get a single bite on me (except for my ankle where I forgot to spray, thinking the mosquitoes wouldn't find the thin area of exposed skin between my sock and my pants' leg)! Goodby OFF!

Heartburn- Lordy! I don't know about you, but heartburn is vicious! I had a day of it tormenting me like a preview of purgatory. I have come off my Rx heartburn meds, because I hadn't needed them with all of the Peppermint I've been using to aid in digestion. But this day, something caused me to be able to bring forth fire like a dragon having a tantrum. I took a Rx pill, but it was doing nothin'! Finally I remembered “There's An Oil For That!” and doused my chest with diluted Peppermint essential oil. I also took a capsule containing two drops of Peppermint. Within about an hour, every symptom of the heartburn was gone and I got to sleep.

I'm sure you've had all the essential oil talk you can handle, but know I could go on and on and on. There are just so many good things we're seeing happen when we use them. Oh, did I mention a cyst on my port scar fell off after using Frankincense on it for three weeks? So cool!

Ok, anyway, my point is, if you want to know more, I can certainly tell you more. Find me on facebook (Rachel Parrish White), or email me at spiceyourspace@yahoo.com. I will happily give anyone my distributor price, which is 24% off the retail price. Or you can become a member of the club for as little as $40. I just want to share all of this oily love with you!