It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

For those of you that know me you know that I love Christmas! I love to decorate for Christmas--it's the only holiday that I decorate for. I love to give Christmas presents and usually I'm finished with all of my gifts around October. Well, needless to say that this year has been different. I had such a busy summer that I kept putting off Christmas gifts until the kids went back to school in September. Little did I know that my fall held many other plans. BUT, I did manage to get things pretty well taken care of thanks to my trusty PINK computer and my AMEX!! I love to wrap presents and those of you who have seen my tree know that the presents underneath are all coordinated with the tree...gold wrapping paper and burgandy bows. People ask me if the presents are real. YES!!! I wouldn't spend time wrapping empty boxes. :) I don't love wrapping that much!

I love helping my kids make presents for each other. This usually happens the week before Christmas when all of my other projects are finished. Well, this year the closer we get to Christmas the more rotten I feel. I was really worried that I wouldn't be able to help my kids. I never should have worried about this! It has been really fun for me to watch them do for each other on their own! Emilee is the sweetest sister ever! She has been working on things that she came up with on her own. Jed's been working in the garage, and Victoria was even helping Samuel out tonight. I did ask my mom to help them. She's coming tomorrow night and I know that the kitchen will be busy Thursday and Friday. I can't wait!! I'm so glad that Grandma can step in where Mom falls short!

I've been feeling pretty weak and tired this week. I thought I was feeling pretty great tonight when Scott was headed to the store to get D-Con. It seems we've had a little mouse problem in the garage. I went along because Emilee had run out of supplies for one of her presents. We were gone for about 45 minutes total, and we bought 3 things. By the time I got home I was so weak I was shaking. It's very hard for me to not be able to do simple things like go to the store. That's ok. I finished my 15th treatment today. Tomorrow will be 16. I'll only have 17 more to go! I'm about half way. I'm glad I get a 4 day break for Christmas. It will give me a little bit of a chance to regain some strength. I'll take some Christmas pictures of the tree and presents and my cute kids in the next few days. I was a little sad to only have 1 tree. The last few years I've decorated 3. Now I realize that there is only 1 tree to put away and this year that sounds wonderful!!

Hanging on!!

After 9 radiation treatments I am doing great! I had a tough day on Saturday so Scott told me that I wasn't driving anymore. It's so hard to have your independence taken away! Sorry to say that someday I'm going to be one of those little grandmas that is a crazy driver, but NO ONE is going to tell me I can't drive...then or now! :) This morning I was feeling well so I got ready early and headed off as soon as I put my kids on the bus. Post office, Target, back to post office then off to Deaconess for my treatment. They were a little behind so I had to wait some. Then I was off again before the nasty side effects kicked in. Costco, Hobby Lobby, Sears and Down East, and right when I was paying in Down East I hit the wall. I shuffled my way back through the mall and drove home. I was so tired, but I did everything I wanted to do except go to the bank. Then, I made some lunch and fell asleep for a while. I woke up and wrapped the last of my kids' Christmas presents and cleaned out my closet. I made it back to rest on the couch and then got up and fixed dinner. By the time we sat down to dinner I was in so much pain. I ate and then made it back to the couch to rest. For Family Home Evening the kids and Scott made gingerbread houses while I rested. I feel so accomplished today! I'm tired and sore and I'm sure I'll really pay for it tomorrow, but I think it was worth it. We'll see what I say tomorrow. Oh, and my tummy seems to have gotten used to the treatments. I only felt sick once today, horray!!

Merry Christmas From the Jensens

Joy And Magic Christmas Card

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Merry Christmas From the Jensens Continued

I'm having a hard time getting what I want so it's going to have to be two different posts. Sorry. My tummy and my patience are both on the weak side! :)

Here's a sneak peak at our Christmas card for this year. I'm a little late at getting them ordered, and after my treatment today I'm wondering if I'll even get them out. I was so afraid I wasn't going to make it home today without getting sick. I made it today, but we'll see how tomorrow goes. I thought that maybe I'd be spending less time on the couch wrapped in my pink and green quilt in the days to come. Maybe not. The Dr said he didn't expect me to have a hard time until 2-3 weeks into treatments. Hopefully it stays just this icky and doesn't get any worse! For now...

Radiation Begins!

Today I found out what doing radiation feels like--absolutely nothing! It's pretty amazing that you can have that done to you and you don't feel a thing...for a little while. I've done really well today, but I have gone through spells of being really tired. It's been interesting because it comes and goes. I did find that after I ate I had more energy. I was really tired when I was hungry. This might be just what I have been needing! I went to the plastic surgeon today. He thinks I'm a great candidate for taking my tummy fat to use for reconstruction--I just need a little more fat. :) As I was complaining that I didn't want to gain weight he just laughed and said that it's every woman's dream to have her dr tell her that she needs to gain weight. I know...seems like a silly problem. The thing is that I finally after 6 years just got back to my pre-pregnancy weight and now I'm being told to gain it back, ugh! I can't win!! I told him I'd only gain it if he'd promise to cut it all out. He said it's a deal.

First things first. I have my appointment for radiation set for 9:48 every day until sometime in January (when I've gone 30 times I'm done.) Then I have to heal and then we'll talk about reconstruction. I had a friend email me a link to an organization that cleans women cancer patients homes for free during their treatments. I was accepted into their program and tomorrow the lady is coming out to do my walk through and schedule my first cleaning. I'm so excited to have someone come and make my house sparkly clean like I want it to be, but can't do! It's hard to look around and see a floor that needs to be vacuumed and not be able to fix it.

Here's a picture of me with my new friends at Cancer Care Northwest. I wish I could remember their names. I know I'll get to know them a little in the next 6-7 weeks! They are so nice and kind. It was hard to become a regular. I didn't like parking in the spot reserved for radiation or oncology patients. I really would rather not be one of those "special" people! I'd be so happy to give that spot up for someone else! :) I was so grateful though as I looked around at the people in the clinic that I'm still strong and healthy! I have so much to be thankful for!!!