Sabra Done, School Starting!

I ended up working more than 6 weeks at Camp Sabra, putting in some tremendously long hours to cover the clinic.  All very rewarding but I did sigh with relief when I turned my keys in yesterday.  Today, I went right back into school responsibilities and will leave for a conference in Portland on Thursday morning.  Our family enjoyed a float/camping trip the first week of July.  Since then, the temperatures have been so hot that we prefer to be inside for all activities as much as possible.  I really did enjoy camp and have signed up for all 8 weeks next summer.  Knowing this far ahead, I can arrange Dr appointments and vacations around camp dates.  I don't have a lot of news...kids have been working all summer and it feels that the days have just flown by.  Hopefully this weekend away will get me geared up for August back to school insanity!  I am going to stop by Erin and Aarons on Sunday evening when I get back from Portland.  Can not miss the opportunity for some Raena lovin!

Camp Sabra Nursing

I have spent the last 3 days working at Camp Sabra.  This camp is directly across the cove from Uncle Ron and Aunt Carols house.  All my life here in Missouri, I have looked across at that beautiful piece of property, as a youngster I could hear the kids laughing and swimming.  I always wished that I could join them!  Well, I waited too long to join in on the fun, but I am now going to work several weeks in the Infirmary.  I will work 2 sessions of 14 days, 12 hours each day.  I am working my hiney sp? off!!!!  The clinic is severely understaffed this summer.  Most of the time, they have two parents that are Nurses or EMTs that work while their child is at camp.  It offsets some of the cost of this very expensive, elite camp.  But this year there are 4 weeks where the Clinic Manager is by herself.  So they have hired me to get all the medications delivered to all the children in the morning, lunch and evening.  Then Misty (the Manager) handles the bedtime meds as she stays at camp all summer. Between the 2 of us (there are supposed to be 4 nursing staff), we handle all the kids that meander in for all sorts of medical issues.  Most of the time, there is a volunteer physician staying at the camp.  When a medical issue is more serious or needs a Dr. order for medication, we just call him and he buzzes over from his cabin with a golf cart!  It is a very well run facility but amazingly, they are not using the clinic computer very much at all.   I love to piddle with Excel and Misty is excited that I am working on a way to label the medications more easily than just writing it all by hand.

The campers take day trips all over Missouri and also take several 3-5 day adventures like floating, camping in the open air and some of the older groups spend 2 of their weeks in Colorado.  The frequent traveling makes medication administration very interesting.  I spend a lot of time making sure all the kids have their meds packed up and ready for the trips, it also requires instructing the counselors in correct medication administration including the emergency meds like epipens etc.

The camp is staffed with counselors from all over the world, and several of the 300 campers are International also.  The language barriers often make diagnosing a little difficult but the Dr that has been there this week is fluent in many languages.  He is actually not Jewish himself.  He is from India but has lived in St Louis for his adult life.  His boys are also at camp while he is working.  He makes sure to get some fishing and relaxing done so that his time at camp is more like a mini vacation.

Well, my long day is making bed sound very nice.  So I am off to bed, Good Night!

A weight is lifted off my shoulders....

It was a good day....got the lab results and saw 2 docs. They agree that I am "stable" at this time. The iodine treatment did not kill off the cancer (bummer) but the suppression therapy has lowered the "cancer level" and they are happy that I am responding to it at this time. Now, they will just keep knocking it down as long as they can with the suppression therapy...so labwork regularly and docs every 3 months. The rest of the summer is mine! I do feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Savana and I celebrated with brunch at IHOP and a little shopping!

I splurged on a couple of boxes of tile and went to work on my bar area.  Tiled the floor and the wall below the bar.  Really snazzied (my own word, I know) it up and it fits better with the living room colors.  Drop by sometime and check out my project!!!

Garage Sale Time

Again I say, I have been such a bad Blogger!  But now I have a couple of weeks off from work and have been cleaning like a mad woman.  Only 2 rooms left to dig out garage sale items!

Rocky Mount Garage Sale-Multi Family!!!! Friday (1st) and Saturday(2nd) Opens from 0700 till ?.
If you want to come by and check things out, 9.5 miles down Hwy Y, cream house on right. If coming from Lake Ozark, take Hwy W until it meets Y, then left 1/2 mile.


If anyone wants to add some things to the sale, just bring them by.  Please make sure their price is marked or let me know what you want a sign to say....Thanks!

The longest week ever is almost done....in the past 9 days I have completed the following...

Starting with last Saturday - Thyroid Conference and Lee prom.  Sunday Lake Area Chorale concert.  Monday work, then another Chorale concert that night. Tuesday work and play practice from 6-9.  Wednesday was a conference in Columbia, visit to Dr Zitch for check up on swallowing, then play practice from 6-9.  Thursday was a repeat of Tuesday.  Friday was work and first night of "Henry".  Saturday was cleaning of fish tank (5 hours, ugh!), mowing front yard, then "Henry" again.  Sunday was cleaning of back storage room (really packed and desperately needed a complete gutting) then Chorale concert.  Monday will be work and our final Chorale concert in the evening.  WHEW!

Now I am thinking about the last 3 1/2 weeks of school.  Savana is done on May 21st.  Lee is done on the 15th.  I really cannot believe how fast this school year has gone.  I am talking with Camp Sabra, and plan to get a few weeks of work in their clinic over the summer.  They are always short on nurse coverage and were very excited that I might be able to give them a hand.  Also, they were so glad that I lived close!

Dr Zitch feels that my swallowing problems are coming from an under production of the mucus portion of the saliva in my mouth.  The stupid radioactive iodine did its number on my saliva glands.  Basically, I just need to always keep a drink with me when I plan on eating.  Dry foods really get stuck easily and will need that added moisture to go down.  He did set me up for a "swallow study" to be sure that the muscles and nerves are working like they should.  I really feel that the saliva thing is the main issue.

I want to say thank you so much to the family and friends that ventured out to the performances this last week.  Again, your support means so much to me and the family...Love ya all!

A whole month of activities...scrunched into one blog....

In the last week, we have experienced two proms.  Savana went to the School of the Osage Punga celebration.  It is an annual event that all the high school students are invited to attend.  Formal of course!  So we ran Savana up to Aunt Kims before the big night to get some great pictures of her in her amazingly beautiful dress.  Plus some great close ups!

Tonight was Lee's Junior prom event.  He and his friend Sarah decked out to the max and met Aunt Kim at the Wilmore Lodge for some great pictures to document the event appropriately.  Lee and his best friend Cliff had to be sure the event was attended as a double date as they are rarely apart from each other....best buds I tell you!

                        My favorite "sassy" picture...Love the facial expressions.  Cracks me up!

Before all the picture taking today, Mom and Dad, Kim and I attended a Thyroid Survivor Convention that was being held right here at Lake of the Ozarks.  I had been invited to speak on a "survivor panel" to share my journey through these last couple of years and provide support to others as they work their way through the life changes that any cancer diagnosis will inevitably bring along.   The event was a success and everyone that attended went away from the program having learned something new.

As my kids experience their milestone events, I have also felt that today was a milestone event for me.  Connecting with others that "understand" what your struggles and pressures have been like is very comforting and also lets you know that you are not alone...which I never have really felt since I have the best support group right here within my amazing family.  Love you Mom, Dad and Kim for taking your beautiful Saturday and spending it with me!

"Let it roll, move on with life, enjoy the days that you feel good and FAMILY FIRST

Dr Kahn just called a few minutes ago. Don't you love it when your Dr. starts the conversation with "We need to have a serious talk" Like all talks with Dr's aren't pretty serious all the time. Basically my scan was totally black...This is a bummer. Dr Kahn says we could still possibly be fooled and the iodine might do something, but from her past experiences, she feels that my stupid cancer cells do not absorb the radioactive iodine anymore.

New plan is to keep my system very loaded with suppression thyroid medication (Aunt Carol, they want my TSH below 0.1, all the time)  This is an effort to slow the cancer growth as much as they can.  Labs will be checked every 3 months, hopefully my "cancer cell numbers" which is the Thyroglobulin antibodies will drop a little or at least stay the same.  The good thing about this situation is that I do not have to do the low iodine diet anymore. I am now eligible for a special medication called Thyrogen, which allows me to stay on my meds if I need any scans or special labwork.  Still kind of unsure how this med works but it means that I won't have to do the whole month of no meds deal. 

I have labwork and see surgeon and Dr. Kahn in June.  If my cancer levels are the same, we just keep watching.  If they go up, then they will try to find the cancer with a PET scan, if it is big enough to see, they will take it out surgically and treat the area with another kind of medication.  Dr Kahn did not tell me what "other kind" of medication it would be.  But I have done some home work on this and it probably means radiation or chemo, kinda depends on where they find it in my body.

Ya know, this has been a weirdly stressful day.  Even though we were home by 2 or 2:30.  But I think I feel more drained than I have all this week.  I am headed for a hot shower, a cup of sweet cappucino (cause I can taste it a little), then an early night.  I did have a few minutes of panic feeling earlier but now I am back to my mantra "Let it roll, move on with life, enjoy the days that you feel good and FAMILY FIRST!"

3 days of isolation : done

Long story short, I got another radioactive iodine treatment on Wednesday, same big dose of 150.  Left me exhausted (so I slept and slept) for the last 3 days.  Thanks Mom for hanging with me on Thursday!  So nice to know someone was around if I needed help...  Today I am back out in the house.  Kids are glad to have me back, and I am feeling better.  Yucky metallic taste in back of my throat, but not too bad this time.  Still very hypothyroid as I cannot restart my meds until after the post scan next Wednesday.  Couldn't time it better with Spring Break next week.  Should be back to myself by the time we go back to school next Monday... 

The Dr's are still a little stumped because they know I have cancer cells somewhere but the scans are not showing them where.  This dose of iodine is an effort to keep the level from getting too high... Best news would be if my followup scan on Wednesday lights up like a Christmas tree....Everyone pray for a lit up scan.  This would mean that the radioactive iodine did attach to the bad cells and is killing them off.

If Wednesday scan is black, then I will not be getting radioactive iodine anymore.  It means that the thyroid cancer is immune to the iodine...Then the Dr's will put their heads together to come up with a different type of treatment plan.
I meet with the surgeon in 3 months for more labs and a check up on my swallowing.  Has been a little sluggish last few months.  Have found myself choking when trying to swallow so he wants to check me out.

Savana starts her job tomorrow..she is super excited!  Can't wait to hear about her day!  All in all, things are looking good...Enjoy these beautiful early summer days.  80's seriously!

Can you believe Savana is 15 today!

My baby girl decided she was done hanging out in Mom's safe tummy and presented her willful self to us 2 months early.  The first 4 shots are my most vivid memories of the roller coaster ride that was her first 6 weeks of life.  We call her our "cat with 9 lives"  This period of time took up at least 3 of them. 

  By 6 months we were getting her plumped up and she was slowly losing the "preemie" look.  By then she was eating good and off most of her medications that kept her going from the beginning.

 By the age of one, I knew I was in for quite a time with Miss Savana.  She was the biggest collector of dirt that I had ever seen.  Do any of you remember?  We could give her a bath, she would leave a ring, and still come out with dirt on her face!

 Her facial expressions were often used for Aunt Carol A.'s greeting cards.  She was full of them and always seemed to have one ready for Carol's camera.

 Hands down, my favorite snap shot in the whole world.  She is 4 years old and dressed as Rapunzel for Halloween.  This picture was taken at grandpa Gary and grandma Pats house by the pond....so peaceful and clean!

 Then our girl had another attack on her number of lives..At the age of 5, just before she started Kindergarten, she contracted Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome from some bad hamburger that ended up on the market over that summer.  She turned jaundiced from the liver and kidneys shutting down.  Lots of prayers, hand holding, rocking and trying not to bump her and make her bleed from anywhere.  A parents nightmare.  But she bounced back within a few months, tired but definitely wanting to start Kindergarten.  Resilience I tell you!  A fighter through and through!

 The reason Savana stayed so dirty all the time was that she was an outside, animal loving, fishing, bug catching girl.  I still never know what might end up in her room. She definitely had a spunky attitude and tried my patience regularly.  I have put my foot down on rodents of any kind.  She tells me I am so mean to not let her have a gerbil or something.  NO WAY!

 By 11 to 12 years she was beginning to bloom into the sweet Savana that I know today.  She is so loving and always willing to lend a hand.  She is my best friend on this earth and I am a very lucky mom to be able to say this about my girl....I love every spunky, outspoken, spacey, goofy part of her.
She wins more fishing tournaments than her Dad...Hilarious I tell you!

 Now my young daughter is trying to figure out her passions in life.  She quit band in Jr. High and started choir (LOVES IT)  This year as a freshman she tried out and made the Girl's Glee.

 But then again, she will probably be a tree hugger sort.  Cries every time we butcher for beef, gets upset and weepy with every sad show on TV,  frequently says she thinks she will turn vegetarian but she thinks she might miss bacon too much to last very long....

 All in all, she is the most well rounded, comfortable in her skin, not afraid of anything, trend setting, talented with drama, music, leadership, volunteering, and best of all, She just got her first job on this day, March 12, 2012.  Her 15th birthday.  Love you more than words can say my "Savana Smiles"

The Blecke Girls and Thyroid (UGH!)

I see that the oldest Blecke girl has finally talked a little about her recent scare with thyroid nodules.  What she has not shared is that for the last year, the endocrinologist has been closely watching those nodules and "caught" them early enough that the cells had not turned cancerous yet.  Yeah Dr. Kahn!  This required my big sister to go through 2 sessions of biopsy (really uncomfortable to say the least).  She admits she was scared, but she was also super strong willed and maintained a functioning home with kids and everything going on smoothly...That takes some doing!   I personally know that!
Now another big week for the other Blecke girl starts next week.  I am super hypothyroid (like walking in quick sand) to prepare for lab work on Friday and scans and a treatment plan on Tues and Wed next week.  So far I do not know how my cancer levels are doing.  That will be measured with the labs tomorrow.  Results should be available by Tuesday.  Kim (still recovering mind you) is all about helping me, being there for me, taking care of me...being my absolutely wonderful big sister.  We are now connected in a way that every sibling should have the chance to have.  We are going to beat thyroid cancer together and help our Dr's find a cure for thyroid cancer, or at least how to identify people who are at risk for my type of cancer.

And again, Mom and Dad are in "help and be there" mode for both of their girls.  I can't imagine the worries and concern that they feel everyday.  Parents do not stop worrying about their kids just because they are independent.  It is a lifelong commitment.

My ramblings are done.  Time to make my low iodine dinner (hash browns and egg whites, actually pretty good)  Thanks for listening to me!

A present from Savana.

Shelby and I do not have the kids use the computer very much at home.  They have so many other ways to entertain themselves, so the computer is basically for work and email.

Miss Savana worked very hard on a present for her Aunt Kim and Uncle Shannon. She is sharpening her computer skills every day and figured out how to make movies on her own...She amazes me every day with her "just do it" personality.

If only I knew half of what the kids can do...And I use a computer every day!  I know they will be even further ahead by the time I am retired...Just hope I can keep up.

Sometimes it is the little things.

I truly apologize for the lack of posts the last couple of months.  Just have not been "in the mood" to be on the computer.  But here is my thought for the evening...... 

Tonight I attended my first singing endeavor since the surgery last year. I did sing a little at the Christmas play, but this Community Choir is something that I really enjoy and have not felt my voice was strong enough to manage until now. What a wonderful evening, sang two hours and loved every minute of it. Happiness!