The Gang's All Here!

The Gang's All Here!

Friday, February 28, 2014

Calendar Girl

I met with my plastic surgeon on Wednesday. She has cleared me for my next (and hopefully last!) surgery. I will need some "finishing" work after that, but those procedures can be done in the office without anesthesia. I'll be having my upcoming surgery on April 7, only about a month away, woohoo! The good news is that my surgeon is pleased with the outcome of the last surgery, so we'll definitely be moving forward!


It's been a busy week here in the Hinman Household. Both Steve and I have had commitments in the evenings (on different nights) along with the normal chaos that occurs each week. I sat down to look at our calendar and March/ April are already insanely busy. I will admit it's nice to have things to look forward to, but I just hope I can keep up this pace! Add to that soccer starting up again this weekend for Stella (she's excited and we're thrilled she has the same coach as the fall!), swimming lessons and the list goes on. Oh, and taking on this new volunteer role, not sure what I was calculating time-wise, but that will be a labor of love, so no worries there. I think we've officially entered into the next kid phase: sports and activities and craziness, oh my! Honestly though, this was the part of mommyhood I was most looking forward to :).


In other news, I had an uneventful treatment day on Thursday. After my last debacle there, it was a welcome treat. I was actually in and out of there in an hour and fifteen minutes, which is unheard of! Of course, it's only on the days that I come prepared to be tortured kept waiting that they would be done so quickly. Oh well, I'm certainly glad that I wasn't stuck in the infusion room for hours on end.


Well, it's taken me over 30 minutes to type this as my little "helpers" and ripping/ pushing buttons/ breaking everything in the office, so I need to run. Serenity now!!!

Friday, February 21, 2014

The Next Chapter

The time has finally arrived and I can't wait to share some of my exciting news with you!! I mentioned a few posts ago that I had some big things in the works for 2014 and I'm thrilled to be able to tell you about the most important one. I have been in the process of interviewing for a volunteer position with Northside Hospital in Atlanta (this is where I've been receiving all of my cancer related treatments AND where both of the kids were born). I have been selected to work with the Network of Hope, a volunteer group that provides supportive mentorship by matching cancer survivors with patients and caregivers. I have the amazing opportunity to offer hope and wisdom (fingers crossed on the second one!) to someone going through cancer treatments. I cannot begin to describe how deeply motivated I am to participate in such a worthy cause! From the beginning of my cancer journey, I have said that if I could make the difference in the life of just one person, I would call it a win. So, to have the chance to interact with patients, hopefully bring them a little joy and hope is a dream come true for me. I feel like I have so much to give, whether it be my time or experience. I am so ready for this next chapter in my life and I can't wait to begin!!!


On the homefront, we survived yet another Snice event. While inconvenient and certainly not what we had in mind as far as more "family bonding", the kids did enjoy some sledding and building a snow man. The snow very much frustrates Simon, but he did enjoy kicking it with his boots :). I think the best part about a snow event in Georgia is that usually within a day or two the sun is out and the snow melts. And, the temps this week have been in the upper 60's to low 70's, so I'll take it!! I love having the windows open and airing out the house. In a true nod to spring, I changed all of the linens today - swapping out down comforters for summer quilts. Hopefully I didn't jinx us, but I felt like I was being smothered to death by the down comforter.


Next week I meet with my plastic surgeon to schedule my next reconstructive surgery. It's a never ending game, but I do have to say that the results so far have been amazing. Hopefully I will be finished with my surgeries by the beginning of the summer!

Monday, February 10, 2014

"Snice"

Here we are, Monday again and waiting on another winter storm. Yes, we are all aware of the incoming snow/ ice/ sleet/ sh!tstorm bearing down upon Atlanta (as most of us were a couple of weeks ago, just not the state officials, but I digress...). The governor has even declared a preemptive state of emergency just to liven things up a bit. I can promise you that our fair city will not be caught with it's pants down again :). The forecast is sounding rather ominous and given the fact that I have a million things to do this week, I'm sure we'll be "sniced" in (that's what I'm now referring to as the snow-ice combo we seem to always get here. Try not to be too jealous of my superior mental capabilities...) for the rest of the week. Ironically, my kids are off of school Thursday thru next Tuesday. I was already trying to figure out what we were going to do for the "mid-winter" break (also known as teacher furlough days) and now the weather gods are going to add more days to my conundrum. If it does indeed precipitate, it's quite possible that I may lose my mind. Or what's left of it. Whatever...


I meant to update the blog on Friday but I had a sinus headache that I just couldn't kick. I just couldn't bring myself to stare blankly at the computer screen and I couldn't get the Doc McStuffins theme song to stop spinning around wildly in my brain. I resorted to my time-tested fix-all, which involves several beers, advil and sleep. This was while after the kids went to bed. I think... My poor liver, I know, but desperate times and besides, my liver felt fine... Anyway, my sinus headache is still around, but much improved. 'Tis the season for me.


Perhaps another contributor to my headache was my treatment appointment last Thursday, which turned out to be a royal cluster. My appointment was for 10:30 in the morning, which is when I almost always have treatment. It gives me time with morning traffic and them plenty of time if they're running behind, which they always are. Thursday's appointment was my reschedule from the week before, or SnowJam 2014. I arrived on time and was hoping to be out a little early so that I could run a quick errand. At 12:30, when I still hadn't started treatment, I was furious and frazzled. That's a really bad combination for me, in case you were curious. Please keep in mind that pick up time for the kids is 1:00. My Herceptin infusion runs over a period of 30 minutes at a minimum, sometimes a little longer (which, at $15,000 a pop, you're damn right that I want every last drop). So, mathematically speaking, it was obvious I was going to be very late picking up the kids. I did call the school to let them know I was hooked up to an IV and short of me throwing the IV pole over my shoulder and ramming it into my SUV, I was going to be late. The school staff of course, were amazing and very understanding, but I was SO upset. I am NOT a late person and being late makes me over-the-top mad. Just ask Steve...


I sincerely hope that Atlanta doesn't make the national (or international) news this week. The fact that it was over 60 degrees Saturday and Sunday have me somewhat skeptical that we're going to get much in the way of accumulation. That said, I'll be skeptical from my nice, warm house in the off chance that hell does indeed freeze over and it's snicing in Georgia :).