Saturday, August 15, 2009

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

A friend at work, Jonathan Whittington, recently went to Africa on vacation and brought back about a million photos. I was looking at them at work (gosh I love my job) and found three that totally spoke to me about this whole cancer experience.


This is life before finding out that the cancer had come back. Nothing but adventure and good times ahead.


But life seemed to come to a complete screeching halt with the diagnosis that the cancer had come back. I think it took eight weeks to get through all the tests and false starts for lung surgery before we nailed down how bad it was and what we were going to do about it.



And this is where I am now, getting chemo, making progress, but not quite feeling safe yet.




I am hoping that after the CT scan on September 3, the sun will come up and I'll find that the lions are further away from the jeep!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ms. Karen,
When my kids were little we used to tell that story in preshool. I love the visual pics. Happiest Anniversary to you and Lou. What a feat these days of divorce.You inspire me and i feel you from miles away on all your blogs. Chris suffered from many of the side effects that you are having. It is good to hear it from your perception as he could not verbalize it. love you Karla

Anna the boxer lover! said...

Hi Karen,
Thank you for sharing your journey and your feelings with all of those following your blog. You are an inspiration. Congratulations on your anniversary! What a joy to have a soul mate like Lou who loves you and supports you through the upcoming days of treatment recovery. Do you need me to take you to Chapel Hill this week? Let me know. Luv ya' lots. Anna

Anna said...

Hey,
I meant to comment on the photos! WOW....They are really awesome. To be that close to so many elephants! What a memorable trip that must have been. Thanks for posting them on your blog!

See you soon I hope!
Anna

Anonymous said...

Hi Karen,

What a wonderful blog you had today, the pictures and words were so great and Jim and I hope, like you, that soon the lions will be further away. The very happiest of wedding anniversaries, you too are such a cute couple and what a huge accomplishment. I remember when I first met you Karen and we used to talk about what you could do to make your marriage even more fabuous and you definitely accomplished it!!

Love you tons and have a good Sunday, Debbie P.

Unknown said...

Hey Karen,

Your pictures are so beautiful. I especially love the elephants. There is something about elephants that for some reason I have a spiritual connection to.

I hope your treatment is going well. You are awesome! Miss you a lot. Hey - did you color your hair red?

Megan

Anonymous said...

Hi Karen
Congrats to you and Lou on your anniversary. Hope you did something lovely to celebrate :).
I think of you often and am always glad to see/read that you are staying positive and getting good medical care. It sounds like Duke has been a great change for you.
I hope the Healing Touch continues to be helpful, that you are able to sleep and get good rest, that you get to move your "Migraine free days" count back up again, and that on September 3 you get the results you (and all who care about you)are hoping for.
I am off to the Cape but look forward to catching up with your blog again when I get back.
Take care!
Mary Beth H.

Zizi said...

Karen,

I don't know you well but I must tell you that meeting you was a memorable experience as you have a light that just shines from every pore in your body. You are a goddess! Even the way that you are handling this is with such dignity and grace.

I am sending you healing white light and blessings and wishing you all of the love you can handle on your journey.

Zizi

Anonymous said...

We care and pray for you and your family, Karen. Love & Peace, Jim. (Wishes for a speedy recovery.)

Alice said...

Hi Karen,

Now that I have your blog site I can bug you - hehe. First, I would like to say that I am planning on getting women together once a month to meet at different houses in Holly Springs and would love it if you would join - My house will be avail. starting end of next month when the parent move into their new house - I and sure others are also welcome to bring this type of get together to your house if you wish.

I'll always remember the way you made me feel so welcome when I moved to Holly Springs - for that I'm so grateful :) You are a wonderful and loving person and I am keeping you in my prayers

I found this when I searched the type of cancer you are fighting - "Canadian comedian Irwin Barker was featured in an award winning documentary entitled "That's my Time" which chronicled his journey with leiomyosarcoma. Reactions to Barker’s presentations on comedy and cancer have been overwhelmingly positive." - Although you may already be aware of this maybe this would be a cool way to get some people together with you and see the whole pic. I'm a cardiac nurse so I'm not too familiar with cancers as I have not worked in this area.

You are an inspiration to all - Karen - I truly wish the best for you and pray that you will be in good spirits as much as possible.

So - lets plan to laugh together in the real near future

We love you dearly.

Luv,

Alice

Cathy said...

Karen,

Im very new to this..not tech savy. any way. I enjoyed speaking with you the other day and am honored to know a person of great humor and courage such as you.

Cathy

Robyn said...

Happy belated Anniversary! Congrats to you and Lou.

Loved the story...

Only you could look through thousands of pictures and pick out these three to help us understand your journey.

You are one heck of a woman...I so admire you, envy you...and love you!
(((hugs)))
Robyn