It's 11 PM, guess where Dools is...

I am right here! I promised a post and I keep my word. Goodnight!

Just kidding. I promised a post and you shall have a post.
So, what's new in the Doodleverse? Let's see...oh, I guess it's time for a goal update. Let's look back, shall we...

Here are the goals posted here a couple of months ago:

Down 10 lbs by 2/22/15 DID IT!

Down 20 lbs by the anniversary of my diagnosis (March 26) Down 18.8 BUT when I weighed in today during my health assessment, fully clothed including SHOES!, their scale showed I was at the 20 lb loss mark. I will not count it since it was not the same scale I've used since the beginning but it made me smile!

Down 30 lbs by the anniversary of my first chemo - I will NOT miss this one. 

Graduate to 21 Day Fix Extreme by May 2015 - Started Extreme in March 2015

Move on to Les Mills Pump (I'm so looking forward to this one) - Currently out of stock. I must have it!!!

Move on to Les Mills Combat (I'm really, really, really looking forward to getting into this one)

That's my fitness/rebuilding update. Now for the general health update. I mentioned the health assessment above. Well, the results were good. Other than the whole cancer thing, I appear to be much healthier than last year. Ironic...right? Cholesterol (good, bad and ugly), blood sugar, blood pressure...everything looked FABULOUS! 

Seeing success after setting fitness goals, I've gone a little crazy with goal setting and deadlines. If you follow along on Facebook, you might have seen the post about the family binder. This thing is going to consume my life for a while. If you decide to do one, know that it will not be completed in one day...or even two...unless you are Wonder Woman (which I am not).  If you do it right, it will take a while. I'm not anywhere near being done but I have completed the savings plans through 2016 and most of the household information. Next comes cleaning schedules, birthday lists, anniversary lists, contact info,.. I can't even remember all of the tabs at the moment but this thing is going to be lovely. I'm always preaching about "The Bus Test" at work so I thought I should make every effort to insure that The LD could pass! As COO of this household, it's my job to make sure we can. The CEO, the two interns and the office dog depend on me.  ;-)

It's now 11:30 so I'm shutting down. Have to get ready for an office day tomorrow. My first call is @ 7:30 and I love it!  

Have a wonderful night everyone. I'll be back soon!

Love to all,

Andee

Warning: I think I'm going to complain a little

You must be wondering what could POSSIBLY be messing with my peppy attitude, right? I'm glad you asked. I'm chipper, overall, but there is something that is absolutely driving me crazy. It's uncomfortable, inconvenient and sometimes painful. What might it be? SCAR TISSUE!!!!! This stuff is ticking me off. I went through the ASTYM treatment after surgery and it worked wonders. I had normal range of motion, no pain, no tightness....nothing. I started working out in January and things started to tighten up pretty quickly. My range of motion has been greatly reduced and I'm back to feeling like I'm going to pull out a rib if I move my arm too far. I've started with some more aggressive stretching and trying to work it loose. UGH! The tightness has spread - it now pulls from under my arm all the way to my sternum. I'm prepared for some discomfort because at some point, after the stretching and massage, that stuff is going to pop loose. I'm eager for that to happen but then again...not.  lol

On top of the scar tissue, the fatigue has been a pain in my behind for the past couple of weeks. On some days I've felt like I've gone backwards. Today was the first day in 60 days that I didn't feel like working out...I did it anyway but it took all of the motivation I could muster to get up and do it. 

Ok, the whining session is over. I'm going to go try to break up some scar tissue and sleep. Tomorrow I WILL feel better. I shall will it to be!

Good night and love to all!
Andee

STOP.....HAMMER TIME!!!!

What I've learned...

It's 11 pm and I'm exhausted so this will be a short post. It's time for another entry in our What' I've Learned In The Last 12 Months series. I don't know what entry number this is so let's just say it's number 3...It's going to be a "REALLY Real Truth" post too...
I'm having a really hard time dealing with the whole fatigue thing. I am leaps and bounds ahead of where I was 3 months ago but it really ticks me off that I still tire out so easily. I push on and, hopefully, it's not too noticeable to anyone else.  I keep going because I have to - life doesn't have a hold button. I don't want to do less, I want to be able to tolerate more.  I know, I know...everyone says "you've been through a hell of a year, it will take time to get back to normal." Have we met? I want to be done with this craziness and just be able to function like a normal person. I shouldn't even complain because I know how blessed I am to have gotten this far but I share the things that make me smile AND the stuff that ticks me off.  That's what you come here for. :-)

I'll post something inspiring and possibly funny tomorrow...maybe. I still owe you that scar tissue post. I hate that stuff!

Love to all,
Andee

Guess what day it is...

It's Lump Day...WOOT WOOT
It's now almost over but, yes, today marks one year since I found the lump that changed my life. Life changed again and on a much grander scale 11 days later, but we'll relive that nightmare when the time comes. I pushed through today by keeping busy. Cleaning the vehicle, inside and out. Getting the oil changed, working out...trying to beat Bobby on step count (have we mentioned we're a competitive household?) I did not spend the day dwelling on the what I've lost but what I've gained from this whole experience. Who would have thought, a year ago, that I would be busting my butt to get fit or even THINKING about trying to keep up with my 5k, Bourbon Chase, half marathon running, cycling and Krav Maga instructing husband. That I would be getting angry because I'm working out 2 hours a day and my weight loss has slowed (plateaued a couple of times).  That I would be out buying heavier weights for my workouts.  A year ago, pain would have kept me from working out...easy excuse. These days I hurt all the time but it just ticks me off and makes me keep going. (I didn't say this experience made me any smarter.  :-))
I know I sound like a broken record but GET CHECKED and don't wait until you have a life changing event to change your life.
I have an echo scheduled for tomorrow morning so I need to get to sleep. Busy day ahead.

Love to all - really!
Andee

What I've Learned in the last 12 months - Episode 3

Disclaimer: It's been an eventful day @ The LD so this post will probably be short.

DON'T GO THROUGH IT ALONE

I would say that I'm fiercly independent. I have a tendency to want to do everything on my own. I don't like being needy and I certainly don't like having to proactively ask for help. I'm not above doing it if it's necessary but I REALLY don't like it. I've talked about the support from family before but I don't think I've really gone into how much it meant to me to have my husband and/or my sister with me for every single chemo treatment. One or both of them were with me for each and every one of my 16 chemo sessions. Some of them lasted half a day. I didn't want to inconvenience anyone so, from the beginning, I told them I could do it on my own. Thankfully, they did not listen. It's going to sound really weird but I have such fond memories of those days. Like many other things I'll talk about over the coming weeks, other than the whole cancer thing, we had some of the best times ever! Yes, technically, you can do it all by yourself but unless you absolutely have to...DON'T! It's good for everyone involved. They get to participate and provide support, and you, as the patient, get to take your mind off of what's really happening for those few hours.

I love you guys and I can't think you enough for completely ignoring what I told you. I needed you and I'm so glad you were there.

I'm off!

Love to all,
Andee

What I've Learned over the past 12 months - Entry #2

I'VE LEARNED THAT I CAN PLAY THROUGH THE PAIN

It's nothing heroic, I'm not special and I'm certainly NOT Wonder Woman...not even close. I think that going through a little bit of suffering just changes your perspective. I've been very open and honest with my posts this year and I won't stop now. Yes, I have been working out every single day since January 22. I'm losing weight and getting stronger BUT I'm sore every single day. It's not easy and it's not glamorous but, to me, it's worth every ache, every pain. Sore muscles are a sign that I'm doing something and I'm alive. My foot still hasn't healed but I'm managing it. I didn't do much of anything for several months. I would stroll but not much more than that.  My flexibility is gone...and I had some to spare. My muscles were weak - lunges and squats with weak muscles while carrying extra weight are challenging. I still modify a lot of exercises BUT I DO THEM!  I am determined to achieve the goals I've set for myself this year. I will not quit and I will not lose. I didn't just get to the end of treatment in December and wake up the next day feeling 100%. I'm tired all the time. My sleep is restless. Today I broke down and took a nap. I'm trying to listen to my body. Why did I need a nap? Well, I got up, got everyone fed (except me...skipped breakfast...I didn't plan to). I decided to get my workout in early so I did 21 Day Fix Dirty 30. I was going to get on the treadmill but we decided to go out and clear the driveway. It was still covered with ice and snow so it took us a while but we cleared the entire thing. I was in charge of breaking up the ice so Bobby could clear it.

It didn't take long for my muscles to start screaming at me. Yes...the soreness didn't wait until tomorrow. I was also worn out. That is hard work even for someone in peak physical condition, right? I made sure everyone had their hot lunch and then I announced I was going to take a nap...and I did. With zero guilt! I slept through the UK game (GO CATS!) but woke up in time to make dinner. After dinner I spent 40 minutes on the treadmill in hopes of keeping my muscles loose (I also had a hot soak so I'm hoping for minimal discomfort tomorrow). I also tried to flood one end of our house but that's completely irrelevant to this post.
The point here is to say that you should never doubt yourself. There's no need to have a life changing diagnosis before you focus on changing your life. Yes it's hard, and yes, sometimes it's painful but in the end the only thing you regret is what you didn't do.
Thank you cancer for teaching me to play through the pain.

Until next time.
Love to all,
Andee

Welcome to our March Series - What I've learned over the last 12 months

Well, here we are. It's March. I can barely believe we're coming up on the 1 year anniversary of the diagnosis that changed my life. So much has happened during that time. Most importantly I've learned a lot about myself. Things like:

• I'm tougher than I thought.
• I have a better attitude than I thought.
• I can tolerate more discomfort than I expected.
• I am determined to live life!
• I do NOT like to lose. 
• Prior to cancer, I did not know what it meant to put myself first.
• Prior to cancer, I did not know what it meant to "live in the moment"
• I am a control freak...I'm sorry, Control Enthusiast - who am I kidding, I totally knew this before cancer.  ;-)
• Chemo-induced menopause scared me - I thought it would be bad because I can't take any hormones...long story). Like most other things about my cancer experience, it's not nearly as bad as I expected. There are more positives than negatives (ladies, I'm sure you know what I mean). The hot flashes are fierce but infrequent and I'm a little bitchier than before (as if THAT is even possible). It's ok though. I started apologizing to Bobby well in advance of the escalated bitchiness so, hopefully, we're good. 

If you don't know what this is from or how it relates to the bullet point above then we cant' be friends. Just kidding. I'll have to share some other time. I will give you some basic info. This is Kat from the movie 10 Things I Hate About You (modern retelling of The Taming of the Shrew) . LOOOOOOOVE this movie.Yes, this will lead to a post of its own.

I've learned more but I think we'll leave the list at that tonight. The whole cancer thing was a bit inconvenient, but I'm grateful to have gone through an experience where I truly feel like I came out a changed person on the other side. I hope it's for the better but time will tell.

Before I go for the night, I want to issue a challenge to everyone out there. Take this time to schedule your mammogram and/or urge someone you care about to schedule theirs. I know it can be scary but cancer is way more scary. Don't be afraid of what the results might be - early detection is the key! Please, please, please my friends!  JUST DO IT!

The rebuilding continues

Another weekend is coming to an end. Why does time pass so quickly? Heck, not just on weekends, just time in general. Crazy! I'm not prepared for it to be March. I have some interesting milestones to face this month and I'm not sure how I'm going to handle it. At this very moment, I don't feel like I'll have an emotional response but who knows what will happen when the time comes. On a happy note, I'm on my way to meeting my next goal. I'm currently down 12.8 lbs and 12.5 inches. I'm pretty happy about that. It has taken a lot of hard work and a good amount of discipline but I'm pushing through. I feel like I'm going to hit my "20 lbs down by 3/26 goal". Stay tuned and see if I make it. I'll share my success or failure...no, not failure...well, whatever it is I'll share the news with you here.

In addition to the body remodel, I'm in the early stages of planning the dance party we've talked about for so long. Surely you didn't think I would let this go? If you've been around since last year (or have read old posts), you know there was dancing before surgery and the concept of a dance party has been a thing since very early on. We are going to do it! It's just a celebration of life and fun and we're gonna do it because we can! Here's a little fun to get you in the mood.