Happy New Year!

Yes, I definitely hear the echo... : )  I love to write and the last three years doing my college courses have given me quite a workout in posting and replying.

Just got in last night from my trip to San Diego.  It was a  nice visit and yes, my sister was glad to have us there.  Though when you start with a family of 5, add 3 adults and a young adult, it's makes for few quiet moments.  But there was lots of card playing, the canasta and cribbage variety and some really good eats.  I was happy that I held my own and though indulged in a few goodies, I came home lighter than when I left...woohoo.

I'm revitalized to dive back into my healthy eating and plan to get a treadmill in a few weeks.  My youngest son is getting married the first of June and I want to be as healthy as I can to enjoy the festivities.

Sugars were a bit out of whack on the trip but I think it was more stress related than eating.  Lots going on with a family that I really hadn't spent that much time with before and the first time in their home.  But all in all, things went well and of course enjoyed that my son came down from Idaho for the week.

I'm glad to hear of your good medical outcomes...I will pray they continue to be positive.  Hope your Christmas was nice and do you have any exciting plans for New Years?  My husband and I will probably watch movies til we're tired and sleep through it...lol!

Have a good week...will check in after the new year...any resolutions?

Take care!

Merry Christmas

Joyce,

Judging from the echo, there is just the two of us in the blog. It would be nice to have more people. I think we could see in our Better Choices, Better Health workshop that support is a helpful aspect of dealing with health issues.

I just now read your last post of Dec 17. We are practically neighbors! I am in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I was born in this state, but moved as soon as I could after college. I sought a warmer climate, so I moved to the Dallas area. Texas is quite warm! I lived there for 27 years and fate brought me back to the land of cold winters. It has taken a long time to realize that home is where you are and happiness is on the inside not the outside.

Health issues: In the last two weeks I have seem my primary physician for diabetes, where all is well. Last week I had a PET-CT scan which showed that the tumor in my brain has not grown and that the cancer has not spread. . Today I had an MRI of the brain to get a more definitive image and something that can be compared to the previous ones I have had done. It should also show that there was no growth.

Now I am ready to celebrate the holidays. I have some relatives in the area that I will see on Christmas day. It is a rather muted time, but that is okay.

You are probably in San Diego. I hope you enjoy being with your sister. It sounds like she could use some support during the holidays. I wish you the best. I hope you relax between school sessions and return refreshed, full of vigor and health.

Jerry

I think it might be...

I had two other folks ask about it and I've sent the invite to one but so far no response.  It's too bad as I think it would have been a great tool for them to continue with the program.  I'm glad you've decided to use it and perhaps we can each reach out to others and invite them to join us.

It's been nice to have the school work done, justing waiting on grades and if the grades fall into place just right, may make the Dean's List...funny to be stressing about that at my age...lol!

I wanted to say that I loved your positivity in the program.  With all that you are dealing it, it would be easy to see that glass very half empty.  But it seems you've got a better handle on than most and I salute you for that.

BTW, I'm in Kenosha, WI...a recent transplant from Idaho and before that California.  Idaho still feels like home at this point but who knows if that will change.

Late night post so I'll sign off now...hope you have something fun planned for the holidays.  We'll be in San Diego with family, a first time with this branch...should be fun.

Take care!

Is this it?

Hi Joyce,

Is it just you and me? I thought there would be others from the Better Choices workgroup.

I hope your class deadlines were met and you feel great about your success. I know you said that you were on track for completion. I just hope it went well and now you can relax.

I think you know from my participation in the workshop that I have a number of health issues. I learned just over a year ago that I have brain cancer. There is a tumor that is rather stubborn. I had brain surgery twice to attempt to remove it and they could not. I had chemo which had no effect. I then had radiation therapy that did no good. Now the hope is that the tumor does not grow. If they couldn't make it shrink perhaps it would cooperate and not grow. Soon I will have an MRI to see if it is the same size. I will have a full PET-CT scan on Thursday to see if the cancer has spread. So I will be putting the workshop concepts into practice.

Almost done with coursework!

I'm enjoying a little breather here, catching up on The Apprentice and enjoying being on schedule with my action plan for completing my assignments.  Not going to write a lot just wanted to check in hope that folks will be joining the blog and sharing and supporting each other.  Snowing tonight so it will be pretty tomorrow.  My little dog has been having difficulties taking care of business in the snow.  It's not the snow that's the problem, it's been at around 10 - 15 degrees for a high since the weekend and that a bit chilly for her little paws.  I have seen some interesting acrobatics as she experimented with sniffing around on three legs then raised both back legs when she needed to do number 2.  She does make me laugh everyday!

New month, new attitude.

December is on it's way and I loved that we had some snow in the last day or so.  Not enough for me, but enough to cover things with a velvety white blanket that will hopefully last a few days.

Focus has been of course on my studies but that will be done by the 13th, finished or not, hopefully finished and with passing grades.  Then I have about a week to prepare for a trip to San Diego to hand out with my sister and her family.  She's the one who lost her husband to cancer about two years ago and our holiday together will be with her stepdaugher and her family.  Will be fun to be at a Christmas celebration with younger kids for a change.


Then back home before New Year's and some relaxation time before classes begin again in mid January.  My plan is to instill my exercise routine deep into my psyche during that break so that once studies begin I will stay on task.


Hope you're enjoying some peace and quiet amidst this typically rushed time of holiday prep.

introduction

What a pleasure it is to have a place to continue our workshop experience. This transforms the workshop from adding knowledge to taking action. As we continue to handle the burden of health issues, it is nice to have a group of people who can identify with the challenges and encourage each other toward further progress.

Thanks to Cabuckeye for setting this up. I am looking forward to using this blog, sharing experiences, and continuing on our path.

Do you think it would be good to "introduce ourselves" as we arrive here?

Hi, I am Jerry, and I have the following health issues;

• diabetes; type 1 for the past 41 years. Using insulin pump for 3 years. Related issues are hypothyroid condition, peripheral neuropathy, slight diabetic retinopathy.
• brain cancer; diagnosed about 1 year ago. Chemo, radiation therapy; ineffective. All that's left is prayer with periodic MRI images to monitor the tumor.
• Rheumatoid arthritis; usually painful, making many simple things more difficult.

I am 57, single for 17 years, have grown son and daughter.

I am currently away from work on recovery (they call it disability). I have a target date to return to work on April 1, 2011 (appropriate date, huh?). I am a software engineer.

Best wishes to all who join,
Jerry

Welcome to all!

I sure hope that many of you will become part of this blog.  It's all about using the tools we learned in Better Choices, Better Health to improve our journey dealing with chronic conditions.  The main guideline is that we be supportive and make an effort to think positive in our posts and responses.

Hope you are having a good last week in the program and let's continue our journey together!