After a nausea free day yesterday, I was sick to my stomach last night and had acid reflux. Suppose that's what I get for taking anti nausea pills when I did not need them. Oh well! I feel better today and have stayed very busy.
(Terry, my doctor has told me to lay off the caffeine because of the hemorrhoids. I do okay not drinking caffeine during chemo weeks, but it sure is difficult during non-chemo weeks. Love my coca-cola! I'm working on it, though! Love that my candidness makes several of you laugh or feel special in some way. I do it so you all can truly know what I am going through and know how to best pray for me and to help others who may be reading this or read it in the future know some things to expect during their walk with cancer. It's most important to be this candid with your doctor!!!)
I still have trouble breathing, but it's not as bad as yesterday. No matter what I did yesterday, even at rest, it was hard to catch my breath. Today, I only get winded when I move around. At rest, I am fine!
Dad and I have been upstairs most of the morning working on our laptops. I got some work done then got down to the real business at hand. I have had this idea lingering inside me for some time. I had to let it out and see what can become of it!
Ever since I got cancer, I knew I wanted to help others with cancer. I saw this as my ministry, but I did not know what I could do.
October is breast cancer awareness month and to be quite honest, I have grown sick of the pink. Yes, I understand the extreme value of drawing attention to this disease and garnering support, but what about all the other cancers? What about men? What about children?
Between being over ta-ta'ed and Michael's death, I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to help ease the financial burden of cancer victims and their families. I have been greatly blessed. I am able to work every other week and am able to work from home during chemo weeks. I have amazing health insurance and amazing family and friends to help out. Most cancer patients are not so lucky. I heard a story on the news just last night about a cancer victim losing his home because of the financial burden. That should never happen!
I wanted to set up my own nonprofit to help, but it takes an act of congress to get that done (and rightly so). That is a good goal for the future, but it won't help me now. I want to do something now and I need someone to help. I thought immediately of Belmont. I would like to start there by helping current members of the Belmont community who have cancer or have a loved one facing cancer. This may not be possible for several reasons, the biggest being confidentiality issues. If I can't get this going, I still hope to do a fundraiser for cancer research. If Belmont cannot help, I may hit up my church!
I want to do a 5K followed by a concert featuring Belmont alumni. I have no idea where to even begin, but I do know people who have done things like this before or who may be able to help me organize this. So, I started emailing friends. I sent emails to people at Belmont to see if this is possible and if I can get the Belmont support. It would be called the Belmont All-Cancer Campaign. I contacted a friend in the music business to see, if approved, if he could help me try to get some Belmont alumni to donate their time for the concert. I even contacted a friend and co-worker with her own t-shirt printing company to see, if approved, if she could help me with the t-shirts. This is quite a lofty plan for a novice, but keep it all in prayer. If it's God's will, it will happen...hopefully this spring. If it all goes well, maybe we can make it an annual event! Belmont, the artists, and the cause would all get great publicity out of it. It's a win-win-win-win situation. (The fourth win is for me!)
I also asked my t-shirt making friend to help me make t-shirts for me to sell to help with my medical expenses. They will be lime green (for lymphoma) and say "Renee's Brigade." It will have a little soldier on it and say something else in smaller print like "Banding together to fight lymphoma" or "Fighting together against lymphoma" or "Fight against lymphoma." Any ideas?
Just love that my creative juices are flowing. Haven't felt like this in such a long time. It's also nice to feel like I have a cause again - a God calling!!! Gotta enjoy it just in case the chemo kicks in like usual tomorrow and the rest of the week!
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