weekend update

Hello all :)

Well, my trip to the beach was lovely. My parents and I drove to Ocean City early yesterday morning (I slept most of the way there) and spent the day cleaning up the house with Aunt Pat and Uncle Will. It was SO nice to be back at the shore! It makes me so happy just being in that house. So many memories have been made there. Even though we were down there to get work done, it was still very soothing for me to just be by the ocean for the day.

I was feeling pretty good physically yesterday, so I set to work cleaning the venetian blinds. They had collected quite a bit of dust from the winter months, so I soaked each one in the tub, scrubbed them, and dried them. I was very proud of how they turned out, although it took me basically the entire day to get them all done. I need to learn to be a little less OCD with cleaning so I can accomplish things faster.

Aside from the cleaning, I got to enjoy some of my favorite Ocean City eats yesterday. Uncle Will picked up lunch for all of us at Kessel's Corner. I got a cheesesteak and fries, which were heavenly. I also made a trip over to Dot's Bakery and picked up some of their cream-filled donuts for everyone. As if that weren't enough unhealthy food for one day, we stopped at Creamland for ice cream on the drive home. It was truly a day of gluttony!

Once we arrived home, I got cleaned up and headed down to Newark with Dan to go dancing with some of our friends. The University of Delaware had their commencement ceremonies yesterday, so Main Street was packed with people celebrating. About 10 of us met up at Klondike Kate's bar and restaurant for their "80's Night" dance party. I'm not allowed to drink, of course, but most of you know I'm not much of a drinker anyway. We all had a great time enjoying the guilty pleasure music of the 80's: tons of Cyndi Lauper, Whitney Houston, Bon Jovi, Talking Heads, etc. I danced for most of the night, stopping for only a few breaks. Hopefully I worked off some of that fatty food from the beach! I was happy to see that I didn't feel worn down despite the busy day that I had. I hope I can continue to maintain a fairly active lifestyle like this in the coming months.

After a fantastic night with my friends, I came home and collapsed. I slept in rather late this morning, but I'm hoping to get a lot of cleaning done with what remains of the day. I still have quite a bit of unpacking to do with all that I brought home from college, so hopefully I can make a dent in that.

As for my post-chemo status, I've had a progressively worsening sore throat for the past few days that finally got too painful for me to ignore, so I called the oncology office this morning to see what I should do for it. The chemo drugs make my body produce less saliva, so I'm having a hard time swallowing things and I feel a lot of discomfort, especially when I first wake up. The fact that I'm also getting over a cold is probably complicating things as well. Dr. Biggs, who was on call, advised me to take my Tylenol/Codeine pills that I was prescribed for pain. They seem to have helped, thank goodness. Aside from that I am feeling great. With each good day that passes, I am more certain that everything is going to be just fine.

To Aunt Anna and Uncle Len: I would love to donate my red hair to Locks of Love so that it could be made into a wig for someone else, but unfortunately I had it cut to ear-length (the shortest I've ever gone!) just before I found out about the lymphoma. I suppose that's a blessing in disguise though. I'm getting used to having really short hair, so maybe that will ease the transition to having no hair. haha. In the past I have never grown my hair long enough to cut the 6 inches required for hair donation, but this experience has definitely made me want to do something like that in the future. A great suggestion :)

On that note, I definitely want to try to find some non-profit/community service type work to get involved with this summer. Perhaps the most important thing I learned during my years at Loyola is how much that kind of service benefits not only those that I'm serving, but me as well. It just feels so good to make even a small difference, and I have learned so much from seeing how others are able to overcome life's challenges. That has been something that has made this entire cancer experience much easier for me to face.

I keep thinking about the women I met during spring break outreach when I lived at My Sister's Place for the week. They slept out on the street each night without guarantee of food, shelter, or safety, and yet they greeted me with warm smiles and positive attitudes every morning. They really taught me a lot about facing things one day at a time and being thankful for each moment of life. Though they have few material possessions, they have much in terms of what is truly valuable: strong faith and true friends that see them through their daily struggles. They trust that God has a plan for them. Having seen this, I am doing my best to trust in God's plan for me as well.

I want to try to write individual responses to everyone who has left me messages on this journal, so watch for those in the coming entries. One very special thank you must go to my cousins Evan, Christian, and Molly for the wonderful cards that you made for me. They were the first thing that I received in the mail after my diagnosis, and I cannot tell you how much they meant to me. Evan's poem was absolutely beautiful. I want to share it with everyone on here because I love it so much. I hope you don't mind, Ev. It says "Roses are red, violets are blue, you remind me of a beautiful butterfly flying up so high in the sky." What a sweetheart. I look at those cards every day and smile :) You are the best cousins a girl could ask for!

I suppose I should get cracking on my cleaning before this medicine makes me too groggy. Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who is supporting me. I just can't say it enough. I love you all so much. Thank you for being with me on this journey.

-Lauren