Thursday, May 31, 2012

all is well

My visit with my Boston doctors went well.  Everyone is happy with the progress.  I don't have to go back now until September, which is great!!

School is drawing to a close and I am crazy with finishing up assignments and getting ready for my last class.  I will intern this fall at the Cooperative Middle School in Stratham.  I am hopeful things will go well and I will learn a lot!  From what I hear there are a good number of students who require alternate assessments and this is not something I would likely get anywhere else.  See, everything DOES happen for a reason!

Otherwise things are unremarkable.  Camp is open.  Our Spanish student will be arriving 6/27.  My girls are the same as always, as is Steve.  Not much exciting here in Shapiroland.

:)
Kim

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Life takes over

I was so much better at this blogging thing while I was out of work and getting treatment.  Things seem to get away from me now and I have been very busy.  I am almost, ALMOST looking forward to summer break.  What I think is wonderful is that this summer I will not be spending my days at the hospital, we will have a student from Spain for July, and I don't have to worry (well I have to consider, but not worry) about making sure I have enough sunscreen on.  I can work in my gardens and go places.  I should have energy enough to have a really great summer.  I AM SO GRATEFUL!

I actually have a visit with my oncologist on Thursday.  I will make the trek to Boston and check in.  It almost makes me nauseous at this point to think about going there, especially when I think about everything I went through to get better.  Again, I am so grateful to be on this side of the diagnosis.

Summer is coming quickly.  School is winding down (both work school and school school).  I have gotten my placement for the fall and I think it is going to be terrific!  I was not thrilled about going to the Co-Op but, as I always say, thing work out the way they are supposed to and there is a reason for everything.  I really like the teacher I will be working with.  We have very similar teaching styles and belief systems.  I think I will get a lot out of it. 

Looking forward to (and am grateful for) a future!
Kim

Monday, May 14, 2012

Everything is different now...

I'm different now.  Things that seemed to bother me greatly in the past are like water off a duck's back.  Still, there are things now that are SOOOO important to me and I will stand my ground to preserve them.  One of these things is my sense of self.  I am valuable and unique and gifted in ways that many others are not.  I am not being conceited here -- I am simply stating that I have talents and gifts from God that are unique to me and I see a value in the little things now that I used to take for granted.  I am kind, smart, loyal, and have great faith in my God, my fellow human beings, and myself.  I get that things do not always work out as we think they should but they always work out the way they are supposed to.  Sometimes we just have to give up butting heads and let the chips fall.  It always turns out right. 

There has been much upheaval lately.  Steve and I butted heads big time over the weekend but managed to love each other through it.  We ended up having a great weekend and I think we both realize how much we truly love each other and are willing to fight to stay together.  That being said, no one can push my buttons the way he can, or I can his.  Sometimes I wonder how we have managed to get through times like this and I know there is divine intervention going on here and for that I am grateful. 

Other family members and friends are not faring as well.  My prayers go out to Jess and Glen and Mike and his wife.  Remember the plan is not really ours to determine.  Have faith that things will turn out as they should.  There is no guarantee that we have the people in our lives forever.  Some come and go quickly while others stay and yet others come and go from our lives as the need presents.  Appreciate them while you have them.  It's impossible to do so once they are gone. 

Feeling a little melancholy and reflective today I guess...

Kim :~)

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Spring is here

and so is the rain.  I think it has been raining here for no less than a week straight.  I am starting to turn gray, like the clouds.  It was a busy week too.  I had to work Monday and Wednesday (although I was available Tuesday too, but didn't get a call) and then Thursday and Friday I had to do observation hours for high school.  Thursday was seven hours and Friday I managed to stay for three.  There is is...ten hours done!  I'm not sure that I will ever return to high school but I am not voluntarily going to do so.  There has to be money involved!!

I am midway through my courses already this semester.  I have midterm exams Tuesday and Thursday although the Thursday exam is online and ready to go when I am.  I am more concerned at this point about the Tuesday exam since it is a traditional exam with no notes or books -- rom memory and mostly essay.  This scares me greatly!  The book is almost impossible to read and stay awake so I have not been very successful in reading the chapters.  I have skimmed them and tried to take notes to help summarize them but still I can't even use the notes I created and I blanked out the last time I had to take a written test.  Lots of prayers on Tuesday evening, please.

As for my health...I feel almost normal.  I have had some pain in the left breast lately, like a bruising pain, and I guess this is what is supposed to happen.  There is no bruising and there is no discharge or lesions so I am not stressing over it.  I will speak to the oncologist about it when I go at the end of the month.  I did get a call from my surgeon's office to let me know that she is moving her practice to South Shore Hospital and will not see patients at DF any longer.  Sorry,,,love ya but I am not going to the Cape for followup.  There are other surgeons if I need to see one and I have my original surgeon at DF anyway, as long as she doesn't go anywhere and if she does there will be another.  This is NOT a stressor in my life.  I look forward to checking in with the oncologist and the radiation oncologist the following week.  Things are going well and I am trying to focus on being active and eating well in the hopes of taking off some of the weight I need to take off.  My goal is 1 pound a week and I had lost 3 pounds.  I have not stepped on the scale yet this week but I have had a bit of a binge on chocolate too so I am a little leery.  I really need to work on that!

I will keep trying!  :~)
Kim