So I'm sure none of you have noticed but I haven't posted in a while. After that last post was so depressing I knew I had a tough road a head of me before I could post something happy. But today's the day! I have good news! In fact -- I have lots of it!
First of all my family found out a few weeks ago that my brother has testicular cancer. He's only 30 and very active. It just goes to show that cancer knows no boundaries, it'll hit anyone. We just happened to be unlucky this year. He had surgery to remove the lump but then discovered that it was rather large and was made up of two types of cancer, one being a very aggressive type of tumor so in light of that we (I say we because we're a very tight-knit family but really it's my brother) HE had to get an abdominal and pelvic CT scan and get his blood tested to see if there were any other tumors in his body. I'm happy to say that his blood was free of markers and his CT scan came up negative. Now, that's VERY good news, however there could be microscopic tumors in his lymph nodes and so he has to do something to make sure they're clear. He had three options, one of which was major surgery and we were praying and hoping that he wouldn't have to go through that and luckily he doesn't. Due to the fact that his blood was clear and his CT was negative we could opt to do ONE ROUND of Chemo. I didn't even know they could just do ONE ROUND! I thought it had to be four or more rounds to get anything and so I was fearing the worst but God was looking down on us and we are so blessed. I know chemo is terrible and he's going to need a lot of help and love throughout that time but I feel so lucky that I'm not going to lose my brother to cancer, I can take one round of chemo, and I'm sure he can too.
Alright so that's the really big good news. The other good news is that I've gotten over a plateau in my diet/life change. I was really frustrated for a while there and not excited about anything I was doing and it seemed like there was nothing I could do to get my body back in gear. But apparently when you hit a weight that you were for a long period in your life you can often times get "stuck" there. Your mind keeps telling you that you're hungry so that you'll stay at this set-point weight. Luckily the nice ladies at lindora helped me through it and I discovered that some exercise was all I needed to get over the hump. That and LOTS of water and FAITH.
One of the stress-relievers I have started to employ is prayer. I know some people reading this aren't religious and that's okay, sometimes just talking to someone (even if it's just your ceiling) aloud about your problems, or better yet the things you're thankful for, can really help you let go of the day's stresses and really get a good night's sleep. Ever since I left college (during college too but more sporadically) I've had trouble sleeping. I think way too much about things, analyze SO MUCH of the day and my life that my mind can't fully settle enough to get to sleep. Sometimes it's good --3am works sessions are quite productive--and sometimes it keeps you from being on your game the next day which I often need to be. So I've turned to prayer. I talk to God quietly and tell Him all the things I'm worried about, why I'm worried about them and then while I'm figuring out what to say next I'll sit there and try to listen to myself/God, how can I change how I'm feeling about this situation or what can I do to help myself out. It gives me a chance to breathe and I really need that every night just to be able to sleep and it makes life just a little bit more bearable and don't we all need that?
What do you do to de-stress? I'm always looking for new ideas.
PS I'm going to show you a photo taken right before I started this program. It's NOT my best photo and nor will it be the last. I'm using it as my "before" picture. Commit it to memory now because that's the last time I'm going to look like that!
Live, Love, and TAKE PICTURES!
Kirsten
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