Our 19th Wedding Anniversary - a tribute to our love

On 11/12/13 we celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary.  We started out as friends when we worked at the same law office and after 20 years together, we are still best friends.  Not to mention soulmates, life partners, connected at that hip... Mark is the love of my life and I can't imagine being without him.

So to celebrate this year, instead of gifts, I made this little video slide and included *our* song "Your Love Amazes Me" by John Berry.  We have many songs, but this was our first and is just as meaningful today.  Oh and just to mention that we got to meet John Berry in person (you'll see the photo in the video) and told him our little love story.  That was a moment we'll never forget.

I could have added a zillion more pictures, but then I would have had to add more songs - not to mention go through tons of shoe boxes, coffee cans... So I'll stop here and let the video do the rest of the talking. 

Peace,
Rocki

Day 2 in Sedona - part 1

Our first morning with a toast to the beautiful Sedona view

More photos of our Sedona celebration trip and once again I'll let the photos speak for themselves, along with a little explanation. 

Rocki and Mark waiting for the tour to begin

We started out the day with a trolley tour that took us into the Dry Creek Valley, further up the mountains to see the breathtaking vistas of Boynton and Long Canyon.

Sedona Arizona, Uptown

Just one of the breathtaking views of the red rocks from Uptown while waiting for the trolley to depart.

Sedona, Arizona

Another amazing view while on our tour.  One of many reasons we love Sedona.

Sedona, Arizona

The low clouds made for a gorgeous scenic photo op. 

Sedona, Arizona

Mark jokes around with me of my photo choices - like these "weeds" as he calls them.  I think the photo came out pretty cool myself.

Sedona, Arizona

I tried to get Mark to grab a couple of those rocks to take home.  He declined, darn it!

After all these years and we're still madly in love!

Scenic break over and back into the trolley to continue on our beautiful tour.

Sedona, Arizona

Sedona, Arizona

One of many vortex spots in Sedona - is this not gorgeous!

Sedona, Arizona

We're coming back here after lunch to hike that mountain - I'm feeling me some vortex vibes!

The trolley tour was relaxing, enjoyable, breathtaking and pure bliss.  From there we went to lunch at The ChocolaTree - that will be my next post.

Peace,
Rocki

FUNNY How Time Flies!

Fried eggs anyone?

It's hard to believe that in 12 days it will be exactly 1 year since my surgery, but more importantly... 1 year of being cancer free!  And we have a fun celebration planned.  Oh and for those that are new, I had a bilateral total mastectomy and sentinel node removal without reconstruction.  In other words, I'm flat as board.  More info in my Breast Cancer Survivor tab.

Before I go on, let me explain the pic above... and my humor for those who don't know me.  We went to Portland in June to visit my boys (awesome visit!).  There was a Goodwill store at the end of the street where we were staying.  I love and shop in second hand stores. Anyway, I spotted pink and when I pulled the shirt off the rack (rack... that's funny!)  I about doubled over with laughter!  Ha ha ha... fried eggs on the front!  Perfect!

There's more to this story.  It just so happened that the next day, Saturday June 29th, while we were enjoying Portland weather, everyone back home in Arizona was dealing with a toasty 119 degrees that day!  The hottest day I experienced was 122 back in 1990.  Fun day - not.  So I wore my pink shirt in honor of everyone frying eggs on the sidewalk that day and posted it on Facebook.

Get your melons!

Yes, I'll be getting back to my 1 year 'cancerversary' plans soon, but since I'm on the humor train...

True story.  I got me a pair of nice melons on sale for .48c at Sprouts!  Mark hasn't had melons in a long time so I figured I would give him a treat.

Ba-dum-bump. 

Perfect!  by Tales of a Broken Boobie

 

I'm guessing some of you may be thinking "OMG, breast cancer is not funny!" or "having your boobs removed is not funny!"...etc.  Trust me, I'm not making fun of breast cancer, any other cancer or anyone dealing with this ugly disease.  I'm also a melanoma survivor, among other life altering crud, so I know many roads of emotions.  Basically with all the crap I have been through in my life I have always used humor.  As cliché as this may sound, humor truly is good medicine.  Maybe not for everyone, but it certainly works for me.  Oh and no I'm not masking anything or hiding my 'true feelings'.  This is just a part of who I am. 

Me and Mark - my soul mate - the love of my life - my very best friend - my hubby

Okay now back to our big simple plans for our cancerversary trip.  I say "our" because Mark has been by my side from day one of our close to 20 years together and has never ever flinched.

We are going to our Happy Place - Sedona that is.  Yes, we call it our happy place as that is where we used to go when we needed a break from the craziness of life and to rejuvenate.  In fact, we used to go there a couple times a year, then once a year and then crud/life happened.  We haven't been there for the past couple years or so for a variety of reasons, not just because of breast cancer.  So what better place to celebrate this first year of being cancer-free than beautiful, peaceful, and mesmerizing Sedona!  Our Happy Place.

I'll save the rest of our plans for another post before we go as for now I need to get into the kitchen and uncook our dinner. 

I can almost feel the happy vortex vibes now!

Peace,
Rocki

Bilateral Total Mastectomy Photos - 6 Month Post-Op

Bilateral Total Mastectomy Photos - Post Op

 

This is another update for my online open journal in hopes of helping others that have to, unfortunately, go through the same thing and looking for information - as I did. 

 

Below are three photos of my bare chest showing the healing process to date.  There is really nothing to it, no blood or gore, just my bare empty chest with scars.  Like last time, I just want to give a brief little warning for those who may be a little squeamish, etc.  The photos are of just my bare chest, but for my 12 month post-op, or before, it will be entirely of me as I'm comfortable in my own skin.  You can find more photos and/or info in the top tab: Breast Cancer Survivor 

 

Photo's start below:

 

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Bilateral Total Mastectomy - post-op 6 months

Let me start by saying everybody heals differently and I heal slow.  Most of the scaring is still an ugly mean red and wider, while the rest is a light to pale pink and thinner.  The 61 staple scars are barely visible now.  In fact, some are gone.  My left side is more caved in while the right is flat.  The right armpit area still has a poofy lump (not cancer lump, just a lump area) but has gone down some.  It gets sore if over used, but nothing like a few months ago.  I'll find out Monday at my appointment the status on this.

Right side

My right side is where the nodes were removed and that area is healing quite nicely.  I'm not having any problems with that area, other than the lumpy part.  The drainage tube scars on both sides are a pale pink and barely noticeable now. 

Left side

Up until over a week ago, it had been a couple months without any pain issues.  But in my left chest wall area I'm having odd pain that goes into my back and left shoulder blade area.  The shoulder part feels more like bone pain while the other pain is, well, pain.  I do have mild degenerative arthritis in my hands and wrists, so not sure if that affects the shoulder area too (?).  I tried to research this, but all I came up with was heart issues and I seriously doubt that's what it is.  As funny as this may sound, I'm healthy otherwise, plus I eat a vegan diet (raw vegan as 4 months ago).  As with the right lumpy area, I will find out if this is related to post-op issues or another issue.

For all my wonderful online pals, customers, friends and fellow Survivors that have contacted me and asked how I'm doing and when am I going to post more pics - thank you!  I've been back to my "normal" (whatever that is) self and activities for a while now.  The only limitations really is I can't have blood drawn or blood pressure taken from my right arm - ever.  To sum it up, I'm doing AWESOME!  Well, other than the issues mentioned above AND finally over the acute upper respiratory infection, but hey... I've been through worse. 

And yes, I'll have more pictures than the ones posted here as I'm going to have professional pictures taken in a few months.  I'm hoping sometime this summer - and some will include Mark.   I can hardly wait!

Thank you all for your continued love & support for not only me, but for everyone that has to deal with this horrid disease.

Peace & Love,
Rocki

Juvenile Cooper's Hawk - taking off

Juvenile Cooper's Hawk - scanning the back yard

So our little, well not so little actually, feathered friend has been visiting our yard just about daily.  Yesterday was perfect to get some good shots of him as it was a cloudy day with the sun peaking in and out.  Before he went into the tree, he was by my studio window again standing on our utility trailer - about 6 feet from the window.  So I stood there and watched him, like a hawk.

Juvenile Cooper's Hawk - still scanning

I got these shots from our bedroom patio.  Like last time, I just sat there watching him through the binoculars.  He is a large, gorgeous bird with beautiful markings.  He continued to scan the yard, which was full of birds.

Juvenile Cooper's Hawk - found something

Something caught his eye, so I decided to just keep clicking away.  Glad I did because I am really happy with how the photos turned out.  I'm no professional photographer by any means, but I think they are pretty cool!

Juvenile Cooper's Hawk - getting ready to take off!

This is my favorite of the day!  When I looked at the pictures I became REAL excited!  I just LOVE this shot.  I have another one in flight, but all you can see is tree...totally missed the hawk.  Oh and if you click on the pictures you get the larger view.

That's all for today.  Just had to share these awesome photos.  Now it's time for me to take off.

Peace,
Rocki