Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Camp fire, smores and in the middle of nowhere = Perfection....

Hello everyone! Hope you are all enjoying this beautiful day!


Jon and I are getting ready for our big camping trip that we will be taking thanks to the Seas it Foundation! The Seas it Foundation is a foundation that helps cancer patients and their caregivers use recreational activitys to help them fight cancer. It also helps to gain positivity & healing and so much more!


I found out about the Seas it Foundation during a check up appointment at Penn. I asked my Dr about resources that could maybe help Jon and I out with finances or anything in general. They had some volunteer helpers come in and talk to us about different foundations that we could apply for different things- It is wonderful to know how many amazing foundations there are that could help and make things a bit easier for us all who are going through this cancer journey. We recieved a $50 Visa gift card that day from a gentleman who used to go to Penn for a cancer diagnosis and was cured, He now donates thousands of visa gift cards for other patients to help them out a bit...it was awesome!! We also recieved a $150.00 gift card from the Paul Nardoni foundation so Jon and I could enjoy a night out together without worrying about paying for anything!! Then we found out about the Seas it Foundation- Penn decided to nominate Jon and I to recieve a grant- Seas it contacted us several days later and asked us what we would like to do for our grant...we could pick anything that we feel we would enjoy that was recreational and could help us get our minds off of things and use our energy in creative ways...They have done many different grants from gym memberships to workout equipment, art classes, pottery classes and much more. Jon and I decided that we have always wanted to go on a REAL camping trip- this is something on my bucket list and also something that i knew could help us relax. Since I have been diagnosed, Jon and I have found that being outside in the woods just seems s to help clear our minds....we are lucky to have a wildlife area very close to our home that we go to quite often! The Seas it Foundation said they would be glad to make this happen for us and supplied everything we need from our tent all the way down to the matches and everything in between!! They booked a wonderful camping site for us at Roundstone Camping resort which is close to Jim Thorpe and is in the Pocono Mountains. We feel so lucky and blessed to be able to take a weekend away and to just relax and put our minds at ease for a little bit thanks to this wonderful foundation! Oh and Indy will be coming with us!! I know she will have a blast! I will be sure to take many many pictures and i'm sure my next blog will be filled with some pictures and fun stories!!
This better not happen when we are camping!! lol No bears allowed!

I had a check up appointment in Philly this past Friday- Nothing new was learned at this appointment..I got a bunch of bloodwork and a urine test done so I will get the results of those any day now. Hopefully all my numbers will be good, always happy when i see some good numbers!! My next scan appointment will be in June and then I will find out how my chemo has been working and if anything has shrunk or if everything is still stable...it would be awesome to see some shrinkage of tumors but stable has always been a great word to hear as well! I asked my nurse if things were stable again if I could possibly move my scans out a little bit instead of getting them every 2 months...I just can't see how getting all those scans all the time can be doing any good for me especially with all that contrast---good thing is she told me I dont have to drink the disgusting contrast liquid anymore and will be fine just getting the IV contrast....which is awesome because I really hate that liquid crap and it got me so sick the past couple times after and plus it will shorten my time that I have to be in the hospital when i get my scans done which is always a plus!! I like when things are done quick and efficient!! So all in all just still praying for healing and that I can continue to stay stable for a long time!! Until next time...