Too much Craziness on the Home Front....

Ok, the shortest version of what's been going on around here I can possibly tell you.

My mother-in-law, Sharon, found out she had a cancerous lump in her breast and had it removed.  It did not affect the lymph nodes, but the gene for the cancer is still present in her blood, which makes it very possible for her to get the cancer again.  She will be starting treatments on March 4th; 18 weeks of chemo and 4-6 weeks of radiation after that.  Her treatments will happen in Great Falls.

My father-in-law, Dick, had knee replacement surgery and had complications due to not enough blood in his system after the surgery (note to self, don't go to Great Falls Clinic for surgery) and ended up having vision issues after his release from the hospital.  He was readmitted to the hospital closer to home in Havre where they found out he had had a small stroke at some point in the past and thought his corodit arteries were 60-90% blocked.  He had tests done and it turns out that after 2 units of blood at the hospital his vision returned to normal and after more tests found out one artery was completely clean and the other 40% blocked.  They won't do surgery until the artery is 70% block or more.  Now he is working on recovering from his knee surgery.

About a week after most of the craziness with my in-laws calmed down for the time being, Preston got croup and I was unfortunate enough to get sick from him.  We are both mostly recovered now, thank the Lord.

All of this has taken place in the last 3 weeks, so I haven't had much time to focus on much else.  I'm anxious for my mother-in-law and pray that the chemo and radiation treatments don't have the worst effects on her.  I am anxious about how this is going to affect Jason and little family unit.  I constantly am praying that we all make it through this phase in my mother-in-law getting better as sane as possible, but especially for Sharon because she has to go through the hardest part, the treatment.

I am extremely thankful that Jason, Preston and I will be able to escape from the craziness for a few days.  We will be traveling to Minnesota for one of my soul sister's wedding on Feb. 26- March 2.  I wish we could stay longer, but the following Wednesday is Ash Wednesday and Jason is pretty much required to be around for that.  Some much needed relaxation about too much craziness on the home front.

20 Minute Walk Challenge - Progress Report

Well...I am not succeeding at the daily 20 minute walks right now. I hit a blue patch, the weather has been up and down and colder, and frankly cabin fever has been winning. I'm conquering it a bit indoors by working in my jewelry studio as much as possible and trying to structure my days. But that too is not as successful as I'd like it to be, many days the last few weeks I go back to bed after driving my husband to work and sleep until lunch...oh winter, you are winning.

I am headed home to visit family and attend one of our friend's weddings in March and will use the treadmill in my bedroom there to hopefully jump start my desire to move and feel physically better. Hopefully upon returning here I will be in a more motivated space with the whole "daily movement" mindset. Wish me luck!

In related news, I think I will keep my eyes peeled on the classified sites for an inexpensive treadmill or exercise bike. Winter and I are just not jiving. Also, I did catch a performance of an African dance troupe this weekend, a casual group of varying ages that is looking for more people to join in. I studied West African dance a few semesters in college so contacted them about joining. That will be a fun sweat fest and hopefully takes off!